Today I attended the first BYU devotional of the semester. I closed up the reference desk where I work and headed to the Marriott Center. I was quite excited and pleased to see so many people walking along with me. Sister Samuelson and Brother Samuelson spoke and what intrigued me most was Sister Samuelson's speech. She told us about old maps and how in areas where the topographers hadn't explore or where they encountered danger, they drew a dragon along with the words "Here There Be Dragons." She went on to talk about the "dragons" in our lives which are those things which terrify or tempt us. She told us to mind our dragons. If they be temptations, avoid them. If they be irrational fears, face and explore them. As we come into this new semester, we will be faced with dragons. There will be places on our maps that are unexplored, dangerous, and unknown, marked with the words, "Here There Be Dragons" but we must be brave and face them with caution. Half way through her talk, she spoke of media and mentioned how it can be used for good or ill in our lives. Media can be used to extend our knowledge and enlighten our minds. It can share good messages and be a useful tool. But media can also be our dragons, those things which tempts us, and we can use it for ill. So, my peers and happenstance visitors, beware of your use of media and choose it wisely because you may find a quite unfriendly dragon in your path and it's not going to be Toothless or Puff the Magic Dragon. Be brave and stay away from those treacherous regions. Proceed with caution. Beware. Be aware. Because Here, in the media, There Be Dragons.
