speak with a new tongue

With all the elections and sloganeering in recent times (yes, NZ had one this year too) "change" has been adopted as the key buzzword of a new zeitgeist. What's so good about change and why do we all want some? Economies are crumbling around us as we speak; Our current and projected future results aren't especially promising: possibly a new great depression, unnecessary wars, continued terrorism and the polar ice caps melting. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is one definition for insanity. All things considered righting the ship seems like a good idea.

Macro change begins with micro change. Global effects are generated by combinations of individual decisions. Anonymous as always has something to say about the matter: "When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world." And thus we see that fighting the ills of the world begins with self-mastery (that's what people tell me, theoretically it sounds right, when I get there I'll let you know).

A fair while back a woman named Sariah sat marooned in the middle of the desert in her old husband's tent and had a giant sized whinge. Lehi, her husband, led her and the family away from their well-to-do lifestyle in Jerusalem and set up camp in the inhospitable wilderness. After a three day trip out from the big city Lehi received inspiration to send his sons back to Jerusalem to track down some old family records. The assignment was a potentially risky one, as the item they sought didn't exactly belong to them.

After a period of waiting, Sariah made her feelings about the matter known in no uncertain terms. Nephi records: "For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness. And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father" (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 5:2 - 3, emphasis added). It's easy to dismiss Sariah's questioning as a lack of faith, this was a factor, but not the only one. Lest we judge her too harshly, it's important to remember a mother's love for her children, there are few things that can compete in intensity with the maternal instinct. Add to her imagined loss of her sons the thought of dying alone in the desert and we can in some measure appreciate her concerns. Why this excursion away from home only to have the youngest of the family return to Jerusalem? There were a number of valid questions just like there are today. Perhaps the Lord was getting the oldies out of harms way, before the quest for the brass plates began. God is not a fan of collateral damage. I'm not sure if giving these auxiliary issues more then cursory consideration robs these stories of their mythic resonance, what I do know is that patience is a virtue. Anecdotally speaking when I'm still on the inside and working on the outside good things happen.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Coming back to faith, Sariah's was strengthened upon the return of her sons, who were successful in their errand and a powerful change took place. A little success can go a long way "And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak" (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 5:8, emphasis added). It took a miraculous act of deliverance, but Sariah's relationship with God fundamentally changed. And it was first manifested through the way she spoke, complaining gave way to praising. "Through small and simple things, are great things brought to pass." When we change, we change the way we speak, the way we carry ourselves the way we treat each other (wow, I think I'm chanelling Tupac) and I believe that true change comes when we let go over our egos and acknowledge that something bigger than ourselves exists out there, and then act upon it. Words are powerful things they allow us to make sense of the world and today the last ones go to two esteemed gentlemen, John Wooden, and Gandhi. "Failure may not be fatal, but failure to change might be." So,"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Stat Attack: The illusion of looking good

The invitation to home teach usually triggers a biochemical reaction that results in feelings of anxiety and accelerated onset of spiritual disquiet. Is this response justified or is it symptomatic of deficient spiritual moorings, a various minded vessel lost at sea, drifting gently toward hell? I usually visit half of my assigned families every other month. Statistically speaking that wouldn't even make for a semi-decent bating average in baseball, as home teaching goes it's woeful. To do worse then this would be to do nothing at all, but the oneupmanship doesn't end there, I could always fudge the results in my favour. It surprises me when the latter option is exercised. I've never indulged in this ignoble form of embellishment myself, I've got other pet foibles that keep me busy. The base assumptions in the phrase "in my favour" as it relates to "fudge the results" are cringe worthy if you adopt the position that performing yoga with the truth to preserve or enhance your reputation amongst your fellows is an inappropriate behaviour. Shakespeare said of reputation a long time ago, (through the character Cassio speaking to Iago): "Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!" On a spectrum of importance where does (the appearance of) good standing in society fall? I feel a long series of posts coming on...

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

My most enduring memory of this great apostle was from the 2007 November conference. He was giving a talk on charity, and could barely stand as he did so. Elder Nelson recognized Elder Wirthlin's struggle and stepped up to the podium to support him while he finished his speech.

