A Day at the Zoo

We went to the San Diego Zoo today.  It's been 6 years since our last visit.  Jennifer's dad has a membership with the zoo and the Safari Park (it used to be called the Wild Animal Park) and is periodically sent free passed to both parks along with other discounts.  His latest discounts expired at the end of this month.  Realizing he wouldn't be able to use them, he asked us if we'd be interested; we were.  After thinking about it; Jennifer and I felt that it would be fun to ask Jordan Graham if he was interested in coming with us.  While our excursion to the LA County Fair as a threesome was fun, it wasn't quite the same either.  We thought Isaac would like having a friend in the back seat with him on the drive to San Diego and back and we also thought it might be more fun for him to have a companion his own age throughout the day and not have to be stuck with his parents.  Jordan said "yes" to our invitation, and plans were made as to the best time that would work for him and us—today was the day.
 

One of the fun aspects of our trip was the opportunity we had to get to know Jordan better.  We've been friends with the Grahams for as long as we've lived in the High Desert.  Still, while we have gone on joint family excursions to the fair and other places over the years, usually we as parents would be in one area talking while our kids would be off playing together in a different area.  Since we were with Jordan on a one on one basis, we got to be on a more personal level with him (and he with us) on this trip and that made it fun as well.  We found out that the last time he had been to the San Diego Zoo was when he was 3-years-old and he didn't really remember the experience (I can relate—I remember telling my dad several years ago that I had gone to my first profession hockey game when I took my family to see the Anaheim Ducks play and found out that I had seen the LA Kings play the Detroit Red Wings back when I was one—okay, that may have actually been my first professional hockey game, but this one was the first one I remembered J).
 

After the drive down and going through the Disney-like line to make it to the ticket counter, it was after 11 o’clock by the time we finally walked through the entrance.  The zoo closed at 5 o'clock, so we had to make good use of our time.  Jen and the boys mapped out our plan of attack while I saw a man about a horse. J   Upon my return, I tried to get a candid shot of the three of them (Jordan saw me; Isaac noticed me at the last second but couldn't smile in time; Jennifer's look was priceless J) and they told me where they wanted to go.  We started off in the Outback and Urban Jungle areas.  From there, we visited the Elephant Odyssey, Northern Frontier, saw part of the Panda Canyon, and finished with the Lost Forest.  I'd say we probably saw about 75% of the zoo by the time we were finished—not bad for the amount of time we had.  Of all the animals we saw, our collective favorites were the koalas, the elephants, the tigers, the gorillas, and the turtles.
 

Why turtles?  We found them in a part of the Elephant Odyssey area (don’t know what turtles have to do with elephants, but I didn’t design the place J).  When we first saw them, we found 5 turtles bunched together on a sloped log sticking out of the small stream that ran through their exhibit (I should have taken a picture, but didn't).  It wasn't long before one of the turtles identified himself as either the alpha turtle or just the turtle bully of the bunch.  This turtle began to slowly kick one of the turtles behind him in the face.  The attacked turtle tried to cling to the bark of the log as best as he could, but he slid several inches toward an inevitable drenching in the stream.  Not satisfied, the bully turtle then inched up the log a bit and hissed at the turtle next to him.  Mr. Bully suddenly seemed to want his neighbor's spot and he began to push in that direction.  The neighbor turtle tried to fend off this encroachment, but the bully turtle had better leverage and swiped at his neighbor with his foot ... which loosened the neighbor's grip on the log enough from him to lose his balance and tumble toward the stream.  The result was a chain reaction that caused the bully, the neighbor and two other turtles to slide off the log and plunge in to the stream.  The only turtle to remain on the log?  The turtle who looked as though he would fall into the water first—chalk it up as a lesson in what goes around, comes around. J
 

I don’t believe I’ve been to any other zoo in Southern California.  At one point, Isaac told me that the Los Angeles Zoo is a good one (he went there on a couple of grade school field trips), but since I’ve never been there I have no frame of reference.  We got to see quite a few animals and to get some good looks at them.  Jennifer wanted to see the koalas.  For the most part, they were perched up in individual trees, rolled up into a ball of fur, sleeping.  There was one who decided to change positions and move to a higher branch while we were watching him.  I was able to get a better picture of him than I thought I did.  Jordan wanted to see the elephants.  I remember that the last time we came to the zoo was when the new configured elephant paddock had been completed.  It’s a very nice set-up and we got to see all of the elephants.  We decided to have lunch there.  Our one glitch of the day was the three of us forgetting to bring the lunch we had made at home along with us.  It was one of those situations where Jennifer thought I had the cooler while I thought she had the cooler and neither of us had it.  When I popped the trunk of the car after pulling into a parking space, I knew we were in trouble when Jennifer said, "Chris, where’s your lunch box?" (cue The Price Is Right fail music.)  Oh, well.  I was stuck paying the exorbitant prices charged by the zoo.  This was made up for slightly by my seeing a guy in the dining area who looked a lot like Peter Capaldi the latest actor to play Doctor Who!  When I surreptitiously pointed him out to Jen and Isaac, they could also see the resemblance (Jordan had no idea what I was talking about).  I wish I could have taken a picture of him, but I would have been way too obvious and the poor man probably would have thought I’d lost my mind. J
 

