Bullshit

Ok. So I promise I won't start all my blogs with a crass word. But this one just has to be "Bullshit." So I have this brother, older brother, who is not a member of the LDS church. He's a bit of an Idahoan red neck with one hell of a smoker’s voice and a history of doing socially acceptable things that would make a Mormon shudder. Incidentally, he has decided to quite smoking. He quit for one week. Being single he has sown his wild oats and now has 2 kids. Becoming a dad has settled him down quite a bit. Anyway, on with the story.

I decided to take my shotgun shooting, dirt bike riding brother to a dance competition in NY with me. Actually he was hounding me about it for weeks (I've got him hooked). So we went. Beautiful dancers were ogled and good dancing was enjoyed by all. After the competition, we went to an after party. This is where all the professional dancers get together and drink their narcissistic little hearts out. My brother and I began chatting with one such beautiful professional dancer. By the end of the conversation her lack of sobriety and lustful intentions were quite clear. I quickly ended the conversation and my brother and I left.

Now this when my perception of my brother changed. On the subway ride home, my bother began to chat about the evening as well as the drunken girl that wanted someone to warm up her lonely bed. I figured that the only reason my brother hadn't jumped on that pony and ridden was because of me. To my chagrin, I found that his position was quite on the contrary. While trying to stay awake, sitting on the hard NY metro benches, my older brother began to pass on his nuggets of wisdom to me, the naive younger brother. Like the dews from heaven...ok maybe I'm going a little too far. While nothing he said seemed truly novel to me, it was a testament to the veracity of the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He began by telling me that he knew what our drunken little dancer acquaintance was after and that he was not at all interested. "I don't do that anymore. I've had one night stands and they are not worth it." He explained that he desired to have the emotional connections with a deserving and wonderful woman. He went on to explain that none of it matters. "Family is all that matters...and the rest of the bullshit is...bullshit."

At 2am in the morning, on the red line headed for Harlem, my brother shared his testimony of one of the great truths taught in the gospel. I guess this was interesting to me, because it is great to see how values that we are given in the gospel are a grand recipe for happiness and based on truth. We may not understand all the reasons for the law of chastity, but my brother has figured out of few of them by trial and error. The gospel of Christ is true for all. I feel blessed to know the truth instead of having to figure it out blindly.