In the Middle of Babylon

I am so excited to be in the Book of Daniel now!  I love the stories of these four young men, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  Their greatest quality was truly their non-worldliness.  Now, this is a story about four amazing young men and I love seeing this in the men and boys of today.  I also love this quality when I see it in women.

It is so clearly obvious and apparent to me when I am with a Zion-hearted sister in my church, the way she talks about life, the way she consistently dresses, the way she handles social media or guards the media streaming in her home, they way she reaches out to others regardless of who they are (cliques are unheard of for her.)  I love how she shares her faith, how humble she is (and doesn't even know it), how she views and speaks about her spouse or each of her children, and the list goes on.  I love that she is so counter-culture.  My best friend, Suzanne, is this way.  My friend, Carol, is this way... My friend, Kanani, is this way...  In fact all of my deepest and closest friends are this way.  This is why I treasure and love them so dearly.

I found this really great talk given April, 2006 by, Elder David R. Stone - Zion in the Midst of Babylon  I've copy-pasted the part that really jumped out at me.

"Daniel and his brothers refused to do that which they believed to be wrong, however much the Babylonian culture believed it to be right. And for that fidelity and courage, the Lord blessed them and 'gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom'  Dan. 1:17

Seduced by our culture, we often hardly recognize our idolatry, as our strings are pulled by that which is popular in the Babylonian world. Indeed, as the poet Wordsworth said: 'The world is too much with us' (“The World Is Too Much with Us; Late and Soon,” in The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth [1924], 353). 

In his first epistle, John writes:

• 'I have written unto you … because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one... Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world'  1 Jn. 2:14–15

We do not need to adopt the standards, the mores, and the morals of Babylon. We can create Zion in the midst of Babylon. We can have our own standards for music and literature and dance and film and language. We can have our own standards for dress and deportment, for politeness and respect. We can live in accordance with the Lord’s moral laws. We can limit how much of Babylon we allow into our homes by the media of communication.

We can live as a Zion people, if we wish to. Will it be hard? Of course it will, for the waves of Babylonian culture crash incessantly against our shores. Will it take courage? Of course it will.

We have always been entranced by tales of courage of those who faced fearsome odds and overcame. Courage is the basis and foundation for all of our other virtues; the lack of courage diminishes every other virtue that we have. If we are to have Zion in the midst of Babylon, we will need courage."- Elder David R. Stone, Zion in the Midst of Babylon

-Alicia