Weary from Well Doing

I have no idea how a person can manage to "not be weary in well doing" (Gal 6:9), because I "did well" today, but I am extremely "weary." I'm tired. Still, Paul probably meant for us to not get tired of doing good, not to not get tired from doing good. Getting tired from doing good is fine. Our bodies are finite. We only have so much energy, and once it's spent, it's spent. But getting tired of doing good is much more dangerous and to be avoided. Anyhow, that's as insightful as I can be right now. I need to get some sleep before church tomorrow.

On Finding and Making Peace

I want peace. I've wanted peace for years. And for years, I've tried to find peace in various ways and in various places. But I've learned that peace can be hard to find. In fact, I may never just find peace. I may need to make it.

I can make peace in my environment by cleaning it, putting it in order, and decorating it with pleasant, natural decorations.

I can make peace in my relationships with myself and with others by forgiving those who have done wrong and by loving myself and others, despite any and all imperfections.

I can make peace in my heart by learning to control my thoughts and emotions through meditation, prayer, and breathing.

I suppose it ultimately amounts to the same thing, but with a more internal locus of control. Rather than hoping to find peace or to have someone give me peace, I can learn to make my own peace, in my environment, in my relationships, and in my heart, using forces that are entirely in my control.

I may never find peace, but that's okay. I don't need to find peace, because I know how to make it.

The World's What You Make It

One thing I love about fiction, and about being a Dungeon Master, specifically, is that the world you create can be however you want to make it. You get to decide what does and doesn't exist in your world. You get to decide what challenges the characters have to face, how many challenges, and how challenging those challenges are. You set the tone. You make the rules. The world is yours to create and shape however you want.

But the crazy thing is, the real world is somewhat similar. Granted, we don't get to literally reshape the world, but we can shape our perspectives about the world. We can think of the world optimistically or pessimistically. We can imagine the world complexly or simplistically. We can even, to some extent, set our own goals in life, which can be as difficult or as easy as we choose. We can't literally change the world beyond certain limitations, but we can change how we see the world and how we think and feel about it, and that's close enough. To a large extent, the world is what you make of it, so try to make it a good one.

Mistakes in Practice and Performance

When mistakes are made in practice, it's very different than when mistakes are made in performance. In practice, there are much lower stakes. In fact, it is well known that mistakes will be made at some point, and the best time to make them is in practice, when one is still learning how to make those mistakes less often.

Our mortal lives are interesting in that they are both practice and performance. They are performance in that this is the one life we get, but at the same time, they are practice in that this life is meant to prepare us for the far more important life to come. When we make mistakes in this life, it is both serious and inconsequential. We are, as mortals, bound to make mistakes, and that is why Christ offers us forgiveness through His Atonement, but our choices in life still determine where we go in the afterlife. Mistakes made in this life can be serious, but so long as we repent of them, they don't have to be.

I'm glad that we were given this opportunity to practice wisdom and learn to make decisions. We're bound to make mistakes, but that's part of the process of practicing. We're supposed to make our mistakes in this life, so we can learn better by the time we move on to the next. This mortal life is our practice run. It's important that we learn how to do well in this life, but until we reach the end of our lives, it is all still just practice.

Laughing at Problems

Today, I had an oddly amusing experience with a terribly serious problem. I was helping a student with a paper on groundwater. It covered topics like how our ground water is being depleted, how many wells are drying up, and local governments have made plans to achieve ground water sustainability by 2040, but the situation is only going to get worse between now and then, assuming the plans even work, which doesn't seem likely. It's classing doom and gloom stuff, things I've said I'm sick of. But it was weirdly fun to talk about. Somehow, the situation was so bad, it actually became funny how bad the situation was. Plus, it kinda helped to think that we have a relatively viable solution in the form of desalination. Sure, desalination has some issues to work out, but none so serious as the issue of running out of water. It's not a prefect solution, but it's better than the problem is, so it's a step in the right direction.

