Shouting into the Void!

My life in school years!

2011-01-20T11:11:00.002-07:00

More thoughts on Peter

2010-06-21T07:17:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Father's Day, which went largely unnoticed in the household, mostly because everyone in our particular household had gotten the week wrong and we celebrated last week.

But I did spend some more time this last week considering more about the life of Peter. I was able to get the the temple one day this week, but because of poor timing, or excellent timing, I arrived just after a session had started and I had a 30 minute wait. I decided that since I had speculated wildly about Peter's motivations last week, maybe I should re-read some parts.

I re-read each of the accounts in the Gospels to see what was said. Three of the Gospels seemed to have the feel that Peter was sorrowful and regretted denying the Savior, but I didn't see in any of them an actual statement that Peter had done wrong. Also, I got to thinking, he was the only disciple mentioned that actually didn't flee and abandon the Savior but actually followed along and stayed as close as he could. This was another sign of his devotion, but also the trigger for his denial. Had Peter chosen to flee away, no one would have been questioning and badgering him about being with Christ, but because he was there at the scene people asked him. He must have felt fear for his safety and anxiety that he would not be able to fulfill his role as leader of the church if he was taken and slain too. Also, Peter must have been expecting and hoping that Christ was going to once again escape the hands of his tormentors and they would all continue to preach together. When Peter denied knowing the Savior for the third time and the cock crowed, at least part of what could have gone through Peter's mind was that the fulfillment of this statement of the Savior's meant that truly the Savior's statements about his own death were also about to come to pass. Could some of Peter's sorrow and bitterness been caused by his own recognition that he was about to see the Christ, the Savior, the Messiah die? Was part of his sorrow and bitterness prompted by fear that what he thought was true may not be? I don't really know, but as I ponder the meaning of this night for Peter it is clear that the depth of emotion for Peter must have been extreme. So much was being called into question and so much was being asked of him, and he did stay as close as he could and he was there when the Savior was on the cross and he was the first of the Apostles to enter the tomb.

Another incident that I mentioned last week comes back to mind. When the Savior walked on the water and Peter stepped out of the boat into the storm tossed seas, he did walk. Much good can be learned from understanding that only when Peter took his focus off of the Savior did he begin to sink and perish, but read closely and you see again the character of this man. He was walking on the water amidst all the turmoil of the storm and could he have realized, "What am I doing? I can't possibly do this!" Peter's realization of quite literally the gravity of his situation must have overwhelmed him. His sudden realization that he was quite literally doing the impossible could have been just too much for him. But, and this is a key, in this moment when he realized that what the Savior had asked him to do was beyond his own capacity, and when he realized that he was already doing it, but couldn't continue, he didn't turn back to the boat, he didn't lose hope and sink under the waves. He called out to the Savior. Peter knew what and who was the source of his salvation. We would do well to remember all of Peter's example on this night. When the storms toss us and we are asked to do miracles, when the impossibility of doing what we must do is overwhelming us and we are perishing, we can call out "Lord, save me" and the response will probably be "O, thou of little faith" but the hands will reach out and lift us up. The scriptures mention very little about what happened after Peter called out, but I imagine him being lifted up and walking alongside Jesus back to the boat, not in failure, but in triumph because Peter knew who he trusted.

And Peter went out and wept bitterly

2010-06-14T06:32:00.004-06:00

Peter the Apostle is an interesting figure. He is often characterized in light of his weakness and his denial of Christ on the night of Christ's capture by the Pharisees and Sadducees. There is so much more to Peter than this denial, and much more to his alleged denial than has been said.

Peter was by trade a fisherman, a man accustomed to hard physical labor and more than likely accustomed to risking his life in the face of physical dangers. He fished the Sea of Galilee and would have been accustomed to facing his problems directly by his own physical capacity and ingenuity.

Imagine this man called to be a fisher of men, called to think, to listen, to turn the other cheek, to be meek and lowly of heart. Throughout the New Testament Christ rebukes Peter, not for his hesitancy, but for his impetuosity. Even when he lacked faith he shows daring. When the Savior walked toward their ship on the water and all thought it was a ghost or a spirit, Peter upon hearing the Savior's voice cried out, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." and he did, often more attention is paid to the very valuable and powerful message that Peter only began to sink when he took his eyes off of the Savior. But, he did walk on the water. Peter stepped out of the boat and walked several steps before, as it were the distractions of the storm he walked through pulled him down. Yes, the Savior rebuked him, but maybe in mildness rather than in frustration, O thou of little faith.

Peter's ministry with the Savior exemplified his devotion, his willingness to follow the Savior at all costs. When most were abandoning the Savior for his hard doctrines, Peter was the one who boldly stated "Where shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life"

The very evening of Christ's betrayal by Judas, the Savior had already said to Peter, "Tonight thou shalt deny me thrice." When the mob came to take Jesus Christ, Peter far from denying the Savior, he stepped forward and true to his word he prepared to give his live in defense of the man he loved, the man he had been devoted to for the previous 3 years. The Savior again had to calm the impetuous Peter. It's as if Peter was still trying to understand and the Savior was still trying to teach him. Peter, this is the mission and reason I am come into the world. Peter, you have another role and you must allow this.

I don't pretend to know better than others who have spoken or written on this subject, and these are my thoughts and my ideas, but they have given me strength. Peter, the same man who had by revelation learned that Christ was the Savior, Christ the same who had stood with the Savior on the Mount of transfiguration and received keys to the leadership of the Church, was experiencing a crisis, a crisis of faith. Peter knew the Christ was the Savior, he knew that he was called to lead the Church after Christ's death, but this was beyond him. He had a vision, a vision of himself and a vision of what the Savior would do. Peter expected one thing and this betrayal and requirement to accept Christs death was a true crisis. Peter had stood by as the Savior worked out the atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had been so overcome by fatigue, likely brought on by the extreme spiritual experiences of the Last Supper, that he could not watch even one hour.

As I think of Peter, in this state. A man of action, a man who had a powerful testimony of the Savior, a man who was told he would deny knowing the Savior, a man who was devoted to the man who had called him to be a fisher of men, a man who was willing to give up his own life to protect the Savior and had proven it by stepping alone in front of an armed mob. This Peter had been told by this same man he was willing to defend and die for, "But how then shall the ^ascriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" (Matthew 26:54") I think about what his emotional and spiritual state must have been.

This night for Peter was a true crisis, but I wonder if it was a different crisis than we often think it was. Most see this as a crisis of Peter's faith, a test of his courage, and see his response as a failure, a weakness of his faith in a moment of doubt. This is definitely, a portion of what was going on. Peter, a man of action and of faith, was watching the King of the kingdom he was so anxious to see ushered in, being betrayed, mocked, scorned and this man to whom he was so devoted had himself told him that he must suffer this and die. He knew that he had been given the keys to lead after the death of this man, who was more than a man, but he was scared, and surely his faith, his confidence in this unseen thing, was weakened. Along with that, here was this man who confronted all obstacles and challenges directly with boldness and with powerful statements of his devotion, being asked, and compelled to deny his own nature and submit to the will of God. I believe that part of Peter's crisis this night went beyond his doubts, but went on to the deep challenge of knowing he wanted to do one thing and because of his devotion to the Savior he had to do another. Peter wanted to stand and defend the Savior, he was more than willing to give his life for the Savior, but he couldn't. He had to deny his own nature. He had to humbly submit to a will that wasn't his own. Truly fear and doubt must have influenced his choice to verbally deny knowing the Savior, but what a conflict of soul must have existed for him as he had to deny his own nature to do so. He must have wrestled with his own soul. He had boldly testified of the Savior, and he had boldly promised devotion, but now, his devotion was being tested because he had to stand idly by and let tragedy take it's course. He was tired both physically and spiritually and here was his friend being abused and he could do nothing but stand by and watch it happen. He had seen the Savior escape the manipulations of the Pharisees and Saduccees before, he knew that the Savior could easily call down legions of angels to defend him. This must have been a bitter conflict for a man so willing to take action, to be called upon to deny his own nature and allow this to happen.

So, when he had verbally denied the Savior 3 times and the cock crowed, of course he would go out and weep bitterly. Much of that bitterness was probably brought about by his feeling of failure, his feeling of weakness that he couldn't save Jesus. But much of his bitterness could also have been brought about by his own recognition that he now was called upon to humble himself, to submit his will to something he didn't naturally want to do. Bitterness could have been brought about and his crisis may have included recognizing that his own nature wasn't going to save Jesus. What benefit would it have done Peter to boldly testify of the Savior, and die with him. He knew that he was called to carry on after the Savior was gone. He knew that he was called to lead the church. What a deep crisis this must have been for him to have to stand idly by, deny knowing the Savior and allow this man he loved to die. He knew that Christ was going to be resurrected, but that didn't change to grief that came from recognizing the reality that Christ was first going to suffer and die.

What a challenge for this man. This man of action to have to bridle his own nature and not confront this challenge head on. Peter was called upon to deny his own nature and allow what to him must have appeared a true tragedy, a grief that could not be born. His faith in the living Christ was based on experience and revelation, his faith in the resurrected Christ was one of hope. Of course, he would go out and weep bitterly, Undoubtedly in repentance, but also, I believe, he wept in the crisis of soul that comes when one recognizes that we can no longer pursue our own will but must submit humbly to the will and purpose of something greater.

This view of Peter helps me, when I think of my own will and my own desires, it helps to think that Peter had to be submissive, he had a crisis of faith, a crisis that I don't believe he failed in, but that he was refined by. The rest of Peter's life was full of the action he was so notable for in his discipleship. He led the church boldly and stood forth boldly to defend his testimony of the Savior. Now, his boldness was tempered by this crisis, tempered by the recognition that at times following his own heart would thwart the will of God, recognition that he must boldly do exactly what the Savior and God asked of him.

What a great man this Peter was.

Temple Worship

2010-06-02T21:04:00.000-06:00

Temple Worship: 20 Truths That Will Bless Your Life by Andrew C. Skinner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really was amazed by this book. I read it in just a little over a week. It was simply amazing. The way that Andrew C. Skinner quickly and succinctly relates specific stories, scriptural references, and historical information to explain doctrines related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Each chapter highlights a different philosophical idea related to the Temple. Two of the most powerful ideas for me were the idea that the same power that Christ and his apostles and the prophets have used to control the physical world is the same power that activates the ordinances in the Temple. This means that in a very real way we can be physically changed by the covenants we make in the temple. This book gave me a whole new vision and idea of the temple. I can't wait to get back to the Temple again after reading this.

View all my reviews >>

The Secret Garden of the Heart

2010-02-01T08:00:00.001-07:00

I have thought a lot about two different scriptures. The first is found in Matthew 13:1-23 the second is Alma 32. Both of these chapters are parables relating to the growth of faint likened to the growth and harvest of plants.

One of the lessons I have learned as I have read and pondered about Matthew 13 is that the soil is like our own hearts. Our hearts, our character, our personality is the place the sower is trying to get the seeds of the Gospel truth to take root and grow. Each different type of soil has it's own problems. The reality is though, soil can be emended (a word that means to correct or improve). When I was growing up, we had two big problems in our fields. We had rocks, and they reproduced somehow because every spring for 40 years that my Father farmed, we would go out and 'pick rock' we would gather all the visible rocks out of the soil and pile them in a couple of rock piles in the field. Every year we did this and yet every year there were new rocks. I know now that it was because the frost over the winter would cause the soil to heave them up to the surface from deeper bedrock, but then, I swore it was supernatural. The other evil we found in our fields were bull thistle these were huge, we could spray them in some fields, but in others the spray would kill the crop along with the weed, so we had to sharpen shovels and cut them out just below the surface to kill them and keep them from growing back. It was a lot of work.

Our lives are like this. We have so many things that arise to distract us, and we have to pick the rocks, and root out the weeds in order to give place for the good things to grow in our hearts. Our hearts are like our own Secret Garden. A place where we cultivate and root out the ideas, interests, beliefs and hopes, we feel will best bring us happiness. Each thought, hope or dream we cultivate in our garden grows up and bears specific fruit or gives forth a specific harvest. We plant in our hearts faith in tithing and it grows, scripture study and it grows, kindness and it grows.

Alma 32 gives more insight as to what the end result of this will be. We have a tree of life that grows up into a true hope and salvation. The love of Christ, Charity.

I have to remember, that the main seed I must plant in my heart to have this tree grow is found in Alma 33: 22-23

Things do change

2010-01-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so both of you that have read my blog know that I have complained about the chubby guys that like to sprawl next to me on the bus. It's a challenge, and I face it with appropriate indignity.

But things change. Yesterday, I had to leave the office a little early. I jumped onto the train about an hour before I normally do so I could get downtown and catch the early bus home. I sat down up against a window. The next stop rolls up and lo and behold one of the cute coeds sits next to me. There were other options, and other places to sit, but nope, she sat down next to me. She sat there quietly, didn't say anything, and neither did I. Two stops later, she gets off, and what do you know, another cute girl sits down. This girl was younger and looked to be one of the high schoolers getting out of class for the day, anyway she sat next to me until my stop.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not interested in the Coed girls in any real sense. I am just a middle aged pudgy guy (who's working out and dropping pounds right now) who found it just the slight bit flattering that these two girls weren't so repulsed by my appearance and presence that they were willing to sit next to me.

Now, I am being kind of humorous, or trying to be, but really, this got me to thinking about how sometimes simple things can help us feel a little bit better. I had another experience years ago, when driving by a middle school in a bad mood, a student looked up at me from the street corner I was turning around and smiled. The whole atmosphere of my day changed, and really my whole climate. Ever since then, I try to smile more at people, I never know when I might be the one who makes somebody else's day.

Monday Musings: Cleave and Broken things

2010-01-25T07:44:00.002-07:00

This morning on the bus I was listening to Elder Holland's talk titled Broken Things to Mend. A few weeks ago I decided it would be a useful thing to download all of the talks from a specific Apostle and listen to them chronologically from oldest to newest. I started with Elder Holland because I remembered that over the course of several conferences he had spoken about The Prophet Joseph Smith, the Godhead, and several other doctrines peculiar to Latter Day Saints. He had was directing his remarks toward other religions and Christian churches pointing out how we are different.

