Two Reasons Why the World Is Imperfect

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf slipped slipped just a single word of a German vocabulary lesson into the last talk of the Saturday Afternoon Session of last General Conference:

There is a word in German, Weltschmerz. Loosely defined, it means a sadness that comes from brooding about how the world is inferior to how we think it ought to be.

 Considering how imperfect the world is and how much and how often that imperfection bothers us, I think that Elder Uchtdorf was right to say that "Perhaps there is a little Weltschmerz in all of us."

As a cure for Weltschmerz, Elder Uchtdorf suggested turning to "the transformative power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and in the Savior’s redemptive power to heal us of our soul-sickness," and that is probably the best solution, but I have thought of another solution that might also help: understanding why the world is the way it is.

By divine design, this world had to be imperfect. If it were perfect, with no troubles or trials of any kind, it wouldn't be a proper test for us. And in order for the world to be perfect, it couldn't have imperfect beings on it, making imperfect decisions that negatively affect the other imperfect beings. If the Earth were to be perfect and remain perfect, we couldn't live on it. In fact, now that I think about it, I'm not sure our pre-Earth life was perfect. I can't currently recall ever hearing that it was. Perhaps imperfection is all we have ever known. Certainly, imperfect is all we have ever been, so even though the world is imperfect and definitely has room for improvement, so do we.

So, the world is far from perfect, and that's partly because there are imperfect people making the world even worse, but those imperfections make this world a perfect testing ground for us. These imperfections help us test our mettle and fortitude if the face of afflictions that can't be helped. They also help us test our wisdom and goodness in avoiding and solving the problems that can be avoided and/or solved. Our trials can help us become better people, but that couldn't happen if the world were too perfect to have trials in it.

We need trials to grow, so we need the world to be imperfect so it can grant us the trials we need. So, rather than being upset about how bad the world is, let's try to remember why the world has to be that way and try to channel our negative emotions into creating positive change, even if that change is only in ourselves.

Of course, it's still a good idea to pursue Christlike qualities and try to improve the world with the guidance of the Gospel. But if following the Gospel doesn't make the world perfect (and it doesn't), just remember that if the world were perfect, we wouldn't be on it and that we need the world's imperfections to help us overcome our own.

Salvation Comes Through Christ

Elder Paul B. Pieper addressed the fact that salvation can only come through the name of Christ. He quoted a handful of scriptures that all basically said "There shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come." To be saved, we must rely on the Atonement and Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our on personal righteousness is insufficient. We all sin. We all need the Atonement to make us clean again. And we all need the Gospel to guide us away from the pitfalls in mortality. No one can make it back to the Celestial Kingdom without the divine teachings and purifying power of Jesus Christ. We need Jesus. We cannot achieve our eternal goals without Him.

Enduring Affliction Despite a Successful Save

When something especially bad is about to happen to a character in D&D, the controller of that character sometimes gets to make a Saving Throw. To make a saving throw, a player rolls a d20, adds the character's relevant Ability Score Modifier, and then adds whatever other modifiers might apply to the Saving Throw, like a Proficiency Bonus, or even another die granted by Bardic Inspiration or a spell like Resistance or Bless. If the total result is high enough, the character "makes" their Saving Throw, and the negative effects are negated or reduced, whereas a roll that's too low causes the character to fail their Saving Throw and suffer the full effects of whatever they were trying to avoid or resist. But what I think is interesting is that, even when a person succeeds on their Saving Throw, the negative effect isn't always completely negated. If you're caught in the area of a Fireball spell, you're going to take at least some Fire damage, even if you make your save, unless there's some other effect that says you don't.

Similarly, when we face trials, we will almost always have to endure some amount of affliction, even if we seek and receive the Lord's help in facing the trial. God may lessen the affliction, but He will rarely eliminate it because He knows that our spiritual and personal growth depend on learning to endure. That's part of the reason we're here on earth in the first place. God had to put us in a place where He could give us challenges. He isn't going to make life too easy for us now by taking all our afflictions away completely.

We should seek the Lord's help in facing trials, and we may often get it, but we should remember that, even with Celestial aid, we will still have some hardships that we need to endure.

Praise and Correction

This morning, I read some advice on teaching, and one piece of advice that resonated with me is to offer praise more than correction. Correction is often necessary, but people don't like to be corrected, so it's helpful to temper any needed correction with some deserved praise. Additionally, it may be possible to offer correction without passing criticism. Instead of telling someone what they did wrong, one might show them an example of someone doing it right. Highlighting positive examples is much more pleasant than singling out negative examples, and I imagine that people would respond better to the former method anyhow. Most of us are not often in a position that requires us to judge others, but when we are, we might do well to remember that one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar. Correction is often essential, but when it is, some praise could be very helpful too.

A Day of Helping

Today was a good day, and as I spent the last few minutes reflecting on my day, I think I found out why it was good. At several points over the course of the day, I had and took opportunities to help people, and people took opportunities to help me.

