I've been thinking about creating a new blog. This new blog would be an anonymous one. There would be no links to it posted on Facebook or here. At least, not in connection to my name. While I maintain that blog, I won't be posting so regularly on this one, assuming I keep updating this one at all. For those, and perhaps a few more reasons, I hesitate to even mention the idea of making a separate, anonymous blog.
There are some good reasons for the concept, though. I currently have a personal issue that I don't feel comfortable discussing openly, but that I really should discuss; for my own benefit and for that of whoever may stumble upon the new, anonymous blog. While writing behind the mask of anonymity, I can share more personal stories and share more specific insights. Basically, I think I can do more good for myself and for people I think God wants me to help by posting on an anonymous blog.
The reason I'm bringing you into this conversation is that I know that if I start writing on a new blog, I won't be spending so much time on this one. I'll probably maintain my commitment to blog every day, but not all of those daily updates will be coming here. It also means that some of my insights, those I think would be best suited for the other blog, will not end up here, so those of you who enjoy my unique insights might miss out on a few of them.
Basically, if I end up making another blog, it will decrease the quality of this one, and I'd hate to do that without your permission because I feel that after blogging every day for more than a year, I have a commitment not only to myself but also to my audience, to keep it up as long as I can. If any of you read my blog frequently, you might not like the idea of me posting less frequently, but that will be one of the effects of starting a new blog.
So, I come to you asking your opinion. Would you be okay with me starting another blog (to which you probably won't have access) and posting on this one less frequently? Leave your thoughts in comments either here or on Facebook, or send me a Facebook message if you don't want others to see your comments. However you express your opinion to me, I promise I'll consider it. I don't want to rush into this decision, especially if it turns out that people really enjoy reading my blog posts here.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Mortality vs Spirituality - Priorities for Success
Yesterday, in Institute, we watched a short TED talk which contrasted two types of desires. The first wants to build, to create, to innovate; and to change the world. The second wants to reflect, to learn, to understand; and to become a better person. "Adam One asks how things work. Adam Two asks why we're here. Adam One's motto is 'Success.' Adam Two's motto is 'Love, Redemption, and Return.'"
I mostly identify with Adam Two. While I enjoy learning how things work, and love having success in my endeavors, most of my endeavors are spiritual and internal. I spend more time trying to become a better person than trying to become more employable. I'm more concerned with my afterlife than with my mortal life. Granted, both are important, but there's a certain question of priorities, and I favor attempts to advance my eternal progress over attempts to advance my mortal progress. This more long-term approach may pay off better in the long run, but in the meantime, my short-term condition is fairly miserable.
So, I have a problem with my priorities. I understand that many people have the opposite problem as I have - That they're so focused on worldly concerns that they neglect their spiritual needs, whereas I put so much focus on my spiritual concerns that I neglect my physical needs. Since both needs are, well, needs, they both deserve and require attention, and entirely focussing on either of them at the expense of the other is self-defeating and will lead to a great deal of hardship and pain. At least, that's what I think will happen. I don't actually know from experience yet.
It could be that I'm wrong about my priority problem actually being a problem. It could be that mortal life only matters in how it affects our spiritual lives, and that getting a well-rounded education and a well-paying job are relatively pointless in comparison to developing a strong testimony and increasing in wisdom. On the other hand, my priorities problem may be more critical than I thought. Perhaps how we spend our mortal lives, and how well we thrive in mortality will have a bigger impact on our spiritual lives than I currently think. Can you imagine God saying, when we reach our final judgement, "I wish you had completed your education and pursued a career in sociology"? I can. But then again, I have a pretty good imagination.
The reason I think God might care about how well we do in terms of the world's idea of success is because it directly relates to how much good we can do. The more money we earn, the more money we can invest in solving the world's problems. The more education we gain, the more we can use our knowledge to improve the lives of others. The more we create in terms of art or inventions, the more others can enjoy what we create. And thus, with a sufficient amount of what the world calls success, we can vastly improve the quality of life for millions of people all around the world, and that's a very good and worthwhile thing.
On the other hand, the reason I think God may not care at all about worldly success or the lack thereof is because of how temporary it is. I've heard of Earth life being described, from an eternal perspective, as barely a blink of an eye. If there was an infinitely long rope stretching forever in both directions, and you tied a thread around some point in the middle of the rope, that would be where mortality fits in in our eternal timeline. Anything we obtain from the Earth will be left behind when we die. Anything we build on the Earth will likely be destroyed at the Second Coming, if not sooner. And even if we spend our lives saving other people's lives, everyone is just going to die eventually anyway, so I really don't see the point in any of it.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be this depressing.
