We
in the Primary presidency of my ward have recently taken a bit of
flak. Certain vocal members of the ward have been complaining that
our Primary needs to be more reverent.
When
these opinions were first brought to my attention, I immediately
thought of a Sharing Time lesson in the Primary curriculum last year
that focused on reverence. The title of the lesson was, “Reverence
is Deep Respect and Love Toward God” (2012 Outline for Sharing
Time, Choose the Right, pg. 15).
I
also thought of the Primary song, Reverence, whose first line
is, “Reverence is more than just quietly sitting.”
I
began to ponder the question, “What is real reverence?”
I
feel I found my answer in the discussion of the two main theories of
educational psychology to come out of the 20th century:
behaviorism and constructivism.
Behaviorism,
watered down to its most elemental tenets, says that we can only
measure what people know by observing the behaviors we see them do.
Scientists
working under the assumptions of this theory have found that people’s
behavior can be manipulated by offering rewards for desirable
behaviors and punishments for undesirable ones.
It
is assumed that when the desirable behavior has been observed, then
the person has learned it. Contrarily, if a desirable behavior is not
observed in a person, then behaviorists say that person has not
learned the lesson at hand.
Constructivism,
on the other hand, basically says that we all see the world in our
own unique perspective and our internal thoughts, feelings, and
beliefs govern what we know and what we do.
A
constructivist says it is very hard to know what a person has learned
simply by watching his outward appearance and actions.
Scientists
working under this theory find it more difficult to quantify learning
and knowledge, but have found that helping people learn how to
identify and articulate their thoughts and feelings help them to make
progress toward learning goals.
When
I read that quote from the Primary song, “Reverence is more
than just quietly sitting,” and that sharing time topic,
”Reverence is Deep Respect and Love Toward God,” I think
that reverence is not a behavior.
Reverence
is something unquantifiable; more of a feeling and a belief.
It
is erroneous to look at a sweet little CTR 5 girl who is sitting
perfectly quietly with her hands folded in her lap, eyes to the front
of the class, and know that she loves God. She may very well, but
then, again, she might not.
It
is equally incorrect to assume that the rowdy Valiant 9 boy in the
back of the class that struggles with impulse control does not have a
deep respect and love for God, although he may not be showing it at
the moment.
In
this way, reverence is very akin to testimony. A testimony cannot be
measured by anyone but God. Someone may appear to be living the
commandments from an outsider’s view, but may be internally
doubting or apathetic to the gospel.
Likewise,
a testimony may be burning bright in a person that does not appear,
by some of his choices, to have one.
I
am reminded of the scripture, “For man looketh on the outward
appearance,
but the Lord
looketh on
the heart.
“ (1 Samuel 16:7)
When
I walk into Primary, sometimes I notice the children are a bit loud
or restless. But guess what else I notice? They have a burning desire
to participate in the activities of Primary, to share what they know
about the scriptures and the gospel, to share themselves with each
other and their leaders, to learn the Primary songs and read the
scriptures on their own (even when the latter takes about five
minutes to get out one verse).
I
have been in this Primary for more than three years now. In all that
time, I have never taught a lesson where the children did not want to
participate and be a part of the learning. Do they sometimes want to
stray off topic? Yes. Do they sometimes act silly? Yes. But they are
never apathetic.
Could
we say the same about ourselves as adult students of the gospel?
Our
Primary children want to know more about God and what His plan is for
them. They have respect for His prophet and the words of God that are
in the scriptures. They love Him. They have that deep respect and
love for God, even if they are wiggling in their chair.
We
adults don’t have their excuse of immature nervous systems that
compel them to be constantly in motion. We know that one of the ways
we show this deep respect and love for God is by quietly
sitting when that is called for. We show it by refraining from
playing Angry Birds in Sunday School or checking Facebook in the
middle of Relief Society meetings.
We
show our reverence by making respectful comments and taking the
opportunity to ponder the things of God in those quiet moments Church
affords us; we demonstrate it by showing up and fulfilling our
callings and doing the work God has for us in His kingdom.
Reverence
is more than just quietly sitting; in fact, it is not quietly sitting
at all. It is loving God with our heart, might, mind, and strength.
It is something we can do all the time, everywhere, not just at
church. It is an attitude we cultivate, making room for holiness in
our life.
Reverence
is deep respect and love towards God, and I would challenge us adults
to strive for achieving the level of those feelings that an average
Sunbeam possesses.
Emily
Jorgensen received her bachelor's degree in piano performance from
Brigham Young University. She earned her master's degree in
elementary music education, also at BYU. She holds a Kodaly
certificate in choral education, as well as permanent certification
in piano from Music Teacher’s National Association.
She
has taught piano, solfege, and children’s music classes for 17
years in her own studio. She has also taught group piano classes at
BYU.
She
is an active adjudicator throughout the Wasatch Front and has served
in local, regional, and state positions Utah Music Teachers'
Association, as well as the Inspirations arts contest chair at
Freedom Academy.
She
gets a lot of her inspiration for her column by parenting her own
rambunctious four children, aged from “in diapers” to
“into Harry Potter.” She is still married to her high
school sweetheart and serves in her ward’s Primary.