I helped people at work in the morning, in the afternoon, and again in the evening. I am blessed that I essentially get to help people for a living. I also helped people at home, if you count doing my chores as "helping." I helped someone in my class by studying with her, and she helped me.

Come to think of it, several people helped me today. Bus drivers and train drivers helped me get where I needed to go. My supervisors helped me get tutoring appointments and get paid for them. My teachers and fellow students helped me learn. And my family helped me in more ways than I can count, not the least of which was by providing me with a loving place to come home to at the end of a good, long day.

I think that part of the purpose of existence is to learn to help each other. I'm glad I was raised in the habit of helping others, and I'm glad that there are people in my life who regularly help me. It feels good to help those who need it and to get help when I need it. Today was a good day for me because I and just about everyone I met with today helped each other make today a good day.

Back to Work

This week has been fun. The poor air quality of last week and early this week meant that school was canceled for the first half of the week, and Thanksgiving meant that school was canceled for the second half of the week. But now, we need to get back to it and hopefully make up for lost time. I have a test to take and students to tutor, and tomorrow looks like it's going to be the busiest day I've had in a while. This is a good thing. While I enjoy rest and generally prefer it, I also benefit from the structure of a regular school schedule and appreciate opportunities to be helpful. I can't necessarily say that I look forward to tomorrow in the same way I might say I look forward to the weekend, but I do look forward to getting stuff done, and work is essential for that. Balance is important. I've had a lot of rest lately. It's time to get back to work.

The Element of Fire

Now that the Paradise Camp Fire is finally put out, I won't feel weird blogging about Elder Garrit W. Gong's talk Our Campfire of Faith. In this talk, Elder Gong spoke of how campfires provide light and warmth. He spoke of campfires in positive tones and never in the whole talk mentioned fire's destructive nature and ability.

As an element, fire is unique in representing two diametrically unique ideas. Earth is always solid and stable. Air is always light and breezy. Water is changeable, and one could make the argument that the fluidity of water stands in contrast to the rigidity of another form of water: ice. However, one could also argue that ice is  practically its own element or that the rigidity of ice further proves water's fluidity. Water is so changeable that even its changeability is changeable. And water is never both fluid and rigid at the same time.

Fire always embodies its contrasting nature. Fire is always both creative and destructive. Fire is always both helpful and harmful. Fire always creates bright flames and dark ash. Fire symbolizes both the feeling of the Holy Ghost and the feeling of hell.

Fire's destructive qualities are well-known. Fire is famous for burning things and people, causing pain and destruction wherever it goes. I don't think I need to emphasize this point too strongly. Everyone knows that fire can be very, very bad.

But not everyone knows or realizes how good fire can be. Handled correctly, fire can be very useful. Fire provides warmth and light. Fire can cook food. Fire can provide energy for transportation. Almost all cars, most heaters, and some power plants all rely on fire. Fire does a tremendous amount of good.

If I had a classical element (as many personality quizzes have claimed that I do), my element would be fire. I have life, energy, and vibrancy. I am occasionally creative, and some would say that I bring light and warmth into their lives. However, I also possess some of the negative traits of fire. I sometimes get angry and feel destructive. I drive the Spirit away about as often as I attract Him. I have both good and evil inside of me, and I do both good and evil, just like a fire.

In time, I may learn to be careful with my flame so I don't burn myself or anyone else. I may learn to stop destroying things of value and instead only consume proper fuel and the dross in my soul. I may become more bright and pure, like the fire of a lamp or candle, and more useful, like a stove or heater, and less chaotic and destructive, like a house fire or wildfire. I hope to reduce the negative aspects of my nature and instead exemplify only the best parts of fire. Because fire can be good and bright and pure and wonderful. And so can I.

A Normal Holiday Night

Today (and, to a lesser extent, yesterday) felt fairly normal to me. I had some nice dinners with family, but that's almost a weekly occurrence for me. Apart from catching a few glimpses of the Macy's parade and having fancier place settings, I would hardly have noticed that yesterday was a holiday at all. Sure, I spent some time with some family members I don't see often, and that was nice, but even then, I see them often enough that seeing them again tonight didn't feel unusual.

Maybe that's part of the point of the Holiday Season. In Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have two major, family-oriented holidays. People annually travel hundreds of miles to be with their family for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. This way, many family members rarely go for much more than a year without seeing each other, which helps keep families close. I'm thankful that I regularly get to spend quality time with family and that there are strong American traditions that help keep family get-togethers normal.

Repent and Prosper

In my personal scripture study, I came across Helaman 4:15 "And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper."

We know that we are blessed for our obedience to God's commandments. We also know that some of those blessings are material and that God has commanded us to repent. Repentance is mostly just changing for the better, refraining from a habitual sin, or starting to keep a commandment. And when we start keeping commandments and stop breaking them, God often blesses us for doing so.

I don't know what challenges are in your life or what blessings you need right now, but I do know that one way to persuade God to grant you those blessings and help you overcome those challenges is to do your best to keep His commandments. None of us is perfect. We each have sins that we commit and commandments that we break. If we repent of those sins and keep those commandments, or at least try to, that may help to show God that we are worthy of the blessings that will help us prosper. It worked for the Nephites. It can work for us, too.

