Church News Report on Elder Callister's Address
Delivered Saturday, September 22, 2007 at the 17th Annual Evergreen Conference
'Battle is within': Live standards and be blessed
Conference emphasizes spirituality, self-control
September 29, 2007
By John L. Hart
Church News associate editor
Pamphlet, "God Loveth His Children," for members troubled with
same-gender attraction, assures that "God does indeed love all of
His children." Coinciding with this theme, Evergreen International,
a supportive organization, held a conference Sept. 21-22.
While many questions about same-gender attraction might never
be answered in this life, said Elder Douglas L. Callister, "The
more secure we are in our faith, the greater is our willingness to
leave unanswered questions for another day."
He observed that "the great battle for those with
same-gender inclination is not with society, or parents, or the
Church. It is within."
Elder Callister of the Seventy addressed a gathering of
several hundred people at the Evergreen International Conference on
Sept. 22, held in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown
Salt Lake City.
This organization, in its mission statement, "attests that
individuals can overcome homosexual behavior and can diminish
same-sex attraction, and is committed to assisting individuals who
wish to do so.... Evergreen sustains the doctrines and standards of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints without reservation
or exception, but is not affiliated with the Church. Evergreen
welcomes all people who wish to participate in the pursuit of these
goals."
In the past few years a General Authority has been invited
to address one of the sessions of the conference.
In his address, Elder Callister emphasized that while many
of life's questions remain unknown, eternal principles are simple
and known. He encouraged those of this affinity, knowing these
principles, to take control of themselves through their prayers,
their fasting, their partaking of the sacrament, and their thoughts.
"I stand before you in admiration for your courage in the
face of challenges," he said. "Life is not always as we dreamed
when we were little children, or as our parents dreamed for us that
it would be. Perhaps none listening today anticipated the very real
challenges for self, or a loved one, associated with same-gender
attraction."
The first eternal principle he listed is that "God is
literally our Father. Our relationship with Him ... is the intimate
relationship of parent and child. He has chosen for us to address
Him as 'Father.'
"When some unwisely say that 'homosexuality is what I am,
not what I do,' it is a gross misstatement," he said. "What we
really are is a son or daughter of God. This is what defines us."
The love of God for each of us is a miracle, and "God knows,
loves and remembers us individually." Even when Heavenly Father and
our loved ones are disappointed in us, "God's love for us is too
great to ever end."
Immortality, a gift of the Atonement, assures of the
unendingness of time.
"Because time has no end, we are very short-sighted if
present decisions fail to contemplate eternal consequences," he
said. "The desire to 'be happy now' must not disregard the
significantly more important desire to be happy forever. This
knowledge sometimes gives us strength to say 'no' when we need to
say 'no."'
God's plan offers the obedient the largest reward imaginable
— to live like God, Elder Callister noted.
"God's plan does not contemplate rewards or punishments, as
much as it contemplates consequences," he continued. "Truly, a man
will reap as he has sown. The law of consequences suggests that
often, when we make a correct decision, we pay our price first and
reap the reward later. When we make an incorrect decision, we often
reap our reward first, but pay our price later."
This plan is centered on the continuation of families. In
the end, "the reward is so great, and eternity is so long, that (a
union between a man and a woman) is worth waiting for, even if it
is not imaginable, attractive or possible at present. It is not
conceivable that Heavenly Father would dictate these requirements
as part of the plan without the positive assurance that in a time
of His choosing all the proper inclinations will exist so that this
family life will be a complete joy to all family members."
Control of self is the true yardstick of spirituality, and
self-denial is essential for happiness. Elder Callister observed:
"In general, the sinner is not the man who sets out in life to be
wicked.... The sinner is the man who cannot say no."
Regarding prayer, he said, "Choose carefully just a few
things to talk to Father about. Be certain to include things for
which you are grateful. Then, in the language of Isaiah, 'Reason
with the Lord."'
"If you are struggling to be the master of same-gender
inclinations, talk to God about it, but do not let it become an
obsession or the sole subject of your prayers. Do not be concerned
that the list of prayer subjects is brief.... Much may be omitted.
It is not the purpose of prayer to draw to God's attention that
which He may not have observed."
In the quest for fasting to aid spiritual growth, he quoted
Elder Melvin J. Ballard, formerly of the Quorum of the Twelve, who
said that fasting tells "our physical bodies — 'You can do without
these two meals; it will not hurt you, indeed it will benefit you,
and though my head may ache and my body may feel faint, I will not
die, and I am bigger than you are and once a month I will show you
that I am master.... I will not have this body defiled; it is my
servant and it must be kept clean."'
In partaking of the sacrament, we should "concentrate our
thoughts solely on the Savior, His ministry, His words, His plan,
the consequences of an empty grave, and lessons from His life" and
"we should re-read, as the emblems are shared, the words of the
sacrament hymn just sung. Some of the great doctrinal messages of
the gospel are richly interwoven into the text of our hymns." This
experience "is not a time to let our thoughts wander."
Thoughts must always be controlled, he said. "Impure
thoughts would be wrong, even if God had not condemned them,
because of what they do to one's inner self. When it comes to
thoughts, there are no innocent victims. Just as spirituality is
the knowledge of victory over oneself — of self-mastery — even so,
licentious thinking is the realm of indulgence, of yielding to all
that which is base and of a lower plane. The heaven-decreed
consequence of impure thinking is withdrawal of the Spirit of the
Lord.
"On the other hand the Lord has promised that righteous,
controlled, garnished thoughts will result in the Holy Ghost being
our constant companion and guide and that our confidence will wax
strong in the presence of the Lord."
Elder Callister concluded that "the spiritual giants, both
here and in the life to come, will not be those who faced life
without trial, temptation or sorrow, but rather those who
courageously stepped forward to take control of their lives,
trusting to another day and the Almighty God the provision of
answers which are now withheld."
E-mail to: jhart@desnews.com
© 2007 Deseret News Publishing Company