In which we compare 300 to our day

About 3 weeks ago, Dan and I were watching the movie 300. If you haven't seen it, do it. Really. I loved it. I've seen it before but I found myself drawing so many parallels to this life and this time. For those who haven't seen it, brief recap:

Sparta, King Leonidas. The Persian army is conquering and Xerxes wants Sparta to surrender. Leonidas won't have it, because Spartans don't surrender. They win or die in battle. That's it. So they go to war with the Persians and put up quite the fight. Eventually they are defeated, but every single one of the Spartans dies fighting.

Disclaimer: I'm in no way trying to idealize this movie or anything like that, but I really felt a profound epiphany after watching the movie.

King Leonidas is a fantastic and wise leader. He reminds me a lot of the leaders we have today, especially in the Church. They're so wise and so desperately want what is best for us and to help preserve us and our life.

The Persian army and Xerxes are like all the temptations and less than pleasant things in this world. It's an all out assault on our very lives to compromise the things we believe in and hold most precious to us. It's the attack on the family, and the attack on our moral values and principles. It's the fact that this world, while wonderful and so so beautiful, can be so dark and so evil. It's all of that.

I also noticed how valiant and dedicated to the cause the Spartan army was. It was victory or death, no surrender. That was it. Sometimes, I feel like in my own life I too often compromise and allow myself to surrender or fall short instead of following through with my goals. There are definitely things I don't compromise on, but for the most part I feel like I sell myself short and don't push myself to my full potential. I haven't "burned my ships" yet.

So these were my thoughts going into Church the following Sunday. It was out of the manual, lesson #5 Faith and Repentance. I came across this quote in the lesson and sent it to Dan. It seemed just too perfect to pass up because it so perfectly described how I was making the comparisons between 300 and the gospel.

"It is our duty to look after each other, to protect each other...to stand together with a united front against the sins of the world."

To bring this around so that it kind of wraps it up, I want to be more like the Spartans, with such conviction for my cause that it's victory or death, no surrender. It sounds extreme, but you have to stand for something in this life, and even if no one else agrees with you, that's okay. Stand for SOMETHING. Anything. Have some fire and be unstoppable.