I've been thinking a lot about how satan is so very good at making us feel productive when we really aren't doing anything to improve or make the world a better place. He's so good at creating the feeling, the illusion. Here are a few examples I've been thinking about:
Finishing a TV series
It's eye-opening to me how we so often feel accomplished for finishing a TV series. It's like with every episode we've accomplished something more. We are working toward the goal of finishing the series. We feel good. Because we finished something. But really all we did was sit and do nothing.
Animal Crossing, Pokemon Go, and video games
We complete daily tasks, goals. We grow things. We pick weeds. We make our little town beautiful while our real lives are sitting stagnant and still. We are remaining in the same spot which means we're moving backward as time marches on.
Why are we so busy all the time when we have so little to do? We don't have to hunt for our food. Heck, with Doordash, we don't even have to leave the couch anymore.
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Elder Bednar on Second Life Things as They Really Are
"Sadly, some young men and young women in the Church today ignore “things as they really are” and neglect eternal relationships for digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value."
"If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradually and physically from things as they really are."
"To feel the warmth of a tender hug from an eternal companion or to see the sincerity in the eyes of another person as testimony is shared—all of these things experienced as they really are through the instrument of our physical body—could be sacrificed for a high-fidelity fantasy that has no lasting value. If you and I are not vigilant, we can become “past feeling” (1 Nephi 17:45), as did Laman and Lemuel long ago."
"Lucifer will encourage you to misuse and to minimize the importance of your physical body. He will attempt to substitute the monotony of virtual repetition for the infinite variety of God’s creations and convince us we are merely mortal things to be acted upon instead of eternal souls blessed with moral agency to act for ourselves. Deviously, he entices embodied spirits to forfeit the blessings and learning experiences “according to the flesh” (1 Nephi 19:6; Alma 7:12–13) that are made possible through the Father’s plan of happiness and the Atonement of His Only Begotten Son."
"I offer two questions for consideration in your personal pondering and prayerful studying:
1. Does the use of various technologies and media invite or impede the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in your life?
2. Does the time you spend using various technologies and media enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve in meaningful ways?"
What is it that really matters at the end of the day?
Relationships
Love
Repentance, improvement
Families
Joining our family together on both sides of the veil
Learning new skills
Becoming
Doing hard things
So I'm trying to do more of what matters and less of what doesn't. I'm trying to rise above distractions and things that suck away my precious time. That's a gift I've been given from God, and I need to use it better. I can. He'll help me. He knows my desires to improve. How blessed I am to have him there. I take comfort in knowing that he knows me perfectly.
Finishing a TV series
It's eye-opening to me how we so often feel accomplished for finishing a TV series. It's like with every episode we've accomplished something more. We are working toward the goal of finishing the series. We feel good. Because we finished something. But really all we did was sit and do nothing.
Animal Crossing, Pokemon Go, and video games
We complete daily tasks, goals. We grow things. We pick weeds. We make our little town beautiful while our real lives are sitting stagnant and still. We are remaining in the same spot which means we're moving backward as time marches on.
Why are we so busy all the time when we have so little to do? We don't have to hunt for our food. Heck, with Doordash, we don't even have to leave the couch anymore.
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Elder Bednar on Second Life Things as They Really Are
"Sadly, some young men and young women in the Church today ignore “things as they really are” and neglect eternal relationships for digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value."
"If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradually and physically from things as they really are."
"To feel the warmth of a tender hug from an eternal companion or to see the sincerity in the eyes of another person as testimony is shared—all of these things experienced as they really are through the instrument of our physical body—could be sacrificed for a high-fidelity fantasy that has no lasting value. If you and I are not vigilant, we can become “past feeling” (1 Nephi 17:45), as did Laman and Lemuel long ago."
"Lucifer will encourage you to misuse and to minimize the importance of your physical body. He will attempt to substitute the monotony of virtual repetition for the infinite variety of God’s creations and convince us we are merely mortal things to be acted upon instead of eternal souls blessed with moral agency to act for ourselves. Deviously, he entices embodied spirits to forfeit the blessings and learning experiences “according to the flesh” (1 Nephi 19:6; Alma 7:12–13) that are made possible through the Father’s plan of happiness and the Atonement of His Only Begotten Son."
"I offer two questions for consideration in your personal pondering and prayerful studying:
1. Does the use of various technologies and media invite or impede the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in your life?
2. Does the time you spend using various technologies and media enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve in meaningful ways?"
What is it that really matters at the end of the day?
Relationships
Love
Repentance, improvement
Families
Joining our family together on both sides of the veil
Learning new skills
Becoming
Doing hard things
So I'm trying to do more of what matters and less of what doesn't. I'm trying to rise above distractions and things that suck away my precious time. That's a gift I've been given from God, and I need to use it better. I can. He'll help me. He knows my desires to improve. How blessed I am to have him there. I take comfort in knowing that he knows me perfectly.
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