After lunch, we saw a jaguar, lions, and a polar bear (to name a few animals).  The polar bear wasn’t too interested in swimming, but the area was decorated in Christmas trees that Jennifer liked very much.  After visiting the snow leopards, we checked the line for the pandas and found it to be long (as usual).  If we had had more time, we might have considered getting in line, but realizing that we had 2 hours left in the day by that time and we still had several animals that we wanted to see, the decision was an easy one.  Pandas are cool, but they took a back seat to the other animals. J  Isaac wanted to see the tigers.  When we arrived at the viewing area, we couldn’t find them at first, but then we spotted them on a ledge above the main area.  They were sleeping (one of them was stretched out on its back with a paw in the air and like our cat Gumball J).  I noticed that people were able to see the tigers from a nearby walkway running past the ledge.  We hiked up this pathway and got a much better view of the two tigers.  With our new perspective, we saw that one of the tigers was awake and one was sleeping.  While we watched and took pictures, a group of young men, a couple years older than Jordan and Isaac, hiked up the trail to see the tigers (perhaps they had noticed us from down below).  One of the guys in the group looked quickly at the tigers and said, “They’re all lazy.  All the animals sit around doing nothing.  They’re lazy!”  After they left, we busted up laughing.  What was he expecting the tigers to do … a song and dance routine?

The next to the last animals we saw were the gorillas.  We liked them because they seemed to know that everyone wanted a good look at them and would “walk” right past the window partition.  Jennifer was able to get some good pictures of them (my camera didn’t do so well in the fading light of the day).  Several times the gorillas came right up to the window, so we stayed for several minutes to watch them.  After the gorillas, we went to the orangutan enclosure.  As it turned out, this was the final exhibit we saw (well, we did go into an aviary but were kicked out by a zoo worker about 5 minutes later who claimed he needed to lock up—it was still about 4:30; go figure).  One of the orangutans seemed to be either kissing the glass or doing blow fish; I couldn’t tell which.  It looked pretty odd.  The male orangutan looked like a mad scientist to me for some reason.  Once the announcement about the zoo closing started to be made, we decided we’d pretty much seen everything we wanted to see.  It turned out we weren’t too far from the exit from the orangutan’s enclosure.  We thought we might have time to go into the reptile house, but the surrounding area was roped off and the only people who could enter wore bands around their wrists.  Jennifer got one more picture of Isaac and Jordan posing with a gorilla bust and we called it a day.  A fun time was had by all.  We made good time coming home and was able to drop Jordan off and make it back to the house in time for Doctor Who—apparently the zoo closed in plenty of time to allow him to get back to the TARDIS and show us his latest episode. J

Standing as a Witness of God

In the sacrament prayer over the bread, the three covenants made at baptism are referenced to help us to remember them and renew them.  They are:

     1. "to take upon them the name of thy Son"

     2. "always remember him"

   3. "keep his commandments which he has given them" (D&C 20:77).

How do these three covenants help us to stand as a witness of God?

This was the question I asked our youth Sunday school class this morning.  I was standing in for Isaac in teaching the lesson.  He woke up not feeling well (cough, stuffy head, sore throat).  When I looked at him, I could tell he wasn't up for going to church, so I asked him where his copy of the lesson was and substituted for him.  The consensus of the class was that if we've taken the Savior's name upon us and promised to always remember Him and keep His commandments, then all three would assist us in standing up for His teachings and His Church.  I then asked the class if any of them had been in a situation where they had needed to do this and several of them nodded in the affirmative.  Then one of the young women made a comment that has stuck with me all day.  She didn't go into details, but she essentially said it's interesting when people come to her and tell her what she believes and she then has to correct them and explain what the Church actually teaches.

One of my experiences with this phenomena happened while I was a university student.  At the bell tower in the middle of quad one noontime an itinerant preacher stood up and began to preach.  He was surrounded by a fairly large crowd--most who seemed to be there to heckle him.  Fascinated by the scene, I sat down at a table on the periphery of the crowd to observe.  No more than 5 minutes later, I was approached by a young man (who appeared to be the same age as me) handing out cards.  For some reason, he stopped when he reached me and struck up a conversation.  His first question: "Do you read the Bible?"  I replied that I did and went on to say that I was a Sunday school teacher and we were studying the New Testament.  This began a conversation of about 5 to 10 minutes where we discussed the Bible and the Savior and other points.  After this time had passed, the man then asked me, "What church do you belong to?"  In my mind, I thought, Here it comes.  Out loud, I said, "I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."  When my companion looked at me with incomprehension, I added, "We are referred to as the 'Mormon' Church."

No sooner did the word Mormon leave my lips when the man's face darkened and he immediately began to argue with me, telling me about "Joe" Smith and describing what I believed as a member of that church.  I quietly countered and gently corrected him until he grew tired of me.  He made one last nasty remark about my religion and moved quickly away from me.  I watched him go for a moment and then sat in silence and thought to myself, What just happened?  I'm the same person now that I was when he began to talk to me, but with the word "Mormon" in the air between us, I went from being a believer to someone to be attacked and ridiculed.  I found the whole experience to be quite instructive and amazing all at the same time.

When we "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in" (Mosiah 18:9), we are standing in defense of our beliefs and our God.  To defend is to "to maintain or support in the face of argument or hostile criticism", but in this context it is also "to drive danger or attack away from" Jesus Christ and His message (merriam-webster.com).  I believe I've said something like this in other posts, but in our world of instantaneous, hostile reaction to a perceived slight or offense, this idea of being told what I believe seems to be something that will happen with increasing frequency.  People who have no idea what they are talking about will find some strange "morally superior" high ground to lecture me on what I think and what I believe based on a knee-jerk reaction to some doctrine or policy they don't understand.  Based on this, the question, as I see it, is: "Will I yield in the face of such criticism, or will I stand firm in my conviction and remain a true witness of God and His teachings?"  I suspect that standing firm in defense of God is going to become harder and harder as the winds of criticism blow stronger, the storms lash with more force and the waves attack with greater fierceness.

