My Procrastination Endpoint

Penn State & Joe Paterno

2011-11-12T12:15:00.009-07:00

A scandal involving this premier educational institution broke out last week. A former Assistant Coach was arrested on multiple accounts of child abuse and two administrators were arrested for covering up the incidents. People were shocked and alarmed that something like this could happen and worse, it went back to 1998 and involved at least 16 children.Then we find out that it was a well-known secret around the campus. Many knew about it and decided to not act. The beloved coach, Joe Paterno was said to have been told by a witness in 1998 that a 10-year old boy was molested in the locker room by the Assistant Coach. Joe did the “legal” thing by passing it on to the Athletic Director. He did not inquire about it with his employee. He did not follow up and find out about the boy. He just passed it on and out of his mind. According to him, he did what was legally required. Awhile later, the assistant coach was allowed to retire but was given full access to all the facilities, including the locker room where the incidents occurred. Many times he was seen on the sideline at games. And even though Joe Paterno testified about this to a grand jury in February, he still allowed this guy access to the facilities after his testimony and he was seen in the locker room as late as a week ago. When the arrests were made last week, he did the honorable thing and resigned - effective at the end of the football season. He’s a grandparent, by the way, and in his mid-eighties.

We have been told by authorities that this Assistant Coach/pervert/disgusting low-life was allowed to retire in exchange for his silence on the matter. Huh? Worse, he was allowed access to all the sports facilities to run a charity program for youth. Huh? Did you catch that – a youth charity program! And it was at the facilities and with youth in the program that were being molested and at the place where the abuse occurred. What planet do these people live on?

It then came out that it was so widely known that this pervert had appetites of this nature that there was a lot of winking and nodding about it amongst the facility and student body. For example, an ice cream shop located on campus had different dishes named after famous Penn State Alumni. They had a dish named after this jerk (the Sandusky) that was highly suggestive of his proclivities. Oh, and when this all came out, it was immediately pulled from the menu. I wonder why? How after-the-fact noble. The guy wrote an autobiography that is still on sale in the book store. I guess they figure a few more dollars can be made while the issue is hot. It is after all about money. Penn State makes about $116 million on their athletic programs annually; $72 million coming from football. Paterno’s salary is in the millions and he is a major property owner in the area. Sandusky raked in a half a million from his youth charity program.

Yesterday the University Board met and fired the University President and Joe Paterno effective immediately. The students at the school went nuts and rioted loudly and even overturned a news van. They shouted chants of encouragement in support of Joe Paterno and even mobbed his house in support. Today, many were on the news saying that they love him and he was an institution and should be allowed to at least coach the last home game on Saturday so they can honor him because of his illustrious and brilliant football coaching career spanning forty-six years. His coaching career? Really? There are people that shallow; people that don’t get why he is getting fired? They don’t get that one single instance of ignoring child abuse really does undo forty-six years of football coaching and any other successes or honors? They don’t get that
with the number of victims and the widespread cover-up of University Officials it could actually bankrupt and destroy the University? Do they not remember that the same scandal involving Catholics Priests awhile back threatened to bring down the 2 billion-member Catholic Church?

But that is beside the point. Young lives were ruined. One incident would be atrocious. Two would be heinous. But many, many more than this is so evil and disgusting it is beyond the human mind to grasp. And if one single person who knew about it, actually did something about when they first heard about it in 1998, at least 15 young boys would have been spared the nightmare and the ruined life. How do you not follow up on an allegation of someone who said they saw it? How do you not smack the living crap out of the person who told you they saw it and did not stop it or in the very least call the police when they were seeing it? In fact, the person who said they witnessed it is still employed by Mr. Paterno as an assistant coach and will be coaching
the team in the interim. Huh again? Passing it on to your supervisor and then forgetting about it? Who is that detached from humanity?Was he too caught up in this sport to be bothered by things of this nature? Was he so focused on winning football games and protecting the reputation of his program and school that he did the exact legal thing as he thought appropriate – which really just amounted to kicking the problem up the chain of command and hoping someone else dealt with it? Could this football hero not be bothered with it for some reason?

He was a god at this place and de facto ran the school. But was this too awkward for him to spare a little time and energy on? Was it a little too messy and maybe might reflect poorly on him and his legacy? Or was he just so detached and incompetent in the area of the social and moral consideration about fellow human beings that he simply got the hot potato off his hands and put it on some else’s so he could go win some more games? Not good enough! Sometimes even being an eighty-five year old legend doesn’t undo either gross incompetence or gross negligence. There
are times when people can play the clueless card in life but this isn’t one of them. It makes me sad that most tragic of all was that he is a grandfather! How could a grandfather let this happen to somebody’s grandkid when it would have been so easy to stop at the time? It makes me
cry to think of these innocent little boys.

Should Joe Paterno have been fired like he was – with a phone call and a “see ya”? Absolutely! He’s lucky if he gets off that easy. His legacy probably keeps him from being prosecuted but we have to always keep in mind that some things, even in our day of scandal, some things trump long successful careers.

One wrong like this really does undo a life of right!

I'mmmm Bacccckkkk!

2011-03-09T02:29:00.002-07:00

I havn't updated for awhile but as little Carol Ann said in Poltergeist II while staring at the signed-off TV snow: "They're back."

I hope to update this more often and add the fascinating things going on in Patty's and my life. For now you can see from my picture, I'm having a blast. Consulting and Researching is the life.

I'm teaching sunday school again so I will post some highlights of the lessons or maybe what ended up on the cutting room floor. A couple of weeks ago I did the part two on the Sermon on the Mount and I got in one scripture, is all.

I also run across an amazing amount of obersavations and insights about everything and they need documentation or I'll forget them. With Iphone and time I can do a much better job.

For example: I noticed the other day while surfing the cable late at night that the main geek on Big Bang Theory (or whatever the name of it is), was the younger daughter's boyfriend on Roseanne. And for a few episodes on the Big Bang Theory, the younger daughter on Roseanne was on the Big Bang Theory as a lab partner and then girlfriend to the guy. Wierd. Maybe everyone knew that but me.

Stay tuned ...

On Reading

2009-11-23T23:27:00.007-07:00

One of my family once noticed a book I was reading that was about reading. They thought it was ironic I guess. I'll admit it though: I read books about reading. Many of them are brilliant. One I recently read a book about reading that mentioned Harold Bloom (a book reviewer and author of many books, a few about reading) read 1,000 pages an hour. That's 15 pages a minute. And apparently he remembers everything he reads. I want to be that guy but all the highlighting and marginalia I engage in keeps it much slower than that. Much.

But it got me thinking about reading. why do some get it and some don't? And how do you get someone to get it?

I found some interesting things if you want to pick through my sometimes random notes.

Young babies are very interested in voices; also people. It is important to talk to babies; sing to them. But books are not going to be that interesting immediately. They can't focus that far yet and their eyes are still developing; less likely to reach and grasp and enjoy an object like a book before they are able to do all that.

About the time they are able to sit up by themselves and develop a distinctive social personality - around 6 months - you then give them books with what they call, extra-textual features. These are books built for small hands that can be chewed; engineered for babies who haven't developed their pincer grasp. Until about 9 months, when they grab, they use the whole hand so if you give them a regular book the pages will not all separate and so they'll tear them. Been there.

If you get the extra-textual ones - cardboard, plastic, only several thick pages, maybe some visual or things that can be felt built in - the baby will smile when you hold it out for them and they will reach for it and usually vocalize something. You will see a reaction. Then, of course, the baby will grab the book and start chewing on it. But it is all very deliberate. Continue to give them these types of books and more important, read aloud to them. After they can grasp, get them other books and read to them until they are able to read themselves (at least.)

With little training anyone can go to the first day of school of a child and look around and easily spot those who never handled books. These kids don't know how to handle them; they don't know what it is for; why it is appealing; how to listen to a story; or understand the narrative arc of the story. Think about it, how does a baby learn to tell the difference between two people talking to each other and a person reading out loud. What is it that signals a person and tells them the difference between talking and reading? How do you know when you are listening to a talk whether the person speaking is talking from notes or reading their talk? Children who are read to, understand the difference at a very early age and you can tell they understand it because there's soemthing they do called "book babble."

Book babble is a wordless language but it's syllabic and it has the cadences of reading aloud. It sounds like reading aloud and that's why it is so fun when you hear it come out of a baby. It's got that adda-dadda-dadda-radda-adda feel to it. Not unlike when all of my grandchildren learned to "phone babbly" mimicing their mother on the phone. What they've learned is there is something about the particular rise and fall of the voice, the rhythm, and it means reading aloud to them.

If it were just a sound, book babble would be little more than amusing but the important thing is what is happening. The child is acquring a skill that humans alone are capable of mastering. In addition to the actual work of decoding spoken language, the brain is somehow taking in and responding to the question,

"What does this word mean?"

As a child you have to learn to decode all kinds of things.

"What is the emotional context of this or that?"
"Is this information?"
"Is this a 'no, no' that I'm hearing?"
"Why am I hearing this?"

By the time a child gets to school, you want your kids to know, "O good, someone is reading a story to us. This will be fun." "I am going to get up close to the teacher so I can see the pictures, and I'm going to listen, and know what happens.

Children who have not been read to this is all new to them and will be a much harder job for the teacher to teach them.

By 2 years old a child should have a vocabulary of 200 words and when they speak, fifty percent of their language should be intelligible to people other than their parents. Quiz a child on a book given to them 6-months earlier and you can answer a lot of developmental questions:

Can they make animals sounds from the pictures in the book?
Do they know more words than mama & dada and can other understand them?
Can they answer whether they like the book or not?
Can they answer what their favorite part of the book is?

There is nothing as satifying as a book - not even computers - to a child, going back even to a 6-month old who seemingly only chews it and turns the pages and manipulates it. At 1 year old you start getting them bigger and heavier books - you still want indestructable ones - but they have more conceptual things in them; animals or maybe a simple story. And allow them to handle them because that is very important to a child: handling the book, controlling it, manipulating it, and doing it in your home and owning it.

One of the most exciting things that happen when a child turns two-ish is they can turn pages over without ripping the crap out of them. They have their pincer grasp developed by then. A lot of this depends on whether the child has been read to or not. A child who has grown up in a home with books learns how to handle them and to be careful with them. The feel of a book is very important.

For babies, part of the appeal is that if you wave the book at mom, she is going to read it to you. That means you are going to be on mom's lap, you get to hear mom's voice, and you get mom's attention one-on-one, which is very much what babies always want. A six-month old, one-year old, or two-year old probably would rather have that than anything else. So what the baby gets is the tactile feel of the book, the physical contact of the parent, the parent looking at you, looking with you at the book, holding you, and I suspect that is where the positive associations with books come from. Though you have no recollection later on in life, this is your first repeated exposure to the sound of someone reading aloud, words on a page or the object of the book, in this most safe, most important, most familiar and from the most important person in the world, the most important voice in the world, and some of the most important words in the world, if you read the correct things to them.

The book, it is learned very early, is the best way to get that person all to yourself.

Come To Zion

2009-08-30T01:09:00.006-06:00

(Based on Elder D. Todd Christofferson's 2008 Semi-annual Conference Talk)

I recently heard the story of a man in the hospital – 86 years old – sick, dying, and his wife was with him. He said, “Ethel, I remember when we got married; I lost my job and you stayed with me. Then I went into the service and you joined the nurse’s core so you could be with me. You were right there with me when I was wounded. Then I went into business – 4 times – and they all failed – but you were always with me. Here I am in the hospital – 86 years old – sick, dying – and you’re still with me. I want you to know I’ve come to the conclusion: You’re bad luck!

Today I am going to talk to you about something that has nothing to do with luck – good or bad. It seems its human nature to blame or attribute things to some sort of luck - and many things are frequently someone else’s fault. Not today. Not with the principles I will be speaking about.

The State of the World

I don’t think I’m going to shock anyone by observing that our world has a few problems!

Whatever it was we were hoping to collectively create down here on earth and whatever life we were thinking we wanted for ourselves and our posterity, it seems like we are witnessing it crashing down around us in spite of a lot of good works.

How many “once-or-twice-in-a-century” unpleasant events have occurred or are currently occurring in just the 8 years of the 21st Century?

Right before our very eyes, played out, day-in and day-out on the news, in the papers, on the Internet, and in the lives and behaviors of those around us, we are seeing something that has been prophesied and predicted by many finally happening.

After years and years of speculation and philosophy and debate, some things are finally working themselves out and taking on definite form and shape. If you are like me, you’ve suspected “it” might be coming – though you hoped “it” would not. If you are like me, you sensed “something” was just around the corner but we just didn’t know what it would exactly look like and in what form it would take shape and manifest “itself.”

Many thought on 9/11 that was “it.” That “it” had finally arrived. But that wasn’t “it” was it? On 9/12 most of us thought as a country and a world we had finally arrived at the low point; at the point that will finally test us as a nation and as people and as individuals and families and it looked like maybe we’d pass the test, improve things, and avoid something much worse. But shortly everyone got back to business and now it’s just a footnote in the history books for most. There are some important changes in our collective mentality as a nation but they aren’t very positive.

For a long time, we have heard about the “big one” and how we need to be prepared for “it” because “it” is going to be the big thing that will test us and see what we are make of. We’re still waiting and hopefully preparing but by and large we remain very unprepared.
And now, seemingly almost without much fanfare, and seemingly from out of nowhere, a different “big one” seems to have hit. It’s taking a little while longer to reach us here in Utah; down into our individual lives and affect our lifestyle and our security and test us as people. But everyone seems to know “it” is just around the corner and is coming and we need to get prepared for it as much as we can.

What is the “it?” What is “it” that is just around the corner that’s coming to our neighborhood and to our families and to our personal lives shortly – if “it” hasn’t already arrived?
At the risk of being far too clever by half, “It’s” not exactly what you think.
If you’re thinking of the collapse of many of our financial institutions in our country and around the world, you’re partly right.

If you’re thinking about the collapse of the housing market and the enormity of those who are losing homes in this country and that is hitting our state and is projected to hit even harder in the days to come, you’re partly right.

If you think it’s the rising rate of unemployment and the daily news that tens of thousands and maybe even millions more are losing their jobs, you’re partly right.

If you think it’s the wickedness of the world or the divisiveness of people in general in solving our problems or the seemingly imminent changes in the core nature of government and family – sacred institutions that have eternal meanings to each of us - you’re partly correct.

Babylon

But you’re not exactly correct in any of one of these things. The “it” was given to us in the October General Conference by the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles – Elder D. Todd Christofferson. And what he told us about “it” is that what we are seeing before our very eyes is something he and others for centuries have called Babylon.

Babylon was the ancient City of Babel, of the Tower of Babel fame. It was the capital of the Babylonian Empire where a temple was built to worship the idol-god Baal. This idol and the worship in the temple were referred to by Old Testament Prophets as “The Shame” because of the sexual perversions that were associated with their worship. Since then Babylon has come to represent worldliness in all its forms as well as the worship of evil and the mistreatment of the righteous and their principles.

Said Elder Christofferson:
It is with this backdrop that the Lord said to the members of His Church, D&C 133:7 "Go ye out of Babylon; gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other".

Whenever I hear the term Babylon I think of the great Priesthood song: Ye Elders of Israel (Hymn 319). We sang it last week in the leadership session of Stake Conference so it is fresh on my mind. The words are instructive in regards to this Babylon and the Lord’s instruction in D&C 133:7, so as you listen to the words, try and pick out the things we are encouraged to do as Latter-day Saints:

Ye elders of Israel, come join now with me
And seek out the righteous, where'er they may be
In desert, on mountain, on land, or on sea
And bring them to Zion, the pure and the free.

O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell;
We're going to the mountains of Ephraim to dwell.

The harvest is great, and the lab'rers are few;
But if we're united, we all things can do.
We'll gather the wheat from the midst of the tares
And bring them from bondage, from sorrows and snares.

O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell;
We're going to the mountains of Ephraim to dwell.

We'll go to the poor, like our Captain of old,
And visit the weary, the hungry, and cold;
We'll cheer up their hearts with the news that he bore
And point them to Zion and life evermore.

O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell;
We're going to the mountains of Ephraim to dwell.

When I hear these words sung I often think the upbeat nature of the music masks the true feelings of actually leaving Babylon and when we sing, “O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell” there ought to be some dissonant chords played on the organ or some booing and hissing from the bass part, rather than just: “We bid thee farewell.”

It reminds me of what Elder Maxwell said when speaking immediately after this song was sung. He expressed the thought that one of the challenges of bidding Babylon farewell is that many of us like to keep a summer cottage there. (Neal Maxwell Quote Book, page 25.)

What do you make of the actions we need to take to get out of Babylon and to assist others in doing so, as the song said?

Seek out the righteous
Bring them to Zion
If we're united
Bring them from bondage,
from sorrows and snares
Visit the weary, the hungry, and cold
Point them to Zion

In addition to these great action statements and maybe because of the blessings of fulfilling them, there are several references in the song to Zion as the place where we are to go.
Elder Christofferson reminded us that Zion is the exact opposite of Babylon. He reminded us of what Joseph Smith said about Zion – the “it” that we should be creating and seeing come about and not the “it” we are seeing.

Listen to the great descriptive words the Prophet Joseph used in talking about Zion:

"The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the Latter-day glory" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society course of study, 2007], 186).

Does the thought of Zion give you peculiar delight?
Do you look forward to Zion with joyful anticipation?
Are you fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations about building up the cause of Zion?

Of course we know that Zion is both a place and a state of being but Elder Christofferson made it crystal-clear that the state of being needs to occur - in our lives - and in our hearts - and in our Wards - and in our Stake - before the place of Zion can be a reality.

Said he:

Zion is Zion because of the character, attributes, and faithfulness of her citizens. Remember, Moses 7:18 The Lord called his people Zion, because they were of [1] one heart and one mind, and [2] dwelt in righteousness; and there was [3] no poor among them.

Remember these 3 things:

[1] One heart and one mind
[2] Dwelt in righteousness
[3] No poor among them

So … what can we do – what is our duty - as Latter-day Saints to establish Zion?

A key to our role we heard in the words of “Ye Elders of Israel”:
Seek out the righteous
Bring them to Zion
Point them to Zion

Seek! - Bring! - Point!

Elder Christofferson uses a term that sums it all up and perfectly describes our unique role as Latter-day Saints in establishing Zion.

Said he:
The Lord calls upon us to be beacons of righteousness to guide those who seek the safety and blessings of Zion:

We are guides! I’d never seriously thought of my role in this great work as a guide but that really and truly gives a wonderful perspective to what we ought to be about.
Of course as guides, we have to know where to bring people to, where it is we need to point others to; and what they need to do to be a seeker of righteousness.

Thankfully, Elder Chrisofferson tells us that there are 3 things we absolutely have to do to establish Zion in our hearts and in our lives which will then qualify us to guide others to it.

1. Unity

The first thing we need to do is – remember Moses 7:18 - (1) to become unified in one heart and one mind.

Elder Christofferson elaborated thusly:
We will become of one heart and one mind as we individually place the Savior at the center of our lives and follow those He has commissioned to lead us.

He then told a simple story that illustrates the Zion characteristic of unity.

Young adult from several countries in Europe met in Budapest, Hungary for a conference.
Among the group were 20 young men from Moldova. (mahl DOH va)
They had spent days getting passports/visas and then travelled 30 hours by bus to get there.
The conference provided 15 workshops and each person could only attend 2 or 3 of them.

Rather than selfishly picking the workshops that most interested these 20 young men and hanging out in the safety of their own group and travelling in a pack, they got together and laid out a plan where at least one person in each group would be in each workshop where they would take good notes that they would then share with the rest of the group.

And then further they could take the notes and messages from each workshop back to the young adults in Moldova who were not able to attend.

Elder Christofferson’s summed up the this way:

In its simplest form, this exemplifies the unity and love for one another that, multiplied thousands of times in different ways, will "bring again Zion" (Isaiah 52:8).
Do we have that same attitude of putting others ahead of our own desires and wants even in simple things like this conference?

I imagine if we all took the time, in everything we did, to think about whom else might benefit from whatever it is we are going to do, and think of how we might share it with someone else, we’d all be better “Zion guides” for doing it.

2. Holiness

The second defining characteristic of Zion is – remember Moses 7:18 said they “dwelt in righteousness” – Elder Christofferson phrased it (2) to become, individually and collectively, a holy people.

Said he:
The Savior was critical of some of the early Saints for their "lustful . . . desires" (D&C 101:6; see also D&C 88:121). These were people who lived in a non-television, non-film, non-Internet, non-iPod world. In a world now awash in sexualized images and music, are we free from lustful desires and their attendant evils? Far from pushing the limits of modest dress or indulging in the vicarious immorality of pornography, we are to hunger and thirst after righteousness.
To come to Zion, it is not enough for you or me to be somewhat less wicked than others. We are to become not only good but holy men and women.

And let me add from Joseph Smith that we do it with peculiar delight and joyful anticipation. We are happy and thrilled to avoid Babylon and to guide others to the holiness of Zion even though it is never going to be a popular thing to do.

A month ago at your Ward Conference, the choir sang the song: “Take Time To Be Holy.” I enjoyed it very much and thought the message was so powerful I looked up the words so I could remember them.

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.Make friends of God’s children [one heart and one mind], help those who are weak,Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see [righteousness – holiness].

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide [the concept of guiding again];And run not before Him, whatever betide.In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,Each thought and each motive beneath His control.Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
What a great message. It encompasses all of the characteristics Elder Christofferson said we needed to have to be a “Zion Guide”. Plus …

I think maybe it is the best key in our day and age to creating the Zion society – simply taking the time. So many things take us away from the important things. They are distractions because they keep us even from knowing or being aware of what needs to be done or where we could help or where we are even at in become Zionlike. They also keep us from ever having to think about the deep things of the kingdom or study it out in our minds and our hearts.

3. Caring For The Poor

The previous song hinted at the third thing we need to do when it mentioned we should take time to “help those who are weak” – remember again, Moses 7:18 when it stated, “there was no poor among them.” – Elder Christofferson stated it this way: (3) to care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us.

Elder Christofferson then told us by what means the Lord measures our worthiness to establish Zion.

Said he:
Throughout history, the Lord has measured societies and individuals by how well they cared for the poor.

Then this scripture:
D&C 104:17
For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.

Elder Christofferon summed up our need to provide for the poor by asking this question:
We might ask ourselves, living as many of us do in societies that worship possessions and pleasures, whether we are remaining aloof from covetousness and the lust to acquire more and more of this world's goods. Materialism is just one more manifestation of the idolatry and pride that characterize Babylon. Perhaps we can learn to be content with what is sufficient for our needs.

