“True religion concerns mand and the entire universe in which he lives. It concerns his relationships with himself and his fellow men, which his environment, and with God his Creator. It is therefore limitless, and as boundless as that eternity which it teaches les ahead of every child of God. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” What a challenge to every man lies in these words from the Master–to develop himself, to strive, to learn, to seek, to go forward that he might become a God.” – pg 2
D&C 88: 78-79
“Here is the spirit of true religion, an honest seeking after knowledge of all things of heaven and earth.” – pg 3
“The scientific spirit is a spirit of inquiry, a spirit of reaching out for truth. In the final analysis, this spirit is likewise of the essence of religion The Savior said: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Mathew 7:7) The scientist has in effect reaffirmed this great fundamental laid down by the Master, and in doing so has given a new impetus to religion.” – pg 5
“This is the spirit of true science–constant and eternal seeking.” – pg 7
“Though our knowledge of the universe is always expanding, the fundamentals of the Gospel endure unchanged.” – pg. 20
“There is no limit to how high man, the spirit child of God, may climb. By hard work, by study, by constantly increasing in humility and in wisdom through the eternities, we will approach perfection.” – pg. 22
“As a Latter-day Saint, like any other honest man I am obliged to accept only the truth.” – pg 23
“The Gospel is not the people in the Church. The Gospel is not even the people who direct it. The Gospel is the truth. One will have difficulty finding better men than we have presiding over the Church at present and than we have had in past. Still, they are human beings as we are.” – pg 23
“Science deals only with how the world works and has little to say about why the world is as it is. Values, also, are something apart from science. We must find the meaning of life in religion and in metaphysics. Even if by breaking the genetic code, for example, we should learn how to change human inheritance and so affect human destiny, the meaning of life would remain as tantalizing a question as it was before. If we think of the universe as analogous to a great machine, then man is learning though science something about how the machine works, but only though philosophy and religion can he catch a glimpse of the purposed of the Designer and
His reasons for the grand design. Many of the burning questions which are the substance of human hopes and fears are answered by religion for the believer.” – pg 40
“ Chemistry is the science of the behavior of aggregates of atoms and molecules and as such underlies all the material sciences. Studying it, we conclude that chemical laws follow from wave mechanics and the coulomb law of attraction between electrons and positively charged nuclei. Learning this and implementing it is science. The existence of such amazing unity and simplicity of design brings a sense of awe inspired only by an artistic masterpiece. With this comes once again an acute awareness of the Master Designer.” – pg 40
“The Gospel commits us only to the truth.” – pg 41
“In this Church, you only have to believe the truth. Find out what the truth is!” – pg 43
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
What is FAIR?
May I ask you what you think, and please take the time to think of your answer, to think through your opinion, and then I would love to hear your comments. ..... What does it means to be fair? How about when you want someone to be fair towards you, is it is the same definition? What are you really asking for when you ask for someone to be fair?
As a future parent, or an aunt, or a teacher, even a daughter and member of society I feel like this is an important question, something that should be addressed, something that I can apply in all of those roles I hold. As such, it is something I want to address. So, let's go through a few scenarios and see what you think by the end of this little journey....
when your mother helps your little sister to get dressed and tells you to hurry up and go get dressed yourself, what is the typical response you give, "that' not fair, you're helping sister!"
or how about when feeding time rolls around, you as the older sibling get more food than your little sister who complains that it is not fair that you get more food
These are just two examples we could think of, but you can think of these and the point we get across. From the perspective of an adult, these situations seem obvious, the older child can dress themself and does not require additional help, and in regards to the food, you know that the younger child will not eat as much food as the older child, the food would be wasted if given to them, therefore they do not get the extra food. Yet, what is the child's perspective on what is fair? As an adult what are we teaching our children that fair is?
The concept of what fair is can be applied to many situations. As an adult I had to ask myself if I was applying my personal concept of what being fair was to my personal situations. Are we applying our personal conception of what being fair truly is?
Well, what is fair? To be fair is giving everyone what they need.
In my teaching student's with disabilities class (CPSE 402) we were discussing this, and honestly, it hit me really hard. This is one of those concepts that sunk-in. The next question there was brought up, do you allow the teacher to make accommodations for those students that need extra help? Do you think that it is unfair for the teacher to spend a little extra time with the student with a learning disability, that it is unfair to the other students? Do you think it is unfair to the student having a heart attack that you don't help them because you realize there are 30 other students in the classroom and you believe that you can't take the time away from them to help that hear attack student? It seems obvious when the two situations are placed side-by-side, but do you honestly believe it?