Charity is a two way act, there is a giver and receiver. Elder Wirthlin displayed charity to us in fulfilling his assignment under trying circumstances, and was a recipient of Elder Nelson's charity also. It was a moving image, indicative of the way we should treat one another.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. I'm grateful that for a time we were given Elder Wirthlin, to share in his love and example; but all good things must come to an end and after a life of service he has been taken back home to his God. God speed Joseph, you will be missed.

bushido

I recently re-watched the Last Samurai and it reminded me of an ad hoc lesson that I put together once for my young men. It was based around one of the many analogies of dubious distinction that emerge around the periphery of Mormonism, we like those, but if the shoe fits, that means you get to marry Cinderella.

Eastern culture has always fascinated me, I think early exposure to really badly dubbed Kung Fu movies is where the love affair began. Ever since I can remember I've wanted to be a Buddhist monk at Shaolin Temple, and later, after I discovered Akira Kurosawa, I thought I could have been a passable Samurai in feudal Japan. Fate had other plans, sanity prevailed, and I ended up here, a denizen of the 21st century.

As I reflect on what could have been, I'm reminded of the old Samurai ways and see certain parallels to gospel living. I wont expand on them too much, but here's a little sample, I'll leave the rest to your imagination. A Samurai dedicated himself totally to his training, the alternative was death (usually at the hands of another swordsman) which is always a good motivator. We are engaged in a battle with spiritual death on the line, in order to be victorious we would do well to emulate the discipline of these ancient warriors.

The piety of the Samurai toward his master was above reproach. The life of a retainer was typified by absolute loyalty and service to their master. The Bushi would literally give their lives in defence of their lords (or end them if they failed to do so). Now that's what I call commitment. Am I endorsing oibara or seppuku? No, but if you want a measure of dedication, this one's hard to beat.

Why is God a Fractal 3.

As we venture further into the unknown speculative recesses of my internal imaginative flux, we will first look at the decision making process for all sentient creation from a bottom-up perspective before we take a god's-eye-view (mainly because I find it difficult to conceptualise what the latter would entail). When we last left this topic we spoke of monkeys. I just can't help myself.

It's been said that a million monkeys typing for a million years would at some point reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. An astute commentator observed that with the advent of the internet this notion has been proven false, but just imagine if they did, would it mean anything?
I think it was Camus who used a similar example to tease out how we go about creating meaning for ourselves in life. Some dude lives forever and reproduces the Iliad or the Odyssey, can we say that this event has any merit, given that on an infinite timeline it's inevitable that someone would produce an identical work (I guess it depends on how much you like Homer). Looking at things on a mortal scale, because we're working with a literal deadline -- whether we like to acknowledge it or not -- we face the prospect of being limited in what we can do for purely practical reasons. This makes our choices (like writing an epic poem) a lot more meaningful, because they are now subjected to some form of prioritization, which in all likely hood isn't arbitrarily driven. Our discriminating tastes come into play using the time we have in whatever way we see fit. Like the old saying goes "time is what stops everything from happening at once." We may want it all and want it now, but conditions don't favour the disciples of instant gratification here. We're left to make our way in the world slowly but surely one decision at a time. How we go about choosing is a whole 'nother can of worms that I'll deal with later, the why (as in why our choices matter) will have to do for now.

Sorry eternal monkeys your efforts seen through this paradigm don't amount to much. The limitations of mortality open the way for meaning to mean something. However, when we open our scope and include God in the domain, unfortunately this model doesn't fit. God is an infinite being who does far more then write about heroes with tragic flaws, he makes them. Which doesn't bring us any closer to the celestial selection system. Perhaps I've been asking the wrong question, Why is God a fractal isn't big enough, it's just a less general version of why is there something instead of nothing?

next: extrapolations that could lead to a resolution of the mysteries of the universe, but probably not.

Manhood, Mormon style

Donny Osmond threatens to make a man out of me

If there's one thing I like doing here it's recycling old journal entries...

I woke up one day this week and decided I wanted to be a man. This was surprising news to everyone. Vince Lombardi (of the green bay packers) said: " winning isn't a sometime thing, it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit, unfortunately so is losing." Substitute winning for man or manhood and you'll get some idea of how I felt. Do I wake up some days and think, you know what I don't feel like being a man today? Sure, happens all the time. I don't exactly say those words but my actions reflect that thought process: I don't feel like waking up early or doing the dishes or being nice to people or whatever. Lehi reminded his wayward sons " arise from the dust my sons and be men and be determined in one mind and one heart united in all things, that you may not come down into captivity." The saviour gives us an understanding of what true manhood is... asked:" what manner of men ought ye to be?" & answered: "Even as I am." Remember manhood isn't a some time thing it's an all the time thing. So what are you waiting for? Be a man.

