The Preacher in the Flood - Miracles Through Mortals

In Sacrament Meeting today, I heard the story of a preacher who got caught in a flood and prayed for deliverance. When the water rose to the preacher's porch, a neighbor paddled over in a canoe and told the preacher it was time to go, but the preacher chose to say, trusting that God would save him. Yet, the water rose, and when the water reached the preacher's balcony, a neighbor in a motorboat came by and told the preacher that it was time to go, but the preacher again chose to stay, trusting that God would save him. Yet, the water kept rising, and when the water reached the preacher's roof, a helicopter came by and lowered a ladder to him, telling him that this was his last chance, and he really had to go. But the preacher again chose to stay, trusting that God would save him. Ultimately, the flood completely consumer the preacher's house and the preacher, and when the preacher reached heaven, he asked God why He didn't save him, and God asked him, "What did you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter." Also, I think it would add to the story if the preacher had an inflatable raft tucked away, unused, in his garage.

We all experience times of trouble, and we naturally ask God to help us, yet the help that God sends our way usually comes through other people or through the blessings God has already given us. Sure, God could save us miraculously, but he usually expects us to save ourselves and each other. God has blessed us with the abilities to help ourselves and each other, and we need to use those abilities (and accept help from others using those abilities) in order to do His work. Granted, if the canoe had a leak in it, I maybe wouldn't trust it with my life, but barring inability, we're generally expected to do what we can and to accept help from those who can help us.

I sometimes think that, in addition to being an actual, eternal being, God is also a motivating idea, like Karma or Santa Claus, that motivates people to do good for themselves and others and to appreciate the good in the world. If we all try to help ourselves and each other, God can work miracles in our lives and in the lives of others, all through the acts of mortals like us.

So, when we get help from others and/or have the ability to do what we need to do for ourselves without help, we should thank God for our friends and our own abilities. And when we ask for help from God, we shouldn't be too surprised if that help come from inside us or from our friends. Sure, God can work miracles directly, but it's even more of a blessing that God often works His miracles through people like us.

A Good Work-Rest Balance

I need to find a good work-rest balance. Such a balance could be incredibly helpful to me, especially if I can make it a sustainably repeating pattern. Case in point, I worked myself pretty hard this morning, first with cleaning the church building and then with taking some stuff to the dump for my friend's grandma. I even did some work helping take care of my sister when I got home. By early afternoon, I was exhausted, and I spent the rest of the day accomplishing very little.

That wasn't efficient. Had I paced myself, taken shorter, more frequent rests, and forced myself to return to work when I was sufficiently rested, I probably could've gotten more done today, and I would have felt better about doing it. I guess what I need to do is figure out what I'm capable of, to find out what I can do, to not push myself beyond that limit, but also to not let myself fall too far short of my potential.

It's a difficult balance to strike, it's different for each person, and it changes as our capabilities and endurance levels change. Still, it'd be helpful to let me use my energy more efficiently, rather than burning it up too quickly and/or letting it go to waste. It'll take conscious effort at first, but finding a good work-rest balance could be really good for me.

Rest

I was terribly, deliriously tired an hour ago, but I feel better now that I've taken a short rest. People need rest. We can't work constantly, or we'll burn ourselves out. Rest is essential for maintaining our physical and mental health. Rest also helps us regain the energy we need to work more effectively. In fact, I plan on taking a nice, long rest right after this, so I'll have the strength I need for the work I'll do tomorrow.

Rest is important. Even God rested (despite not needing to) and instituted a weekly day of rest because He knew how important rest is, and He knew how important it was to teach us how important it is. We need rest.

So, when you're tired, rest. Your mind and body need it, and it will actually help you make better use of the rest of your time. I rested before blogging, and I think it helped me, and I trust that the rest I'll get soon will help me with the work I'm going to do tomorrow. It's true that you can't work while resting, but you also work have the energy to work if you never rest.

I have work to do tomorrow, but if I'm going to do that work well, I first need to rest.

The Point of the Mountain

I just saw a Facebook post of a quote from Brianna Wiest:

"One day, the mountain that is in front of you will be so far behind you, it will barely be visible in the distance. But the person you become in learning to get over it? That will stay with you forever. And that is the point of the mountain."