Thankful for Everything

In the spirit of the season of Thanksgiving, I've been trying to add a few more thanks to each of my prayers, and I've been reminded that we have a lot to be thankful for. Of course, we should be thankful for all our blessings, including both material and immaterial blessings, but we should also be thankful for our trials for helping us become stronger, tougher, and wiser. It's hard to think of anything that doesn't fall into either of those categories. It seems to me that just about everything is either a trial or a blessing or both. So, in essence, we really should be grateful for everything. We can look at anything and think to ourselves how it brings us joy and/or how it can help make us a better person. Every aspect of life, including life itself, is a gift from God, and we have reasons to be thankful for each and every one of them.

Miraculous Rain

According to the internet, Albert Einstein once said "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Case in point, it's going to rain tomorrow. Now, that could be just a meteorological happenstance. It could be something that was just going to happen anyway. It may even be something the meteorologists had predicted since well before we knew it was going to be important. Or it could be a miracle, an answer to prayers that thousands of Californians have been saying over the last week or so.

California is currently experiencing a large and deadly wildfire, the deadliest on record, if I'm not mistaken. This fire is so big that the smoke from it has caused severe air quality issues all over the state, including here in Sacramento. We wanted to pray for wind to dissipate the smoke, but we knew that the wind would fan the flame and make it even more dangerous and harder to fight. So instead, we prayed for rain, rain that will help clear the air and put out the fire. And it looks like we're going to get it.

Over the next few days, we're set to receive a great deal of rain, hopefully enough to weaken or maybe even extinguish the fire. One can only hope and pray, but it seems to me that prayers are sometimes answered. It's encouraging to feel like God cares about us enough that, despite our many flaws, He sees fit to help us solve our problems. He gives us His sorely needed guidance (which we often ignore), and He even occasionally grants us miracles, even though we don't deserve them. God is kind and merciful, and I fully believe that He was responsible for sending us the rain we are, thankfully, about to receive.

Prompted to Do Good

This afternoon, I was out shopping with my Mom and sister. On our way home, we stopped to get some gas, and I almost let my Mom get out and pump the gas, but my sister asked if I was willing to do it, so I did. Then later, at home, there was a basket of clean towels on the table, and I figured I'd get around to folding them eventually, but before I did, Mom came and started folding them, so I joined her, apologizing for not having folded them myself earlier. In each of these cases, I did something good, but only when I was prompted to by another person.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. Of course, it's good to do good, regardless of the circumstances, but it's better to do good of one's own volition, rather than waiting to be asked or prompted. Still, the Holy Spirit is almost always prompting us to do good. It may be better to do good before being prompted to, but there's certainly nothing wrong with following a prompting to do good.

Perhaps I'm merely trying to justify myself. I know that I should have done better. I should have volunteered to serve and help. Or maybe I'm being too hard on myself. I did ultimately lend a hand, and I do help and serve regularly. I know that, if I'm too negative about myself, some people will remind me that I am a good person, and I agree. I do good frequently, but I could do more good, especially if I cut down on the amount of time I spend on doing nothing. I believe that, no matter how good a person is, there is always room for improvement, but no matter how much room a person has for improvement, there is also some good in them.

It is good to follow promptings to do good, like the ones I got this afternoon, but it is better to do good without having to be prompted.

The Rates of Growth of Grass and Weeds

In my blog post yesterday, I used grass as an example of change and growth taking time, but in a comment on that blog post, my Mom correctly pointed out that while "It takes time for grass to grow; it doesn't take much time for weeds to grow." This is a very important point. True growth, positive growth, takes far more time and effort than other kinds of change. Good habits take time and effort to develop; bad habits seem to develop on their own.

There are many reasons for this. In our eternal trajectory, we are trying to travel uphill, though traveling downhill is the path of least resistance. It is far easier to make bad choices than good choices partly because there are far more of them and partly because the good choices require more discipline. The natural man is more interested in growing briers and thorns than in growing grass or flowers, and Satan doesn't help much either.

There are many forces working against us, growing weeds in the gardens of our hearts. To keep our gardens clean and growing well, we must frequently weed our internal gardens and continually strive to foster the growth of good plants. It isn't easy, and it takes far more time to gain progress than it takes to lose progress, but that's we need to be faithful and diligent. We need to take an active role in our internal gardens to keep our good habits growing steadily and to prevent them from being overrun with weeds.

Change Takes Time

Elder Ulisses Soares opened his most recent talk by talking about the Amazon River, which, it turns out, is more like two rivers than one:

My home country of Brazil is very rich in natural resources. One of them is the famous Amazon River, one of the largest and longest rivers in the world. It is formed by two separate rivers, the Solimões and Negro. Interestingly, they flow together for a number of miles before the waters blend, due to the rivers having very different origins, speeds, temperatures, and chemical compositions. After several miles, the waters finally blend together, becoming a river different than its individual parts.

