"O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which he are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carri d away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe. Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth."
Could Lehi have spoken any more plain? I can feel his urgency, his pleading, his great anxiety for his posterity and all those who follow after him. There is an awakening which must take place in order to gain that eternal goal. I too, like Lehi, feel like shouting to all I know, "Awake!"
I have watched myself and other people go through the routines of life - get up, get ready, do work, come home, watch tv and eat dinner, go to bed, then repeat ad nauseam. It is a waking sleep from which only the most sincere effort or else heavy trials can awaken us. Personally, I'm trying to choose the sincere effort route - it's much easier in the long run.
I have given up almost all media in my life. No television. No movies. No FaveBook, except when prompted by the Spirit to share something. No music that would not be appropriate for missionaries to hear. No going out to movies. Nothing. And in place of all the media, I was to study, pray, ponder, meditate, attend the temple, and generally increase my service to my fellow man.
This was very hard for me at first. It was so hard to let go of all of that stuff. But I knew I'd heard the Spirit whispering to my heart what was required of me if I truly wanted that for which I'd been petitioning the Lord. My "appetite" for sacred things was so small. I couldn't believe how quickly I wanted something light to read or watch. I was surprised by how little time I truly spent in the things of eternity. I could sit and watch two movies in a row without wanting a break. But here I was struggling to spend more than an hour in that which is sacred and of eternal value.
It has been a little over a month since that experience of being brave and covenenting with the Lord that I would not touch media for a year. It's been so hard at times. Yet, as I've persevered, I have felt an added measure of the Spirit in my home. I have been able to gain such a personal relationship with the Lord. Now I spend literally half of my waking hours with the Lord. And it isn't enough. I want more. My scriptures are coming alive. The answers to my prayers are sacred, doctrinal truths which are being revealed to me. The time I spend in these sacred things removes all loneliness, pain, heartache, suffering, sadness, darkness from my soul and fills it with love, peace, divine connection, joy, light, truth - how did I ever live that sleeping life?! How did I ever contentedly sit and waste hours of my day on media? I can't even imagine going back to that way of life...it feels so empty and barren and lonely and hard.
Two days ago my three little guys for which I nanny had earned a "pizza party" - which meant pizza from their favorite place, bringing it home and watching a movie. I rationalized having to be with them and watched with them for about thirty minutes.
Do you know what has happened? My head is so noisy, I can't hear the Spirit like I did before. I forgot how noisy my head was. It used to be full of a million thoughts all day and all night. The more time I've spent away from media, the more peaceful my mind has become. Then I was dumb. And here I am, two days after thirty minutes of a movie (a cartoon movie, at that) and my head is noisy. So noisy that this morning, for the first time since March 8th, I was unable to discern the words of the Spirit after my prayer. I could feel my heart expanding and the warmth of the Spirit within my soul. But I could not quiet my mind enough to take what message I was receiving and put it into words.
A sudden panic erupted in me - which only served to make my mind a frenzy of noise.
I do not know how long it will take to quiet my mind again. I do not know when that peace will be restored to my soul. But I have seen the effects of media on my mind and I doubt that my renewed covenant with the Lord will end in a year. There is nothing worth losing the divine connection I've enjoyed over the last month. I can't imagine the new Star Wars movie that is coming out later this year to be more thrilling than receiving divine revelation. I can't imagine anything on this earth being more fulfilling than the closeness with the Lord which I have been blessed to experience over the last month.
I get Lehi. I completely get the desire to call everyone around me to awake and arise! That which fills the moments of our lives is that which we will have for eternity. And what I feel without this connection to God and all the media is gone (as it will be in the life to come) is loneliness, panic, dread, and a desire to run from myself. How gratefully I rejoice that those feelings are gone from my heart.
I invite you to try an experiment. Cut out all media from your life for three days. Take note of your feelings. See what comes up. You will be surprised at the reasons you will find to return to the media. You will be surprised at the excuses you give yourself so that you can run away. You will be surprised at the emotions of fear and dread which come up - even to the point of depression. Fight through it. Pull out the scriptures. Get on your knees. Invite the Lord to be with you. Learn what it feels like to REALLY KNOW the Lord is with you. Literally. With you. In this moment. He is physically present. Learn to be present with Him as He is present with you.
I promise you won't regret it. Nor will you miss that show you've been binge watching on Netflix.
Let's all listen to Lehi. Awake! Awake and arise from the dust! Shake off those chains! Choose rather than living life on auto-pilot. Choose your life!
