"The Language of the Gospel" by Elder Valeri V. Cordon
April 2017 General Conference
Summary: Elder Cordon compares the loss of a language from generation to generation with the loss of the gospel in families, and gives three ways we should combat this: by actively teaching gospel lessons at home, by modeling the best spiritual behaviors we can, and by avoiding any traditions that will taint our gospel-centered home.
Elder Cordon begins by discussing families who move to America from other countries and lose the language their families spoke in their home countries after a few generations (which, obviously, is so common as to be almost a stereotype of immigrant narratives). He then compares this language loss to losing the "language of the gospel" in our families. I really like this analogy between language loss and gospel loss, because the language we speak is incredibly important to those who speak it. Older generations may be disappointed or devastated by younger generations refusing to learn or speak their native tongues, and younger generations later may regret their choice to reject their original languages.
This seems to parallel with the gospel experience as well. He says, "By 'language of the gospel,' I mean all the teachings of our prophets, our obedience to those teachings, and our following righteous traditions." How can we preserve our families' adherence to the gospel over generations, and not allow our spiritual language to weaken? I think about this weakening over generations often, now that I have my own children--that slight worry that I will be a weak link, and that my ancestors were strong in the gospel and that helped my parents and me, but that I will be unable to pass this faith and beliefs and legacy on to my children. Elder Cordon gives three ways we should work to preserve our gospel language in our families. (This talk seems similar to Elder Bednar's "Watching with All Perseverance" from 2010.)
Being More Diligent and Concerned at Home
Going along with the language loss metaphor, Elder Cordon says, "One factor that influences language loss is when parents don’t spend time teaching their children the native language. It is not enough to merely speak the language in the home. If parents desire to preserve their language, it must be taught. Research has found that parents who make a conscious effort to preserve their native language tend to succeed in doing so." I think that is so interesting and encouraging. If parents actively try to teach their children, they will generally succeed at helping them to learn the language they want them to learn.
So, we need to actively teach our children the gospel. Elder Cordon says, "We can therefore conclude that powerful teaching is extremely important to preserve the gospel in our families, and it requires diligence and effort." This means praying together and reading the scriptures, and taking opportunities to teach them gospel lessons at FHE and at other times. I think about how now is the ideal time for me to be teaching my children gospel lessons, because we are home all day with each other, and next year Dane will be at kindergarten and we will miss that chance. I would love to incorporate more gospel lessons with him this year.
Strong Modeling in the Home
In order to get our children to follow the gospel principles we teach, we have to be living them ourselves. This is pretty obvious, but we have to walk the walk. And we can't just be kind of doing it--Elder Cordon specifies STRONG modeling of the gospel behaviors we wish to emphasize. Elder Cordon uses the example of his father paying tithing in a very difficult period of their family when they had to decide whether to pay tithing or buy food for their children. He saw his father pay tithing, and then saw blessings come to make up for it. His attention to his father's behavior (modeling the faithful obedience he valued and which he wanted to teach his children) gave him, the son, a testimony of those same values. I liked the example Elder Cordon used explaining how Christ is modeling himself after Heavenly Father: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19). Our kids will see what things soever we doeth (ha) and will do them likewise.
I think he really hits it out of the park with his final paragraph of this section: "It is not enough just to talk to our children about the importance of temple marriage, fasting, and keeping the Sabbath day holy. They must see us making room in our schedules to attend the temple as frequently as we can. They need to see our commitment to fasting regularly and keeping the entire Sabbath day holy. If our youth cannot fast two meals, cannot study the scriptures regularly, and cannot turn off the TV during a big game on Sunday, will they have the spiritual self-discipline to resist the powerful temptations of today’s challenging world, including the temptation of pornography?"
Traditions
Sometimes, we as families have traditions that end up becoming almost sacred to our children, simply because of the force of nostalgia and the feelings of love and belonging that we get when we think of them. However, we need to make sure to examine all our family traditions, even those we hold most sacred, and make sure that none of them are preventing us from obeying the gospel, keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and studying the scriptures together daily.
Everyone has a different level of tolerance for things that keep or drive away the Spirit, which is why there are few hard-and-fast guidelines as to what is allowed and what is not when it comes to slippery issues like media and Sabbath Day observance. However, it is probably good to keep in mind that your children may have a lower tolerance for losing the Spirit than you do. You may unintentionally be driving the Spirit away from your children by continuing traditions that interfere with those more important goals.
Conclusion
Elder Cordon concludes that it is obviously worth every effort for us to preserve the gospel language in our homes, because, he makes the point, "in the context of the plan of salvation there is no debate about the eternal consequences of losing the language of the gospel in our homes." Heavenly Father wants to help us in this endeavor, because he wants his children (and ours) to know Him too.
Link to the full talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/the-language-of-the-gospel?lang=eng
Questions to consider:
When do I take time to teach gospel lessons to my children? When can I make this happen more regularly in our family?
What spiritual behaviors am I modeling for my children? What is one behavior that I can improve?
