Things that make you say "huh?"

Headlines are a fascination for me, not only because their bold print demands attention, but because they are often filled with things that make you say "huh?"


A prime example of this came to my attention when I read the proclamation of the formation of a church... for atheists. I am not a stupid woman. Church is a gathering place for worship of God - however you define that. Atheists do NOT believe in any form of deity, so what exactly is their church and are they worshiping anything? And if it is simply a gathering of like-minded persons who wish to be godless and unchurched and without religion, why call it a "church"?

Do they sing hymns during their worship, or rock and roll anthems extolling the worldly lifestyle choices that Hollyweird has made popular? They don't pray, so I assume they open their gathering in some other fashion. They eschew any mention of Jesus, God, Jehovah, Allah or any other reference to persons they believe to be mythical creations of deluded people.

They proclaim that they are doing good things they've taken from church, but minus the references to God. One article states the following:

"There was so much about it that I loved, but it's a shame because at the heart of it, it's something I don't believe in," [Sanderson] Jones said. "If you think about church, there's very little that's bad. It's singing awesome songs, hearing interesting talks, thinking about improving yourself and helping other people — and doing that in a community with wonderful relationships. What part of that is not to like?" http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/atheist-mega-churches-root-us-world-20845796



The takeaway from his commentary is that people, in and of themselves, are able to generate all of that good without any form of godliness whatsoever.

While I do believe there is good in every man, we differ on our understanding by light years.

During my very religious upbringing, I was taught that the Spirit of God is in every one of His Children and that we are able to access the divine through the workings of that Spirit. That through that access, we can be motivated, strengthened and learn to see beyond self in a profound way that separates us from being mere animals so that we can become the Hands of Christ working in a way that can change lives, uplift and strengthen not only ourselves, but those around us in need of our help.

Everyone born into the world has that same opportunity for God is no respecter of persons and grants the same inheritance to all His children who are willing to obey His commandments and come unto Jesus Christ to be saved.

When you do not believe, where do you go when you die? What real motivation is there for you to do anything good or decent if you believe this is all there is?

Another quote says: "In the U.S., there's a little bit of a feeling that if you're not religious, you're not patriotic. I think a lot of secular people say, 'Hey, wait a minute. We are charitable, we are good people, we're good parents and we are just as good citizens as you and we're going to start a church to prove it," said [Phil] Zuckerman. "It's still a minority, but there's enough of them now."

That impulse, however, has raised the ire of those who have spent years pushing back against the idea that atheism itself is a religion.

"The idea that you're building an entire organization based on what you don't believe, to me, sounds like an offense against sensibility," said Michael Luciano, a self-described atheist who was raised Roman Catholic but left when he became disillusioned.

"There's something not OK with appropriating all of this religious language, imagery and ritual for atheism," said Luciano, who blogged about the movement at the site policymic.com.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/atheist-mega-churches-root-us-world-20845796?page=2

I must admit that I find myself equally puzzled. If you don't want the style and substance, why copy it? Why create the warm fuzzy feeling - or a shadowy reflection of same - when you have absolutely no intention of truly worshiping ANYTHING or ANYONE? It is more a club meeting than anything else. To call it church is a deliberate provocation and invitation to sin.

A quote by Thomas Payne begins to bring light to the confusion.

Thomas Paine said, “What is it we want to know? Does not the creation, the universe we behold, preach to us the existence of an Almighty power, that governs and regulates the whole? And is not the evidence that this creation holds out to our senses infinitely stronger than anything we can read in a book that any imposter might make or call the word of God? As for morality, the knowledge of it exists in every man’s conscience.” (In God We Trust, ed. Norman Cousins, New York, Harper and Brothers, 1958, p. 1.)

I believe the answer lies in people simply turning a deaf ear to their own conscience because other choices have become more appealing.

The Apostle Paul forewarned of this time when he said: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Tim. 4:3–4.)

We hear much of "tolerance" in our modern era. The word itself has been sore abused and twisted to meet the requirements of a people who's ears are becoming deaf to the whispering of the Spirit. Dallin H. Oaks spoke of this in an address given September 11, 2011.

"It is well to worry about our moral foundation. We live in a world where more and more persons of influence are teaching and acting out a belief that there is no absolute right and wrong, that all authority and all rules of behavior are man-made choices that can prevail over the commandments of God. Many even question whether there is a God.

"The philosophy of moral relativism, which holds that each person is free to choose for himself what is right and wrong, is becoming the unofficial creed for many in America and other Western nations. At the extreme level, evil acts that used to be localized and covered up like a boil are now legalized and paraded like a banner. Persuaded by this philosophy, many of the rising generation—youth and young adults—are caught up in self-serving pleasures, pagan painting and piercing of body parts, foul language, revealing attire, pornography, dishonesty, and degrading sexual indulgence. ...

