Temperance

We had a talk on temperance in Sacrament Meeting a couple weeks ago.  I had so many insights that I actually grabbed a crayon from Wink and started taking notes.  I don't know where the notes are now, though.   I meant to blog about it right after church, but it was a busy day and I never got around to it.  I don't know what made me remember this morning, but I'm glad I did.

Anyway, the speaker started off by talking about how we were always having problems in church building trying to get the temperature someplace where everybody was comfortable.  The gym is always chilly.  Sometimes the chapel is cold, sometimes hot.  The sisters in Relief Society are always cold, the nursery is pretty cold, too.  But some of the primary classrooms get uncomfortably hot.  People mess with the thermostats--some turn it up some turn it down.

In our homes, we have the thermostat sat to hopefully keep the same temperature.  But depending on the season, we turn it up or down.  Even when we think we finally have it at the perfect, comfortable, affordable temperature, some kid comes running in and leaves the door open and we get a blast of hot or cold air that changes the perfect temperature of the house and it takes a while to get back to the stable temperature we want.

That's temperance.  Not too hot, not too cold.  Finding that moderate balance.  There will be outside forces that require us to re-evaluate what our personal settings are?  Are we too hot?  Are we too cold?  What little adjustments do we need to make to regain that balance?

It was kind of cool because, first of all, I don't think I've ever heard anybody speak on temperance.  Maybe something from the 1800s that was all about not drinking alcohol.  It's a principle I haven't considered much.  But I liked this way of describing it.  It's not a state that is achieved and then you just stay there.  It's a constant work of adjusting and refining.  A little this way, and then a little bit back.  Like a pendulum where each swing of the arm is a little less extreme as you hone in on perfection.

Another thing I had not thought of is that temper and temperature and temperance all have the same root.  Previously had thought of "temper" as a bad thing.  Something that should be controlled before you lose it.  But your temper is just your temperance.  Losing your temperance.  Going to the extreme.  Kind of eye-opening to me.