Elder Jeffery R. Holland picked a perfect opportunity to talk about being alone in this challenging world, inwhich we live. Why? Because everyone feels alone in certain aspects of life. In his General Conference Talk "None Were With Him" he explains the suffering that Jesus Christ went through alone and likens it to his audience. He chose this topic because everyone has felt alone before and most likely everyone, who is in the audience believes in Jesus Christ. He knows his audience and especially in the church. He states in his talk that we do not have to walk alone because he did. He addresses the Sisters in the church searching for a spouse and can not find one. He addresses the men and tells them that they need to go find them, therefore he is speaking to both parties inviting them to both do their part. Living righteously is the answer he gives to both parties and for the men to seek out these righteous women. Through righteous living we will not need to feel alone because Christ will be there for each one of us.
He exclaims that Jesus Christ alone took upon the hardest task in bringing about salvation. He stated that he had to do it alone. Through this act we are able to receive the most precious blessings such as: salvation, eternal life, resurrected body, and complete happiness. Elder Holland, being an apostle, obviously knew that this was a subject that people were struggling with at the time in their lives. He knew his audience.
At the same time Monica F. Helms argues that one can be homosexual or heterosexual and have the same relationship. She claims that one just needs somebody. Elder Holland and the LDS Church argue that this is not the case. He probably knew of some of the challenges people in the church were facing. Maybe people, in the church, who were having the problem of finding somebody of the opposite gender, wanted to give up and just find anybody. Elder Holland does not directly discuss, but explains that we need Christ and through that we will not feel alone.
Joel Stephens
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I agree that Elder Holland chose the perfect time of the year to give a talk on this subject. If he had done it as just another Ensign article it wouldn't have gotten the attention it received. Knowing that April was the time that the members' minds would be on Christ, Elder Holland knew that it was the opportune moment to get us thinking about the atonement in a completely different light, but by also including us in it by relating to the fact that we all have felt alone. Good analysis.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used the current events to show that rhetorically he used the right topics at the right times. It shows that you didn't throw something together just to fulfill an assignment.
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