On the foundation belief in right and wrong, there is an alarming contrast between the older and the younger generations. According to survey data of two decades ago, “79 percent of American adults [believed] that ‘there are clear guidelines about what’s good and evil that apply to everyone regardless of the situation.’”⁴ In contrast, a more recent poll of college seniors suggests that “three-quarters of [them] believe that the difference between right and wrong is relative.”⁵

"Many religious leaders teach the existence of God as the Ultimate Lawgiver, by whose action certain behavior is absolutely right and true and certain other behavior is absolutely wrong and untrue.⁶ Bible and Book of Mormon prophets foresaw this time, when men would be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:4) and, indeed, when men would deny God (see Jude 1:4; 2 Nephi 28:5; Moroni 7:17; D&C 29:22).

"In this troubled circumstance, we who believe in God and the corollary truth of absolute right and wrong have the challenge of living in a godless and increasingly amoral world. In this circumstance, all of us—and especially you of the rising generation—have a duty to stand up and speak up to affirm that God exists and that there are absolute truths His commandments establish.

"In doing so, we Latter-day Saints rely on the truth we sing in the hymn I quoted earlier:

The pillar of truth will endure to the last,

And its firm-rooted bulwarks outstand the rude blast

And the wreck of the fell tyrant’s hopes.⁷

"As I face this audience of committed young people, I know that some of you may be wondering why I am speaking about what is obvious to you and what, you might assume, is obvious to others. Recall the survey data I mentioned earlier, suggesting that about three-quarters of all college seniors believe the difference between right and wrong is relative.

"I have chosen to speak about truth because teachers in schools, colleges, and universities are teaching and practicing relative morality. This is shaping the attitudes of many young Americans who are taking their places as the teachers of our children and the shapers of public attitudes through the media and popular entertainment. This philosophy of moral relativism denies what millions of believing Christians, Jews, and Muslims consider fundamental, and this denial creates serious problems for all of us. What believers should do about this introduces the second of my twin subjects: Tolerance.

"Tolerance is defined as a friendly and fair attitude toward unfamiliar opinions and practices or toward the persons who hold or practice them. As modern transportation and communication have brought all of us into closer proximity to different peoples and different ideas, we have greater need for tolerance. When I was a young adult, about 60 years ago, it was only in books and magazines that most Americans were exposed to great differences in cultures, values, and peoples. Now we experience such differences in television and the Internet, through travel, and often in personal interactions in our neighborhoods and the marketplace.

"This greater exposure to diversity both enriches our lives and complicates them. We are enriched by associations with different peoples, which remind us of the wonderful diversity of the children of God. But diversities in cultures and values also challenge us to identify what can be embraced as consistent with our gospel culture and values and what cannot. In this way diversity increases the potential for conflict and requires us to be more thoughtful about the nature of tolerance. What is tolerance, when does it apply, and when does it not apply?

"This is a harder question for those who affirm the existence of God and absolute truth than for those who believe in moral relativism. The weaker one’s belief in God and the fewer one’s moral absolutes, the fewer the occasions when the ideas or practices of others will confront one with the challenge to be tolerant. For example, an atheist has no need to decide what kinds and occasions of profanity or blasphemy can be tolerated and what kinds should be confronted. Persons who don’t believe in God or in absolute truth in moral matters can see themselves as the most tolerant of persons. For them, almost anything goes. “You do your thing, and I’ll do my thing” is the popular description. This belief system can tolerate almost any behavior and almost any persons.

"Unfortunately, some who believe in moral relativism seem to have difficulty tolerating those who insist that there is a God who should be respected and certain moral absolutes that should be observed." http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/ces-devotionals/2011/01/truth-and-tolerance?lang=eng&query=atheist

I believe strongly in our moral agency and our ability to choose the course our life will follow. I also believe that we should be tolerant, but that we owe  no one our allegiance but our God. To bow down and support evil is wrong. People are free to use their moral agency in a way that will break them against the commandments of God. They are free to abuse themselves in a fruitless pursuit for happiness that is of the world but not lasting in eternity. But they are not free to compel me to support their actions, to uphold behaviors that are evil or to support iniquity.

Church is not just a social club or civic organization. To bring it down to that level robs it of the sacred and sanctifying purpose that it can achieve and bring about in our lives. Church is NOT the "hang out" spot, nor is it just a building.

Church, as I have been taught as defined by Jesus Christ, is the gathering of His people to worship God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. To have the opportunity to be cleansed from our sins, to be washed clean, to be renewed and to gather strength in the fellowship of the saints of God.

