Mario Kart

I don’t understand how some things work – cell phones, internet, face time, by the time I figure them out - chances are there are a bunch of new things that would work better. I needed to send a text to my brother-in-law to thank him for a favor he did for me, after about ten minutes I asked my son to do it for me. This worked much faster and the words were now spelled correctly. As a family we have most of the gadgets, I just don’t know how to use them. The other day my kids and some of their friends asked me to play Mario Kart with them. This is a Wii game that your character races around on different tracks in cars or motorcycles with tons of obstacles all over the place. Four people can play at once as the screen is divided into four different sections. I was confused which buttons to push and when to do it. When you get off the track you either fall into the black abyss or have to try to find your way back through the obstacles. After one such event I found my way back to the track – but I couldn’t figure out where I was. There was a little U on the screen that I had never seen before. I didn’t know what it meant, nor did I care, I needed to catch the leaders. I was taken off guard when the other cars almost hit me head on, then my son asked me why I was going the wrong way. I didn’t even know that was possible! I was already in last place and this sure didn’t help things out. To paraphrase a quote I once heard – “How fast your going makes little difference if you’re going in the wrong direction.” I’m sure this was a variation of the famous conversation Alice in Wonderland had with the Cheshire Cat. Alice said – “Would you tell me, please which way I ought to go from here?” The Cat answered “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” “I don’t much care” said Alice. The Cat’s answer is understandable - “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.” Now I believe there are very few people that really have no idea where they want to go. I would bet that most of us even have some sort of vision or goals that we want to achieve. Sometimes that goal or vision is different than those around us think that it should be, or it could even be something that isn’t in our best interest. Spiritually that end should be exaltation. Financially it should be to have what we need. We may even be on the right track or have the proper plan in place. That makes little difference if we don’t know how to use the proper buttons or follow the warnings or caution signs along the way. Another thing I didn’t understand while playing, that after all of the other racers have finished the race the time has expired and no matter where I am the game is over. Satan is a master of making us think that we are on the right track, the fact we aren’t progressing isn’t that important. He encourages us to leave the track to experiment and enjoy the journey along the way. When we listen to his prompting it doesn’t take long to realize that his joy is fleeting and hollow. We may even try to steer back and find in reality that we are going in the wrong direction or that the addictions or obstacles we have acquired are far harder to over come than we had ever imagined. He will try to make you think you have entered that black abyss - that it's hopeless and not worth the effort to come back. This, like the game, isn’t true or real. The Savior has provided the way for us to return to the right track, that little U was a warning sign trying to tell me to u-turn and go the other direction. These U’s are given to us thorough the scriptures, prophets, righteous church leaders and loving parents. They are placed before us as warnings and encouragements to try a little harder. If we ignore them, like I did, we will find ourselves not knowing where we are or how we got there. But unlike the game, the Savior through his atonement has provided the way the truth and the light to guide us back to the proper location.