Funny Little Things Those Thoughts

(Here's a poem I wrote for a talk I gave at church today, inspired by a pamphlet I read as a teenager written by Elder Boyd K. Packer:)

Funny little things those thoughts
Tiny little actors that play
On that stage buried in our head
Performing whatever we will them too
A drama of deep significance
Or a play of light demeanor
An adventure of high excitement
Or a romance of sweet endearing
Whatever we want
They are happy to perform
But beware!
Under the cover of internal privacy
They are all too happy
To do darker things
Things we would not want others to see
A silly pipe dream built of pride
A horror composed of mean retribution
Or a silky scene
Of personally crafted pornography
Dark excitement to entice and arouse
But leading only to heartache
And quiet despair
The only limit
Accompanying this amazing gift of mind
Is that which we impose
That which we allow
For without that self control
The wise choice of script that we provide
These innocent-seeming actors
Pave the way
For the road to baser actions
First patterned in our minds
Rehearsed
And then carried out
But only to our ruin and sorrow
Let us instead
Be the wise master of our mind
Build corrals of true principles
Teach our actors
Scripts we would not be ashamed to show
In the light to those we love
And thus allow
True strength of character
Unburdened by quiet shame
Built on the foundations of happiness
Allowing the Holy Spirit to flow
Leading up
The straight and narrow path
To our Heavenly Home

John Thompson
March 15, 2009