Last General Conference ( a worldwide broadcast conference put on by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - talks are given by our apostles and our prophet and president of the church, as well as other general authorities), there was an excellent talk given Devin G. Durrant, called "My Heart Pondereth Them Continually". He spoke on choosing scriptures that stood out to you, and then pondering them "continually" throughout the week. He termed this "ponderizing" - a word that refers to mix of memorization and, of course, deep pondering.

 I have always felt strongly about the scriptures, and have always believed in the importance of memorizing them, so that they can always be on the mind, and hopefully, on the tip of the tongue. My mother and father were also very good about helping us memorize scriptures when I was young. Sometimes, during the summer, or during the Christmas season, we would even choose a scripture a day to memorize. Since I left home, I have tried to keep up the trend, and at least memorize the occasional scripture, and of course, when I was on my mission it was common practice.

When I heard Devin Durrant give this talk, I was immediately struck with how inspired this was - Such a wonderful idea! It was brilliant how he spoke of how the entire focus should not be JUST on the memorization, but rather, focusing on the REASON why we even memorize these scriptures in the first place - which is to gain the spiritual understanding and knowledge that these scriptures give us, and then store them securely in our mind to bless us continually. PONDERIZING IS AWESOME.

So... After that long and perhaps unnecessary tangent... the ACTUAL reason for this post.

This last week I chose a scripture from the Book of Mormon. Alma 39:9.

"Now my son, I would that ye should repent and forsake your sins, and go no more after the lusts of your eyes but cross yourself in all these things: for except ye do this ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. Oh, remember, and take it upon you, and cross yourself in these things."

The reason that I chose this scripture is because I really have been studying self-control... Self-mastery. I know that it is extremely important for us to learn how to control our thoughts, words, and actions in this life. Indeed, this scripture mentions that unless we do this, we cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, it is pretty dang important!

I love how it particularly mentions to "cross yourself". When I pondered the meaning of this I imagined it meant double-crossing yourself. So... Going at it from more than one side; not only creating precautions to keep you in check on one side, but protecting yourself from the other as well. This ensures that you are constantly on the watch - looking out for yourself, so that you don't slip up and lose control.

It reminds me of another FANTASTIC scripture (I will be ponderizing this one as well at some point). Alma 38:12 - in this it mentions "bridling your passions". Again, it wouldn't be very helpful if you just used a rope around the horse's neck, or only used a saddle, or only used a bit and no reigns... Therefore... you use them all. You cover all your bases.... you cross yourself, and therefore, you have control.

My all time FAVORITE scripture that goes along with this subject however is Proverbs 25:28.

"He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."

Wow. Powerful imagery. If you don't have self-control, you are like a city... a city without protection... a city run down and dilapidated. I don't want to be that city, that's for sure.

Another brilliant author and poet who is famous for her works dealing with the philosophy of the mind wrote:
"As a rule, we must not be the slaves of passion; rather, we must be the possessors of great passions. Through passion commences power, but passion should not direct our paths; rather passions should be as bridled horses, with us commanding whence and to they be directed. Our passions must not take their own courses; but they must be directed  by us into which course they ought to take. Modern day people blindly follow the notion that to be slaves to their passions is to be free! But for one to be the master of ones passions is not only to be free - but powerful."

I think this is beautifully put. I don't know why society has decided that self-mastery is restricting. For some reason, they tell us that we have the "right" to lose control and do whatever we want. Well, its true, we DO have the right. But is it truly going to make us happy to completely lose ourselves? Is it truly good for us to let our wills and passions drive us, without any regard for our own welfare or the welfare of others? Learning to control our passions, learning to use restraint with our words, learning to curb our appetites, to master over time what our limits should be -  this is largely why we are here on earth in these wonderful bodies! We do have these bodies that God has given us, but they do naturally, lack control, and if we gave reign to all of our passions we would all end up being slaves to food, sex, drugs, and anything else that we have an appetite for. Control, mastery, is VITAL for our happiness and our success in this life.

I will leave you with one last piquant and thought provoking quote that I think sums it up nicely.

"You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than over yourself... the height of a man's success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment."
               - Leonardo Da Vinci