The Stake President, independent of Elder Christofferson’s talk, has been inspired to council us in this Stake to put aside everything that is not a necessity at this time as the effects of our economic system – wrecked by Babylonian greed and selfishness - turns around and improves.
One reason for sacrificing our personal wants is so that we may be self sufficient and independent in case tough times hit us or our family. But another reason, a Zion reason, is so that we may learn to live within our means so that if we have additional, we may feel inspired to give liberally to assist the poor and those who stand in need.

It’s not complicated to provide for the poor. It just requires us to sacrifice, be more self-disciplined, bump up our fast offerings, and participate in welfare assignments when they come our way. Remember, it’s how the Lord measures us.

It is my prayer that we may all with peculiar delight and with joyful anticipation take time to do our part in bringing about Zion and guiding others from Babylon to Zion by our unity, our holiness, and our charity, in the name …

Mr. Lincoln

2009-03-28T01:18:00.002-06:00

I mentioned before this was to be the year of Lincoln. Little did I know how true that would be. I dragged all my Lincoln books I hadn't read yet up to my den and made a "wall of Lincoln" in front of my chair. There are 51 books. I vowed to read them all year until I've read them all. I've never undertaken a specific reading project this big. I worried I'd lose interest and move on. I haven't. I'm completely taken over by Brother Lincoln. I say Brother Lincoln because he was baptized by proxy in the St. George Temple by Wilford Woodruff when he, Washington, Franklin, and many of the other signers of the Declaration of Independance came and "waited up him" to ascertain why they had been ignored in the great work of redeeming the dead. So Lincoln's work was done and he and Washington were ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood and made High Priests though the reast were made Elders. So it's Brother Lincoln; as well it should be.

The biggest project is Abraham Lincoln: A Life, vols. 1 & 2 containing about 2.000 pages. I'm am progressing but have to read other things in between since it is so huge and comprehensive. I'm at page 235 in first volume but am loving it.

I just finished two books that are exceptional. A. Lincoln by Ronald White is the best Lincoln biography since Carl Sandberg's back at the turn of the century. It is very well written and contains very new and fresh material. A must read for all.

The other that I could not put down was Lincoln, The Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan. Wow. Great insight into this aspect of Lincoln's life and really how he became Lincoln; by his voracious reading and then ability to write brilliantly. I am haunted and can't get the words out of my mind from his second inagural address. They are imbedded and play through every time I have a moment when my mind isn't focussed on anything else. And when I'm thinking of other things they are faintly repeating in the background. Some day I want to just take the words and turn them into a book. I think I could do it because of there power and the myriad thoughts and feelings they invoke. They are really poetry at there essence. They are:

"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living hearth and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of out nature."

Lincoln provided orchestration to the bare notes of the words. And by invoking the "better angels of our nature" he rejected the 19th century secterian notions of guardian angels doing for us what we can and should do for ourselves.

Now I am plowing into The Age of Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln: Great Historians On Our 16th President, The Best American History Essays on Lincoln, The Lincoln Anthology, and Lincoln: President-Elect, to name a few.

Good luck with whatever terrestrial project you are working on whomever is reading this. For myself I will continue to dabble the celestial.

2008 In Review: Books

2009-01-02T16:44:00.005-07:00

As I reflect on the past year my mind turns to books.

Another great year. Quality history books have cranked out regularly even though other genres are a bit weak.

Before I get into last year, let me say a few things about next year. 2009 is the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. I plan on reading everything I have on him that I haven't already read. (dozens of books) My children got me some great Lincoln books for Christmas and I've already started. In addition, there is a two volume, 2,000 page comprehensive biography that has come out to celebrate his birthday and I will tackle this monster set as well.

I read 60books this year which is equal to the number from last year. Here they are by category (listed in order of best to worst as near as possible):

Scriptures

The Book of Mormon; Mormon
Living the Book of Mormon & Abiding It's Precepts Sperry; Symposium
Digging Deeper: Applying Life-Changing Doctrines of Book of Mormon; Eaton, Robert

General Conference

2008 Annual Conference
2008 Semiannual Conference

Biography

Heroes; Johnson, Paul
Profiles in Audacity: Great Decisions & How They Were Made; Axelrod, Alan
Profiles in Folley: History's Worst Decisions & Why; Axelrod, Alan

Fiction

The Last Patriot; Thor, Brad
Invisible Prey; Sandford, John
Sixth Target; Patterson, James
The Last Van Gogh; Zerries, A.J.
Testament; Lustbader, Eric
Fablehaven; Mull, Brandon
Beach Road; Patterson, James
The Appeal; Grisham, John
The Innocent Man; Grisham, John
Golden Compass; Pullman, Phillip
Twilight; Meyer, Stephanie
New Moon; Meyer, Stephanie

Health

The Human Odyssey: Navigating the Twelve Stages of Life; Armstrong, Thomas
Against Medical Advise; Patterson, James

History
Great Tales From English History, Vol. 1; Lacey, Robert
Charlemagne and France; Morrissey, Robert
It's About Time: How Long History Took; lanagan, Mike
The Man Who Made Lists; Kendall, Joshua

American History

The Forgotten Man; Shlaes, Amity
The Summer of 1787; Stewart, David
American Creation; Ellis, Joseph
Winning the Future: 21st Century Contract With America; Gingrich, Newt
Deadly Inferno: Battle of the Wilderness; Abnett, John
The Battle of the Wilderness: Grant & Lee Below the Rapidan River; Various
The Battle of the Wilderness: May 5-6, 1864; Rhea, Gordon
The Wilderness Campaign; Gallagher, Gary
The Wilderness Campaign, May 1864; Cannan, John
Freedom Just Around the Corner; McDougal, Walter
Hard Call; McCain, John
Kill Bin Laden; Fury, Dalton
Liberty's Blueprint; Meyerson, Michael
The Really Inconvenient Truths; Murray, Lain
FairTax: The Truth; Boortz, Neal

Jesus

The Day Christ Was Born; Bishop, Jim

LDS Biography

Joseph Smith, Praise to the Man; Black, Susan
Oliver Cowdery: Scribe, Elder, Witness; Welch, John
Mormon Scientist: Life & Faith of Henry Eyring; Eyring, Henry

LDS Doctrine

That All May Be Edified; Packer, Boyd
Don't Leap With the Sheep; Wilcox, Michael
Hearing the Voice of the Lord; Lund, Gerald
House of Glory; Wilcox, Michael
The Song of Redeeming Love; Condie, Spencer
The Holy Secret; Ferrell, James

LDS History
Utah Trivia; Powell, Allan

Literature

Great Literature & the Good Life; Sill, Sterling

Religion

Acedia and Me; Norris, Kathleen

American Presidency

The Age of Reagan: 1974-2008; Wilenz, Sean
The Audacity of Deceit: Barack Obama's War on American Values; O'Leary, Brad
Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage; Wallace, Chris
1920: The Year of the Six Presidents; Pietruzza, David

Writing

Words That Work; Lunz, Frank
Politics & the English Language; Orwell, George

Last 6 Month's High Council Talk

2008-11-11T22:40:00.002-07:00

This one I changed each time but the following composites them all with an alternate one I gave in a Ward.

President Uchtdorf’s talk in the Priesthood session was titled: “A Matter of a Few Degrees.”

Story of the Plane Crashing Into the Mountain
It was a great message he began by telling the story of a passenger jet with 257 people that left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to the Antarctica. The pilots had not made this trip before and didn’t realize that somebody had programmed their flight coordinates 2 degrees off. By the time they reached their destination they were 28 miles east of where they should have been.
This doesn’t seem like it would have not been too bad of a mistake (you’ll have to ask Curtis how bad) except that as the pilots descended to a lower altitude so the passengers could get a better look at the landscape there was a mountain in their way. As bad as that sounds it seems like even it could have been overcome except that the snow covered mountain peeks blended with the white clouds above and the pilots thought they were traveling over flat ground until they crashed into the side of the mountain killing everyone aboard.

The point of President Uchtdorf’s story was that this was a very terrible tragedy brought on by a minor error – as he put it – “a matter of a few degrees.” He then made the point:

“Through years of serving the Lord and in countless interviews, I have learned that the difference between happiness and misery in individuals, in marriages, and families often comes down to an error of only a few degrees.”

I’ve thought about this many times since listening to it in conference and even more since my assignment to speak about it and I’ve remembered many times in my life where this principle rings true.

Trillion to Billion – a few zero’s off
One example I thought of that puts the concept into perspective happened many years ago when I was doing an analysis of a water utility. In that study I needed to represent the total value of all the utility assets.

The financial people gave me the value of $1 Trillion. This was 20+ years ago and the number startled me. Back then the total estimated value of everyone in America’s possessions, savings and investments was only $20 Trillion. So I questioned them about it.

The answer I received was revealing. They explained that they had an amazing amount of infrastructure that all added up but the big thing was water rights. To them they were priceless so they put a very large value on them. But as I pushed them to backup their number with detail, they could see I wasn’t quite buying the $1 Trillion so they told me to just drop a few zero’s and make it $1 Billion; still a big number.

That floored me even more. I asked them if they understood the impact of what they just did and they said they did and it was only a matter of subtracting a couple of zero’s at the end of their first number. So I did a few quick calculations and to demonstrate the reality of what just happened I gave them – and I give you – this analogy:

Let’s say you were waiting for something very, very, important. The person sending it to you told you it would take 1 million seconds for it to get to you. (I don’t know why anyone would do that but let’s say they were an accountant and so it meant something to them to do it this way.) Do you know how long you will have to wait?

11½ days.

Not too bad, though if it was really, really important, it may seem like forever.
But let’s say the 11½ days came and went and you didn’t get this very valuable thing you were waiting for and the person sending it said they goofed up and instead of a million seconds they needed to take a couple of zero’s on the end and it was going to take 1 billion seconds instead. How long would you wait now?

32 years.

That’s a little while longer isn’t it? You might not be too happy about that.
Now let’s say that the person sending this extremely valuable item to you said instead of a billion seconds it was going to take 1 trillion seconds to get to you. Just a few extra zero’s mind you. How long do you sit by the door waiting now?

31,700 years.

Kind of takes your breath away, doesn’t it? If you were waiting for something extremely important and the sender kept adding just a couple zero’s to the time it would take to get to you, I’m not sure if any of us would be all that happy about it.

If we liken this cavalier attitude of a few zero’s to the gospel message of President Uchtdorf’s, his words make more and more sense when he said:
Small errors and minor drifts away from the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring sorrowful consequences into our lives. It is therefore of critical importance that we become self-disciplined enough to make early and decisive corrections to get back on the right track and not wait or hope that errors will somehow correct themselves.

Lehonti & the Mountain
There are many great examples of this principle in the Book of Mormon. In Alma 47 we read about the experience of Amalickiah and Lehonti (Lee-hon-tie.)
Both were commanders of Lamanite armies but Lehonti commanded a group of Lamanites who were tired of fighting and refused to obey their King when he ordered them to battle again. The King was angry and told Amalickiah to take the rest of the Lamanite armies and compel Lehonti and the others to fight.
Amalickiah was described as “being a very subtle man to do evil” (47:4) (ever known anyone like that?) and determined to take advantage of this situation and use treachery to become King himself.

He had a problem though. Lehonti had gathered all the conscientious objectors “upon the top of the mount which he called Antipas.” (47:7)

Here they were determined to make a stand and never go to war again. Since they were up on this mount, they had the high ground – the good defensive ground – and were well dug in and supplied, and chances were they could hold out and prevail against anyone trying to force them back into a battle they refused to fight.

Alma 47:6 described them as “fixed in their minds with a determined resolution that they would not be subjected to go against the Nephites.” (47:6) Notice the lengths Mormon uses to show how set in their minds and heart that they would not fight anymore. He could have just said they really, really didn’t want to fight anymore but instead he said they were: fixed, determined, and resolute. Nothing was going to drag them back into this fight.

Now let’s pause and ask ourselves this question?

Are we camped up on the top of our spiritual mountain with our families; fixed and determined and resolved to not play Satan’s games anymore?

Are we confident that we will be safe in this very good place in life; having taken every precaution and put up very good defenses?

You know what’s going to happen, right? You know if it wouldn’t be too disruptive I’d pull out my Ipod and play some dissonant background music at this point because you know that inevitably Satan will try to invite us down from our good defensive place so that he can put us in his bondage, right? You know that Amalickiah is going to try to get Lehonti to come down from his safe place on the mountain because he knows he can’t get to him up on the high ground, right?

Amalickiah sent word three times to Lehonti to “come down and converse with him.” And three times Lehonti said, “No Way!” I’m sure Amalickiah badgered him the second and third time: “What’s wrong with talking? That’s just statesmanlike and friendly.” “All I want to do is have a little lunch and chat.” “So could you please come – down the mountain of course – because that would be very neighborly and Christian.”

But remember, Lehonti was fixed and resolute. He would not come down for any reason. (47:11) Lehonti was a righteous and determined man along with the others.

Since that was not working, Amalachiah went up the mountain a ways and then told Lehonti if he would just come down part of the way, and bring his guards with him so he would be safe and in control of the situation, he had a proposition he just had to hear.

Can you hear it? “You’re still in control. I only want to talk. You will have your guards with you and you only have to now come just a little ways down the mountain; only a few yard; only a few degrees.”

Lehonti, feeling secure in this situation now made a fatal mistake – and it was a doozy. One we can all easily make if we are not diligent and self-disciplined at all times.

Lehonti, who was so safe and secure on the impenetrable mountain, descended a little ways down from the heights of his spiritual defenses, taking every caution possible to ensure safety, and did it because he knew he maintained control the entire time.

As the two leaders talked, a deal was reached between them that if Lehonti could bring all of his soldiers down from the mountain at nighttime and Amalickiah would allow him to surround his men and then Amalichiah would surrender them up.

What were we taught at Stake Conference a couple of weeks ago – if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is?

In exchange for surrendering his armies, all Amalickiah wanted was to humbly be put second in command to Lehonti of all the Lamanaite. What a great deal! Lehonti keeps control, is in command of all the Lamanite armies and Amalickiah, wins the day and doesn’t have to even stay up on the mountain anymore.

So he came down from the mountain and carried out this plan in textbook fashion.

Isn’t this the way Satan always works against us - when we are at the top of our spiritual mountains and in safety that cannot be reached - he needs us down with him and his minions and will stop at nothing to get us there.
And the fatal fallacy every single time is when we give in to this the very first time and decide that we can go down the mountain just a little ways - if only to talk- then we make the biggest mistake by giving up our fixed and determined resolution to stay safe and never give in, by going just a little ways further down the mountain because, after all, you are totally confident in the situation, and you are in control and in a situation that you cannot foresee any way you might possibly lose control.

But you don’t realize you already have lost control because you already gave in and moved just a few degrees away from where you should be. You’ve already dropped a couple of zero’s off from the time you spend on the important things you should be doing.

It was only a short time in the Book of Mormon until we all see the full tragedy of Lehonti’s costly mistake.

Once down the mountain and assimilated with all the other soldiers, Amalickiah “caused that one of his servants should administer poisen by degrees to Lehonti, that he died.” (47:18)

Here again is another moral of that story: that once we are off our mountain, it is a simple matter for our enemy to use this same exact concept to bring us down: to poison us just a little – just a few degrees – so slowly that you don’t even notice and are unaware of your decline.

Lehonti died thinking he was still in control and could not be harmed or forced to do something against his will. Remember he was fixed, determined, and resolute to the end. All he ever did was go a few yards down the mountain and take a meeting. Then he won what he thought was a bloodless and easy victory by going a few yards more down the mountain – a victory that was too good to pass up.

It is in the scriptures that we are introduced to the concept of “dwindling” in unbelief. Not jumping in wholeheartedly and giving up all we have been taught and know to be true to become evil. The devil leads us down to destruction little by little, a few degrees here and a adding a zero or two there. Truly a “dwindling” of our time and resources – and the good, safe ground we are on.

So the question is, what can we do to stay “fixed and determined” to remain true to our predetermined convictions?

President Uchtdorf gives us 4 things we can do to stay the course:
1. Minor Decisions Lead to Major Consequences
“Be cautious… The Lord will help you to recognize and avoid … evils. It is the early recognition of danger and a clear course correction that will keep you in the light of the gospel. Minor decisions can lead to major consequences.

2. Responsibility of Self-Direction
“We … have the responsibility and the power of self-direction: “It is not meet that I should command in all things,” saith the Lord. “Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.” (D&C 58:26–28)

3. Treasure the Words of Prophets
“The more we treasure the words of the prophets and apply them, the better we will recognize when we are drifting off course—even if only by a matter of a few degrees.”

4. The Way Back is Certain & Clear
“No matter how terribly off course you are, no matter how far you have strayed, the way back is certain and clear… If we confess and repent of our sins.”
Never give up Brothers and Sisters. Never give in regardless of the distance or the time or the confidence you feel you have in the situation. Get up to your spiritual mountain just like Lehonti did but on the fourth time you are tempted – stay fixed and determined. On the fifth time when you are presented a deal that is too good to be true – stay fixed and determined. Do not listen to Satan or his army when they persistently nag at you to come down from your spiritual defenses.

Spiritual Disaster
As President Uchtdorf reminded us:
No one wants his life to end in tragedy. But all too often, like the pilots and passengers of the sightseeing flight, we set out on what we hope will be an exciting journey only to realize too late that an error of a few degrees has set us on a course for spiritual disaster.

The gospel is true. There is safety in listening to the Prophet and your church leaders. The scriptures are true. There is safety in following the teachings found in the scriptures of our Heavenly Father especially those written for us in the latter days. And I bear you this testimony and do it in the name…

Alternate Version

One Vote Matters
Since this is an election year, and we vote in a couple of weeks, I’m sure you’ve heard the admonition that every vote counts. Someone was telling me yesterday they saw a movie that is out and the plot is about how the vote for the Presidency of the United States comes down to one man. The plot seamed a bit of a stretch as the movie was explained to me but consider a man named Henry Shoemaker and how the small thing of his one vote – a matter of a few degrees you could say - produced powerful results.

On a sweltering summer afternoon in 1842, Henry was out on his farm in Indiana laboring. All of the sudden the thought popped into his mind that it was Election Day. He’d forgotten all about it.

Town was quite a distance away from his farm and to get there he’d need to go clear back to his house (also a bit of a distance), clean up, saddle his horse, and make the several hour ride quickly in order to get to the polling place before it closed. For a minute Henry thought he could justify bagging it.

But he’d promised one of the candidates that he’d vote for him for state representative. It was a man named Madison Marsh. When Henry got to the polling place they had run out of printed ballots that listed all the candidates and weren’t very helpful with him as to what he should do. I guess they suggested he just take a partial ballot and vote for those on it. But the State Representative he promised wasn’t on any of those ballets. Henry had gone to all this effort to vote for this man and he was determined to follow through. So he took out his pocket knife and did an 1842 version of cut and paste and cut out the names of those he wanted to vote for from partial ballots and hooked them somehow on his ballot and caste his vote.

I guess he was a little disruptive as he did this so it was quite memorable for the poll workers. Later when counting the ballots, the voting inspector declared his improvised ballot as invalid and tossed it out. Without Henry’s ballot, the election for state representative ended in a tie vote. That in turn resulted in numerous court proceedings and hearings and lengthy testimony until it was ruled that Henry’s vote was valid and counted. The tie was broken and Madison Marsh was elected state representative for Indiana.

Bid deal, huh? Every vote counts, so what? Indiana State Representative, who cares?

Well, back then, state legislators elected the United State Senators and in January of 1843 when Madison Marsh and his fellow representatives met to elect the U.S. Senator from Indiana, they were deadlocked. How this worked is they would continue to caste ballots amongst themselves until finally one candidate got the majority of votes. Finally on the sixth ballot, and after a long day of campaigning, Madison Marsh changed his vote and so by one vote Edward Hannegan was elected to the United States Senate.

Every vote counts again, right, big deal, U.S. Senator from Indiana. Big deal.

Two yeas later, though, the United States Senate was completely deadlocked on the decision to declare war on Mexico. They couldn’t break the tie no matter what was said or how ever many times the issue was brought up for vote. But for some reason, Edward Hannegan was away on other business and hadn’t been able to vote on the issue. He was eventually tracked down, came to the Capital and caste his vote for war. So by one vote, the United States went to war with Mexico in 1846.

Again, big deal.

But if it were not for this war, we here in this congregation today would have sang the hymns in Spanish and paid our tithing in Pesos. It was this war with Mexico that resulted in Utah, and our neighbors in Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to be included in the United States of America.
Henry Shoemaker had no idea what the effect of his vote was going to mean. Who knows how history would have turned out had Henry just stayed home that day and worked his farm? Or when he was hassled at the poll, had he given up and not cut and paste his votes on the ballot?

In just a matter of a few degrees, history changed, and that is why is it so important for us to be and stay on the right side of the gospel and to be in tune with our Church Leaders. When they tell us to get involved in the community and encourage us to be informed and participate in the government process by voting, they are just making it up. And if we haven’t seen it in the past, we will see it in the future that just a matter of a few degrees in our society, it can be the difference between freedom or slavery, great economic progress or crisis, morals and virtue or immorality and decadence. Decide today to make a small difference.

President Uchtdorf said many of things to bring home his point but specifically he tells us 4 things about “a few degrees” that are worth remembering:

1. Minor Decisions Lead to Major Consequences
“Be cautious… The Lord will help you to recognize and avoid … evils. It is the early recognition of danger and a clear course correction that will keep you in the light of the gospel. Minor decisions can lead to major consequences.

2. Responsibility of Self-Direction
“We … have the responsibility and the power of self-direction: “It is not meet that I should command in all things,” saith the Lord. “Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.” (D&C 58:26–28)

3. Treasure the Words of Prophets
“The more we treasure the words of the prophets and apply them, the better we will recognize when we are drifting off course—even if only by a matter of a few degrees.”

4. The Way Back is Certain & Clear
“No matter how terribly off course you are, no matter how far you have strayed, the way back is certain and clear… If we confess and repent of our sins.”
Never give up Brothers and Sisters. Never give in regardless of the distance or the time or the confidence you feel you have in the situation. Get up to your spiritual mountain just like Lehonti did but on the fourth time you are tempted – stay fixed and determined. On the fifth time when you are presented a deal that is too good to be true – stay fixed and determined. Do not listen to Satan or his army when they persistently nag at you to come down from your spiritual defenses.

Spiritual Disaster
As President Uchtdorf reminded us:

No one wants his life to end in tragedy. But all too often, like the pilots and passengers of the sightseeing flight, we set out on what we hope will be an exciting journey only to realize too late that an error of a few degrees has set us on a course for spiritual disaster.

On Any Given Sunday
I want to end by repeating some words given by a fictional football coach to his team. Apparently this coaches personal life had been somewhat of a disaster and he was paying the price for recklessness. At the same time his team had some serious challenges on and off the field. So he spoke to them to try and get them motivated to become a better team and better people. I find them most fitting to the challenge that lies ahead.