Let me put it another way, think of the Savior, the greatest teacher of all. What did he do for that lost sheep? Was it fair of Him to leave the ninety and nine to go after the one? He did. He went and found and picked up that one lost sheep, gave it extra attention, allowed it the time that was necessary for it individually.
What I need to remember is that this is fair. If we required that extra help, the extra love, the extra time He would offer that to us too. i think of my sister and don't want her to beat herself up because she feels she is not being fair to her other children, the fact of the matter is that you are teaching them, through your love and actions the concept of what it truly means to be fair, to give each that which they need because you love them.
Anyways, those are my thoughts, I hope that as we each go out into the world today that we make a difference, that we are fair to our fellow beings. Have a great day.
As a future parent, or an aunt, or a teacher, even a daughter and member of society I feel like this is an important question, something that should be addressed, something that I can apply in all of those roles I hold. As such, it is something I want to address. So, let's go through a few scenarios and see what you think by the end of this little journey....
when your mother helps your little sister to get dressed and tells you to hurry up and go get dressed yourself, what is the typical response you give, "that' not fair, you're helping sister!"
or how about when feeding time rolls around, you as the older sibling get more food than your little sister who complains that it is not fair that you get more food
These are just two examples we could think of, but you can think of these and the point we get across. From the perspective of an adult, these situations seem obvious, the older child can dress themself and does not require additional help, and in regards to the food, you know that the younger child will not eat as much food as the older child, the food would be wasted if given to them, therefore they do not get the extra food. Yet, what is the child's perspective on what is fair? As an adult what are we teaching our children that fair is?
The concept of what fair is can be applied to many situations. As an adult I had to ask myself if I was applying my personal concept of what being fair was to my personal situations. Are we applying our personal conception of what being fair truly is?
Well, what is fair? To be fair is giving everyone what they need.
In my teaching student's with disabilities class (CPSE 402) we were discussing this, and honestly, it hit me really hard. This is one of those concepts that sunk-in. The next question there was brought up, do you allow the teacher to make accommodations for those students that need extra help? Do you think that it is unfair for the teacher to spend a little extra time with the student with a learning disability, that it is unfair to the other students? Do you think it is unfair to the student having a heart attack that you don't help them because you realize there are 30 other students in the classroom and you believe that you can't take the time away from them to help that hear attack student? It seems obvious when the two situations are placed side-by-side, but do you honestly believe it?
Let me put it another way, think of the Savior, the greatest teacher of all. What did he do for that lost sheep? Was it fair of Him to leave the ninety and nine to go after the one? He did. He went and found and picked up that one lost sheep, gave it extra attention, allowed it the time that was necessary for it individually.
What I need to remember is that this is fair. If we required that extra help, the extra love, the extra time He would offer that to us too. i think of my sister and don't want her to beat herself up because she feels she is not being fair to her other children, the fact of the matter is that you are teaching them, through your love and actions the concept of what it truly means to be fair, to give each that which they need because you love them.
Anyways, those are my thoughts, I hope that as we each go out into the world today that we make a difference, that we are fair to our fellow beings. Have a great day.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The Adventure
It starts over Christmas break..... I am looking for a car, I don't know what it is that I am doing, where to start, what to even consider, I don't even know how I feel about the whole process. Well, I start doing my research. I look on KSL.com and Kelley Blue Book, and NADA comparing prices, seeing what is fair, talking to a whole bunch of people who all give me advice (thank you to all of you). Then we start, my Mom has taken me around to about ten cars, at first (well, honestly, the whole things has been, but....) I was really nervous and couldn't really enjoy the process at all. It is a big decision that is going to affect the next ten years or so of my life, it is a lot of money, and I don't know anything really at all about them, so how could I make an educated decision. I really just wanted someone to help me make the decision, but then again, I wanted this to honestly and truly be mine, to prove that I was/am growing up, I was torn. The first day we went out my Mom and I decided that we were on an adventure, think of it like a treasure hunt. This started when we got stuck in the snow doing a "U-turn" trying to get to the first car. Things continued to be interesting, after going out to West Jordan, and South Salt Lake, and Mapleton, Provo, and Draper. We saw some beaters, those cars that should really just be donated to the kidney foundation, and that have been highly abused. We saw cars that were really nice, and that I didn't even need to test drive after seeing them. We met some interesting people too. Those who were moving cross-country so needed to sell their car. Those who had already moved to another country, and were having their friend sell it, those who just had babies, and were upgrading to a bigger car, those who just wanted to upgrade, those who knew that the car was not worth anything but were trying to sell it anyways. Yeah, it was certainly an adventure. Well, then last week came and I was done looking, I had seen some good cars, some that I thought I might want to make an offer on, came and went, and I didn't want my good options to pass me by.... so I decided that I wanted to move forward, besides school had started up again, and I just could not invest as much time as I was searching, I needed that time to be doing homework, to be using the car to go to places I needed to.
