Mending Cracked Dams
By C.S. Bezas

In Faith Precedes the Miracle, President Spencer W. Kimball wrote:

Some years ago we visited a country where strange ideologies were taught and “pernicious doctrines” were promulgated every day in the schools and in the captive press. Every day the children listened to the doctrines, philosophies, and ideals their teachers related.

Someone said that “constant dripping will wear away the hardest stone.” This I knew, so I asked about the children: “Do they retain their faith? Are they not overcome by the constant pressure of their teachers? How can you be sure they will not leave the simple faith in God?”

The answer amounted to saying “We mend the damaged reservoir each night. We teach our children positive righteousness so that the false philosophies do not take hold. Our children are growing up in faith and righteousness in spite of the almost overwhelming pressures from outside.”

Even cracked dams can be mended and saved, and sandbags can hold back the flood. And reiterated truth, renewed prayer, gospel teachings, expression of love, and parental interest can save the child and keep him on the right path (Faith Precedes the Miracle, pp. 113-14).

I'm astonished how much President Kimball's statement applies to the condition our seminary youth face today. Many "strange ideologies" have crept into so much of our youths' daily experiences, regardless of the country they live in, the school they go to, or the friends they associate with.

I think if most parents spent two weeks or more walking with their youth from sun up to sundown, they would be impressed how well these kids hold up under the clash of ideologies they are surrounded with. Our youth need to be applauded for what they do to surround themselves with good things as a protective measure. But the reality is that the times they live in are intense. The war fought in the pre-earth life continues here. Satan is playing for keeps and currently seems to have pulled out all the stops.

My husband deals in his counseling with youth who do drugs. This is a normal lifestyle for them and is consistent with what they know — from their school, from their friends, from their society. Drugs are so commonplace in the world around them that in the lives of these troubled youth, "doing drugs" is the norm. Though the youth my husband counsels are not members of the Church, they do speak of a society where almost anything goes.

This is the society our seminary youth are growing up in. The pressures facing our dear young men and women today are in many ways far more blatant and common place than anything you or I might have encountered in our own childhood. Under this daily exposure to such heavy and disturbing choices, at any point cracks may begin to appear in our youths' spiritual dams.

We, as their servants, need to be on guard — continually ready to serve and help them mend any weakening walls. The Lord will help us in this process to support them and their parents as they work so to do.

Information Makes for Better Inspiration

In this process it is imperative we stay abreast of the times surrounding our young men and women. As a young missionary, my husband often heard his MTC President repeat the following: "Information makes for better inspiration." Here are a few important questions we could ask ourselves as seminary teachers:

• Do we have the information necessary to be well inspired in working with our students?
• Do we spend the entire time "preaching" in front of the class, speaking without allowing any student participation or discovery?
• Do we allow our students to discuss the scriptures on a cognitive level?
• Do we engage them on a spiritual level?

All these steps aid our students' ability to reach the point where they can repair their own dams of spirituality. To support this, our students need clear and doctrinally accurate seminary lessons, not just cutesy stories to make a point. They deserve the finest we can give them if they are to gain the skills they need to repair any developing breach in their spiritual reservoirs.

Repairing Breached Reservoirs

If you ever see a breached dam or reservoir, it's not something you forget quickly. Survivors of the Teton Dam's breach could regale you with frightening stories of loss and trauma.

Dams are important in retaining life-giving water. The understanding is that if water is released all at once, it turns deadly; carefully controlled, it enriches. So too is it with our youth. The power they hold within themselves, with all of its eternal beauty and potential, must be contained and properly channeled to edify themselves and others.

We want these young men and women to return to our Heavenly Father with joy. Thus we teach them the beauty and value of containment (which otherwise might be called commandments). The self-control that comes through commandment-keeping and careful choice-making creates stature within a youth; it gives him the ability to face each day triumphantly.

But there are many things that seek to chink away at our youths' spiritual dams or reservoirs. Mass media are a potent example. For example, who can walk through a grocery stand without being assailed by varieties of articles on physical relations? The magazines are replete with scantily clad young women in suggestive poses. The articles purport to teach the ways of happiness through immoral means.

The chinks in our youths' "moral dams" happen every day, somewhere, to some youth. For example, how are our seminary young women supposed to feel when they stand in line to purchase an item at the grocery store? What are they supposed to think about the worth of women when seeing these kinds of images?

What might our young men think, standing in line with the covers of these magazines staring back at them? It is easy to hide our heads in the sand, to pretend this media-saturated world is not having an impact on our youth, but it might be a rather indefensible argument.

The deception apparently is large enough; the impact strong enough. Why else would an apostle of the Lord need to speak to the young women and women of the church, admonishing them not to have cosmetic surgery with all of its nips, tucks, and implosions? (see Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "To the Young Women," Ensign, Nov 2005, p. 28)

Unfortunately, these are images that surround our youth. As the teachers for our seminary kids, do we just turn a blind eye to the situation? The tsunami of sleaze is more eternally threatening to our youth than a physical tsunami, no matter the size. The filth that President Hinckley repeatedly has mentioned is threatening to destroy the "moral dams" that hold our society together. Some might argue otherwise, but how long can an argument like that stand before the words of the Lord's anointed prophet?