On Any Given Sunday Football Speech

I don’t know what to say really.
Three minutes
Until the biggest battle
Of our professional lives.

And it all comes down to today!

Either we heal as a team
Or we’re gonna crumble.
Inch by inch; play by play;
‘Til we’re finished.

We’re in bad shape gentlemen – believe me!

And we can stay here.
Get the stuffing kicked out of us.
Or we can fight
Our way back into the light.

WE CAN CLIMB OUT OF OUR SITUATION ONE INCH AT A TIME!

Now I can’t do it for you – I’m too old.

You know when you get old in life

You find out life’s this game of inches.
So is football.
Because in either game - life or football-
The margin for error is so small.

One half a step too late or too early
And you don’t quite make it.
One half a second too slow or too fast
And you don’t quite catch it.

The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They’re in every break of the game
Every minute; every second.
On this team we fight for that inch!

On this team we tear ourselves
And everyone else around us
To pieces for that inch.
We claw with our fingernails for that inch.

Because we know when we add up all those inches.
That’s gonna make the difference between
Winning and losing;
Between living and dying.

In any fight
It’s the guy who’s willing to die for that inch
Who’s gonna win that inch.

And I know if I’m going to have any life anymore
It’s because I’m still willing to
Fight and die for that inch.

Because that’s what living is:
The six inches in front of your face.

I can’t make you do it!

You gotta look at the person next to you;
Look into their eyes.
I think you’re gonna see a person
Who will go that inch with you.

You’re gonna see a person who will sacrifice their self for the team.
Because they know when it comes down to it
You’re gonna do the same for them.

That’s a team!

And either we heal now as a team
Or we will die as individuals

That’s all it is.

Now what are you gonna do?

What are YOU gonna do?

As we seek to live the gospel in these perilous times, may we all remember the message of how little things – as President Uchtdorf said, a matter of a few degrees – can have a profound on our lives.

May we all work together so that inch by inch, we may, as a team and as individuals, claw our way back to our Father in Heaven. In the name …

Stayed Tuned - I'm way behind except for my reading list, of course.

2008-09-20T23:34:00.003-06:00

I want to blog something on our family history because I've become obssessed with it. But I'm too busy doing it so I haven't made time. but I've found some stuff that is fascinating like:

I have Confederate blood in my veins. I always thought I was, if anything, pure Union. My 2nd great grandfather died "defending the stars and bars." Ouch. I'm a little conflicted and thought maybe they just drafted him (and other relatives) and they didn't have a choice. They did. And some were very bitter and hated my main man Abraham. I'm trying to get good with it.

One line I've discovered can be traced back to Peppin III, King of Francs (500 AD.) I need to do some pick and shovel on that because I've heard it can get fairly flacky to go back that far and huge leaps of logic have been made to get anyone there. So I'm checking it out.

The Internet is absolutely awesome in regard to family history these days. It's unbelievable what is out there. I've found pictures of ancestors going back 5 and 6 generations that none of my relatives have discovered yet. The books you can get your hands on, like on the Google book project, are amazing also. These are out of print, rare things they have scanned it that have very valuable in the information they contain.

I'm also in trouble for now having, in addition to my piles of books, piles of binders with all my research, charts and stuff. What can I say, it's one of the three missions of the church. Nobody would complain if I had missionary stuff laying around or if I stacked friends of other faiths stacked on the floor and end tables. But nobody has bought my argument that the books are involved with perfecting the saints, so I'll just procrastinate finding a better home for them.

Indexing. Everyone should go to "familysearch.org" and sign up for indexing. It's a great way to gain penance for a day of not living up to your fullest capabilities to pull up a census and "index" it to assist with the great family history work. The goal is to get all the microfilmed records in the granite vault digitized into databases so they can be searched. It's actually fun. You'll never know how much until you sign up and do it. You work at your leisure and at your own pace. It's a great space filler. Since July 23rd I've done 4,500 records. Trust me. Do it.

More later.

Enduring Together

2008-05-25T17:01:00.002-06:00

This is my latest retired High Council talk. The assignment was to remind the Wards of the October 2007 General Conference talk of Bishop Richard G. Edgely.

Talk:

This is the 5th time I’ve been able to travel around the Stake on speaking assignments and it’s been very enjoyable to be in the different Wards and partake of the Spirit with each of you. Being assigned to coordinate with your Ward gives me additional opportunities to meet with you and I’m even getting to memorize your seating assignments where you all sit each week.

Your Ward Family has its own unique feel and flavor to it as each Ward and each family does.

It makes me reflect on all of the Ward Families I have belonged to and what they have meant to me.

Riverton 4th Ward Family
Twice in the last two months I’ve read the obituaries of men from the Ward Family I grew up in. Last month the obituary was of a man who was my Scoutmaster as I grew up. I knew him and his family well. He’d wait for us scouts at the bus stop when we got home from school and take us by the scruff of our collars and go work on a merit badge we needed. He was faithful and dedicated to us kids and we loved him. And we knew he loved us. I will miss him and mourn with his family.

The other man I knew made life decisions that were very destructive and messed up his life and that of his family. I knew his children well and it was a sad situation. But I learned that over the past 5 years he had straightened his life out and developed a very strong testimony. The way it was told to me: he got up in every Fast & Testimony Meeting and bore his testimony. This made my heart rejoice because when I think of my first Ward Family I always have tender feelings for so many who were leaders, teachers, and friends and were instrumental in my developing and nurturing a testimony of the gospel. During the mission field, while I was away, this was still my Ward Family and they were a constant support and strength while I was serving the Lord full time and far away.

Eldridge Ward Family
After marriage, my wife and I had another Ward Family for only a year until our first child was born and we needed more space. I can still recall many of our wonderful Ward Family Members and though we didn’t live there long enough for callings, I do recall the families I home taught and the strength I gained from class members when I substituted a few times in Sunday School.

Sandy 29th Ward Family
After my wife and I had our first child we moved to what we affectionately call “the Ghetto”. Wet had an amazing Ward Family and loved them all as we got immediately and heavily involved for the five years we lived there.

We had our first trials and testing in this Ward and experienced loving Ward Family Members who mourned for us and comforted us. Conversely we had the experience of doing the same for many of them. It was a great time for loving and learning in the gospel and we still keep in touch with and follow the lives of several from this Ward Family. We’ve learned that many times our Ward Families become eternal families to us in the spirit of friendship and the fellowship of Christ’s true Church.

Kearns 38th Ward Family
After our second child was born, we bought a house and became part of another Ward Family. Our new Ward Family was amazing: a whole bunch of young parents with young children all in their first homes and at a similar point in life’s experience. Our High Priest’s Quorum consisted of the Bishopric and one Elder called and ordained a High Priest to be the Group Leader since no others existed.

There were so many opportunities to serve and love our fellow Ward Members. The energy was contagious in this Ward. At a Stake Conference, Elder Russell M. Nelson informed us that he looked at the Church records and we had the largest Primary in the Church; some 2.000 children in 5 Wards.

We had many, many opportunities to comfort and mourn that shaped our lives in a very formidable way. I will never forget the Saturday morning when the quiet was broken by the screams of a distraught neighbor. As my wife and I instinctively made our way quickly to this house along with many other neighbors, we found a sister in our Ward Family distraught over finding her newborn child, blue, and unable to arouse from a nap. We called it crib death back them but now know it as SIDS. Some of us worked on the child while awaiting medical help and others comforted and mourned the mother, the father being away at work.

And even though it has been over 25 years since we lived in this Ward Family, we still have tender feelings for them and keep in contact with many of them and continue to share in their triumphs and their trials. This was the Ward Family where the last two of our children were born. My wife became inflicted with Multiple Sclerosis after the birth of the last and our Ward Family truly surrounded us with love and comfort – and many still do so.

Countryside Ward Family
Next, we built the house we were going to retire in, and thus became part of another Ward Family. It seemed in this Ward there were many families that were struggling to stay intact and many that didn’t make it. These were times where we could support families to assist them in staying intact and when that didn’t work out, we mourned with them and comforted them as they adapted and tried to make sense out of the trials and testing of broken family life.

Little Cottonwood 16th Ward Family
One day, literally, after five years in this Ward Family, after we had settled into the last Ward Family we would ever have, the Spirit was brooding within my wife and me, and to the amazement and utter disgust of our 4 children, we pulled up roots and moved into our current Ward Family; the Little Cottonwood 16th Ward. In one days time we found and bought a house and the next day sold ours and over the weekend we moved. It was one week before our oldest daughter was to start High School and our son was to begin Junior High. Our two youngest would be in 5th and 3rd grades. They were hating us for doing this at this time in their lives and were shocked because usually our spontaneity was well planned out. It was the biggest, most seemingly random, maybe financially stupid thing we had ever done. But in hindsight, maybe the most correct thing we ever did.

We love our 16th Ward Family. We know the Spirit guided us to this Ward Family because they have provided so much love and support to us and our family and we in turn have had the opportunity to mourn for them and provide comfort to many of them as life moves forward. A Week ago we were all shocked to attend the funeral of Otto Bernt; who’d just recently found out he had an advanced brain cancer. We mourn for and comfort his dear wife and do all we can to support her in her time of trial and need.

Ward Families
I take you all down my personal journey because I’m sure you all can relate and have similar experiences in your own lives and in your Ward Family. I hope this causes you to reflect on your current and past Ward Families.

There is a reason for these feelings. Bishop Richard G. Edgely said something about it in the October general conference:

The ward is organized to minister to the needs of those who face even the most difficult and heartbreaking trials. The bishop, often considered the “father” of the ward, is there to provide counsel and resources. But also close at hand are Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthood leaders, the Relief Society presidency, home teachers, visiting teachers, and the ward members—always the ward members. All are there to administer comfort and show compassion in times of need.

I especially was impressed when he said, “the ward members – always the ward members” because it made me realize that under the inspiration of a Ward Family, I am called, in essence, to be a Ward Member and to bear their burdens and comfort them when they are in need of comfort. These geographic boundaries come by inspiration and leaders are called who hold keys that only operate within those boundaries. So being a member of a particular Ward Family seems like a calling to me.

As Bishop Edgley proceeded to give his talk he recounted 5 deaths of young people in his immediate neighborhood over a few years time; 4 of which were by traffic accident. As I heard this I was shocked but then as I pondered it and read the words again later I recall similar tragedies in my own Ward families as I’ve alluded to.

We thank our Heavenly Father and the Savior of this world for a Ward Family that comes together and makes these tragedies bearable. Can you even imagine not having this association? That would be a lonely and sad state of affairs to be in.

This is what the gospel is all about as taught by Alma when he tells us when us person is prepared for baptism:

Mosiah 18:8-9
8 … As ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort,”

That’s why we are ready for baptism when we are willing to do those things. Everything else in our Ward Family seems to be just practice for these moments when we do reach out and bear burdens and comfort those in need.

Listen to this apostolic description of a Ward Family:

The ward population is comparable to a large family, a patriarchal family, all members of which are acquainted, and are interested in a common cause. Within this ward family all members are on an equal plane. The poor and the rich, the learned and the unlearned, meet and mingle together as brethren and sisters, each giving help and love to the others. The Bishopric should be as fathers to the ward, knowing every family personally, sharing in the joys and sorrows of the people, and giving needed comfort and assistance to the sick and needy and to the well and prosperous. Since the ward is the ultimate unit of the Church, it becomes of great importance in the organization of the Church. It is in the ward that the activities of the Church find direct and real expression. All activities of the Church are organized on a ward basis-whether Priesthood or auxiliary. As the wards of the Church are, so is the Church.
(John A. Widtsoe, Program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, p.85)

5 Things We Learn in Ward Families
In this conference talk, Elder Edgely, summarizes the 5 things that we learn as Ward Families as we bear one another’s burdens and comfort those in need of comfort.

According to Bishop Edgley, the first thing we learn as a Ward Family from bearing one another’s burden and comforting those in need of comfort is:

1. The Lord’s organization is fully adequate to know and care for those with even the most dire emotional and spiritual needs.

The Lord’s organization is perfect though the members are not. If we follow the program outlined in the scriptures and taught by church leaders and spelled out in the great handbooks available to us, we can know everything we need to know and will be guided as to how to care for all within our boundaries. And this pertains to our physical, spiritual, financial, and emotional needs.

Let me repeat that: The Lord’s organization is perfect. We need but follow it. The Church is not the government. It is the kingdom of God on earth. And there are no outcomes like Katrina in the Lord’s plan.

The second thing we learn as a Ward Family from bearing one another’s burden and comforting those in need of comfort is that:

2. Adversity can bring us closer to God, with a renewed and enlightened appreciation for prayer and the Atonement, which covers pain and suffering in all their manifestations.

Sometimes we shy away from adversity but I testify to you that it is true. It has purpose and we should never live or strive to try and take away the adversity that comes upon ourselves or others as an inspired part of our journey through life.

Removing adversity from this life is not the Lord’s plan. We do all we can to not bring upon us or others any unavoidable trial or tribulation but once they come, either as a result of one’s actions or simply as a member of earth, we don’t remove it or take it away. Only the Lord can do that.

Too much stress and unhappiness comes to us as we vainly attempt to take away the adversity of others that can make them grow and learn and become more reliant on Heavenly Father. Instead of attempting to remove adversity from others, we are expected to bear it with them and comfort them as they are challenged. By doing so, if we had the power, maybe we are depriving them – and us – of a lesson and the ability to develop a celestial characteristic that we cannot learn or develop any other way. Remember those powerful words of
President Spencer W. Kimball:

I'm grateful that my priesthood power is limited and used as the Lord sees fit to use it. I don't want to heal all the sick - for sickness sometimes is a great blessing. People become angels through sickness.
Have you ever seen someone who has been helpless for so long that he has divested himself of every envy and jealousy and ugliness in his whole life, and who has perfected his life? I have. Have you seen mothers who have struggled with, perhaps, unfortunate children for years and years, and have become saints through it? …

Being human, we would expel from our lives, sorrow, distress, physical pain, and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort. But if we closed the doors upon such, we might be evicting our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery. The sufferings of our Savior were part of his education. (55-15)
(Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, edited by Edward L. Kimball, p.167)

Maybe that is one reason we have been dubbed the most unhappy people in the country here in Utah – maybe we spend far too much energy naively and sincerely attempting to do what only the Lord can do - trying to take away the burdens and trials of our children, neighbors, and community rather than just bearing it with them and providing needed comfort.

The third thing we learn as a Ward Family from bearing one another’s burden and comforting those in need of comfort is that:

3. Members who suffer tragedy firsthand often experience an increased capacity for love, compassion, and understanding. They become the first, last, and often the most effective responders in giving comfort and showing compassion to others.

This provides a good test for us if we are passing our tests of mortal probation. If you are the first, last and most effective person to show compassion to others, you are becoming more Christlike and have learned the lessons that were intended for you by the trials that you have had. This is why we are here on earth, to learn this very principle. This is why bad things happen to good people and why it rains on the good and the bad together.

The fourth & fifth things we learn as a Ward Family from bearing one another’s burden and comforting those in need of comfort are:

4. A ward, as well as a family, draws closer together as it endures together—what happens to one happens to all.

5. And perhaps most important, we can each be more compassionate and caring because we have each had our own personal trials and experiences to draw from. We can endure together.

Bishop Edgely said:

I rejoice in belonging to such a loving and caring organization. No one knows better how to bear one another’s burdens, mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort. I choose to call it “enduring together.” What happens to one happens to all. We endure together.

We are all familiar with the concept or the admonition of “enduring to the end.” We think about it and learn about it and are encouraged to do it regularly. In the scriptures we find many references to it. My favorite is:
2 Nephi 31:20

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Bishop Edgley introduced me to a new term in relation to this when he admonished us to “endure together.” When I read this scripture I like to think that it could be worded: “If ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure together, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”

A Final Testimony of Satan's Reality
To me one of the greatest examples of this feeling of enduring together as a Ward Family comes from an experience of President Harold B. Lee. It demonstrates that even though he was the Prophet and Leader of the entire Church, he still had a Ward Family and thought of them with great love and often, even as his life and mission were coming to an end. From his biography:

On the first Sunday of November 1973, President Lee spent the early morning hours, as was his practice, at the Salt Lake Temple considering problems on which he alone, as President of the Church, could decide. With these matters weighing heavily on his mind, along with a personal problem on which he had consulted with one of his family members, he came to rejoin Sister Lee at their Federal Heights Ward fast and testimony meeting. He arrived late, quietly sat down, and received the sacrament. Just prior to the close of the meeting, President Lee's familiar voice came from the back of the chapel, asking permission of bishopric counselor E. Douglas Sorensen to delay closing the meeting, for he "thought the Lord had been so mindful of me in a special way, a few days before, that he would think me an ingrate if I failed to express myself." According to ward member, Sister Elaine A. Cannon, who recorded his statements in her journal, he spoke these unforgettable words as he remained standing at the rear of the chapel:

Brothers and Sisters, beloved friends and neighbors, members of my ward family, and those in my own little flock over whom I have stewardship: I'm sorry to disturb you, but I know that it would be disturbing to my Father in Heaven if I don't say something to you at this time.

By way of testimony I want you to know that I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ and our Redeemer, and he is at the head of this Church; I am not. I know that he operates in all the affairs of this church and I say this by way of testimony that you may know that I know he lives.

And then, after a long pause, he uttered these remarkable words:
I say this to you by way of a serious warning, that I also know that the adversary lives and operates in the affairs of man. And he is determined to cause a downfall of men. If he can't get to us, he will try to get to those closest to us, for he is in a mighty battle with the work of the Savior. And I must tell you these words of warning. So keep close to the Lord. Don't be discouraged. The Lord will take care of his own. If you are prepared, you need not fear, if you are on the Lord's side."

This was a powerful, most unusual testimony, not alone because it came from the prophet of God to his own neighbors, friends, and relatives who had often heard him bear witness to the reality of the Savior Jesus Christ, but also because he had never before borne such a fervent witness to the reality of Satan. It was his last message to the members of his ward, for seven weeks later he was taken in death.
L. Brent Goates, Harold B. Lee: Prophet and Seer , p.564

May we all “endure together” as a Ward Family and work together to fight this mighty battle with the Adversary as he attempts to discourage us and cause our downfall. May we all realize we are “called” to live in this geographically-based organization to bear each other burdens and comfort those in need of comfort as brothers and sisters, both figuratively and literally. May we all draw upon our own trials and challenges to be the first, the last, and most effective to provide needed service and compassion.

The Savior lives. This is His Church. He has organized it and us in such a way that all challenges that come our way can be met and that all will come together to build His Kingdom and prepare for His return. This is my testimony and prayer in the name …

2008 Annual Conference

2008-04-20T23:30:00.002-06:00

Here are a few facts I've put together on conference. More to follow:

Talks Given: 35
By Prophet: 3
By First Presidency: 4
By Apostles: 12
By Others: 16

Scriptures Quoted: 429
Four times: 3
Three times: 9
Twice: 48
Once: 294

Book of Mormon: 135
New Testament: 116
Doctrine & Covenants: 108
Old Testament: 39
Pearl of Great Price: 31

Average scriptures quoted per speaker: 12

Most scriptures quoted in their talk: Madsen - 56; Russell - 36; Packer - 31; Christofferson - 29; Oaks - 25; Hales - 22; Uchtdorf - 22; Lund - 20

Most quoted scriptures –
4 times:

Alma 42: 8 (Nelson - SaM; Johnson - SaM; Burgess - ; Christensen - SuA)

Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness.

John 3:16 (Hales - SaA; Amado - SuA; Burgess - P; Uchtdorf - P)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 7:17 (Johnson - SaM; Wirthlin - SaM; Oaks (2) - SaA)

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or [whether] I speak of myself.

Fascinating fact: Out of the 429 scriptures quoted 294 of them were only quoted by one speaker. Isn't that amazing that out of 35 talks there is that little repetition from the scriptures quoted.

Total words spoken: 63,736
Average words per talk: 1,821
Total subjects addressed: 35

2 speakers addressed:
Blessings
Children of God
Church Leadership
Church, The
Family
Gospel
Obedience
Priesthood
Service

1 speaker addressed:
Abuse
Atonement
Book of Mormon
Eternal Progression
Example
Experience
Follow Prophet
Godhead
Holy Ghost
Love
Motherhood
Prayer
Revelation
Standards
Testimony
Tithing
Truth
Abuse
Atonement
Book of Mormon
Eternal Progression
Example
Experience
Follow Prophet
Godhead
Holy Ghost
Love
Motherhood

Worldwide Broadcast

2008-02-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

Since I had to set up our stake for the broadcast and set up a DVR to record it on DVD I ended up seeing it three times. It was great. Each time I picked up new and good things I missed the previous times. Here are things I remember:

Elder Holland's Parable of the Homemade Shirt was instructive. His "there's bound to be trouble if a shirt is made from a shirt made from a shirt." That is so profound in the context of when mistakes are made, then repeated and exaggerated each time. His point was to have a pattern that you draw from and then each time you bounce your actions off the pattern you will never get too far from the original (or the truth.)

He also recognized that everyone is in different circumstances but can still use the pattern and adapt it rather than reinventing the standard.

President Packer said there were two transendant ideas that came out of the First Vision. One, God is the Father. Two, Jesus is the Son. So it was a family thing that was happening. The pattern revealed to Joseph there and elsewhere was first concerning families and the organization and priesthood came afterward.

He then read the Proclamation On The Family word for word (interjecting some commentary along the way.) He said it was scripture-like. The answers in the Proclamation are the Church's answers to the world in relation to family matters.

He emphasized that God's Plan is more correctly God's Plan of Happiness. At the end of his remarks which were a little subdued he made a very interesting and seemingly spontaneous comment: "He's our Father!" Then repeated, "He's our Father!" He said he didn't quite know how to say it because we do it so glibly but testified again that, "He's our Father!"

The bulk of the time was a roundtable discussion on the family with Elder Holland, Elder Oaks, President Lant, President Beck, and President Tanner of the Primary, Relief Society, and the Young Women respectively.

I can't cover much and capture the context but here are some thoughts as best I can remember:

Elder Oaks said we should be guided revelation by what we do in regard to our family and not by icons of pup culture or conventions of political correctness.

President Lant observed that we are trying to be eternal families not perfect families and that in this life a perfect family is one striving to be an eternal family with all the challenges that come to us in life.

Elder Holland said he didn't know if the next life had Wards or Stakes but he did know there were families and family organization and that is the answer to the question of why we talk so much about family.

Elder Oaks said he always advises newlyweds that to solve problems they need to do what they are doing right then: looking across at each other and not to other people. At least when they first attempt to solve a problem. That's what will get them through their problems in life.

President Lant: The best way to get our needs met is to meet someone elses' needs.

Someone brought up soul mates and Elder Oaks said he was skeptical of the concept. He took me back for a minute when he said what you should be doing is looking for someone you can stand ... with. I don't think he meant for a pause to come after stand and he certainly was not trying to be funny and nobody laughed but me because I swear I heard just the first part about looking for someone you can stand. How true. but also someone you can stand with is good advice.

