General Conference Odyssey begins this week with April 1990. For someone as old as myself these talks feel as though they were given only yesterday. It doesn’t matter how long ago they were given though. Because they were given by Jesus Christ, through the mouth of His prophets, they will always be relevant. During this session, I was reminded of how God protects us in all aspects of our religious freedom.
During this pandemic we have been forced to stay home. I hear many people say how spending more time with family has been the best time spent. Many families are typically so busy they never spend time together. Being “forced” to stay home helped them realize how important their family is to them.
So often, we take for granted the lifestyle we have chosen. And habits sometimes become a tradition that we never intend on celebrating. Without even realizing it we allow life to dictate our schedules and we don’t see that we become prisoners until it’s almost too late.
One of the first things that happened during the pandemic was an across-the-board shut-down of all public religious worship. Did you recognize this as limiting your religious freedom? I admit that I didn’t. Elder David A. Bednar, speaking to BYU’s law students about COVID-19 and religious freedom, said,
“We cannot deny and we should not forget the speed and intensity with which government power was used to shut down fundamental aspects of religious exercise. These decisions and regulations were unprecedented. For nearly two months, Americans and many others throughout the free world learned firsthand what it means for government to directly prohibit the free exercise of religion.”
For example, Easter this year was a huge disappointment for people across the globe who couldn’t attend their church to celebrate this holy holiday. Interestingly, though, Latter-day Saints already have in place traditions that allow us to celebrate our religion in our homes.
In 1990, L. Tom Perry said,
“The practice of having traditions to keep us close to the great heritage which is ours to enjoy … Daily we should kneel in family prayer and study the scriptures together. … We should also gather our families together in weekly family home evenings. … Monthly we should fast and pay our tithes and offerings to the Lord. Semiannually, we should make listening to the messages delivered at general conferences a family tradition. … Other traditions which should continually be part of our lives are receiving father’s blessings, patriarchal blessings, missionary preparation, temple preparation, and regular temple attendance where possible, and being together as family units on those occasions when sacred ordinances are performed in behalf of a family member.”
Besides all of these, a couple of years ago we began the Come Follow Me program that has additionally blessed all of our families. And most precious of all is the ability to have the priesthood in many of our homes where fathers and sons can bless and pass the sacrament to their families.
Other religions don’t have these privileges. And they recognize how their religious freedom is in jeopardy. We all survived this time, but what might happen next time?
COVID-19 has definitely been a wake-up call for us in so many ways. But our Heavenly Father is watching over us and can provide for us all of our needs and protections. As long as we remain faithful, hopeful, and focused on our Savior, Jesus Christ, we will wake up to our situation and be able to stand up against those who might take our freedoms away. But let us never forget to bow down and thank our Heavenly Father for the blessings He has provided for us in times of fear and trepidation.