I then asked the class to turn to the account of Lehi's dream.  I think this is one of the reasons Nephi felt impressed to write his father Lehi's dream into his own record.  Of the four groups mentioned, two appear to me to be members of the true church of Christ, but there is a fundamental difference between these two groups.  The first group is described as "press[ing] forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree" (1 Nephi 8:24).  When I asked the class about the word clinging, they told me that it seemed to them that this group lacked commitment.  I found this interesting since the definition of the word cling is "to hold or hold on tightly or tenaciously" (merriam-webster.com), but the class felt that clinging seemed to indicate to them that this group might be letting go or not firmly grasping the rod all the time.  Perhaps this is one of the reasons why, when they reach the tree and partake of the fruit, they easily become ashamed because of those in the great and spacious building who "were scoffing at them" (1 Nephi 8:28).  The ridicule of the world causes this group to reject the tree, turn away, and to spiritually lose themselves in "forbidden paths"(1 Nephi 8:28); whatever the definition of those paths might be.

The second group is also described as "press[ing] their way forward" along the rod of iron, but the difference is that they are "continually holding fast" to the rod until, upon reaching their destination, they "fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree" (1 Nephi 8:30).  When I asked the class about this group, I asked what they thought about the fact that they fell down upon reaching the tree.  We established that it may have partly been in exhaustion over the fact that they had finally reached their destination, or it may have partly been because of relief that the journey was over, but mostly it was in gratitude for what the tree represented--the love of God.  This gratitude appears to set them apart from the first group.  Instead of the journey along the iron of iron being a exercise to complete and a box to check off, this group seems to have truly grown from the experience they received along their way.  They haven't just walked the path, they have endured the hardships that afflicted them along the way and appreciated the lessons learned from those trials.  Based on these considerations, when this group partakes of the fruit of the tree and hears the mocking from those in the great and spacious building, instead of becoming ashamed, this group "heeded them not" (1 Nephi 8:33).  They are converted; they have obtained and developed a testimony of the truthfulness of the love they are tasting; they have endured hardship--why should they heed the uninformed or misinformed calls found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or whatever else might be delivering the message of scorn from those in the great and spacious building.

While the Church remains on a straight course along the strait and narrow path back to the Savior and Heavenly Father, the world's path is slanting farther and farther away from Their path.  The final thing we talked about was the importance of gaining and keeping one's own testimony.  If we are committed to our Father and the Savior and Their church, the only way we will be able to withstand the mocking and scorn of the world is if we keep our eyes on the tree (Jesus and Father and their love for us) and our feet on the rock (see Helaman 5:12).  Only with a firmly rooted testimony of the Savior, His gospel, His Church and His servants will we be able to withstand the tests and trails, mocking and scorn that we will receive over the course of the coming days, weeks, months and years until the trumpet shall sound and the Savior will return again in power and glory and might His second time to the earth.  It is my hope that I will do all that I can to be a part of that amazing and glorious day.

Clowning Around

For our ward Halloween party, the young men were given permission to set up a haunted house.  Earlier in the month, we decided on the theme of clowns.  At first, we were going to use the young women's upstairs room, but Jeff Carter, being our haunted house expert (I've been told about the crazy haunted houses he's put together at his house on Halloween night--Jennifer would go out with the boys during their trick or treating days while I'd stay home and hand out candy to the ghouls and goblins who came to our door), decided that the partition rooms on the north side of the building would be a better bet.  The plan that we put together was to have the first room off of the foyer be a "pop out" room where someone would give our victims ... I mean "visitors" ☺ ... their first scare before being ushered into the partition rooms.  The final scare would come as our visitors left the rooms.

When we arrived at the party, I found the partition rooms to be set up with a strobe light in the first room, tables and chairs from the foyer in the second room (the chairs were occupied by the grim reaper and someone else dressed as a skeleton), and another strobe light, balloons, and distorted, maniacal circus music in the final room (I thought the best "song" was "Send In the Clowns"--it was slowed down and distorted was awesome).  A fog machine was also going to be used, but it decided to take the night off.  Brother Carter asked if Isaac and I were planning to join in as clowns.  When I said "yes," he told me that the makeup was in the bathroom.  As you can see from the picture, I tried to go for a Jokerish motif.  I think I did fairly well.  Since I was wearing my Jack Skellington shirt and black pants, it was decided that I would be a good candidate to hide in the first room and be the "pop out" person.  I felt that instead of jumping out of the doorway, I would put my left arm against the door frame and swing myself out of the doorway like I've seen in mechanical haunted houses (like the one at Lagoon--a memory from childhood).  A freakish laugh and a rainbow clown wig topped off my costume (green hair would have been cool, but rainbow worked as well).

Isaac was positioned in the first partition room.  He did most of his makeup; I helped with the "mouth" and the "scars."  He also had a rainbow wig to go along with his makeup.  At first, he stood in the room with a crazy smile on his face (much like the one in the picture) and held a large balloon on a string that he would bop back and forth.  After a couple of groups came through, the string broke, so he and Jordan Graham (another priest) started coming up with different ways to elicit screams for the remainder of the evening.  I was able to rack up quite a few screams (of varying degrees) throughout the night.  At one point, Isaac was punched in the chest by one of the young women who reacted to his scaring her and he notched quite a few screams as well.  My best moment came when a group of 5 older primary children came up to my door.  After I popped out with my laugh, I noticed that only 2 visitors remained to continue into the partition room--the other 3 beat feet back to the gym. ☺

Isaac and I had fun.  I think my best compliment was during the trunk or treat portion of the festivities.  I had removed the rainbow wig, but still wore the makeup.  Several kids made it a point to bypass me and my bowl of candy and scurry over to the next car.  That told me I had completed my job well. ☺