There seemed to be a recurring trashing of the concept of making lists. I love lists. I'm crushed. I guess what they are saying though is it isn't good to make up a list of duties and assignments in the role of spouse of parent and then fanatically just following the list. That works because I love lists but have no self-discipline to ever follow anything on them. I just like making them.

President Tanner quoted a poem from John Milton,s Paradise Lost that had the phrase: "a thousand daily decencies that flow." the point is that is what makes a happy marriage and family.

"Gospel Culture" was a recurring theme that they used to describe the pattern of living they were talking about that transends anyone's individual's specific traditions or upbringing or background.

President Lant made the observation in disagreeing in a family that it's not who is right it's what is right.

Elder Oaks advises that decisions should be made prayerfully and not looking to worldly priorities of how to have and raise children given by television and prominent gurus or the pressure of neighbors.

Additionally Elder Oaks reminded us that it won't be easy because God set it up on purpose so there will be "opposition in all things" therefore we can't be expected to be applauded every time we do something right. In spite of all that God will bless us.

He told us of an experience with Elder Maxwell when he told them on important issues they should write the message on the inside of their eyeglasses and then when they put them on to use them, the message will be always in front of them. The message we should put on our eyeglasses today is: "Families Come First" and all our decisions should be viewed with that in mind.

President Beck told a funny story about how growing up their family sang, Love At Home, every week at FHE. Finally at about 14 she asked her father why since there were so many other hymns they could sing. He said, "When we learn lesson one I will teach you lesson two." They never did get to lesson two. Her point was we don't have to try and cover everything.

President Lant told the story of when she had young children and her husband was called to be a Bishop it would take her all day Saturday and Sunday to get the kids ready and get to their meeting on time and take up her place on the second row. One week some big mouth lady came up and whispered to her that if it had been as easy for her as it had been for Sister Lant she would have had more children. Sister Lant said she cried the whole meeting and her husband wondered what was wrong with her. Her point is that it wasn't easy and we ought not judge people harshly or falsely. She didn't say it but should have added, "especially if you have your head lodged in the wrong place." But I guess that would be judging harshly.

A particularly poignent moment was when. Then he looked directly into the camera and said, "Father's, rise up and perform your role."

Elder Oaks also talked about using the extended family to support and help each other and that North America could learn from most other continents a little more about that concept because they have a higher vision and practices concerning this.

Still more to come.

Nourishing Power of Hymns

2008-01-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a version of my High Council talk for the past 6 months.

The conference talk I’ll be reviewing and reminding us about is the second talk given in the April Conference on Saturday morning by Jay Jenson of the Quorum of the Seventy titled: The Nourishing Power of Hymns.

Like no other talk in that conference, this one made me reminisce about hymns in my life.

Earliest Hymn Memory

Elder Jensen began by reminding us of President Hinckley’s experience as a young deacon attending a stake meeting with his father. One of the hymns sung at the meeting was “Praise to the Man.” Later in life President Hinckley said about that:

"I had an impression that has never left that Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet of God." (TGBH, p. 399)

This made me think about the earliest experience I recall involving hymns.
It was in a primary meeting. I recall the chorister asking different children their favorite song and then we’d sing it. At some point, the chorister called on me. I wasn’t prepared because by then I’d already learned the art of avoidance-by-studying-shoe-color. Not being prepared, I recall a short panic and then I vocalized the only thought in my mind: “Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning.” The actually name of the song is “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” but that’s all I new it by.

I recall many of the other children groaning I think because it was a “grown-up” song. I guess they were hoping to sing other deep-doctrinal hits like, “Give Said the Little Stream” but that was my favorite so I said it. In hind sight I know the reason why I liked this song so much and it is like President Hinckley said - I knew then as I know now that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and I loved the message of this song and how it made me feel. It was and still is one of my favorite hymns. Listen to some of the words & the message:

Joseph Smith's First Prayer, Hymn #26

Oh, how lovely was the morning!
Radiant beamed the sun above.
Bees were humming, sweet birds singing,
Music ringing through the grove,
When within the shady woodland
Joseph sought the God of love …
Humbly kneeling, sweet appealing
'Twas the boy's first uttered prayer
When the pow'rs of sin assailing
Filled his soul with deep despair;
But undaunted still he trusted
In his Heav'nly Father's care …
Suddenly a light descended,
Brighter far than noonday sun,
And a shining glorious pillar
O'er him fell, around him shone,
While appeared two heav'nly beings,
God the Father and the Son …
"Joseph, this is my Beloved;
Hear him!" Oh, how sweet the word!
Joseph's humble prayer was answered,
And he listened to the Lord.
Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,
For he saw the living God …

I still thrill when I hear or sing these words. What a great and classic hymn of the restoration.

Elder Jensen described 3 Ways That Hymns Play a Special Role in the Gospel:

1. Hymns Invite the Spirit (When Erika heard this verbalized she thought I meant it like Parker, "Hims Invite the Spirit" and was a big thrown off.)

Hymns are "an essential part of our church meetings. [They] invite the Spirit of the Lord." (Hymns ix) They often do this quicker than anything else we may do.

President J. Reuben Clark Jr. said, "We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer." (CR 10/1936, p. 111)

Why is this? Think about it? Why does music (& the hymns in particular) have such a powerful spiritual effect on us?

I think one reason is as expressed in the Chinese Proverb:

“Tell me, I’ll forget. Show me, I may remember. But involve me, and I’ll understand.”

Since we participate in the singing of hymns we are involved in them, therefore, we are able to gain a better understanding of them. There is some sort of eternal principle associated with participation and the Holy Ghost as Elder Scott tells us as it relates to teaching:

Richard G. Scott:
“Never, and I mean never, give a lecture where there is no student participation… Assure there is abundant participation because the use of agency by a student authorizes the Holy Ghost to instruct. It also helps the student to retain your message. As students verbalize truths, they are confirmed in the souls and strengthen their personal testimonies.”

Participation in hymn singing works the same way. That’s why we sing so many hymns as a congregation rather than having choirs do it all.

Experience of John Taylor Singing to Solve a Difficulty among Two Members

President Heber J. Grant said, “There certainly is a delightful influence which attends the singing of the songs of Zion” and then went on to tell a remarkable story about John Taylor and the power of hymns to call on the Spirit of the Lord.

Two faithful members of the Church who had been old friends and shared many hardships and endured many trials together in the early days of the church, now had a falling out and were involved in a business dispute between them.

They decided that they would get President John Taylor to help them solve their differences. They gave their word of honor that they would abide by whatever decision President Taylor made but before they had a chance to tell him what the problem was, Present Taylor said he would like to start out by singing “one of the songs of Zion” for them.

Continuing with President Heber J. Grants words:

He sang one of our hymns to the two brethren. Seeing its effect, he remarked that he never heard one of the songs of Zion but that he wanted to listen to one more, and so asked them to listen while he sang another. Of course, they consented. They both seemed to enjoy it; and, having sung the second song, he remarked that he had heard there is luck in odd numbers and so with their consent he would sing still another, which he did. Then in his jocular way, he remarked: “Now, brethren, I do not want to wear you out, but if you will forgive me, and listen to one more hymn, I promise to stop singing, and will hear your case.”

… When President Taylor had finished the fourth song, the brethren were melted to tears, got up, shook hands, and asked President Taylor to excuse them for having called upon him, and for taking up his time. They then departed without his even knowing what their difficulties were.

President Taylor’s singing had reconciled their feelings toward each other. The spirit of the Lord had entered their hearts, and the hills of difference that rose between them had been leveled and become as nothing. Love and brotherhood had developed in their souls. The trifles over which they had quarreled had become of no consequence in their sight. The songs of the heart had filled them with the spirit of reconciliation.

Hymns really do invite the spirit.

2. Hymns Invite Revelation (the 2nd way that hymns play a special role in the gospel)

According to Elder Jensen, those who have responsibilities over meetings and hymn selection “should make sure that the music, the words, and the musical instruments are sacred, dignified, and will promote worship and revelation.”

“Music becomes a performance when it brings attention to itself. Hymns ‘create a feeling of reverence.’" (Hymns ix)

“The words reverence and revelation are like twins who like each other's company. When the Seventy and Presiding Bishopric are invited to meetings with the First Presidency and the Twelve, we are reminded to arrive early and reverently listen to prelude music. Doing so invites revelation and prepares us for the meeting.”

President Packer taught that a member who softly plays "prelude music from the hymnbook tempers our feelings and causes us to go over in our minds the lyrics which teach the peaceable things of the kingdom. If we will listen, they are teaching the gospel, for the hymns of the Restoration are, in fact, a course in doctrine!" (Reverence Invites Revelation, Ensign, 11/1991. p. 22)

Two suggestions given by Elder Jensen to make hymns more powerful in our lives are:

1. Strive to be more punctual to meetings, sit quietly and listen to the prelude music, and experience reverence and revelation.

2. Exit meetings more reverently, allowing the postlude music to extend the spirit of the meeting.

As we do this, the hymns can become more a part of our heart and mind and maybe they will be a source of revelation in a time of need.

Experience of Two Missionaries Using Hymns To Avoid Mob Danger

Elders J. Golden Kimball and Charles A. Welch, neither of whom claim to sing well, while on a mission in the Southern States, were about to baptize some converts; a mob had assembled, and the brethren were given to understand that if they carried out their intentions of baptizing that the mob would throw them into the river. The brethren determined to go ahead no matter what the result might be. Before doing so, however, they sang a song. The song seemed to have such an effect upon the mob that they were almost transfixed. The brethren proceeded with their baptisms, and then went some distance to attend to confirming the baptized. A message came from the mob asking them to come and sing that song again, and the request was complied with. The leader of the mob, Joseph Jarvis, afterwards joined the Church, and he stated to Elder Kimball that the sentiments of the hymn, and the inspiration attending the singing, as above related, converted him to the Gospel. Brother Kimball’s recollection is that the hymn was “Truth Reflects Upon Our Senses.”

Listen to some of the words to this hymn:

Truth Reflects Upon Our Senses, Hymn #273
Text: Eliza R. Snow

Truth reflects upon our senses:
Gospel light reveals to some.
If there still should be offenses,
Woe to them by whom they come!
Judge not, that ye be not judged,
Was the counsel Jesus gave;
Measure given, large or grudged,
Just the same you must receive.
Blessed Savior, thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore
Where the angels wait to join us
In thy praise forevermore.
Jesus said,"Be meek and lowly,"
For 'tis high to be a judge;
If I would be pure and holy,
I must love without a grudge.
It requires a constant labor
All his precepts to obey.
If I truly love my neighbor,
I am in the narrow way.
Once I said unto another,
"In thine eye there is a mote;
If thou art a friend, a brother,
Hold, and let me pull it out."
But I could not see it fairly,
For my sight was very dim.
When I came to search more clearly,
In mine eye there was a beam.
If I love my brother dearer,
And his mote I would erase,
Then the light should shine the clearer,
For the eye's a tender place.
Others I have oft reproved,
For an object like a mote,
Now I wish this beam removed,
Oh, that tears would wash it out!
Charity and love are healing;
These will give the clearest sight;
When I saw my brother's failing,
I was not exactly right.
Now I'll take no further trouble;
Jesus' love is all my theme;
Little motes are but a bubble
When I think upon the beam.

Hymns really do invite revelation both within us and to others touched by them as we use them.

3. Hymns Invite Conversion (the 3rd way that hymns play a special role in the gospel)

Elder Jensen tells us, “The hymns of the Restoration carry with them the spirit of conversion.”

Experience of Missionary Couple Using Hymns in Teaching

To reinforce this point, Elder Jensen related the story of two missionaries teaching an older couple in Peru. While teaching then, they were interrupted when the couple’s son, wife, and three children showed up. In Elder Jensen’s words:

“The elders explained who they were and what they were doing. The son was suspicious of the missionaries, resulting in an awkward moment. The junior companion prayed silently, "Heavenly Father, what do we do?" The impression came to sing. They sang "I Am a Child of God." (Hymns #301) The Spirit touched the hearts of this family of five. Instead of two converts, all seven became members, influenced initially by a hymn.”

Hymns really do carry with them the power of conversion.

Given the truth of these three “inviting” principles of music – inviting the spirit, inviting revelation, and inviting conversion – Elder Jensen gives us some suggestions.

1. Teaching Children Hymns Begins at Home

Singing hymns and listening to appropriate music begin at home. "Latter-day Saints should fill their homes with the sound of worthy music.

" . . . We hope the hymnbook will take a prominent place among the scriptures and other religious books in our homes. The hymns can bring families a spirit of beauty and peace and can inspire love and unity among family members.

"Teach your children to love the hymns. Sing them on the Sabbath, in [family] home evening, during scripture study, at prayer time. Sing as you work, as you play, and as you travel together. Sing hymns as lullabies to build faith and testimony in your young ones." (Hymns x)

2. Worship More Meaningfully through Hymns

We should all attempt to follow the example of conference in our lives as they relate to the hymns of the restoration.

Each conference the music is almost entirely comprised of hymns. Most of them we all know better than we think and could probably sing without a book:

Come, Come, Ye Saints
The Spirit of God
I Am a Child of God
O My Father
I Need Thee Every Hour
I Stand All Amazed

Researching past conferences I can tell you that sometime in each conference we will hear the hymn, We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet, usually in the Sunday afternoon session – and the last conference we did.

At most conferences we will hear, Now Let us Rejoice (for some reason at a morning session) and Redeemer of Israel. Both were sung as expected.

At most conferences we will hear, Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah, usually in a Priesthood session and also How Firm a Foundation, for some reason usually on Sunday morning. Guide Us was sung instead of Priesthood on Sunday morning and How Firm was sung as expected also on Sunday morning.

Usually about once a year it is almost certain we’ll hear, Praise to the Man & Joseph Smith’s First Prayer (both on Sunday morning). Praise to the Man we heard last time and didn’t this time but we did hear Joseph’s First Prayer but on Saturday Afternoon.

I love the power of hymns and bear testimony to you that they have the power to increase the Spirit in our lives. They have the power to be a source of revelation in our lives, and they have the power to aid us in the process of conversion in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

May we all be nourished by the hymns of the gospel, is my prayer …

2007 in Review: Books

2008-01-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

This was a great year for books. Yea, getting them, but also reading them. Each year I mainly just go with where my interests take me but I do have a few goals to try and have some discipline.

1) Each year I force myself to read 1 classic. 2) I read the book of scripture from the Sunday School lessons. 3) I read and dissect each general conference. 4) I read at least one book with a business theme. 5) I meet or exceed the number of books read from the previous year. In addition, this year I started a project on American Presidents so I most jumped in to this from the beginning.

I read 61 books this year which is a very good year; 5 a month. Last year I only read 45. I met my other goals as follows (listed in order of best to worst when possible):

Classics
Chronicles of Narnia 1: the Magicians Nephew, C.S. Lewis
Chronicles of Narnia 2: Lion, Witch & Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
Chronicles of Narnia 3: the Horse & His Boy, C.S. Lewis
Chronicles of Narnia 4: Prince Caspian, C.S. Lewis

Scriptures
The New Testament
Fire in the Bones, Michael Wilcox
Wide as the Waters, Benson Bobrick
God’s Secretaries, Adam Nicolson
The New Testament Through 100 Masterpieces of Art, Regis Debray
The Life & Teachings of Jesus, Volume 1, Richard Holzapfel

General Conference
2007 Annual
2007 Semi-annual

Business
You’ve Got To Read This Book, Jack Canfield

In addition to these categories my 2007 reading breaks out into these categories (also listed from Best to Worst):

American History
Passing of the Armies, Joshua Chamberlain
April 1865, Jay Winik
The Most Glorious Fourth: Vicksburg & Gettysburg, Duane Shultz
Rediscovering God in America, Newt Gingrich
The Great Upheaval, Jay Winik
Our 50 States, Lynn Cheney
America: A Patriotic Primer, Lynn Cheney
What If’s of American History, Robert Cowley
Gettysburg, Newt Gingrich
101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived, Alan Lazar

General History
I Wish I’d Been There, Brian Hollingshead
The Greatest Stories Never Told, Rick Beyer

U.S. Presidents
George Washington, James Burns
Grant & Twain, Mark Perry
John Adams, John Diggins
Thomas Jefferson, Joyce Appleby
James Madison, Gary Willis
James Monroe, Gary Hart
John Quincy Adams, Robert Remini
Andrew Jackson, Sean Wilenz
Martin Van Buren, Ted Widmer
James K. Polk, John Siegenthaler
James Buchanan, Jean Baker
John Tyler: the Accidental President, Edward Crapol
The Bushes, Peter Schwiezer
Abraham Lincoln, Lord Charnwood

LDS Church History
The Worlds of Joseph Smith, John Welch
United By Faith, Kyle Walker
Lengthen Your Stride: Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball, Edward Kimball
Presidents and Prophets, Michael Winter
David O. McKay, Gregory Prince

LDS Doctrine
Preach My Gospel
Beholding Salvation, Kent Brown

Religion
Quest For God, Paul Johnson

Music
Beethoven, Edmund Morris
Storms: My Life With Fleetwood Mac, Carol Ann harris
Mosaic, Amy Grant

Trivia
Why?, Eric McHugh
Where?, Eric McHugh
When?, Eric McHugh
Who?, Eric McHugh
Know It All, Eric McHugh

Fiction
Harry Potter & the Deadly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Simple Genius, David Baldacci
Stone Cold, David Baldacci
Bourne Legacy, Eric Van Lustbader

Politics 101 in the 21st Century

2007-12-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

I’ve heard many a person comment of late that we are living in a messed up time and the dirty business of politics is one of the reasons. We’re all entitled to our opinions and that’s one that is valid for the nonreaders.

If you have studied politics much you’d realize we ain’t seeing nothing like the past. Politics has always been kind of a dirty business, and certainly is today, but compared to some previous campaigns everyone is on their best behavior.

George Washington was revered in his day as much as he is now but his political opponents had no problem trashing him – and most did it anonymously. That way you could say anything you wanted.

It got so bad in John Adam’s presidency, that this famed signer of the Declaration of Independence, convinced Congress to pass the infamous “Alien and Sedition Acts.” This allowed him to lock up in jail anyone who spoke negatively against the President or the government. He could also kick anyone out of the country who made similarly libelous comments. Imagine that in our day. “W” would love that one. We can’t even keep the aliens out of the country let alone kick citizens out for their big mouths. Bye-bye Rosie sounds real good.

In the 3rd Presidential race, Aaron Burr tied with Thomas Jefferson and the House picked Jefferson so Burr became the Vice President. He was so ticked off at personal things a Cabinet Member, Alexander Hamilton, had said about him, he eventually challenged him to a duel. He killed him. Then he left the country to the West and tried to be made king and emperor of the Louisiana Purchase lands and was eventually banished to Europe.

One more example was when Andrew Jackson ran for the 6th Presidency. This race was so nasty on a personal level directed toward Jackson’s wife, Rachel, she passed away from the stress of it all. He won the popular vote and the House picked his opponent for President and for four years the ugliness did not stop; very specific personal ugliness most of which flying both ways was not true, or relevant.

So our day is pretty calm. Swift Boating is whimpy - forgetting the fact that it was true. But we do have a serious problem that is new and troubling. Our society’s inclination toward celebrity worship and “political correctness.” I put that in quote marks to differentiate it from legitimate politeness. In the last two weeks I’ve looked up close and personal at some things going on that show this.

There was the Mitt Romney speech, a speech by Hillary Clinton, a three hour interview with Newt Gingrich, a two hour interview with Bill Clinton, and the first Oprah introduction to Barack Obama including his talk. What a rush. Here is what I observed.

The most qualified man right now for the Presidency is Newt Gingrich. Mostly because he isn’t going after it. It is becoming more and more true that somebody who wants the job ought to be automatically disqualified. He is articulate and right on, on most of the issues. Being a historian he’s actually studied the stuff and is forming opinions based on research and facts and not jut barfing back trite clichéd politically correct drivel. I watched three hours with the guy and he has this crap-eaten grin to go along with his educated answers and is unflappable. Both characteristics are a necessity when deranged people are calling in and asking the most absurd questions on earth. Three hours went by like a minute.

Bill Clinton is amazing. He is the most gifted liar, maybe, to ever live. Cain was a wimp. I think he lies just because he can. And he gets pretty much a free pass, so he does it. One of these days, I suspect he’s going to tell us he’s really a Martian and came from outer space. And he will do it with passion, and he’ll say it with a straight face, and if questioned, he’ll lean forward and repeat it, and in his mind he’ll be thinking, “You’re all a bunch of dummies letting me say anything I want and letting me get away with it.” I’m sure in his diary he records that he is shocked at what he says and gets away with. Some liars convince themselves that they are really telling the truth and then just live in a dream world. Not Bill. He doesn’t believe a word he says but says it anyway. I almost respect him. Kind of like I respect Nehor.

Mitt Romney’s speech was great. It had nothing to do with religion and had everything to do with America. If he made his entire campaign like that speech, he’d hearken us back to the Reagan days when American meant something and we were once again proud of our country. What scares me worse about his whole situation is those who would never vote for him because he’s a Mormon and those who are voting for him simply because he is a Mormon. Frightening perspectives. He won’t make it and that’s good because I don’t want the Church trashed by imbecile’s simply to attack him. It’s tiring. Just like the atheist idiots who are criticizing his speech for not reaching out to them. Get a freaking life. He didn’t reach out to the Neo-Nazi’s either. Or the murderers. Or the Buddhists. Or the illegal aliens (a third of the country at last count.) Or the Lost Ten Tribes.

Hillary Clinton. I listened and didn’t turn the channel just so I can say I did. It is painful. I’ve had multiple root canals and cists removed without anesthesia that were more pleasant than listening to her. I wish it weren’t so painful but the sound of her voice grates on something in my inner ear and creates the same physical reaction as bad perfume does to my eyes. They bleed. And what she is saying is irrelevant because it is all so freaking, filthy, wrong. She lies, no doubt, but her lying is out of ignertrance (I’m combining ignert and ignorance together into a new word.) In the speech I heard she was defending her latest and greatest (# 226) socialized medicine proposal and she said – I kid you not – quote, “There are tens of hundreds of millions of people in this country who do not have health care.” Unquote. Huh? Tens of hundreds of millions is one billion. Who the freak is she talking about. There are only 300 millions of people in this country counting the illegal aliens. Picture my ears bleeding at this point.

Oprah and Obama. What can I say? Lightweight Obama ought to be introducing Oprah as the candidate. If people are so for a woman President and some all for a black President, there you go: Oprah. Now she has done nothing to qualify herself for the job, just like he hasn’t. But at least she has all the money in the world. But listen to what she says about him: nothing. She is just using the power of her celebrity to back him.

