The Temple, Glee and Me

Photo by Shan'l Parish 2009

Last night I had the chance to go to the temple.  As I was driving to the temple I had a deep feeling of urgency to get there sooner than later.  Almost like I couldn't get to the temple fast enough.  As I went through the temple session I had a most spiritual experience, especially while in the Celestial room.  I left the temple feeling amazing!  It was kind of like the day when I received an answer to my prayers that marrying Ryan was the right choice, or the day I learned that I would be a month in a short 9 months.  Those are some of the stand out days in my life.

I came home and got into the "busy"ness of the evening, helping Rebekah with homework, laundry, etc. . . For our winding down time that night Ryan and I chose to watch a couple of episodes of Glee with our clear play filter (wouldn't watch most shows without it--too much junk in them).  As we finished watching these two episodes, I realized once again that the messages this show and many others teach have the potential to distort the knowledge we have about our purpose on this earth.  I asked myself "Why did you chose watch this in the first place?"  I took a minute to inventory how I felt, and it was not as good as how I felt when I came out of the temple.

Watching the show itself isn't what had a negative effect on how I felt, Clearplay cuts out the language and inappropriate scenes.  It was the messages of the episodes that affected me.  Subtle messages are all around is--in our music, the way we care for our home, what we say to our children, the shows we watch, the books we read, what we view online to name a few.  This experience has really made me think twice about the criteria I use when choosing to watch movies and television and how I spend my time.  So next month when I come home from the temple I think I will choose to read a good book or maybe just get a jump start on my beauty rest.  And for all those days between yesterday and next month I will think twice before I hit the play button.