BYU Devotional: Derek Marquis

Derek Marquis spoke to us last Tuesday.  He's had quite a bit of experience in broadcasting, and shared a great message about the media and the influence it has had on society over the years.  He especially talked about its influence for good.  After all, thanks to miracles such as radio, television, the internet, and texting, it has become easier than ever to spread the Gospel to all the world as has been commissioned by the Savior.  He played for us a sound clip of a recording by President Wilford Woodruff  of him bearing his testimony of the Savior and Joseph Smith, recorded onto a wax cylinder clear back in the 1800's!  And since then, technology has continued to progress in leaps and bounds.  The Lord's servants have always used these advances to advance His work, and Bro. Marquis encouraged us to do the same.  We should take a look at the technologies available to us and determine what more we can do to use them to spread the Gospel and participate in the conversations going on about the Church!



He also shared a chilling story.  It was a vivid dream a friend of his had (I can't remember who it was; I'll look that up when I can).  Here's what I remember:

His friend was having a family reunion with his children and grandchildren in his backyard.  It was a beautiful day, and they were having a wonderful time having fun together and just enjoying each other's company.  Then he happened to look up, and he saw an enormous flock of blackbirds.  There must have been hundreds, if not thousands of blackbirds.  They were beautiful to watch!  They soared through the air, flapping in perfect unison.  As they came closer though, he started to notice something strange.  The blackbirds were beginning to pair off and to land in the yards of the surrounding neighbors.  It was then that he realized that these were not blackbirds at all, but were actually evil beings.  He suddenly shouted at his children and grandchildren to get inside the house where it was safe!  He frantically made sure they were all accounted for, and then rushed them all in and told them to make sure every door and window was locked.  They all scrambled around the house, barring every entrance to the house they could find.  Just when he thought they had successfully locked the spirits out, he saw two of them standing in his living room.  Somehow, a window in the basement had been forgotten; and now these two evil beings were in the house with his family.

I think the meaning is clear, and scary to think about.  Our home is meant to be a safe haven for our families, and so the adversary and his servants are constantly seeking opportunities to get in.  They can and will use any means to gain access.  The window that was left open, exposing the man's family to their whims could have been the television, the internet, a book, a video game, or a music recording.  It could have been any one of those things, or even something we may not normally consider to be a danger.  But the danger is lurking; we can't afford to allow them in, even an inch!