Okay, So I’m Warming Up to Star Wars VII

 *I’ve jammed my whirly-bird hat on my head again, so watch out.*

Back in November of last year, J.J. Abrams unleashed his first teaser trailer of the new Star Wars movie (now less than two months from debuting) on the world.  Being a Star Wars geek (not hardcore, mind you, but I am a big fan of the original trilogy), I announced to my 1 ½ readers (just in case there's one or more ☺) my cautious optimism, my desire not to get caught up in the hype, and my silence unless I had anything more to say on the run-up.  I had actually planned to stay silent until I finally had a chance to see the movie, but, after watching the latest trailer, I have decided the time has come for me to break my nearly yearlong silence sooner than planned. J

This Monday last, a new 2:15 (+/-) trailer was shown during the half time of ESPN’s telecast of the Monday Night Football game between the Eagles and the Giants—from the reviews of the game I heard the next day, something needed to done to keep people watching the telecast; but I digress.  Isaac had been asked by one of the sets of missionaries who serve in our ward to join them at a teaching appointment and he needed a ride to get there: fair enough, I said I would take him.  As the appointed time approached, however, I checked the game and noticed only 2 minutes remained before halftime.  My hope was that I would get Isaac to the appointment and return home in time to watch the trailer and record it for Isaac ... that was the plan.  It figures this would be the day I arrived at the house where the meeting was taking place before the missionaries did!  I had to wait several minutes for them to arrive in order to kick Isaac out of the car and race back home (I’m kidding, but in the back of my mind …).  I tried my very best to drive under control (with varying degrees of success) to get back to the house to see the trailer, but by the time I got back into the living room and changed the channel from the baseball game to the football halftime, I got to see the last 20 to 30 seconds of the trailer—shazbot!  And no, I don’t have a DVR, I have not indulged in this technology, thank you very much—technological dinosaur, remember?  If I was living in 1977, I would have had to wait until the trailer started showing up as a TV commercial—thankfully, this is 2015 and I live in a world with Internet.   After grousing for several minutes over the fact that I'd missed the trailer, I was inspired to click over to starwars.com and found it already posted to their website (cue “Hallelujah Chorus” J).

Now that I've had several days to ruminate and watch the trailer several times, what are my impressions (like you care, but it's my blog and I'm going to tell you anyway J)?  I guess the reason I’m writing this particular post (when I wasn’t planning to) is that my overall feeling about this project has improved from "cautiously optimistic" to "optimistic."  That may not seem like much movement, but for me, it's a huge step.  In my previous post, I made it clear that after the debacle that was the prequel trilogy I am gun shy about the next group of three movies.  I'm still in no mood to allow myself to get sucked into the hype.  I haven’t read many articles about Episode VII, but good grief, the ones I have indulged in hold enough rumors and speculation to fill several giant warehouses!  Luke Skywalker doesn’t appear on the poster and that means he’s gone to the Dark Side (which, might be an interesting development if done correctly)!  Apparently some people are still freaking out over a black man (Finn, I guess the character is called) being a storm trooper and are losing their minds even more now that he’s been shown holding a blue lightsaber (what's the big deal; I think the potential is interesting).  I've also read how people are parsing each released trailer, picking through each and every nuance in a desperate attempt to glean plot information (whatever floats your boat, I suppose), and someone has already taken the three trailers and pasted them together into a 3:30 mega-trailer (okay, actually, it’s quite good, see it here).  At the time of this new trailer’s release, advance tickets could also be purchased and the website Fandango crashed.  I've already decided that I'm probably going to wait at least week after the movie is released before attempting to see it because of this feeding frenzy; it will be the same movie whether I see it opening night or a week or two later.  I didn't see the original Star Wars (now called Episode IV) until a year after it's release (it was still playing in an Orem, Utah theater—go figure).  I’m not going to lose my mind if I can’t watch the movie the day of its debut.

Now that I’ve slipped off the subject for a moment, let me pull back to my reasons for writing J and expand upon one of the aspects (among many) of the prequel movies that didn't sit well with me: the overall presentation appeared … for lack of a better word: digital.  Everything on the screen (some of the characters included, of course) seemed to be computer generated.  As an example, I recall watching a feature of the making of Attack of the Clones and for one of the concluding battles with the Jedi and the droid army I saw the main actors, the "human" ones, standing in the middle of a sound stage with sand on the floor and blue screen all around them.  While the scene was impressive in its visual scope on the screen, it was mostly fake in that it was digital.  So many aspects of the movies were computer generated, that the overall effect for me was an antiseptic feel to the worlds the movies were presenting.  Yes, I understand setting for these movies are places supposedly beyond anything we earthlings have ever conceived of visiting, but it doesn't help when the scenes practically scream at you that they're not real.  The original movies were grounded in reality--meaning real settings.  For instance, the Luke's landspeeder is, in some instances, a special effect, but its surrounded by the Tansinian desert.  In the prequels, it got to the point for me that even when ships or other background objects where supposed to be “dirty,” the dirt was computer generated and I couldn’t help but notice.  This may seem strange, but I don’t know how else to describe it.  How can these actors truly "act" when they are standing in the middle of a sound stage with blue walls all around them.  During battle scenes, they had their fight choreography to lean on, but when it came to dialoge, there was not way to truly "act," or at least react.  It was as if they were told, “Okay, you’re going to need to duck here,” or “Now you need to react this way,” and the actions appeared stilted instead of fluid.  One thing I've noticed about J.J. Abrams over the years is that he will use locations and sound stage.  Live action when possible with the additions of special effects when needed.  I noticed in the trailer a grimy, dirty feel to the scenes.  The battles had a visceral quality that I immediately reacted to and I felt more like I was watching scenes from the original trilogy movies instead of the prequels.

