My husband and I went on a little vacation recently.
There was one day in particular when we both hadn’t been on our phones very much because we had a packed schedule of fun events.
It was evening before we both had a chance to sit down and pull out our phones to scroll social media.
We sat down to just chill and scroll social media a bit.
However, as soon as I had opened it, I immediately had to put my phone away.
I’ve always thought people posting their opinions on social media didn’t affect me much.
But in that moment, I felt such a stark contrast.
I had been living in the moment all day—
Connecting, experiencing, relaxing, having fun, and having meaningful conversations.
And then I opened my phone and saw a literal “war of words and tumult of opinions.”
It was too much for me.
That evening, I stayed off social media, FaceTimed my kids, read my scriptures, and went to bed.
Ignore any historical context you may know about this verse, and try to read it from your current perspective:
“In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done?” (JS-H 1:10)
As I sat there, looking at this war of words online, I realized I could do what Joseph did.
Instead of thinking:
“What do I need to post? What do I need to comment on? Where should I share my opinion?”
I tried to ask myself:
“What is to be done right now? What do I need to do?”
Are you feeling overwhelmed by the war of words?
Weighed down by the tumult of opinions?
Instead of adding to the words and the opinions, I think we would be wise to follow Joseph’s thought process.
Try focusing on what good things we can DO.
In our own spheres of influence.
We can create, serve, worship, love, solve, restore, and praise.
What is to be done?
Let’s do it.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