Broken Things to Mend was a wonderful talk and reminded me of the gratitude I should have for the gospel, the church, and my family. It also helped me understand the need I really have for the Savior's influence in my life.

Elder Holland mentioned how remembering what the Savior has done can help build and strengthen a marriage, which got me thinking about an odd word: cleave

It has two meanings. It can mean to cut apart or break up especially along natural lines of weakness. That is the way it is used when talking about how minerals break. But it also means to hold tight to with unwavering loyalty. It is in that sense that it is used when talking about cleaving unto our spouses. I find it ironic that the same word has such different meanings in different contexts, but I do love the word related to marriage.

iPhoto Facial Recognition is improving!

2009-12-13T23:18:00.003-07:00

I have been spending the day getting faces into my iPhoto library. I was working on pictures of my niece and up pops a photo of the fridge. My son who is looking over my shoulder asks? Why does iPhoto think the fridge is my cousin? Ummm. Not sure lets check. Apparently there was an unrecognized face.For a closer view of what iPhoto thought was my niece:

Personal Space Etiquette

2009-12-09T23:13:00.004-07:00

Ok, so another post from the bus. I have had a crazy week. Monday we got snow. Not lots of snow, especially by Utah standards. We got a couple of inches, but combine a couple of inches of snow with 100,000 commuters and it equals massive delays. 3 hours worth of delays. Monday I got on the bus at 6:00 a.m. and got off 40 miles down the road at 8:40 a.m. Average speed 15 mph.

Tuesday, A little more snow and more massive delays. I got on the bus at 6:00 a.m. and got off the bus at 9:35. Gack, why am I commuting again? It really is better most days and only takes about 15 minutes longer than the drive. There is also the added bonus of it being easier to nap on the bus.

But what really gets me is how people don't understand the rules on the bus. When riding the bus etiquette of personal space demands that when seats are empty close by you move. If I sit down next to someone, it is understood that at the first convenient opportunity I will vacate the seat next to them so they can have their personal space back. I as the vacatee don't mean anything offensive like, "ewww you stink and I can't stand to sit next to you" It's simply polite to vacate the other person's space. Also the person on the aisle is obviously the person expected to vacate. I can't as the window seat stand up and push through the person, because then I am saying "ewww you are icky and I must move to reclaim my personal space"

Guess what! Uh huh. A guy sat next to me today. It's always a guy, never the cute college coeds. Sat down next to me early on and by the second drop off stop there were vacant seats and he didn't follow the etiquette. He stayed right next to me all the way home. Now, I am no homophobe, but it's a little awkward when there are only four people on the bus and one of them is the stranger sitting next to you.

Let me know Was I wrong?

2009-12-03T15:34:00.002-07:00

I really need to write about my bus experiences more often. Yesterday I had one that compelled me to write and to get some advice.

Some background first
Over the last few months I have noticed a gentleman that rides my bus with me. He has sat next to me maybe 5 to 10 times. Now, I have opinions about that but can't really begrudge him sitting next to me since I normally try to sit in the seats near the wheel chair spots so I get more leg room. Over the last couple of days he has sat next to me on the ride up to work. So, I do recognize this guy but I haven't ever really talked to him. Normally, I plug in my headphones and tune out the other folks on the bus because I really don't feel compelled to get to know them. Maybe I'm wrong.

What really makes me think I am wrong is this. Yesterday, this gentleman got on the bus, he hesitated a bit then sat down next to me. He asked me how I was doing, (fine) With no other pre-amble, explanation or reason:

Can I borrow your cell phone?
(insert awkward paus)
Ummm, I don't think so sir, sorry.

So the question? Was I wrong to refuse this guy. Obviously he thought there was a greater level of trust than I did. In that awkward pause above, about 14 things went through my head, not all of them fit to publish, but the main thoughts were. Isn't that presumptious. You are assuming I have a cell phone and that I am totally comfortable handing it off to you. I don't know you.

He seemed flustered that I said "No" but he eventually turned to the 20 year old college student in the seat across from us and asked her. "No" Well, "Sorry, I have limited minutes" Her response reassured me that maybe I wasn't alone in my phobia of phone sharing. But what do you think. Is phone sharing with strangers ok? And if it is should I expect an explanation of why they want my phone.

I think I would have been a whole lot more comfortable if this person had done just two things. Explained that he didn't have his own cell phone, and given me a reason for his call. I assumed it was to call for a ride at the bus stop, but I gotta say, it kinda freaked me out.

My wife's response to this brought up another dynamic. "I put my phone by my face, I am not letting someone I don't know pretty well share my phone."

My Funny for the week

2009-11-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

That took guts to go ahead and post this after the door fell.

Need a Recharge? Take a walk!

2009-11-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most fascinating things I have heard all week! I especially like the concept of actually embedding the technology into a cell phone. Or, what about my netbook?

NaBloPoMo Day 11: Live Video Web Conferencing in a face to face class?

2009-11-11T22:16:00.001-07:00

Ok, so one of my assignments at work has been to develop an online course about a tool we provide for doing live Video Web Conferencing. I have been uncertain as to how exactly your average classroom teacher would use this. Two things have changed my vision on it.

I was with the State Technology Specialist last Friday and he said to me: "You guys (meaning me and my colleagues) shouldn't be teaching Word Processing. You should be on the cutting edge."

I realize that developing a course on collaborating via web conferencing would definitely be more cutting edge than teaching Word Processing.

Secondly, and this came today. One of the folks involved in using the software and a real advocate for the software invited me to watch her train a teacher on the software. The teacher was using some of my friends materials and she conducted a couple of authentic review type questions. She used the software the way I have seen people use a clicker system. She asked questions. Allowed kids to chat about their ideas for an answer and then submit an answer. One of the major things I noticed was that all the kids were engaged and working. But yet again, I don't think technology inherently made it engaging. It was good quality content. But all in all It was terrific! The kids were engaged and we had a great time. I really think I can see where to use this better now.

Lessons from the "Street"

2009-11-10T10:43:00.001-07:00

Some of you folks may have noticed a trend on Google this week. Well, the street hit 40. It's hard for me to believe it, but Big Bird is older than me.

This radio broadcast reminded me of the great lessons I learned from Sesame Street.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120245506

or click here to listen directly.

The Berlin Wall

2009-11-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

This morning on my drive to work I heard an interesting broadcast about a recreation of the Berlin Wall done at Utah Valley University. I couldn't find the archive of it, but UVU's Website has a description of the event. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years.

http://uvu.edu/blogs/newsroom/2009/11/09/uvu-high-school-students-to-reenact-tearing-down-of-berlin-wall/

Sunday Dinner

2009-11-08T22:51:00.002-07:00

Sunday Dinner is a big deal around this house. Every week on Saturday Mom asks me. So... What do you want to eat tomorrow? Then begins the pomp. We travel out to the store to buy a cut of meat that will work. Choose our style of potatoes ( I was raised in Idaho it isn't dinner if there aren't potatoes) and then scramble our brains for a vegatables and invariably decide on green beans.

This week! Pork Spare Ribs, Baked Potatoes and green beans! It's fun though because making Sunday Dinner an event is very important to my mom and know she's teaching my kids how to set a table properly and eat with manners. If it weren't for her I am afraid my wife and I and our insanely busy schedule would be teaching the kids that a nice dinner is one where you have an actual paper plate instead of just a paper towel to hold your pizza.

I'll sure be glad though when my wonderful wife will be done with school and may have time to cook full on Dominican meals again! Pernil, arroz con habichuelas y tostones!

Fall leaves

2009-11-07T14:41:00.001-07:00

Today was the day I chose to get caught up on the fall yard work. I figured it was going to be the last day I would be able to get much done before it got too cold, too wet and too snowy to work. I really did get a lot done. I have been borrowing a neighbors garden spot to supplement my own. We planted 'taters and corn this year. This will be the last year I will be able to do that since the neighbor passed away and his children will be selling the home. He was in 89 years old when he passed away and I lived next door for 4 years. Oddly enough he was killed in an auto accident. I will really miss him. Seeing him out working his garden better than I could my one row of it was amazing. I think this will be my last year for gardens for awhile. My job now has me too busy during the summer months to keep up with it. It's one of the things I really miss about being a classroom teacher. Having solid time in the summer to work on the yard.

C-Forum

2009-11-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

I attended C-Forum today and learned a lot about Promethean Boards and a little about the new my.uen blog tool. I learned the blog tool because I took notes with it.

here's my post:
Today we have been learning all about the benefits of the Promethean Interactive whiteboards. There are some very useful tools and I have seen some people create some truly interactive and exceptional, but I still have one problem with them. This isn't just with Promethean, but with all whiteboards. I think they deflect funds and focus away from one to one computing with the emphasis on generative learning, to a center stage with an emphasis on compliant learning.

Now, I don't want to take away from the good things that are done with them, I just feel that the nature of the tool places the emphasis on the front of the room and having everyone come to the same conclusions.

NABLOPOMO Day 5: Teachers

2009-11-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, I figured out a norm I need to share with teachers. When I teach from now on. I am going to tell all the teachers they aren't allowed to denigrate themselves or belittle themselves. I have watched teachers who are in all ways completely competent belittle themselves when it comes to their level of expertise on a computer program.

Why do ~~teachers~~ adults behave in ways that they would never allow in students? I would never let a student just choose not to learn something or try or opt out. I wouldn't let them sit back and coast, or if I do allow that kind of behavior when working with adults why don't I allow it with teachers?

There's room for a lot there, but anyway! No more bad mouthing ourselves. We are learning! We are learners! We are competent and capable!

NABLOPOMO Day 4: Teenagers

2009-11-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

I have forgotten what teenagers are like a little. Tonight I taught at a local library for the Netsafe Utah grant. It was a little challenging, I had an audience with vastly different ages. 15 year old boys to 11 year old girls. And when it comes to internet safety what those two groups need is different.

Plus, I am not used to the heckling like I once was. When I was in front of teens every day I was used to the banter and could give as good as I got. In this situation I didn't feel like there was enough of a relationship to do that. I had never met these kids and they had never met me. Not a good idea to crack sarcastic jokes in that situation.

It went well and once we got into the swing I think I got through, and I do miss being around teenagers. They are so goofy and there's always something to make you laugh, but I am out of practice.

NABLOPOMO Day 3: Elections

2009-11-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

Today is election day. I didn't make it. I spent the evening helping my two sons and my wife catch up on homework. I really wanted to vote to. We have an election that matters to me. It's just a local election but I really wanted to cast my vote. Not because I felt strongly that one candidate should win but rather that I felt strongly that neither candidate should even be considered.

The problem with local elections is that it's possible to really know the candidates and to know how their opinions, ideas, and abilities will affect the community.

In this case I didn't feel like it was a matter of choosing between the lesser of two evils, but rather the lesser of two idiots. I know these two candidates and feel that realistically we would be better of with neither of them.

Wish I could have voted. I would have wrote in a candidate worthy of the position.

NABLOPOMO Day 2: Monday Musings

2009-11-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, I normally do my Monday Musings on Monday anyway so this isn't too challenging other than I got out of the habit.

I want to talk about an idea. An idea that my be a little different for people of other faiths, but being LDS there is a huge emphasis on being perfect. Christ gave that mandate to people and it is taken as a commandment as much as it is a vision of what is possible by many of the LDS faith. This can be tricky.

Be ye therefore perfect! But what kind of perfect. We normally think of perfection as completely without blemish, spot, error or any kind of fault. The trouble with this is none of us are perfect. None of us can be perfect. In a sense Christ's command to be perfect only makes sense if we understand that it is a command to repent and be made perfect through his atoning blood. In another sense it is a command to be perfect in a finished, whole and complete sense.

My other big thought though is that being perfect doesn't in any sense mean being better than others. I think this perspective is adopted by some people. They believe that if I am better than my neighbor or if they are more sinful than I am that make me more perfect, closer to perfection, better. This can be an extremely damaging perspective because it encourages people to find the faults in others to justify their own shortcomings.

Let's all be perfect! Perfected in Christ, complete and whole!

NABLOPOMO

2009-11-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is my first try at NABLOPOMO. I came to blogging late and I haven't really tried this before. I am going to make posts everyday this month, but I am going to be using my personal blog. So watch out here comes the world!

http://mitchelljorgensen.blogspot.com

Dogs in public!

2009-10-31T14:45:00.000-06:00

I got in a big discussion yesterday. It was all about something else at first and like most of these rambling discussions turned into me arguing a stance I wasn't sure I had before the topic came up. From an off-handed comment about the fact that a hotel had pet friendly rooms, which I applauded, because I have traveled with my dog and like having them with me.

Well that was the wrong opinion to have. I needed to have a different opinion. I remarked that I found no reason at all that I shouldn't be able to take my dog where I want. Someone else commented that they were certain a lawsuit would ensue. I agreed. Only, my opinion was that someone who was denied access to someplace with a companion animal (not a service animal) would sue and probably win. The other opinion expressed was that somebody would get sued for bringing their dog somewhere. Well that already happens. My side of the argument is: if my dog is better behaved and cleaner than your child why should I be denied???

And don't tell me it ain't happened. I was at my son's award ceremony the other day. Sitting right in front of me was a wonderful beautiful young girl. Who had boogers encrusted all over her face, was coughing and sneezing, and stank of .... well.... fertilizer. She and her sibling ran about the place mucking up all they could. Spreading disease and germs far and wide. I think even the pigs would have been worried about getting the flu from these kids. Mom??? you may ask. Sitting and chatting!

Now, I am not here to argue that those kids should be denied access to the school event, but why can't my dog come? This is a public building, it's my dog, and my son's dog. He is well behaved, clean, and doesnt' shed. But he's the menace?

We have distanced ourselves to much from the reality that life is messy. Life is dirty, animals are part of the environment that we also belong to.

"Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. "
— Roger Caras

Manspaces

2009-10-13T09:55:00.000-06:00

I am a big fan of TED and today I have been catching up. This video was a lot of fun.

So here's the picture of my manspace which happens to be my cubicle at work. Totally Dilbert!

