Boldly defend temple standards

Religion is a major piece of our world's history. During most of the time humans have inhabited the earth, they were believers. Beliefs changed and evolved, but people for the most part shared the same moral code.

That's not the world we live in today. In a very short amount of time, we went from being people who believed first to those who doubted first. The moral code that worked for centuries is now considered archaic and restraining.

This is a topic general authorities have addressed for years, especially lately with the Ordain Women movement and the ongoing fight for the legalization of gay marriage. As other organizations and religious groups have one by one lowered their standards to give the world what it demanded, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has boldly stuck to the standards the Lord has set.

Because that's the way we have to live our religion now: boldly. There are a legion of factors waiting to turn our beliefs into an unrecognizable mess—we can't afford to live our religion timidly or casually. To stand firm in a world that cares more about political correctness than the God who is in charge of it requires courage. In a world that elevates relativity in the place of absolute truths, we must be willing to go against the grain.

As Lynn C. Robbins said this morning, we must "boldly defend temple standards." The Church doesn't need to be defended—it will prosper without us—but we need to defend the Church. Everything that's worth having must be protected, even our testimonies.

Click here for more on bold living.

The bold apostle: Elder Holland

Elder Holland's talks are consistently among my favorites. I always feel a little cheated when he speaks in the priesthood session instead of one of the general sessions. Good thing that didn't happen this year.

It wasn't a hard decision to feature Elder Holland in this series on boldness. (The only other apostle I considered was Elder Oaks, whose "Thou shalt not hang out" talk of 2006 still rings in young single adult's ears.) He's not afraid to call us to repentance, to broach uncomfortable subjects, or to bear his testimony to a sea of doubters. He continuously makes me want to cheer, while forcing me to confront my weaknesses at the same time.

It's hard not to imagine such a powerful speaker as being powerful in stature, as well. 

About 10 years ago, Elder Holland presided at our stake conference. Between the only stake president I could remember being replaced by our old bishop and Elder Holland's appearance in little ol' Payson, that meeting was the most memorable stake conference I ever attended.

In typical Elder Holland fashion, he bluntly told the youth of the congregation that we weren't smart enough to make all of our own decisions. I wasn't the only teenager who looked around uncomfortably when he commanded us to trust our parents and leaders because they knew what's best for us.

But he didn't spend his whole time yelling at us, as one of my seminary classmates complained about the next day. He also introduced us to a novel concept (novel to me, anyway): love is multiplied, not divided. I'd like to blame my teenage-girl mindset for my surprise and awe at this statement; I had a hard time picturing someone acquiring a new best friend without shafting the former best friend. I loved my favorite people fiercely, but there was a part of me that thought I had a finite capacity for love. I didn't want to spread myself too thin. 

Even now, I have to remind myself that love isn't like a cube of butter, capable of enriching the taste of only 12 pieces of toast before running out. Love is its own miracle; it increases the more you use it.

After the meeting, Dad escorted his wife and five shy children to meet Elder Holland. I was torn between wanting to slink out unnoticed and wanting to meet my favorite general authority. 

When we finally made it to the front of the room, I was a little disappointed by how old and frail he looked. Here was a guy who could make people cower with his words, and he was shorter than me. He didn't even have a firm handshake (I suspect he was trying to preserve his energy). But when he looked me in the eye and thanked me for coming, I saw the boldness he lacked in his handshake burning in his pale blue eyes.

So when Elder Holland speaks, I shut up and listen.

The index is still here.

Why boldness, and not bravery?

As discussed yesterday, boldness is often synonymous with bravery. I debated over which word to focus on for this series, over whether it even mattered since the words are so similar, but in the end I decided to focus solely on boldness.

For starters, bold is a slightly more subtle word than brave (oh, the irony), and subtlety generally means there are more layers to unfold. We all know what bravery is, but we don't often hear about boldness as a virtue (or a vice, as I'll talk about later).

Bravery is a state of being. To be brave is to act despite your fears. Boldness, on the other hand, is how you perform an action. It's the difference between walking a tightrope just to get to the other side and walking across with a bit of flair—arm twirling, flips, crazy stuff like that.

To use a Star Trek example (Shannan, I want you to forget this ever happened), the motto of the show is "To boldly go where no man has gone before." (To clarify, I know this only because my editing classes always used it as an example of the split infinitive—I don't actually watch Star Trek. Unless Chris Pine is starring, of course.) Their goal isn't simply to discover new worlds, travel at unheard-of speeds, or do whatever it is those trekkies do. It's to do all these things with style.

Kind of like in Harry Potter, when Phineas Nigellus says, "You know Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts, but you cannot deny he's got style." (Now that I've countered my Star Trek example with a Harry Potter one, I feel much more like myself.)

In short, bold living isn't just about the things you do. It's about how you do them. The way you live your life is just as important as what you do with it.

The other posts in this series are available here.

