Please, my friends, be wise in dating

So summer lovin' has hit its full force...with young lovers everywhere to be slammed with that perfect storm of hormones, compatibility, and spirituality. We want it. We crave it. Some of us would die for it.

My friends, all I ask is that we all just "be wise" in our dating. As Elder Packer so noted, "The gospel does not exempt us from common sense." The gospel is an intricate system of theological, biological, sociological, and psychological checks and balances...with the Atonement being the foundation. Once any of these elements are thrown out of check...we see gospel-based eccentricity (rather difficult to address as the victim of it uses gospel language to justify their particular fetish).

In other words, no matter how good a kisser the person is, how successful s/he may be, or how promising the compatibility looks, just think twice, nay, thrice...actually, many times over. Jesus Christ is a God of miracles and therefore can provide marriage partners through his channels of Providence that can even force a crusty-old skeptic like me to catch his breath with wonderment, but if we convince ourselves that we might as well do it now, because, after all, "we know that it's right," then we wish additional grief upon ourselves. A confirmation of rightness alone does not itself require haste in a decision's execution. I am in no position to dictate specifics to any couple; however, as a guiding principle, I urge moderation in some readers' haste to marry. Certainly, the marriage could still, and often will, come together with all its attendant beauty...but should we make an already-difficult endeavor more taxing? I think not.