I think a lot of life depends on one's attitude. I usually tend to get overwhelmed and frustrated. But today, I instead chose to laugh at how bad the problem was and then focus on possible solutions. Maybe I should do that in other areas of life as well. A little bit of laughter at unfortunate circumstances, or at least a focus on solutions instead of getting bogged down with problems, seems to be the more productive and uplifting way to respond. It sure sounds nicer than what I've been doing. So, I'll try to remember that next time.

Waiting at Mount Sinai

Tonight, in Family Scripture Study, we read that, while waiting to receive the commandments from God, Moses waited on Mount Sinai for 40 days. That sounds like a long time, if not for him, then certainly for the Israelites. After a certain period of time, I think I'd start to wonder if I was really in the right place, if I was really doing what God wanted me to do. I might even start to wonder if I had somehow gotten the wrong mountain. 40 days is a long time to wait for an answer. Now, Moses' time might have been filled with conversing with angels or with the Lord, for all we know, but the Israelites just had to wait for Moses to return, and I'm not sure it's surprising that they started looking for other ways to fill the void left by their missing religious figure. I wonder how long I'd wait at the foot of Mount Sinai before I made myself a golden calf.

God sometimes asks us to wait, for periods of time that may seem unreasonable to us and to our human timescale. 40 days were apparently a few too many for the Israelites, but perhaps we'll be wiser. We each need to decide and find out for ourselves how long we'll be willing to sit at the feet of Mount Sinai, waiting for the next message from God to come. We can hope we'll hold out longer than the Israelites did, but the only way to really know how long we'd wait for God's message to come is to actually sit and wait for it.

Facing Problems Together

Problems are easier to tackle when we face them together. I'm glad I got help dealing with the problem I faced this evening, and I'm glad that God will always be there to help us when we need Him. Our problems and challenges can be overwhelming at times, but they're much less so when we have a good friend by our side.

Relative or Absolute Blessings

Today, I worked with a student who's working on the same assignment I mentioned yesterday, the one about the American Dream being hampered by economic inequality, but her paper mentioned something that changed my perspective of the issue. She suggested that there are at least too ways we can look at wealth: Relative and Absolute. Sure, we can compare our wealth relative to that of others, or we can look at our wealth independent of others. Instead of asking whether we have as much as someone else, we can consider whether or not we have everything we really need. Granted, there are those who don't meet that threshold, and those who are more fortunate should help them, but making sure now one lives in poverty is very different (and perhaps more practical) than trying to make sure everyone is equal.

Naturally, there are always going to be people who are more blessed than we are, and we can become bitter thinking about the blessings that others have that we don't, but it is far better to think about the blessings we do have and to be grateful for them. I may not have many blessings compared to some other people, but I am absolutely rich with blessings regardless. Rather than complaining or comparing, I'm going to try to focus on the blessings I have, completely independent of anyone else. Of course, it doesn't change the situation at all, but it is a nicer way to look at it.

Sick of Problems

I don't like hearing about problems. Today is Earth Day, which means yet another reminder that the Earth is doomed because of climate change. I helped a student with a paper about how the American Dream is dead or dying because of economic inequality. And I myself am working on a paper about how systemic racism is still a problem, and the best solution we have for it is affirmative action (which is really just more systemic racism). I'm kind of sick of this. The next time I hear about a problem, I hope it's in the context of working together to find solutions, because I'm sick of hearing about all the problems we have. And I haven't even mentioned gun violence, police brutality, prison overcrowding, immigration issues, the refugee crisis, the war in Ukraine, or the pandemic. We have way too many friggin' problems, and it would be really great if we could solve a few of them.

But maybe I shouldn't look at this as the glass being half-empty. It's not as bad as it could be. We readily recognize the problems we have, but we sometimes fail to recognize the problems we don't have. Life is going better than ever in a number of ways. It's just harder to see the good news through all of the problems the Earth has. But many of the problems that the Earth used to have don't exist anymore, at least not prevalently, and some of the problems I'm sick of now many someday be things of the past. Humanity has solved many of its past problems, and it will probably solve many of its current problems, too. I just need to be patient, do my part, and try to look forward to the day when we won't have quite so many problems to be sick of hearing about.