An addendum, the attributes of manhood:

1 THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
(New Testament 1 Corinthians 13:)

The Real Jesus

One of the great inadequacies of my personal spiritual experience is the inability to imagine the difficulty of a God having difficulty with the human experience. Jesus was half man, half amazing (or God if you prefer), of course he was going to be better equipped than us at deflecting temptation and enacting all things righteous. It was all part of the plan, as they say. Yet in my attempts to humanize the being whom I've accepted as my deity (with the desire to better understand him) I can't say that I have been inordinately successful nor hopelessly disappointed. Jesus was how he was, I am that I am, what manner man ought I to be? Like him. I can only process this in momentary fragments of insight that seem underwhelming on reflection, mainly because they seem to do an injustice to subject under consideration. Take for instance, when I play rugby league and receive for my troubles an exceptionally hard tackle, which momentarily disables my entire person. My immediate thought upon regaining consciousness would be to retaliate in kind (or worse), which I'm guessing is a result of my humanness. Jesus on the other hand would, first of all would not be playing a violent contact sport and if tackled under any circumstance would no doubt be puzzled, yet willfully tolerant of the offender. This is truly amazing to me, and not in some incredulous way, but in a truly wondrous manner. To reward aggression with mercy rather than retaliation is doable once or twice or even for the very best of us several times, but to do it consistently, without fail, always seems to reside, for me, in the realms of the almost unbelievable. It was not fantasy though, it was Jesus, he provided a better way than where our natural inclinations would normally lead. I don't fully understand it, but I'm grateful for it.

it's all good

I was sitting in Sunday School and our teacher offered this profound insight: whether you're suffering through life (experiencing trials) or enjoying it (receiving blessings), in the end it's all good. I'd never really looked at it like that before, sure challenges are useful, they help us to grow, but stating that 2 diametrically opposed conditions lead to equivalent outcomes. Wow. And I agree with him. Double wow.

It's all there in the scriptures, a few of my favourites...

And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.
(Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things
(Pearl of Great Price, Articles of Faith 1:13)

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
(Doctrine and Covenants Section 123:17)

One day a long time ago I read about a quantum theory where someone postulated that every time the universe or one of its constituents makes a decision a new universe pops into existence (actually I may have been watching star trek). So there's a multiversal exponentially expanding animal out there tracking all of the different possibilities that could have happened ever. One of the problems with this theory aside from universes being created out of nowhere, was that different causes could lead to the same results. My memory's a little hazy but this affect may have been called "True Chance."(it was probably something else, but this will have to do for now).

The question is, with respect to blessings and cursings (or just plain hurtings), do we have a True Chance scenario operating here? Maybe, it could also be one of the many marvelous paradoxes which we face in life, even if it is True Chance with a slight rejig, purely to satisfy my own philosophical inclinations, this can be made workable in the real world. If we are to be grateful in all things, good and bad than a redefinition of the word blessing may be in order, the 'blessing' that I carry around in my personal lexicon states: instances where God dispenses good things in my direction and I'm ready and wise enough to catch them. It may need to expand to encapsulate anything that happens depending upon your response. It's possible that this generalisation has become so vague now as to encompass everything, but I don't think that diminishes it potency, mainly because we humans are strange creatures and operate differently from almost everything else in the universe. Intention is a powerful thing and I'm afraid I'll have to invoke the great Stephen R. Covey, peace be upon him: for normal matter there's action and reaction, for us there is a stimulus, a space, then a response. What we choose to do with that space is entirely up to us, the next time I stub my toe or someone pulls out in front of me in traffic (yep most of my 'trials" are pretty prosaic), I'll remember that we're here to learn from our experience and choose well. Instead of cursing I may be inclined to thank God for the blessing of this slight irritation which helped me to understand existence a little more and point me in his direction. It ain't much, but it's a start.

coming soon: an attitude of gratitude.

born again leanings?