Could Lehi have spoken any more plain? I can feel his urgency, his pleading, his great anxiety for his posterity and all those who follow after him. There is an awakening which must take place in order to gain that eternal goal. I too, like Lehi, feel like shouting to all I know, "Awake!"
I have watched myself and other people go through the routines of life - get up, get ready, do work, come home, watch tv and eat dinner, go to bed, then repeat ad nauseam. It is a waking sleep from which only the most sincere effort or else heavy trials can awaken us. Personally, I'm trying to choose the sincere effort route - it's much easier in the long run.
I have given up almost all media in my life. No television. No movies. No FaveBook, except when prompted by the Spirit to share something. No music that would not be appropriate for missionaries to hear. No going out to movies. Nothing. And in place of all the media, I was to study, pray, ponder, meditate, attend the temple, and generally increase my service to my fellow man.
This was very hard for me at first. It was so hard to let go of all of that stuff. But I knew I'd heard the Spirit whispering to my heart what was required of me if I truly wanted that for which I'd been petitioning the Lord. My "appetite" for sacred things was so small. I couldn't believe how quickly I wanted something light to read or watch. I was surprised by how little time I truly spent in the things of eternity. I could sit and watch two movies in a row without wanting a break. But here I was struggling to spend more than an hour in that which is sacred and of eternal value.
It has been a little over a month since that experience of being brave and covenenting with the Lord that I would not touch media for a year. It's been so hard at times. Yet, as I've persevered, I have felt an added measure of the Spirit in my home. I have been able to gain such a personal relationship with the Lord. Now I spend literally half of my waking hours with the Lord. And it isn't enough. I want more. My scriptures are coming alive. The answers to my prayers are sacred, doctrinal truths which are being revealed to me. The time I spend in these sacred things removes all loneliness, pain, heartache, suffering, sadness, darkness from my soul and fills it with love, peace, divine connection, joy, light, truth - how did I ever live that sleeping life?! How did I ever contentedly sit and waste hours of my day on media? I can't even imagine going back to that way of life...it feels so empty and barren and lonely and hard.
Two days ago my three little guys for which I nanny had earned a "pizza party" - which meant pizza from their favorite place, bringing it home and watching a movie. I rationalized having to be with them and watched with them for about thirty minutes.
Do you know what has happened? My head is so noisy, I can't hear the Spirit like I did before. I forgot how noisy my head was. It used to be full of a million thoughts all day and all night. The more time I've spent away from media, the more peaceful my mind has become. Then I was dumb. And here I am, two days after thirty minutes of a movie (a cartoon movie, at that) and my head is noisy. So noisy that this morning, for the first time since March 8th, I was unable to discern the words of the Spirit after my prayer. I could feel my heart expanding and the warmth of the Spirit within my soul. But I could not quiet my mind enough to take what message I was receiving and put it into words.
A sudden panic erupted in me - which only served to make my mind a frenzy of noise.
I do not know how long it will take to quiet my mind again. I do not know when that peace will be restored to my soul. But I have seen the effects of media on my mind and I doubt that my renewed covenant with the Lord will end in a year. There is nothing worth losing the divine connection I've enjoyed over the last month. I can't imagine the new Star Wars movie that is coming out later this year to be more thrilling than receiving divine revelation. I can't imagine anything on this earth being more fulfilling than the closeness with the Lord which I have been blessed to experience over the last month.
I get Lehi. I completely get the desire to call everyone around me to awake and arise! That which fills the moments of our lives is that which we will have for eternity. And what I feel without this connection to God and all the media is gone (as it will be in the life to come) is loneliness, panic, dread, and a desire to run from myself. How gratefully I rejoice that those feelings are gone from my heart.
I invite you to try an experiment. Cut out all media from your life for three days. Take note of your feelings. See what comes up. You will be surprised at the reasons you will find to return to the media. You will be surprised at the excuses you give yourself so that you can run away. You will be surprised at the emotions of fear and dread which come up - even to the point of depression. Fight through it. Pull out the scriptures. Get on your knees. Invite the Lord to be with you. Learn what it feels like to REALLY KNOW the Lord is with you. Literally. With you. In this moment. He is physically present. Learn to be present with Him as He is present with you.
I promise you won't regret it. Nor will you miss that show you've been binge watching on Netflix.
Let's all listen to Lehi. Awake! Awake and arise from the dust! Shake off those chains! Choose rather than living life on auto-pilot. Choose your life!
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