So, how much does worldly success matter, in the eternal scheme of things? Since life is so short, does how we spend our time here even matter at all? Then again, if this life didn't matter, why would God have put us here in the first place, and why does He care so much about people ending their own and/or other's lives early? Earth life must be important for something. I doubt that the purpose of life is acquisition, but could acquisition help us fulfill our purpose in life? Might it even be vital to fulfilling our purpose, whatever that purpose may be? To reiterate and expand upon Adam Two's question, Why are we here, and where does worldly gain fit in to why we're here?
Sadly, I don't have the answer to those questions, and I don't have time to explore them any further. I have to go get physically ready to do something that I consider spiritually important. As if I have any idea what's really important anymore.
I mostly identify with Adam Two. While I enjoy learning how things work, and love having success in my endeavors, most of my endeavors are spiritual and internal. I spend more time trying to become a better person than trying to become more employable. I'm more concerned with my afterlife than with my mortal life. Granted, both are important, but there's a certain question of priorities, and I favor attempts to advance my eternal progress over attempts to advance my mortal progress. This more long-term approach may pay off better in the long run, but in the meantime, my short-term condition is fairly miserable.
So, I have a problem with my priorities. I understand that many people have the opposite problem as I have - That they're so focused on worldly concerns that they neglect their spiritual needs, whereas I put so much focus on my spiritual concerns that I neglect my physical needs. Since both needs are, well, needs, they both deserve and require attention, and entirely focussing on either of them at the expense of the other is self-defeating and will lead to a great deal of hardship and pain. At least, that's what I think will happen. I don't actually know from experience yet.
It could be that I'm wrong about my priority problem actually being a problem. It could be that mortal life only matters in how it affects our spiritual lives, and that getting a well-rounded education and a well-paying job are relatively pointless in comparison to developing a strong testimony and increasing in wisdom. On the other hand, my priorities problem may be more critical than I thought. Perhaps how we spend our mortal lives, and how well we thrive in mortality will have a bigger impact on our spiritual lives than I currently think. Can you imagine God saying, when we reach our final judgement, "I wish you had completed your education and pursued a career in sociology"? I can. But then again, I have a pretty good imagination.
The reason I think God might care about how well we do in terms of the world's idea of success is because it directly relates to how much good we can do. The more money we earn, the more money we can invest in solving the world's problems. The more education we gain, the more we can use our knowledge to improve the lives of others. The more we create in terms of art or inventions, the more others can enjoy what we create. And thus, with a sufficient amount of what the world calls success, we can vastly improve the quality of life for millions of people all around the world, and that's a very good and worthwhile thing.
On the other hand, the reason I think God may not care at all about worldly success or the lack thereof is because of how temporary it is. I've heard of Earth life being described, from an eternal perspective, as barely a blink of an eye. If there was an infinitely long rope stretching forever in both directions, and you tied a thread around some point in the middle of the rope, that would be where mortality fits in in our eternal timeline. Anything we obtain from the Earth will be left behind when we die. Anything we build on the Earth will likely be destroyed at the Second Coming, if not sooner. And even if we spend our lives saving other people's lives, everyone is just going to die eventually anyway, so I really don't see the point in any of it.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be this depressing.
So, how much does worldly success matter, in the eternal scheme of things? Since life is so short, does how we spend our time here even matter at all? Then again, if this life didn't matter, why would God have put us here in the first place, and why does He care so much about people ending their own and/or other's lives early? Earth life must be important for something. I doubt that the purpose of life is acquisition, but could acquisition help us fulfill our purpose in life? Might it even be vital to fulfilling our purpose, whatever that purpose may be? To reiterate and expand upon Adam Two's question, Why are we here, and where does worldly gain fit in to why we're here?
Sadly, I don't have the answer to those questions, and I don't have time to explore them any further. I have to go get physically ready to do something that I consider spiritually important. As if I have any idea what's really important anymore.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Backtracking to Delicate Arch
I think part of the reason I forgot Elder Claudio D. Zivic's story about the piano player was because right after he shared that anecdote, he shared another one:
Later in the talk, he relates this to one's spiritual journey. Sometimes, we try to follow our own path, only to fined that it's not taking us where we want to go. In those situations, it's best to backtrack (to repent) as soon as possible, so we can get back onto the right path. Elder Zivic didn't reach Delicate Arch on the day this story took place, but I wonder if he might have had time to reach it if he had turned back when he reached the point where one would have to jump from one rock to another. That, in hindsight, was clearly not part of the trail that lead to Delicate Arch. Had he realized that then, and turned back immediately, might he have been able to find the correct path again and make it to Delicate Arch that day?