Elder Soares then went on to speak about how unity can result in increased strength, but I want to focus the two rivers of which the Amazon River is composed. According to Elder Soares,those two rivers remain distinct flows of water until miles after the two rivers meet. Despite being in physical contact with each other for a long time, it still takes a long time for the two rivers to fully blend together. This particular factoid seemed surprising to me; however, as a general rule, this phenomenon is totally normal. Change takes time. Just as it takes time for grass to grow and for seasons to change, it takes time for rivers to blend. Some changes take longer than others, and the time these changes take may vary for a variety of reasons, but all changes take at least some time.

That includes changes within ourselves. I believe that all of us can think about something about ourselves that we would like to change. Unfortunately, those changes cannot come instantaneously, but fortunately, we do have some time. It can be frustrating when progress seems slow and especially when we don't seem to be making any progress at all, but change happens over time, especially as we try to keep working toward that change.

So, if you're trying to bring about some change in your life, keep trying, but be patient. Change doesn't always happen quickly, but it does happen. It's only a matter of patience, perseverance, and time.

Exploration and Expression of Character

One thing I love about D&D and certain other games is how they allow the players to explore their own psyches. Before the game even gets started, players are enabled to create (or at least select) their own characters. These characters serve both as tools for the players to use to interact with the adventuring world and as reflections of the players themselves.

I've spoken before about how D&D characters can serve as reflections, and in my case, role models for their players. I like to play as paladins, fighters, and clerics, characters who fight evil in the defense of the good, because they reflect my desire to be good and do good. I explore and express my desire for virtue through them.

However, I also design my characters to be good in combat. I try to optimize my characters' average damage per round, and I get excited when they unlock powerful new abilities. These traits allow my characters to excel in the many fights that break out in most D&D games.

As a role-playing game, D&D has two main components: the role-playing component and the game component. My favorite part is the role-playing component, where I get into character and confront difficult moral predicaments, hoping, with the aid of the DM and the other players, to weave together an epic and memorable story.

However, I also enjoy the game component, in which players have their characters attempt to do something, and then they, the players, roll dice to see what happens next. This is the part of the part of the game that is actually a game, and I enjoy trying to win it, especially with help from my teammates. I find it fun to play strong characters who are good at fighting monsters.

I'm not sure what all that says about me, but I know it says something different than if I usually played bards or rogues. The play experience is different for the different characters, as the different classes tend to play different roles in the party. For whatever reason, I gravitate towards characters who can handle themselves in a fight rather than those who try to solve their problems with sneakiness or cleverness.

Maybe that means I'd rather be strong than sneaky, or maybe it means I think I'm stronger than I am clever. I know I could make a character who can, starting at a rather low level, can effectively disguise himself as just about anyone he has ever met, but I don't think I'll ever play that character because I'm not clever enough to fully take advantage of that sort of ability.

Meanwhile, it's much simpler and easier to play a more basic, combat-focused character. I have noticed that I tend to prefer most of my challenges to be simple and/or easy. Maybe I play fighters and characters like them because combat is simple, tactical challenge that relies more on the luck of the dice than on clever improvisation.

D&D is endlessly interesting to me in how it allows me to express and explore my personal character through what sorts of characters I create and how they and I interact with the game. I'm learning a lot about myself, including (I hope) how I can become better as both a player and a person. D&D helps me do something I enjoy: building good, strong characters, including my own.

How to Destroy Temptations

That's right: "Destroy." Temptations can be destroyed.

I have often heard of temptations being described as traps. Traps, at least the actual, physical traps, can be destroyed, but I didn't think that the "temptations as traps" analogy went that far. However, according to Helaman 5:29, the analogy can stretch that far, thanks mostly to another analogy:

Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, . . .

(There's more to the verse, but it's not relevant right now.)

I can think of at least one thing that is "quick and powerful" and that "divide[s things] asunder." A sword. And this isn't the first time the word of God has been compared to a sword.

It's not too hard to imagine how a physical sword might destroy a physical trap. Swords can cut through nets and snares fairly easily, and even tougher traps would eventually break if you hit them enough times.

But how does the word of God destroy temptation? Many temptations are built on lies, and the word of God is the truth. Such truths could disprove many of the lies upon which temptations rely, thus destroying those temptations. The word of God can also overpower, if not destroy, temptation by helping us gain a stronger motivation and desire to to good and resist temptation. And if we keep the commandments, we can have God's Spirit with us, and He can help us avoid having to face temptation in the first place.

I think the Word of God destroys temptation the same way we might "destroy" a supposedly logical argument: By disproving its premises, by showing its logic to be faulty, and/or by providing a stronger counterargument. Doing so may not physically destroy temptations because temptations are not actually physical objects, but if we keep the commandments and turn to the word of God in the face of temptation, we can destroy Satan's hopes of getting us to yield to temptation, and that might be good enough.

