I See... Super Stake Priesthood Meeting

The first Sunday evening in February, a memorable, annual event involving scores of manly men occurs - no, not the Super Bowl, but a Stake Priesthood Meeting. We affectionately call it the Super Stake Priesthood Meeting, and it is memorable not because of the messages that are shared but because of what it represents: direct competition to professional football's game of all games, the contest the world has been waiting a year to witness- the Super Bowl.

Was the Stake Presidency giving us valuable practice in placing priorities? God vs. football. Was the decision really that simple? Or is the battle between good and evil a little more complex? Inevitably, as we, the most valiant and righteous of the priesthood of the stake, entered into the chapel and slid into one of pews waiting for the meeting to begin, the Super Bowl would have already started. We would scan the horizon of the chapel crowd accusingly, looking for the weaker brethren who were not there. There were many good men who chose football over the inspired church counsel offered in a stake priesthood meeting. We were both courageous and a little smug in our righteousness, knowing that we were much better than the rest of the priesthood of the stake, who could easily talk the talk of honoring their priesthood and keeping the Sabbath Day holy, but not walk the walk when faced with the moral dilemmas created by a Super Stake Priesthood Meeting scheduled during the big game.

This year we were saved by the big Church leadership in Salt Lake. They scheduled a regional Stake Conference broadcast for the second weekend in February, so we moved our stake priesthood meeting to the first Sunday in March. Then God helped out by sending us 30+ inches of snow, requiring us to cancel all of our Sunday meetings. It made me think: was the Lord testing those who weren't at the right place at the right time, or those who were? Is it worse to be watching the Super Bowl filled with a testimony of the Gospel in your heart, or be at Stake Priesthood Meeting filled with pride looking down critically at those who didn't show? Or, attend the Stake Priesthood Meeting only because you know it will spiritually energize your soul, while checking your Blackberry between talks for the latest score? Technology has enriched our lives with complex moral decisions our pioneer ancestors could not have imagined facing.

But then again, perhaps it's just one game and one meeting in the long march of our lives that don't deserve the attention it is getting from this blogpost...