What kind of a world is yesterday's generation casually handing off to today's newest generation? Communities around us are turning a blind eye to such things. No wonder President Hinckley and our other church leaders have admonished us to speak out against such fare, whether in print form or in other forms of media. If we don't speak out, who will?

I believe that as seminary teachers, it is imperative we defend and serve our youth not only in the classroom, but by speaking out as we've been asked — so that we leave a better world for this rising generation. Definitely we can talk with store managers at grocery stores and other such places; we can request that they at least cover inappropriate magazines in the grocery aisle.

In fact, one grocery store chain in my area, after receiving only a handful of comments, actually began to cover the magazines with opaque rectangles the size of those magazines. Truly, speaking out will make a difference and create a better world for our young men and women.

What About in the Classroom?

What about in the classroom? How best do we help our students keep their moral reservoirs repaired and well? Or perhaps, the question could be — just how confused are our seminary students about what matters in life?

Some of our students are doing well. The walls to their reservoirs of spiritual strength are well built and consistently guarded. But what about the sweet youth who walk into our classrooms whose walls may have cracks in them the size of several centimeters? Who will help repair these cracks?

The first line of defense comes, of course, from the parents. Theirs is an urgent call. We as seminary teachers are to teach to the scripture block assigned for each day, to share the words of the modern prophets in our lessons, and to share our testimonies of gospel truths. We are to leave other kinds of teaching moments to parental discretion. But we must be aware of the forces that seek to destroy our youths' spiritual "dams." This is where "information makes for better inspiration" as we pray and prepare each lesson.

But as seminary teachers, we have a role too. Our youths' internal walls of standards hold what is most precious within them — that of their eternal potential — and it is best guarded through clear doctrinal teaching and faith.

For example, in the 2 John 2, we read of God's viewpoint on "love." If this were part of our scripture block for the day, how helpful it would be for the seminary kids to understand and apply this principle in their own lives. In fact, this could be a fairly urgent principle to grasp. As opposed to what magazines purport love to be, the apostle John clearly defines "love" as:

And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Can you imagine a youth who has fully grasped this wise principle — that love is walking after God's commandments? How far-reaching would this be? How would this affect his daily choices? How could this strengthen him as he wakes up each day and during each moment of that day, whether in a grocery store line or at a party with friends?

John goes further to warn:

For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an anti-christ.

Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

What a potent principle! What an amazing yardstick with which to measure all the choices that a youth faces! A youth who really "gets" this is so much better able to deal with the pressures the world (or friends) might press upon him. Can you see the essential nature of seminary? Where each day we have the opportunity to arm our youth for that day with clear doctrines and principles? It is mind-boggling to consider the power of these kinds of seminary moments.

The Church itself has recognized the need to strengthen our youths' standards or "walls" to their spiritual reservoirs. This is why our youth are given those priceless pamphlets, "For the Strength of Youth." The admonitions contained therein are straightforward and even blunt at times. The principles taught therein are meant to be believed and taken seriously. They're not just to be talked about; they are to be lived by not only the youth, but also by those admonished to set the example for those youth. And the counsels within the small pamphlet are comforting, replete with promises for those who choose to obey them. Those who do will have reservoirs to stand the test of time.

Specific Steps in the Classroom

These are the steps President Kimball recommended in the earlier quote to mend our youth from the onslaught of the day:

1. Reiterate truth.
2. Renew prayer.
3. Teach the gospel.
4. Express love.
5. Involve parental interest.

Each youth leader and teacher needs to approach the Lord to understand how best to apply these steps in the lives of their individual young men and women. For indeed, as we seek His wisdom, we will be given insights to effectively aid our students' mending of their spiritual and emotional reservoirs.

It is important to remember we are not alone in this effort. As each one within the body of the Church steps forward to support and lift our youth — by both speaking out in the community against inappropriate materials and by effectively teaching within church classrooms — the effort will become quite effective. And at some point, the young people will join the brigade. As they do so, they will find ever-growing strength within themselves to ensure their reservoir walls remain strong.

Summary

Mending cracked dams is a lengthy process. How much better it is to prevent the crack in the first place! But some cracks are unavoidable; they are the natural process of living in the world and being exposed to the sharp jabs of the adversary.

May we as teachers of our youth be sensitive, be aware, and be alert to the cracks that may appear in our kids. By applying the wisdom of God, we will better serve these valiant sons and daughters of God. Because they have a mighty future ahead of them, their spiritual reservoirs must remain intact.

President Kimball stated so long ago, "reiterated truth, renewed prayer, gospel teachings, expression of love, and parental interest can save the child and keep him on the right path." These mending steps are reinforced as we teach each youth who they are and the personal strength that comes from upholding God's standards. This is one of the many benefits of the seminary program.