So, I searched harder, I found two "X"'s and I started digging, and in the end I found my treasure:
it is a Nissan Maxima SE Limited, it is silver with black interior, four door, 1999 with 125000 miles on it. I am really pleased with my decision, and wahoo, the search is over. Now only to pick it up from the Dealer.... it is getting a repair done for an electrical problem, the check engine light is perpetually on, despite that the engine has been checked and seems to be in good condition. But either way, I own it now, and I am ready to start making it my own. I'm a car owner. Can you believe it?!?! Yes, I am very excited.
So, I searched harder, I found two "X"'s and I started digging, and in the end I found my treasure:
it is a Nissan Maxima SE Limited, it is silver with black interior, four door, 1999 with 125000 miles on it. I am really pleased with my decision, and wahoo, the search is over. Now only to pick it up from the Dealer.... it is getting a repair done for an electrical problem, the check engine light is perpetually on, despite that the engine has been checked and seems to be in good condition. But either way, I own it now, and I am ready to start making it my own. I'm a car owner. Can you believe it?!?! Yes, I am very excited.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
PAUSE
You know when you turn on a really good movie, and you find that you love this movie SO much, and you knew before it started that you were going to have to go get a few things done in the middle of it, but you figured that it was going to be fine you could just miss those parts. Well, now you found that you don't want to tear yourself away from the movie, but you have to, so you go and look for the remote and you can't find it, can't find it. But you have to go, you have no choice now. Finally, you are able to find the remote and press the pause button so that you can come back to the exact spot where you left off. Then something happens, like it always does, and you are gone, and the movie plays on. (I think that all movie players do that. They pause for a time, and then they start up again, even though you didn't press play, well, it does that or stops, and for this story we are going to say that it plays.) You come back in the middle of your job, and find that it is still going. you don't have time to rewind it, but you REALLY want to see the movie, so you go to find the remote again, see a snippet of the movie, don't quite know what is going on, but think that you do, and then press pause again. At first you are really upset, who started the movie, why couldn't it just stay paused, what is the point in pausing it at all if there is no way that it is going to stay at the point that you left the movie at? Well, honestly, it is going to be fine, you didn't miss much anyways, and you caught on to the jist of it, and you figure out that it is just how it has to be, the player is not doing anything wrong, it is just life, that is how it happens. No point in wasting energy on worrying about it, besides, the pause button is pressed again now. Alas, again the terrible plight of the player, and the movie starts again. You are gone, you are busy getting done all the things you need to with life. And you come back and again see just a snippet of the movie, try to catch up, but know that you don't quite have the whole story, but again you are busy, and shouldn't really be in here at all, so you press pause again, and you know that you probably will be back in time before the movie starts up again. At least you hope it. Well, there are some oddities about this movie player, it doesn't rewind, EVER. Meaning you can ever only play the movie once. Luckily you can pause it, but as we can tell, it isn't quite enough, you could get someone to try and fill you in of the things that you have missed. however, you know that it is not quite the same as if you had watched it yourself, but is it better than not watching it at all? After time, and after being frustrated with the situation, and missing some of it, well, in some ways you don't even really want to watch the rest of the show, but in some ways you still do. So after your work is over, you look at the player and now you have two options, press play and start where it is, try to figure out what you missed, or stop it altogether and only hear from others how the rest of the story played out.
What are you going to choose?
What are you going to choose?
Saturday, January 3, 2009
the meaning of Life is LIGHT
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?
""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?
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