Summary: Elder Cordon compares the loss of a language from generation to generation with the loss of the gospel in families, and gives three ways we should combat this: by actively teaching gospel lessons at home, by modeling the best spiritual behaviors we can, and by avoiding any traditions that will taint our gospel-centered home.
Elder Cordon begins by discussing families who move to America from other countries and lose the language their families spoke in their home countries after a few generations (which, obviously, is so common as to be almost a stereotype of immigrant narratives). He then compares this language loss to losing the "language of the gospel" in our families. I really like this analogy between language loss and gospel loss, because the language we speak is incredibly important to those who speak it. Older generations may be disappointed or devastated by younger generations refusing to learn or speak their native tongues, and younger generations later may regret their choice to reject their original languages.
This seems to parallel with the gospel experience as well. He says, "By 'language of the gospel,' I mean all the teachings of our prophets, our obedience to those teachings, and our following righteous traditions." How can we preserve our families' adherence to the gospel over generations, and not allow our spiritual language to weaken? I think about this weakening over generations often, now that I have my own children--that slight worry that I will be a weak link, and that my ancestors were strong in the gospel and that helped my parents and me, but that I will be unable to pass this faith and beliefs and legacy on to my children. Elder Cordon gives three ways we should work to preserve our gospel language in our families. (This talk seems similar to Elder Bednar's "Watching with All Perseverance" from 2010.)
Being More Diligent and Concerned at Home
Going along with the language loss metaphor, Elder Cordon says, "One factor that influences language loss is when parents don’t spend time teaching their children the native language. It is not enough to merely speak the language in the home. If parents desire to preserve their language, it must be taught. Research has found that parents who make a conscious effort to preserve their native language tend to succeed in doing so." I think that is so interesting and encouraging. If parents actively try to teach their children, they will generally succeed at helping them to learn the language they want them to learn.
So, we need to actively teach our children the gospel. Elder Cordon says, "We can therefore conclude that powerful teaching is extremely important to preserve the gospel in our families, and it requires diligence and effort." This means praying together and reading the scriptures, and taking opportunities to teach them gospel lessons at FHE and at other times. I think about how now is the ideal time for me to be teaching my children gospel lessons, because we are home all day with each other, and next year Dane will be at kindergarten and we will miss that chance. I would love to incorporate more gospel lessons with him this year.
Strong Modeling in the Home
In order to get our children to follow the gospel principles we teach, we have to be living them ourselves. This is pretty obvious, but we have to walk the walk. And we can't just be kind of doing it--Elder Cordon specifies STRONG modeling of the gospel behaviors we wish to emphasize. Elder Cordon uses the example of his father paying tithing in a very difficult period of their family when they had to decide whether to pay tithing or buy food for their children. He saw his father pay tithing, and then saw blessings come to make up for it. His attention to his father's behavior (modeling the faithful obedience he valued and which he wanted to teach his children) gave him, the son, a testimony of those same values. I liked the example Elder Cordon used explaining how Christ is modeling himself after Heavenly Father: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19). Our kids will see what things soever we doeth (ha) and will do them likewise.
I think he really hits it out of the park with his final paragraph of this section: "It is not enough just to talk to our children about the importance of temple marriage, fasting, and keeping the Sabbath day holy. They must see us making room in our schedules to attend the temple as frequently as we can. They need to see our commitment to fasting regularly and keeping the entire Sabbath day holy. If our youth cannot fast two meals, cannot study the scriptures regularly, and cannot turn off the TV during a big game on Sunday, will they have the spiritual self-discipline to resist the powerful temptations of today’s challenging world, including the temptation of pornography?"
Traditions
Sometimes, we as families have traditions that end up becoming almost sacred to our children, simply because of the force of nostalgia and the feelings of love and belonging that we get when we think of them. However, we need to make sure to examine all our family traditions, even those we hold most sacred, and make sure that none of them are preventing us from obeying the gospel, keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and studying the scriptures together daily.
Everyone has a different level of tolerance for things that keep or drive away the Spirit, which is why there are few hard-and-fast guidelines as to what is allowed and what is not when it comes to slippery issues like media and Sabbath Day observance. However, it is probably good to keep in mind that your children may have a lower tolerance for losing the Spirit than you do. You may unintentionally be driving the Spirit away from your children by continuing traditions that interfere with those more important goals.
Conclusion
Elder Cordon concludes that it is obviously worth every effort for us to preserve the gospel language in our homes, because, he makes the point, "in the context of the plan of salvation there is no debate about the eternal consequences of losing the language of the gospel in our homes." Heavenly Father wants to help us in this endeavor, because he wants his children (and ours) to know Him too.
Link to the full talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/the-language-of-the-gospel?lang=eng
Questions to consider:
When do I take time to teach gospel lessons to my children? When can I make this happen more regularly in our family?
What spiritual behaviors am I modeling for my children? What is one behavior that I can improve?
Comments
Post a Comment