Many Places

I recently started watching a show called The Good Place, in which all of the characters are dead and have gone to a place that is functionally heaven. The people there are told that there are only two possible places a person can end up: The Good Place, and The Bad Place. The main character, Eleanor, has wound up in The Good Place by accident. She doesn't deserve to be in The Good Place, but she argues that she hasn't been a very bad person and that she doesn't deserve to go to The Bad Place, either. She wondered if there was a Medium Place she could go to, and in our theology, there is.

In the Plan of Salvation, the afterlife is split into three Kingdoms of Glory: The Celestial Kingdom, The Terrestrial Kingdom, and The Telestial Kingdom. We are also told that there are three degrees within the Celestial Kingdom and multiple degrees in the Telestial Kingdom. I imagine that there are multiple degrees of the Terrestrial Kingdom as well, but I admit that that's conjecture on my part. However many possible afterlives there are, God will send each of us to the place best suited for us, and He has far more possibilities to choose from than just two.

There are many places in the afterlife, and I take comfort in the knowledge that, when I die, I won't just be assigned to Heaven or to Hell. I will end up in whatever place is best suited for me, and so will everyone else. Out of all the many places, all of us will end up wherever we belong.

Do What You Want, Let the Consequence Follow

One thing I love about D&D is that it's a game in which you can do almost anything. Most computer and video games have fairly strict limitations concerning what the characters can do. For example, in Breath of the Wild, you can't try to negotiate with hostile forces; you can only fight or retreat. You can't give NPCs items unless a quest specifically calls for that. You can't even pet the dogs. But in D&D, you can do, or at least attempt to do, anything that your character is physically capable of.

Yet, the decision to act is only part of the story. The rest of the story is the results of the characters' actions. You want to drop a lit torch onto a pile of hay? Go ahead, but the pile of hay, which you are standing right next to, will light on fire, and that fire may spread. Naturally, not all of the consequences are negative. Those who do good and do well usually get good results. But whether they do good things, bad things, or whatever random things they decide to try to do, there will be consequences based on their decisions and the luck of the dice.

Similarly, we are in a situation in which we can do, or at least attempt to do, anything of which we are physically capable. I can choose to finish this blog post, or I can choose to delete it. I can drink my water, or pour it down the drain or onto my keyboard, or throw it out the window. I can do chores, or I can leave them undone. Life is full of choices. In fact, our options are so numerous that they might as well be innumerable. We can do anything we want. But for everything we do or choose not to do, there are consequences. Finishing this blog post will have the consequence of meeting my obligation to blog today. Drinking my water will hydrate me and make me have to pee later. Leaving those chores undone will mean that someone else will have to do them or they simply won't get done. We can do whatever we want, and the natural consequences will follow our decisions.

In fact, it could be argued that commandments are little more than warnings and advice for how to receive desirable consequences and/or avoid undesirable ones. They aren't restrictions, exactly. We can still do whatever we want, but the consequences are going to follow. Some consequences are good, and others are bad, and whether a consequence is good or bad may depend on a person's perspective and preferences, but however you slice it, it's the same principle of choices and consequences. Do whatever you choose to do, and watch the natural consequences follow.

The Process of Persevering

I recently heard about a culture (and immediately forgot which culture it was) in which "struggling" is a good thing. In this culture, the meaning of struggling is coupled with the idea of persevering, such that, if a person is struggling, they're not just having difficulty trying to do something hard; they're withstanding that challenge and facing it relentlessly, with the expectation of triumphantly overcoming it. In that culture (whichever it was), "struggling" is the process of persevering.

We can adopt a similar attitude about our struggles. Our attempts to overcome challenges can be similarly persistent and diligent. With this perspective, we can face our challenges with a determination to see them through to the end, to persevere, and to overcome. So, next time we struggle or see someone else struggle, let's focus on their tenacity rather than their difficulties. We all struggle sometimes. We would do well to see their struggling, and ours, as the process of persevering.

Satisfied

Today was a satisfying day for me. I got a good amount of exercise, I got a significant amount of homework done, and I was able to help some people. Today was a good day, and I'm satisfied.

