What I enjoy and look forward to

I posted a picture of the Washington, DC temple on Facebook because it's a beautiful building. Here I want to express my appreciation for belonging to a church of volunteers. During our 18 month mission in Nauvoo I mentioned "do-gooders" which Russ and I strive to be. I personally feel that I come from a long line of such good people. I am also delighted to have had the opportunity to join a world-wide organization which not only preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ but most of the people do their best to follow Him and do what He would do. Russ and I have served in lots of positions in the church since we joined in 1974, sometimes putting in multiple hours weekly in service to run programs for adults, youth, and children. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is NOT just a Sunday church. We strive to serve as the Savior served every single day of every single week of every single year. Currently Russ and I serve as a home teacher and a visiting teacher which means we watch over a few members of our local church unit, including a monthly visit with a spiritual message as well as offers to assist in any way. In addition, Russ serves on the Boy Scout committee and I am responsible for choosing hymns sung in our Sunday meetings and am choir director. We both have also volunteered to work in the temple one day a week. There are some people in our church who get paid, including some who have major daily responsibilities in our larger temples. Temples are our most sacred buildings and all have the label "House of the Lord   Holiness to the Lord" on them. Every effort is made to keep them immaculately clean and lovely. Though we have little in the way of fancy adornments, the materials used in construction are the finest available and the crucial maintenance is overseen by a paid employee who may have a small staff. The temple grounds are quite large and this small staff would not be able to maintain it all to the high standard expected for a House of the Lord.
So, another opportunity for volunteer service is offered to those who wish to help. Russ and I spent most of our morning helping to clean up the natural surrounds just outside the temple grounds. There were dozens of others there with us, all wielding rakes, shovels, pitchforks, wheelbarrows and willing hands. We were probably the oldest there today and there were families with children down to toddler age. Everyone worked in the heat and humidity to pick up large sticks and spread mulch. Such labor is a great equalizer. Children have the opportunity to feel they are making a contribution equal to what the adults are offering. We cheer each other on, help each other, and just cheerfully work side by side. It's uplifting, exhausting, and satisfying in every way. I am truly grateful to be a part of it.
Years ago, Joseph Smith was given the task of establishing Jesus's church once again on the earth, with apostles and teachers. He was given the responsibility to serve as a prophet, just as Moses or Peter or Elijah. That responsibility has continued down through the years so we are still led by a prophet and apostles. Although they speak for the Lord, we can (and are expected to) communicate with our Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus Christ to know His will in our own life. It is a privilege to know what goodness exists and what I can look forward to after this mortal life. I am hopeful that all my family will seek this knowledge for themselves and am grateful for those of my posterity who have already done it. I know where Ammon and my parents are and I look forward to whatever work the Lord would have me do when I cross the veil as they have.

Looking at the past differently

     Anyone who knows me well is aware that I have been reading a book called Man's Search for Meaning by psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl. It is one of several books that I would highly recommend for anyone to read. It is not for entertainment or recreation but for learning and gaining understanding, of oneself and others. One of the points he makes in the Postscript written in 1984 has been particularly eye-opening for me. He points out that the meaning of our life is not relegated to our future potential. He comments that our youth-worshiping culture misses a major point in each individual's search for the meaning of his/her life. In addition, he mentions that it is not great accomplishments that give us meaning but our everyday meeting of challenges and our attitude in facing them. Too often we talk about being "over the hill" meaning we are on a downward slope and there is no longer a need to strive for what could be in our future. Being older is considered a handicap, more tragic than satisfying. Frankl mentions that those things in our past are safely stored away and no longer a possibility that may or may not come to fruition. What we have done, what we have endured, what we have accomplished- these are all locked into place forever. I can consider the good things I may have done and be satisfied that I did them. I can remember pain I have suffered and, rather than regret or grieve, feel satisfied that I managed to endure. I can even think of mistakes I have made and realize that I recognized the error and chose to avoid it again rather than wallow in endless guilt now.  All of these things have contributed to my wisdom. This point of view must not be confused with a hopeless, "what's done is done and you can't change it" kind of attitude. Our past is a part of who we are- who WE have chosen to be, whether through our own creativity and determination or as a result of our personal choice of reaction to people and events not of our own choosing. We are never done until we either choose to quit or reach the end of our life. We can give up, as he mentioned observing in concentration camps. Death generally resulted from such a fatalistic attitude. Frankl points out that similar fatalistic attitudes stemming from lack of purpose/meaning in this age are exhibited in depression/suicide, aggression/violence, and addiction. There is really no cure for society's ills other than promoting a change in attitude. There is no target for the blame. As a line in the movie "Wonder Woman" points out, there is no hero we can wait for to change everyone and everything. I join millions of Christians worldwide who anxiously await the promised Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. But He will not be coming to force everyone to be good. That will only be accomplished by removing evil. All those who choose to follow Satan will be cast out leaving only those who, by their own choices, have made their best efforts at being good and are humble enough to accept chastisement and counsel to become even better.  We truly are the captains of our own ships.