Burdens

2009-10-09T06:39:00.001-06:00

Last weekend was the 179th General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was in attendance via television broadcasts, which I enjoyed immensely. There was a practice in old Testament times regarding the Sabbath. After 7 Sabbaths there would be a double Sabbath. I have always felt that General Conference was like that.

But the Gospel is a real burden. There is so much about being actively engaged in the Church that is a burden. We are expected to read our scriptures, study good books, pay 10% of our income as tithing, attend our meetings for 3 hours a week plus fulfill other callings for 5 to 8 hours a week, plus volunteer and help in the community, plus attend the temple regularly, weekly if possible, we are also expected to be the world's best parents and teach our children, knit scarves for the elderly rake leaves for the widows abstain from all the worldly pleasures of coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol and a basketful of other things. The burdens wear me down. They are so taxing at times. It's easier to follow Satan with him you don't have to do anything.

But one of the talk at conference helped me understand something. I dont' think Elder L. Whitney Clayton actually stated it, but he sure intended this idea with his talk. When we take up the yoke of the gospel It is a burden, but the burden is light in comparison with the burdens of sin and regret. Compared to trying to shoulder our lives challenges alone the burden of the gospel is indeed light.

Matthew 11:30

What would @Alfiekohn say?

2009-10-09T06:07:00.001-06:00

I have recently rediscovered Alfie Kohn. He is still my hero! I have been reading some of his articles and a thought struck me.

How much longer are we going to continue to do things to students and not with them.

Case in point: Reading! Evidence absolutely supports the practice of having students read 20 minutes a day. What happens when this becomes a club used to beat the students? Because this 20 minutes a day is so important in many of today's classroms it becomes the bulk or sometimes the entire measure of the students reading grade. Therefore a student who is struggling to report his reading because of organizational difficulties gets beaten down. Not because he or she can't or doesnt read, but because he or she is to busy reading to bother writing it down.

How much of our jobs as educators is to enforce a factory worker model of responsibility? How much of what we do in our day should be to instill in children the need to: be on time, turn in your work, be quiet, don't disrupt? I have written about this before: the fact that our traditional schools instill values that aren't the qualities necessary for leadership.

I wonder too how much of our job as educators is to be the guardians of civilization. The educational system is designed and sturctured to hold fast to the values of a world that is rapidly changing, but I wonder if we do that too often by holding to the practices of a world that has largely disapeared?

When I was in the classroom it took my 10 years to really learn that what mattered most was not instilling in students the values that I held so dear. Not to force them to comply or conform to what I thought was most important, but rather to help them learn to value what mattered most to them. I am not sure I ever quite got it. But, I do know that the longer I taught the more I strove to give kids multiple ways to demonstrate competency. Multiple modes to learn and demonstrate learning. The more I valued the uniqueness and distinctness of each student. We have to teach classes because it seems to just work that way, but it is still each student that learns. We have to value that student. To do that we have to measure more than: "Did little Susie write down that she read 20 minutes last night"

p.s. I never came back to finish this but decided to post it as is!

Forgiveness: a lesser law

2009-10-05T06:47:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking about forgiveness lately. I am going to propose a radical concept. Something that's truly crazy. Forgiveness is actually a lower law. We talk sometimes in the LDS Church about the higher law and the lesser law. Moses when he first went on the Mount recieved a higher law. A law similar to what Christ would later reveal in the flesh. So goes LDS tradition. Christ when he came raised the stakes. He taught that it was no longer enough to obey the law "Thou shalt not kill" but raised the bar. According to Christ we are to not even get angry with our brother or call him Raca!

Don't get me wrong, forgiveness is an important and vital law. It enables us to get to the higher law I think exists. Forgiveness though, in the sense most people use it, connotes singularity. You made me made, or hurt me, or lied, or didn't do the dishes when I asked and left me with a huge mess even though I have an important Relief Society Meeting tonight. "I forgive you" It kind of feels like. You have sinned and this one time I will extend my mercy toward you.

Charity, the pure love of Christ, extends beyond a single act of mercy. It is a trait, a lifestyle and a character of compassion. It is: I know you are an idiot and forgot to do the dishes and probably will again in the future, but I see you are also good and I love and care for you. Charity to me has a much more permanent sense to it. Not an acceptance or tolerance of sin, but an acceptance and compassion for the sinner. Don't get me wrong at all. I am not saying we don't need to forgive or that forgiveness isn't divine. What I am saying is that I believe that in many of our relationships we develop something higher (or deeper) than simple, singular forgiveness a compassion that fills us with understanding and love of the people around us..warts and all as my mother always said.

From the bus: Unwritten rules of ridership!

2009-09-29T06:59:00.001-06:00

I am going o start a new series. Blog posts about and from the bus.

I am a very happy Public Transportation Commuter. I honestly don't even know the price of gas because I can't remember the last time I had to fill up my truck. For the most part my commute is awesome! I can nap, read, work on my computer, play Bejeweled on my phone. These things are a a little be tougher when used to drive. People would honk, and scream. I didn't get it but anway on the bus it's easier. It takes a little longer, but it's also free. As a University Employee I get a bus pass (paid for by the parking permits on campus not your tax dollars)

My challenge today is this: Chubby people.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not critical. I am myself a chubby person. I like to eat and I don't like to exercise. This is a recipe for pudge. My problem is for several months I have been riding the bus and it does fill up occasionally. What I don't understand those is the apparent rule that Chubby men must sit together. There is one gentleman on my bus whom I am sure is probably a perfectly decent guy, but he seems to have a man crush on me. I will be sitting on a partly empty (meaning there are other double seats with no one in either seat) and this guy will plunk down and cozy up to me. He has tried to chat me up and despite me using the universal sign of disinterest, wearing my iPod headphones, (sometimes I don't even plug them into the iPod, I just wear them) this gentleman still persists in sitting next to me whenever the chance permits. Now, This wouldn't really be a problem if the bus seats were slightly larger or one of the two of us were slightly (read: in my case 40 lbs) smaller.

So, new rules for the bus! All persons must sit in an unocccupied set of seats until such time as no pair of seats remains unoccupied. Rule 2: All persons will be paired according to a volume system. Skinny people aren't allowed to sit next to each other but must be paired with a higher volume neighbor.

At least that's how it would be if I ran things.

Prophets

2009-09-28T10:00:00.000-06:00

I have had a couple of conversations with some folks. It got me to thinking. What do I have to believe?

A question came up about a former Prophet and leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The particular Prophet has been accused of some things that are pretty heinous. Stuff that by almost any morality code of the modern day be worthy of imprisonment. Some in the church simply don't believe it happened at all. Others have left the Church over it. As I had this conversation I mentioned that I thought it quite likely that he had been involved, but simply wasn't acting as the Prophet. The friend I was talking to told me "Hey, wait a minute, if he said that God told him to do this and you are saying it wasn't right then you are saying you don't believe in the Church and revelation and ...."

The conclusion was that he felt that as a Mormon I am compelled to blindly accept every word that falls from the lips of the Prophet. Do I?

Brigham Young once said,

“I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security. … Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1941], 135)

This was quoted by James Faust in the September Ensign 1998 This message is still being spoken and the message seems to be: Not everything a Prophet says is right.

But, this message is being drowned out by those quoting:

The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty. (Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2.)

This becomes my conondrum? What do I have to believe? Two prophets both quoted regularly one seems to be saying I am supposed to completely trust that God will never allow his leaders to lead me astray and another prophet, earlier by only a short time, telling me not to get to secure in blindly trusting my leaders in what they say, and that message being reinforced by a truly Modern Prophet reminding me of it in 1998.

It really does seem to come down to what James Faust says after quoting Brigham Young.:

Since each one of us has his free agency, the ultimate determination of what is inspired of the Lord, what is right and wrong, true or false, can be made by each of us.

Can I look back on a historical event, and state that I don't believe that a Prophet acted as a prophet when he chose a certain path, possibly. Can I say now that specific financial advice given by a General Authority during a local fireside may not be applicable in my case. I believe I can. I believe ultimately my choices are what I will be held accountable for. Will it ever be right for my to go directly contrary to the will of the Church, Gospel and God as revealed in by his Prophets, no I can't imagine that it could possibly be.

But do you see my conondrum? What is the balance between questioning, seeking, and being an independent seeker of truth and being an obedient servant in the kingdom?

p.s. and BTW- While writing this post I was looking for the Brigham Young quote above and found it here in a great post. Can't speak to any thing else, but I did like this post.

Brian Lamb: Open Education

2009-06-04T09:34:00.000-06:00

His presentation was terrific. The whole concept that we have students do authentic work is for some reason seen as cutting edge. This is true in one sense, but most people learned this way in the past. They learned by doing work!

One of the items that I thought was really good was the analogy. We fear often that if we send students to post on the internet that legions of Sexual Predators will creep out of their basements and descend on the students. The reality is that the people who creep out of their basements are more likely to be people who really love copy editing, formatting bibliographies or formatting tables and graphs. The point: For the Most part online interactions are positive.

One thing I wonder about with this whole idea though. Brian Lamb encourage adoption of open architecture. Things like blogs, youtube, iTunes University, and others. The challenge becomes for me is on the users end. As a participant it is a frustration to have to learn new sets of tools for every course. My wife is taking a course right now that is a mashup of three different online curriculum tools. It becomes extremely frustrating to have this course with due dates listed inconsistently, with multiple logins and with a f2f component that each sends a different message.

Course management software has it's downsides but there are advantages to it because it provides a consistent interaction for a student in a specific institution. The challenge will be watching students bringing courses from multiple institutions together to create their own learning.

A weekend with the Family

2009-06-03T07:03:00.000-06:00

Memorial day weekend was an important milestone in my family. Dad turned 80. This is a particularly big milestone because all during my growing up years, my Dad swore, he would never reach this age. In fact he often expressed sincere and heartfelt desire to be dead before 75. Views on death are a little complicated in our family.

Well, with his birthday coming up my eldest sister decided we should get together in Idaho where Dad and Mom had lived most of their adult lives. That didn't work out. Most of my other siblings couldn't make it at that time and my Dad simply set in his heels and refused to go up there. So, my Sister decided to get herself and her now grown children together and come visit us in Utah. She told my mom to expect her at 10:00 am. Now as far as I know my sister has never arrived anywhere by 10:00 am. I can speak with some certainty that she has rarely ever arrived at a family function on time. She surprised me to no end by arriving right on time with two of her four children. We actually had a really great time. My sister has been much more attentive and respectful of me as an adult in the last couple of years. It really means a lot to me. It has been difficult for me to be the youngest in the family by 8 years. All of my siblings were out of the house by the time I was 11 and frankly, I don't feel like they know me all that well especially as an adult. I bear the blame in that because I haven't done enough to stay in contact with them.

Two important things that came out of this visit. First, my nephew who is only a few months younger than I am was a Marine, and not just any Marine, but a frontline, special forces grunt. He has some crazy stories to tell. He told us about one. He was on road block duty and following all the protocols. They were instructed that if a vehicle approaches to follow these steps:

Flag the vehicle and try to get their attention
Assertively flag the vehicle and warn the drivers
If the vehicle continues to approach fire a warning shot
If the vehicle continues to approach fire a second warning shot into the ground in front of the vehicle
If the vehicle refuses to slow down or stop fire on the vehicle.

Well, during this particular event a vehicle was approaching at high speed. My nephew didn't have much time and the first 3 steps happened in rapid succession with the result that my nephew fired a shot in front of the vehicle that ricocheted off the ground and bounced through the bottom of the fast moving vehicle and clipped the passenger in the @$$. The passenger was an older gentleman and once he had been shot the driver stopped the car and this older (mid seventies) man jumped out of the car and was dancing around from the pain in his derriere. It was a lot more humorous to see my Marine Nephew acting out both sides of this exchange, but I thought I ought to share. By the way, my older son thought it was the funniest thing in the world to pester and annoy the guy we kept reminding him probably knew at least 5 ways to leave him maimed or dead. Kids are stubborn.

The second and probably more important bit of information I gained from this exchange was the knowledge that I live in the heart of the Jello Belt, which extends along 1-15 from Rexburg, Idaho in the north to St. George, Utah in the south. Never heard that term but I suppose it is accurate.

View The Jello Belt in a larger map

Tithing a principle with Promise

2009-06-01T10:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday in Sunday School we were discussing the importance of Tithing and Fasting. I heard the greatest story about tithing I have heard in a long tme.

One of the men in our Ward told us of a time when he just didn't have enough money to pay his tithing. He knew that if he paid his tithing then there wouldn't be enough for the bills and food. He decided to show his faith anyway, and he prepared his Tithing envelope, filled out the tithing donation slip, sealed up the envelope and handed it to the Bishop. Later in the week he decided to attend the Temple and as he was coming out of the temple he reached into to pocket of his slacks and found $100.00 the exact amount of his tithing. He was immediately grateful for the blessings of Tithing and of attending the temple. He used the money to take care of his bills. On Sunday at church his Bishop came up to him and said,"Thank you so much for your tithing, everything was fine except you forgot to put the money in the envelope!"

My wife pointed out during Sunday School that we all have miracles in our lives but that we forget them and forget the Lord. It's imotant to remember the lord and that all we have comes from him. He just asks that to show our devotion we give back 10% to build up his kingdom here on earth.

Best of the Bull. Part Two???

2009-05-28T14:34:00.001-06:00

A while back my friend Jared and I bit the bullet, bit off more than we could chew and bit the bull.

Well recently while I was checking out some of my favorite foodies on www.foodnetworkhumor.com I came across two posts about Andrew Zimmern: This one and this one

I have to say though, the Best of the Bull was a once in a lifetime experience, and I don't think I will be having any of this:

Climbing the walls

2009-05-18T15:07:00.000-06:00

I haven't been doing as much personal stuff here, but yesterday my son was climbing the walls....literally.....no seriously!

Of course, I will probably get the bad parent of the year award for this, and it doesn't help that literally minutes before my two boys were burning (not roasting) marshmallows on the grill and then played in the water until 8:00 p.m. Well what are Sunday afternoons for?

Monday Musings: Accepting Service

2009-05-18T10:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, we had Stake Conference. A combined meeting with 8 or 10 congregations from the area. They were reorganizing our Stake and making some other changes. Well, our Stake is so big they have to do this process of conference in two separate sessions with half attending each session. This is only important because my parents and my family go to two different wards.
Well, I had been teasing my father about not getting up early and not going to the 10 a.m. session. My ward was assigned the 1 p.m. session.