Maybe no one will believe this, but I just stumbled across this (the YouTube version has people swearing at each other in the "comments" section, so I linked to the starwars.com verson instead) which confirms what I just mentioned above (nice to have "Luke" and "Chewie" backing me up).  Anyway, beside potential non-digitalness (not a word, but I'm sticking with it) of the scenes in the film, my overall positive gut feelings have raised my level of anticipation.  I'm still keeping my expectations low because I don't want to be disappointed, but I am feeling better about what I could potentially experience at the theater.  I imagine we will soon start getting TV commercials for the movie.  These may offer a few new scenes or they may rehash what has already been offered.  While there really is no way to glean any major plot lines of the story from what has been shown, the Finn character does appear to be headed toward being trained as a Jedi.  Both Finn and Rey (the scavenger hunter with the big long stick device and the soccer ball droid companion) end up on the Millennium Falcon for some reason.  There are several battles with the group wanting to reassemble to the Empire.  Other than that, I'm trying to remain as blissfully ignorant of what the movie will offer me as I can to allow my theater experience dictate to dictate my reaction.  I'm sure I'll have something to say (good, bad, indifferent) once I've finally watched the movie.  Until then, I return to radio silence about this movie. ☺

49

Poetry is not something I write very often.  When I have attempted it for reasons of a grade in a creative writing class or the few times I attempted it on my mission, I am more of a "free verse" person rather than a poet who understands meter, rhyme and all the other various elements I was taught in several writing or English classes over the years.  There have been times when Jennifer has asked me to write her a poem and it's not as though I don't want to, but it's not that simple for me.  She can say, "I want to write a poem" and after an hour or two boom, she has a poem.  With me, the planets need to properly align, the stars need to shift in the sky in just the right order and flocks of migrating pigs need to suddenly fly over (check that) ... fly a hundred yards west of my house. ☺  In other words, I really need to be in the mood in order to wring a poem out of my grey matter.

Back when I was in my mid-twenties, I had a moment like I described above.  A friend of mine had a sister who had reached the age of 49 and wouldn't it be funny if I could write something "honoring" this blessed event.  My mischievous side (yes, I do have one ☺) rose up within me and before I knew it, out popped a poem to mark the occasion.  Now, as I close in on this same mortal milestone, I have reached back into my archives and found this gem of creative genius!  As I read it for the first time in lo these many years, I was struck by the fact that while it was originally written for someone else, the context has changed for me—it's as if my twenty-something self is playfully tweaking my now nearly 49-year-old self.  This poem actually attempts at some sort of meter and rhyme.  I'm not sure how well it actually accomplishes this feat, but, hey, at least I took a shot at making it work.  I think I succeeded where I usually fail miserably because of the sarcastic, yet playful, nature of the subject.   Frankly, I like it.  So, without further ado, I give you said poem:

FORTY-NINE

OH, how lovely and divine;

Now that you are forty-nine.

Another year has come and gone,

But, even so, life must go on.

And so it does, along yon narrow track,

Weighing heavily upon creaking back.

Yet, with all the travails you must face

As you live here in this place;

If each day you strive mightily to smile,

Pushing back the surrounding guile;

Perhaps then, you won't feel too bad

About the years that have fled like mad.

Only then, will you think it nifty ...

Next year, you'll be turning FIFTY!

President Monson: A Different Focus

"We get what we focus on consistently" (Ensign, May 2009, 40).  I have used this sentence from a talk given by Elder Kevin W. Pearson in at least one other post (if not more), but it seems to have a lot more power to it in the context of my thoughts as of late.  In my last post, I stated that one of the talks that touched me was President Monson’s Sunday morning address.  Although I briefly touched on the physical struggle he had at the end of his talk, I wanted to focus on what he said rather than what I saw because I didn’t want my sense of hearing to get overshadowed by my sense of sight (although, I will admit it wasn't easy as his talk came to its conclusion).  Others, it appears, have decided to focus on criticism of the supposed lack of assistance to President Monson (among other things—see the "distractions" portion of the linked post) over the last few minutes of his address.

I guess some of those criticizing would claim they are doing so because they love the prophet and want him to be safe, but if their love for President Monson causes them to heap invective upon the heads of those who serve with the prophet it seems to me that their love is misplaced.  I have access to a Webster's dictionary from 1977, and in this particular instance, I'm glad I do because what I found in the definition of the word criticize in that dictionary is a bit different that what can be found in the on line version of today.  Definition 2 of criticize on the Merriam-Webster website (which is the definition that is in use in this instance) is "to find fault with :  point out the faults of", but in the 1977 Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, criticize is defined as "to stress the faults of : cavil at".  The word cavil was not one I recalled meeting before, so I looked it up in the 1977 dictionary as well and found it's definition to be "to raise trivial and frivolous [of little importance] objection".

This little exercise helped me to better understand something taught by Elder Dallin H. Oaks in last April conference.  Addressing the Parable of the Sower, Elder Oaks, while discussing the "stony ground," brought up the "keyhole view of the gospel or the Church" which has been "accelerated by current technology".  He continued: "This limited view focuses on a particular doctrine or practice or perceived deficiency in a leader and ignores the grand panorama of the gospel plan and the personal and communal fruits of its harvest. President Gordon B. Hinckley gave a vivid description of one aspect of this keyhole view. He told a BYU audience about political commentators 'aflame with indignation' at a then-recent news event. 'With studied art they poured out the sour vinegar of invective and anger. … Surely,' he concluded, 'this is the age and place of the gifted pickle sucker.' In contrast, to be securely rooted in the gospel, we must be moderate and measured in criticism and seek always for the broader view of the majestic work of God" (Ensign, May 2015, 33).

