Flexing

A weird thing happened at my church conference last month. A leader stood and talked for a while about the good qualities of a fellow church leader--admirable, but eventually tedious. Then the speaker looked around, paused, and flexed both his biceps at once in front of hundreds of church goers. There were a few little laughs, but most people didn't seem to realize he'd just posed like a bodybuilder. Then he grinned, as if he'd just gotten away with something.

I asked my husband about it, and he didn't even notice it had happened.

Another odd thing has been happening in my church. We are taught our whole lives to respect the temple ceremonies, which are given through revelation to the church leaders. We do not discuss them much outside the temple, except in general terms, for we are taught that they are sacred. But they have been altered four times in the past five years. They rarely changed before that. What is going on? Why is no one speaking up and saying that something seems odd about that?

I think that new technology is being used to "blind" people, or at least distract them. The two odd things I mention above seem like "flexes" to check to see how distracted we are.

Why do I find them odd while my husband and others don't seem to notice?

I have some hypotheses:

1) I remember to verbally revoke the overly generous permissions I have given to technology apps.

2) I follow the counsel given to Joseph Smith to avoid tobacco, hot drinks (tea and coffee, back then), and strong drink. I have even started avoiding any yeast products, as yeast makes alcohol and yeast is regularly bio-engineered to make pharmaceuticals.

3) I wash my clothes with baking soda and a minimal amount of detergent. I make certain not to add sulfates.

4) I am, as any reasonable person would do, experimenting with not wearing the church-issued garments. Yes, I still dress modestly, as I would to cover the garments, but people used to be able to sew their own garments. Now we are all expected to wear church-issued underclothes with no exceptions. That seems unreasonable to me, and the guidance we receive about garments is that we don't have to wear them when it would be unreasonable to do so. My husband is serving as my control group for this experiment, and he really does seem less bothered by things that I think would otherwise bother him a lot.

I think we're living through a time described by 2 Nephi 28:21. We know music can help us feel comfortable and less annoyed by unpleasant things. I think other forms of media, as well as biological and chemical interactions, are being used to help increase senses of false security.