Evils and Designs

To me one of the most important verses of the revelation we call the Word of Wisdom is this one: “Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation” (Doctrine and Covenants 89:4). That the commandment for us to avoid the harmful substances mentioned in the Word of Wisdom protects us from the “evils and designs” of “conspiring men” is to me a surety. How grateful I am for this commandment which helped protect me in my youth! Alcohol and other drugs have ruined countless lives, especially of the youth, all because of those who seek to profit from the addictions of others. 

               About fifty years President Boyd K. Packer gave a famous talk in general conference to the youth called Spiritual Crocodiles. He told of how he had always wanted to see the animals of Africa and learned much about them growing up. As a general authority he was in South Africa and at the end of the trip he was given the opportunity to see some of the animals. He related how a guide took him to “a water hole to watch the animals come to drink. It was very dry that season and there was not much water, really just muddy spots. When the elephants stepped into the soft mud the water would seep into the depression and the animals would drink from the elephant tracks.” He noticed that the antelope were very nervous about drinking and would approach the mud hole and then run away. He asked the guide why they didn’t drink. His answer was this: “Crocodiles.” President Packer continued, “I knew he must be joking and asked him seriously, ‘What is the problem?’ The answer again: ‘Crocodiles.’ ‘Nonsense,’ I said. ‘There are no crocodiles out there. Anyone can see that.’ I thought he was having some fun at the expense of his foreign game expert, and finally I asked him to tell us the truth. Now I remind you that I was not uninformed. I had read many books. Besides, anyone would know that you can’t hide a crocodile in an elephant track. He could tell I did not believe him and determined, I suppose, to teach me a lesson. We drove to another location where the car was on an embankment above the muddy hole where we could look down. ‘There,’ he said. ‘See for yourself.’ I couldn’t see anything except the mud, a little water, and the nervous animals in the distance. Then all at once I saw it!—a large crocodile, settled in the mud, waiting for some unsuspecting animal to get thirsty enough to come for a drink. Suddenly I became a believer! When he could see I was willing to listen, he continued with the lesson. ‘There are crocodiles all over the park,’ he said, ‘not just in the rivers. We don’t have any water without a crocodile somewhere near it, and you’d better count on it.’” The crocodiles were so good at hiding in the mud that it was at first almost impossible to see them. And yet, there they were, lurking in even the smallest amounts of water, waiting to capture their prey.

               President Packer applied these crocodiles to us spiritually. He said, “These spiritual crocodiles can kill or mutilate your souls. They can destroy your peace of mind and the peace of mind of those who love you. Those are the ones to be warned against, and there is hardly a watering place in all of mortality now that is not infested with them.” He told how on a subsequent trip to Africa another ranger related to him a story about these crocodiles: “A young man from England was working in the hotel for the season. In spite of constant and repeated warnings, he went through the compound fence to check something across a shallow splash of water that didn’t cover his tennis shoes. ‘He wasn’t two steps in,’ the ranger said, ‘before a crocodile had him, and we could do nothing to save him.’” President Packer continued, “It seems almost to be against our natures, particularly when we are young, to accept much guidance from others. But, young people, there are times when, regardless of how much we think we know or how much we think we want to do something, that our very existence depends on paying attention to the guides.” I am so grateful that we have modern prophets, from Joseph Smith who gave us the warnings in the Word of Wisdom to more recent prophets who have alerted us to the evils of pornography and sexual immorality. The Savior has put them in place to help to protect us from the spiritual crocodiles that we might not otherwise see. I hope we will strive to always keep the commandments the Lord has given us so that we will be safe from the evils and designs that seek to tear us down.