Her introduction was moving and her delivery makes you want to jump up and be saved but she says she’s endorsing him for the first time endorsing anyone for very personal reasons … Wait for it … Wait for it …. Wait for it …. It doesn’t every come what those very personal reasons are. And nowhere in her introduction does she tell us one issue he is for that is bring her out in support of him. She says he’s got the answers. She says that Washington needs someone like him. She says it’s time the country elect someone who isn’t just talking but doing. But what? I am not hearing one single issue or thing he’s done or for that connects the dots. Oh, she does say one specific thing. He was the first one to come out against the war in Iraq. Great. So now it’s a race to see who can not support something first and that’s who we back. Well folks, I didn’t support abortion first. Pick me!

What a world. It’s portends a scary world if the power of celebrity gains inroads into the leadership of this country. But as long as this next presidential race has been going on, maybe they do need to turn it into a reality show. And we’ll eliminate candidates each week based on something or other. And eventually after the celebrity panel of Oprah, Natalie Maines, and Elizabeth Hasselbeck, narrow down the field based on their pithy insight, the rest of the country can call a number and vote as many times as they are willing to pay, for which every candidate they choose.

For me, I hope the millennium gets here soon.

Mindsets

2007-12-02T19:35:00.001-07:00

In preparing to teach Sunday School next week (yea, I have to stay in the game periodically so I don't forget how) I ran across an interesting thing I used to use. I would always use it to introduce Isaiah or in the case of next week, The Book of Revelation. Let me explain.

Beloit College (some place in Wisconsin) puts out a list each year for the entering freshman and professors to show how different their world perpectives are. The point is for everyone to be sensitive in the learning environment to assumptions made because they are very different based on life experiences.

I use it to demonstrate that if the worlds are that different for someone born in 1985 and us old timers, how different is our world from John who wrote Revelation a couple thousand years ago.

Here is the mindset list.

Most of the students entering college this fall, members of the class of 2011, were born in 1989. For them, Alvin Ailey, Andrei Sakharov, Huey Newton, Emperor Hirohito, Ted Bundy and Abbie Hoffman have always been dead.

1. What Berlin wall?
2. Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public.
3. Rush Limbaugh and the “Dittoheads” have always been lambasting liberals.
4. They never “rolled down” a car window.
5. Michael Moore has always been angry and funny.
6. They may confuse the Keating Five with a rock group.
7. They have grown up with bottled water.
8. General Motors has always been working on an electric car.
9. Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.
10. Pete Rose has never played baseball.
11. Rap music has always been mainstream.
12. Religious leaders have always been telling politicians what to do, or else!
13. “Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone.
14. Music has always been “unplugged.”
15. Russia has always had a multi-party political system.
16. Women have always been police chiefs in major cities.
17. They were born the year Harvard Law Review Editor Barack Obama announced he might run for office some day.
18. The NBA season has always gone on and on and on and on.
19. Classmates could include Michelle Wie, Jordin Sparks, and Bart Simpson.
20. Half of them may have been members of the Baby-sitters Club.
21. Eastern Airlines has never “earned their wings” in their lifetime.
22. No one has ever been able to sit down comfortably to a meal of “liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”
23. Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than Sears and has always employed more workers than GM.
24. Being “lame” has to do with being dumb or inarticulate, not disabled.
25. Wolf Blitzer has always been serving up the news on CNN.
26. Katie Couric has always had screen cred.
27. Al Gore has always been running for president or thinking about it.
28. They never found a prize in a Coca-Cola “MagiCan.”
29. They were too young to understand Judas Priest’s subliminal messages.
30. When all else fails, the Prozac defense has always been a possibility.
31. Multigrain chips have always provided healthful junk food.
32. They grew up in Wayne’s World.
33. U2 has always been more than a spy plane.
34. They were introduced to Jack Nicholson as “The Joker.”
35. Stadiums, rock tours and sporting events have always had corporate names.
36. American rock groups have always appeared in Moscow.
37. Commercial product placements have been the norm in films and on TV.
38. On Parents’ Day on campus, their folks could be mixing it up with Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz with daughter Zöe, or Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford with son Cody.
39. Fox has always been a major network.
40. They drove their parents crazy with the Beavis and Butt-head laugh.
41. The “Blue Man Group” has always been everywhere.
42. Women’s studies majors have always been offered on campus.
43. Being a latchkey kid has never been a big deal.
44. Thanks to MySpace and Facebook, autobiography can happen in real time.
45. They learned about JFK from Oliver Stone and Malcolm X from Spike Lee.
46. Most phone calls have never been private.
47. High definition television has always been available.
48. Microbreweries have always been ubiquitous.
49. Virtual reality has always been available when the real thing failed.
50. Smoking has never been allowed in public spaces in France.
51. China has always been more interested in making money than in reeducation.
52. Time has always worked with Warner.
53. Tiananmen Square is a 2008 Olympics venue, not the scene of a massacre.
54. The purchase of ivory has always been banned.
55. MTV has never featured music videos.
56. The space program has never really caught their attention except in disasters.
57. Jerry Springer has always been lowering the level of discourse on TV.
58. They get much more information from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert than from the newspaper.
59. They’re always texting 1 n other.
60. They will encounter roughly equal numbers of female and male professors in the classroom.
61. They never saw Johnny Carson live on television.
62. They have no idea who Rusty Jones was or why he said “goodbye to rusty cars.”
63. Avatars have nothing to do with Hindu deities.
64. Chavez has nothing to do with iceberg lettuce and everything to do with oil.
65. Illinois has been trying to ban smoking since the year they were born.
66. The World Wide Web has been an online tool since they were born.
67. Chronic fatigue syndrome has always been debilitating and controversial.
68. Burma has always been Myanmar.
69 Dilbert has always been ridiculing cubicle culture.
70. Food packaging has always included nutritional labeling.

Imagine what John would think, showing up in this world of the class of 2011. Imagine us showing up in his world. And we wonder why it's a little challenging to figure out this book.

Thanksgiving Day

2007-11-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting here thinking about my history of Thanksgiving as I remember it.

Growing up, this was always a wild time of the year. It was during this season that we’d always finalize our chicken and turkey production. By that I mean we’d kill (can you say clothsline), clean, pluck, cut, and freeze those chickens that lived, of the hundred or so we started with. This was a lot of work for several Saturdays in the Fall. By Thanksgiving we, like the Pilgrims, were done and ready to party. We also raised out own turkeys and had a half dozen or so of them to take care of.

The one we’d eat on Thanksgiving was one we’d raised. Usually a monster. Maybe that’s why I don’t care for turkey too much. I’m a dark meat only eater though to show I’m not squeamish, I do love the skin especially on a deep fried turkey. Nummy.

Thanksgiving Day was always fun around our house but I’m not sure why. I don’t recall doing anything that wasn’t done on other days or other holidays. At some point you’d find the boys outside playing our version of two on one football or our avoid-the-hedge baseball game; you could see the gaps in the hedge that showed how bad we played the game.

All the while we all had some chores to do helping with the meal though strangely I don’t think they were much. My memory is if you managed to stay out of sight, the less you had to do. Ronald was the absolute master of this on Thanksgiving - and any day really. But though he was the master, we certainly were eager learners and did out best. The worst chore was to take the slop bucket out to the pig pen. Chores like that just aren’t in existence anymore. It was a way of life for us. The pigs wouldn’t be sent to the butchers yet nor was Bibba so those were chores we still had. We had some sort of pecking order of whose turn it was but spent far more energy and time determining who it was than if we’d have just done it.

Sometimes, it seems to me, that Grandpa and Grandma Johnson would be down from Idaho Falls and would join us. That added a level of intrigue to the event. We loved them and they had a calming influence on the proceedings somehow. I guess it was the way they were totally unflappable in our midst when all control had seem to be lost. Never once do I recall either of them getting angry with us or telling us what to do even though you’d think with the chaos there would be plenty of opportunities.

One thing we all tried to do was to avoid getting caught in the Grandpa Triangle. This was where he pinned you on one side and you were in a corner pinned on the other two sides by wall. In this position you could expect to stay for a half hour or so while he literally prophesied about things and lectures in a kind way on principles of health and life. The torture wasn’t being pinned but having your brothers and sisters poke faces at you behind him trying to distract you and make you laugh. Grandpa was undaunted though. I wish I could be pinned by him now and actually listen. I also wish I’d have written down the things he said because I can’t remember much but think there was some actual prophesying that was done that I’d probably appreciate now and would find comfort in my old age. Great times.

Farmor would join us regularly and one of the good times was getting to go with dad to pick her up. This was a journey in the olden days. And, of course, you'd get out of helping with the meal chores while appearing to be volunteering to do work. The olden days, you didn’t have I-15 so you drove down Redwood to 33rd South and up to 300 East. One of dad’s OCDs was to go on back roads and new, more efficient routes, that avoided crazy drivers. Half the time as a youngster I never had a clue where we were at. But we’d get Farmor and bring her back to the house.

She didn’t mind correcting our behavior or weighing in on the chaos but it was usually so subtle (“Oosh Namen”), passive aggressive (“wouldn’t you rather go outside to be noisy?”), or in Swedish, so we would just blow her off and keep doing what we were doing. Good times. Mom and Dad were too busy getting the food ready to deal with us but we always tried to avoid crossing the line that would get my dad to give us the evil eye. That meant the death penalty later on when the blessed event was over.

Dinner was wild. If we didn’t raise almost all of the food ourselves I imagine it was a solid $500 dollar meal. This was food for a dozen people. We totally ate a 25-30 pound turkey; picked pretty much clean as well as a good 30 pounds of mashed potatoes. There would be “stuffing” (come on, who came up with dressing?) and we’d long run out though as a kid I couldn’t eat it for some reason. Thankfully I’ve overcome that agenda. There was gallons of gravy, jello blended with whipped cream, dads original “cancer” punch or our homemade root bear that tasted not surprisingly like yeast. Yuck, though I think I always pretended to like it because dad was so thrilled. Somewhere there were vegetables, and I’m sure out of the garden but I don’t remember them.

I always sat at the bread board. It was a great place because you were out of the lines of fire. You could hang out there and get Farmor’s sympathy because she felt it was some sort of cruel ostracism. I guess that’s where I first learned the strategy that has made life entertaining for myself. What you want to do is to stir the pot or disrupt someone else’s life without altering the course of human events. When you are at the bread board and out of line of sight, you can manipulate things or bring things up and stay out of the way when it hits the fan. Just like in sports, the person that always gets caught is the one retaliating. So true at meal time.

Of course no meal of ours would be complete without us getting Germ to do Nixon and a variety of other pantomimes. He probably wouldn’t’ actually do them until we all gathered after the meal but we’d start planning the entertainment and the seeds during dinner. Even more hilarious than Germ was Steven mimicking Germ. Then there were the skits of "So Long, Farewell" and other things - I think I recall a version of "I represent the lollypop tree" or some such stuff.

The highlight for me and what I miss the most, though, is mom’s apple pie. I know apple pie. Apple pie is a friend of mine. Nobody made an apple pie like mom. I have no clue what she did. I don’t think there was any secret recipe or anything. She just made killer apple pies. They were good each and every time she made them and the taste never deviated from one pie or type of apple to another. They were the same exact delicious apple pie every time. Others have told me since they have found the best apple pie, and I’d try it and be disappointed. I’m so disappointed in all other apple pies; I actually don’t choose it much as a dessert anymore. I know they were a lot of work for her to make and though they were difficult, the last few years mom always made an extra one for me that I’d slip out to the car before the festivities began. Even when they started getting the “temple pies” from the temple cook guy, mom would still make me one of her apple pies and she didn’t care that she saw I didn’t need them. I think she would even tell me to exercise as she pimped me a secret one on the side and I'd alway tell her I'm going to start on Tuesday. she unlike others always believed me.

Mom’s apple pies. My all time favorite Thanksgiving memory.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

2007-11-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

It’s Veteran’s Day and I’m thinking of the troops. I read the other day that since the revolutionary war there have been 44 million who have worn the uniform in service to our country.

There are a thousand war stories and hundreds of heroes but my all time favorite is Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. He fought in the Civil War. He was a college professor in Maine. He felt compelled to join the union army and fight in the Civil War for the highest of all reasons. He entered the 20th Maine Infantry as a Colonel.

Though he was amazing in all he did, one situation rises above all else, since it alone is attributed to the union breaking the backs of the South and winning the war. This experience occurred when Colonel Chamberlain was stationed at the left flank of the union army at Gettysburg. They occupied “good ground" on top of a place called Little Round Top. Along with his regular division, he was told to take 200 deserters and shoot them if they didn't want to fight this battle. They were fed up with war and didn't want to fight anymore and he told them he wasn't going to shoot them as instructed but instead inspired them all to stay and fight. They all new this would be a big fight and very well may turn the tide for whichever side won the battle. The left flank was an honor to be in charge of because you knew if the enemy broke you, your side will lose. Back then honor was a big deal and getting the honor of guarding a flank was a privilege. Chamberlain was told to hold the left flank at whatever cost (meaning fight to the last man) since there would be no reinforcements and no additional ammunition coming their way.

The Rebels made 5 charges up the hill to try and take Little Round Top and thus break the left flank of the Union army but the 20th Maine repelled them back each time though at great cost. By the 5th charge, many of Chamberlain's division had been killed or wounded including himself and many of the deserters he inspired to stay and fight. For himself he was shot in the foot.

As the last Confederate charge took shape at the bottom of the hill, Chamberlain's men had very little ammunition left. Colonel Chamberlain knew they had to hold the flank and could not give it up so he did the only thing he could do; he ordered "bayonets on" and for his men to charge the enemy, making as much noise as possible and to engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. That's what they did and the enemy panicked at the bold move and five hundred surrendered immediately to the men with no ammunition. the rest turned around and beat feet back to the rear with the cowards and shirkers.

The Union evenutally won battle in no small part because the enemy didn't break the left flank and overrun the center of the line. Colonel Chamberlain later was awarded the Distinguished Medal of Honor for bravery on the field. He went on to fight in a total of 20 more battles. He was wounded 6 times (including his foot in this battle) and received awards of merit 4 times. At one point when he was shot from one hip to the other, he was declared dead and General Grant gave him a field promotion to General (the only one given in the Civil War) but he fooled them, got better and participated in many more battles.

He received the honor of being the General to accept the Confederate Army official surrender at Appomattox where he held himself a gentlemen to the end. He lived to 85 years old and finally died from the hip wound when it got infected all those years later. It made him the last person to die from civil war injuries.

I can go on and on (some would argue I have) but there are many more stories about him. He was an absolute stud.

Twenty-five years after Gettysburg he gave a speech there and said these phenomenal words:

"In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls. And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls. This is the great reward of service. To live, far out and on, in the life of others; this is the mystery of the Christ,-to give life's best for such high sake that it shall be found again unto life eternal."

Read them a couple of times and read them often. No truer words were ever spoken about Gettysburg. You can feel it when you go there.

Conference

2007-10-30T00:14:00.000-06:00

I’ve finished dissecting conference. Here is what I found, in part:

Talks
There were 38 talks given.
3 by the Prophet.
4 by the other members of the First Presidency.
12 by Apostles.
19 by others.

Scriptures
There were 441 scriptures quoted; that compares to 344 at the last conference.

Broken down by books of scripture:
Book of Mormon 148
New Testament 117
Doctrine & Covenants 102
Old Testament 52
Pearl of Great Price 22
Total 441

Frequency Distribution:
1 scripture was quoted 5 times.
3 scriptures were quoted 4 times.
9 scriptures were quoted 3 times.
42 scriptures were quoted 2 times.
268 scriptures were quoted 1 time

Isn’t that an amazing fact, played out conference after conference, that out of the 441 scriptures quoted, 268 of them were only quoted by one speaker? Out of 38 talks there is that little repetition in the use of the scriptures!

Average number of scriptures quoted by speaker: 12

Speakers quoting the most scriptures: Nelson - 68; Hales - 38; Condie - 38; Uchtdorf - 33; Bednar - 25; Packer - 23; Holland - 23; Wirthlin – 20

The scripture quoted 5 times:
John 17:3
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

The 3 scriptures quoted 4 times:
D&C 14:7
7 And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

D&C 50:14
14 To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.

D&C 121:45
45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

Subjects
There were 35 main subjects addressed:

3 speakers addressed:
Gospel Principles (DFU; WG; TSM)
Missionary Work (MRB; EK; LTP)

2 speakers addressed:
Holy Ghost (KH; HBE)
Priesthood (HBE; TSM)
Procrastination (DH; CC)
Service (MT; SS)
Testimony (EF; DC)

1 speaker addressed:
Activation (MC)
Anger (GBH)
Atonement (DAB)
Blessings (SC)
Book of Mormon (CG)
Broken Heart (BP)
Charity (JBW)
Choices (DHO)
Church Membership (BKP)
Church Welfare (RE)
Conference (DBH)
Faith (QLC)
Family (MC)
Godhead (JRH)
Jesus Christ (JRH)
Joseph Smith (BBH)
Love (TSM)
Mothers (JB)
Pornography (WC)
Purity (DAB)
Restoration (GBH)
Revelation (RDH)
Sacrament (CG)
Salvation (CV)
Scriptures (RMN)
Teaching (DJ)
Temples (OT)
Truth (RDS)

Talks of Especial Note

Julie Beck; Mothers Who Know
Henry B. Eyring; God Helps the Faithful Priesthood Holder
David A. Bednar; Clean Hands & a Pure Heart
Dallin H. Oaks; Good, Better Best
Jefferey R. Holland; The Only True God & Jesus Christ
Keith Hilbig; Quench Not the Spirit That Quickens
Erick Kopischke; Preach My Gospel - Unifying Tool

Lists
My favorite part of conference is compiling lists that were given. There are many in every conference and they help me to focus on the messages. I extract them without all the explanations and accompanying data because:

a) I can look it up in the talk if I want.
b) I can use them to prepare talks.
c) I use them to ponder.
d) I use them as an outline for further study and research.
e) I use them to stimulate my memory to add information to my journal and personal history.
f) Its a lot of fun.

Here are 10 of the 48 lists I extracted from this conference:

From bearing one another’s burdens as ward members, we have learned several lessons:

Lord’s organization fully adequate to know & care for those with most dire emotional and spiritual needs.
Adversity can bring us closer to God …
Members who suffer tragedy firsthand often experience an increased capacity for love, compassion, and understanding.
A ward [or family] draws closer together as it endures together—what happens to one happens to all.
[Most important] We can each be more compassionate and caring because we have each had our own personal trials and experiences to draw from.
We can endure together.
(Richard Edgely)

3 things To Give One Assurance & Guidance When Facing An Overwhelming Calling:
(The message may come in words to your mind or in a felling or both.”)

First, the assurance will come from a memory of times Heavenly Father has helped you through dangers and difficulties.
The second part of the message you will receive as you pray for help in facing a hard assignment.
The third and final message you can watch for when you pray for help in a hard priesthood assignment is this one—I got this one as well—go to work.
(Henry B. Eyring)

We determine the level of our current personal contribution by examining our present choices and priorities against questions such as these:

Do I spend more time with sports than Church attendance or callings?
If I have a free day, do I choose to attend the temple or to visit the mall?
Do I resort to computer games or surfing the Internet rather than offering meaningful service to others in my home and community?
Do I read the newspaper religiously but find it difficult to read the scriptures daily?
(Keith Hilbig)

Enduring to the end implies:

“patient continuance in well doing”

striving to keep the commandments

doing the works of righteousness

sacrifice and hard work

trust our Father in Heaven

making wise choices

paying our tithes and offerings

honoring our temple covenants

serving the Lord and one another willingly and faithfully in our Church callings and responsibilities.

strength of character

selflessness

humility

integrity

honesty to the Lord and our fellowmen

making our homes strong places of defense and a refuge against worldly evils

loving and honoring our spouses and children

(Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

Paul counseled with these four simple words:

Quench
not
the
Spirit
(Keith Hilbig)

When we invite the Holy Ghost:

He will fill our minds with light and knowledge
He will “quicken" us, that is to say, enlightens and enlivens the inner man or woman
We notice a measurable difference in our soul
We feel strengthened
We are filled with peace and joy
We possess spiritual energy
We Possess enthusiasm
We enhance our natural abilities
We can accomplish more than we otherwise could do on our own
We yearn to become a holier person
(Keith Hilbig)

I have felt to provide each member of the Relief Society throughout the world three goals to meet:

Study diligently.
Pray earnestly.
Serve willingly.
(Thomas S. Monson)

Four of the most beautiful words in holy writ:

“And
God
remembered
Rachel”
(Genesis 30:22).
(Spencer Condie)

Examples of small acts of service that can lift and bless another:

a question concerning a person’s family
quick words of encouragement
a sincere compliment
a small note of thanks
a brief telephone call
(Thomas S. Monson)

Women excel in living and sharing their testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ and His restored gospel as we:

Make and keep covenants with Him.
Are worthy and worship in His temples
Study His doctrine in the scriptures and the words of prophets
Qualify for, recognize, and follow the Holy Ghost
Share and defend His gospel
Participate in sincere personal and family prayer
Have family home evening
Live principles of self-reliance and provident living
(Julie Beck)

Quotes
Lastly, here are my favorite Top Ten quotes from conference (this was very hard to narrow down but by the technique of paired comparison sampling I did it. Actually I could only narrow it to the Top Twenty-Five.):

Adversity
The same happens in our lives. We don’t know when or how earthquakes will hit us. They likely won’t be literal shakings of the earth, as happened in Peru, but rather quakes of temptations, sin, or trials, such as unemployment or serious sickness. Today is the time to prepare for when that type of quake comes. Today is the time to prepare—not during the crisis. What are we doing today to engraven in our souls the gospel principles that will uphold us in times of adversity?
(Walter Gonzalez)

Book of Mormon
The Bible had stood for centuries. It is a precious and wonderful book. Now there was a second witness declaring the divinity of Christ. The Book of Mormon is the only book ever published, of which I know, that carries in it a promise that one who reads it prayerfully and asks concerning it in prayer will have revealed to him by the power of the Holy Ghost a knowledge that it is true (see Moroni 10:4).
(Gordon B. Hinckley)

Children
Children are generally very accepting of their parents and the mistakes parents make. They often forgive, forget, and move on much more quickly than adults do. Don’t feel guilty. Apologize when you have made a mistake. Seek the child’s forgiveness. Change your ways and move on.
(Barbara Thompson)

Children
Remember that it takes a lot of patience to raise a child. As precious as they are, children can be exasperating, frustrating, and sometimes even naughty. It takes a tremendous amount of patience and restraint in order to avoid doing or saying things we will later regret. Sometimes parents need to put themselves in “time-out” in order to avoid making serious mistakes. Removing yourself from the room for a minute in order to regain control is often very helpful.
(Barbara Thompson)

