The Empty House
There was a man who banished unclean spirits from his house, and went his way seeking rest. When he found no rest, he said, I will return into my house from whence I came out. When he returned to his house, he found it empty, swept and garnished, for the good spirits had left also, and he was alone.
Then came one evil, and brought with him a company of evils, and they entered in to dwell there; and the man ended up worse than he was before.
“Where one was weak before, he will be most easily tempted again.
“In abandoning sin one cannot merely wish for better conditions. He must make them. He must eliminate anything which would stir the old memories. The things which engaged him and caught his fancy and occupied his thoughts are gone, and better substitutions have not yet filled the void. This is Satan’s opportunity. The man makes a start but may find the loss of the yesterday’s habits so great that he is enticed to return to his evil ways, and his lot thus becomes infinitely worsened.
“Many who have discontinued bad habits have found that substitution is part of the answer, and have conquered a bad habit by replacing it with a good or harmless one.”
~Spencer W. Kimball
We cannot save the air we need to breathe, no matter how hard we try... So it is with spiritual light. It must be renewed in us on a regular basis, . . . Day by day, thought by thought, and with daily righteous action if we are to keep the darkness of the adversary away.
~Robert D. Hales
Anger and self-pity cause spiritual vulnerability.
~James Giometta
That we do a lot may not be so important. That we focus the energy of our minds, our hearts, and our souls on those things of eternal significance--- that is essential.
~Joseph B. Wirthlin
“My home was a house of order,” says Susan W. Tanner, a mother. “It was of utmost importance (in spite of hectic schedules) for us to be together for breakfast and dinner. Mealtime meant more than just refueling. It was a crucial time for nourishing spirits as well as bodies.”
When her daughter married and moved away, Mrs. Tanner recalled a little journal she had given her daughter on her 17th birthday.
It was entitled “Did I Tell You. . . .?” In this journal, this mother had recorded counsel given her young daughter in late-night conversations. Excerpts follow.
1. Did I tell you how to make your home a haven of peace and a fortress of strength? You should follow the pattern... “to establish a house... of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning... a house of order.”
2. Small things make a happy home— things like praying, saying “I’m sorry,” expressing gratitude, reading a good book together.
3. Remember how every time we drove in the car we sang so we wouldn’t quarrel?
4. It is important for you...to understand that...God holds motherhood and mothers sacred and in the highest esteem.
5. Did I tell you. . . that to the very depths of my being, I love being a mother?
6. Love can make the difference. Love generously given in childhood and reaching through the awkward years of youth. . . and encouragement that is quick to compliment and slow to criticize.
7. Sometimes discipline, which means “to teach”, is confused with criticism.
8. Children — as well as people of all ages— improve behavior from love and encouragement more than from fault-finding.
9. We demonstrate our love for family members not only in teaching them affirmatively but also in giving them of our time.
10. Finally, did I tell you... that love is the foundational virtue in building a strong home?