NO MORE SHALLOW THINKING!!

     Still in the mode of thinking about general behaviors, as we walk around this community, I frequently notice plastic bags of yard waste sitting at the ends of driveways, obviously having been there for more than a week. I wonder what, if anything, goes through the minds of the residents who have placed those bags there. If time is taken to investigate how waste is to be dealt with in the community, it is clearly explained for every item small or large, trash, recycling, yard waste, and occasional appliance or construction waste. So, maybe not everybody takes the time (as we did when we first arrived here) to find out what is expected. When taxes are paid to provide services, there should be some involvement in determining what to expect and when- snow removal, waste removal, vehicle registration and parking, building permits, etc. How long will the plastic bag residents leave the bags by the street before making the effort to find out why they have not been picked up? Will they just complain about how their taxes are being wasted if their stuff isn't picked up? By the way, yard waste here is collected only in open bins, tied bundles, recyclable paper sacks with stickers, or during the fall you can rake piles of leaves to the curb to be vacuumed on appointed days. There is already a need to pay drivers for the garbage trucks and can-handlers to pick up and empty the cans, the same for recyclables as well as people somewhere who sort metal, paper, plastic, etc. from the actual garbage that some people stick in rather than try to figure out what is actually recyclable. It's so much easier to gripe about things than to take the time to analyze why something is the way it is. and what responsibility one might be neglecting.
     Not exactly the same yet requiring the same level of thought, there are groups- recently in the news here in a little town in VA but also in existence all over the world- who claim superiority. Whether it's radical Muslims claiming all infidels should be slain or radical "whites" claiming superiority over other races/religions or simply angry individuals who find cause to accuse other drivers, neighbors, family members, or whoever with the implication that what they see in others is inferior to themselves and deserves punishment- is that really helpful? As I type this, I wonder if I am doing the very things I'm writing about. But I'm not demanding laws nor punishments. I only wish to remind people that it's important to take the time to think more deeply and thoroughly. The Golden Rule- do unto others as you would have them do unto you- as well as the Dutch proverb about everybody cleaning their own doorstep so the whole community can be clean or even the Kant philosophy of nobody having the right to do something that if done by all would destroy society, ALL different ways of expressing a very wise counsel to really think about what you are doing or saying. If everybody just does whatever they feel like or is convenient for them without thought for anyone else, chaos and contention ensue. It doesn't really require a certain religion with specific rules or even mandated civil laws! Can't we just be thoughtful and kind so society is more comfortable for everyone? Isn't it logical??

