Places to Make Holy

Our Environment Shapes Our Thoughts

What does it mean to stand ye in holy places? Today during a walk to my neighborhood park and back, I had time for my thoughts to wonder. I was able to focus on a concern of mine and think through the best course of action for me. Quiet time is very important to me because it's an opportunity to think without distractions.

When I returned from my walk, I was suddenly aware of how our environment shapes our thoughts. Immediately after crossing the threshold and closing the door, a flood of new thoughts entered my mind. Most of them were connected to visual stimuli. Objects and memories from my living room brought back thoughts. Some of them were simple and unobtrusive, while others encouraged choice and action, such as seeing the couch and remote. I could just sit down and watch TV, I thought.

I'm glad I was in a state of conscious awareness of my thoughts because it allowed me to take control. I had decided before returning that I would draft an email regarding a job offer I recently received. Yet it was strange how entering a new environment made me almost forget my previous plan of action. I've heard this called the doorway effect. It's a common phenomenon where you walk into another room and immediately forget why you are there. Usually this is experienced this as a stupor, or in other words drawing a blank. This time it wasn't a lack of thought, rather a barrage of thoughts. It felt as though I had to pull my previous thought out of an avalanche by the hair, and do it quickly before it was lost forever.

In that moment it became clear to me that our surroundings effect our thoughts, which in turn reflect our actions. In a split moment, I could've been watching TV—which isn't an inherently bad form of relaxation, but I had already decided it wasn't time for that. There was work to be done, and my new environment almost made me forget that.

21st Century Places

Our ability to choose is essential to our happiness and can be a power to bring about much good in our lives and families. It is also difficult to master in a world where so many things are jockeying for our attention. Now we can be in all sorts of places without having to physically go anywhere. TV, Smartphones, and the internet transport us to new places. I just think of how often I'm playing a game, or scrolling through posts, or watching videos and feel as if I'm in a 3rd space. My mind leaves the physical space that my body inhabits.

I want my home to be a holy place where the spirit of the Lord can dwell and where family and friends feel welcome. Yet, with the click of a button, my home can be rundown by filth and distractions that come pouring in through the internet. Today I don't even have to choose what to watch; an algorithm can play the next video without me having to lift a finger. It's useful, yes, and I admit can even be beneficial. I've stumbled upon inspiring and uplifting content without having to look for it, just because an algorithm thought I might like it.

But if a tool can be used for good, it can usually be used to harm and destroy too. The scriptures teach us that there are things that act and things that are acted upon (2 Nephi 2:14). We know that it is best to be proactive and go about doing much good (D&C 58:27). Our agency allows us to change our behavior and our environment, which I've already pointed out are intrinsically connected. The more we change our environment for the better the better choices we will make.

I Can Choose

I can choose what I watch, and let modern algorithms help me only when they improve my environment. I can choose good entertainment, media, and social networks that build me up. But I should also remember to put down the phone and interact with people and places around me. Maybe do the dishes, go on a walk, or serve my neighbor. If my home is a holy place, I hope I spend good time there with the people I love, instead of constantly stepping into a virtual world of algorithms where my thoughts can be influenced by things it doesn't need, or didn't choose.

No matter where we find ourselves physically or virtually, we can work to inspire, uplift, and make those places holy. As we do make our environment and our homes holy, we will become increasingly holier and happier.

D&C 87: 8 - "Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen."

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