This type of carping was also touched on in the conference just concluded.  I quote one example from Elder M. Russell Ballard: "Too many people think Church leaders and members should be perfect or nearly perfect. They forget that the Lord’s grace is sufficient to accomplish His work through mortals. ... Looking for human weakness in others is rather easy. However, we make a serious mistake by noticing only the human nature of one another and then failing to see God’s hand working through those He has called" ("God Is at the Helm, Oct. 2015).  In situations such as what happened to President Monson, the keyhole criticism turns out to be "trivial" and "frivolous" rather than "moderate and measured."  In no way am I attempting to minimize what happened to President Monson, but, rather, to give it some perspective that seems to be missed by those focusing solely on his weakness in body or the perceived lack of help or whatever the criticism is.

To this end, I would like to change the focus—to offer an alternate view of the events.  I have chronicled in several posts (see here, here, here, here, and here if you're interested ☺) my oldest son Benjamin's struggle with a back injury and subsequent diagnosis of Hypermobility Disorder.  Now, he is serving as a missionary in the Colorado Denver North Mission.  He has been having some struggles of late trying to find a balance between doing the work he was called to Colorado to do, keeping the pain at tolerable levels and feeling the Spirit in the midst of it all.  Oh, how I wish I could report that his missionary service has caused his back to miraculously heal and cured his disorder; but I cannot.  It's not that simple.  However, to quote from Ben's last letter: 

"I went on my first exchange on Wednesday.  My companion was Elder Smith and he was a blessing from God because he helped me feel sane and connected with me.  He has a disease that makes his body think his back needs to heal when it doesn't.  His body is trying to fuse his spine together and he has osteoporosis already.  He helped me feel sane by his example to keep on moving which strengthened my desire to not give up and keep on moving. ... General Conference sealed the deal with Sister Marriott’s talk and more so with David A. Bednar's talk that challenges of physical pain add to our leader’s character and makes them even more admirable; that what they say stands out even more because of their spirit.  No matter what physical pain they must endure, they receive help from God and their strength is from God.  When Elder Bednar quoted my favorite scripture: "Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same" [D&C 1:38] it just hit it home for me.  The Spirit hit me so strongly and I cried and realized that I can do this mission!  I can stand up like Thomas S. Monson did, even when it was hard for him at the end of his talk, and finish what the Lord wants him and me to say.  Even though my body is weak, my spirit is strong and I can feel the light of Christ even in my pain. ... I also had a thought during the priesthood session that if I ever saw President Monson face to face, I would go up to him and give him a hug and tell him, 'That was from God.'" (emphasis added)

"We get what we focus on consistently."  For those who are wasting their time focusing on the state of President Monson's health, or the "fact" that no one came to the podium to support him, or whatever the case may be concerning our dear prophet, I wanted you to know that a missionary in Colorado found inspiration in what he saw as President Monson struggled to finish his talk.  A missionary, who has a weak area in his spine and constant pain in more than a few of his joints realized that if President Monson can continue to power through weakness of body, he (the missionary) can also do the same.  With just a change in focus, an incident that has caused some to criticize has caused another individual to gain strength and conviction that he can do what the Lord has called him to Colorado to do—despite the physical discomfort.

May we all carefully consider where we place our focus.

October Conference Thoughts

Another wonderful conference concluded on Sunday afternoon.  I've waited a couple of days because I wanted to take some time to think about the messages and focus on the ones that touched me personally.  This is the fourth time I've written my post conference thoughts.  I find it interesting that there have been certain brethren who pretty consistently affect me as I've watched conference and then there are the messages that jump out at me and strike me to the heart.  I noticed several themes in this conference: 1) light was mentioned in several talks and when we follow the gospel, it enlightens our mind; 2) sacrament meeting and making it an important part of our Sabbath worship was mentioned multiple times; 3) not allowing doubt to overwhelm us and staying away from negative internet influences that tear down the gospel's simple, yet profound message; 4) faith and the importance of keeping it strong; 5) the role of the Holy Ghost in our lives (also tied to light).  There were others, but these are the 5 that stuck out to me.

I sensed a subdued spirit over the conference weekend, but also one of rejoicing.  Subdued in the sense that voices of Elders Perry, Packer and Scott were not heard at this conference.  I think it was a bit jarring to realize that their insights were not a part of the proceedings.  At the same time, I rejoiced in the calling of the three new apostles called to fill the vacancies.  With that as my backdrop, I will mention the talks that touched my spirit during the two days of the conference.

"It Works Wonderfully!" - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:  President Uchtdorf began conference by immediately letting us know that we would be sustaining three new members of the Quorum of the Twelve and then he dove into his wonderful talk.  He pointedly asked us if the gospel was working in our lives and gave two examples of what could be done to strengthen its influence in our lives if we found our discipleship to be lacking.  The first was to "simplify."  He counselled, "Brothers and sisters, if you ever think that the gospel isn’t working so well for you, I invite you to ... simplify your approach to discipleship. Focus on the basic doctrines, principles, and applications of the gospel."  Sometimes it seems easy layer other things over top of the simple truths of the gospel until those truths get lost underneath the layers.  When we strip those layer away, then the beautiful message shines through.  His second suggestion was to "start where you are."  If we get caught up in the idea that we need to be something greater than we already are in order for the Lord to work with us, we are selling ourselves very short.  Instead, it is so much more productive to understand that "God will take you as you are at this very moment and begin to work with you. All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe, and trust in the Lord."  Instead of thinking that we need to be somebody before God will work with us, we should understand that by starting with God as we are right now will allow Him to develop us be become who He sees. (full talk here)