Rules are rules, Fair is fair

     Years ago I served as a director for a week-long camp for teenaged girls of our church. As is common whenever youth get together, getting enough sleep was a problem. In an effort to encourage quiet conducive to sleep, we offered the consequence that anyone talking after curfew would be assigned clean-up duties the next day. We had several adults as well as older teenagers who served as youth leaders in addition to all the young girls. One morning as we met to assign those who would serve clean-up duty, one of the youth leaders reported an adult in their cabin who was talking after curfew. (This had not been serious business connected with camp. It was just happy socializing.) So I took the brazen step of matter-of-factly assigning this adult to assist with clean-up. Adult voices are no more conducive to sleep than youthful voices and the goal was to allow everyone sufficient sleep so each day's activities could progress as cheerfully and on time as possible. Rules are not just for some but for everyone. To this day I'm not sure whether that adult feels that I was "fair" in not excusing her from consequences that were originally intended for the girls.
     It always bothered me to have adults tell children they couldn't have a beer or coffee because it was for grown-ups, not children. I guess grown-ups need coffee to pep them up and beer to relax but kids are on their own to figure out how to do that. I didn't think it was right for a kid to have his mouth washed out with soap for saying words he learned from adults in his own home. I still don't think it's fair that children are punished for being cranky when they're tired or sick but their parents regularly excuse their own poor behavior for such reasons. To this day I get queasy in my stomach when I read or see a movie about prejudice against any race or religion. There really isn't much about gender, age, race, or choice of religion or legal occupation that should provide limits across the board. I can think of 3 major privileges- not rights- that can justifiably be for some and not others: sex, voting, and driving. Sex in my opinion (and I'm not alone by any means) is a result of God's creation of two genders- men and women. They unite  under the contract of marriage to form a stable union for survival and happiness as well as for propagation. Voting is a serious duty and privilege that should be used by those who are intelligent and aware enough to take part in forming rules that all of society lives by as well as choosing candidates to work together to determine those rules. That should require a minimum maturity and consciousness. Driving requires a great deal of careful attention and judgment, more than children or those with impaired brains can provide. Other than those three, most rules apply to everyone.
     An issue currently being debated, at least by those NOT in public office, is having our elected leaders live with the same rules as their constituents. How to ever get it enacted by those who stand to lose the most is beyond me. Somehow it just doesn't seem right that anyone could "serve" their country in a political office for 4 or 6 years then receive a hefty pension for the rest of their life. It doesn't seem right for legislators to demand that the general population live with health care policies that they can be exempt from. The United States was formed by some very brave people who were determined to no longer live under the rule of an elite group of people who had different requirements and benefits. The idea was to allow freedom to work for what you are willing to work enough to receive without a government unjustly limiting you. (Capitalism and democratic republic) Even under "communism", an elite class forms that lives by different rules. The book Mao's Last Dancer was quite an eye-opener to what it can be like to live under communist rule. It's a given that there is no other person in the whole world exactly like me, or you, or each other anywhere. But it is fair for everyone to have the same potential to develop their own talents, abilities, and personalities. There are those who have severe handicaps of one kind or another. It's fair for those surrounding that person to be willing to do what they can to help that person be comfortable and reach whatever potential they might have. There are those who have greater motivation than others. It is NOT fair that those who are willing to work provide extra for those who are capable but unwilling in order to have the same benefits. There has been strain in the European Union caused by nations who tend to be willing to be industrious, like Germany or England, having an unfair share of responsibility for nations who have a more relaxed lifestyle, like Greece or Italy. Whether in a family, a community, a state, a country, or the world, rules should apply to everyone as equally as possible and consequences should be administered in the same way. We have a definite right and responsibility to assist those who have made bad choices and want to change or who have been forced to live under limitations not of their own choosing. That would be charity offered willingly, not to be demanded by anyone.
     Is there anybody listening? Does it matter? The whole world would have to be willing to live by this philosophy in order for it to work. I just don't see that happening. But it's good to gain wisdom, even if it's just one person at a time.

We need to remember who we are!

     There are basically three major weapons used to separate God from His children: Money (greed, theft, usury, bribery), Sex (adultery, perversion, lust, rape), and Power (pride, lies, abuse, murder, bullying, rebellion). When the children of Israel were led out of Egypt, the Lord reduced His expectations for their obedience down to the minimum, what we label "The Ten Commandments". It's surprising how often these simple rules are ignored even by those who profess to believe in God and even pray to Him occasionally. People may cheat on their taxes or steal from their workplaces. People have been known to put LOTS of things before God, twisting His commandments to allow whatever it is their favorite sin may be. Often, they don't even try to understand and know what God wants so they don't have to worry about whether or not they're obedient. Sex has been reduced from a sacred gift for uniting a husband and wife and provide offspring to being simply an animal appetite. There is no "wrong" in satisfying sexual urges- you don't have to be married and if you are you don't have to be faithful, you can have any kind of sexual satisfaction you want with anyone you want, you can be whatever gender you want to be. Even easy commandments like keeping the Sabbath day holy are completely ignored. The Sabbath is simply a weekend day- a day to sit in outdoor cafes and have a beer or ride boats on the lake and waterski or shop all day. Many people who may even go to church try to find a time more convenient in their schedule to fulfill this obligation to worship God. He never said anything about going to an hour meeting when you can. He said, "Keep the Sabbath day holy."
     As I have thought about some day leaving mortality (dying) and facing my Father in Heaven and my Savior, I have grieved for any justifications I may have made in my life for being so much less than I can be. I'm grateful for repentance, the opportunity to be sorry enough to change. I'm grateful for God's love and my Savior's atoning sacrifice, both of which allow me to improve. I wish I could shout to all the world that there is a better way than what we see in movies, read about in social media, and hear about all around the world. Some day FitBits and promotions at work and status and fashionable clothes and certificates we hang on our walls and yummy recipes and fancy houses or cars will all seem so inconsequential. We will be amazed that they ever took up so much of our time and energy. I am grateful for lovely flowers and those who take the time to nurture them. I am grateful for beautiful lakes and streams and for all those who respect them. I am grateful for those who seek to develop and share talents to uplift others. I am grateful for all of God's children who choose to show His love through their acts of kindness to God's creations and His children. I can only pray that I can know how to remind others how much He loves us and wants us to be like His Son. And I hope to do that somehow in ways that encourage rather than discourage, remind not judge.