Church Welfare
At the final day the Savior will not ask about the nature of our callings. He will not inquire about our material possessions or fame. He will ask if we ministered to the sick, gave food and drink to the hungry, visited those in prison, or gave succor to the weak. When we reach out to assist the least of Heavenly Father’s children, we do it unto Him. That is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
(Joseph B. Wirthlin)

Conference
All of the proceedings of this conference will appear in a subsequent issue of the Ensign and Liahona. We encourage you again to read the talks in your family home evenings and discuss them together as families. They are the products of much prayer and meditation and are well worthy of careful consideration.
(Gordon B. Hinckley)

Decision Making
Increasingly more people are finding that making wise decisions is becoming more and more difficult because of the ultra-interconnected world in which we live. Constantly forced into our consciousness is an incessant barrage of counsel, advice, and promotions. It is done by a bewildering array of media, Internet, and other means. On a given subject we can receive multiple strongly delivered, carefully crafted messages with solutions. But often two of the solutions can be diametrically opposed. No wonder some are confused and are not sure how to make the right decisions.
(Richard G. Scott)

Decision Making
To further complicate matters, others try to persuade us that our decisions must be socially acceptable and politically correct. Some pondering of that approach will reveal how wrong it is. Since social and political structures differ widely over the world and can dramatically change with time, the folly of using that method to make choices is apparent.
(Richard G. Scott)

Divine Assistance
The possibility of an earthquake was always there. When or how it would hit no one knew. When it came, it was devastating. But under the direction of the priesthood, the moment’s challenge was faced. In many cases, when members were unable, the Lord made up the difference. Some members tell of seeing men in white helping to save their lives. Others heard guiding voices. Years of Church service were a preparatory school to becoming organized and helping one another.
(Walter Gonzalez)

Family
In choosing how we spend time as a family, we should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best… Super family activities may be good for children, but they are not always better than one-on-one time with a loving parent.
(Dallin H. Oaks)

Family
The amount of children-and-parent time absorbed in the good activities of private lessons, team sports, and other school and club activities also needs to be carefully regulated. Otherwise, children will be overscheduled, and parents will be frazzled and frustrated.
(Dallin H. Oaks)

Family
Families mean work, but they are our great work—and we are not afraid of work. This is what we do best; no one does families better than the sisters of this Relief Society. We uphold, nourish, and protect them.
(Julie Beck)

Family
Satan is working overtime to attack the family. He tells us that marriage is not important, that children do not need a father and a mother, and that strong families are not important. He tells us that moral values are old-fashioned and silly. When challenges come, Satan tells us to abandon our beliefs and go with the ways of the world. He entices us with fame and fortune and tells us where to find the easy life. He attacks our faith in God and tries to discourage even the strongest and most loving families. Satan is delighted when we give in—even just a little.
(Barbara Thompson)

First Vision
At no other time of which we have any record have God our Eternal Father and His Beloved Son, the risen Lord, appeared on earth together.
At the time of the baptism of Jesus by John in the river Jordan, the voice of God was heard, but He was not seen. At the Mount of Transfiguration, again the voice of God was heard, but there is no record of His appearance. Stephen saw the Lord on the right hand of the Father, but They did not address or instruct him.
Following His Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Nephites in the Western Hemisphere. The voice of the Almighty was heard three times, introducing the risen Christ, but there was no appearance of the Father.
How truly remarkable was that vision in the year 1820 when Joseph prayed in the woods and there appeared before him both the Father and the Son. One of these spoke to him, calling him by name and, pointing to the other, said, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Joseph Smith—History 1:17).
Nothing like it had ever happened before. One is led to wonder why it was so important that both the Father and the Son appear. I think it was because They were ushering in the dispensation of the fulness of times, the last and final dispensation of the gospel, when there would be gathered together in one the elements of all previous dispensations. This was to be the final chapter in the long chronicle of God’s dealing with men and women upon the earth.
(Gordon B. Hinckley)

Free Agency
Let us decide together what we are going to do. All of us, whatever our callings may be, face tasks that are beyond our own powers. I do and you do. That’s true from the simple fact that success is to get testimony down into the hearts of people. We can’t make that happen. Even God won’t force that on anyone.
So success requires people we serve to choose to accept the testimony of the Spirit into their hearts. The Spirit is ready. But many people aren’t ready to invite the Spirit. Our task, which is in our power, is to invite the Spirit into our lives so that people we serve will want to have the fruits of the Spirit in their lives—the fruits that they can see in ours.
(Henry B. Eyring)

Holy Ghost
We dare not hinder, disregard, or quench the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Yet when it comes to drawing upon the promptings and the blessings which flow from the Holy Ghost, we often "live far beneath our privileges."
(Keith Hilbig)

Journals
Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him.
(Henry B. Eyring)

Love
Love is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the pathway of discipleship. It comforts, counsels, cures, and consoles. It leads us through valleys of darkness and through the veil of death. In the end love leads us to the glory and grandeur of eternal life.
(Joseph B. Wirthlin)

Missionary Work
I have found that most people will not read or focus on more than just a few important facts at one time.
(M. Russell Ballard)

Prayer
But be prepared to lose track of time as you pray.
(Henry B. Eyring)

Priorities
Recognize the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives.
(Dallin H. Oaks)

Revelation
We prepare to receive personal revelation as the prophets do, by studying the scriptures, fasting, praying, and building faith. Faith is the key.
(Robert D. Hales)

Scriptures
Let us search the scriptures with pen in hand, making note of new insights and recording spiritual promptings.
(Keith Hilbig)

Teaching
Just as I learned as a young man that grain was more appealing to our horses than a dirt-filled bucket, I also learned that grain was more nourishing than hay, that hay was more nourishing than straw, and that it was possible to feed a horse without nourishing him.
(Daniel Judd)

Testimony
If you want to know that you know that you know, a price must be paid. And you alone must pay that price. There are proxies for ordinances, but none for the acquisition of a testimony.
(Douglas Callister)

Why Can't I Be Cool?

2007-09-16T22:10:00.000-06:00

I’ve been told to lighten up on the blog so here goes.

Why can’t I be cool? Maybe the bigger question is why can’t I have the ability to totally block out reality when I look in the mirror and see myself?

Deep, I know. Let me explain by sharing this experience I recently witnessed.

I was at lunch at a sushi restaurant. While awaiting food a guy comes in with his wife. Somehow I knew they were married but I’m not sure how. But that’s not the point. Maybe they were dating. Whatever. I hope for her they were. The point is the guy somehow got up that morning, looked in the mirror and saw cool. The sad thing is the girl (probably his wife) thought he was cool too. And I can’t figure out how because he really was not.

She actually seemed normal and was dressed normal except that she bought-in to his attempt at cool and that just made me sad. Let me see if I can describe him because I am "positive sure" (as opposed to "negative sure") you’ll get my point.

Think Kevin James but not cool. The guy was a bit large but I’m sure he saw muscle. He wore knee-length shorts, brand spanking new white Adidas and Adidas white socks. I knew this because the socks said “Adidas” right on them, and were perfectly centered on the outside of each sock, both right and left.

So far the package was okay but clearly trending downward on the cool meter. He had on a black tee shirt. Still okay. But on the dome he wore a beret. Backwards.

Why? Who said that was cool? I can see a baseball cap because it keeps the sun off your neck. Theoretically. But a beret on backwards can only be so to make a statement that you are cool or have some fashion sense or something.

Also, who told him he could do it? Surely it’s not a personal decision one can make. Certainly someone has to authorize it, right? But that’s not the thing still.

He was wearing sunglasses even though he was now inside and outside it was overcast and the sun wasn’t out. I know, many that have gone before have made that statement but that’s still not the thing. He eventually noticed he couldn’t see and took them off and here is the deal: he hooked them on his tee shirt ON HIS BACK and not on the front like regular people do.

I know this wasn’t authorized and only a really, really cool person would be allowed to do something this aby-normal. He didn’t have anything else hanging on front so there was room. It had to be a fashion statement that was meant to tell people – cool person in the room, keep your distance, pay homage, keep the immediate area around him clear, give him room to operate and maneuver, and above all, pay attention, more cool stuff to follow. And there was.

He had this mannerism about him that said, "man of the world." He knew what he wanted to order and didn’t need to condescend to look at the menu. But his office was open to answer his wife’s questions about the various foodstuffs. She quiz him on different things and in a very detached manner he’d answer but you could tell his mind was on more important things like, “I wonder if I’d be cool if I turned my Adidas socks so that the Adidas wording was facing inward.” But he could muse these things and multitask by answering her. Worldly things were second nature to him.

She asked him stunners like, “What is tempura?” Oh, and she started every question the same way, “This is a dumb question but …” His answer, given far too loud but apparently he sensed his wisdom shouldn’t be limited to just her but the rest of the folk, “Tempara (yes he said it that way) is deep-fried but not as heavy.” Profound!

Eventually they ordered: him a chicken teriyaki bowl of rice and her a lunch salad with ranch. Did I tell you this was a sushi bar? Next came the coup d'état of all coolness. Let’s call it the too-cool-to-follow-the-normal-sequence-of-events move. He ordered without looking at the menu and answered all of his “sweethearts” cultural food questions but after ordering, as he prattling on about something, he picked up the menu and again multi-tasked by talking and perusing and then, I kid you not, in mid-sentence he all the sudden said, “GIVE ME A DOLLAR” as if the fate of the world hung in the balance and was contingent on this buck.

Clearly he was too cool to keep money and where would he put it anyway, you can't hang it on the back of your shirt. But everyone could sense the immediacy of his need for this buck. She didn’t question but yanked a dollar bill out of her purse and handed it to him. I suspect she had learned over time to not stop the creative flow of coolness when ordered to do so.

He grabbed it and bolted up to the cash register and told the girl staffing it, “Instead of chicken teriyaki I want the ‘cubbie beef.’” He then tossed the dollar bill on the counter and walked back to his seat. As he sat back down after this act of creation he told his girl that he loved the "cubbie beef" but it was an additional dollar. His explanation was accepted without comment and it was clear that his wife accepted these moments of profound and absolute coolness without surprise or even query.

I was nothing short of “bumfuzzled” if I may quote Chandler or Ross or one of the Friends. First off, the person working the cash register hadn’t taken their order so I’m not sure how that order change was orchestrated in this English as a third language environment. But I guess cool people don’t worry about those things.

Next, in this place you paid for the food after you ate. So what was up with the dollar? Too cool to follow the paying sequence I guess.

Lastly, "cubbie beef?" How can you be so far off on pronouncing Kobe Beef and still think your cool. If he’d ever heard it prounounced it surely would have resonated with him that it’s pronounced the same as his favorite basketball player, Kobe Bryant.

And that’s what I’m saying, why can’t I be cool like this guy?

I could never go out dressed like that and do those kinds of things in a public venue. I just couldn’t. I would be far too nervous someone would observe my faking and write it up on a blog.

Kenny Rogers - The Last Ten Years (Superman) Video

2007-09-02T14:58:00.001-06:00

Watch this. One of the best songs in a long time. We've all lived through all these things. Puts them in perspective.

Dignity: The Hard Way

2007-09-02T13:38:00.000-06:00

Somehow, somewhere in life, and surely not intentionally (wink, wink), you will tick someone off who you really should not have; someone you need or are going to have to interact with in the course of your life. But that’s not the deal. The deal is that you didn’t mean to tick this person off but they zing you back real bad, and in public. How rude! You want to say something clever (or worse) back. Freeze that moment in time. What should you do (as opposed to what did you do?)

Unfortunately this happens far too often. The operative situation here is that you are a good person and doing the best you can in everything you do but somehow you angered someone unintentionally and they reacted by manifesting their anger with words or maybe even a little rage. You are on the receiving end of a verbal tongue lashing and it wasn’t in a private setting. Your instincts will be to react back with equal force but if you have that little compass you got when you raised your bar it will steer you to the better way to respond.

In college sometimes you’ll do almost anything to make a few bucks especially if you are married, have children, and bills. Once upon a time in that situation, living in a place we lovingly called, “The Ghetto”, a neighbor asked me while on a home teaching visit, if I’d be interested in some part time work. Turns out he was a Constable and wanted me to serve legal papers for him. So I became a Process Server. (I refer to it now as a “Brain Dead Process Server”, not that there’s anything wrong with it.)

The deal was, for every legal paper I served I got a fixed amount of money based on the nature of the legal offense. I gave it a try and found out I could make real good money in just a few hours a night. For some reason I had a knack. I think I looked young, naïve, and innocent (it wasn’t too long previously that I honed this great skill while tracting in the mission field) so people answered their door even when they were taking deliberate steps to avoid being served.

Legal papers that were real old and hadn’t been served were worth substantially more than new ones. I made it a point to take some of these old ones that had gone unserved for a long time and usually could place them quickly. I made good money and met good people and soon the Constable asked if I’d like to branch out to some things that made even more money. This was repossession and transporting bail jumpers back to the State. It wasn’t bounty hunting but it was badge carrying, gun toting, wannabe stuff. It was a world I didn’t know even existed and was amazed punks like me could be doing it with so little training with a guy who was only a couple of degrees shy of kind of scary.

The Constable was what you could call an irascible character. He had been doing this Constable thing for a long time, knew a lot about it, but thought he knew more than he did. Even I could see that, brain dead as I was. He was frequently on a cop-wannabe ego trip, short on temper, and usually picked public venues to air his anger at who ever dared cross him. So why put up with it? I don’t know, brain death, bills to pay, “easy” money. After a couple of years of it, it was getting old and he was getting old but like I said, the money was good and okay, I was afraid to tell him “I quit.”

One thing I found out the hard way was that he liked to pull over people who cut him off in traffic. He actually had a “cherry” (a portable red flasher thing he could stick on his dashboard like cops have) in his car and with the badges and stuff, he could get away with it though he had no police authority and only did it to yell at people because they ticked him off. If I only knew then what I know now. Yea, I probably should have ‘ratted’ him out but what did I know. I’m like twenty-two and he’s sixty and been doing this for thirty years. Plus we dealt with cops all the time so I figured he must have known what he was doing. But it seemed weird all the same and I didn’t like to be with him when it happened.

One time, right in front of the Century movie theatre on State Street and 3300 South, we were going somewhere and he had me driving. (Oh I forgot to tell you, he liked me to chauffer him when he took me on a job.) So I was driving and he was shotgun and someone pulled out ahead of us, cut us off, and sped through the intersection (north on State at 33rd) on a stale yellow light. He told me to run it as he lit the cherry and put it in the car window. I told him it was red as I hit the brakes and he screamed for me to run it. So I ran it. We lived.

Then he told me to catch up to the person so they’d pull over. I did but they weren’t pulling over. So he told me to honk the horn at them. Those that know me can testify, I hate honking car horns. It’s one of my deals. I started to argue with him and he reached over and laid on the horn himself. They kept going and he told me to pull up along side of them in the outer lane so he could flash his badge and waive them over. I said no, we were driving too fast and I wasn’t going to do it. This was all going on, mind you, while I’m driving and trying to maintain control of the car. He went ballistic so I pulled up along side of them and he tried to waive the person over. I noticed at this point the car was full of passengers; maybe six people or so. The driver still wouldn’t pull over so he told me to pull over in their lane, cut them off, and then block them in. All I knew of this maneuver was from what I’d seen on the TV shows so clearly I told him I didn’t know how. He grabbed the wheel and started yanking it toward the other vehicle so I had to speed up or hit them. When I got ahead of them, he yanked hard and we cut over and I hit the brakes. Both vehicles stopped and we had the other car blocked in just like he wanted. Problem was he couldn’t get out of his door because it was angled against the other vehicle so there wasn’t clearance. Plus he was a lard butt.

Adrenaline was running a little high now, as you can imagine, and he was yelling at me to move the car so he could open his door. There were other lanes of traffic, my adrenaline was making me hyperventilate, and the guy’s anger toward me was really ticking me off. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to back up or pull ahead. Both prospects had their downside so in the midst of his yelling I was trying to figure it out and probably went both ways before settling on backing up. Finally he got out and approached the other vehicle to yell at the driver. Keep in mind this all took place in about the same amount of time I am recounting it; only a half-a-minute or so.
So he’s out talking to the driver and I could hear him yelling at the guy and then he yells at me (I stayed in the vehicle, it wasn’t my beef) and asks me if I’m going to just sit in the car or if I had come to do some work. I got out of the car wondering what the heck I was supposed to do and the Constable was cuffing the driver like on Cops. I figured something else was up now and so I’m like, “What do you want me to do?” It seemed like a perfectly reasonable question for a brain dead process server but it just set him off and I got an earful in front of the driver, the five other passengers from the vehicle, and all the people walking down the freaking sidewalk wo had all stopped to gawk at us. He was colorfully screaming things like, “Do I have to do everything” and “Can’t you do anything without being told” and my all time favorite and I quote exactly, “Why don’t you put on a pair big boys, and help me out here!” Really!

As it turned out, I found out shortly thereafter, the car this fellow was driving happened to be a car he had been trying to repossess for months and could never find it and the driver was a frequent customer and had multiple warrants out on him. Further, it turns out, the Constable did have the power to pull over and detain in this situation (which doesn’t absolve him from some of the other things I observed.) Nevertheless, did I really have to stand there and hear about what a waste of space I was, and in front of all these people who were now standing around major gawking, while we waiting for the real cops to show up? Freaking really!

What would you have done or said? Instinctually when you get caught in these situations you want to either sneak out a back entrance and hide under a really big rock, or kick the person upside the head. I liked the kick upside the head one. But what should you do? (Did I tell you he also had a gun?)

My instincts told me to yell back at him, tell him what I thought of him, tell him I thought he was a big fat wannabe cop, tell him I had no respect for him and his game of pulling people over for their poor driving, and then get a few more shots in – maybe do a good one in relation to his “big boys” comment and make it about Depends or something age related. Something about Barney Fife would be good but the guy was way to fat. I didn’t though because I did have some respect for him, even though he had his moments, and like I said, he scared me. Plus, and I didn’t find out until later but it makes the point, he was in the right here (in the pull over) even though I had no clue what he was doing, he didn’t communicate it well, and probably went about it in a reckless manner. Also, I got half the booty and on a car repo’ and an arrest warrant, I’d make the Fall Quarter tuition and we’d eat.

Dignity. I love that word.

The biggest worry of a parent - after all the cuteness of their youth and the love you have for them that has no bounds which goes without saying - as a child leaves home is that they will behave appropriately in public. Of course you want them to be safe but you want them to also be responsible. You want them to not tarnish the family name; more, you want them to bring it honor. So what is it kids are always told. Walk away from bad things. Don’t ever do anything wrong. Know who you are and what you represent.

We all represent something and others and should only do things that bring honor to them. Never disgrace others by your actions. It’s just not cool. I like the motto of the Goodyear Corporation: “Protect Our Good Name.” Too bad Firestone didn’t have the same motto when they put out substandard tires a few years ago that killed people. Too bad Constables don’t know that. My boss embarrassed himself by the way he treated me. Everyone there and the Cops who came later while he was still ranting saw him as a pretty petty person (love that alliteration.)

I came away with my dignity because I didn’t sink to his level. I represented the County just like him and sinking to his level at that time could only harm the organization and bring tarnish to my family who raised me different. One of the cops later told me I did the right thing to ignore him; “He blows off steam but he means well.” It’s true. I think he lost his head and appreciated I didn’t. It taught me a lot that I would use later in dealing with elected officials and others who get full of themselves from time to time. I always walk away. My smart mouth instincts are on high alert but my compass tells me to walk on by. At least until I get to the car and roll up the windows.

Key to the whole point – as I see it:

Raising the bar means we walk away from confrontations. Always remember what your goal is and what the task is you are trying to accomplish. Fighting with Neanderthals who have no manners and who bring dishonor on themselves is not the right thing to do – probably ever. They will never get it and the heat of battle isn’t a learning moment. Stay dignified and others will see who the big person is and you will come away winning every time. You will also get the respect of others who will know who the buttheads are and who they aren’t.

Questions

2007-08-15T15:55:00.000-06:00

Are there stupid questions?

This always comes up and when it does someone nearby always jumps in before anyone else gets a chance to give thoughtful input on the subject and says, “The only stupid questions are the ones not asked!” End of discussion. Nobody gets a chance to rebut this type of well researched, definitive, empirical evidence. Bull freaking crap. We all know that is horse pucky. That is so far away from reality that only a complete and utter bonehead would believe it. We’ve all been asked dumb questions. And even if we want to look at the glass as having some liquid in it (though it’s far from being even half-full on this issue) and concede the point that is trying to be made - that a well thought out question is always welcome in a learning environment - or - if you are in charge of the button that blows up the world if pushed - then maybe it’s okay to ask a variety of questions about your duty, well thought out or not. But some questions just need to not be asked. Seriously. Even in a learning environment. And sometime we need to stop saying there are no dumb questions because when we say it we are teaching people to not think, to not take a moment and try and figure something out using reasoning or to peruse the owners manual for a moment (I’m not even asking that a person read it, just peruse it – look at the pictures if you hate reading that much – or listen to the manual-on-tape if you fear a disease from reading too much).

Here’s a situation to approach this from a different angle. You are asked to do something and you’re not sure you understand what it is you’re being asked to do. It can come from a boss, a parent, a neighbor, anywhere. You fear if you ask for too much clarification and direction you will come across as lacking ability. It’s a good fear and one we all have or should have have. What I’m saying is it’s normal to feel this way.

Let’s face it, we all want to do things confidently and be viewed by others as impressive. This is such a good thing it is a wonder that anything negative could possibly result from it. But it can. Sometimes it makes us not be thorough enough in understanding the task at hand. Our desire to appear on top of things and self-confident can make us jump to conclusions which can be more disruptive than doing nothing - regardless of our good intentions.
Let’s say we need to update information in a computer database. If we don’t have a clear idea of what we are doing, and we don’t find out, we risk not only failing to accomplish the task but we can mess up existing records which is even worse than not doing anything at all.

Trying to look good is a critical mistake and very different than actually looking good. We fool ourselves if we think nobody will ever find out when we’re faking it. Though it is possible to pull faking off, the risk is large if we don’t. Know when to hold and knowing when to fold is what Kenny Rogers tried to teach us in a song and a movie. Usually we engage in fakery when our internal compass is broken and our fear of exposure overcomes our desire to be right.

But in trying to become impressive and competent, don’t “wear the sign.”

Back to the, “The only bad question is the one not asked.” If it is true and we keep hearing people say it why don’t we all know it and why does it have to be said if it is so obvious? I think it’s because we don’t believe it. It sounds good but it is not true. It’s a bad cliché. In fact it’s usually said by someone who does everything they can to discourage any questions.