"God Is at the Helm" - Elder M. Russell Ballard:  This was a follow-up to his Oct. 2014 talk which counselled members "to stay on the Old Ship Zion ... and to hold on with both hands."  Since then, family members and others have asked him what is there in the Old Ship Zion that we should hang on to.  His answer: "Clearly, our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ have outfitted the Old Ship Zion with clear and simple eternal truths that will help us stay the course through the troubled waters of mortal life."  Two back to back talks, right out of the gate, reminding us of the simplicity of the gospel.  Elder Ballard then listed some of those "clear and simple eternal truths" such as: living prophets and apostles, the doctrine of the plan of salvation, families and observing the Sabbath day.  Near the conclusion of his talk, Elder Ballard declared: "God’s plan is in place. He is at the helm, and His great and powerful ship flows toward salvation and exaltation. Remember that we cannot get there by jumping out of the boat and trying to swim there by ourselves."  Good words to consider. (full talk here)

"The Joy of Living a Christ-Centered Life" - Elder Richard J. Maynes:  The story of Elder Aoba and his object lesson of making pottery at a youth conference is what stood out to me.  I think I've heard this before at some point in my life (maybe in an art class, or perhaps in a talk given in a ward I've lived in, but I was struck by the importance of having the clay "centered on the wheel."  I liked how Elder Maynes used that idea to show the importance of a Christ-centered life.  The three examples he used were also very good, but the one that really jumped out at me was the story of the Lamanite king.  It's funny sometimes how someone can point something out and make me think to myself, "Why did I never catch that before?"  That is how I felt as Elder Maynes contrasted the king stating he would give Ammon "even to half of the kingdom" if he would spare his life, but to Aaron, the king declared, "I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom" to receive the joy of the gospel.  (full talk here)

"Yielding Our Hearts to God" - Sister Neill F. Marriott:  One of the aspect of Sister Marriott's talk that caught my ear was the hymn that she recited at the very beginning.  After listening to Elder Maynes use potter's clay as an example of living a Christ-centered life, she "follows up," in a way, with these lines: "Thou art the Potter; I am the clay.  Mould me and make me After Thy will".  I think this is why the first four talks struck me so profoundly.  I was amazed to hear how Elder Ballard's wonderfully backed up President Uchtdorf's and Sister Marriott's bolstered Elder Maynes'.  She talked about yielding our will to Father's and how that can be difficult, but can bring such blessings.  I also liked her definition of the sacrament: "the heart of the Sabbath".  If we look at the sacrament in the same manner, we can be so blessed and strengthened by this weekly ordinance.  Oh, and I loved her Southern accent. ☺ (full talk here)

"Behold Thy Mother" - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:  I enjoyed Elder Holland's talk because it reminded me of my love for my mother as she and my father serve in the mission field in France for a third time.  But I also enjoyed it because I saw how it touched Jennifer.  His words definitely touched her and gave her a nice spiritual boost.  It also elicited a nice comment from Ben to her in his weekly letter to us on Monday. (full talk here)

"Be an Example and a Light" - President Thomas S. Monson:  No, I am not choosing this talk because of what happened to President Monson toward the end of his address when his strength began to fail him.  I am choosing this talk because of its profound and simple truths.  If you look at the two scriptures that framed his remarks (Matthew 5:16 and 1 Timothy 4:12), and how President Monson talked about letting our light shine and how we can strengthen our light, I feel that his talk serves as the crux of all the other addresses.  By partaking of the sacrament, we recommit to these two scriptural ideas.  As we do what is necessary to live a Christ-centered life, our light becomes stronger and can be a beacon to others.  All of the truths President Monson touches upon reach out and gather in all the other addresses.  "To each of you, I say that you are a son or daughter of our Heavenly Father. You have come from His presence to live on this earth for a season, to reflect the Savior’s love and teachings, and to bravely let your light shine for all to see. When that season on earth has ended, if you have done your part, yours will be the glorious blessing of returning to live with Him forever."  President Monson's address, to my mind, serves as the "heart" of the conference which is, in my estimation, why he was so determined to finish it in spite of his physical weakness. (full talk here)

"Through God’s Eyes" - Elder Dale G. Renlund:  All three of the newly called members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had the opportunity to bear their testimonies.  Elder Renlund's talk back in April conference of this year was one that touched me and I found his words doing so again here in October.  His personal story about being a heart transplant surgeon and how he tried to keep a "professional attitude" after one of his patients, Chad, was broken when he "saw Chad through his mother’s and father’s eyes", was touching because of the lesson he then taught: "I now realize that in the Church, to effectively serve others we must see them through a parent’s eyes, through Heavenly Father’s eyes. Only then can we begin to comprehend the true worth of a soul."  I have found myself gaining a better understanding of this lesson.  It is one that I'm still working on (probably for the rest of my mortal life and beyond), but it is one that has helped me gain a better appreciation for others. (full talk here)