Life is full of a lot of stuff. Countless movies, shows, games, and activities compete for our time. Career paths form infinitely tall ladders to climb. Anything we can do, we can do to a greater degree, and many people spend their lives always trying to do more. But sometimes, there is value in doing less. There is value in simplifying our lives and simply doing good and living well. 

Granted, I could be doing more good and doing it better, but still, I was able to do a decent amount of good, and it is possible to make progress while being content with the amount of progress that is being made. I am satisfied, and I am satisfied with the progress I am making in the areas in which I am not yet satisfied.

I'm satisfied with how today turned out, and while I will continue to make progress, I can be satisfied with the rate at which progress is being made. Life doesn't need to be a rat race. Sometimes, it is sufficient, and even wise, to be satisfied.

We Are Never Alone

One of the best things about the Gospel is the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Through this gift, we can have the Holy Ghost with us always, providing comfort, guidance, and support in whatever way we need. It's nice to know that He's always around, filling our souls and helping us make our way through life. Whenever we need Him, which is almost always, He'll be there for us. We never need to feel alone, because we never really are.

Granted, I like my solitude, but even so, it's nice to know that I'm not alone in my struggles, even those that are too personal to share with others. I don't need to worry about sharing my mind with Him, because He's already there. He knows what I'm gong through, and He's helping make sure I don't have to go through it alone, and I take a great deal of comfort in that.

Indefensible and Irredeemable

For a while now, I've had this idea for a show called Indefensible. The main character would be a defense lawyer, defending people who had done, or at least been accused of, terrible things. Sometimes, the show would be a classic legal drama; our client is innocent, but the evidence looks bad, and the client is difficult, nigh impossible, to defend against the false accusation. Sometimes, the show will be a redemption story; our client is guilty, but our protagonist tries to help them change their ways so this doesn't happen again, and by the end of the episode, whether the case is won or lost, our client is on a path toward healing. And sometimes, the show is a morality tale, displaying the impossible position our protagonist is put in; our client is guilty and unrepentant, and their actions are morally reprehensible, but our protagonist has to defend them anyway, partly out of duty to the law, and partly because they believe that, deep down, there's some good in everyone, and everyone, or at least almost everyone, deserves a second chance. I could see a whole lot of drama coming out of a show like this, and a lot of that drama would come from trying to redeem the irredeemable, at least from the grasp of justice, but preferably also from their criminal behavior.

Of course, in real life, such drama plays out in courts all over the country and in other parts of the world. There are countless defense lawyers, and they defend all sorts of people, from falsely accused innocents to wayward wrongdoers to unrepentant sociopaths. Somehow, real people really do (or at least attempt to) defend the indefensible, and I'd like to think that some of them also try to redeem the irredeemable.

Similarly, Jesus Christ does the same for everyone. Through His Atonement, Jesus Christ paid the price for all our sins, and at the Final Judgment, He is our advocate, trying to get those sins wiped off our record, whether we deserve such a mercy or not. By the law of justice, we are all indefensible and irredeemable, but Jesus tries to defend and redeem us anyway, and I want to believe that He often succeeds.

I'm sure I'll still have some lingering sins on my record when I die. Nobody's perfect, and some sins are harder to shake than others. So, when I reach Final Judgment, I'm glad I'll have Someone on my side who has experience defending the indefensible and redeeming the irredeemable, because I would be irredeemable without the power of His Atonement, and I hope that, by His grace, I can be redeemed.

Simple and Complex Depictions of Morality

My friend and I were talking about the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), the DCEU (DC Extended Universe), and the Venom-verse (A series of connected films set in the same universe as the 2018 film titled Venom). We talked about where those film/show franchises are and/or could be going and/or where they probably should go. Through it all, I thought about simple and complex depictions of morality. 

