seek after these things

The 13th article of faith of the LDS church says that "if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."  I've been spending a lot of time listening to podcasts and watching documentaries and have experienced some pretty great stuff.  So I thought I'd share.  Below are links to things I think you should check out as well as descriptions (that I pulled from the websites) of what each one is about. 

RadioWest: Borderlands: How do you write a play about coming out when the only gay character in the script is already out?  The Mormon playwright Eric Samuelsen says he had personal experiences to draw from - his daughter marrying outside the faith, his oldest son deciding not to go on a mission.  Samuelsen explores the idea of admitting uncomfortable truths in his newest work.  (I've heard mixed reviews about the play itself.  I haven't seen it, but I enjoyed this discussion of it on RadioWest.)

RadioWest: Hidden Reality:  Doug talks to physicist Brian Greene about this question: is our universe the only universe?  Greene's latest book is called "The Hidden Reality" and he says that major scientific developments have opened the door to the possible existence of parallel universes.  It may sound like something from science fiction, and the idea is controversial and speculative, but Greene's goal is to help us imagine how the boundaries of reality could one day be redrawn.

Pray Away the Gay?:  Through intimate portraits and perspectives, Lisa Ling takes a look at one of the most polarizing debates in Christianity today: Is is possible to be gay and Christian at the same time.  (This is pretty even handed look at the topic.  The focus is more on the stories and experiences of the individuals, as opposed to devolving into dogma and/or polemics.)

This American Life: Parent Trap:  Rebecca was 16 years old when her mother Elizabeth died of cancer.  But before she died, she wrote letters to Rebecca, to be given to her on her birthday each year for thirteen years.  At first the letters were comforting, but as time went on, they had much more complicated effects. 

This American Life: God's Close-Up:  An artist, his Jesus-model, the model's girlfriend, the girlfriend's father, and a bunch of bearded men all converge in Utah.  An elaborate artistic tableau is set up in the desert, and there are several attempts by the faithful and the not so faithful to bridge the divide between them. (If you don't watch or listen to anything else, at least watch this one.  It's only about 25 minutes and well worth those 25 minutes.  You can stream it on Netflix)

Dig in.