Being saved is one percent perspiration (on our part) and ninety nine percent grace. And this is almost certainly understating the Saviour's role in our personal salvation. Obedience is an important part of the process but it's not the active ingredient in redemption.

Back in the good old days at the Hamilton MTC a guest speaker delivered what was for us, the missionaries, a somewhat polarising talk. He taught mostly from the Book of Mormon, things like whenever we do any good we are borrowing from Jesus or God, who is the source of all good, whose merits are mighty to save. Many of the boys preferred a works based interpretation of salvation. I can see where they're coming from.

However, I feel and the spirit seems to accord (name that apostle) that there is no actual eternal significance to dipping ourselves in water except that God deems it so. Christening could have been a valid method, but God chose another way. Obedience, keeping the commandments aren't what gets us into heaven, not exactly. Obedience is the language we use to communicate to Jesus that we accept his sacrifice, that we accept him as our Saviour. He did the real work. Our work is a nice gesture but our pitiful offerings pale in consequence when juxtaposed with the atonement. As I have said before we can qualify for exaltation, by adhering to the generous conditions that God has laid out, but that doesn't mean we earned it. "Salvation is free", because he paid the price, all we have to do is show up and collect.

My Favourite Church Song Ever

Why is God a fractal? The Aesthetic of God, Agency and a mishmash of many other things 2

Where was I? That's right, God's form and evolution.

We hold ourselves to be higher than monkeys (and by monkeys I mean the great apes, their relatives and ancestors). To address anyone ready to condemn us of being speciests, there are reasons for this bias, we allegedly have a few things that monkeys don't (a 1-2% difference in DNA!? for starters), large frontal lobes, language, culture, 5th order intentionality, maybe even morality (all these are somewhat debatable I suppose except for our brain size). On a purely superficial level we look and on occasion behave very differently from these creatures. As theists or humanists we seem to have inclinations, prima facie or otherwise, that humans have a unique position in the universe.


Thanks to the The Enlightenment we officially live in the age of reason. One consequence, is that we follow the evidence where ever it takes us and in this case, our ancestral trail leads back to the plains of Africa and a lady nick-named Lucy. Science tells us that we came from the apes, this is the reasonable thing to believe. The bible teaches that "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." We take the scripture to mean that God looked like a man then and now and that we bear some resemblence to our spiritual progenitor. It would be blasphemy in most circles to infer that God is or was great ape either during his mortal life or now or that his ancestors were anything less than human(I think it was Xenophanes who said that if horses could draw, their gods would look like horses) . Although we often dismiss judgement of a person on appearance as shallow, we as (orthodox) mormons, have no qualms about zealously safe gaurding the sanctity of the human-god form from any would be iconoclasts. Right or wrong what does this teach us about ourselves? I believe hypocrite is an overused word, it relies too heavily on a strictly black and white world-view, things are often more complicated than that. What we can say for those who believe, and I count myself in this category, that in some ways image does matter. Who would have thought?

To Be Continued...

Next: more monkeys, as far as answers go I'm not making any promises.


side notes>>

• the church's official position on evolution is that it has no position on evolution (see "evolution" entry in The Encyclopedia of Mormonism).
• I don't really see how evolution can be reconciled with Genesis unless we severely restructure our interpretation of scripture to fit every liberal Mormons new favourite line: inspired fiction. I understand that as it is Genesis isn't a how to guide on creating an earth, but some of the conditions found therein are fundamental to our doctrine, like there was no death before Adam. If the fall is a fairy story, what does that say about the atonement, the pillars of eternity don't look so stable when their foundations are merely metaphorical. Personally I prefer a literal interpretation of scripture, mainly because of a spiritual witness I had once. Yet, I also believe evolution has merit. I think I just blew my mind.

**update** actually I just changed my mind, evolution is correct as far as we can tell, the bible isn't.

Why is God a fractal? The Aesthetic of God, Agency and a mishmash of many other things 1

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes."

Add to that list the gods and demons, in between all that there's a large spectrum of possibility. With this ample wiggle room to operate we can theortically touch on all aspects of the human experience. As I go about my business I sometimes wonder with all the variantions available why are certain options privelaged above others. I'm not advocating relativism just examining how and why the universe picks its favourites.