Heaven is our ultimate destination, and keeping God's commandments is the path we have to take to get there. Unfortunately, all of us fall off of that path from time to time. When that happens, we need to realize our mistakes as soon as possible, and repent and correct them. Sin slows down our spiritual progress, but it doesn't have to stop us from reaching our goal. If we repent and correct our course quickly enough, our mistakes won't even slow us down very much, and the lessons we learn from our mistakes can help us avoid making costly mistakes later down the road.
Satan is often very subtle, so when he succeeds in leading us astray, we might not even notice we've gone astray until we notice that God is no longer with us, and the going is a lot rougher without Him. As soon as we realize we're on the wrong path, we should begin making efforts to return to the right path to continue our spiritual progress. It may take us a while to learn that we need to repent, but the sooner we start that process, the better off we'll be. Elder Zivic might have reached the arch if he had turned back sooner, and it's not too late for us to reach our goals either.
Several years ago I went to Arches National Park with my wife; our daughter, Evelin; and a family friend. One of the most famous arches there is called Delicate Arch. We decided to walk about 1.5 miles (2 km), climbing the mountain in order to reach the arch.
We started off on our pathway with great enthusiasm, but after walking a short stretch, the others needed to rest. Because of my desire to get there, I decided to continue on alone. Without paying attention to the path I ought to take, I followed a man in front of me who seemed to be moving forward with great surety. The pathway became more and more difficult, and I had to jump from one rock to another. Because of the difficulty, I was sure the women in my group would never make it. Suddenly I saw Delicate Arch, but to my great surprise, I saw that it was in an area inaccessible to me.
With great frustration, I decided to go back. I waited impatiently until we met up again. My immediate question was “Did you reach Delicate Arch?” They happily told me that they had. They explained that they had followed the signs showing the way, and with care and effort, they had reached their destination.
Later in the talk, he relates this to one's spiritual journey. Sometimes, we try to follow our own path, only to fined that it's not taking us where we want to go. In those situations, it's best to backtrack (to repent) as soon as possible, so we can get back onto the right path. Elder Zivic didn't reach Delicate Arch on the day this story took place, but I wonder if he might have had time to reach it if he had turned back when he reached the point where one would have to jump from one rock to another. That, in hindsight, was clearly not part of the trail that lead to Delicate Arch. Had he realized that then, and turned back immediately, might he have been able to find the correct path again and make it to Delicate Arch that day?
Heaven is our ultimate destination, and keeping God's commandments is the path we have to take to get there. Unfortunately, all of us fall off of that path from time to time. When that happens, we need to realize our mistakes as soon as possible, and repent and correct them. Sin slows down our spiritual progress, but it doesn't have to stop us from reaching our goal. If we repent and correct our course quickly enough, our mistakes won't even slow us down very much, and the lessons we learn from our mistakes can help us avoid making costly mistakes later down the road.
Satan is often very subtle, so when he succeeds in leading us astray, we might not even notice we've gone astray until we notice that God is no longer with us, and the going is a lot rougher without Him. As soon as we realize we're on the wrong path, we should begin making efforts to return to the right path to continue our spiritual progress. It may take us a while to learn that we need to repent, but the sooner we start that process, the better off we'll be. Elder Zivic might have reached the arch if he had turned back sooner, and it's not too late for us to reach our goals either.
Monday, April 28, 2014
The Shadows Flee
Last night, we watched The Saratov Approach, a movie about the experiences of two kidnapped missionaries and their families, and an episode of Once Upon a Time, a TV series in which storybook and fairytale characters are brought to the real world, and there's usually someone who uses dark magic causing trouble of some kind. In both stories, and I don't think it's a coincidence, they mentioned that light overpowers darkness. In addition, I started reading from the hymnal as part of my personal scripture study, and the first line of the first hymn in the book is, "The morning breaks, the shadows flee." It may be that someone is trying to tell me something.
