GOOD AND EVIL

I am so thankful to belong to this blog community. I have found so many wonderful spirits here and such a feeling of togetherness…like we really AREN’T alone in trying to live good lives. The media would have us think very differently. Tonight, my dear boy and I relistened to a story that we had heard before but one that is very eye-opening. As I don’t do well with details, I will paraphrase the gist of the account. Forgive any inconsistencies, miss-spellings, etc.

Elder Boyd K. Packer had told the account of Elder Cook’s chance meeting on an airplane. This story was told, I believe, in 1989. Elder Cook boarded the plane and, as was his custom, introduced himself to the man sitting next to him and asked his name in return. The man stated his name and upon finding that Elder Cook didn’t seem to know who he was, dug out a magazine and showed his picture. It was a magazine with scantily clad women and scary faces, Elder Cook reported. The man sitting next to him was, it turned out, Mick Jaeger. Once finding this out, Elder Cook related to him that in his travels, he met many young people. He said that some of them told him that his (Jagger’s) kind of music didn’t have any effect upon them. Others, he said, were honest in the fact that they felt an evilness while listening to the music. What, he asked Mick Jagger, were his thoughts on how the music affected the youth. His exact words, to the best of my memory were, “Our music is calculated to drive kids to sex.”

The discussion went on for some time. Mick jagger said that now that the availability of music videos was there, these were able to get their message across even better and that he was making even more money because of it. He didn’t care what the kids were doing.

The first time I heard this story, I was astonished, though I should not have been, because I know the influence of bad music. What struck me was that here sat a servant of the Lord next to a servant of the devil. Elder Cook bore his testimony with force to Jagger and told him that if he did not change his ways, he would be held accountable.

We have so much working against us dear women—against our children, against our husbands, against our families. In fact, one of the things that the rock star said was that he wanted the disintegration of the family. May we continue to pray hardily, read our scriptures, and teach our families DAILY of our dear Heavenly Father and the path he wants us on.