When you get right down to the bare elements that are the building blocks of life on this planet, you come to a conclusion that, for some, is hard to bear.
We can't create life without the interposition of those elements and means provided by our Father in Heaven.
Years ago, Daddy told this story:
One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.
The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."
God listened very patiently and kindly to His Child and after the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this, let's say we have a man making contest." To which the scientist replied, "OK, great! We have test tubes and cloning and all kinds of ways to win!"
But God then added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."
The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.
God just looked at him, smiled and said, "Oh, no, no, no!! You go get your OWN dirt!"
One time, Daddy used this story in a talk he was giving in sacrament meeting. A physician in the congregation was taken aback, not comprehending what he was talking about, and asked him what he intended by his remarks.
Daddy then reminded the man that we have never had a single case where a scientist in the absence of the bounty of this earth has created a speck of life from nothingness. Not much else was said after that uncomfortable reminder and the conversation drifted toward topics that were more easy to contain.
I have reflected upon that many times over the years and realized that anything from our intellectual acumen to our physical traits didn't come from us as a sudden creation from 'our own dirt'.
All that we have and are was planned and carried out from beginning to end by Him who is greater than us all. Without his interposition and care, the creation would fail. Without his shielding protection, our world, as we know it, would collapse. There would be no future, because there would be no past upon which to build.
Arrogance is an interesting quality. While we must have a spark of initiative and a willingness to step out beyond the norm to achieve in life, we are honor bound to remember that we didn't do ANYTHING without the help of our Father and others in His creation who made our path possible.
I love the notion of a 'self-made man'. It sounds so utterly delicious and so decadent. Like a rich dessert you know you shouldn't partake, but you indulge yourself anyway. But as with all indulgences, it has a price to exact. Our ego becomes our enemy as we allow that natural man to not only become an enemy to God, but to become the nightmare of eternal destruction that can destroy our opportunity to truly be all that God the Father intended.
So, I sit and think about that from time to time when I am feeling my oats and begin to think that I am "all that and a bag of chips". Thankfully, the Father hasn't removed my oxygen (though it must have been a sore trial for Him to let me keep breathing during those times!).
And I am thankful that he gave me a wise Father on the earth to share the story about keeping the ego in check. And a reminder that when I feel like I am so very wonderful all on my own to check the source of 'my dirt'.
For most assuredly, I didn't create it. And whatever measure of success I think I have achieved was not mine at all.
June 6, 2008
June 5, 2008
Terrorists and Television
While wars and calamity have been part of the human equation since Cain slew Abel, I can't help but believe the global reach of television, internet and print media have contributed to the feelings of 'righteous martyrdom' that the terrorist feel when they kill innocent people.
That they know they will be honored and remembered forever as well as being villified by the families of the people who were killed matters not at all in the balance of their 15 minutes of fame.
Everyone gets to choose their path to heaven, Nirvana, paradise or whatever status they believe they will be eligible to receive. But they don't get the right to murder innocent people to push their agenda forward.
There is NEVER an acceptable way to force someone else to capitulate to your will under the banner of a religion.
No matter the name branded upon the flag and the fervent belief that they are in the right, when people are being killed to forward an ideology of religion, there is a problem.
I am thankful that in the Articles of Faith held dear to me and members of my chosen faith teach that we are to leave open the choice of worship for everyone else and to expect that they will respect my choice to do the same.
Articles of Faith #11 states:
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
If only the respect for choice were extended across the globe, how much violence and suffering could be eased?
But if the media refused to cover ad nauseum the acts of violence that occur, would they decrease because they weren't getting their 'fix'?
I don't know the answer to that, but I have to wonder if there isn't some direct line from the act to the publicity to the duplication.
I wish I could say the world would know peace sometime soon. But I fear that we are in for more of the same until God Himself says that it's been enough and the bloodshed must end.
Maybe that's why I read my news online. I don't want to see the gory videos and I can selectively cherry pick what I want to read.
Maybe that is the antidote. I am not oblivious, but I am not willing to subject myself to nightmarish images that will haunt me for days.
So I'll take a daily dose of choice and refusal.
God bless us, if it is right that He should.
That they know they will be honored and remembered forever as well as being villified by the families of the people who were killed matters not at all in the balance of their 15 minutes of fame.
Everyone gets to choose their path to heaven, Nirvana, paradise or whatever status they believe they will be eligible to receive. But they don't get the right to murder innocent people to push their agenda forward.
There is NEVER an acceptable way to force someone else to capitulate to your will under the banner of a religion.
No matter the name branded upon the flag and the fervent belief that they are in the right, when people are being killed to forward an ideology of religion, there is a problem.
I am thankful that in the Articles of Faith held dear to me and members of my chosen faith teach that we are to leave open the choice of worship for everyone else and to expect that they will respect my choice to do the same.
