Tuesday, March 30, 2010

"Don't Do Dumb"

We have this wonderful stake president. He has a way of creating a "lowest common denominator" for living the gospel, for lack of a better term. He distills for us what needs to be done, and what the blessings will be for doing it.

In his first address to us in stake conference, he set the theme by which he is known, and it was typical of him. It was: "Don't Do Dumb." He told us how dumb it was to have the commandments before us, and to know what the results would be for keeping them, but then to choose not to keep them.

He said it was like being given a one-question test, and being told in advance that the answer was A, but flourishing a pencil and marking B.

Practical Application - davidson (Mormon Momma)

3 comments:

PaulM said...

Did you find this cousel valuble? Seems pretty vaccuous to me and more aplicable to living the law of Moses than to fulfilling the Gospel of Christ. You must live in a pretty lazy and wicked stake if the Lord has seen fit to instruct your SP so.

Patty said...

I LOVE that!!

Papa D said...

Paul, as the post states in the attribution, this wasn't said in my stake - and it's solid advice for lots of people who are nowhere near lazy and wicked. There are LOTS of situations where otherwise good, hard-working people get in all kinds of trouble simply because they did something dumb without thinking.

Also, if someone really does believe that something came from God, it would be dumb to not accept and follow it - which is the baseline premise of the quote. You personally might not take that stance, but I'd be willing to bet that you try to accept and follow those things that you feel are "of God" - or, if you don't believe in God, are "good ideas". I'd be willing to bet that you try not to "do dumb" in your own life - when "dumb" is defined as "stuff you know or believe you shouldn't do".

I would suggest you not condemn something as not the ultimate ideal when it's not presented as the ultimate ideal.