Ten fingers and ten toes help make up the mormon conception of the form of God. This is an astonishing doctrine. Because of this heritage we reverence our bodies out of respect for deity and treat them as temples. Why not twelve fingers and twelve toes? Why is God a fractal? The Mormons have a large healthy blogging community where (probably )this and many topics which I'm interested in have already been examined, I want to explore all these well tread "difficult issues" in the church. Well tread by others maybe, but I've never really explored the teritory myself, now is as good a time to start as any.


to be continued...next: evolution

Today's spiritual thought

we don't need to earn God's love
but if we want we can qualify for some of his privelages

cause for optimism, the God connection part 2

(for part 1 see the previous post)

"I walked with God once" -- A misquote (of a mistranslation, ahem just kidding) of Abraham

When ever the thought of my value as a human being is called in to question it is usually in situations like this, where no query has been raised by anyone other than myself. Elaborate fantasies often take hold of my mind and will multiply explosively if left unchecked. I took a deep breath and didn't feel any better. I tried to remember that although in a deeply cynical way concocting scenarios to elevate myself over others by demeaning their value was entertaining, it was ultimately counter productive.

As a wise man once wrote (and our current Prophet practically deemed this story scripture): "[We are] all fellow passengers to the grave and not another race bound on other journeys." I paused. Yes, it appeared that I was still human. Given that I had ample time to process this evolving train of thought, and as I found myself though bound together with my fellow beings in principle, still I was temporarily separated from them by my malaise on my metaphorical island, I dug deep into my spiritual pockets and dusted off an old key.

In another time and another place I (and everyone else) lived with God and for reasons that I can't fathom we all thought it was a good idea that we should - if the thought wasn't too presumptuous - try and become like him. This means that I am a being of limitless potential. This means that my value is innate and not determined by what I do. This means that when I do my best and stumble it's OK, because God's promises are sure. I am God's son. God is love. His love is in me. This doesn't mean that I am a grinning idiot. Optimists are wonderful people, but hyper optimists scare me. Yes, we should be thankful in all things, yes we desire to endure all things, but there is a time to laugh and a time mourn, that doesn't mean we should laugh our way through cancer... I was getting ahead of myself, I managed to stultify the oncoming rant, perhaps for tonight at least, the time for mourning was at an end.

I had the key all I needed now was the ignition. The late Gordon B. Hinckley would provide the necessary machinery. At his funeral service, one of the apostles mentioned two behaviours that determined our beloved prophet's success in life. They were simply that he did his best, and he believed that everything would work out in the end. This is a sure fire formula for success. To be sure we will not always produce the results we desire, but if we can answer honestly at the end of each day that we've lived these two simple principles then we will succeed in the grand scheme of things, because in the end we will be with and be like God. Perhaps God can make an optimist of me yet. A group of wandering YSA were making their way toward the car. I managed to crack a miniature smile. I am Loren Hopkins. I am God waiting to happen. So is everyone.

To Be Continued...

cause for optimism, the god connection part 1

Another Sunday, another fireside. I sat in the aisle trying my best to appreciate the mostly well sung musical pieces presented. I can't sing, neither can Simon Cowell, but that's no reason not to criticise those who can and do. That's a wonderfully banal boys 2 men impression, I've heard dying cats deliver better harmonies. You know that kind of up beat positive reinforcement, which is usually, thankfully, kept confined to my head (and none would be the wiser, if not for this blog).

As soon as it was all over I Usain bolted for the door, hands in pockets, as to discourage any free ranging happy hand shakers from testing to see if I was unarmed or a disembodied spirit or possibly just from saying hi. A simple double eye brow raise with a slight head pop would have to suffice as a method for acknowledging each others existence. I can be a real sociable guy if you catch me in the right mood.

I made my way to the car park, propping myself up on the car of the kind person who drove me there. Surrounded by my own isolation, I drank in the self-imposed loneliness. It had a bitter after taste. Was I experiencing a watered down preview of outer darkness? I looked up at the stars, but they seemed just as distant as the people who were still grazing in their social circles back in the chapel. I was an outlier from the parabola of which I secretly longed to be a part. My only comfort came from this thought: I'll show 'em, I'll show 'em all.

TO BE CONTINUED (the optimistic part starts really soon, I promise)...

yes, I'm really desperate for content

Happy thought for the day:)

The YSA: The only group in the church where the point of the group is not to be part of the group. If you're lucky you become an SA at which point there is no hope for you. Someone's got to be the ministering angels.

