D. Todd Christofferson on appropriate leisure activities

Elder D. Todd Christofferson (b. January 24, 1945) was called to the Seventy in 1993, and as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 2008.

"Having spoken in praise of labor, I must also add a kind word for leisure. Just as honest toil gives rest its sweetness, wholesome recreation is the friend and steadying companion of work. Music, literature, art, dance, drama, athletics—all can provide entertainment to enrich one's life and further consecrate it. At the same time, it hardly needs to be said that much of what passes for entertainment today is coarse, degrading, violent, mind-numbing, and time wasting. Ironically, it sometimes takes hard work to find wholesome leisure. When entertainment turns from virtue to vice, it becomes a destroyer of the consecrated life."

- D. Todd Christofferson, "Reflections on a Consecrated Life," Ensign, November 2010, pp. 16-19
Click here to read the full talk

This was a particularly fascinating talk, as Elder Christofferson discussed what a "consecrated life" represents and includes. The focus on both labor and leisure was particularly interesting to me; each plays a critical in the disciple's life.

But the caution is also very appropriate; we should never justify inappropriate leisure activities as beneficial just in the name of "entertainment." Elder Christofferson notes that "it sometimes takes hard work to find wholesome leisure." We can't just accept what the world around us suggests, since that is one of the areas where the adversary works diligently to distract. And we also need to be cautious that leisure has the appropriate balance of time and energy in our lives. Good reminders!