Amidst Turmoil and Despair...

There have been a lot of talk recently about Proposition 8. Much of the news of recent has been involving dissatisfied voters with those churches and groups involved in the coalition for Prop 8. Of most notable are the bigoted and railing attacks on church buildings of The Church of Jesus Christ, as well as the Church proper. With many members of the church stating that they are leaving the church, maybe as a sign that they are trying to prove their views are right and the church leader's views are wrong, or that this is a scapegoat for more grievous reasons, is not evident.

I find it very interesting that there is so much disparaging anger and hatred towards those who demonstrated their legal and moral right to vote in something they believed in. There is no difference between the voters who were for Prop 8 and those who were against it; a bill was placed before the state voters and the right to vote for or against was cast. In this case, the votes for were more than the votes against. And like an angry child, furious that his/her way was not given, people are lashing out against those who supported, in whatever degree, their opposition.

And the media is having a hay day, twisting the truth of the matter to rigamarole status; news media like Utah's ABC 4 News try their best to sensationalize the facts and the truth to incite further anger and mistrust. Being LDS, this particular news story seems to hit more home than in other stories. I am outraged that people, both straight and gay, are reverting to childishness to demonstrate their disgust that they did not get their way. To these people, I say demonstrate your legal right, under state and federal magna chartas, to petition lawmakers and voters to change what you think needs to be changed. This is what those people who supported Prop 8 did. There is nothing more and nothing less than this. Beating up, terrorizing, inciting property damage and the like only demonstrates to the rest of the world and society that you cannot be civil and thus revoke your legal responsibilities and rights as an American citizen.

God also wants us all to be civil with one another and respect other people's dispositions. And what happens when one person's disposition encroaches upon another's disposition? Well, we also live in a country were its constitution allows for people to adjust and define the laws through established legal means. This same constitution was given to us by God so that we can govern ourselves in communities and societies. There are other ways to express your frustration from the polls than by destroying property and injuring your fellow man and woman, both physically and verbally. This is America, even the United States of America. Start acting like a Citizens and and not militant guerillas. We all can be more than who we are, that is what the American dream is all about.

As for those people who are now former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, your leaving of the church is nothing new. In the Gospel of John, the Savior taught the people the importance of feasting on the Bread and Waters of life. When He taught that one must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, some were confused, some were offended, and "many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more (John 6:66 (51-68)." We read in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ that there were many people who left the churches because they did not agree with the church (all of Mosiah 26). Leaving God's Kingdom on earth will not stop the work from progressing; it will not change the mind of God, nor will it prove anything except how unsteady are the hearts of the children of men (Helaman 12). The issues at hand are nothing new; they have been on the face of the earth since before the days of Sodom and Gomorra and God has strong feelings about these issues.

Will disagreements ever stop? As long as people have an opinion, no. Will we see the contention melt away? That is up to all of us.

It's Not that Faith is Always the Answer, but that Faith is Always the Necessary Ingredient.

The Adversary continueth to struggle and fight against the LamB and the Father with the angels of Hell, full of misery and hate, continually striving to distract the mind and heart from that which is holy and pure. I find that temptations to do something against the laws of God come at different times of the day, in various settings - sometimes when I am in a crowded place yet alone form the prying eyes of others, or after my attention has been successfully focused in a direction that may seem harmless but in fact, has taken my mind away from thoughts of a spiritual nature and of eternal import.

I think of how apt the scriptures are in reminding us, yea even weekly hymns and monthly Church magazine articles echo the words of Christ: Pray always lest we be brought into temptation; count our many blessings, naming them one by one; take upon us the name of Christ and always remember Him; the person who makes a study of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ will get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than with any other book, a serious study of the Doctrine & Covenants will be brought to God's Kingdom; seek ye first the Kingdom of God & His righteousness for he and she who have eternal life is rich, etc. The list goes on and on.

Though it is difficult to keep our eyes constantly towards God, the blessing of repentance enables us to be forgiven of our sins and have changed hearts where we desire to sin no more! But we must choose to have faith in the Lamb of God and we must choose to hold to the rod. God will hold us accountable for the decisions and intentions of our hearts, and Satan will extend all efforts to smother the righteous desires and the righteous intentions of our hearts.

I work everyday as a loan officer for a local credit union. I look at hundreds of credit and loan applications as well as deposits and transactions of thousands of people and merchants. I spend about 50 hours a week doing this. But this is not my life; I do other things too like learning to draw, spending time with my wife, church activities, gaming, etc. Heavenly Father, on the other hand, spends every moment of everyday on His work and glory: the immortality and eternal life of man.

The heavens mourn and weep over the wickedness on the face of the earth while the Earth beneath groans groans over the gross darkness above her. there has never been a greater and more important time in your life than the current moment right now. What you decide causes ripples down the stream of yours and your family's lives.

The Adversary will & does distract you when ever possible. In this day and age much of these distractions come with immediately visual images and audible sounds. Thus, keeping a reminder in every aspect of your life, of a spiritual nature, we lessen the opportunity for distractions. Fill your mind with the knowledge the knowledge of good books, keep prayer close to your mind, place images of the Savior and Gospel in Action in the most unlikely and obvious places - a picture on your desktop or wallpaper for your cell phone - pass along cards on your desk at work, CD compilations of fine music playing in the background whenever possible, praying three times a day to check in with Heavenly Father and let him know what has been going on in your life, keeping the words of the Lord's servants close by, and so on can help keep your righteous desires and righteous intentions from being smothered by the Adversary.