Privilege

During the past two days, I've had an opportunity to think about privilege. It has been smoky in Sacramento for the past several days, but this smokiness has been little more than a nuisance to me. In fact, I've noted a few times how amazing the smoke looks, something like a gray fog that, when it's thick enough, turns the sunlight orange. The smoke hasn't bothered me any more than being a slight inconvenience at having to put on a smoke mask and reduce the amount of time I spend outside. I am increasingly coming to realize how much of a privilege that is.

Not all people have smoke masks. By the time we heard on the news that some fire stations had smoke masks, most of the local fire stations were already out of stock. There weren't any masks at the first place we checked, or the second, or the third. We did, eventually, manage to get smoke masks, but only because we had smartphones that could tell us the location of every fire station in Sacramento and a car that could drive us to them. We were privileged to have been lucky enough to hear that news report in time. We were privileged to even have a TV at all and to have enough leisure time to watch it and spend an evening tracking down masks like it was some kind of scavenger hunt.

Others, I know, aren't so lucky. There are those who are too poor to own cars or smartphones or televisions. There are those who don't even have a roof over their heads or any other indoor space where they can get away from the smoke. There are those who have lost everything they owned to the fire that is causing all this smoke, and there are those who never owned that much in the first place.

Privilege begets privilege. The privileges of owning a car and a smartphone and a TV have bought my family another privilege: the privilege of having smoke masks. Those masks (and access to rapid transportation and many indoor spaces) will help us stay healthy, despite the smoke in the air outside, and that health will continue to buy us more privileges, like strength and lower healthcare costs. I've never thought of my family as being wealthy, but we do enjoy a great number of privileges which work together to get us even more.

I don't deserve the privileges I have, and those who don't have them don't deserve not to have them. None of us deserve many of the blessings or the afflictions that come into our lives. Sure, there are some blessings we "earn" through righteousness and some afflictions we "earn" through wickedness, but none of those account for the blessings and afflictions we were born into. I was born into a fiscally-afloat family of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the most richly blessed country in the world at a time of unparalleled technology, some of which I can afford. Most people only have a few of those blessings, if any.

The question now is what is to be done about this realization. I was born to privilege. What should I do with it? Of course, I can spend some of it satisfying my own desires; I don't think too many people would fault me for that. But what else? I should certainly use my blessings to help others, but how? It seems foolish to give everything away, even for charity's sake, but I should give some, perhaps more than I already do. And I should also give service. I readily use my smartphone to answer others' questions and communicate with those who regularly need help, and I serve with my health and strength as well. I suppose I could use my blog and Facebook page to give a voice to the voiceless, though I'll have to choose judiciously which voiceless I give voice to; however, engaging in internet politics is hardly the best use of anyone's time. Still, I should try to think more about what additional good I could do with my privileges, and I'll have to try to muster the will-power to do it.

This unfortunate smoke experience has helped me to realize how fortunate I am. Now, I should try to find ways to share my good fortune with others.

Just One Person

Today, I traveled about 10 miles, round trip, spending a total of about an hour and a half in smoke-hazy air, waited a total of two hours, and worked for one hour, all to help just one person.

It was worth it.

I don't want to give away too many details without anyone's permission, but it turned out that I was uniquely qualified to help this one person, and the person really needed my help. I was glad to be able to help.

Besides, it wasn't an unpleasant experience. For most of those six and a half hours, I felt satisfied and happy.

Plus, it may not be entirely accurate to say that I only helped one person. I only tutored one person, but now that I look back on that time, I answered other people's questions, helped a little bit with some paperwork, and shared laughs with at least three other people. I imagine that those three people's lives were made maybe slightly better by my being there than they would have been had I stayed home.

I also have myself to consider. I had a good experience, and I am going to get paid for some of that time, including all of the time I spent helping my student, so while I was helping "just one person," I was also helping myself.

I'm not sure it's possible to help "just one person." We all touch so many lives. Even an entirely selfish person might inadvertently help others by giving them experiences from which they can learn.

But even if I had somehow managed to help only one person, that still might have been worth my time, because, if nothing else, at least I helped that one person. That may not have had a big impact on the world in general, but I know it had at least some impact on at least one person, and maybe that's all one really needs. I can be satisfied with knowing that at least one person's life was better off by having me in it, and I know I accomplished at least that much today. I'm satisfied.

And, thankfully, I don't have to stop there. Helping even just one person can end up helping quite a few people, and I'm glad that that was the case today. I was blessed too be able to help a handful of people today, even when I was only focusing on one.

Pass Up Passing Judgment

I know that God wants us to do a lot of things on our own, especially the things we can handle on our own and/or will need to learn eventually anyway, but there are also some things that are best left to His judgment, such as most cases of passing judgment on others.

