Like it or not, the vast majority of those attending Church have no control over what happens there. We don’t control the speakers, or the music, or who teaches the classes, and certainly not what anyone says. This past week I frequently heard fears about the 5th Sunday lesson on the Constitution — fears that the lesson would be one-sided or lead to partisan arguments or embolden those with “fringe” beliefs to make a scene. I hope none of those fears were realized in your cases. My experience was free from any conflict. The teacher simply covered seven principles behind the constitution without asking for commentary.

BUT, those principles didn’t include a basic freedom that we often take for granted: the freedom to react in thought in whatever way we want to. Even if we don’t feel free to say what we want to, we can still think without consequences from others. Our mental reactions are our own and are naturally hidden, available only to ourselves.

However, it’s probably not correct to say that our thoughts are completely without consequences. Our thoughts lead to how we see the world, and eventually to how we act and react with others. Our thoughts change our hearts (see my Come Follow Me post from earlier today) and form the kind of people we are, and in the end I think the Lord judges where we are spiritually by those same hearts.

So, we can redirect how we think, and by doing so become better people. How we mentally react to what happens in Church is a great place to train our minds and change our hearts. Our thoughts about Church will drive what kind of people we become. We can choose to mentally criticize everything that happens, or we can choose to find generous ways of thinking or focus on the good, true and beautiful in what happens. We have the freedom to think as we will.

So, what are you thinking in reaction to what happens in Church?

In these posts I am trying to suggest that each of us can have better experiences at Church if we take responsibility for our experiences, and if we are open to learning from what happens by pondering it — by thinking about it in many different ways. We can choose to learn and benefit from what happens regardless of whether it fits our perception of what is “good.” Thinking about our reactions and what we understand allows for revelation and for better understanding.

In this vein, I like the statement that President Hugh B. Brown made in a 1969 BYU devotional, President Hugh B. Brown declared that the Church is “not so much concerned with whether your thoughts are orthodox or heterodox as we are that you shall have thoughts.” We should be carefully considering what we hear at Church, regardless of whether what we heard is right or wrong, orthodox or heterodox. 

A lot of our thought depends on how we look at it. It is not different from what many artists figure out—they understand that how you see the  world before you is more important than what you see. You might call it ‘active listening’ or shifting perspective. It just means that you see differently. And seeing differently reveals a different world.

In my case, I tend to focus narrowly, thinking about groups of words or sentences, sometimes taking them out of context and thinking about what they say, even if the speaker didn’t intend what I heard. It’s not at all like what we’re taught in school, where the focus is on understanding accurately and completely what the speaker or text says. Its about pulling out useful or inspiring thoughts in spite of what was said.

So, if you aren’t thinking this way, maybe try it next Sunday, or the next time you are in a class or meeting. If you have already thoughts inspired by what happened at church, what are they? How did you react to what happened in Church yesterday? What did you notice? Did you end up thinking differently? Do you think your reactions were what they should be? Were they looking for what God had to tell you? Did your reactions make things better?

This is the latest invitation for reactions to local meetings, continuing a series of weekly posts that started with my post on September 25th about how we receive what happens in Church meetings—sermons, lessons and anything else—and enter a conversation with them, magnifying what was said or adding what we think. In these posts I’m asking us all to think about how we listen and receive what happens at Church. If we only listen for mistakes, or things that bother us, what does that say about us? Is it most important to criticize others? Or to try to change ourselves?

The point here is that no matter how poorly prepared the speaker or teacher is, or no matter how what happens triggers us, or is objectively or doctrinally wrong, we can still find elements in what is said and what happens that inspires and edifies us. Even if church meetings aren’t conducted in a way that reaches us, we can take responsibility and find a way to feel the spirit.