Boldness defined

There are a surprising number of definitions for "bold." Some have to do with danger, like these:

1. Fearless before danger.
2. Showing or requiring a fearless daring spirit.

Others portray it as a slightly negative quality, like these:

1. Not hesitating to break the rules of propriety; impudent.
2. Striking or conspicuous to the eye; flashy, showy. 

And still others connect boldness to creativity:

1. Beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action; imaginative.
2. Adventurous, free.

I'd like to add my own definition, as well:

1. An action that is unexpected or slightly out of character.

As you can see, there are many different sides of this word, many ways you can live boldly. I'll be delving into the different aspects of boldness for the rest of the month, so stay tuned.

In case your memory is exceedingly short, here is the index to all the posts in this series.

Introducing: 31 days of bold living

So, there's this blogging challenge called 31 Days. Its premise is simple: to blog every day in October about one topic. I first heard about this last year when someone whose blog I follow decided to take on the challenge. I really enjoyed reading her posts, but I was a little too intimidated by the scope of the project to do it myself. How do you find 31 different things to say about one topic without being boring? What if you're busy, or don't have the stamina to give it the effort it deserves?

I'm still intimidated by the scope of this challenge. My enthusiasm for this idea has flip-flopped several times. And October will probably be another busy month at work, making it difficult to eke out posts during work hours. (But if October is as insane as September was, I will cry.)

But I've decided to just do it, if for no other reason than it's time I did something bold with my writing.

So that's what I'll be writing about for the next 31 days: boldness. (I did cheat a little, though, and started writing these posts in mid-September.) I'm pretty excited to get started; I hope it lasts.

In which I become slightly obsessed with podcasts

A few months ago, I was only listening to one podcast. I had caught up on all of the episodes, and actually had to wait for episodes to come out. This was annoying primarily because it meant I no longer had daily Harry Potter discussions to look forward to. It also meant I needed to find something else to listen to on my walks.

So music it was.

But it's not as fun to listen to music when you can't sing along. I may be willing to verbalize my thoughts to the Alohomora! hosts, but singing along to music no one else can hear is a crazy I'm not comfortable succumbing to.

Then if finally occurred to me—I should listen to other podcasts!

I immediately began my research, and started paying more attention to podcast mentions from people who have similar interests. While I first searched for entertainment, I quickly realized I could use podcasts to quench my thirst for knowledge somewhat. Soon I had more audio than my iPod had room for, full of discussion on books, language, the humanities, and culture. Since I only listen to podcasts when I'm working out (okay, and sometimes when I'm at work), I have more motivation than ever to be physically fit.

If you're considering allowing podcasts to suck up your time, here are some of my favorites.

Alohomora!: There are a lot of Harry Potter podcasts out there, but I am devoted to this one. It's a global re-read of the Harry Potter books. Each chapter is discussed in loving detail, so it's basically the most awesome thing ever.

Lexicon Valley: This is a podcast about language. It focuses more on the evolution and quirks of language, rather than the rules. So you'll get discussions on why English doesn't assign gender to nouns, or why we start and end sentences with "so." I am completely fascinated with this stuff. Completely fascinated. 

Writing Excuses: Shannan has listened to this podcast for years, but I always resisted, even though I love everything Brandon Sanderson is involved with. I'm one of those special people who would rather read something than watch or listen to it. But, I finally gave it a chance. And of course I liked it. Everyone has their own tips for what works in writing and what doesn't, but the hosts seem more genuine. Not to mention they have fun while doing it.

The Readers: These guys make my reading habits look pathetic. I average about a book a week, but I'm starting to realize that may not qualify me as a true bibliophile. So even though these guys (I can't remember their names—I call them the Brit and the American in my head) talk a lot about books I've never heard of, they also discuss readerly topics I'm very interested in, like why the classics are classics, how the internet has affected our reading habits, and how to find time for reading. Their discussions flow naturally, too—I always feel like I'm listening in on an interesting conversation between experts rather than two hosts who are trying to stay on topic within their allotted timeframe. Plus, I get great book recommendations every episode.

Entitled Opinions: I call this one my humanities podcast. It focuses primarily on literature, but there's also some science, psychology, art, and music thrown in there. I've only listened to a few episodes so far, but it makes me feel like I'm in school again more than any of the other podcasts I've found. (Clarification: this is a good thing.) It's very academic and mind-broadening, so I like it.

BYU Speeches: I didn't go to very many devotionals during my time at BYU. I enjoy this type of thing more now than I did then, though, and it's nice to have a more Sunday-appropriate podcast to listen to.

Song of the Week: Sweet Silver Lining

Sweet Silver Lining, by Kate Voegele

What it's about: Yup, life is a battle sometimes, but there's always that silver lining.

Why I picked it: Because it's been stuck in my head for days.

Best line: "I may be weak but I'm never defeated." Have you ever had someone tell you they admire you for your strength when you feel like you're just surviving, not doing anything heroic? Yeah. That's why I love this song. Sometimes it really helps to stop and acknowledge that you're weak. But the fact that you're not dead yet despite your shortcomings must mean there's a grain of truth to what people are saying about this mysterious strength you can't see in yourself.

Mood trigger: Listen to this song when you're down on yourself and need a little pick-me-up. I actually just created a playlist for exactly that mood, named after this song.

Random Observation: Kate Voegele is one of the many artists I discovered through One Tree Hill. She sings this song at a certain wedding. If you've seen the show, you'll get why it works.