I recall a blatant example in a statistics class at the U. Unfortunately it was taught by a math rather than a business professor (No slam intended. I have the utmost respect and admiration for math teachers. But math professors??) and on the first day of class he told us the thing about the only bad question is the one not asked. That’s the last time any of us in the class saw his face. He turned around to the blackboard and from then until the last day of class he never faced the students. He just talked while he wrote on the blackboard - endless equations, vector valued functions, and hyperbolic derivatives. He was like the freaking rain man. But if we had a question, and some did and to no avail tried to get his attention, but he never knew it. Surely he knew his style before he said the question thing and surely he knew there would be no questions. Yet he took the time to tell us it anyway.

Also we know it’s not true because we’ve all been asked stupid questions before. Come on admit it.

Bill Engvall has a new sitcom on one of the cable channels with Nancy Travis and has made a career out of pointing some of these bad questions out. Awhile ago he went on tour with Jeff Foxworthy and the cable guy and did what they called The Blue Collar Tour. It’s hilarious and some of his deal goes like this:

Stupid people should have to wear signs that just say, "I'm Stupid." That way you wouldn't rely on them, would you? You wouldn't ask them anything. It would be like, "Excuse me...oops...never mind, didn't see your sign."

It's like before my wife and I moved. Our house was full of boxes and there was a U-Haul truck in our driveway. My neighbor comes over and says, "Hey, you moving?" "Nope. We just pack our stuff up once or twice a week to see how many boxes it takes. Here's your sign."

A couple of months ago I went fishing with a buddy of mine, we pulled his boat into the dock, I lifted up this big ol' stringer of bass and this idiot on the dock goes, "Hey, y'all catch all them fish?" "Nope. Talked 'em into giving up. Here's your sign."

I was watching one of those animal shows on the Discovery Channel. There was a guy inventing a shark bite suit. And there's only one way to test it. "Alright, Jimmy, you got that shark suit on, it looks good... They want you to jump into this pool of sharks, and you tell us if it hurts when they bite you." "Well, all right, but hold my sign. I don't wanna lose it."

Last time I had a flat tire, I pulled my truck into one of those side-of-the-road gas stations. The attendant walks out, looks at my truck, looks at me, and I SWEAR he said, "Tire go flat?" I couldn't resist. I said, "Nope. I was driving around and those other three just swelled right up on me. Here's your sign."

We were trying to sell our car about a year ago. A guy came over to the house and drove the car around for about 45 minutes. We get back to the house, he gets out of the car, reaches down and grabs the exhaust pipe, then says, "Darn that's hot!" See, if he'd been wearing his sign, I could have stopped him.

I learned to drive an 18-wheeler in my days of adventure. Wouldn't you know, I misjudged the height of a bridge. The truck got stuck and I couldn't get it out, no matter how I tried. I radioed in for help and eventually a local cop shows up to take the report. He went through his basic questioning...okay...no problem. I thought for sure he was clear of needing a sign...until he asked, "So, is your truck stuck?" I couldn't help myself! I looked at him, looked back at the rig and then back to him and said, "No, I'm delivering a bridge... here's your sign."

I stayed late at work one night and a co-worker looked at me and said, "Are you still here?" I replied, "No. I left about 10 minutes ago. Here's your sign."

This stuff is funny because we’ve all been there. That’s why we get self conscious about asking questions; we don’t want someone to ask us where our sign is. So how do we avoid the sign? Two things primarily:

(1) Patience. Sometimes we get so caught up asking questions and wanting to know everything all at once, we put ourselves on overload. Surely I’m not the only one who has been sitting there getting something ‘splained to me and I’m back at the first thought trying to figure that out while the ‘splainer is ten thoughts down the road. I’m still going “hmmm” and shaking my head positively and throwing in an “interesting” or “so that’s how it works” when my mind is thinking “I have no clue what they are telling me. I hear words and their lips are moving so why am I thinking these thoughts not having a clue about what anything this person is saying.” Then I make it worse because I sit and pepper the person with questions they have just explained and that I’m not even capable of retaining the answers about.

Break it down. The ‘splainer doesn’t know where we are at in our understanding. Think through the answer to each question and then try it on your own before you move on. If you still don’t understand then ask a follow up question. Then think about it. Take it out for a spin. Attempt to do the task. Then move on. Have the patience to listen, ask good questions, and learn.

(2) Patience. When someone asks us a question, answer it thoroughly and to the best of your ability. If you don’t know the answer then steer them to someone who does. If they ask again because they don’t understand, always take the assumption that there was something wrong with your explanation and then either elaborate or try explaining it from a different angle. Maybe we didn’t ‘splain it as best we could the first time. If you sense they are asking more questions than they can absorb, encourage them to try what you’ve just ‘splained first and then see if it clicks before bombarding them with additional information. All this takes place if we, the ‘splainer, have the patience to ‘splain and truly desire to pass on our knowledge and wisdom. Also, never tell someone something they can learn or think through on their own. Steer them to the answer or guide them to the experience that will let them learn it on their own.
If we were all a little bit more patient, there would be no need for the signs!

Key to the whole point – as I see it:

Improving our patience in attempting to understand assignments and to explain assignments will allow us to raise the bar. If we master this we’ll not only look marvelous, we’ll be marvelous. At the end of the day it’s always better to make sure we ask good, well thought out questions than do something wrong. What reputation would you rather have: to be known as a questioner or to be known as a mistaker. You should never be afraid to ask well thought out questions. But to ask a shallow and lack of thoughtfulness question as a way to avoid doing any work on our own is not what we’re talking about. The term posse incitatus can be translated from Latin to mean several things. I like, “When in doubt, reload.” Seems to fit here. You’ll have to think about it to see if you agree. But don’t ask me how it fits please.

Stand & Deliver

2007-07-29T23:37:00.000-06:00

For the sake of argument - and probably everyone thinks they are anyway - but let’s say you are a hard worker, you know your stuff, and you are highly motivated. Mainly, you deliver. But in spite of this, some boneheads still treat you like you’re Otis, the Mayberry town drunk (from the Andy Griffith Show.)

It doesn’t matter if we are talking about work, school, a social club or a church group. You prepare yourself, get educated about the work you do, have good experiences, and think you really know your stuff. One day a project comes your way that is right up your ally and it excites you so you dig into it.

This particular project, hypothetically of course, mostly affects other people that you are assisting. You jump on the problem, make contact with those who are involved directly in the issue, research the situation and then go out and show initiative by coming up with a real good potential solution and then go one step further and take steps to get the problem solved. Are you with me? Basically you see a problem, feel you are uniquely qualified to get it fixed, dive in, come up with a solution, and even start putting into place things that will fix it. Initiative, I think it’s called.

Since we all have someone that is the boss of us in every area of our life, this person at some point or other shows up on the scene. Our “solution” also affects them and maybe even more directly than it affects us. They want to be briefed on what’s up. So you brief them and tell them what you’ve done and the initial steps you’ve taken to solve this problem. As you do your update, the boss of us starts peppering you with questions about details of what you’ve done. You start getting nervous wondering what they are really after. So you restate the facts succinctly and end by explaining that you feel really good about what you’ve done and that you think you’ve come up with a real good solution. Then the boss of us asks a couple of questions you’ve already answered. This is starting to get irritating so you dig your feet in and reiterate what a great solution you think you’ve come up with.

The boss of us still seems unsatisfied with what you’ve done and asks you to compile some of the data involved with the project and look into some other aspects of this problem. Then they tell you they want to see some comparative information about how others are dealing with the same issues so we can verify you are on the right track. Aaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh! When the boss of us leaves, you are irritated that you didn’t have all the information at your fingertips they wanted, you are frustrated that you maybe didn’t communicate it all a little better, and you mostly are just ticked off because you feel you just got jerked around and you don’t know why. In a nutshell you are a little angry and a little confused, to say the least.

This is all theoretical of course. It would never happen in real life.

When this happens all you can do is “stand and deliver”, like the movie title says.

Anyone risks making a bad impression because of failure to understand what is expected. For example, usually an inexperienced newcomer is not expected to make major decisions and change the direction of an organization. As a newcomer, a person usually does what the boss over them wants them to do. In this situation, if you want to make an impression, do what “the boss” wants done and tells you to do. Focus on collecting the applicable information on an assignment or an issue and presenting it in a way that an important decision can be made. Usually you won’t want to try and make decisions yourself or solve problems independently.

The flip side of this might be the situation when you have a lot of experience and are expected to make decisions and facilitate changes in an organization. The boss of you might be expecting you to solve problems and take appropriate action on your own and when necessary. In this instance, if you want to make an impression, you shouldn’t be bouncing every detail off the boss of you and asking others what you should do. Focus on the decision making process, make good decisions, and know how and when to present updates to the boss of you.
It really is all about service, isn’t it? The same principles that go into providing service to an outside person or group apply to how you provide service to those inside your group. With outsiders you have to manage expectations, so also with those inside. Any organization that produces a service that nobody wants is not going to have a purpose in life for long.

I will sum this up succinctly with the aforementioned movie title: stand and deliver. Deliver the bosses of you what they want, not what you want them to have, and while you do it, stand up and be confident and deliver the right thing for the circumstances.

The inability to figure out and then deliver what is expected is a byproduct of many things but the reasons are irrelevant because they still lead to “personal need” suicide or at the very least ruin your peace of mind. Shrinks attribute our helplessness in failing to understand expectations to part anxiety and part erroneous assumptions about productivity as the following examples illustrate. (I lifted them from a shrink handbook and put them into english):

Fear of failure can be real and causes us to not deliver correctly because we don’t want to look stupid. Wouldn’t we all rather be thought of as non-motivated rather than lacking in ability? Revealing as this is, looking back on school, I’d much rather someone think I didn’t study hard or long enough on a test than to think I needed some tutoring or extra help. We create defense mechanisms to avoid this tendency. Instead try to overcome it by simply being aware of it and avoiding the defensive behaviors. After all, now that you know we are onto you, being defensive isn’t very fun anymore.

Perfectionism is a great excuse to do whatever we feel like isn’t it? I know well that most perfectionists do so out of insecurity. (Oh no, what is everybody going to think of me saying that?) But we have to get over our insecurity if we truly want to do our best in every circumstance. We overcome it by taking measures to know beforehand what the expectations are in a situation and then focus on delivering them rather than critiquing expectations downward. You’ll have to think about the last part of that for awhile before you get it.

Self-control is the opposite of perfectionism (which is all about control.) If we are impulsive and lack discipline, I love unclear expectations. (I mean we love unclear expectations.) This allows us to ebb and flow wherever we want in or around assignments or projects or issues and never quite deliver exactly what is wanted or needed. What is needed in this situation is focus and self-discipline to do what is wanted.

False beliefs about what is wanted and needed can limit us. Couple this with false beliefs about what we can and do deliver will result in frustration and confusion. Finding out the expectations and being aware of the quality of our delivery will help us through this.

Sometimes we just enjoy the adrenaline rush of moving like a bull through a china closet. This is the roller coaster methodology and let’s face it some have a wicked joy in approaching life and work in this manner. Sometimes you will deliver in this manner but sometimes you won’t. It’s hit and miss many times because nobody catches up with you until you are a mile down the road. Either way you’ve left an indelible mark. Usually and fortunately this tendency will be beaten out of you soon on your journey through life.

Sometimes we are just being human which means we go to extremes to avoid being bored or to tackle the difficult. Whatever our reasoning, just like service, we have to get over all of it and deliver regardless of the consequences. We just have to.

Key to the whole point – as I see it:

Forget about your internal evaluation of how good you are. There is a time and a place for that (like a personal journal) but it’s not good to do in the heat of battle. Pay attention instead to what is really wanted and what is really expected. Many times the task at hand requires far less skills than we might have. Just because we can do something or are capable of doing something doesn’t mean we always need to do things at that high level.

Sometimes we need to be in touch with the realities of our organization and adapt our responses accordingly. We may be the most capable person on earth but if that is out of touch with what is needed or expected, it will be irrelevant and work against your success.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you realized this after the fact, sit down with the boss of you and inventory the things you should pay attention to and the things that are truly needed from you. As far as I know, Otis, the Mayberry town drunk was the most likable guy on the planet but he never seemed to deliver anything and could seldom stand up. It wasn’t Andy's and Barney’s fault. It was Otis’.

Forbidden Knowledge

2007-07-22T18:16:00.000-06:00

Some things you are better off not knowing. If possible. Let’s call it forbidden knowledge. But in spite of knowing this, curiosity, loose lips, or having to know because of your job can place this information in your brain anyway. And then you have to deal with it. For example: I know what I make compared to some other people. Conversely I know how much I do compared to others. They don’t match. Sometimes they aren’t even on the same continent.

Having forbidden knowledge can eat you up. I’ve been there, done that, seen it up close and personal. Some get over it. Others don’t. It can be very upsetting when you find out someone less deserving is getting bigger rewards and more blessings. The more you think about these situations the more upset you get. It can keep you up at nights and distract you by day – maybe more than any other thing on earth.

To depersonalize the whole thing, let me tell you about two people I know. They both went into the same line of work. They sold drugs for one of the largest drug companies in the world. One sold a line of a dozen drugs for things like depression, asthma, and migraines. Whenever I saw him he always asked me if I needed anything. Yeah, right. I always gave him a list and never got me anything. He had been in the business and done well for a decade or so. The other person had only been doing this for about four or five years and sold a small line of oncology drugs; the ones for chemotherapy and cancer treatments. Both were paid salary plus bonuses based on sales volume. The first made a bigger salary but the second more than made up for it on bonuses.

I was with both of these folks when this revelation came to light and the one who’d been in the biz the longest almost blew a vein out the side of his neck. I probably talk to these folks four times a year and over the next month I spoke to the freaked out friend at least that many times. He was completely traumatized and tormented that the other friend was making so much. It ate and ate away at him and made him more and more frustrated. It was obvious to me that greed and envy are a real bad-boy combination!

The only advice I could come up with for my self-destructing friend was that he had to get a grip on understanding the forces at work on him; the forces that were invading his thoughts and destroying his happy place (the place with unicycles and little people.) Before the forbidden knowledge came to light, everything was fine. But once it surfaced, apparently my friend's compass was broken and had been broken and was pointed toward greed rather than thankfulness that he is able to do what he does and make what he made (which was not too shabby.) Both of them should have had pity on me, the poor public servant. The pain he was feeling ought to have been an indicator to him that he was off course.

This brings me to my point. Greed is a weed.

Weeds are considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome (except in the wacky world of zeriscaping), especially when they grow where they are not wanted.

Greed is undesirable, unattractive, and troublesome, especially when it appears where it is least needed. Greed is a weed.

Greed is a great big morning glory weed and if we don’t kill it, it will take over. Killing it, like morning glory you might know, can be tricky. It takes skill and perseverance. Until we kill it, though, greed makes us think we can’t move on unless or until we get what we want. In fact, it can make us think we want even more than we really do. Sometimes it can even trick us to thinking we can have whatever we want, even if it isn’t right for us.

I’m sure everyone caught the news story about the man and his sister who stopped at a McDonald’s in California while they were doing their Monopoly promotion? I think how it worked was you peel off something from your drink cup and you win stuff. I’m not exactly sure because I only go there to get the Happy Meals with Superheroes for my good-guy grandsons. In any event, somehow there are things you can win.

Well, this man in California peeled off his sticker and won $1,000 a week for the rest of his life. Not too shabby; $50,000 a year for as long as you live. What could be the problem? Nothing, of course, unless you worked for McDonald’s and you and your immediate family were thus ineligible. Well, guess what? He did and they were.

He and his sister hatched a plan though. He would give the ticket to his girlfriend and have her cash it in. The arrangement he brokered with her was that she would turn in the prize sticker and they’d share half of the winnings each. You can probably already guess the end of this story even if you didn’t read it. For six years it worked out fine to the tune of $330,409. But eventually they had a fight and were not getting along about something and the guy got ratted out. Ah, true love. What a beautiful story. Tale as old as time. The payments were, of course, stopped. And there was the pesky firing (why he stayed employed at McDonald’s is beyond me) and the court case to collect the winnings back.

Clearly greed got the best of this person and his friend and the sister. It trapped them and as the Greeks say, “Greed is like sea water. The more you drink, the thirstier you become.” True dat.

Key to the whole point – as I see it:

You’ve seen the oldie-but-goodie comedy routine where a man shows his doctor that every time he raises his arm in this unusual position, he gets a sharp pain. The doctor’s suggestion, “Don’t do that any more.” The point of the skit is that if something hurts, stop doing it.

Like with my friend, he just needed to suck it up and realize there is nothing he could do to change the fact that oncological drugs have a higher markup and are in more demand than his stuff. That’s life, dude. Get over it. If he focused more on his own great job and the good living he was making, he’d be much better off and would probably enjoy the time he spends out by his very nice swimming pool much more.

Fear Factor Rules

2007-07-16T17:29:00.000-06:00

Continuing on the theme of raising the bar, we all sometime or somewhere have to cross the following bridge in life: Do you want to get a bigger reward for something you don’t like or a lesser reward for something you love? That is a situation we will all face one way or another.

Let me put it this way, would you eat a maggot for the chance at a hundred thousand dollars? Not me. Not even a million. I wouldn’t get in a tank of spiders nor would I put a worm anywhere near my mouth. And forget anything about rats; na-gon-do-it. But some apparently would if you’ve seen the reality show. Go figure.

That’s a severe example of boundaries we set on physical stuff but what about the things we do day-in and day-out? Are you okay being miserable about your work or other aspects of your life if you are well compensated or well rewarded with intangibles? Or would you rather have less income or accolades but do something you love? These are questions as old as time; questions that affect the very core of our existence.

Unhappy people line the corridors of therapists every day because of one thing; they haven’t figured out that we can’t always have everything we want. The cliché (sorry) that comes to mind here is “having our cake and eating it too.” Sometimes we want to land in a job that we love with a great salary and a great title and supreme power without paying the price or having to make any choices. It could happen, I guess, but usually it doesn’t. Usually you have to choose and there’s a journey associated with it. Usually there are dues to that club.

Having to make choices can make us ornery because we keep getting told we can have everything and so we wonder what’s wrong with the world or what’s wrong with ourselves. But have you ever noticed that those telling us we can have “everything” are usually those who have everything? If we dwell on the complexities of having it all, we can turn our life into a drudgery because we refuse to adjust ourselves to reality.

It’s back to the broken compass. If our compass needle is bifurcated and pointing in opposite directions, we won’t know which way to go. We have to make sure our compass needles only point in one direction and doesn’t give us conflicting signals.

How, you say? Funny you should bring it up. Two ways.

1. Claritize.

This is a new word I think I invented. Maybe I pilfered it, it’s all blending together. In any event it takes clarity and combines it with prioritize. Sounds like a detergent, doesn’t it. It kind of is.

We’ve all seen those tear jerker commercials. I hate it when a commercial makes me cry. One showed a mom driving her daughter home from school. She was telling this cute little thing that she had to go on a business trip for a few days. The little girl was disappointed because her mom was going to miss her school play. She was pouting – the daughter that is – and the mom was explaining something like, “but don’t you like all the good things we have like this car we are riding in (it appeared to be the Mercedes S430 Sedan) and don’t you want a bigger house?” After a moment of thought the little girl said sincerely, “Do we really need a bigger house mommy?” I know, Ohhhhh!

Food for thought and from the “mouth of babes,” etc. The kid apparently was able to reach a reality the parent hadn’t. The daughter was faced with two mutually exclusive choices and was willing to make the one that fit her priorities. The parent hadn’t reached that claritization yet.

2. Being versus Becoming.

I had a friend once who graduated from college with a master’s degree in education administration. Everything about him screamed teacher/principal, perhaps superintendent someday. He was the real deal. He began teaching and then we lost touch. A couple of years later I ran into him and he was a regional manager for Domino’s Pizza. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, he was doing well and on a different fast track, but it wasn’t his life dream. I asked him what was up with the change of career and the seeming “tossing” of a master’s degree. This was the story.

His brother went to work for Domino’s and was a multi-state executive. They had been talking and his brother convinced him that the corporate culture at Domino’s was the greatest thing on earth. It was all about being in a work environment that was fun and teaching was all about a lot of work and a lot of grief and a lot of underpaid thankless activities. Domino’s started out paying him what a teacher would never make.

Domino’s whole philosophy was about not playing it safe and putting it all on the line - for pizza. He was doing it. I still remember going out to dinner with he and his wife. He was the first person I knew with a pager. He was paged in the time we were at dinner about a dozen times. I couldn’t imagine what for? Did they keep running out of cheese and didn’t know where to get any? He seemed stressed and anxious about each call. I was having more fun in life than him and I was eating out of the public trough (government work if you hadn’t heard that one) which is notorious for underpaying. He was conflicted though, that much was clear. I felt bad for him. Fast forward many years and skipping particulars, he is now back in education and is an elementary school principal where he should be. He figured out after awhile that there is a difference between being and becoming, about doing and having, and he got back into what he was meant to do and lowered his material expectations. Getting back into the education business was difficult once he left it but he paid the price and did it.

His decision to do this reminded me of a statement I read a couple months ago when Red Adair died. Remember him?

He was the famous oil well firefighter who John Wayne played in the movie Hellfighters. He’d been around forever but maybe his greatest accomplishment was just back in 1991 following the first Gulf War when he and his team extinguished 112 burning oil wells ignited by Sadam Hussein as they retreated from Kuwait. Estimates were that this work would take five years to accomplish; his team was done in nine months.

The statement he made that reminded me of my friend was, “Life isn’t having it made; it’s getting it made.”

Whatever we do will require effort and will-power. Each time we make the effort, we move from being and we grow and are strengthened to becoming. And hopefully it will be doing what we love and the rewards will take care of themsleves.

The key to the whole point – as I see it:
If we are fortunate we will be in situations in life where we can experience work and play from a variety of angles. (I first mistyped this as angels and wouldn’t that be great to experience things from a variety of angels?) This will give us first hand knowledge of what it takes to get different rewards and to achieve particular accomplishments. This is great because regardless of what we choose, it will be an informed choice and not just based on the fear factor. It’s usually more difficult than that because we can complicate it with financial obligations or interpersonal relationships that are hard to unravel but if we find out what we truly want, we should be brave enough to follow our compass there and be satisfied with the rewards it brings.

"Raising the Bar"

2007-07-12T17:08:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I like clichés, sometimes I hate them. Mostly I hate. The other day, though, I caught myself daydreaming in a meeting at work. It went something like this:

"I need to “level the playing field” and “think outside the box” because it’s a “hard and fast rule” that I should deliver “world class” “customer service” or “the long and short of it” is it’ll be “the kiss of death” unless I “tie up all the loose ends” and “dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s.”

“In the blink of an eye” I will “pull myself up by the bootstraps,” “grit my teeth,” “live and learn,” so that I can “fight another day.” “That’s half the battle” until I hit the “turning point” by “swallowing my pride,” “letting bygones be bygones” and put the “ball in the court” of those that are “dyed in the wool.”

