I think all are good, and those that seem to not be have had something hard, or terrible, or some misunderstanding that has mislead them, some confusion. I saw "Fred Clause" and that certainly was the message in that movie, and I also watched "the Tale of Despereaux" which certainly had a message about those who were hurt and how they grew due to it and now I am reading it, well, reading these words made me think more seriously about the truth of the good in us all.
""I think," said Roscuro, "that the meaning of life is light"
"Light," said Botticelli. "Ha-ha-ha - you kill me. Light has nothing to do with it."
"What does it mean then?" asked Roscuro.
"The meaning of life," said Botticelli, "is suffering, specifically the suffering of others. Prisoners, for instance. Reducing a prisoner to weeping and wailing and begging is a delightful way to invest your existence with meaning."
....""Are you listening?" Botticelli said to Roscuro.
"I am listening."
"Good," said Botticelli. "Do as I say and your life will be full of meaning. This is how to torture a prisoner: first, you must convince him that you are a friend. Listen to him. Encourage him to confess his sins. And when the time is right, talk to him. Tell him what he wants to hear. Tell him, for instance, that you will forgive him. This is a wonderful joke to play on a prisoner, to promise forgiveness."
"Why?" said Roscuro...
"Because," said Botticelli, "you will promise it - ha - but you will not grant it. You gain his trust. And then you deny him. You refuse to offer the very thing he wants. Forgiveness, freedom, friendship, whatever it is that his heart most desires, you withhold." At this point in his lecture, Boticelli laughed so hard that he had to sit down and catch his breath....
"Ha," said boticelli, "ha-ha-ha! You gain his trust, you refuse him and - ha-ha - you become what he knew you were all along, what you knew you were all along, not a friend, not a confessor, not a forgiver, but -ha-ha!-a rat!" Botticelli wiped his eyes and shook his head and sighed a sigh of great contentment...."At that point, it is most effective to run back and forth over the prisoner's feet, inducing physical terror along with the emtional sort. Oh," he said, "it is such a lovely game, such a lovely game! And it is just absolutely chock-full of meaing."
"I would like very much to torture a prisoner," said Roscuro. "I would like to make someone suffer."
"Your time will come," said Botticelli....
"So, soon, there will be a prisoner for me?"
"Yes," said Botticelli Remorso. "Yes."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Ha-ha-ha! Of course you are looking forward to it. You are looking forward to it because you are a rat, a real rat."
"Yes," said Roscuro. "I am a real rat."
"Concerned not at all with the light," said Botticelli.
"Concerned not at all with the light," repeated Roscuro.
Botticelli laughed again and shook his head....
"You, my young friend, are a rat. Exactly. Yes. Evil. Prisoners. Rats. Suffering. It all fits together so neatly, so sweetly. Oh, it is a lovely world, a lovely, dark world.""
It made me think, what is it that I allow into my life to influence me? Who do I listen to? Am I suppressing the knowledge that I have in any way like Roscuro? Have I allowed myself to be a little evil, to allow others to suffer because of my own suffering? Botticelli Remorso to me is the voice of the devil here. Where am I? Where are you?
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Reflections
What a spiritually filled week it has been for me, and a busy one as well. I would like to share the things that have crossed my path and made me think this week.
The first thought began with last Sunday, but it still has me thinking .... I went Visiting Teaching, and the lesson was on "The Light, Life, and Hope of Jesus Christ" Hannah talked about the light and life, and I talked about the hope, and tried tying it in with the season. When first thinking about it, nothing was coming, but once I got there, I don't know the words just flowed, and I believe them, I felt like I was speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost, and it impacted me, probably more than it did my girl, but it was good. The lesson talked about the three things we hope for: the Atonement of Christ, the Resurrection, and the hope of eternal life. I was then drawn to Moroni 7:41 which talks about those three hopes, but then kept reading Moroni 7: 41-48 and realized how we have those three hopes, how we know of them, and what we do because of that hope which is why it is important to remember especially throughout this season. Those verses talk about faith, charity, the pure love of Christ, and meaningful prayers. More than before I realized how those four things are apart of obtaining, sustaining, and the result of hope. And how we need all of those things in our lives to make the Christmas season as it was intended.
Well, next my Home Teachers came over, and we talked about administering angels, from Elder Holland's talk, "The Ministry of Angels." They challenged Katie and me (I love that every time they come over they offer a challenge to us that they check up on, to help move us along spiritually, anyways) to think about how to, and to look for opportunities where we can be angels in the hands of Christ, that we may do good. They too brought us to Moroni 7, and in going back and reviewing this chapter in relation to angels and how to recognize them I am drawn to a few poignant scriptures: Moroni 7:29-31, "Neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men...... and the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance and to fulfill and to do the work of .... the Father, .... that they may bear testimony of Him." Well, I guess I would like to bear testimony that I know that angels work in my life, both those that are seen and unseen. They are the comforter when I feel down and alone, they are my family members: my mother, my brother, my sister who offer words of comfort, they are individuals around me that influence me to be better and stronger in the face of adversity, many examples of which come to mind. So, this week I am trying to think how I can be an angel to someone else, to be in-tune enough with the Spirit to know what it is that I can do to answer someone else's prayers.