“Chosen to Bear Testimony of My Name” - Elder David A. Bednar:  In my opinion, Elder Bednar's address was the cherry on top of the sundae.  There are some who complain about the age of our leaders.  The criticism of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve seems to range from "they're so old that they're out of touch with the modern world" to "how can they lead the Church when they are so infirm and weak in physical strength and stamina?"  Elder Bednar countered: "The limitations that are the natural consequence of advancing age can in fact become remarkable sources of spiritual learning and insight. The very factors many may believe limit the effectiveness of these servants can become some of their greatest strengths. Physical restrictions can expand vision. Limited stamina can clarify priorities. Inability to do many things can direct focus to a few things of greatest importance."  To my mind, this explanation brought what happened to President Monson at the end of his Sunday morning address into sharp focus.  Like I said above, I feel that his talk serves as the heart or the crux of all the other conference addresses.  His spiritual insight and the revelation he received from the Lord allowed him to craft a talk that holds the rest of the conference address in a tightly woven framework.  For the remainder of his talk, Elder Bednar then focused on the six apostles who have passed away during his tenure in the Quorum.  He talked about the insight they gave us in their final conference addresses before their passing and finished each example by saying that each "message is a powerful lesson of a lifetime from a man I love".  As I thought about my own feelings concerning President Faust, President Hinckley, Elder Wirthin, Elder Perry, President Packer and Elder Scott, I was again reminded of how thankful I am to the Lord for the impact each of these men have had on my life and how grateful I am to the Lord for calling them into the Quorum. (full talk here)

I love general conference and look forward to listening to and reading these talks again!

Don't Forget Who Is In Charge (Addendum)

Conference has come and gone.  I will be posting my conference thoughts soon (now that I've had a few days to chew on what I heard and saw), but I wanted to come back to my Oct. 1st post now that the "dust" has settled.  Why?  Because a few minutes after the Saturday afternoon session ended, I fired up the computer to gain a little bit more insight into Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson and Elder Dale G. Renlund, the new brethren called as Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I pulled up the Deseret News website first and began to peruse the articles and I came across this one.  I clicked on it and read it and then I came to the bottom of the "page"--the "comments" section.  I will admit that curiosity got the better of me and I pulled the page further down in order to read the top three comments.  At that time, all three were complaining over the fact that none of the new apostles were from Latin America, but the one that really caught my eye started off in this manner: "Not to second guess the Lord and His prophet, but ..."  Really?  How about: "I'm not trying to second guess the Lord and His prophet, but let me take a minute to second guess the Lord and His prophet while I carry on about the missed opportunity of not calling a Latin American apostle."  I could do nothing more but shake my head; not in anger, but in sadness.

We always speak in wonder about the stiff-necked children of Israel that Moses had to lead out of Egypt.  Time after time the Lord through Moses performed mighty miracles for the Israelites and time after time it wasn't long before they wanted to reject Him and His messenger ("Dudes, Moses is going into the mount for 40 days?  Time to party!"), but are we any better when we question the Lord and His choices in this manner?  I almost wonder if some of us Mormons are suffering from the sin of covetousness and having some sort of Pope Francis envy ("The Catholics have a Latin American pope, why can't we have a Latin American apostle?").  Whatever the case may be, no one carrying on about this seems to get the overarching answer to all this crazy criticism: Who cares what we think?  We're not in charge!

Good grief, we are such a myopic bunch!  I don't know if it has something to do with the fact that we can put our opinions out into the ether at a moments notice nowadays, but it's amazing how much we think our instant opinions on whatever the topic might be are so relevant (he says while understanding the irony of doing much the same thing ☺).  The problem with our opinions are that they are grounded in mortality and, at times, influenced by the philosophies of men.  I mentioned this back when Ben opened his mission call, but when are we going to learn the lesson the Lord taught the prophet Isaiah when He declared: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 55:8).  I am constantly amazed at how the Lord puts the right people in the right places at the right time--and I am also amazed at how some people can't or won't see that because His choices don't fit with their particular agenda.  Elder M. Russell Ballard, giving a follow-up to his talk about staying on the Old Ship Zion, reminded us, "God’s plan is in place. He is at the helm, and His great and powerful ship flows toward salvation and exaltation. Remember that we cannot get there by jumping out of the boat and trying to swim there by ourselves" (Oct. 2015, Gen. Conf.).

The problem with our view is perspective--we don't have much.  As Elder Rafael E. Pino taught in last April conference, "Perspective is the way we see things when we look at them from a certain distance, and it allows us to appreciate their true value.  It is like being in a forest and having a tree in front of us. Unless we step back a little, we will not be able to appreciate what a forest really is" (Ensign, May 2015, 117).  While we pick our way through the forest of mortality, sometimes the trees are thick and the undergrowth dense and we are in danger of losing our way.  We need better perspective.  Why else would the Lord choose servants to stand on a watchtower?  As prophets, seers and revelators, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (with the help of the Seventies, Presiding Bishopric, and General Auxiliary Leaders) have a greater view and perspective of the forest.  With their improved perspective, the Prophet and our general leaders are better able to see what paths we should follow and where we should place our feet.  And when they have moments of not being able to exactly see where we, as a body of Church members should go next, they don't panic.  Why?  Because they are lead by the Lord Jesus Christ who has the perfect view and perspective and can see "things as they really are, and ... things as they really will be" (Jacob 4:13).

This was an amazing conference.  All the arm-chair quarterbacking is unproductive and unnecessary.  To slightly modify my statement from my previous post, if the time comes that a newly called apostle is a citizen from a country other than the United States, I will have no problem raising my arm to the square for that brother.  I have no problem sustaining President Uchtdorf, why would it be otherwise if the person the Lord calls to the position is from a country other than Germany?  For now, I am confident that the Lord has a specific reason for extending the call of apostle to Elders Rasband, Stevenson, and Renlund.  I may not know the reasons the Lord chose them to this calling, but I look forward to learning how their unique perspective and talents will move the Old Ship Zion on its course.  I turn again to Elder Pino for a concluding thought: "The Lord knows what He wants to accomplish with each one of us. He knows the kind of reform He wants to achieve in our lives, and we do not have the right to counsel Him. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts" (Ensign, May 2015, 119).