The MCU presents fairly simple narratives. Usually, the heroes are clearly heroes, and the villains are clearly villains, and good always triumphs over evil (even if it takes them more than one film to do it). In the Venom-verse, things are (and perhaps should be) murkier. The main, titular character is Venom. Originally a villain in the Spider-man comics, Venom is a fusion of a human named Eddie Brock and a sentient, symbiotic, alien goo-creature. Now, I haven't seen Venom or its sequel, Venom: Let There be Carnage, but I understand that the protagonist, Venom, is not perfectly moral and has bitten off the heads of at least two people. Naturally, any movie with a comic book super villain as its hero (and have them actually come off as relatively heroic by the end of the film) will have an interesting and complex stance on morality. It's my opinion that the Venom-verse should explore some nuanced takes of morality, introducing multiple morally-grey characters and have them (and their differing takes on morality) come in conflict with each other. Through them, we could have a much deeper and richer discussion than just "good guys are good, and bad guys are bad."

Still, as important as it is to explore complex and perhaps unanswerable moral questions, it can also be fun and satisfying to have morally simple stories. Paragons are inspirational, and they can help set the standard for how we should behave. Granted, Jesus is our ultimate standard, but superheroes are more fun to watch.

I think that both simple and complex depictions of morality are important, and I think that both of them should exist, independent of each other. Trying to fit an anti-hero like Venom into the morally-straightforward MCU doesn't seem likely to work out well, since they have completely different tones. Heck, I think Deadpool would fit better into the MCU than Venom would, but that's a whole other conversation, and I actually haven't seen his movies either, so who am I to say? My point is that I think the MCU should maintain a simple take on good versus evil, while the Venom-verse and perhaps the DCEU should dig a little deeper than that. Both simple and complex stories have their place in the universe, and both kinds of stories deserve to be told.

Depending on how you look at it, our own universe can be either morally simple or morally complex, so we can certainly learn from both kinds of stories, and I would love to see more simple and complex depictions of morality.

God's Ultimate Creation

People say that God made the world so that it would be perfect for us, and they're not wrong, but I think there's another side to that. I believe that, in addition to making the world such that it would be capable of supporting life, He also made us such that we would be capable to live on it. He gave us the senses we would need to perceive the world He made for us. He gave us the digestive system we would need to process to the food He gave us. He gave us thumbs that would enable us to make the tools He would inspire us to make. It's true that He made the world perfect for us, but He also made us perfect for the world.

I sometimes marvel at the creations of God, the mountains and the weather, the elements and the stars. Everything is all so astounding, none more so than us. We are God's ultimate creation. I thank Him for the way He made us, and I appreciate being the way I am.

A Good, Well-Balanced Day

Today was a good day. I got a lot done, got a decent amount of rest and relaxation, had some fun, and spent some quality time with family. And one part that was especially helpful to me was that, when I began to feel overwhelmed, I was able to get some distance and do things that helped me relax, whether that meant baking brownies, doing dishes, or watching some YouTube. I had a very well-balanced day today. I did good, and it felt good. I hope I can have more days like this.

Pre-Hindsight

In a D&D game that I DM for myself, the main character, Mia, did something that others found deplorable. I won't go into what the act was or why she believed her action was justified, but suffice it to say that it was determined that Mia needed to atone. As part of that atoning process, Mia was sent out on three random quests. I literally turned to a Random Quest Generator to determine what quests she would have to do in order to do enough Good acts to balance out the arguably Evil act that she had done. But as it turned out, those three quests not only made up for what she had done in some cosmic sense, with her Good acts balancing out her Evil one. These quests also worked together to effectively undo what she had done. With the benefit of hindsight, I can look back and see how these three randomly generated quests formed a grand plan that actually made up for what Mia had done.

What's truly amazing about this is that God kinda does the same thing. He sees the end from the beginning. He sees the entire history and future of the world as though it has already happened. He can "look back" on events that haven't happened yet and see how it all works out as part of His grand, eternal plan. So, when God gives us inspiration and prophecies, guiding us in sometimes seemingly random directions, that's because He already has the hindsight that we are about to gain. He already knows where His path will lead us, because He already sees where it will have led us. He get hindsight in advance.