At 10 a.m. I went down to check to see if Dad was ready and assuming he was still in bed. My 10 year informs me: Nope, grandpa left at 9 a.m. WHAT? Now, I need to explain, Grandpa is approaching his 80th year and while doing ok, has not had the best of health and has fallen several times. That's why he lives with us. But he got it into his head that he needed to walk the 5 blocks over the church building for Stake Conference. Well, I went and got him at the end of the meeting and we had a talk. I reminded him that he had told his mother when she was climbing ladders in her 70's that he would have to be the one to pick things up if she got hurt.

Having my folks live with me has given me a greater appreciation that old age isn't for sissies. I think I will take up motorcycle racing and paragliding when I turn 60. But this conversation with Dad also reminded me of an amazing example that Christ set for us. He allowed others to serve him. There are several examples of it through the New Testament, but the one that is always the most touching to me is found in Matthew 27:31-32

31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

During this moment of his greatest agony and in a sense his greatest triumph he allowed someone else to help him carry the cross. This was the literal Son of God and he could have been filled with pride and arrogance and insisted that he carry his own cross, but he didn't, he recognized his own weakness, humility and need and allowed himself to be served. That's a lesson I hope I can remember when I need help.

Monday Musings: Unity vs. Conformity

2009-05-04T15:00:00.000-06:00

Last week I posted about the questions I have about whether we have to wear a white shirt to pass the sacrament. I myself find it to be an interesting challenge to encourage unity without mandating conformity. Clearly every organization has a right to define what behavior is acceptable to remain part of that organization. I wonder though sometimes if we are substituting conformity for unity. I have thought about this a lot lately, and really haven't come to any firm conclusion, but it is interesting to me that if you look at the rebellion, it becomes the tyranny. I have written about this before, just briefly. But it keeps coming back to me that whenever a person fights against tyranny, they get others to join them, and immediately form a group that then becomes they tyranny of that group. I think it is a challenging balance to maintain our openess, trust and love of others. To be tolerant and understanding and to maintain our principles.

I am no advocate of rebellion. I am about as conformist as they come. I am a middle age guy who has made his living teaching in the public schools. Yet I see myself, and others sometimes condemned or judged for not conforming in all areas. I just have a strong idea that although the strait and narrow path is still strait and narrow, it isn't single file. Whether I keep my fruit in baskets or bottles isn't as important as whether I love and serve my fellow man.

On further thought, it really isn't about the rebellion becoming the tyranny, just the institution. And don't get me wrong, I am not about refusing to comply. For society as a whole to work and for groups to function we must all comply and agree to allow the institution to hold sway over us, but at least for me it's about the strait and narrow path being strait and narrow but not single file. It's about not condemning other when their actions are well within what the commandments allow.

BTW this is what I wore to church yesterday! (snicker, snicker)

Monday Musings:Do I have to wear a white shirt?

2009-04-27T14:29:00.000-06:00

Yesterday at church was an excellent day! The youth in our ward were attending church at the Developmental Center and helping with the handicapped individuals there. What this means for me is that right after I got myself settled in the pew with the kids and the wife, suddenly I am asked to pass the sacrament. I actually love doing this! It's fun to get all nostalgic about my days as a 12 year old deacon. I recall when I was was the President of the Deacon's quorum, we had an elaborate system for describing where a specific Deacon was to begin passing the sacrament. FAR SIDE, MIDDLE BACK was one of the secret plays. Our Deacon's quorum had a play book as elaborate as any college football team. When I sat down in the pew for the deacons, I could vizualize the upcoming play in my mind with the best of modern quarterbacks.

Yesterday, it was not quite the choreographed elegance that we see when the Young Men in the ward fulfill their duties. But we absolutely fulfilled the principle of passing the sacrament with dignity, respect and reverence. It made me think, that we often get caught up in the minutia, and ritual without the spirit behind it. I have watched Young Men pass the sacrament to exactly the spot they are supposed to but...without any more concern for the person they are passing the sacrament too than if the were slopping hogs. My personal pet peeve. The boys that offer the sacrament two inches in front of my chin. I have to employ yoga, pilates, and several froms of Far Eastern contortionism in order to reach up and get the sacrament. A few weeks ago, in a fit of common sense I politely reached up and pushed the tray down before partaking.

Maybe part of my problem is that I honestly believe that I should partake of the sacrament. My view is that it should be passed to me. I shouldn't take the tray and then take the sacrament. I was taught that it is appropriate to take the sacrament only with the right hand and to pass it only with the right hand.

Which brings me to my title. After this very enjoyable experience of passing the sacrament, during Elder's quorum, we were discussing Elder Dallin H. Oakes Conference address:

Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament

Elder Oakes quotes Elder Holland from a 1995 address:

“May I suggest that wherever possible a white shirt be worn by the deacons, teachers, and priests who handle the sacrament. For sacred ordinances in the Church we often use ceremonial clothing, and a white shirt could be seen as a gentle reminder of the white clothing you wore in the baptismal font and an anticipation of the white shirt you will soon wear into the temple and onto your missions” (“This Do in Remembrance of Me,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 68).

Maybe, I am the only one, but notwithstanding the role both of these men have as prophets of God and Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ do I really have to wear a white shirt? I find myself wondering sometimes, are we getting to caught up in outward ritual and not enough on the inward heart. The Pharisees were all for enforcing detailed rules about these kinds of things. Two Apostles have said it! It is good counsel! But we spent almost 15 minutes in Elder's quorum discussing how we enforce this on others. Again, maybe I am the minority in this, but I find myself torn between two extremes: Why does it matter? and Why would anyone not obey in so small a thing. Some may argue, well, what if they can't afford a white shirt, my argument is if they can afford any shirt at all they should choose a white shirt so they can follow this counsel from the apostles.

Without a doubt the Gospel is true! I just like wrestling with these ideas because we (the LDS church) were once the rebellious upstarts trying to break the back of burdensome, and foolish traditions, and I worry that we ourselves are heaping on the burden of too much tradition.

Monday Musings: A lesson about prayer!

2009-04-20T10:00:00.000-06:00

Elder Boyd K. Packer shared a story about a lesson he learned about prayer in his book Teach Ye Diligently His son prayed that their young calf would live. Elder Packer then went off to a meeting where he shared his son's prayer and the lesson that his son would learn: Sometimes God answers prayers with a No. He then humbly recounts that when he returned to find the calf healthy and alive. It was he who learned the lesson.

I have wanted to record this story for some time because it was so important to my son and to me. When we had just moved into our current home, my nephew who is in the military asked us to watch his dog for about 9 months while he was involved in a training in Georgia. I love Naya and so I immediately accepted. We had her with us for about two weeks when tragedy struck. She got out. She ran off and the one neighbor kid who had seen her streaking off the property failed to mention it until about an hour later when we noticed she was missing. Needless to say, I did what any good husband and father would do. I shouted!! A lot. I blamed everyone but myself and then went out looking for the AWOL canine. We looked for about 2 hours and found neither hide nor hair of the beast.

As I was starting to move into the next phase in the Dad response cycle, I went to my older son, who was 5 and I asked him if he would like to pray with me. Now, the whole time I had been out looking for Naya, I was thinking about the fact that there may be no way I could find this dog and I was going to have to tell my nephew who was serving me and our whole country in Iraq that I had lost his dog. I realized that I may not be able to find the dog, but God could guide it back. I discussed this with my son and he offered a sincere, heartfelt and spiritually powerful prayer. As powerful as any I have ever heard. I felt the spirit very strongly and my 5 year old son wept openly not out of fear, but he truly felt the spirit. Within moments, my wife felt she should go open the door and in ran Naya.

I learned two things. My son's feelings, emotions and spirituality were as deep as anyones, and that though I may not be able to solve a problem God can cause things to happen that bring about our relief !

Monday Musings: God's Economy

2009-04-13T10:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't done a Monday Musing post for a while. I have been busy and tired and worried about my job situation. I recently found that I have a pretty stable position for another year. There are some advantages to contracts and annual budgets. I am actually glad. I had applied for a job as an Educational Technology Specialist Team Lead and although I didn't get the position, I was asked to re-apply fur the position just one step down: Education Technology Specialist. I really love the job I have and the fact that I can commute on public transit, so I doubt I will be trying for a move.

With all the thoughts about jobs, economy and the recent election and President Obama's attempts to rejuvenate the economy I have given a lot of thought to what God's economy is? I took a little heat a while back for posting about Tithing. Despite that, I feel that tithing and fast offerings are a good way to provide for the churches needs and the needs of the poor among us, but what happens when we are all poor?

I have a recurring argument with my Dad. Dad regularly tells me that when Christ comes again there won't be anymore Cadillacs. We'll all be driving Ford Focus'. My argument is that I don't believe God intends us to all be poor together, but all rich together. In the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Section 82 we read :

15 Therefore, I give unto you this commandment, that ye bind yourselves by this covenant, and it shall be done according to the laws of the Lord.

16 Behold, here is ^awisdom also in me for your good.

17 And you are to be ^aequal, or in other words, you are to have equal ^bclaims on the ^cproperties, for the benefit of ^dmanaging the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just—

18 And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may ^aimprove upon his ^btalent, that every man may ^cgain other ^dtalents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s ^estorehouse, to become the common ^fproperty of the whole church—

19 ^aEvery man seeking the interest of his ^bneighbor, and doing all things with an ^ceye single to the glory of God.

Emphasis added

This refers to the United Order or Law of Consecration and implies that under this covenant all people would have equal claim on the resources available based on their wants. Not only the minimum needs for keeping body and spirit together, but just or fair wants. For example I want a TV for myself, it would probably not be just for me to want a 57 inch Plasma TV if my neighbors are in need of food, but if they can have their food and I can get a 32 inch CRT that may be just.

As I have been listening to some of the pundits discuss the reason Capitalism will work and how it will solve our problems, I have to agree there is a certain logic. Everyone should prosper according to their own work and effort. Those who are unwilling to work will fail. This doctrine was also taught in the scriptures Alma 30:17 :

17 And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man ^afared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; ......

The trouble with this is it was taught by an Anti-Christ, Korihor, who had been decieved and was teaching false doctrine. Alma the prophet refuted this and the other false doctrines that Korihor taught.

In contrast to this false doctrine, the People of Enoch became so righteous and so unified that they were taken directly to heaven without having tasted death. Enoch and his people are only briefly mentioned in the Bible, but in modern revelation we learn that at least one thing that made them pure enough for this:

Moses 7:18

And the Lord called his people ^aZion, because they were of ^bone heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

They had no poor among them. In God's economy all have enough. As long as our economy is one based on scarcity, and selfishness instead of abundance and altruism it is not God's economy.

The Second Sabbath

2009-04-06T10:00:00.000-06:00

In Luke 6:1 Reference is made to the second sabbath after the first I was taught that during this time, the Jews would count seven sabbaths and on the seventh sabbath it was a double sabbath. This reference to the second sabbath after the first was a referring to this practice.

Now, today as I was looking for references to this, I will be honest, I couldn't find it. I will look some more, but the reference has always stuck in my mind especially the first week in April and the first week in October. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints schedules their annual and semi-annual conference during these times. It gives me two days, a second sabbath after the first to reflect on who I am, what my purpose in this world is and what I can do to help others. I love this conference time and am grateful that there is a loving God who has provided for us a wonderful world for us and our Savior that helps us return to him if we will but trust in him.

This conference was particularly fun and I enjoyed it very much.

President Dieter Uchtdorf spoke a few times, I love listening to him speak, not only because he really teaches good principles to live by but because of he German accent it feels like the Terminator is teaching the gospel. "The Apostlenator" Sorry, is that bad

I also really enjoy hearing President Henry B. Eyring. If it is ok to have a favorite Apostle, then he would be mine.

If you want to know more you can check out the archives:
http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,49-1-1032,00.html

I'm related

2009-04-03T14:02:00.001-06:00

Funny though, he hasn't been at any family reunions.

The best of the Bull

2009-03-28T08:58:00.000-06:00

I posted this on my learning blog:
I have usually avoided being very personal on this blog because I actually want it to keep a quite professional atmosphere. However, I was with colleagues when this occurred and it went out to the twitterverse so....

The folks in my office normally go out to break bread together. It is one of those great bonding experiences. Eating is a very social event. Well, this one was an extremely social event. It allowed for some incredible bonding. We went to a local restaurant Cowboy Grub on of the items on the menu is "The Best of the Bull"

My friend Jared decided that we needed to try it. Check out the results.

Really, this was a learning experience for me. Sometimes we have to open ourselves up to new experiences. Plus the prairie oysters (or Rocky Mountain Oysters as they are also called) weren't bad. Will I rush back for another batch. I doubt it, maybe for the spuds though! Did I learn something. Yeah, and I enjoyed good times with my friends. The power of which can never be underestimated. Oh BTW did I just give in to peer pressure???

But wanted to gab about it some more. After Jared, posted about this on his blog one of his readers commented that it was more gross that I double dipped than that I ate bull testicles. Well, I apologize for grossing everyone out by double dipping.

I do have to say, I am glad it wasn't the best of this bull though:

A funny picture

2009-03-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

I saw this posted on someone's wall. Hmmm. I am not sure what to think of a friend like that.

Top facts about the name Mitchell Jorgensen

2009-02-25T14:07:00.001-07:00

Did you know that Mitchell Jorgensen is...

Modestly envoweled
Llehctim Nesnegroj backwards
Itchellmay Orgensenjay in Pig Latin
01001101 01101001 01110100 01100011 01101000 01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01001010 01101111 01110010 01100111 01100101 01101110 01110011 01100101 01101110 in binary code?

See more at www.IsThisYour.Name

Posted using ShareThis

Monday Musings: The sacredness of the Sacrament

2009-02-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

I feel bad that this blog has become mostly a place for me to take notes on how I felt on Sunday. I originally wanted to be more personal with this blog....hmmmm well. I will work on it.

I did want to make sure I got my weekly post in though.