Chinese at my Apartment

This is something of a Bookslinger tribute...

I came home at the close of a long YSA fireside about going on a mission (check) and getting married (not-check). I met a man of Asian decent at my apartment, it turns out he lives there/here and has being doing so for the last few months. My flatmates come and go with such frequent regularity that I often lose track. By chance, or possibly uncommon foresight on my part, I happened to have a Chinese Book of Mormon in my room for just such an occasion as this. I casually approached the gentlemen, his name is Ricky, and offered him the book. He said "Thank you."

"I'd like to share a revelation..."

Revelation is an important part of LDS living. Although it cannot be reduced to anything close to being scientifically verifiable, it is nonetheless a part of our lived (yes, even my lived) Mormon experience and unfalsifiable on those grounds. This may seem a convenient claim, on our part, in the mind of the skeptic, but it remains an important part of religious life in the hearts of saints worldwide.

Revelation is often accompanied by the feelings described in the book of Galatians "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Say what you will for qualia, or the correct neurons firing in my hypothalamus or wherever I'm not sure where or how it all operates, experiencing the sublime is sometimes vague and profound all at once, it's just another one of the infinite paradoxes of life (lets leave this aside for another time).

What I'm interested in is personal revelation. Dalin H. Oaks says there are two channels through which we receive communication from God. The hierarchical vehicle which accounts for many (some might say all) the churches policies and then there is the direct line wired into each of our souls. Now I am of the mind that when we touch or are touched by God -- according to Newton's third law you can't really have one without the other -- that we don't just instantly become puppets rattling off whatever is dictated to us. Fist of all, it rarely seems as if any particular words are being dictated to me at all. Secondly, my Patriarch speaks broken English and I unsurprisingly received a patriarchal blessing in broken English. Thirdly, this model of personal revelation equals us plus the promptings/sensations of the spirit, seems to make sense of why the Book of Mormon is written in the style that it is (i.e. King James English).

Well, as we start to recognise the Spirit what happens when revelations collide? When the Hierarchical and Personal disagree? That is for each of us to decide in our time and in our own way. We are instructed to follow the Brethren and we are also instructed to find out for ourselves. When facing this tension, it may be important to remember that personal revelation trumping all else is implicitly built into Mormonism. When we accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God, we also accept that we may one day be moved to decapitate another person and that if we follow through it will have been the right thing to do.

Perhaps I've gone too far...

Plan(s) of Salvation

Before the foundations of this world a plan was proposed and each of us who is born to the earth "shouted for joy". After the ancillary celebrations (and the notable expulsion of a farely large group of dissident party poopers), we left heaven with the promise that one day we could return if we were obedient to God's law. Sometimes I wonder what we were thinking.

In life we have many different challenges, this I suppose is built into our purpose for being here. Sometimes we even share the same challenges as others around us. Case in point: One day the Lamanites decided that they were going to wipe out the Nephites (again) and also the recently established People of Ammon, both of the non-aggressive groups had a different way of responding to the threat. The Nephites fought "for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church." The People of Ammon on the other hand buried their swords "deep in the earth" and refused to retaliate.

Which reaction was correct? They both were. "If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever;" Captain Moroni lead the Nephites in the defence of their nation. Consider the other side: "And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away." "And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace."

One problem, two very different solutions, now what's the point of all this? The Plan of Salvation is an all encompassing thing that effects each of us. In saying this, the Lord understands each of our unique situations; so there is the Plan of Salvation and then there are my acts of salvation (the actual salvation part being made possible through Jesus of course). We each come from different backgrounds and contexts just as the People of Ammon were different from Captain Moroni, so we will be schooled according what best serves our needs. The path is straight and narrow, but even on a finite straight line there are an infinite number of points. There are common points we all need to pass through (baptism's probably a good place to start), but in the end we need to choose our own way back to heaven. When we make peace with this fact, that's when the fun begins and maybe that's what we got so excited about in the first place.

Part-Time Missionary

I really enjoy what Bookslinger is doing over at Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon. So, much so that I'm "almost convinced" that I need to start my own version of his missionary minded efforts here in little old NZ. There's probably no reason to stop at an Agripa level of commitment though, not when all it takes is a few spare copies of the Good Book(s) and some concientious concern for the people around me. First recipient? I think my flatmate would be a good person to start with.