We are not supposed to judge others, or at least, we're not supposed to judge them unrighteously, yet many people do. People mete out accusations, judgments, and punishments as though it were their place to do so, and admittedly, in some cases, it is, but not for most of us. To everyone who has not been specifically chosen as a judge, the Lord has said, in Mormon 3:5 and several other scriptures, "Vengeance is mine, and I will repay." Instead, we should probably follow the advice of a post I just shared on Facebook: "Just love everyone; I'll sort 'em out later. -God"

Years ago, I criticized a shirt that said "Only God Can Judge Me." My stance may have softened slightly since then, and I acknowledge that there are some people with the authority and responsibility to judge. However, while there are some people who must judge others, most of the rest of us shouldn't. It's difficult to know a person's motivations or intentions, and it's usually not any of our business anyway. There is often no need for us to pass judgment. Let's let God (and His delegates) handle that.

The Temporary and the Eternal

Something that's been on my mind lately is how temporary most of mortality is. Most things end. Most callings are temporary. All trials are. Many of the situations we find ourselves in are temporary. In fact, even mortality itself is temporary.

There are many lessons we can draw from this fact. The first is that, if you are experiencing trials, take heart. Your trials will not last forever. Your trials, however long and painful, will eventually end. You will find relief.

The second is to not get too attached to anything temporary. Some people set their hearts on worldly goods or build their identities on their social status, but these things don't last. I suppose one can get attached to their bodies, but even then, one shouldn't get too attached to any particular physical characteristics because one never knows how much one's resurrection might change.

The third lesson is drawn from the exceptions. Most things in life are temporary, but the best things aren't. Our family relationships are eternal. Our minds and hearts (and all that they contain) also come with us into the afterlife. These are the things that we can set our hearts on and get attached to. These are the things that matter. These are the things that are certain to endure, even when just about everything else comes to an end.

Mortality is mostly compose of things that are temporary.  Our trials, possessions, and social conditions won't be part of our lives forever. When our mortal lives are over, only a few, eternal aspects would remain. These are the things on which we should focus our attention. Our families and our testimonies are among the few things that truly last. Most things in life are temporary, so it's important to focus instead on the few things that last forever.

A Return Visit to Primary

Today and tomorrow, I had and will have a chance to briefly rejoin my Primary class for their Primary Program this year. It was really nice to be able to sit and chat with them again. I know that I was only released about a month ago, but it felt longer ago, and today felt a bit like a reunion. I like those kids, and I'm honored that they like me. They're good kids, and I'm glad I had a chance to be their teacher and to be with them again this weekend. I love the Primary, especially my class. I'm glad I've gotten this opportunity to visit them again.

Davies Did Something Difficult

Sometimes, God asks us to do something that is terribly (and seemingly meaninglessly) difficult. Before he was called to be the First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, Bishop Dean M. Davies was asked to help find a good site for a temple in or near Vancouver, BC, Canada. He and the rest of the committee found several good sites, with one site standing out above the rest. President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was the prophet at the time, went to see that site and the others that had been considered, but he felt impressed to keep looking. He was led by the Spirit to another location and felt a strong impression that the temple should be built there. He asked the committee to look into buying the site.

As it turned out, as Bishop Davies put it, "he couldn’t have picked a more difficult property. It was owned by three individuals: one from Canada, one from India, and one from China! And it didn’t have the necessary religious zoning."

It seemed like a no-go, but the Prophet said, “Well, do your best," so they did.

"Then," Davies said, "the miracles happened. Within several months we owned the property, and later the city of Langley, British Columbia, gave permission to build the temple."

Through His Prophet, God had asked Bishop Davies to do the impossible, and with the help of the Lord and some of His other servants, he did it.

Now, I don't know why God wanted His temple built there. Maybe there's a reason that site was particularly perfect or reasons that the sites that had previously been considered weren't. Maybe there's a good, practical reason why God asked Bishop Davies to do the impossible. Or maybe God asked Bishop Davies to do the impossible just to prove that, with His help, he could do it.

We all face challenges in life. Some of those challenges are posed by God and seem arbitrary or needlessly difficult; however, God has good reasons to give us those challenges. They help us prove and improve our competence. They help us learn to rely on God. They help us gain faith in the omnipotence of God. And some of those challenges aren't actually arbitrary at all; they're vital for reasons that we just don't understand yet. Whatever God's reasons are for giving us difficult challenges, they're good ones. That's why we should always try to do what God asks of us, even when it seems terribly and arbitrarily difficult.

A Disciplined Identity

Thomas Frank recently uploaded a video with advice on how to gain more discipline, and his first piece of advice was to "Focus on Identity." By way of explanation, he said, "To put it simply, when you're trying to change your behavior, forget about the goal you're trying to achieve, the external outcome, and instead focus on the change in identity you want to happen." Then he shared an example of two people resisting a cigarette. The first person says "No thanks, I'm trying to quit," and the second says "No thanks, I'm not a smoker." Frank suggests that the second person is more likely to achieve their goals because of their focus on their new identity.

Similarly, we can resist temptation by focusing on our identity as children of God. Knowing who we are, where we came from, and what we have the potential to become can help us make the little decisions that are consistent with our nobility and that will help us return to our Heavenly Father and reach our full potential. President Boyd K. Packer recommended turning to a hymn when resisting temptation. We could combine his and Frank's advice by choosing to turn to the hymn "I am a Child of God," or one with a similar message, one that will remind us of the identity we are hoping to develop.

