![]() The idea of “lemmings” has always been in my vernacular. ![]() I was even surprised that no one knew the cool computer game “Lemmings.” The second? A metaphor for people following blindly and rushing to destruction, like this: When I got home, I googled it, just to reassure myself that I’m not nuts. I was shocked that an idiom that is so common to me was not familiar to this next crop coming up. On the drive home, I turned to my teenage son and asked him, “Do you know what a lemming is?” I immediately remembered that very video from a Disney Nature film when I was young.Īfter class, I grabbed a handful of kids from a different class and asked them if they knew what a lemming was. It wasn’t a high-point as far as reverence is concerned, but they were suddenly very interested. Out of 11 very smart, capable teenagers, NONE of them knew what a lemming is.Ībout 15 seconds later, someone had already found a YouTube video of lemmings jumping off a cliff into the sea. So I asked the class, “Who knows what a lemming is?” ![]() “You know, lemmings marching into the sea, etc.” I saw no hint of recognition in 11 pairs of eyes. “We don’t wan’t to go through life being lemmings.” As a final thought I tossed out the following idea: (Type “acted upon” into the search at LDS.org, and you will find all sorts of stuff – or just click here.)īack to the story. The idea that we are supposed to act for ourselves, and not be acted upon, is a pretty important concept. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.” ( 2 Nephi 2:26) “And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. Then we were discussed the idea of acting vs. We can foolishly, blindly give it away, but it cannot be forcibly taken from us.” ( Boyd. Some doctrine first, ten the story: This past Sunday we were cracking open the concept of agency, and the truth that “Agency is precious. I have the privilege of meeting with some great high school-aged young men and young women every week. It is possible that the lemmings believe the ocean is simply another small stream or lake to be quickly overcome, but this, of course, can be only a guess.For those of you who don’t know, my current calling is that of Sunday School instructor. The final and fatal plunge into the ocean has been interpreted as a result of bad judgment on the part of the migrating hordes. The reasons for many of their actions are not well understood. In 1868 a steamer in Trondheim Fjord off the Norwegian coast encountered a swimming legion so large that 15 minutes were required ‘for the steamer to pass. Sometimes enough of them survive to cause consternation in all observers. If they gain the coast, however, they frequently do plunge into the ocean and swim out to sea. Sometimes the total loss of life is so great that only a handful or none ever reach the ocean. Many, of course, are drowned others die of a disease called lemming fever and they are preyed upon by all kinds of animals such as foxes, bears. During their migrations, they follow a rather direct route, and if streams or lakes lie across their path they attempt to swim rather than make a detour. They tend to travel downhill, and the topography of Norway is such that a downhill direction eventually leads to the coast.
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