By doing these things we choose faith and hope in Christ. There will be a difference in our lives, greater feelings of happiness, confidence, and peace will come. You will find that you will not be, as the saying goes, wearing the gospel on your sleeve, but you will become a peculiar person, part of a peculiar people. Then, as you do these things before God & not in the open as the hypocrites do, but your Father in Heaven who seeth in secret will reward you openly.

We need people of good conduct, we need people of high moral standards; we need sons and daughters of God. And you need to make that decision right away. It is not that Faith is always the answer but that Faith is always a necessary ingredient.

Keeping up

I have no idea what to write in this blog. One thing that has been going through my mind lately are the prophecies of the latter days, when the wheat and the tares become ripened for the thrashing. There will come a time when all things will be made manifest but before that time there shall be miracles wrought, blessings poured out from heaven,  and like the tired and worn out salary worker fighting to prevent the coming of Monday, Satan, the father of lies, will try his best to keep us all from tasting of the goodness of God; he wants us to be miserable because misery loves company; it's like a bottle than never runs dry; you can sink deeper into self-pity and the sinking itself is what soothes the bitter and resentful soul. It's only when you stop sinking that the pain and heartache at what could have been returns. This is why Satan will continue to blind the hearts of the children of men and rage across the world. 

I think it is amazing to see people learned yet refuse to learn. We read all throughout the scriptures that God can only perform miracles when we believe in them. Why should He perform them when we do not believe in them? God does not change nor is He dead. However, when His children choose to follow Mammon they choose death and captivity and none can deliver. How great the laugh of the Adversary and his angels when the children of men heed not to their conscience and refuse to call upon their God who holds out His arms perpetually in mercy. How God must feel when like the dog biting the hand that feeds it, we turn our backs to Him. God does not turn away; it is we who turn away. I know this for a fact because I have turned my back on God, only to find that the emptiness without Him is as hollow and empty as the space between the sun and the earth. 

What is it that causes us to have a change of heart? What leads us back into the presence of God? Faith in God and in His Only Begotten Son, Jesus the Christ, and a witness from the Holy Ghost. Faith is not just belief. If it were then we would only need to say Belief in Christ brings about a change of heart. Not so. Faith is living and breathing; it is cultivated and nurtured; it can bloom and blossom or be choked and wither away. And having faith in Jesus Christ causes one to pick up his or her cross and follow Him; we suffer His cross the shame of the world. In other words, we are not believers of the word only but doers of the word. By the atonement, our faith in Jesus Christ and repentance increases our desire to do good and smothers the desire to do evil. 

I was sitting at my desk, not really minding my own business. How can you when you work with other people? I was looking for information on graduate programs, surfing the internet (IGN is one of my addictions), and finding something to curve my boredom. I realized I haven't typed up in my blog for a while, which usually means I must be really bored.

I don't know why I spend my time the way I do; could it be ADHD? Maybe it is just a lack of self-startedness. Anyhow, I'm writing. I hate how any entry seems to turn into a rant. I hate rants.

WELL, I guess I'll go over to my experimental writings blog...

Stuff to write about

Here is another entry into my blog. I feel very excited to have this blog, yet I don't know why I have it...wait, yes I do; I want to learn how to do it. They say it is best to get experience in everything. It's funny I have to remind myself.

What to write about? What do I want? i think I want to learn how to be a 21st century person, instead of a 20th century person. I really envy people who are born in the past 10 years; whty will grow up learning how to do so much in the world. I still remember old skool pac man and the Atari st. What I am angry about is the fact there are no flying cars, no mass-produced autonomous robots assisting mankind, and nothing that has been helpful in overcoming poverty, greed, terrorism, and war. Nor are there a lot of things that people have dreamt of for our current era. Politics, let's not even start!

I think it would be interesting to view the history of this era, but from the end point of my life. I am currently a 20-something (whatever that means) who hopes to live atleast til my 90th birthday in great health. And when I say great I mean no arthritis, lubago, ibs, alzheimers, glaucoma, high blood pressure, heart disease, false teeth, and bad back/joints. But then again, this life is a time for growth and experiences. Some are more sweet than bitter, some are more bitter sweet.

And with these experiences, if you have too much of one thing, the exact opposite seems more potent. At what point do you believe in the bitterness as the only reality? At what point do you become jaded?

Even as I have written this I have experienced a handful of small astringent experiences. I hate being the bearer of bad news.

"What is your mother's maiden name?" "Satan..."

I think the common threads that bind all of humanity together are pretty funny threads. These threads have no color, no particular language barrier, nor are there any special ways to get out of these barriers. One cannot change who she or who he is; only improvement or disimprovement can come with effort. Most threads are discovered when you can relate to something in a situation. Most of the threads I am familiar with come from my own experiences but I have learned some are relateable through other people. Take this for example:

The title of this entry comes from a question I often ask people. I think it's hilarious when asked, "What is your mother's maiden name?"
"Satan..." comes the reply.

What does this mean? What does that make you think of? Can you relate to that? Is the context of the message clear enough for you to relate to? Is this a culture-bound thread or is it universal?

I can't think of what to call this kind of thread. What do you think?