I think it's amazing and wonderful that God sees the end, even before it happens and that he can "look back" on the future and see how it all fits together. I'm grateful to know that His guidance, as random or counter-intuitive as it may sometimes seem, always leads to good results. Everything that has happened or will happen is part of God's plan, and when it's all said and done, we'll be able to look back on everything and see that everything went according to God's plan, because we'll be able to see it with the hindsight that God preemptively has now.

Learning to Help

There's something that's been on my mind lately. God has His reasons for letting us experience challenges, and one of those reasons is to give us an opportunity to learn how to overcome them. And one of the reasons God wants us to learn how to overcome challenges is so we can help others overcome them as well. This concept can help us bear with our challenges and face them with a different perspective. Instead of asking "Why me?", we can focus on how we can learn from our experience instead, and then share what we learn for the benefit of others. Instead of focusing on ourselves and our own hardship, we can focus on others and how we can help them.

Anyhow, that's something that's helping me, and I'm looking forward to using it to help others.

Resting from my Labors

I'm grateful that Sundays are a day of rest. I have homework to do this week, despite it being Spring Break, but for today, I was able to put it off and relax and play games with family. Granted, I still did some labor today, and I'll return to my normal labors tomorrow, but for now, I'm glad today was a day for family and rest.

Let It Be

Our ward had a talent show tonight, and one of my favorite performances was Brother Beardslee and Brother Green performing "Let It Be." It was powerful, both because the rest of the ward joined the performance by gently waving their cell phone lights and because the lyrics themselves have a powerful message to them.

When I find myself in times of trouble

Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom 

Let it be

We may not believe in "Mother Mary" the way other people do, and we certainly don't all have mothers named Mary, as lyricist Paul McCartney does, but we all "find [ourselves] in times of trouble" more often than we'd like to, and there are times when the best answer is to "Let it be."

God knows what He's doing. He has a plan, and everything that happens, troubling or not, is part of that plan. Of course, we should do the best we can to solve the problems we can solve, but many problems are out of our hands. Fortunately, if something is out of our hands, it's in God's hands, and we can trust Him to make sure everything works out as well as it can.

There will be difficult, challenging, confusing, and troubling times, but God is in control. When we find ourselves in times of trouble, it is often wise to trust God and simply let it be.

Better Late Than Never

I have very few expenses, but partly to help cover the expenses of the house (especially those to which I contribute), I pay Mom a portion of my income. Recently, you may recall, my February paycheck was late. I should have paid my Mom as soon as I got the check, but it slipped my mind, and when I finally got around to sending the payment, PayPal decided it would investigate the payment, delaying the payment even further. Granted, Mom will get the money I owe her, even if I have to go the the bank, withdraw the funds, and pay her in cash. She's getting her money very late at this point, but still, better late than never. Granted, I should have gotten the money to her as soon as I could have, and I'll still try to get it to her as soon as I can, but it is apparently, thankfully, not terribly urgent.

Not everything in life needs to be done immediately. Not everything in life can be done all at once. Sometimes, things need to take their time, and sometimes, things need to wait their turn. Fortunately, some things can afford to wait until later, even if it'd be better for them to happen sooner. Sometimes, it's better for things to happen later than for them to never happen at all.

Asking for Help

One skill that I have yet to learn is the art of asking for help. I am my ward's Building Cleaning Coordinator, meaning that, for certain months out of the year, I am responsible for making sure the building gets cleaned. Unfortunately, the building is too big to be cleaned by just one person, at least not in any reasonable amount of time. That means that I need to ask for help. I need to pass out sign up sheets, make announcements, send emails, and/or make phone calls, somehow arranging for people to come help me clean the building. They won't want to do it, and I don't want to ask them to do it, but the work needs to be done, and the job is too big for me to do alone. I need to learn how to ask for help. It was a skill that Moses needed to learn, according to Jethro, Moses' father in law, and it's a skill that I need to learn, too.

I need help. But before I can get it, I need to get over my reluctance to ask for it.

True Love

In my D&D game, one of the NPCs is convinced that the power of True Love can break a particularly powerful curse. In some fiction, True Love is described as the most powerful, magical force in existence, and certainly it has great power, at least in fiction, but I'm no 100% sure how powerful true love is in real life. 

