Primary and secondary
Our Primary program was awesome. The rising young men and young women each gave a talk about something they learned from the New Testament this year. The songs were well chosen and full of spirit. There were good dynamics and energy, even if there weren't perfect cutoffs. Marilyn's neighbors came, one of whom is a choir director, so she was self-conscious about that. It was a beautiful triumph.
Relief Society got a little strange. We discussed Elder Bednar's talk "Watchful unto Prayer Continually." The focus was on how to avoid being deceived. It was a good discussion. A couple of sisters shared about decisions not to watch R-rated movies and not to be on social media. That was fine. The topic always on my mind is how to avoid self-deception and self-righteousness that lead to breaking the first two commandments. I talked about Noah teaching me with his Christlike qualities in the very moment he does not attend church and doesn't even believe in God. I talked about my nephew struggling with the Church in large part because of things said and done by members about gay people, things inconsistent with loving God and loving our neighbor.
That's when it got weird. Someone else made a comment in the same vein as mine. I don't recall the particulars, except that I was nodding my head through it. The next thing was the R-rated movie refuser was saying that she felt like more than once she had said something in Relief Society and then she had been criticized. She didn't judge other people for watching R-rated movies, she just chose not to do that herself. It was good; better to have that feeling out in the open. It was ironic, too, though, because the first comment she had made that day was about her awareness that feeling defensive was a signal there was something for her to attend to in herself.
I talked to her after church to reassure her that my remarks were not a reaction to anything she said, just something that is always on my mind and something we don't say out loud often enough at church. My sense was she was more defensive about the comment that had followed mine. That person also talked to her after church. It wasn't melodrama, just human beings sorting things out.
Relief Society got a little strange. We discussed Elder Bednar's talk "Watchful unto Prayer Continually." The focus was on how to avoid being deceived. It was a good discussion. A couple of sisters shared about decisions not to watch R-rated movies and not to be on social media. That was fine. The topic always on my mind is how to avoid self-deception and self-righteousness that lead to breaking the first two commandments. I talked about Noah teaching me with his Christlike qualities in the very moment he does not attend church and doesn't even believe in God. I talked about my nephew struggling with the Church in large part because of things said and done by members about gay people, things inconsistent with loving God and loving our neighbor.
That's when it got weird. Someone else made a comment in the same vein as mine. I don't recall the particulars, except that I was nodding my head through it. The next thing was the R-rated movie refuser was saying that she felt like more than once she had said something in Relief Society and then she had been criticized. She didn't judge other people for watching R-rated movies, she just chose not to do that herself. It was good; better to have that feeling out in the open. It was ironic, too, though, because the first comment she had made that day was about her awareness that feeling defensive was a signal there was something for her to attend to in herself.
I talked to her after church to reassure her that my remarks were not a reaction to anything she said, just something that is always on my mind and something we don't say out loud often enough at church. My sense was she was more defensive about the comment that had followed mine. That person also talked to her after church. It wasn't melodrama, just human beings sorting things out.
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