I have begun to follow Thomas Frank's suggestion in my efforts to resist temptation, and while it may be too early to judge whether the method really works, the initial results seem promising. I have found it easier to act like a paladin when I tell myself that I am a paladin than when I told myself that I wanted to be or was trying to be like a paladin. Making good behavior part of my personal identity seemed to make it easier to make good decisions, and, since we're all trying to learn to make better decisions, I just thought I'd pass that advice along.

Eventually Following God's Blogging Advice

As I was walking home from the bus stop this evening, I asked God what I should blog about tonight. One suggestion that came to mind was to blog about Conference, and I agreed that that was a good idea. It has been a while since I blogged about Conference, and I don't want to fall behind again. That said, I almost didn't follow through on that decision. After my chores and such, I spent too much time on Facebook, I let time slip away from me, and before I knew it, it was 11:30, giving me only half and hour to blog about a 15-minute talk. At that point, I thought that I didn't have time to do the talk justice and that I'd rather blog about it late than poorly, but those were just excuses. I realized that I was being lazy and that I could probably whip up a blog post in 10-15 minutes, if I had to.

As it turned out, I didn't have to. Within about a minute, Elder D. Todd Christofferson shared a biblical story and a prophetic question that applied to my current circumstance. As the people of King Ahab debated whether to worship The Lord or Baal, Elijah asked them, "How long halt ye between two opinions? [or in other words," Elder Christofferson added, "'When will you decide once and for all?'] if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him."

I almost chose not to follow God tonight, and every moment I spent debating whether I should try to follow God's counsel or not, following God's advice seemed harder and harder. Yet, as soon as I made the right decision, God made a way for me. He gave me exactly the message I needed, early enough that I could use it, via a message a prophet gave either one month or several hundred years ago, depending on which prophet  we're talking about. Either way, this message, given long before this evening, was exactly what I needed to hear at this moment. I was torn, as usual, with a tough decision, and I only just barely made the right one. Next time, I might not be so lucky. Next time, I should blog much, much earlier and always follow whatever promptings or suggestions God gives me about my blog or anything else. I'm glad I eventually chose to follow God's blogging advice tonight. I hope I get an opportunity to do so again in the near future and that I take that opportunity sooner than I did tonight.

Pray Any Time

Going back to the subject of making time to pray, it's also important to remember that, in a sense, we don't really have to. Of course, it's good to set aside time for prayer and reflection, but we can also pray in ways that don't take up any time at all. We can pray, at least in our hearts, while we're physically doing other things, like working or traveling, though you'll probably want to keep your eyes open while you're saying those prayers. We can (and should) pray any time, anywhere, even if we're busy or on the go. Kneeling is good, but not necessary. God knows our thoughts. If we direct them to Him, He'll hear them, and as long as we listen to His answers, that's about as close to prayer as we really need to get.

The Real Heroes

Sometimes, an inspiring message comes from where you'd least expect it. I was recently listening to a video game podcast (not a podcast about video games, but a podcast from a video game) partly just to have something interesting to listen to while I was doing something else. This podcast comes from the newest Spider-Man game, the one for the Playstation4, and it stars J. Jonah Jameson, who, thanks mostly to this podcast, has become one of my favorite characters in the Spider-Man canon. Normally, Jameson is plays a slightly adversarial role. He dislikes Spider-Man, and he uses his newspaper (or, in this game, his podcast) to try to convince others to dislike him as well, but in this game, he also uses his podcast for good. I won't spoil too much of the game, but let it suffice to say that, at a certain point, bad things happen. And when they do, J. Jonah Jameson helps the  people of New York, where Spider-Man's stories take place, keep things together with encouraging messages like this:

Folks, I know you're scared. But when I hear reports of looting, of fights over food or medicine, I say to myself: We are better than this. You are better than this. I've known you my whole life. I am proud to be a member of this community. Don't give in to fear. Help each other. Stand up for those who need it. I've always hated hearing Spider-Man called a hero, because the real heroes are the people who get up every day, with no special powers, and do the right thing simply because it is the right thing. So I'm asking you now...be the heroes I know you all are. J. Jonah Jameson believes in you.

When I heard that podcast, it resonated with me. Sure, I'm not in quite the same situation Jameson describes, but with a few substitutions, this message could be applied to all of us. We are all better than some of the things we do. God has known us our whole lives, and, both because and in spite of everything we've ever done, He is proud of us. The next few lines easily apply to everyone: "Don't give in to fear [or temptation]. Help each other. Stand up for those who need it." That's just good, solid, moral advice.