While a social organization can be friendship unending, it cannot save.

The civic clubs can be fun, but they cannot sanctify.

And though we all enjoy the activities with our community friends, none of them can make us complete, whole and fulfill the measure of our creation under God.


I simply am unable and frankly unwilling to wrap my head around a life that is all style and flash but no substance or salvation.

I NEED God. Every second, every minute, every hour of every day. There have been too many great and small manifestations in my life of His constant love and care for me to slip into a worldly construct about what church is and how it functions.

I have been richly blessed time and time again by the overwhelming love of my Savior, who as God's Only Begotten Son, put Himself into my place to atone for me so that I could become complete and whole and free through His merits, mercy, grace and love.

Though the world is free to make their choices, as Joshua of old I solemnly and reverently declare "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". I make mistakes in life, but I know Who is Able to help me become free and clean from them.

God bless those who wander in the world of politically correct thoughts and behaviors. And help me to be an example of the believers in all that I do and say.

Bringing up the rear and walking in the dust

I have found myself being very reflective on my walks. Today, I was pondering over the pioneers who literally left their known world and stepped out onto the vast and empty westward lands headed for an unknown but hoped for Zion. There were no GPS navigational units, rather, they had something more accurate to pinpoint their way - their faith.

We look often upon paintings of that westward migration seeing the landscape dotted with the white canvas sails of prairie schooners, some painted and others humble aging wood but all pointed relentlessly toward the setting sun and a future alien to all they had previously experienced to that point in their lives.

There is something almost majestic in the artist's conception of those weary but hopeful faces leading the wagon train. Theirs is an indomitable courage etched into aching muscles and sunburned faces.

But what of those bringing up the rear?

While I was walking along today, my mind was filled with one of my favorite hymns. As I sang along with the lyrics causing dogs to bark and squirrels to flee, the words spoke to me rather personally.

On this day of joy and gladness,

Lord, we praise thy holy name;

In this sacred place of worship,

We thy glories loud proclaim!

Alleluia, Alleluia,

Bright and clear our voices ring,

Singing songs of exultation

To our Maker, Lord, and King!All too often, we focus on the folks in the front without giving much regard to those who were last in the line, perhaps still just as determined, still just as joyful and still just as dedicated but unheralded simply because they were not first across the arbitrary finish line of mortal success.

But what of those bringing up the rear and walking in the dust?

Well, the more I pondered the more hymns flooded my mind.

Does the journey seem long,
the path rugged and steep?
Are there briars and thorns on the way?
Do sharp stones cut your feet
As you struggle to rise
to the heights thru the heat of the day?
Is your heart faint and sad,
Your soul weary within,
As you toil ‘neath your burden of care?
Does the load heavy seem
You are forced now to lift?
Is there no one your burden to share?
Were they worried about their place in the kingdom because they weren't "first"? Or were they more concerned about finishing the journey through their sorrows and cares?

I am setting no land speed records. Those who move much faster than I do are given a wave and a smile and I plod along as best as I can in my own circumstances unencumbered by the expectation of finishing "first". Indeed, my expectation is not first place, but FINISHING the race that I have been called by God to complete.

Just as those weary pioneers of bygone days walking in whatever measured step they could, I do what my body allows on any given day.

I well remember the first day of this particular long-term trek of rehabilitation. I walked FOUR STEPS.

That's it.

Just four.

But for that day at that time, those four steps were a mammoth undertaking.

We tend to compare our worst to someone else and their best. We forget that none of us starts a thousand mile journey at the finish line and instead bemoan our lack of progress when compared to others who's trials we cannot see or fully comprehend.

God the Father didn't care that my first attempt was four steps. He only cared that I made the attempt and did all I could. He didn't care that others could do more. He didn't berate me for not equaling the task mastered by those further along or with differing struggles.

God smiled on my efforts.

Today, I walked the furthest I have been able to muster since that fateful accident of March 17, 2013.

Today, I carried my little handcart of faith for 2.87 miles. I may not have been the fastest walker in the neighborhood today, nor was I in danger of breaking any Olympic qualifying times.

But there is one thing I can guarantee you - I was faster and went further than any day that I have done before.

I ended my walk today singing "Press Forward Saints". That hymn has significance in many ways, but seemed particularly appropriate for today.

Press forward, Saints, with steadfast faith in Christ,

With hope's bright flame alight in heart and mind,

With love of God and love of all mankind.

 

(Chorus)

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

 

Press forward, feasting on the word of Christ.

Receive his name, rejoicing in his might.

Come unto God; find everlasting light.

