Inspirations

Michelle inspired me to post a talk I gave in church last week... or two weeks ago... anyway, Just like her I had fun researching out and writing my talk. The topic given for every speaker that month was Home as a Sanctuary for Righteousness. All the generic talks had been given. Beautify your home, keep it clean, speak and act with good manners, show respect, show love etc. So Scott and I had to change up our approach.
And just like Michelle I timed out what I wrote and then after a short youth speaker my talk just flew by and Scott had to make up the difference for the remaining meeting time. He did a great job. He has received so many compliments. I got a few, mumbled, good jobs. I realize that it needs to be fleshed out a bit more. But the last time I spoke in church was like 4 years ago and I spoke for like 20 minutes. No to sound petty, but I think my last two talks have averaged themselves out. I'm good and the next talk I give should be a well written, well delivered, well timed talk.

Enjoy:

Good morning brother’s and sisters, I am Arren Quigley. My husband Scott and I are new to the ward, the state and the region. We are both from Texas. I grew up in Houston and Scott was born in Dallas. He moved around in his youth but when we got married, he brought me back to Dallas.
Recently it seems that my family is expanding in location across the nation while Scott’s family seemed to be collecting here in Washington. We joined the move west three months after our daughter, Jaedyn, was born, and here we are in Redmond.
We both have extended family in the greater Seattle area and as we have been driving all up and down the state we have made some observations. One of the first things we noticed when we got here was that Washington is weird.
The street signs look different. Drivers here are not quite so aggressive. Nor do they “Drive friendly, the Texas way” by waving thanks when you let them in or cut them off. The sky changes from dark to light and back to dark at a different pace. The people wear different clothes and because of the latitude difference, they have a tendency to wear more of them. I am aware that Texas is like a country unto itself, but most of the differences we noticed are just cultural.
Culture, defined as the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
OR the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.
OR The customs, beliefs, arts and institutions of a group of people,
Means it is the people here, or there, that make this place seem so different.
It’s what they value, like tall trees vs. wide open spaces.
In other areas value is placed on nature, on becoming one with the earth, on food, on technology, on entertainment and maybe on what not to wear. Culture changes and morphs as one generation places emphasis on a new value and something old loses importance. It’s lost in the transfer from generation to generation and new values take hold.
I was making a calendar on-line recently and had the option of adding various holidays. I noticed a trend as I browsed through the holidays from around the world. We tend to celebrate three things, freedom from oppression, cleanliness or new life, and beauty. Across continents and cultures these holidays have different names and wax and wane as the generations change. For instance, spring celebrations, like New Years and Spring Cleaning may have less import as gifts and cleaning are provided year round.
One custom, or institution, that every culture has is a home.
Ann Douglas said that “Home is an invention on which no one has yet improved.” It has been shaped and modified to fit the needs of the climate, geography and lifestyle of its people; but the institution of a home spans all cultures. So a home is different to everyone. For some of us it is boxlike with doors and windows. Some have levels and stairs. Some homes are circular, like the Mongols’ yurts, some like the pygmies in Africa are packed up and moved everyday. “different lifestyles influence the shape of the habitat, the division and distribution of domestic spaces” We have these domestic spaces, in every culture because homes are special. Homes can be our refuge, from the elements, from predators and sometimes from the “world” or the very culture we live in.
A place of refuge, a special place. In other words, a sanctuary.

Sanctuaries are protected places. In outdoor sanctuaries, wild animals are not hunted. Indoors a sanctuary is a sacred or holy place. In our Bible dictionary a sanctuary is defined as a tabernacle or temple. The tabernacle of the Ark of the Covenants was so sacred that those who touched it were killed. Forms of temples have been built as a safe place, a sanctuary for worshiping Heavenly Father since the time of Adam. Our bodies are also called temples or tabernacles. In D&C 93: 35 begins with,
“The aelements are the btabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God.”
Our spirits share these tabernacles with the light of Christ, with the love of Christ. His love is protected in layers of sanctuaries called tabernacles, homes, churches, temples and righteous living.

Righteousness is a term that can mean something different to everyone. When I was looking up the definition in the scriptures, the allusion to the armor of God popped out at me. Again and Again. In the war against the Devil, we have been given the following armor:
• Loins girt about with truth
• Breastplate of righteousness
• Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace
• Shield of faith
• Helmet of salvation
• Sword of God’s Spirit and His word through revelation
Righteousness is the breastplate. Protecting the heart. Protecting Love from the fiery darts of the adversary. So as we live a righteous life we can feel the love of our Father in Heaven and our lifestyle will protect that love. It can be hard; our adversary is cunning and has experience on his side. In 2 NE 2: 27 we read:
“Wherefore, men are afree according to the bflesh; and call things are dgiven them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to echoose fliberty and eternal glife, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be hmiserable like unto himself.”
He wants us to be miserable like him. Cut off from the love of our Heavenly Father, like he is. Currently he is doing a good job of disrupting the institution of the family. By undermining the family, and dividing families from units to individuals he is creating a platform from which cultures of discontent and frustration instead of love and acceptance grow.

Winston Churchill said “We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us.” Like so many adages we hear it’s true that you reap what you sew. If you want a life of love and acceptance, create a loving and accepting home to live in. If you are not the master of the domicile, or you don’t feel that you get to make the choices about the atmosphere of the home, remember that home is where the heart is. A home cultivating righteousness can begin at the doorframe of your bedroom, or inside your car or within your journal. The important thing is to protect the love Heavenly Father gives you, to not allow a fiery dart called “I can’t” get to you. As you cultivate your home to be a safe place or sanctuary for righteousness it will return the favor and shape you to be a righteous person living in a sanctuary or tabernacle and both sanctuaries will protect the love Heavenly Father shows you. So while not every home is the same, they can all be sanctuaries for right as defined by the culture they are found in. Our goal as Latter Day Saints is to create cultures of righteousness. To cultivate and create the culture where home is a sanctuary for righteousness. Where love is given greater value. Where the plan of our Savior is applauded, encouraged and prevails over our adversaries attempts to dissuade us.

I’m so grateful for the excellent counsel we have been given in conference and the past weeks as well as from our Bishop on this topic. I encourage you to take the Bishops advice and “take what is good in your home and improve upon it.” I bear testimony of our Heavenly Father’s love for each of us in the name…