Yesterday, I was asked to usher in the LDS Ward I attend. My family and I attend a Spanish Speaking Ward (or congregation) in our area. My wife was tired and one of the kids was sick so I ended up going on my own. I got there early to fulfill my ushering duties. It was really good and the responsibility I had to say hello, help folks find seats and to shut the doors while the sacrament was passed just really came together for a great day and experience. I have been commenting a bunch on Goodreads about the existence of God and it has turned into a God vs. Science debate. Yesterday reconfirmed to me something I had said on Goodreads. Both Science and Religion make me a more fulfilled person.

Monday Musings: Leavening

2009-02-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

So my Monday Musings today are all about micro-organisms. Bugs in our bread. Well they are supposed to be there and they aren't really bugs. They are a fungus, yeast to be exact. Yeasts that can be used for bread are a single celled organism that functions a lot like a single human cell. Yeasts are actually an amazing organism. They are what makes bread possible. At least raised breads.

When making bread there are several ways, but the one I want to mention is the one dear old mom taught me. I was taught that you create your start with flour, milk, shortening or lard and you mix up a sponge. This sponge forms the base of your bread. My mother always taught me that to have really successful bread you also have to start your yeast correctly. A little bit of sugar and your yeast in a glass of warm water. (Proportions here are essential were talking about the symbolism) When things are right the yeast will begin to grow and release carbon dioxide as a byproduct of metabolism. (Yes, the Carbon Dioxide is yeast waste and this would be the place for a joke but this is my serious blog posting for the week)

The carbon dioxide produced by the yeast does no good to anyone if the yeast stays alone. If the yeast stays in the cup there is no benefit. None. but if I put the yeast into my bread sponge I can improve the bread. The bread dough can be used without the yeast. It is still useful. I can fry the dough, or make flat breads or use other leavenings to get it to raise, but the yeast is useless until it is put in the dough. It has to be put in the dough or it really doesn't do anything. It can continue to live on it's own, but when it is combined with the dough the life in the yeast produces a product that is so much better.

In Galations 5:9 Paul teaches us:

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

This is so significant to all of us. When we have faith in God we can be the active and activating ingredient in the world around us. We can grow on our own, but our full purpose is brought about by being mixed into the world. If we isolate ourselves we don't benefit the whole.

It is also significant that yeast needs sugar. Leavening needs nourishment. Believers must nourish their own souls. They must take in nourishment so they can activate the whole lump to use Paul's words. Let's all be like yeast!

Posted from the Bus!

Monday Musings: Commenting on GoodReads

2009-02-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

I joined a debate group on www.goodreads.com. There are some interesting and lively debates there and one in particular sparked my verbosity. I have included my discussion posting below:

Wow this has been a lively debate! I got the email digest version of it and couldn't wait to weigh in. Many people are kind of spouting out diatribe at each other, this is a debate, back up you opinions with reasons and evidence.

Having said that, here is my diatribe *checking definition of diatribe on www.m-w.com *mm maybe that isn't quite the word, oh well, here goes anyway.

I find it interesting as a believing scientist or maybe it is as a reasoning believer that both Science and Religion have a lot in common. I know this is specificially Evolution and creation, but it's worth pointing out. Science depends on accepting certain widely held ideas as true, all other work, research and ideas essentially build on those. Authority is bestowed on some because their ideas are more widely accepted and supported and those who propose contrary ideas are often ostracized, shunned and excluded. People who don't accept the ideas of the Scientific Community are considered small minded. There are rules that one must follow to be part of the Scientific Community, and if you don't your work and life are discredited. Now go back through that and subsitute Church for Science. Essentially every system begins as a rebellion against the dominant system and then develops it's own set of rules and becomes a system itself.

I like most of all a scripture in the LDS Canon(there's a ten dollar word for ya)
Doctrine and Covenants 10:2 Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.

LDS doctrine tells you that something will both feel right and be reasonable or you can be assured it isn't true.

Juxtapose that with this quote:

“When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”

Richard Buckminster Fuller

I don't know if there is a way to harmonize science and religion, evolution and creationism. I do know my life woiuld be less complete and less full without both

I honestly believe that there is a harmony to come between science and religion. A time when our moral nature, our ethics and our reason will work together to create the truly beautiful world described by Christ. There doesn't have to be enmity between the two.

Monday Musings: Marriage

2009-02-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

I have been away from the blog for a while. I really like blogging but like so many things life interferes with living. My sweetheart took a trip to the Dominican Republic last week and just got back. It made me realize again what a wonderful system God has designed for us. I did fine without my wife home but it was sure a relief when she got back. We really do need to leave our father and mother and cleave unto our wife and none else.

Monday Musings: Symbolism of the Sacrament

2009-01-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I did one of my Monday Musings posts, but yesterday was such a good day at church that I really wanted to get back to it. First of all Sacrament Meeting was exceptional. We had 4 youth speakers who really did a fine job of explaining the importance of the commandments and how living them helps them in their lives.

I had a lot of good thoughts during sacrament meeting and it reminded me of something I have thought of before and wanted to express. I know now one is really reading this blog, but just in case I have a reader who isn't familiar with the LDS culture I am going to explain a couple of things. For my LDS reader just be patient or feel free to correct my perspective. That is another reminder I am just giving my perspective.

During Sacrament Meeting which is the full congretational meeting in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints the Aaronic Priesthood passes the sacrament. We partake of the sacrament every week. Each week as a reminder of the promises we have made at baptism and as a reminder of the promises God makes to us 3 of the Priests in the Aaronic priesthood bless the sacrament. (See Doctrine and Covenants Section 20:75-79) The Priests then distribute the Sacrement to the Deacons who pass the sacrement to the congregation.

There is a lot of symbolism in the sacrement, but the aspect that I find significant is the similarity to the way revelation and leadership occurs in the church. God has always spoken to prophets and had leasders. Peter, James and John were early leaders and made up what amounts to a Presidency of the church in earlier days. Today we have a Prophet who leads and directs the church as he is directed by Jesus Christ. Two counselors aid him in this work. The young men passing the sacreament in a sense represent this pattern of presidencies. The represent thos men designated to lead the church and they deliver the message (Christ as represented by the bread and water) to the Deacons much the way that the First Presidency delivers the message (Christ and his atonement) to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. The Deacons represent the Apostles as they carry this message to the congregation which are representative of the whole church. There is a strength that I draw from seeing this similarity of patterns between the way Christ is delivered to the church and to each individual congretation.

Fight the good Fight!

Merry Christmas with the Tooth Fairy

2008-12-31T08:59:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. We sure did in our family. The kids had a great time and that is what really counts. The fun and funny (now that we are through it) event was just a day or two after Christmas.

We were sitting in our Bedroom watching movies with the kids when the little guy says, "I have a loose tooth" What? I had forgotten how close he is to losing them. Well, maybe blocked is a better term. For whatever reason it has been a tradion in our family to 'pull' baby teeth when they are close to falling out. I do have one sister who swears it is totally unnecessary and not worth the headache of convincing the kids to let you do it and after Monday night I may surrender.

The big guy was a headache when it came time to pull his teeth. Now, he has always tended to be a bit more dramatic than our little guy has been, so I think I was hoping that the little guy would be less dramatic when it came to teeth too. When J. was losing teeth a couple of years ago E. even brought us a string and asked us to pull some of his too. So, with his tooth almost falling out Mom and Dad asked him, "Can we get the string and pull it?" Apparently J's example spoke louder than I had previously thought. Suddenly E was channeling his big brother's drama. You would have thought I was asking pull his arms out of their sockets. Watching him cry, and fuss and after losing my patience (by the way, isn't it funny that losing our patience and losing our temper are not opposites but exactly the same) with him his brother and his mother, and myself. We finally got the tooth lassoed with dental floss. Then with one quick tug it was out. 40 minutes of cajoling, coercing, and pleading, tears, frustration and I admit a couple of explitives, for something that was over in less than a second and only bled for 3 seconds. Oh, I hope the next one won't be such a headache. We'll find out soon enough. E's other front tooth is loose.

Hopefully, though I will weather it better, I get pretty impatient when the kids are unreasonable in their fears and emotions. I know I shouldn't because I realize that I am emotional too, but I don't handle these events nearly as well as I would like too.

Monday Musings: Christ the Savior is Born

2008-12-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

This Christmas Season has been an interesting one for me. I took a new job 6 months ago and it has been catalytic. It has changed me and how I think and who I am. Every experience we go through can be like that, but this one certainly has been transforming. It reminds me of something I have believed for a time. This world is a fallen world. The Fall of Adam brought about changes to this whole world. We live in a telestial state. A state bound by limits of time and plagued by the vagaries of temptation, sickness, suffering and death. A friend recently found my family and I and the wife in the family has been in the hospital for around a month. She was diagnosed with an Auto-immune disease. Now, some people would experience something like this and curse God for afflicting them with this when she is such a young mother with children. Others would revile Satan for having afflicted them with such suffering. Myself, I lay the blame nowhere. It is simply the nature of the world we live in. Now, Satan will do all in his power to turn this experience into a stumbling block. God will exert his influence to try and make this a stepping stone. It is the faith or doubt of the individual which will determine the change. It is truly our choices that create who we are.

Gratefully, Our faith in Christ can become an anchor for our souls. We can choose to trust in him to turn to him and to allow his Atonement overcome the effects of the Fall. Now, the Atonement works personally, individually in our own lives. Eventually he will return to reign here on Earth and the effects of the Atonement will take effect on the whole Earth creating a paradise here. A world where the suffering and afflictions will be gone. Some probably think this is very saccharine view of the world, but it is my faith and my belief.

Am I fully at ease with this. No, I am a skeptic, in the best truest sense of the world. I am a scientist, technologist, humanist and optimist. I honestly believe we as people must do all we can to solve our own problems with the skill, knowledge and wisdom we have. I believe as you look over the history of mankind that you see a story of people that prevail. Time and time again we have solved our problems and improved the standard of living for most people. I think there is more of compassion and understanding in our world today than their was even 50 years ago. I look at the crises we face and I have hope. I have great hope and that hope is centered in Christ.

Links:
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=6be803bb4c19d110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&locale=0

Wow! Social Networking Works!

2008-12-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

Around 11:30 this morning I checked my phone. I have it set up to send me updates when something goes on with my Facebook account. Somebody sent me a message? Curious. I don't know the person and my phone only displays a minimum of info. He says he's the husband of... Curioser. I wonder why someone is messaging me ad prefacing it with the fact they are somebodies husband. So, out pops the iPod touch and the Facebook app. Within moments I have reconnected with a friends I haven't seen in years. Turns out he is the husband of Jane (name has been changed to protect the innocent). His wife and my wife were very close friends about 7 years back. We moved. They Moved. Numbers changed. We lost contact.

Well he was in town and his wife is in the hospital and wants very much to reconnect with my wife.

How did he find me? Google search and joined Facebook. He also found my work email which is pretty easy.

Anyway I'm very grateful to reconnect with these friends and glad that people could find me. I know it is scary to be so available, but for me the risks are worth it.

Monday Musings: Pride and Selfishness

2008-12-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

Normally, I make these posts on Monday a little more formal, but today, I couldn't resists ranting about something I overheard on the bus.

I commute to work on an express bus and there are two individuals in motorized scooter style chairs that regularly ride. There seats are across from each other and today I was sitting just in front of them. They began talking about the various features they like about the motorized chairs and then the older of the two gentleman mentioned that the scooter he is on is his wife's not his. He is traveling up to the Veteran's Hospital for treatments and has to have a scooter to get around but is now using his wife's because his was stolen.

Can you believe that??? Who could steal a wheelchair? What kind of person does that?

Which brings me to my musings. C.S. Lewis wrote an essay on pride being the universal sin. President Ezra Taft Benson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints then reiterated many of his words. Both of their comments boil down to this. People sin because they are prideful. In their pride they believe they know better than God. I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment. Most of my major failings come down to me thinking I know better than God and his Prophets. I like to express this a little differently though, Selfishness is the simplest form of pride. When I want my way despite what the consequences are for others I am sinning. Pride and Selfishness become the bitter bite that drives people to seek their own desires above the concern for others. Nearly all the commandments in one way or another drive us to consider others before self. Selflessness is the sign of a man of God.

Monday Musings: Fasting

2008-12-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

In Malachi, God speaks through his prophet about the importance of tithes and offerings

From scriptures.lds.org

8 ¶ ^aWill a man ^brob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In ^ctithes and offerings.

9 Ye are ^acursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

10 Bring ye all the ^atithes into the storehouse, that there may be ^bmeat in mine house, and ^cprove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not ^dopen you the ^ewindows of heaven, and pour you out a ^fblessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Even though it states tithes in verse 10 verse 8 refers also to offerings. Last week I blogged about how I feel about tithing. This week it is fast offerings.

A few years back, I heard an anecdotal story. Sorry, I have no source on it, and whether it really happened or not isn't really relevant to the point I am going to make. A gentleman from India was speaking to a leader of the LDS church and telling him how much he wished that people would go without food for just one day so they could empathize with the poor and hungry of his country. The church leader then tells him, "Our members do this every month and then donate the money saved to help the poor and the hungry" The man from India then broke into tears to think someone would actually do this.

As I mentioned, I don't remember the details, but for me the message was what mattered. I gain empathy through forgoing food for 24 hours, or two meals, and then donate the money saved to others. The LDS Church encourages it's members to fast on the 1st Sunday of each month and the Sunday Meetings that day are an opportunity for members to share their experiences and beliefs. The church accepts the donations and then redistributes them first to those with local needs and then further abroad as surpluses allow. The LDS church handles the details of it for me, but what a fantastic way for me to learn what others suffer. The spiritual blessings of the empathy alone are important, but additionally, I find that when I fast sincerely and add to my fasting prayer, I am much more able to recognize God's will and influence in my life. Like tithing, fasting becomes an outward manifestation of my devotion to God.

So I got a comment

2008-12-03T23:51:00.001-07:00

I got a comment on my Monday Musing for this week. I am the first one to admit that these Monday Musings are by no means doctrinal dissertations. Just my thoughts on a few things that matter to me. I will always do my best to represent accurately anything I say, but when it comes right down to it. These are my reflections on my beliefs.

