The Uphill Climb
On September 30th, a Sunday, Erin and I will be speaking in church. Anyone in the Provo area that wants to hear us speak about obedience is welcome to come. We meet in the white chapel on North Canyon Road at 9 a.m. I’ve already invited my parents.
The point, though, is that I now have an uphill climb in creating a talk that I think meets the requirements for the topic, and matches my testimony of and belief in the principles of the gospel. Truth told, I look forward to the challenge, and, at the same time, realize that I’ve not followed advice in other areas very well. This does not stop me from writing the talk (and, fingers crossed, memorizing it), it just makes the writing harder than it needs to be.
This is how I am approaching the subject.
First, I am trying to see what the church has to say about the subject of obedience.
Because I am an active member of the church I want to know what the doctrine is.
Second, I want to figure out what I feel about the subject.
Specifically, what experiences and beliefs do I have?
And how do those experiences and beliefs come in line with what the church teaches?Third, I need to discover how I want to share this with other people and what stories and experiences, scriptures and thoughts are pertinent to the discussion.
Interesting, I am sure.
The point, though, is that I am in the process of working on writing, working on inordertowrite.com, about to head in to school where I am actually taking (at least) three classes that will require a bit of writing, and ultimately have to fit this in with work. It’s proving to be an interesting exploration.
The question for me, at the moment, is:
What is obedience?
My tendency with this question is to look at the parent-child relationship and the people I have lived with who have had children of varying shapes and sizes still living in the house. What does it mean for a parent to expect a child to obey? Sub-question: Is tacit obedience a sign of respect or can a child be expected to present their own beliefs or morals in a specific area?
None of these questions need to be answered. They help me come to terms with what I am thinking and, immediately, the stories and experiences I am planning on sharing. One of the aspects to writing the talk is figuring out what my testimony of the subject is, write it out, then try and simplify it so that it pairs with the simplicity of the gospel. I try to approach most (gospel) subjects, and most things in life, as simply as possible. I find that if you are looking for complexities, all you will find are riddles and mazes without answer or exit; whereas, if you realize that most issues will resolve in the simplest way – and sometimes simplicity is removing an entire problem and replacing it brand new (this does not denote least expensive), then the outcome is that you are looking for the most likely and simplest answer to a problem.
Anyway, that’s what I am thinking about, today, outside of Alicia Grey and the start of school, soon, and a whole host of other things.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Bond. James Bond
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