Something new from Alma 32

This summer my parents, being the great folks that they are, challenged our family to read the Book of Mormon before school starts. This week I arrived at Alma chapter 32, the great discourse on faith. I thought to myself, "Self, see if you can find something new today." So I read carefully and something jumped out at me that I haven't looked at too closely before.

In verse 5 the poor of the Zoramites voice a concern. They complain to Alma that they have no place to worship because the rich have kicked em out of the synagogues. Thinking of my own life, I really only consider going to church on Sunday or going to the temple as qualifying as worship. It's likely that I would feel very much like these Zoramites if all of a sudden I was no longer allowed to enter church buildings or temples.

In the next chapter Alma says in verse 3, "Do ye remember to have read what Zenos, the prophet of old, has said concerning prayer or worship?" He then goes on to explain that praying unto God in the wilderness, over our fields, and in our closets is worshipping God.

Prayer is worship, if we make it that by being sincere and thanking and praising God in our conversation with Him. Richard G. Scott said, "Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father."

Netflix will be the death of me

Why do we watch tv? Why do we get caught up in the lives of fictional characters? Why, when I have free time, do I sit on my computer and watch Netflix (I don't literally sit on top of my computer, I sit on a chair and look at my computer)?

The answer to these questions... I don't know if I really know.. So bear with me as I kind of think out loud here.

Part of television's enchanting spell is probably that it's entertaining. But I don't think that's everything. I think, sometimes we start to place ourselves in the characters shoes. We want to know what will happen to us next. The problem is, there is always something left unresolved at the end of an episode. And with Netflix we don't have to wait until next week, or next season. We can watch 7 straight episodes and still leave hungry for whatever it was we were looking for.

For me, I see attributes in characters that I want. Somehow my brain thinks that if I keep watching, those qualities will magically be projected onto me. But of course that's not gonna happen. So, I spend all my time watching something that leaves me empty when I could be filling it with something meaningful. It's a little bit ironic.

And yep.. I think that's it. That's all I got. Netflix, TV, there you have it.