Articles of Faith #11 states:
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
If only the respect for choice were extended across the globe, how much violence and suffering could be eased?
But if the media refused to cover ad nauseum the acts of violence that occur, would they decrease because they weren't getting their 'fix'?
I don't know the answer to that, but I have to wonder if there isn't some direct line from the act to the publicity to the duplication.
I wish I could say the world would know peace sometime soon. But I fear that we are in for more of the same until God Himself says that it's been enough and the bloodshed must end.
Maybe that's why I read my news online. I don't want to see the gory videos and I can selectively cherry pick what I want to read.
Maybe that is the antidote. I am not oblivious, but I am not willing to subject myself to nightmarish images that will haunt me for days.
So I'll take a daily dose of choice and refusal.
God bless us, if it is right that He should.
June 4, 2008
Video Games and Reality
I can no longer swallow the argument that 'it's just a game' when it comes to the offerings of violent programming being marketed to the world.
They are not games!
They are nothing less than tactical exercises geared to removal of human and Godly emotion in dealing with our fellow beings.
To the degree that we become self-absorbed and accustomed to violence as a daily way of life, we separate ourselves from the Spirit of God by degrees until what we perceive to be light is truly darkness.
Experts within the video gaming industry don't want people to realize that this desensitization is occuring because it would harm the bottom line. But facts are facts. We have proof that subliminal advertising works. We know that media is crammed with distorted images of what we should be, look like and purchase with our hard earned dollars. So when the people who earn their money by exploiting the baser emotions claim that their products are harmless, I have to disagree most vehemently.
If they had no effect either through addictive properties or increases in altered behavior, no one would buy another one and they wouldn't ever use the first game again.
The fact is, by design and engineering, violent games are created for the sole purpose of doing the unacceptable in a safe environment. But it isn't safe.
What we think we will eventually do if we do not heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit and leave those things behind that can harm us spiritually, emotionally and eternally.
I have seen all too many times the headlines of tragedy that violent actions have occured in mimicry of violent games. The rationale is that 'they would have done it anyway' just doesn't ring true.
When we make all things possible by any means possible, we remove God from the equation and are left to our own devices. Much like the people of the Book of Mormon who willingly subjugated themselves to the Father of All Lies and acted most cruelly to those whom they battled, those who enslave their appetites and passions to gaming are teaching their spirit that it doesn't matter what they do.
Eventually, they can't stop without intervention and a huge dose of repentance.
Our armed forces who are commanded into harms way come home with PTSD and a host of issues that they cannot overcome alone. They have lived the reality of the games that are played by a generation of gamers who don't see any harm in what they do. And the harm they have suffered will never fully be repaired in this life.
Sadly, we have a lot of people in this world who are more than willing to make a living off of the backs of other people while exploiting the base elements of human nature.
The truth is that we have a choice. We don't have to cave in and buy these things either for ourselves OR for our children.
It's strange that we wouldn't tell our children to eat from the garbage cans, yet we are willing to allow them to forage through the mental trash of the world and hope there will be no harm.
It's all reality . . . there is nothing virtual about it.
They are not games!
They are nothing less than tactical exercises geared to removal of human and Godly emotion in dealing with our fellow beings.
To the degree that we become self-absorbed and accustomed to violence as a daily way of life, we separate ourselves from the Spirit of God by degrees until what we perceive to be light is truly darkness.
Experts within the video gaming industry don't want people to realize that this desensitization is occuring because it would harm the bottom line. But facts are facts. We have proof that subliminal advertising works. We know that media is crammed with distorted images of what we should be, look like and purchase with our hard earned dollars. So when the people who earn their money by exploiting the baser emotions claim that their products are harmless, I have to disagree most vehemently.
If they had no effect either through addictive properties or increases in altered behavior, no one would buy another one and they wouldn't ever use the first game again.
The fact is, by design and engineering, violent games are created for the sole purpose of doing the unacceptable in a safe environment. But it isn't safe.
What we think we will eventually do if we do not heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit and leave those things behind that can harm us spiritually, emotionally and eternally.
I have seen all too many times the headlines of tragedy that violent actions have occured in mimicry of violent games. The rationale is that 'they would have done it anyway' just doesn't ring true.
When we make all things possible by any means possible, we remove God from the equation and are left to our own devices. Much like the people of the Book of Mormon who willingly subjugated themselves to the Father of All Lies and acted most cruelly to those whom they battled, those who enslave their appetites and passions to gaming are teaching their spirit that it doesn't matter what they do.
Eventually, they can't stop without intervention and a huge dose of repentance.
Our armed forces who are commanded into harms way come home with PTSD and a host of issues that they cannot overcome alone. They have lived the reality of the games that are played by a generation of gamers who don't see any harm in what they do. And the harm they have suffered will never fully be repaired in this life.