Another flashback

I've got to get my act together and do something current. In the meantime...


On this day the day of our Lord (being a Sunday), I was about trying to improve the righteousness of my Sabbath Day observance. In doing so I happily resolved to accept the invitation of the Elders to a teaching appointment that subsequently fell through. Left with an hour – a completely arbitrary amount of time, but agreed upon by all parties, at least implicitly – we resorted to the bane and blessing of all those who call themselves missionaries of the Lord. It was time to tract. I was with Elder Jones, we met many fine people. Matt was the stand out and he quite happily accepted a pamphlet which was rather nice of him. He seemed to posses a keen mind, and may have been the type who was always asking questions in the hope of proving his supreme intelligence by the impossibility of their being answered. In spite of this we all got along swimmingly. Now amidst our efforts, which were rewarded with no major manifestation of success to speak of, we still however managed to achieve something of merit. Resigned to the fact that we might as well converse rather than be swallowed up by the awkwardness and oblivion that the alternative, silence offered, we began to speak at length. Never being one for idle chatter I made a point to plunge us head first with milstone attached into the ocean of the deep and meaningfuls. As I have already hinted this strategy did not go unrewarded. We found our way eventually to the topic of balance (contrary to what certain motivational speakers may have you believe this is the true "secret" to the universe: to do what is needed, when it is needed, but I digress). He shared with me this wonderful advice from his mission president. A much younger and not yet President (of the Auckland mission), but 'merely' Brother Cook was faced with the considerable task of raising a family of two children, working two Jobs, studying, being a husband and also a full time member of the church. He and his wife decided to plan to do all the gospel things first, the prayers, the study the service and then plan everything else around those important activities. Simple, pure, brilliant.

Perfunctionary no more

Why do I take the sacrament?

To remember, but just what exactly it is that I'm trying to recall is something I often struggle with. And then I'm reminded and I start all over again... Do I need to remember my abstract formulations of who Jesus was and the mechanics of how the Atonement works insofar as I understand them? That's certainly part of it, but the knowledge needs to go deeper than that. There are other neural pathways (and spiritual ones) that need to be accessed. It is said "by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things" and that "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." So, to entertain the truth of what I'm remembering on a purely intellectual level would leave my knowledge of the reality of the divinity of Christ on par with the rest of my memorized facts about the world. However, these scriptures offer a valuable insight: stating that there is a special (non-provisional) knowledge available through a witness given by the Holy Ghost. The question is have I experienced this? Yes. OK, back to the beginning again, that's why I take the sacrament to remember the Atonement based on my own actual spiritual experience of its reality.

A little old school

To get me started here's a flash back to an old journal entry, just to get me back into the right flow, please excuse the exaggerated verbose language...

13 November 2007
I was wandering our wondrous metropolis (Auckland) and by chance bumped into a former University acquaintance. Louie shared with me his concerns about studying a BA, I was reluctant to dissuade him from his position, having graduated a philosophy major I know all too well the merit of said degree. I became a little flustered and wanted to depart at the most socially acceptable convenience (I was hungry), but he was intent on sharing his story. A little nudge came from what may have been the Holy Ghost. I thought that this was a good a time as any to share the gospel since my long lost acquaintance was fixed on engaging me so. To make the transition from educational misgivings to spiritual rejoicings, I first asked for his contact details, he inexplicably didn't know his own cell number (He is probably over 40 and hence new to the technology game); I seized upon this opportunity offering my own details as consolation, written on a pass along card no less. I offhandedly offered the DVD which can be ordered for free via the number on the back of the card as an early Christmas present. He seemed quite happy to investigate. "Wise as serpents and harmless as doves" somebody smart said that one time.

Hello World!

"There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time." M. Russell Ballard

Disclaimer as Preamble: The views expressed in this blog are the author's and do not (necessarily) represent those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints... Of course I'll do my best to get it right. In the spirit of Nephi's "small plates" I'll record spiritual experiences and gospel insights - which will hopefully be appropriate for Internet consumption. We can look through the glass darkly or in a less archaic form: watch static on TV, but either of these seem far less useful than seeking out the clarity that the truth brings and deny us the fun of virally infecting the entire Internet with it. I'm game, let's start talking, let me know what you think.