But the comment the gentleman made was enough to get me out to his site and see what he had to say. I commented on one of his blog posts where it seems to me he was trying to point out the evil of tithing. I give my response below

Umm...what about a church that doesn't have a paid ministry? The tithes in the LDS church are used almost entirely for building new churches or other buildings of worship, printing materials provided free to those interested, and to pay the salary of a very limited full time employees of the church. Another portion is used to maintain the church functions and some is invested to provide ongoing support to the church. You commented on my blog that I was an extortionist and say that Christ did away with the Old Covenant by dying on the cross, but Peter, Paul and the rest of the Apostles tithed the believers. Tithing is for me a way to show my commitment to God and his kingdom and a not only good place to start, but a good end.

What a wierd way to divert my web

2008-12-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

Twice today when I tried to load up www.google.com I got this:
Um...I'm not in Canada nor really near Canada but ok!!

The new PhotoBooth has video....my son figured it out

2008-12-03T17:06:00.001-07:00

So, a few weeks ago I was looking for a bag for my MAC and I had to run into another store. I had my parents with me so I left the MAC and the kids in the car. Below you can see the result.

Monday Musings: Tithing is an outward manifestation of our willingness to place God first

2008-12-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the California Fresno Mission. This consisted of basically the whole San Juaquin Valley.

While I was there, I had two experiences that taught me a lot about why tithing matters. The first was with a family who was asking: "Why do we need to pay tithing before I go to the temple?"

My answer was what I learned from. I don't know what inspired me to say this (well, I actually do) but I remember responding that if we aren't able to keep the commitments we make outside the temple then we won't be able to keep the commitments we make inside the temple.

Another experience taught me the truth of that. Later in my mission I was working with another couple. He was an Ensign in the Navy and I am sure their little family of four was on a really tight budget. When we got to the law of Tithing, it was all over. They wouldn't have anything more to do with us. They had been committed to baptism, but when they learned that they were expected to give 10% of their income to the Church they simply couldn't see it. I hope that at some future point the feelings they had about the Church may have changed their minds but at that time they could not see how they could possible make it while giving away 10% of what little they had.

Tithing is by definition 10% of what we ~~have~~ earn. This Tithing of us as a people provides the money for running the Church. In the LDS church there is a lay ministry so none of the church leaders are paid for their service. Some full-time church employees are paid from Tithing funds, but all of them must maintain their membership in good standing, meaning specifically, they must maintain a good moral life.

Tithing then isn't really about me paying for my religion but about me dedicating funds to support a system I believe in. The benefits I get from the church are completely intangible, but marvelously effective in my life.

Some of you may have read this post earlier, I realized I had made an error and made the above strikethrough and correction.

Losing my tweeple

2008-11-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize how easy it is to form significant contacts on the internet. A few months ago I started a twitter account and a few weeks in a fellow twitterer started following me. I have gotten really used to his posts and valued the funny things he said. A couple of days ago, I snapped off a couple quick responses that I realized after the fact were probably too sarcastic and that sarcasm doesn't translate well. As soon as I realized this I tweeted off an apology. Nothing....... days without a tweet from my fellow twitterer. Finally I went directly to the profile page...clicked on the follow button. NO!!!! I have been blocked. Maybe it's really not personal, but it reminds me that the interactions online can be as valuable as the face to face ones but are even more fragile, one misguided comment can lose a friend.

The Big Game

2008-11-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

I am not normally a huge footbal fan but this year my dream has finally come true. For years I have joked that I was going to get a PHd (actually more likely I will get an Ed.D) from the U to go along with my B.S. from the Y which would mean that during the big rivalry game her in Utah I would always be a winner, Well, this year I got my wish, with my new job I now work for the U and so....my team won!

I have to admit though, I fill just a little isolated here at the U

Monday Musings: Is Religion Technologous or is Technology religious?

2008-11-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

I wrote a few weeks ago about my talk during church about media. Well, I bumped into a talk on TED about how religion is technology. Most people would disagree with that because of a narrow definition of technology. Most people perceive technology as electronic gadgets, but my favorite definition of technology is:

"A product or process that is used to: solve problems, meet opportunities, fulfill curiosity or extend human abilities"

Using this definition religion is without a doubt a technology it is a process that extends human abilities. I am able to do more with religion than without it.

This gentleman's discussion was interesting particularly given the context. It was given in 2003. After the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. but before the launch of the Irag phase of the war on Terror.

TED Talks

To Eat or Not to Eat (A response to Oh, Honestly

2008-11-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

My fellow blogger was asking about kids eating habits, and wonders just how picky they are.

You can see her post here. But I have to say, her kid sounds pretty normal. My little boy goes home everyday after kindergarten to spend the afternoon with Grandma. Every day he wants to eat "grilled cheese sandwiches" He hasn't had anything else for lunch for weeks. Last night though, he got hungry for dinner, on the menu:

Rice and Black beans (Dominican Style cooked together)
Pollo guisado (Chicken stewed with tomato sauce)
A slice of leftover pizza.

Pretty good meal for a 5 year old.

By way of other humorous comments from kids, during dinner little boy had to tell me: Dad, today I saw a yellow slug bug, but I was alone, so I hit myself.

I guess, I really should not have taught them that game.

image from : http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowcola/

Monday Musings: Cafeteria Religion?

2008-11-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

I have heard this phrase bandied about in one way or another for years. I have heard people say too that the Gospel is not a Smorgasbord. Zealous people generally speak of following all of God's words. This becomes very complex and requires a level of faith I am not sure I yet have. I recently listened to a TED talk regarding this and this individuals opinion was ultimately the opposite, that we should take a cafeteria approach to religion and that we must pick and choose what parts of the Bible we follow.

TED Talks

I am troubled a lot by this myself being faithful and honestly believing that I should be willing to follow all that God asks me to do and being a skeptic and regularly analyzing the world around me as critically as I know how.

I'm a PC???

2008-11-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, PC stand for Personal Computer, whether that is a Mac, Dell, HP, Acer, Commodore 64 or a TI-80. PC stands for Personal Computer, it may not be politically correct, but that is what it the initials mean. I use a Mac now, but I was a proud Microserf for years. In fact I prided myself on adopting the Microsoft Technology. I had a conflicted relationship with them because of their market dominance, but I actually like their products and they work, despite complaints about them their products actually are pretty darn good and they respond pretty well to the consumers.

The Mac vs. PC commercials made me laugh and I really wanted to get a Mac even though I hadn't used one since the late 80's in high school. I do find it supremely ironic though that the commercials avoid a direct attack on Windows, by referring to the stodgy out of touch computer as a PC, but wait.... the Mac is a PC. Remember! PC stands for Personal Computer no matter whether it runs Mac OS, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux or some other operating system.

Even though I liked Apple's ideas and products I found that when I went out to buy my first real mp3 player, it made more sense not to buy an iPod because I found one with better features for a lower price that was compatible with more formats. So for a time I was an unbaptized convert to the Church of Mac, but now having joined the congregation, I find I am a heretic, and a blasphemer because I want my Windows back.

Now, (three years after Apple launched the Mac vs. PC campaign) Microsoft is fighting back with "I'm a PC" So apparently this is supposed to inspire me to admit I like Microsoft. Cause everyone wants to dress up like characters from TRON. Uh Oh, I just revealed myself cause no one but a PC would know that this guy is dressed as a TRON character. Oh well.

Do you want fries to go with that shake? Part II

2008-11-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, a bit back I posted about my silly experience at Carl's Jr. I was convinced then it was just one employee following their instructions to the letter, but just for fun I wanted to let you know what happened when I went back.

I ordered:

Bacon Guacomole Six Dollar Burger (Buy One get one free)
Bacon Swiss Crispy Chicken Sandwich (Buy one get one free)
Big Hamburger
Double Western Bacon CheeseBurger ($1.00 off)

This time the Manager was taking my order and again I was asked?:

Is that to stay or to go?

Ummm... just for fun here's the breakdown if I had chosen to stay and eat that food all by myself
Yup over 5000 calories and 2000 grams of food( That's 2 kilos or 4.5 pounds)

I miss this blog...

2008-11-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

Man, I miss this blog. I have filled up a basket full of ideas to blog about and I have some great photo's but no time. My last blog post was the day before I found out I had to have my online class up and launched a full week before I thought I did. So I have spent the last few weeks getting that up.

I find it sort of ironic that I am teaching and Internet Safety Class online, but it's been fun. I have already gotten some very good ideas and responses. One person commented that Internet Safety is kind of like swimming safety. I can fence in the pool, guard it, watch it and teach kids the dangers of the pool, but probably the best way to keep them safe is to teach them to swim. I would also argue that it's a lot easier to teach them to swim if I am in the pool with them.

It's amazing to me how powerful it is to have my own personal voice through this blog. Even though I know no one is actually reading it.

Well, I have stayed away from the political stuff partly becuase I am not very Partisan, and partly because I find myself so conflicted. I have a lot of friends and neighbors who are very Republican and they are saying things like:

"What's going to happen now?"
"Maybe he'll surprise us all and be great"
"After 8 years of a living a nightmare, I have woken up to find my dreams have finally come true"

Well, my opinion, for what it is worth. I honestly believe the last 8 years have been largely difficult, but not nightmarish. It has been hard, but I don't feel like the world has been approaching doom. I also don't think we are approaching doom now either. Barak Obama will probably do a fine job as President and will have to deal with the cards dealt him, just like all past President's before him.
My faith lies in the people of America. We are a people who, by and large, are honestly concerned with having good in our lives and the lives of our neighbors. There is more tolerance, respect and a better standard of living for the average person throughout the world today than there was a hundred years ago for those same people. Yes there is still a lot of inequity. The poor are still poor, but if you look at the quality of life or all people I believe it is better. There are lots of doomsayers, but if we can see one thing through history it is that life prevails. Humans, adapt and we succeed. Do I have worries and concerns and feelings of doubt? Yes!!! but overwhelming all of that I have a fundamental confidence in the basic goodness of people as a whole

Monday Musings: Media the great Evil???

2008-10-20T08:16:00.000-06:00

Well, if you have noticed my recent 'tweets' you know that I spoke in church on Sunday. I spoke in the LDS Spanish Congregation that my family and I attend. For the very first time in my whole life I wrote out the entire talk word for word including scriptures because it was all español. It was very challenging, but good. I also found myself following along with my finger and reading and not just 'speaking'.

What I spoke about was the influence of media. I wasn't able to quite express all I wanted to so here we go for Monday Musings.

I look at the media we consume much like food. We even use the same metaphors (consume). There is a vast amount of junk food on the internet. Media full of intellectual empty calories. The stuff that is out there is entertaining, fun and inviting, but leaves you feeling bloated and ultimately unsatisfied. There is also a fair array of toxic and poisonous stuff out there, or maybe it's just rancid, spoiled and rotten. Anyway, people can choose to consume media that if it were food would kill us. Having said this I actually believe that people have a right to say what they want, just please respect my right not to partake.

Most importantly, though, there is literally a feast laid out of intellectual delights. There are just so many good things available for us. I don't mean just the great things the LDS church or other churches produce, but the simply amazing free resources that are available. Documentaries, classes, books, literature, science, history. There is a mountain of good media available. Online, through Cable and Satellite and free over the airwaves.

The Doctrine and Covenants in Section 88:78-80 teach us to learn all we can:
From http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/88

78 Teach ye diligently and my ^agrace shall attend you, that you may be ^binstructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

79 Of things both in ^aheaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must ^bshortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the ^cnations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a ^dknowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—

80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to ^amagnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the ^bmission with which I have commissioned you.

If we are truly to fill our missions and magnify our calling....to truly fulfill our purpose on earth we should be filling our minds with a knowledge of our world. To do this we must seek learning out of the best books
From http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/88

118 And as all have not ^afaith, seek ye diligently and ^bteach one another words of ^cwisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best ^dbooks words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.

Our faith and our study help us to gain the wisdom we need to fulfill our purpose. When we study the scriptures, and modern prophets as the first foundation of our understanding of the world then all the other things we learn are understood through the lens of the gospel. This allows us to know both what is good for us and what we should avoid as well as how to use what we experience for our good. The concern then becomes less what media I am consuming and more how I am choosing to integrate it into my life. Two people may read the same thing, watch the same movie, or hear the same discourse and one may choose to take offense and leave behind the fellowship of Christ, and another may choose to draw closer.

As we continue this process the time we will by our own nature and choices leave aside the poisonous and toxic, we will for the most part avoid the junk food of the media world and will consume those things that enrich our lives and fill our souls and we will be come filled with light. We can see also that the time of merely, passively consuming media is changing rapidly into a world where each of us creates our own media to contribute to the feast. The choices about what kind of media we consume will also affect the types of media we create.

I know that this post has gotten rather long and also rather verbose, that happens, but I guess since no one reads this anyway it doesn't matter.

Hey, I joined the Church!!

2008-10-18T22:05:00.000-06:00

Why, yes I do thanks!

Do you want fries to go with that shake?

2008-10-15T09:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, my wife wanted a break from cooking and so did my mom (my folks live with us) So, my mom and I bundle into the car with the younger son and head out the door. Mom has coupons from Carl's Jr. and I am a sucker for a Bacon Guacomole Cheeseburger.

Mom and I sift through the coupons and I head inside to get our food. I never do the drive through with coupons. I lay out my order

Chicken Bacon Club with (free fries and drink)
Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger ($1.00 off)
Six Dollar Cheeseburger (free fries and drink)
2 Bacon Guacomole Burgers (buy one get one free)

The cashier at the counter looks at my and in all seriousness without the slightest sense of sarcasm or humor with a straight face asks:

Do you want that to stay or to go?

Monday Musings: Zion

2008-10-13T06:10:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a while since I was able to make a Monday posting. I really like this blogging stuff, but still not always regular about it, but since no one is reading it anyway it doesn't make a lot of difference.

My musings today come from reading Moses in the Pearl of Great Price during Sacrament meeting. I probably should have been paying attention to people sharing their testimonies of Christ, but I was sitting there with my son who was begging to use my iPod and I told him he could only read scriptures on it and shared with him the story of Enoch the Prophet.