Granted, it is an especially powerful force. True love can motivate great, selfless acts, and those acts can accomplish a lot of good. Yet, true love on its own doesn't seem to be a perfect panacea. Even with love, people will still go through struggles and challenges, including chronic and terminal ones. In mortality, True Love seems to fail to "conquer all."

But perhaps, in eternity, True Love has an even stronger effect. After all, love is the motivation behind all of God's actions, and God's actions can have great healing and redemptive effects. Perhaps, by motivating a nigh-omnipotent God to action, True Love can be said to command a nigh-unlimited amount of power. But still, that power is exercised by our loving Heavenly Father, not by the power of love itself.

There are some who claim that True Love can solve all problems, and there are others who say that True Love is just the stuff of fairy-tales. Arguably, the truth is somewhere in the middle, where true love motivates great deeds, but lacks any power of its own. The concept or "magic" of love won't solve many problems, but people who are motivated by love (including God Himself) can.

So, while love itself may not be magical in this world, it can have a powerful impact on the people in mortality, and an even greater impact in the world to come.

Sustainable Spirituality

Following General Conference, it's nice to ride that spiritual high for as long as possible, but I know that it's going to run out eventually. Before that happens, it would make sense for me to come up with a plan for renewal, a way for me to regain my spiritual strength when I start to run low, or hopefully a while before. While there are, naturally, the Sunday School answers for spiritual recovery (scriptures, prayer, attending church, etc), there are also some less common, adjacent ideas, like spending time in nature, meditating, or reading a good book. Whatever I end up doing, I hope I can remember to recharge my spirituality regularly. My current high won't last forever, and I'll need some sustainable spirit-restoring practices to help keep me going.

Single-Player Collaboration

Tonight, I was introduced to a game called Wordle. You're probably more familiar with the game than I am, but it's basically a word-guessing game with hints that tell you how "warm" you are. It's a single-player puzzle game, yet I've found a way to play it with other people.

The key is to communicate. We share the information we have so far, determine what we can deduce from that information, decide what information we'd like to gain, and brainstorm possible next guesses. Two heads are better than one, or so they say, and it was fun trying to figure out the puzzles with other people. I'll have to do it some more in the future.

I love collaboration and cooperation, especially in games. A lot of games are designed only for single players, but still, many of those games are still possible (and fun!) to share with others. They may be merely single-players games, but we can still find ways to play them together.

We Can Make Peace

One of my favorite messages from this Conference was the importance of being peacemakers. In this world full of conflict and contention, it can be difficult to find peace. However, while it can be difficult to find peace, we can still make peace. We can make peace with others by being thoughtful and courteous, and we can make peace with ourselves by being righteous and having faith.

Peace is something that is sorely needed, and it's something that most of us want more of in our lives, and fortunately, we don't have to wait and hope that peace comes to us. We can make it.

How Much Light is Needed?

One point that stood out to me this Conference so far is that, as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland testified, the world needs all the light it can get. However little light we have, that light is still essential for helping guide others.

Yet, I also thought about how much light we, individually, need. Sister Susan H. Porter reminded us that even a small amount of light can pierce the darkness. When I go to bed, I tend to rely only on the small light my phone can produce, but that light is enough to guide me to my bed. Similarly, God may not always bless us with a great deal of light, but as long as we are using the light we have and earnestly seeking additional light, He will make sure we have enough to get by.

We all need light. The world needs all the light it can get, and we need all the light we have. Thankfully, as long as we are seeking additional light, God will ensure that we, and the world, will have all the light we need.

What I Most Want From Conference

I have plenty of questions to bring to Conference this time. I just haven't put them into words. I have a heart that needs filling and healing, and I pray that God will have a message for me. One that will give me some kind of reassurance. One that will help me feel better. One that will offer me some guidance. One that will help me find peace. That's what I want more than anything. I've been fighting against myself for years now. What I most want from Conference is whatever I need to hear to help me finally find some peace.