Learning, Not Learning, Profanity, and Homesickness

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Morning Session of the April 1986 Conference.

There were a bunch of little snippets I liked from this session of Conference. Here are my favorites:

Elder Packer, on reading the scriptures:

[In the Book of Mormon], just as you settle in to move comfortably along, you will meet a barrier. The style of the language changes to Old Testament prophecy style. For, interspersed in the narrative, are chapters reciting the prophecies of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. They loom as a barrier, like a roadblock or a checkpoint beyond which the casual reader, one with idle curiosity, generally will not go. 

You, too, may be tempted to stop there, but do not do it! Do not stop reading! Move forward through those difficult-to-understand chapters of Old Testament prophecy, even if you understand very little of it. Move on, if all you do is skim and merely glean an impression here and there. Move on, if all you do is look at the words.

I didn't think that much about this when I first read it, but I've remembered it over and over as I've read the scriptures this week. I know we should be always seeking to get more from the scriptures; to move beyond skimming. And I've had some great teachers that have helped me with these more difficult sections. So I know it's very rewarding. But…I don't know, there are still just some parts of the scriptures I do NOT understand, and it was comforting to imagine Elder Packer saying to me, "It's okay—just glean an impression here and there…just look at the words if you have to. You don't have to get all this stuff right now."

Elder Jack H. Goaslind, sounding like Elder Maxwell:

Our yearnings for happiness were implanted in our hearts by Deity. They represent a kind of homesickness, for we have a residual memory of our premortal existence. They are also a foretaste of the fulness of joy that is promised to the faithful. We can expect with perfect faith that our Father will fulfill our innermost longings for joy.

Elder Oaks, on profanity:

Profanity leads to more ungodliness because the Spirit of the Lord withdraws and the profane are left without guidance.

Vulgar and crude expressions are also offensive to the Spirit of the Lord…Profane and vulgar expressions are public evidence of a speaker’s ignorance, inadequacy, or immaturity. 

A speaker who profanes must be ignorant or indifferent to God’s stern command that his name must be treated with reverence and not used in vain…Members of the Church, young or old, should never allow profane or vulgar words to pass their lips. The language we use projects the images of our hearts, and our hearts should be pure.…

When the names of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, are used with reverence and authority, they invoke a power beyond what mortal man can comprehend.

It should be obvious to every believer that these mighty names—by which miracles are wrought, by which the world was formed, through which man was created, and by which we can be saved—are holy and must be treated with the utmost reverence.

I've encountered profanity in a few unexpected situations lately and haven't been exactly sure why I've been so disturbed by it. It's so normal these days you do tend to get used to it…even in news articles or other places that used to be free of it. And I know it's maybe not a terrible sin, and that "taking the Lord's name in vain" can mean more than just swearing. But the fact remains that I've felt a spiritual uneasiness in those situations, and Elder Oaks' talk helped me understand why. I especially liked his positive statements about the power of the names of the Father and of Christ. When you think of their power and who they are, it makes sense why we'd want to use only words of love and respect toward them.

President Hinckley, on lifelong learning:

This restored gospel brings not only spiritual strength, but also intellectual curiosity and growth. Truth is truth. There is no clearly defined line of demarcation between the spiritual and the intellectual when the intellectual is cultivated and pursued in balance with the pursuit of spiritual knowledge and strength.

Maybe this seems like the opposite of my first quote, but I suppose they balance each other out. Sometimes I feel inspired to learn forever…sometimes I feel like my brain is full and I'll never be able to learn again! :)


Other posts in this series:

To Study Carefully the First Vision—by Jan Tolman