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moses/6
31 And when Enoch had heard these words, he ^abowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: ^bWhy is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people ^chate me; for I am ^dslow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?

32 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy ^amouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.

33 Say unto this people: ^aChoose ye ^bthis day, to serve the Lord God who made you.

34 Behold my ^aSpirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the ^bmountains shall flee before you, and the ^crivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore ^dwalk with me.

35 And the Lord spake unto Enoch, and said unto him: Anoint thine eyes with ^aclay, and wash them, and thou shalt see. And he did so.

36 And he beheld the ^aspirits that God had created; and he beheld also things which were not visible to the ^bnatural eye; and from thenceforth came the saying abroad in the land: A ^cseer hath the Lord raised up unto his people.

My wife and I were reading this and noticed the power of Enoch's personality. He was humble and maybe more than humble he was reluctant because of his own self doubts, but God gave him courage and told him that he would justify his words. Another point that was valuable to my wife and I was in verse 35 "and he did so." Enoch obeyed. He became a seer to his people and in the next chapter it confirms the power he recieved.

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moses/7

13 And so great was the ^afaith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he ^bspake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the ^cmountains fled, even according to his command; and the ^drivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so ^epowerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.

So great was Enoch's faith and trust in God that he preached as he was called and he and his whole city 'walked with God' and were taken up to heaven.

Pretty weighty stuff for me. If one good man could do that, what might I do as a father, friend and citizen in my community and world?

I was looking at this partly with and for my son because he has been reading some books about the Dragonlance world. He talks excitedly about how cool it would be to have magic or use a mystical staff. Star Wars and 'The Force' also fascinate him.....who isn't fascinated at least a little by to possibility of amazing powers. What I keep talking to my son about is the power of one good life and the faith we have.

Even more Fall Fun

2008-09-30T08:49:00.000-06:00

We had even more fall fun up American Fork Canyon. We went up on Saturday and just hung out for a few hours. I was responsible for making the fire, which took me about an hour and half a box of matches, and even though I impressed my wife with a highly scientific explanation involving the 3 basic needs of a fire, I still have to admit I have kind of lost my fire making skills. I still blame this weekends incident on the design of the fire ring.

The kids loved roasting the chocolate swirl marshmallows, and the hot dogs.

Fall Harvest

2008-09-30T08:44:00.000-06:00

This summer I didn't get to do as much with the garden as I would have liked. The new job reverses my old seasonal schedule. Now, I am really busy in the summer, and have time in the spring and the fall.

I did still get some time to be out in the yard with the kids though. What fun!

Ok....So I can't help myself I love "As seen on TV" albums

2008-09-23T11:04:00.000-06:00

I remember once back in the late 80's or 90's I saw an album offered on TV. It was an amateur Irish Singer that wanted to make a gift for his family. I loved the music, but didn't buy the album. Now I want it ... at least to hear it and see if I still want to buy it. But alas, can't find it on iTunes, can't find it at Walmart.com, can't finde it on Amazon.com, can't find it anywhere.....wait..... what about YouTube. Everything's on YouTube right! Yup... everything's on YouTube

Interesting stuff about how the online environment is evolving

2008-09-22T09:13:00.001-06:00

I found this fascinating quote today:

World of Warcraft and other Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) sure do look exciting (see screen grab of Battle Ready Cat Thingy with Large Sword and Big Fangs at right). And WoW is exciting. I should know, as I've wasted a fair amount of my life parked in front of a computer, fighting off the Horde, etc.Discovery News: Etherized, Aug 2008

You should read the whole article.

The Creation of the World

2008-09-22T06:09:00.000-06:00

Monday Musings:
I have always found it conflicting trying to be a believing and practicing Latter-Day Saint and a Scientist. Now, technically, I am not a scientist since don't do any original research, but I do have a Bachelor's Degree in Biology and I have taken graduate level science courses and taught science for 5 years. Even now that I am a trainer, I still love reading and understanding science. I find that there are a lot of similarities between good science, good scientists and good religion and good believers. More on that in another blog, but the reason I bring it up is the major conflict between most religions and science is the Creation. The fundamentalist Christian, stated doctrine on the creation is in part that God created the world "ex nihilo" from nothing, and that it took place in seven 24 hour days. That is at odds with the stated doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, especially the first part. But what I really wanted to muse about was the interesting features of the sequence of the creation and the differences in 3 of the versions we have in the LDS Church. It has gotten me working on something I did once before when I was in college, but I am working on a comparison day by day of the Scriptural descriptions of the creation. When I get it done I'll post it. What I do know, despite the variations in the accounts, there is a distinct and definite plan. I am not a proponent of divine design as it is usually described, and I definitely don't believe it belongs in a science classroom. But I do like the term. It took me a long time to come to grips with my own conflict about my scientific beliefs and my religious beliefs and for a long time I felt they were in direct conflict, now I feel more like my views on science and and my views on religion are involved in a begrudgin alliance. They are both ways of getting at an ultimate truth that I am both limited in my ability to understand and to consolidate. I also think it is very significant that every belief system that I know of has it's own mythology of the creation of the world. It seems fundamental to human nature to create purpose for the world we live in and as creators ourselves we see in the world a creation with purpose.

Monday Musings: The Rebellion becomes the Tyranny

2008-09-15T22:35:00.000-06:00

Vanessa and I were reading up on her Spanish class yesterday. She is learning about the Inquisition which I have to admit brings up memories of "The History of the World: Part I" with Mel Brooks which is a terrible rated 'R' and no one should ever watch it even if it is hilarious.

Anyway since these Monday Musings are some of my thoughts about God, Religion and goodness I don't really want to focus on the movie with the vulgar humor.

What Vanessa and I were talking about was the fact that anytime there is a rebellion against tyranny that rebellion eventually becomes the tyranny. The pattern that you see is that a small group of people try to throw of the yoke of burdensome rules, regulations, customs, and traditions and what eventually happens is that rebellion gets more and more followers and in order to manage the organization rules, traditions, regulations, and customs develop and in order to maintain the traditions and beliefs of the rebellion they must become the tyrants who purge out the heretics. Interesting huh?

Why Are School-Age Boys Struggling? | Newsweek Education | Newsweek.com

2008-09-11T07:58:00.000-06:00

Why Are School-Age Boys Struggling? Newsweek Education Newsweek.com

I certainly don't want to or intend to offend, but I have an opinion on this and nobody reads my blog anyway. The struggle that is described in this article was very evident to me as a school teacher. I have thought about it for the last several years, and at the risk of being politically incorrect at best and labeled a macho pig at worst. I think that a big part of this problem is exacerbated by the unequal proportions of men to women educators especially in the early grades. People all the time argue that men and women are equal, and they are and both should be treated equitably, but to ignore that fact that men and women are fundamentally, biologically, and psychologically different is foolish.

There is a disproportionate number of women educators especially in the early grades. Even the best and most educated and experienced female teacher simply can't remember what it was like to be a 'boy'. Largely our current educational practice, I am not talking the theory or the stated philosophy, but the actual practice encourages compliance. For thousands of years, boys that strong, assertive, leaders were those that were encouraged. They became the Washingtons, the Martin Luther Kings Jr.s', the Lindbergh's, but now what is rewarded is compliance, submissiveness, obedience. "Sit down, and do you worksheet" We say on the surface we encourage innovation and leadership, but not when kids push back on the teachers decisions.

I know that in large part, at least in the state of Utah, part of the reason we have such a disproportionate number of male to female teachers has to do with salary. Your average Husband and Father simply can't provide effectively for his family as an educator. Salaries set by the State legislature are still based on the unspoken philosophy that teachers are: mostly housewives who want extra income for the family. Well, as long as that is true the kinds of men (and women, quite frankly) who are the most devoted spouses and best leaders are going to leave education creating a void for the boys who need a good example of how to be a good man without being disruptive to society.

Monday Musings

2008-09-08T22:16:00.000-06:00

I have been planning on making my thoughts on God, Christ, and my relationship to them part of this blog. My relationship with God is kind of like my relationship with books. It is so ingrained into who I am and how I think, that often I don't think about it. I think I need to reflect on it more. So... whenever I am able to on Mondays I am going to muse a little about my thoughts. I am active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and honestly have a deep faith in the teachings of The Church (as it is always said here in Utah )

The reason I say I am active LDS is that if anyone is reading this (which I know they are not) and they happen to not be LDS, what I am about to talk about needs the LDS Church as background. Tonight before going to bed I was reading in the Book of Mormon about the Atonement of Christ. I was reading in Alma Chapter 42. Alma is teaching his son Corihor about the necessity of an atonement. We need an atonement made because there was a Fall of Man. The fall of man was brought about by Adam and Eve when they partook of the fruit and in verse 10 it tells us that "Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature...." Now, there is some great stuff that comes after that, but what stood out to me is this idea that the Fall makes us all carnal by nature. Carnal has at its root the Latin word for flesh. We became as an entire race and species fleshly. I think both subject to the vagaries of having a fleshy body and the temptations and trials of that, but also importantly focused and dependent on the flesh. We become convinced somehow that our bodies are more than they really are. I have also been reading Radical Evolution. I just finished the section regarding the "Heaven Scenario" in which various experts and optimists in the fields of technology paint a rosy picture whereby we are able to transcend our current limitations and becomes as the Gods. It is interesting to me that it is not being able to live forever that makes people like Gods, but rather knowing the difference between good and evil and choosing the good. Are we carnal by nature...seems so....that is why we need an atonement.

The irony is biting!

2008-09-08T22:11:00.000-06:00

Two posts for today again. This is a short and simple one. If anyone were reading my blog (which I know they are not so let's just stop pretending) They would have noticed my post about my run in with Law Enforcement. Well today, I finally had time to go in and arrange for traffic school, but the traffic was complex in Salt Lake and I had to stop for gas on the way back to Utah County. Needless to say I found myself on the free in a "very big hurry" and I started laughing to myself..."Here I am 'hurrying' very fast to get to the Court House on time to schedule my traffic shool class I have to take because the last time I was in a hurry the Law Enforcement Office decided I wasn't cute enough to just get a warning. The irony is biting.

Play Massive Jack Goofball

2008-09-06T19:03:00.000-06:00

Ok, so my son thought it would be cool thing to go and play Ben 10 Bounty Hunter, but it doesn't work on the Mac yet. So he distracted himself by building game after game as Massive Jack Goofball. You can see his games on Cartoon Network or link directly below:

http://gamecreator.cartoonnetwork.com/?id=6214291
http://gamecreator.cartoonnetwork.com/?id=6214722
http://gamecreator.cartoonnetwork.com/?id=6214539
http://gamecreator.cartoonnetwork.com/?id=6171589

2008-09-05T08:49:00.000-06:00

OK! wow two posts in a day. But I simply had to write about this. While we were at Barnes and Noble yesterday I noticed again something I had seen and thought about before. Niche marketing. If you take a look at the photos you can see just how far niche marketing has gone. A couple of fun titles were: Gothic Beauty, and Vogue Knitting which I thought really should have been put closer together since those two niches are so similar.

The other thing I found highly ironic was the several magazines about marijuana. How exactly is that legal? Can you really sell an entire magazine that does nothing but advertise an illegal activity? I mean it even shows photos of people illegally using marijuana. Anyway I have to get back to my reading. My copy of Professional Shoe lacing quarterly just arrived and there is a new article about alternative lacing materials that I just have to read.

What is with drivers?

2008-09-05T06:45:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I am sure there are at least a million rants online about the bad driving on the road, but I can officially be objective since I have (mostly) taken myself out of the drivers seat. I now commute on Mass Transit 90% of the time but last night my wonderful wife picked me up at the "End of the Line" Trax station and we spent some time at Barnes and Noble with the kids just checking out books and drinkin hot chocolate and eating Pumpkin cheesecake. What a great evening right?

Well a little after 8 pm we decided to head for home and we got stuck behind a massive traffic jam. it was one of those wonderful kind you don't know about until just pas the exit you "could" have taken. Traffic was jammed from just past the Main Street American Fork Exit to somewhere near Fillmore. Well probably not Fillmore, but it sure felt like it. It is 3 miles between The AF exit and the 1st PG exit which took us about 1.5 hours. Now comes the rant part. Some tanker truck ran off the road and went from southbound traffic into the norhbound freeway lanes dumping the contents of the vehicle. I don't know exactly what happened and I sincerely hope no one was hurt, but come on how selfish!!! Selfish? you might ask. Yes!! Selfish! Some self-centered person decides that their time and life is so important that they can't tear themselves away from on self serving pursuit to leave for an appointment on time and so the feel compelled to drive like a maniac because what ever self serving appointment they have must be reached on time. What this whole attitude does is basically subverts the needs and safety of everyone else on the road to the one guy (or gal I don't discriminate) who can't have the patience to drive safely along with traffic. This persons ovewhelming self interest tells them that it is perfectly fine for them to risk the safety of hundreds of other people on the freeway not to mention delay thousands of people when they do finally cause an accident. Now some accidents are just that, but come on we have all had the person blast past us giving the one-fingered salute as if to say "You are such a jerk to intentionally prevent me from using the whole freeway as my own personal playground" I really do believe that many of the hyper-aggresive drivers must believe that everyone on the road is intentionally trying to block them and delay them. Talk about delusions of grandeur. Yup buddy, I've got nothing better to do with my petty little life than interrup you. Can't we all grow up.

Speakikng of that though. Clearly some people do feel it is somehow their responsibility to keep the jerks in line. The accident was bad enough last night, but adding to the frustration was the fact theat allof us knew that we were only a couple of miles (just two minutes) from freedom. As we got closer and closer to the next exit people were creeping onto the shoulder trying to see what was going on. Eventually somedrivers pulled out on the shoulder and sped along to the exit. Until, someone decided that it simply wasn't right for others to get ahead. No... nobody better problem solve and get out of the mess. Somebody in a Subaru a couple fo cars ahead of us pulls onto the should and crouches. He doesn't pulll along the should and off the freeway. Just crouches. Apparently he had received some kind of mandate from the aliens that it was his job to prevent anyone from driving on the shoulder. Now, I am not advocating for the folks sneaking past the traffic. There had already been two or three emergency vehicles travel down the shoulder and I was concerned that these folks using the shoulder might block the next emergency vehicles, but the person in the Subabru was not just potentioally blocking traffic, but intentionally blocking it.