I knew it was all “food for thought,” “in the long run” anyway. But I didn’t want to “beat a dead horse.“ I knew these thoughts were only worth a “dime a dozen” to someone unless they’ve “seen the light” and unless something’s “fallen through the cracks” but by then you find you’ve “crossed the line.” At that point though I realized that “word of mouth” and “idle chitchat” took me to my “hour of need” and I knew if I placed all my “cards on the table” and “entertained high hopes” “wild horses could not keep me away” from “coming up smelling like roses.”

I guess I could have “drawn the line” at being “all talk and no action” because with “every tick of the clock” there was “hell to pay” if I didn’t have “peace of mind” or at least “give it the old college try.” That was just the “tip of the iceberg” though: “Nothing to write home about,” “in a word” you could say. But if you “check it out” what I’m saying is I’m “not too shabby” since “there’s no fool like an old fool.” At the very least “it’s better than sliced bread” if you can just “wake up and smell the coffee (postum).” “Time will tell” I guess. “yada, yada, yada.” “Blah, blah, blah.” I’m not “pulling your leg,” I’m “on the up-and-up.” “For what it’s worth.”

Regardless of what I think of clichés I clearly use them, maybe too much, and maybe too much in jest. I guess it’s a love-hate thing. I’m titling this blog by a cliché though because the practical reality is that “raising the bar” is the only way I can figure out how to get across the point of how we all need to set high standards to get us from wherever we are in life to a higher and better place.

So what I’m saying is clichés do communicate messages to us. The only problem with them is that we get used to hearing them so often, we stop considering what they really mean. So let me try and break “raising the bar” a little more so it isn’t just a cliché, though it is.

Growing up, I shared a room with two brothers. Nights were not a job, they were an adventure. At a young age our ridiculous bedtime would give us like 9 or 10 hours to kill before we could surface back on earth. We did all sorts of stuff. I distinctly remember one activity was to play this card game we had. It was called authors. It had nothing to do with authors, other than you had to collect all four of the same author cards to make a set. What it did though is introduce to me the names of some of the greatest authors who ever lived and inspired me later, out of curiosity, to look into their works and find out more about them. Alfred Lord Tennyson was one of these authors. His name and grizzly appearance made him memorable.

The guy was amazing. At 12 he composed his first epic poem of 6,000 lines. At 12, I hadn’t read 6,000 lines. After that he got prolific. One of the last things he wrote, considered to be his epitaph, was my favorite. It’s a short poem called "Crossing the Bar." It’s could have been called “raising the bar.” Alfred loved it also and left instructions that it was to be placed at the conclusion of any collection of his writings. Consider some of his words:

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

When we “cross the bar” we will probably hope we had it “raised” as high as possible. I recently read an interview about a young and very successful man in Tel Aviv. His name is David Tur and he is one of a new generation who are putting the violence and sadness of the Jews and all that is going on in the Middle East behind him and pushing himself upward and onward to new heights.

He is a fascinating character and I would never embrace or encourage others to celebrate their bar raising efforts as he does but his style was interesting. Each time he felt he raised the bar in his life and accomplished something, he got a tattoo. That’s not too unusual these days, but his are very personal to him and had a lot of meaning. He considers his tats stars and he has five already in his less than thirty years of life. Most are just for him and not visible to others.

Under his arm is an ace of spades reminding him that during a real tough time in his life he had a surprise up his sleeve (he doesn’t share what that was however.) Above his wrist (the only visible one) are the words “senseless conflict”. He had this one done at seventeen, much too his parents dismay. The reason seems obvious. His parents thought this was his first but he actually had one done a year earlier. His parents didn’t know because it was on the inside of his lower lip. It is the words “No Pain,” ironically he said “it was one hell of a pain to have it done.” There are two others he won’t talk about. His point is he will always strive to raise the bar and each time it’s raised in a monumental way; he will celebrate it in this unique way.

Don’t do what David does but take the inspiration from his experience about striving for personal bests.

The supreme rule of survival on the high seas was always to follow your compass and where it would lead you. We should do the same. We should discipline ourselves to always follow what we know is the right thing regardless of what we see or hear about what others think the correct action might be. I think the best word describing this compass is integrity.

Integrity is Latin from the word integritas, meaning "whole" or "oneness." It is the discipline to follow one’s moral and ethical compass regardless of circumstances. It might be the one common denominator of all great people.

We’ve probably all seen how effective this one characteristic is and the difference it makes wherever it is found. People with integrity “raise the bar” throughout their life and it gets real high and they keep it there. Nobody makes them do it. How could they? And once you have the bar at a certain level, you don’t cave in or lower it for anyone or anything.

But every day in the world, in a hundred different ways, some lose their compass and get lost. Some pile up waste-high fibonacci troubles while others navigate brilliantly through the same challenges and keep the bar up high and even raise it higher.

Those “raising the bar” have this internal compass and follow it. Those who don’t ever “raise the bar” have compasses, but they are broken. Isn’t that the worse situation we could be in? To have a compass and think it is working and you discipline yourself to follow it, but you are headed for a disaster because your compass is broke. Clearly we all have the responsibility to make sure our compass is working and then follow it. This will keep us safe and on track and only then will we have the confidence to “raise the bar” “higher and higher.”

Crowds

2007-07-01T23:05:00.000-06:00

I caught Coldplay on the HD Cable station the other night. They were live at Clint's old mission hangout: the Isle of Wight.

It was amazing to watch this concert. The crowd was one mass of people as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of thousands of people I'd guess. All of them standing, pumping their fists in the air in unison to the music and most singing along word-for-word.

I wanted to join in. You feel like you want to be there and be apart of something. But I wonder if this is a "great and spacious" concert? It certainly is fleeting and when it was over it was done. You don't have the urge or the urgency to go out and do something meaningful. It doesn't make you feel like you want to be a better person. It is something just for that moment - cooler than heck, don't get me wrong - but just for a minute or two.

I think of other gatherings that have happened and some yet to come that are much different in nature and outcome.

When Christ came to the American Continent after His resurrection, a large crowd had gathered. The entire crowd got to approach the Savior, one-by-one, and feel the imprints of the nails in His hands and feet and the scar from the sword in His side. I imagine this crowd wasn't jumping up and down and pumping their fists. I imagine it so quiet you could hear an ancient bone-pin drop. The evidence of the effect it had on the people was that the whole society lived in righteousness and peace for 400 years afterward.

Then there was the crowd that gathered to listen to King Benjamin's farewell address. So converted were they all by being in this crowd on this day and the next that none had a dispostion to do evil ever again. Of course, some eventually did but the remembering of this event years later spawned an unbroken chain of righteous leadership that went on for 500 years and 9 generations: From Alma to Alma to Helaman, to Helaman to Nephi to Nephi to Nephi to Amos to Amos & Ammoron!

Then there is the crowd that will gather at Adam-Ondi-Ahman toward the end of the pre-millennial earth. Everyone to have ever held priesthood keys will gather at this place, give an accounting, and turn over their keys to Adam, who will turn over all of the keys over to the Savior. That's going to have a lasting effect on all of earth. Maybe that's what gives the people the boost to be righteous for the thousand years of the millennium.

There are crowds and there are crowds. Some are cool and some are way cool.

Media Observation

2007-06-26T17:15:00.000-06:00

I'm watching the news and a breaking story flashes on the screen. A team of reporters pop into view and tell about an "officer-involved shooting" that has taken place.

As both reporters go over the "facts" as they know them (most of which we now know were inaccurate), the picture changes to an on-scene, live feed where the shooter was captured by police.

While we are watching, the reporters continue to mull over information as they get it and fill in the gaps with their observations. Then one reporter said something priceless. He said, "It looks like people are starting to gather at the scene to try and see what's going on and that's the last thing we'd advise anyone to do. Let the police officers do their job and give them room to work."

Other than the fact that those gathering at the scene weren't watching the news so they couldn't benefit from this sage advice, the humorous part of this commentary was that as we are watching this panorama at an Arby's parking lot, you see a half-a-dozen people gathering way out at the far end of the yellow police tape, but all around the rest of the site you see these big TV news vans parking however and wherever they please; pulled in at all angles and diagnal clear out in the roadway, creating all sorts of traffic hazards and access problems in and out of the crime scene. But that wasn't the funny part.

All around the site you see these reporters with camera operators in tow running like packs of dogs with microphones in hand trying to get a story. Then as the condescending reporter back at the station is lecturing the public on giving the police room to work, you see several police coming out of Arby's with the prisoner cuffed, leading him to a police car. And all of the reporters at the site beeline directly to that spot at full sprint - kicking, pinching, and biting - and when they catch up with the police, they actual prevent them from getting to their vehicles to secure the prisoner as they are thrusting their microphones in their faces and badgering them with questions.

Now, who should back the freak off and let the officers do their job, I ask you? Nim whits is what they are. We live in a funny, selfish, self-righteous world folks. Be lee dat!

High Council Talk

2007-06-25T00:59:00.000-06:00

What follows is the High Council talk I gave for the last time today. How our Stake works is two High Councilors are assigned as speaking companions and then once a month we go to each Ward in the Stake. Today we finished our circuit using this particular talk. This was a fun topic and quite practical in the advice given. I learned from it each time and it evolved as the six months rolled out. This is the evovled version called, "Learning the Things of God." The original tidal was, "Don't trifle with Sacred Things." It was a little edgier and as I matured, the talk became more positive and practical. It is a 16 minute talk though I could and did expand it from 10 minutes to 20 minutes depending on the time left in the meeting. Enjoy.

Today I want to talk to you about why it is that we seem to feel an urgency to do and accomplish more as time passes rather than at some point, just sitting back and enjoying the blessings of the gospel and all that it has for us.

Our human nature and the world we live in gives us opportunities to retire someday from our work and look back on our accomplish and enjoy the fruits of our labors. Other things we do, hobby’s for example, allow us to also kick back at some point and enjoy what we’ve done, made, read or wrote.

But in the gospel, after a great spiritual accomplishment or just times when the Spirit is so strong in my life, I feel like I want to just bask in the glory of the Lord and just enjoy it. But unlike the world, the minute I do, the same Spirit compels me to get up and do some more. And then gospel leaders started – I was going to say pestering but the real word is encouraging us to – quicken our pace and do a little more to build up the kingdom of God. Why is this so?

Elder Holland tells us why. He also tells us why it is that it is even more so with those of us living today in our day and age.

Elder Holland:
Because ours is the last and greatest of all dispensations, because all things will eventually culminate and be fulfilled in our era, there is, therefore, one particular, very specific responsibility that falls to those of us in the Church now that did not rest quite the same way on the shoulders of Church members in any earlier time … we have a responsibility to prepare the Church of the Lamb of God to receive the Lamb of God—in person, in triumphant glory, in His millennial role as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. No other dispensation ever had that duty…

When Christ comes, the members of His Church must look and act like members of His Church are supposed to look and act if we are to be acceptable to Him. We must be doing His work and we must be living His teachings. (Bold added.)

Do you think about the gospel in these terms? We ought to because it’s what we are about. Having said this, the question begs itself, how to we get ready? What things must we be doing or what process can we follow to make sure we look and act like members of the Savior’s Church so that we are acceptable of Him when He comes?

Joseph Smith gives us the key, and though he doesn’t call it a process, it really is.

The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful nd ... solemn thoughts can only find them out ... None but fools will trifle … (D.H.C. Vol. 3, pp. 295-6.)

Let’s examine each of the things Joseph mentions here in more detail so we can digest what the Prophet is telling us about the things of God keeping in mind that he said these are the only ways we can find out the things of God.

Time

The first thing we need to do - to understanding the things of God - is to take the time. It was not an accident that Joseph mentioned this as the first thing we need to do because all other things hinge on this.

Everything we need to do in the Church requires a sacrifice of time. Teaching by the Spirit takes time; proclaiming the gospel takes time; redeeming the dead takes time; and perfecting the saints takes a lot of time.

Fortunately time is the great gospel equalizer because each of us has the same exact amount of it. I hear the expression 24/7 a lot. That’s what we all have 24 hours a day; 168 hours a week; and 8,760 hours a year.

How are you spending your time?

We are so fortunate to live in a day and age that has all the modern conveniences we have that have been given to us, I think, by inspiration from our Father in Heaven so that we have more time to work on the things of God. And never in all the history of mankind can we get more done in the time we have than in our day and age. It’s miraculous when you consider the time it used to take to cook and clean and travel places.

So I ask again, how are you spending your time?

Recently some research culled from Census Bureau surveys showed that Americans on average spend almost 10 hours a day watching television, surfing the Internet, listening to music, reading magazines and playing video games. Of that 4½ hours were just watching television. That is over 1.600 hours a year watching TV if you can imagine.

As with all averages some don’t spend their time this way which means, if you are saying you don’t spend near that amount of time of these things, someone else is spending a lot more of their time on them. Another study concluded that 65% of people “spend more time with a computer than with their spouse.” And our relationship with our computer isn’t one of just happiness and bliss because 52% of people in this study described their most recent computer experience as one of “anger, sadness or alienation.” So if that is how your experience with the computer makes you feel, and you choose to spend more time with it than your spouse, what does that say about your spouse?

Each of us needs to take a personal inventory of how we spend our time because if we don’t spend time on the things of God, Joseph Smith says we will not find them out.

At Ward Conference the Stake President challenged you all at this pulpit to turn off the Television one day a week, and go visit someone – a neighbor, a friend, some family – someone, somewhere in need. The only thing you need to do in order to accomplish this is to take some time from one thing that is meaningless and shift it to another that has eternal meaning.

If that isn’t enough for you, Elder Bednar gave an Apostolic challenge at the October 2006 General Conference:

Will you please prayerfully identify a person with whom you will visit and extend the invitation to once again worship with us?

Experience

Once you have decided to spend more time on the things of God, Joseph tells us we need to have some experiences. At another time he taught us that “faith is a principle of action.”

So we have to be out doing things. That’s how faith works.

What kind of and how often are you having profound religious experiences?

The Church published a great manual for missionaries that we all ought to read and adapt to our own personal use and circumstances. It’s called Preach My Gospel and Elder Richard G. Scott, in the 2005 annual conference encouraged all members to use it to “make it easier for each of us to share” the gospel “with loved ones and friends.” I would add that we can share it with ourselves also.

It’s a great publication. It may be the finest thing the Church has published outside of the scriptures. This morning as a returned missionary reported her mission to the High Council I asked her what she thought about Preach My Gospel. Without hesitation, she said she viewed it as another volume of scripture. I asked her if she
thought she’d use it in the future. Without hesitation, she said she’s use it daily to study and reflect and motivate herself about the gospel.

I tell you these things because in this manual is a profound observation about having experiences in the gospel. After reviewing the steps of the conversion process, we are told in Preach My Gospel:

These are not just steps that are experienced once in our lives; rather when repeated throughout life these principles become an increasingly rewarding pattern of living… Obedience to Jesus Christ is a lifetime commitment. Through exercising faith, repenting, being baptized and committing to serve Christ, and then receiving the Holy Ghost, we can experience healing, forgiveness of sins, and complete conversion to the Savior and His gospel.

Great thoughts about having gospel experiences throughout our lives. At another point in Preach My Gospel we are told:

As you feel the joy that comes from understanding the gospel, you will want to apply what you learn.

“Apply what we learn” means we go out and use what we learn to have spiritual experiences. “Use it or lose it” seems to be the appropriate summary of what we are being told.

President Kimball was the one who counseled:

Let us remember that it is not so much what we know that is important as what we do and what we are. The Master’s plan is a program of doing, of living, not merely knowing. It is how we righteously live and apply that knowledge in our own lives and how we apply it to help others that describes our character.

Elder Robert D. Hales said in an article in the February Ensign (Ten Axioms to Guide Your Life):

… your greatest success and influence won’t come solely from the knowledge you’ve gained. It will come from what you do with that knowledge – the wise use of agency to make sound decisions.

I ask again: What kind of and how often are you having profound religious experiences by living the gospel and applying its teachings in your life and thereby finding out the things of God?

On a lighter note, Ian Fleming who is known for writing the James Bond books also wrote the children’s book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In there is where you find his great line that summarized his philosophy of life: “Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes’ otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.” A life of Church service, I promise you, is never dull if you are putting yourselves out there doing the Lord’s work - and you can start by turning off your TV one night a week and visiting someone in need.

Joseph Smith said there was no other way to know the things of God.

Careful & Solemn Thought

There’s a story about President Kimball setting apart a man to be a Temple President. After the setting apart and some niceties President Kimball put on his coat and began to leave. The newly sustained temple president said, aren’t you going to give me some training or some guidance; “I could really use some.” President Kimball told him “he’d do fine. He’d been around the Church a long time and he didn’t anticipate he’d run across any problems he couldn’t solve.” Then he left. The man was a little overwhelmed as we all are with new callings and actually followed after President Kimball and was asking about some specific things about the building or other temple functions and President Kimball told him, “You have some phone numbers of support folks that know all about those things. When problems arise, just get hold of them, and they will help you out just fine.” Exasperated the Temple President said, “I beg of you President Kimball, please just give me some words of insight and guidance; how about just one suggestion. I’d honor and value it with my life.” President Kimball thought for a minute and said, “You could stand to lose about 30 lbs.”

The point of the story is as Joseph Smith told us, that once you have organized your life so that you are spending your time on the things of God and you are out doing things to ensure you are having spiritual experiences, we need to mix in with that: careful and solemn thought. Many times insights about the Savior, the gospel, and eternity, aren’t just handed to us. We have to follow a process that requires effort.

Careful means to be thorough and even painstaking in doing something. It also means that we show close attention to detail and accuracy.

Solemn means we have a sincerity and seriousness about doing a thing. It also means sacred or inspiring awe and reverence.

Together you get the picture Joseph Smith was trying to paint about “thought” that is meticulous and specific coupled with a reverence and a spiritual attitude. The picture you don’t get is thoughts about the gospel that are scattered or random or just during the commercials or in “our spare time.”

Careful and solemn thought means we make time to think about the gospel and put everything else on hold – no matter how inconvenient – while we ponder and wonder about the gospel.

A great way to get the type of careful and solemn thought Joseph Smith is talking about is also taught in the Preach My Gospel manual under the “personal study” section.

It suggests the creation of and regular use of a study journal “to help you understand, clarify, and remember what you are learning.”

Elder Richard G. Scott said it this way: Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a scared place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. This practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light.” (Ensign, Nov. 1993)

Isn’t the “further light” Elder Scott is referring to another way of saying, “the things of God.”

I keep a regular and consistent study journal about the things I read in the scriptures, the Ensign, and general conferences. I bear you my testimony it is the greatest way that anyone can “treasure up” the things of God and pass on that testimony to your posterity. If you do it you will never want for the right thing to say or do in situations where you are needed in the gospel. I prize my study journals as some of my greatest possessions.

President Kimball assured us if we make a journal “that will last through all time … maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.” (Kimball, Spencer W. "The Angels May Quote from It." New Era 5 (Oct. 1975):4-5.)

Too often we ignore the “doctrine of writing things down.” Remember that maxim: the dullest pencil can remember more than the sharpest mind. I personally like: if you think it, ink it.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell put an exclamation point on this thought by saying:

If we desire to have the promptings of the Spirit become almost habitual in our lives, then we must develop the habits that lend themselves to the flow of such inspiration. We should learn, too, that the prompting that goes unresponded to may not be repeated. Writing down what we have been prompted with is vital. A special thought can also be lost later in the day in the rough and tumble of life. God should not, and may not, choose to repeat the prompting if we assign what was given such a low priority as to put it aside. (Wherefore Ye Must Press Forward, p. 122)

As we keep a spiritual study journal, we take the time to record our experiences and are clearly making careful and solemn thought. The only ways Joseph Smith said we could ever find out the things of God.

Testimony

I bear you my testimony that if we want to be recognized as members of the Saviors Church at that great day, we should spend our time on the things of God – turn off our TV’s and going out and do the Lord’s work – have spiritual experiences. And then carefully and solemnly reflect and record the thoughts and feelings and
experiences you have had.

Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is the Redeemer of the world. He is the Only Begotten of the Father and atoned for our sins so that we may repent and return back to Heavenly Father and live eternally with Him in our eternal family unit.

As we read the New Testament in Sunday School and learn more of our Savior, know that He isn’t just a good story we learn about in class or by the words on the pages of scripture. His teachings aren’t just good and ethical thoughts about things. They are truth.

He’s the bread of life; the water that quenches our thirst. He’s the Lamb of God; and the light that gives life to everything. He is everything. And He lives and guides this Church in a time of great uncertainty and turmoil. But His guidance and only His guidance will give us the things we need and will lead us to find our way to the things of God.

May we all give due diligence to what the Prophet Joseph has told us about finding out the things of God is my prayer in the name …

Preamble

2007-06-22T22:41:00.001-06:00

I have been blogging for a long time but only for myself. That is very selfish. My daughter's public blog has inspired me to go online and share my musings with the world (or at least those who can find this address.)

My site name might seem odd at first blush but it is on purpose and is meaningful for the following reasons:

1. "Crotcheted" I made up from "crotchet." Not the french word "crochet" in which the "t" is silent and is some sort of needlepoint. And not a form of "crotch" (though that is a good guess) which is a "fork or bifurcation" even though "bifurcation" is one of my favorite words. I put the "ed" at the end of "crotchet to change it from a noun to an adverb to partially describe my blogging style. It means "a highly individual and usually eccentric opinion or preference." If you know me and have been privy to my work, you'll know this to be true. If not, you'll soon find out.

2. "Vagarious" means "erratic, unpredictable or an extravagant manifestation of action, or notion." Well said if I may say so myself.

3. "Musings" you all know to be ideas "meditative and thoughfully abstracted."

4. Put them all together and that is what you are going to be treated to. Other terms that whiff of what I do are also descriptive: "whimsical" ("an eccentric and often sudden idea or turn of mind" is accurate though overused so I avoided it) and "caprice" ("a sudden, impulsive and seemingly unmotivated notion or action.")

5. One posting might be about my current projects (right now it's studying the lives of the Presidents of the United States. I am on Andy Johnson. He's cooler than most give credit.) The next post might be my observations on dirt. There will probably be stuff from my work, church, and family. Some stuff will be funny and some will be dead serious. Many times you'll never know which is which. How vagarious is that? There will be quotes, thoughts, incomplete thoughts, sentences I've been working on, words I've discovered, irritations thrust in my path, and the simple and complicated joys of life on planet earth. Oh, also, I am pretty sure every now and again I will rant. Maybe more often; I can't predict it. Sometime I will muse about "the rant" and if you get it, you'll get it, and if not, you won't.

6. Lastly, the KRiB is to protect my anonymity. It's an acronym so those who know me, know what it means and those that don't can't track me down and kill me. I'm far too unconfrontational to want that. To know me is to love me but I don't want to make eye contact with strangers ... unless I choose to: my time, my place - my blog, my choice.