Next thought came from today, and there are two of them that I would like to share. The first is from church and the idea of SHEPHERDS, and the second is from my reading of the Book of Mormon (yes, I am going to finish reading it again by the end of the year). Steve Shaha talked in church and asked the question "why shepherds?" Why did the angel appear to shepherds, why not to carpenters, or to fishermen, or to any number of types of people, why to shepherds? It isn't like we really know, but it was certainly interesting to think about. Perhaps it was because Christ himself was to be a shepherd, that those shepherds were also born in a stable and rested in a manger, that they could relate to this circumstance. Perhaps that is why Mary "pondered in her heart" after the shepherds came and talked to her (Luke 2:19). Steve mentioned all this, and it really got me thinking, he then went on to talk about how the sheep of shepherds know their master because he loves them and cares so much for them. The rest of the meeting for me, Sunday school, and Relief Society all focused on being a part of the flock, on knowing my Shepard, and it was beautiful. Which is why I guess I wanted to mention it.
The last thing was in 3 Nephi 13:33 and 34 I've read it before and found comfort from it, but reading it today, it really stood out to me, and I would like to leave you with that: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness..... and take .... no thought for the morrow." As we find hope through the atonement, recognize the tender mercies extended to us through angels the Lord puts on our path, and come to know our Shepard, the Lord will watch out for us and we will have no need to worry about the things of the future. May we come to recognize His hand and gain a greater knowledge of Him this season, Merry Christmas.
The first thought began with last Sunday, but it still has me thinking .... I went Visiting Teaching, and the lesson was on "The Light, Life, and Hope of Jesus Christ" Hannah talked about the light and life, and I talked about the hope, and tried tying it in with the season. When first thinking about it, nothing was coming, but once I got there, I don't know the words just flowed, and I believe them, I felt like I was speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost, and it impacted me, probably more than it did my girl, but it was good. The lesson talked about the three things we hope for: the Atonement of Christ, the Resurrection, and the hope of eternal life. I was then drawn to Moroni 7:41 which talks about those three hopes, but then kept reading Moroni 7: 41-48 and realized how we have those three hopes, how we know of them, and what we do because of that hope which is why it is important to remember especially throughout this season. Those verses talk about faith, charity, the pure love of Christ, and meaningful prayers. More than before I realized how those four things are apart of obtaining, sustaining, and the result of hope. And how we need all of those things in our lives to make the Christmas season as it was intended.
Well, next my Home Teachers came over, and we talked about administering angels, from Elder Holland's talk, "The Ministry of Angels." They challenged Katie and me (I love that every time they come over they offer a challenge to us that they check up on, to help move us along spiritually, anyways) to think about how to, and to look for opportunities where we can be angels in the hands of Christ, that we may do good. They too brought us to Moroni 7, and in going back and reviewing this chapter in relation to angels and how to recognize them I am drawn to a few poignant scriptures: Moroni 7:29-31, "Neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men...... and the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance and to fulfill and to do the work of .... the Father, .... that they may bear testimony of Him." Well, I guess I would like to bear testimony that I know that angels work in my life, both those that are seen and unseen. They are the comforter when I feel down and alone, they are my family members: my mother, my brother, my sister who offer words of comfort, they are individuals around me that influence me to be better and stronger in the face of adversity, many examples of which come to mind. So, this week I am trying to think how I can be an angel to someone else, to be in-tune enough with the Spirit to know what it is that I can do to answer someone else's prayers.
Next thought came from today, and there are two of them that I would like to share. The first is from church and the idea of SHEPHERDS, and the second is from my reading of the Book of Mormon (yes, I am going to finish reading it again by the end of the year). Steve Shaha talked in church and asked the question "why shepherds?" Why did the angel appear to shepherds, why not to carpenters, or to fishermen, or to any number of types of people, why to shepherds? It isn't like we really know, but it was certainly interesting to think about. Perhaps it was because Christ himself was to be a shepherd, that those shepherds were also born in a stable and rested in a manger, that they could relate to this circumstance. Perhaps that is why Mary "pondered in her heart" after the shepherds came and talked to her (Luke 2:19). Steve mentioned all this, and it really got me thinking, he then went on to talk about how the sheep of shepherds know their master because he loves them and cares so much for them. The rest of the meeting for me, Sunday school, and Relief Society all focused on being a part of the flock, on knowing my Shepard, and it was beautiful. Which is why I guess I wanted to mention it.
The last thing was in 3 Nephi 13:33 and 34 I've read it before and found comfort from it, but reading it today, it really stood out to me, and I would like to leave you with that: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness..... and take .... no thought for the morrow." As we find hope through the atonement, recognize the tender mercies extended to us through angels the Lord puts on our path, and come to know our Shepard, the Lord will watch out for us and we will have no need to worry about the things of the future. May we come to recognize His hand and gain a greater knowledge of Him this season, Merry Christmas.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Saying Goodbye
Hannah and Katie....what great faces.
Jess, Emily and Hannah
Tiana, Katie, and Alex..... CHRISTMAS....they have been SUCH great roommates, I seriously have lucked out!
Emily, Kayla, Jess, Katie, Amie
Alex and Tianna.....aren't my roommates cute!
Kayla, Emily, Katie, and Amie.....I love my roommates
Brian and Celene.....two of the nicest people I know
Mena and Hannah......I love this picture, it makes me smile
Andrew
Melissa and Jen.....at Jess's party
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tag you're it!
So Jess and Katie might kill me for putting this up, but hey, it is the rules of the game, right?!?!
This is from the first day of school this year, it was a Tuesday, and we were all headed off at the same time, we (I) made someone stop to take a picture for us, hahaha .... I love these girls SO much.
So, I put this picture up because I had been "tagged" by my sister, the rule of the game is to post the 4th picture from your 4th file in your pictures folder, good luck! ..... I tag: Kalisha, Hilarie and Cecily (by the way girl, I need your blog address, thanks)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
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