We all face challenges and obstacles in life, nigh-insurmountable mountains blocking our path. Yet, we will overcome them. And in so doing, we will gain strength that we could not have gained without them. We need those mountains to strengthen us. That's why God put them in our path and insists that we climb up and over them. Even when these mountains are long behind us, we will still have the strength we gained from overcoming them.

God gave me a mountain to climb, and I've gained a lot from climbing it. It hasn't been an easy hike, but I think that this climb will ultimately be worth the effort. I look forward to the day when I can look back at this mountain far behind me, still carrying the strength I gained from climbing it. That is the point of the mountain, and by the time this is all over, I will have become a better man for climbing it than I would have been without it.

What Knowledge and Wisdom I Had

Today, I made a decision that I later regretted. At the time, it seemed like a prudent move. With the information I had at the time, I made the decision that I thought was best. When new information came to light, I wished I had chosen differently. Still, perhaps it's a bit strong to say that I regret the decision I made. Sure, I now wish things had turned out differently, but I made the best decision I could with what knowledge and wisdom I had, and I don't regret doing that. Frankly, that's the best any of us can hope to do.

We are all finite beings. We are not all-knowing, and we are not all-wise. At any given moment, all we have to work with is the knowledge and wisdom we have at the time. Naturally, we can always obtain more knowledge and wisdom, but that's a double-edge sword. As our increased knowledge and wisdom helps us make better decisions, it also helps us judge the decisions we should or should not have made. We should try not to be too hard on our former selves for their lack of knowledge and wisdom. We're all doing the best we can with what we have. Our past decisions may not be the best ones we could have made, but they were often the best decisions we could think of making at the time.

And thankfully, we don't have to rely solely on our own knowledge and wisdom. We can ask people who have more knowledge and wisdom than we do for help with considering our options. Yet, finding those who have lots of knowledge and wisdom and identifying them as being knowledgeable and wise is itself a judgement call that we need to make with our limited knowledge and wisdom. Foolish people are often tricked into trusting the "wisdom" of foolish and/or false guides. Therefore, we must be prudent with regards of whose wisdom we consider, but that prudence is based on our own knowledge and wisdom, leading, again, to potentially regrettable decisions.

In the end, we only have so much knowledge and wisdom to work with, and we only have so much time to make decisions. At a certain point, we have to make the best decision we can, perhaps including decisions about whose information and wisdom to trust, using whatever knowledge and wisdom we have at the time. Sometimes, we just have to do our best and hope for the best. Earlier today, I made the decision that I, at the time, thought was best. Unfortunately, that didn't work out well this time, but that just means that I need to keep trying to increase my knowledge and wisdom (perhaps including my knowledge and wisdom of guides worth heeding) and gradually make wiser and better-informed decisions. In the meantime, I'm just going to do the best I can with what knowledge and wisdom I have and not fault my past self too badly for having done the same.

Communication for Connection

I recently talked to a friend about one of their relationships with someone they're close to. Essentially, the relationship is in trouble, and my friend is having some difficulty even talking about it. Yet, communication, from both sides, is essential for developing and maintaining relationships. If we want to develop new relationships and maintain the relationships we have, we need to be willing to talk to each other, even about difficult subjects, and to listen without judgement. We need to be willing to apologize when we need to apologize and to accept apologies when we feel that we are owed apologies. We need to be willing to communicate.

Of course, our willingness to communicate may not be enough. Relationships go both ways. If either person is willing to communicate and the other isn't, the relationship will be difficult, if not impossible, to maintain. And if neither person is willing to communicate, it's difficult to argue that they even still have a relationship. There has to be communication in order to maintain a connection.

I hope that my friend can help restore their relationship with the person close to them, but even if they can't, I hope we all can learn how to maintain our relationships with others, which I believe is accomplished mostly by being willing to communicate and to encourage others to communicate freely as well.

Slow Progress

Not only is progress sometimes counter-intuitive, it is sometimes also painfully slow. When we look at where we are and where we would like to be and how long it is taking us to get there, it's easy to feel frustrated. However, that frustration doesn't help anybody. In fact, such frustration usually only makes improvement harder. Instead, we need to relax, breathe, and exercise the kind of diligence that is tempered with patience. Yes, progress is sometimes slow, but it's still progress, and when we have an eternity to make progress, we can make great progress at any rate. So, instead of getting frustrated at how little progress we're making, we should be patient and let those little amounts of progress add up over time. Sure, our progress may be much slower than we would like, but as long as we continue to make progress, we're going to be fine.