 

Press on, enduring in the ways of Christ.

His love proclaim thru days of mortal strife.

Thus saith our God: "Ye have eternal life!"

I pondered again those last in the line pioneers. I can imagine both their earthly and their heavenly welcome as family and friends gathered around cheering them on to their final destination, excitedly proclaiming that they had been praying for them and encouraging them along every step of the way.

It's not a contest between us and them.

It's a battle between our deepest desire and our personal difficulties. Everyone has trials. Everyone has challenges and everyone has their own pioneer journey to make in this mortal life.

Let's not compare. Instead, we can become cheerleaders for the efforts of our brothers and sisters.

We are ALL God's children and He wants us ALL to come home to Him.

It doesn't matter how we finish - first, last or in the middle. It only matters THAT we finish.

God bless... time to hit the showers and maybe a little Icy Hot.

Announcements, announcements, announcements

Of late, I have become quite interested in the multiplicity of ways that people announce their "news" be it good or bad.

Specifically, I've seen lots of people announcing the gender of their soon to be baby via colored cake, colored balloons and other colored mediums that let everyone know what's going on. That's pretty cool.

I've also noticed a not so exciting trend in announcing unfortunate news on Facebook and other social media sites as if everyone should know and pick sides in your personal ongoing drama. That is not so cool. In fact, it is sophomoric.

Dirty laundry used to be quietly dealt with.

Now it is an opportunity to expose the dirt, the grime and the filth  in the most public way possible to excoriate the other people and make yourself appear glorious by comparison.

Enough.

I do not want to see/share in that kind of announcement.

By all means, include me in the public announcements that bring happiness. But please, restrain yourself and RETRAIN yourself to know what is appropriate to share and what just makes you look like a buffoon.

Liars, Cheaters and other trifling people

We are all imperfect.

I get that.

I probably lead the parade on the imperfect issue.

However, I become frustrated that people who are placed in leadership capacity are not just imperfect, but spend time and energy justifying why their personal imperfections should be in some sort of protected class that everyone must respect.

Case in point, the scout "leader" who in company with two other "leaders" from his unit managed to destroy some ancient stone monuments in Goblin Valley, Utah then had the temerity to post it to Youtube as if what they did was hilariously funny and laudable.

Then, the one "leader" is now revealed to be seeking disability from the state of Utah for his issues resultant from an automobile accident.

I'll be blunt.

Having just been in a hellacious wreck myself, I cannot imagine using my free time and precious energy to go vandalize public or private property. It does not compute.

What is the thought process that goes into those kinds of actions?

"Hey, I was nearly killed so I'll go destroy something to prove I'm disabled!"

Or maybe this one:

"Because of my leadership position in scouts, I'm above the rules that ordinary people have to obey so destruction of property is okay for me but not for you!"

Then again, there is this trite phrase:

"It's not what you think!"

Justification is a self-induced slippery slope. There is no excuse possible, but we make up one anyway as if it will somehow erase our stupidity, our arrogance and our pride and make our vile actions palatable.

That is not possible.

Either through direct means or through the indirect follow-up of life in general, we pay for every single choice we make whether the results of said choices are good and laudable, or disastrous and bad.

We cannot long escape consequence.

In the eternal scheme of things, all those "leaders" involved in this debacle can and will be forgiven, and they should be. But they should also have to pay the price for their choice to be deliberately stupid then try to cover it up with veiled excuses of why their actions were secretly good and noble even though they might not have started out that way.

That is like driving down the highway and suddenly shifting into reverse at highway speed. You can do that, but likely the results will be neither optimal or desirable.

Destruction of the shared property of our nation is vile. But worse yet is the preening self-justification of grown men now faced with consequences who are teaching actively that they should be excused because they are somehow a benefactor in their actions.

I'm not buying it and neither are the millions of people who have seen the video (yes, the idiots made one!), read the countless articles, or know these men in person and now have reason to doubt their capacity to care for their sons on scout outings.

None of us is immune to consequence. We can lie, cheat, trifle our words and skate around the truth, but God will not be mocked. Eventually, consequence shows up and the payment may be dear. What of those boys, who seeing this in their adolescent state determine that they can do whatever they want to do so long as they create an adequate cover story?

What other monuments and shared landmarks will be destroyed in the name of personal fun?

It's time to restore some integrity, personally and nationally.

Cowboy up, dudes. Accept both the condemnation which you EARNED and the consequences which are most assuredly deserved legally and fiscally for what you have done. Likely, you also deserve some consequences in Scouting.

Only then can you make any semblance of restitution for what you have done and only then can the forgiveness process of others mean anything.

And being truly sorry would be a good first step.