We had our stake conference this weekend. Usually, I get almost nothing out of Stake Conference, as trying to keep two little kids sitting in a pew for 2 hours must qualify for one of Dante’s seven circles of hell. But this time, I was called to speak in the adult only Saturday session, so I got to get up close and personal with the podium, and actually heard what others had to say.
I love our Stake President, too. He is down to earth, direct, and teaches simple doctrine. Last Saturday, he said that one of his bishops was concerned about what he hears his ward members talk about.
He said that he walks down the halls in the church, and doesn’t hear gospel conversations. It’s friendly and cordial, but he is concerned that he hears the words “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” more than he hears about Jesus Christ, or stories from the scriptures. So, our Stake President asked us to be careful what we talk about.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I go running with a group of women in the morning, and I love it. We have great conversations, and between the endorphins and the philosophy and the ranting, it’s better than therapy.
I also like that we don’t gossip. We might inquire about somebody, ‘Hey, how’s so and so doing with such and such?’ etc, but I think we all take care not to use this time together to be catty.
But we’re not having spiritual conversations, either.
Occasionally, somebody will ask a spiritual question. Well, okay, it’s happened once. But for the most part, we talk about, well, books we’ve read (yes, Twilight has been brought up!), things we are doing, struggles that we have, either with our kids, our marriages, our bodies, our egos.
Today, we talked about our bodies again (one of the women was having problems with her shins and ankles), how excited another woman was to have her husband home (he’s been deployed in Afghanistan), how much we hate dealing with airlines, how our kids are liking their new classes, and where one woman wants to buy a house. No gossip, just friendly conversation.
Is it enough?
How much should conversation revolve around our Savior? Should our conversation always reflect what we are thinking, or are there times when we should keep quiet about spiritual things? Are there some things that just shouldn’t be discussed in a jog bra?
What do you talk about with your family and friends? How often do you bring up religious or spiritual thoughts? Is it an everyday occurrence, or something you reserve for a more sacred time and space? And while there are certainly appropriate times and places to discuss certain things, are we using that as an excuse not to engage in religious conversation?
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