I love Dieter F. Uchtdorf's recent talk Are You
Sleeping through the Restoration? He warns of
three common problems in the world we live in: Selfishness, Addiction, and
Competing Priorities. I have reviewed this talk over a dozen times and
receive new insight every time. For example, my wife and I watched Maleficent the evening before last, and then I read the talk again
yesterday morning; the parts where Maleficent falls asleep, loses her wings,
and eventually overcomes her problems were still fresh in my mind when I read
President Uchtdorf's words, "closes his eyes for a moment.., We are
designed to soar freely through the heavens..." and "What is the
remedy" repeated three times.
He states, ”Addictions often
begin subtly. Addictions are thin threads of repeated action that weave
themselves into thick bonds of habit. Negative
habits have the potential to become consuming addictions.” He then goes on to list ten common
addictions, the last two being the Internet and virtual reality. He closes his talk with, “A call to awaken. The Apostle Paul wrote ‘Awake thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.’… Let us
awake…”
I testify that that there is always hope! I continually receive help from my wife, my priesthood leaders, my psychiatric counselor at the V.A. and my church's addiction recovery program. As President Uchtdorf said in his talk, "The most important thing is to keep trying." One day at a time! -- johnblogwalker
