I love blogging, I love the friendships that I can create as I spend my days with miniature people whose vocabulary is less than stellar. I love how it makes me think, makes me put my opinions into words (even if sometimes I don't have the guts to pull the trigger and publish those words!).
But yesterday I realized the dark side of blogging in my life. I realized that when it comes to issues of my very personal faith, I often look to see what other bloggers are saying about the subject.
Yesterday was the semi-annual General Conference of the LDS Church. For the first time I followed along with the tweets with the hashtag #ldsconf. It was fun to see what other bloggers and friends liked about the conference.
It was unsettling though, to see how highly Elder Uchtdorf was praised for speaking on tollerance (which I love, one of my top three talks for sure!) and how Elder Oaks was criticized (by a few, not all) for talking directly about some hot button issues that the church refuses to change on.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But how much power am I giving these women in my life? They have wonderful insights and their words are good.
Bloggers are good.
Books are better.
Scriptures are best.
I know this hierarchy to be true. I need to show it more in my daily life. I no longer want to pattern my life after the trendiest and coolest of bloggers. They are great friends, but I want to pattern my life after my Savior and that is best done by studying his life and ministries.
And thank you for reading my words. I know time is precious. I'm realizing it more every day.
Amen! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Bonnie!!
DeleteI like this too. I would consider myself a feminist and in the ranks of those who did not like Elder Oaks talk, but it really spoke to me. I can't say I agreed with everything he said, but he did cause me food for thought.
ReplyDeleteI think I let blogging affect my life moreso a year ago than I do today. However, up until recently I did pay a lot of attention to the group Feminist Mormon Housewives. I still like a lot of what they have to say, but the group can be overwhelmingly negative sometimes. Last conference I followed their commentary along with conference and I did not get nearly as much out of it as I did this time,
PS I can't believe I wasn't following your blog before now!!
I think it's one thing to say, I have somethings I don't agree with or that don't feel inspired, but it's another thing to publicly bash (maybe bash is a bit harsh) an apostle on social media.
DeleteEven so, those are things I need to decide for myself, not just go along with because a favorite blogger feels that way.
Thanks for following, you are just the sweetest! :)
Loved reading this! People can't pick and choose what they want to listen to from our leaders. I feel like every talk has something inspired we need to hear and apply to our lives. Thanks for being so open!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! They are definitely talks I want to read over and over!
DeleteAmen, sister! I'm a new reader, and I was the same way until I attended The Influence Conference in September. God has given us the gift of Influence, and we should use it for HIS glory. You have a new reader in me.
ReplyDeleteYes! I hope to do that for sure. Thanks for reading!
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