Neverchanging

     I have often wondered exactly what was meant by Jesus when He said, "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." When Joseph Smith sought to better understand this King's James version of the Bible, he made only a slight change to this verse, adding, "He who seeketh to save his life....", which helps a little but I still wonder. A more recent prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, said, "The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired." It happens all the time in novels and movies that when someone is really down (lost you might say), an incident comes up where he ends up helping someone else. In the process, he forgets his own despair and ends up feeling better. It's a given: life is full of trials for everybody. No one is exempt. It doesn't matter how much you exercise and eat right, you may still contract cancer or MS or have a stroke. It doesn't matter how good an example you are of hard work and honesty, you may still have a child who decides to be a criminal. It doesn't matter how loving and faithful you are to a spouse, you may still end up getting divorced. There are no guarantees in this mortal life for escaping sorrow, frustration, or suffering. So, how do we get through it? How do we keep going without being totally paralyzed in fear of some tragedy befalling us? The possibility that our house may be destroyed by a flood, tornado, or fire does not take away from the satisfaction of keeping it clean, well-maintained, and comfortable every day. The potential for cancer or other disease and injury does not detract from feeling good about being able to move without major discomfort as well as avoiding medications and doctor visits. A loving Father in Heaven has given us a remedy for the kinds of preoccupations I'm referring to and that is to do good. By using self-motivation to get up and help someone else, we realize that others are managing, sometimes with even more obstacles than we have. By managing to get up and create or accomplish something, we can feel a peace and satisfaction gotten in no other way. If we can bring ourselves to learn God's wisdom, study His commandments to keep them, then we will find a peace that passeth all understanding and a knowledge greater than any mortal.
     In addition to physical labor, we can achieve greater peace for ourselves and others by seeking out and sharing truth- "knowledge of things as they were and are". As I listened to someone speak in church on Sunday, I understood a point related to what he was saying. He mentioned that when we attend the temple, it doesn't change. When we read the scriptures, they don't change but in both cases we can open ourselves to learn something "new" to us in the process of receiving things that don't change. Our hearts and minds are more ready to open to information the Holy Ghost can share with us when we are reading scripture or partaking of peace in the temple. God's word is the same yesterday, today, and always. It does not change but it can change us. Isn't that wonderful?

Nothing new

     I have been reading Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. For anyone who may not be familiar with him, he was a doctor of psychology and a holocaust survivor. His goal in writing this book was not to describe the horrors of WWII concentration camps because, as he said, there have been many who have attempted to do that already. His goal was to try to ascertain just how those who experienced the deprivations, cruelty, and trauma of those places dealt with everyday life. I want to quote some of what he wrote because I think it's of value to everyone on the planet.
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way."
Corrie ten Boom (The Hiding Place) as well as Anne Frank (The Diary of Anne Frank) depicted this choice of attitudes despite their circumstances. Gandhi and Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King also showed that we can choose how we react to our surroundings. They all chose forgiveness, compassion, serenity, hope- no matter what. I wish all of my grandchildren could be aware of their own potential to not only survive this life but to rise above whatever circumstances they may face- even ridicule, hardship, deprivation, illness or injury, abuse.... It's not easy and I would never imply that it is. Referring to those around him in the camps that never gave up good character Frankl wrote:
     "The way they bore their suffering was a genuine inner achievement. It is this spiritual freedom- which cannot be taken away- that makes life meaningful and purposeful.
     An active life serves the purpose of giving man the opportunity to realize values in creative work, while a passive life of enjoyment affords him the opportunity to obtain the fulfillment in experiencing beauty, art, or nature. But there is also purpose in that life which is almost barren of both creation and enjoyment and which admits of but one possibility of high moral behavior; namely in man's attitude to his existence, an existence restricted by external forces. A creative life and a life of enjoyment are banned to him. But not only creativeness and enjoyment are meaningful. If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an eradicable part of life, even as fate and death.Without suffering and death, human life cannot be comprehended."
      This is deep wisdom- refreshing in a world that focuses so much on the surface of people's lives. If "he who dies with the most toys wins" (as the bumper sticker goes), what could possibly be hopeful or wise or meaningful in that??! Or if only the wealthy and the beautiful and the powerful are to be treated with deference, what is the point of existence for the majority of humans? Are we only here to pay homage to the aforementioned? We may even create worthwhile things like statues, sonatas, buildings, books, or gardens but they will all eventually crumble and die away, just as the humans that created them. There are very few who manage to have a great, lasting impact on the world and sometimes it isn't for the good. Jeffrey Dahmer, Adolf Hitler, Attila the Hun, and many others will be long remembered- but does that denote a purpose to their life that others should attempt to emulate?
     Personally, I don't expect very many people to remember me long after I'm gone from mortality. That's okay with me. I only hope that in my life, others can find a little nugget of meaning for their own lives- a way to hope, love, serve, or just be nice.