Light eliminates (mild pun on illuminates) darkness. As soon as the light appears, the darkness disappears. From a scientific standpoint, this makes perfect sense because darkness is just the absence of light. This reminds me of something a devil taught in the fictional story, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, that hell is, essentially, everywhere God isn't. Earth can be hell, if we drive away the spirit of God. But Earth can also be heaven, if we do what it takes to always have the Spirit with us.
The Holy Ghost is a strong source of spiritual light, and those who have accepted and keep their baptismal covenants have the promise that the Holy Spirit may always be with them. When we have the Holy Ghost with us, the spiritual darkness that is in much of the world is driven away, making us less vulnerable to temptation, including the temptation to harbor negative thoughts and emotions. In other words, the darkness that is often so presence in the world is repelled by the light of the Spirit. "For while virtue, by choice, will not associate with filth, evil cannot tolerate the presence of light," Elder Boyd K. Packer, Inspiring Music-Worthy Thoughts.
So, if we find ourselves in places of darkness, or if we find any spiritual darkness within us, we can illuminate and destroy that darkness by holding on to spiritual light. We can replace evil thoughts with righteous ones, temptations to commit sin with righteous actions, the presence of tempting spirits with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and so forth. We don't have to remain in darkness, as long as we know how to access the light.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
A Desire to Obey
This morning, I have as little or less time than I had yesterday, and it took me even longer to find something to blog about. This means that I have very little time for blogging right now. Hope the blog post turns out okay anyway.
The next Conference talk is Let's Not Take the Wrong Way by Claudio D. Zivic. At the very beginning of his talk, he shared an anecdote that I promptly forgot about because he immediately launched into another story.
I have not reached that point just yet. I need frequent reminders and promptings to keep me on the straight and narrow path, and even with those helps, I sometimes make bad decisions. I think that the purpose of commandments isn't to control our actions as much as it is to change our hearts. When we keep God's commandments, we become more loving. When we love more, we have a greater desire to do good (and thus keep the commandments that tell us to do good). Eventually, our natures can change, and we'll someday reach the point where we keep the commandments because we want to the kinds of things we're commanded to do. Then, doing good will stop being an obligation that God is making us do before we can receive special blessings, but something we want to do just because we want to do them (and the promised blessings are a perk).
I'd love to reach that point in my conversion. Right now, I see keeping commandments as a way I can get on God's good side so He'll give me the blessings I feel I need. It's not a great motivation. I'd rather be the kind of person that does good just for the sake of doing good. And I think that's the kind of person God would want me to be anyway. Another thing to work on, I guess. In the meantime, I'll take whatever form of motivation I can get.
The next Conference talk is Let's Not Take the Wrong Way by Claudio D. Zivic. At the very beginning of his talk, he shared an anecdote that I promptly forgot about because he immediately launched into another story.
Our five dear children play the piano, thanks to the motivation of my wife! When the teacher arrived at our home, our son Adrián would run and hide in order to skip his lesson. But one day something marvelous occurred! He began to love music so much that he continued practicing on his own.
If we could reach that point in the process of our conversion, it would be marvelous. It would be wonderful to have a desire deep in our hearts to keep the commandments without anyone constantly reminding us and to have a firm conviction that if we follow the right path, we will have the blessings promised in the scriptures.
I have not reached that point just yet. I need frequent reminders and promptings to keep me on the straight and narrow path, and even with those helps, I sometimes make bad decisions. I think that the purpose of commandments isn't to control our actions as much as it is to change our hearts. When we keep God's commandments, we become more loving. When we love more, we have a greater desire to do good (and thus keep the commandments that tell us to do good). Eventually, our natures can change, and we'll someday reach the point where we keep the commandments because we want to the kinds of things we're commanded to do. Then, doing good will stop being an obligation that God is making us do before we can receive special blessings, but something we want to do just because we want to do them (and the promised blessings are a perk).
I'd love to reach that point in my conversion. Right now, I see keeping commandments as a way I can get on God's good side so He'll give me the blessings I feel I need. It's not a great motivation. I'd rather be the kind of person that does good just for the sake of doing good. And I think that's the kind of person God would want me to be anyway. Another thing to work on, I guess. In the meantime, I'll take whatever form of motivation I can get.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Elder Christofferson Defines Redeem
Today, we're doing community service, and I don't have much time for blogging, so I thought I'd just grab something quick off of Facebook. Apologies to everyone who has already seen it.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins. He paid the spiritual debt that we should have been punished for - the debt that would have had us sent to hell. He delivered us from hell by paying that ransom. He redeemed us in both sense of the word.