Sadly, we have a lot of people in this world who are more than willing to make a living off of the backs of other people while exploiting the base elements of human nature.
The truth is that we have a choice. We don't have to cave in and buy these things either for ourselves OR for our children.
It's strange that we wouldn't tell our children to eat from the garbage cans, yet we are willing to allow them to forage through the mental trash of the world and hope there will be no harm.
It's all reality . . . there is nothing virtual about it.
June 1, 2008
Big
Tom Hanks has an adventure as a boy become a man overnight due to a single wish made at a carnival.
As we sat here watching the movie for the hundreth time tonight the thought crossed my mind: "Just what would I do if a wish was granted overnight for me?"
What would I wish for and why? How would that wish ripple out and affect the lives of everyone else in my life?
In the movie, Josh only wants to be bigger than he is at that one moment so he can ride a carnival ride with a pretty girl.
But what happens is SO much 'bigger' than he anticipated and so much more complicated than everyone else would ever comprehend.
So, if I were granted a wish from the Zoltan machine, what would it be?
Would I wish to be thin again with the body that I now only see in decades old photographs?
Would I wish to be in college and 'do it right' this time?
Or would I wish for something for someone else?
Could it be possible to make life better for someone else or would that wish make things worse for another?
Oh, the power of a wish!
We teach kids to 'blow out the candles and make a wish' on their birthdays and swear them to silence telling them that if they share their secret wish that it won't come true.
We see a shooting star and wish for things in the silence of our heart.
As night falls, the first star to peek out of the velvet darkness is known as the wishing star and desires are uttered as if that heavenly body can truly govern who or what we are in life.
We make wishes on eyelashes, over candles and sometimes over drinks.
We have foundations set up to take money and grant wishes to people who are dying as if somehow the wish will make up for the passing of life that will soon come.
How does one wish suddenly become so big?
Maybe it is just the idea that we can, with the simple desire to change something, become more than we are all on our own.
It's almost a genetic belief that if we want something enough, we can wish for it to be so and it will come to pass.
I'd like to return to the days where the power of a wish trumped all semblance of reality.
It made the time pass by in heady excitement with the dreams of what might be.
Maybe that faint remembrance is why we enter sweepstakes and contests. We are still captivated by the power of a wish.
The excitement of what could happen overshadows the bigger picture of our daily reality that is just too dull to contemplate. But, with a wish, we can be more than we are right now.
Wishes can make us bigger, stronger, faster, prettier, more able and somehow make up for the difference between who we want to be and who we really are when we see our own flawed face in the mirror each morning.
I'd like another wish. . . I just don't know whether I am ready for it to become true.
But I think I'm ready to give it a try.
As we sat here watching the movie for the hundreth time tonight the thought crossed my mind: "Just what would I do if a wish was granted overnight for me?"
What would I wish for and why? How would that wish ripple out and affect the lives of everyone else in my life?
In the movie, Josh only wants to be bigger than he is at that one moment so he can ride a carnival ride with a pretty girl.
But what happens is SO much 'bigger' than he anticipated and so much more complicated than everyone else would ever comprehend.
So, if I were granted a wish from the Zoltan machine, what would it be?
Would I wish to be thin again with the body that I now only see in decades old photographs?
Would I wish to be in college and 'do it right' this time?
Or would I wish for something for someone else?
Could it be possible to make life better for someone else or would that wish make things worse for another?
Oh, the power of a wish!
We teach kids to 'blow out the candles and make a wish' on their birthdays and swear them to silence telling them that if they share their secret wish that it won't come true.
We see a shooting star and wish for things in the silence of our heart.
As night falls, the first star to peek out of the velvet darkness is known as the wishing star and desires are uttered as if that heavenly body can truly govern who or what we are in life.
We make wishes on eyelashes, over candles and sometimes over drinks.
We have foundations set up to take money and grant wishes to people who are dying as if somehow the wish will make up for the passing of life that will soon come.
How does one wish suddenly become so big?
Maybe it is just the idea that we can, with the simple desire to change something, become more than we are all on our own.
It's almost a genetic belief that if we want something enough, we can wish for it to be so and it will come to pass.
I'd like to return to the days where the power of a wish trumped all semblance of reality.
It made the time pass by in heady excitement with the dreams of what might be.
Maybe that faint remembrance is why we enter sweepstakes and contests. We are still captivated by the power of a wish.
The excitement of what could happen overshadows the bigger picture of our daily reality that is just too dull to contemplate. But, with a wish, we can be more than we are right now.
Wishes can make us bigger, stronger, faster, prettier, more able and somehow make up for the difference between who we want to be and who we really are when we see our own flawed face in the mirror each morning.
I'd like another wish. . . I just don't know whether I am ready for it to become true.
But I think I'm ready to give it a try.
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