And that part about real heroes really got me: "I've always hated hearing Spider-Man called a hero, because the real heroes are the people who get up every day, with no special powers, and do the right thing simply because it is the right thing." I don't do that often enough, but I do it often enough to think that J. Jonah Jameson, a fictional character from a fictional version of a city on the opposite side of the continent from me, might consider me a "real hero." And if he thinks that highly of me, what must my mother thing of me? What must God think of me? I normally feel ashamed when I consider that question, but right now, I think He's proud, and that makes me feel, ironically, both humbled and proud. Humbled, because I know I don't deserve His approval, and proud because I think I just might.

I am thankful for this reminder to be the hero God knows I am or can be, and I'm thankful for the reminder that, even if I don't always believe in myself, God believes in me. It may seem strange, but this audio clip from this video game made me believe that I am a good person, and it made me want to live up to that belief. I know that J. Jonah Jameson isn't a real person and that his podcast isn't real either, but this message is, as is the effect it had on me. It made me want to be a better person, a hero. Spider-Man may not be a real hero, but, if we try to do good, we can be.

Making Time to Pray

I've decided to set my alarm a little earlier than it had been set, and this has nothing to do with Daylight Savings Time. I normally get up right around the time our family has our morning Family Prayer, but that doesn't leave me any time for my morning personal prayer. I could say my personal prayer after our family prayer, but I just don't.

Similarly, I often stay up so late that I'm dead tired by the time I go to bed. That's a habit worth changing anyway, but I will also try to go to bed early enough that I'm not too tired to say a personal prayer before bed. In the past, I've struggled to find the time to have personal prayer and scripture study, but improving my sleep schedule just might do the trick. In any case, it's worth a try.

So, yeah, I'm going to go to bed now, before midnight, while I'm still not too tired to say a decent prayer.

Pray About Everything

One thing that I keep kicking myself about is that I keep forgetting to pray about stuff. God can help people with literally anything, but I often just forget to ask. I should ask God for help with everything.

Working on a paper? Pray.

Trying to decide who and what to vote for? Pray.

Trying to figure out what to blog about? Pray.

It couldn't hurt. Worst case scenario is the same as not praying, and the best case scenario is heavenly aid. It's worth a shot.

I Can't Blog Tonight

Can I get a pass for tonight? It's late - even later than usual, and though I have plenty of thoughts floating around in my head right now, none of them are particularly blogworthy. I'm going to post this, mostly just so I can say that I blogged tonight, but I really can't think of anything I can blog about right now. I ask for your forgiveness, and I ask for God's forgiveness, but I don't think I can blog tonight.

Thankfully, from what I've heard and felt, God is fairly forgiving, and I'm sure I read somewhere that God doesn't ask of us any more than we can give. I don't think I can give Him a decent blog post tonight. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure He'll forgive me for that.

A Destiny of Glory

In the concluding talk of the Saturday Morning Session of the October 2018 General Conference, President Dallin H. Oaks said many important and blogworthy things, but this paragraph is one of my favorites:

God’s love is so great that, except for the few who deliberately become sons of perdition, He has provided a destiny of glory for all of His children. . . . The purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ is to qualify His children for the highest degree of glory, which is exaltation or eternal life. For those who do not desire or qualify for that, God has provided other, though lesser, kingdoms of glory.

I am comforted by the fact that there is a kingdom of glory prepared for almost everyone who has ever lived. If even most of the worst people who ever lived will be given a decent afterlife, there's plenty of hope for the rest of us. God is not going to leave any of us out. When we pass on, we are each going on to a better place, guaranteed.

Life is alright, but I'm glad it's temporary, and I'm glad to have an assurance that the life ahead of us is better than the life we'll be leaving behind.

Giving What Wasn't Mine

I want to blog about something Halloween-themed, but I was having trouble thinking of something, so I looked back to my old blog posts for inspiration. I've been blogging for years now, and a handful of those blog posts were posted on October 31st (or November 1st, in the case of one late blog post (two now)). Yet, of all the blog posts I posted on Halloween (or shortly thereafter), only one of them stood out as being particularly Halloween-themed: No Masks. There may not be a whole lot that's blogworthy about Halloween.

However, I did find some joy in handing out candy and Play-Doh this evening. Perhaps there's a lesson on generosity in there, but the candy wasn't really mine to give away, so that muddies the message a bit. Mom was the one who bought and technically owned the candy and Play-Doh, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to blog about the joy we can find in giving away things that aren't actually ours.

Or does it?

Come to think of it, there is very little in this world that is actually ours. God created this Earth and everything in it. He made the minerals we mine from the ground. He makes the food we eat. He made us. Everything we have, we only have because the Lord gave it to us. We are merely stewards. And normally, when I'm in the position of having temporary custody of a thing, I'm very careful with it, and I certainly don't let people borrow it, because it isn't mine to lend. But, when it comes to our worldly possessions, they're not really ours to keep either.

Granted, I still believe in property rights, but I'd rather not delve into that branch of politics at the moment. Suffice it to say that we should feel free to give away the material things that we can't personally claim. It was perfectly within my rights to give Mom's candy away because that's what she wanted me to do with it. Similarly, we should use the things God gave us the way He would like us to use them, including being generous with them, because they certainly aren't going to be ours to keep.