Well, this is probably more than anyone would want to read ever in a blog, but since this is mostly for me deal with it.

By the way I found the details. And apparently this wasn't so much a matter of selfish, reckless driving as not knowing how tall your truck is.

check the link http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/279489/17/

Sacrifices for the Dragons

2008-08-25T17:09:00.000-06:00

Honolulu Zoo: Komodo Dragons

What amazing stuff! Ursula K. Le Guinn wrote fictional books about the world of Earthsea where dragons and people have a common ancestor. It turns out that the people of the Island of Komodo actually believe the same thing. You have to listen to the whole report, but I am amazed at how ingeniously the culture developed a mechanism for protecting themselves from the Komodo Dragons. These are Giant 10 foot lizards that can easily kill a human, but for decades and perhaps hundreds of years this cultural belief that the dragons and humans have a common ancestor caused the villagers to share prey and goats with the dragons thus preventing the dragons from getting hungry enough to attack the humans. 10 years ago the Nature Conservancy says the islanders shouldn't be "domesticating" the dragons and now there are regular attacks. Pretty funny how our solutions mess things up again.

Check out the link here: http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/20448

Some body really measured this??

2008-08-21T14:13:00.000-06:00

Ok, I have had to type in the little misshapen words and letters on many websites, but I never even stopped to think about how much time it was taking. This guy not only figured out how much time it was taking but a way to make use of the time. All in all really a good idea.

Check it out at here:

Alarmism is Real!!

2008-08-21T13:34:00.000-06:00

I don't want to be an alarmist, but I am alarmed by an increasing trend to alarmism in our society. People are panicking for any and no reason whatsoever. Yes, I do know that bacon will kill me. I also know that when people drink to much alcohol they sometimes misjudge the attractiveness of others. However, I don't think we can panic about everything. I think the reason we do panic is simple. Information overload. I think there is another interesting phenomenon related to Alarmism and that is Mental Paralysis

Alarmism
Many people today seem determined to stir up an emotional response about anything they can. Case in point internet safety:

Now, if you watch this video, you and I can both agree that this would alarm the #@!! out of us if it was our daughter. It alarms me and it isn't my daughter, but research is showing more and more that the kids that are involved in meeting face to face with people from the internet are often fully aware of what they are doing. I guess the video is pretty accurate because the young lady in question seems to be trying to get attention and succeeding but just not showing judgement about what she is posting. I taught Junior High for 9 years and honestly, 95% of my students were never a problem or concern at all. The 5% made life really difficult, but most of the students were either simply good or actually really exceptional. We see the same attempts to stir up emotional responses to everything from Green House Gases, to Identity Theft, to salmonella on our tomatoes. The trouble is if we see every risk that is being shouted from the rooftops as not only legitimat but critical we become victims of the other disease caused by information overload

Mental paralysis
We all have so many warnings shouted at us that eventually we become like the townspeople in the old fable about the Boy who cried Wolf. Most people consider this a fable about learning not to lie, but it can also be applied the other way. It is important for us not to ignore warnings. The trouble we have is that we have all had so many and so many conflicting warnings that it is impossible to know what to do.

Case in point: The Atkins Diet (with all respect to Dr. Atkins and those for whome this has worked) We were all warned for years about the dangers of red meat, cholesterol and fatty foods, but the Atkins diet warns of the risks of high carb foods. If we read and accepted all the warnings about food none of us would ever eat again.

Another case in point: Photovoltaic Solar Panels. These are touted as a great potential solution to energy problems, but as soon as somebody claimed their benefits someone else was out clamoring the warning that the resources needed to mine the minerals to build them would outstrip the benefits. What are we to do?

Well I don't really know because mental paralysis has already set in and I've been warned that excessive blogging can lead to athlete's foot and carpal tunnel syndrome

TTFN

I could really use some of that.

2008-08-19T13:34:00.000-06:00

With all due respect to Scott Adams and www.dilbert.com. I didn't want to post this I would have preferred to embed or link, but I couldn't find out how (even after extensive minutes of searching) Anyway, I could really use some of this stuff.

What a week

2008-08-15T22:46:00.000-06:00

I have had a hugely busy week. I spent Monday teaching PhotoShop Elements which I have never used. Jared owes me pizza.

Tuesday and Wednesday I taught up in Logan which was great. What a wonderful bunch of people. You can look for what we did on TeacherTube. I posted a new internet safety video and my Weathering video.

Thursday and Friday I attended the Classroom 2.0 conference in Salt Lake City. It was an exceptional conference and I facilitated one session. I probably talked too much during the other sessions so I offer my apologies for my over enthusiasm to the other participants.

Any way all in all a good week.

Watch out!!

2008-07-25T18:54:00.000-06:00

It is so frustrating to see how our lives are limited by government intervention. First of all, I believe in government and support government. I even believe in taxes and laws and punishments, what I don't believe in is when the system grinds up the little guy without any thought to his/her life.

Case in point: Cops are our 1st Judges.

We often don't think about the extreme amount of power a cop is given. I am going to use a couple of recent examples from my own life. About a month ago, I crept out a little way into a busy intersection and when the light turned yellow, and then red I was already blocking traffic and had to move on through. A police officer following behind me stopped me and took down all my information and then gave me an unofficial warning and no citation. Now, what I mean by power, is that he could have decided there was probable cause, searched my vehicle and even incarcerated me if he had even the slightest provocation. He was my first judge, by deciding to let me go he made a judgement and I was found innocent. Not by a jury of my peers, but by a single individual with a relatively limited amount of training. (Now, I have several friends in Law Enforcement and I am not shorting any officer of the law, but they aren't required to have even a Bachelor's degree in most states just Police Academy Training initially)

Why did this guy let me go? Who knows, He liked my looks, I was polite, I didn't have any recent infractions, or he was just to busy, something came up, he didn't feel like it. He obviously judged that I had broken a law or he wouldn't have even stopped me, or maybe he was just gambling that I would have expired registration or insurance or something else.

Another case in point,

Just two weeks ago in a different city, I was pulled over but this time instead of a warning I got a ticket, why the difference, was this guy behind quota, was he mad at his kids, or did he just not like my looks, and then on top of this instead of giving me a ticket for going 47 in a 35 mile Zone he has the autonomy and authority to alter that to 40 in a 35 and still wrote that the radar clocked me at 47 on the citation. The technology is trusted and assumed to be correct, what am I going to say to argue with the radar? But still why does this one individual have so much authority. It's a lot of authority, particularly when you look at the system closer. When the ticket is first issued I have the choice of paying the ticket ($82.00) or paying a fine and enrolling in traffic school for a fee ($22.00 + $60.00= $82.00) This amount is just enough to really cause some economic pain (and I actually think if someone is going to be punished it should hurt) but small enough to not be worth fighting. If I do fight it, I am going to have to take of a full day of work and go down to the court and then if I lose I still have to pay the ticket. Am I going to gamble that the cop won't show to testify and it will get thrown out, especially when I know for sure I am losing a day's pay, probably not. Plus, If I chose to fight the ticket I forfeit the right to have the citation erased off my record by attending traffic school. The system is structured so that an individual police officer has the authority and autonomy to be judge, jury, executioner and in this case fee collector since the police department gets the $60.00 traffic school fee.

It looks like a corrupt system to me. The cop decides whom to ticket and whom not to ticket and then his program is benefited by the fees collected and the fees are structured so that to fight it is just risky enough not to be worth it. It gets even worse when confiscated money's and goods are kept by the police departments. See a recent series on NPR for further info.

Dirty Money

Flawed? Yeah, I think so!!! So Watch out!

Back from Kanab

2008-07-23T19:54:00.000-06:00

I just spent this last weekend flying down to Phoenix and then drove home through Kanab and did some training. There are some beautiful spots on the drive up 89. Go ahead take your Rout 66 but give me HWY 89 any day.

LDS Church encouraging Members to interact positively online

2008-07-18T09:03:00.000-06:00

What an interesting perspective. Elder Ballard is commenting in the same age old way (that while old and somewhat trite, it is nonetheless true) Fire is not dangerous, it is the way you use it. Fire can bring warmth and cook food or can destroy a home and kill thousands. The internet is the much the same. There are some really positive ways to interact and I am only sorry, that I have waited until now to really start to try and develop my own voice. I have said before that there are lots of back roads, dead ends and potholes on the information superhighway, but for the most part we can find some truly valuable things here. In our modern day you are a click away from edification or degradation.

Tuesday Thoughts

2008-07-08T06:42:00.001-06:00

I have been setting up a few accounts on the web lately. I have a relative that works for myspace and even though I haven't been very fond of it from a philosophical sense I decided to open an account. My wife also has friends on facebook so I opened a facebook account too. What has always struck me about these social networking sites is that they seem so much like a shopping market (or more accurately, an online catalog) of friends. It seemed to me that shopping for friends based on a classified ad they placed on myspace was deeply shallow. I think it actually goes beyond that. We have an innate, and instinctual desire for community. So much of what we want in our lives is a sense of belonging. When we are young, we hope and desire for a friend. Most of us remember the days of "who's your best friend" and the social drama of our youngest years and the desire for friends. I even remember as young as 2nd grade wanting to have a 'girlfriend.' These were not just silly childish behaviors, but our yearning for connection to community. I was just looking at my wife's facebook page and underneath her Status (married, thank you!) it says looking for: friendship. Mine says the same thing. I guess in a way it could be interpreted as sad, but really I guess it's not. We are all looking for friendship. We desire community. We want connections to people. In former times we had this community, because we lived, worked, learned, married, raised families and died largely in place. Now, there has always been movement of people. The 1860's through 1890's saw many families and communities moving westward. Most of these families had only recently left Europe, but in the 400 years before the 1700's you had seen families living within 100 miles of where they were born. Although there have always been the pioneers, the explorers and the settlers of new lands, our basic human desire is for connection to community. This community is moving online and can be fantastic.

I logged on and suddenly dozens of my fellow students from Snake River High where I grew up were there for me to reconnect too. I could immediately see the appeal of being able to reconnect with a community that a person had lost contact with.

Aren't most of us looking for friendship?

Check out what I'm looking for on:

http://www.myspace.com/mitchelljorgensen

My Face Book

Traveling in Phoenix

2008-07-05T19:15:00.001-06:00

Hey, I am travelling and in Phoenix. Why, oh, why, oh why, did I come to Phoenix in July? What would possess me to do such a thing. Oh, yeah.......my wife asked me to. That must be real love. But it is actually really nice here (hot, yeah, like the surface of a rocket pad after launch) But we have got to spend time with her family and visit some new places.

A new and great way to make extra money and get your exercise

2008-07-04T18:33:00.000-06:00

If you haven't heard there is a great way to earn extra money and get your exercise. It is stealing manhole covers. The manhole covers weigh around 250 pounds a piece and to steal them you have to pry them out of the street with a crowbar while outrunning traffic and then throw them in your car or truck. All this for a whopping $15.oo (yes, fifteen bucks). Almost enough to pay for a half a date (if you consider dinner and a Wendy's combo meal a date). Maybe it's just me, but lifting 250 pound manhole covers and carting them to a scrap dealer for a $15.00 sounds a whole lot like work.

Anyway learn more here:

Spate Of Manhole Cover Thefts Poses Problem

2008-06-24T13:54:00.000-06:00

Click on the pic to read the cartoon at Dilbert.com.

What a terrific cartoon. I have never worked in a cubicle until just recently, but even though I was a teacher with my own classroom (and even my own office) I really feel the Dilbert vibe.

Go Leeeches

Disclaimer: All content in the above posting is intended as fun and in now way reflects the actual feelings I have about my current job nor does it indicate any intention I have at all of being a leech now or in the future

Back From Bear Lake

2008-06-15T20:23:00.000-06:00

I spent the week at Bear Lake on the border of Utah and Idaho. My family and I went together to the Ideal Beach Resort. It was beautiful. I got to spend some wonderful time with my family and kids. The kids had a ball at the beach and for a summer vacation it was pretty weird that on our 2nd day there we got up and the neighbors at the time share were building a snowman. Other than cold weather it was quite fun. We watched all 5 of the Harry Potter Movies and read and other stuff. Check my UEN Blog for a report of my presentation at the CTE Summer Conference for Technology and Engineering Education.

TTIX

2008-06-06T13:24:00.001-06:00

I am attending the TTIX conference today. TTIX stand for Teaching Technology Idea eXchange. It is being held at Utah Valley State College, Soon to be Utah Valley University. I have been attending with colleagues from UEN and learned a little about Blackboard and other Learning Management Systems. I am now attending a class showing how to create a collaborative classroom using googletools. Info about the conference is available at www.ttix.org

New Job

2008-06-05T09:00:00.000-06:00

I got a new job, I am now training educators throughout my state on how to integrate technology into their curriculum. It should be interesting.

The waste in our world!

2008-05-20T21:00:00.000-06:00

Wow, more rants from Jorgie.

I can't believe the waste we have in our world! I guess, I am not so concerned with just the waste, but more the waste we have when people need what is wasted. For example food that is thrown out when people go hungry. I am most concerned about the local effects of this. I am not so bothered when food is thrown out in Iowa and people are starving in Timor, but it really bugs me that people are going hungry in Iowa and food is being thrown out in Iowa.

The Future

2008-05-09T07:55:00.000-06:00

What will the future bring? It is inherently impossible to tell. Michael Crichton in his book Congo stated that apes consider the future as behind them! Hebrew philosophy has included the concept that we walk backward into the future. We can only infer what we are walking into as new scenes come into our peripheral view. Anyone who has ridden in an old station wagon with the backward facing rear seat should sense the accuracy of my own personal "Gumpism" "Life is like riding in the back of a station wagon it's easier to see where you been than where you're going."

With that said the peripheral views and what we can see of the past out in front of us allows us to predict if not the weather on a particular day at least the climate (I know, there are many that are arguing about that as well). The climate of the future is beautifully predicted in a book of essays published in 2002 The Next Fifty Years *Science in the First Half of the Twenty-First Century Check it out for a truly interesting picture of the world behind us!