It's hard to imagine what price He had to pay to redeem us. That mathematical estimation I did in Sunday morning (1¢ per Sin X One Sin per Day X 365 Days per Year X 50 years = $182.50) barely scratches the surface because many sins are more serious than a 1¢ debt, and I'd say almost all of us commit a few more than one minor sin per day, depending on how strict we're being with our definition of sin. Also, a lot of people live longer, and some shorter, than 50 years, so each person's actual sin debt varies, as if the debt of sin could even be quantified in a monetary value in the first place.
My point is that we owe a spiritual debt. By accepting the Redeemer's terms, we can pay our debt to Him basically by being Christians, or we can refuse His terms, decide to pay the debt ourselves, and there will literally be a hell to pay.
I'd write a little more, but I'm out of time. Happy Saturday!
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins. He paid the spiritual debt that we should have been punished for - the debt that would have had us sent to hell. He delivered us from hell by paying that ransom. He redeemed us in both sense of the word.
It's hard to imagine what price He had to pay to redeem us. That mathematical estimation I did in Sunday morning (1¢ per Sin X One Sin per Day X 365 Days per Year X 50 years = $182.50) barely scratches the surface because many sins are more serious than a 1¢ debt, and I'd say almost all of us commit a few more than one minor sin per day, depending on how strict we're being with our definition of sin. Also, a lot of people live longer, and some shorter, than 50 years, so each person's actual sin debt varies, as if the debt of sin could even be quantified in a monetary value in the first place.
My point is that we owe a spiritual debt. By accepting the Redeemer's terms, we can pay our debt to Him basically by being Christians, or we can refuse His terms, decide to pay the debt ourselves, and there will literally be a hell to pay.
I'd write a little more, but I'm out of time. Happy Saturday!
Friday, April 25, 2014
If Ye Trust Me, Keep My Commandments
I was about to blog about obedience to commandments, specifically that we don't need to understand the reasons for God's commandments to know that we should obey them, citing that I have very little medical knowledge, but I know basic first aid thanks to the Boy Scout Handbook. For example, I'm still not sure what Shock is, but I know how to treat it. I don't know what the treatment does or how it works, but I'm pretty sure that it works. My hesitation in using that example to illustrate obedience to commandments is that my book, apparently, is outdated.
My copy of the Boy Scout Handbook recommends, as treatment for choking, a method that I've heard may make the victim's choking worse. This led to a brief discussion on how rapidly we update our medical knowledge, leading to the recommended methods being revised and updated frequently. I've taken a handful of CPR courses, and as far as I can remember, I don't think I've received the exact same instructions twice. So, what is the best way to treat someone who's choking or whose heart or breathing has stopped? I don't know. I haven't checked with the medical experts recently enough to be sure.
So, this may be a bad example of why we should obey God's commandments even if we don't understand them, but it's a terrific example of why we should obey God's commandments even if we don't understand them.
Human knowledge is limited, and our "wisdom" isn't always worth following. According to the wisdom of the world, there are many benefits to drinking Green Tea, but according to God's wisdom, there's at least one good reason not to drink it. I'm going to take God's word on this one, since He seems to have a better understanding of the world than we do.
I'm sure I've covered this topic before, but I think it's worth reminding myself that God's wisdom is much greater than mine. So even if I don't know why we were given a particular commandment, I can trust God and obey it because I know that He knows better than I do.
My copy of the Boy Scout Handbook recommends, as treatment for choking, a method that I've heard may make the victim's choking worse. This led to a brief discussion on how rapidly we update our medical knowledge, leading to the recommended methods being revised and updated frequently. I've taken a handful of CPR courses, and as far as I can remember, I don't think I've received the exact same instructions twice. So, what is the best way to treat someone who's choking or whose heart or breathing has stopped? I don't know. I haven't checked with the medical experts recently enough to be sure.
So, this may be a bad example of why we should obey God's commandments even if we don't understand them, but it's a terrific example of why we should obey God's commandments even if we don't understand them.
Human knowledge is limited, and our "wisdom" isn't always worth following. According to the wisdom of the world, there are many benefits to drinking Green Tea, but according to God's wisdom, there's at least one good reason not to drink it. I'm going to take God's word on this one, since He seems to have a better understanding of the world than we do.
I'm sure I've covered this topic before, but I think it's worth reminding myself that God's wisdom is much greater than mine. So even if I don't know why we were given a particular commandment, I can trust God and obey it because I know that He knows better than I do.
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