Guiding Principles

Since relocating our family to a small town in northern Idaho, Tracy and I have often pondered why people are so friendly.  I was recently convinced it's because they spend the entirety of their winters digging each other out when their cars get stuck in the snow.  Sacrifice changes people.
 
Life seems complicated sometimes, but I think a simple way to approach life is to be able to look back and not have a slew of victims in my wake; people I have wronged, people I have failed to care for; people I have judged, people who I have ignored. To leave this life without any accusers would be a great way to go out. This is the primary message we have recorded from Jesus to us. The Ten Commandments, focusing primarily on not creating victims, are fairly limited in scope. Jesus clarified when he summarized everything into the two great commandments; just love God and love your neighbors. It was important to be a good person before Jesus was born and showed us how. He was opposed by those that just couldn't understand why he acted and spoke contrary to their traditions. The organized religion at the time, with a line of authority reckoning back to Moses, charged him with blasphemy for following the two great commandments.

The charges and condemnations levied against us latter-day gentiles as prophesied in the Book of Mormon (see 2 Nephi 28 and Mormon 8), can be traced back to our behavior that creates victims in some way.   

• Robbing the poor and our contempt for the poor, needy, sick, and afflicted (2 Nephi 28:13; Mormon 8:37)
• Ignoring the hungry (Mormon 8:39)
• Preaching false doctrines (2 Nephi 28:9, 12, and 15)
• Persecuting the meek and the poor in heart (2 Nephi 28:13)
• Committing whoredoms (2 Nephi 28:14-15; Mormon 8:31)
• Murders (Mormon 8:31)
• Lying and deceiving (Mormon 8:31)
• Our many abominations.*  (2 Nephi 28:14, 17; Mormon 8:31, 40)

Each of these charges has a victim involved.  Each charge only occurs by the action or inaction of another (in the case of ignoring the hungry, inaction is still an action against that person).  You cannot lie or steal or murder or hate without creating a victim.  Makes you wonder about applying the word "sin" to behaviors that do no harm. If a person is alone in the forest and profanes and no one is around to be hear it, is it wrong?

What are those principles that each of us follow that shape our behavior in a given situation.  Do we self-preserve?  Are we focused on asserting dominance?  Are we easy-going?  Do we want to appear intelligent or funny?  Are we interested in seeing the world be met with justice or with mercy?  Do we want to serve and love and sacrifice?  I'm not quite sure how to identify your guiding principles.  Perhaps look at what your default reaction is when presented with choices; which reaction comes up most often.  It may take some self-reflection, some honesty, and some time.  I think self-awareness is a valuable thing to work towards.

Here's an example.  If I'm hungry and I have a sandwich, but someone approaches me who is also hungry and asks for a some money for food, how should I approach that situation?  It's not a trick question, but sometimes we treat it like one.   I promise you that 2 different people can approach this scenario from antithetical points of view, and both will consider themselves righteous while condemning the other. One will call the other selfish and the other will accuse of contributing to a potential drug or alcohol habit.  What is the right answer to this situation?  Is there a right answer?  There is if we are to believe the words of Jesus as contained in the scriptures.

Matthew 5:42 KJV  "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."  

While boarding a plane from Anchorage  this morning, I witnessed 2 things that prompted this writing.  First, I sat down in my aisle seat and a couple minutes later a young man/woman couple approached and indicated they would occupy the middle and window seat next to me. Initially, the woman offered the window seat and told her partner that he would have more arm room. He was tall, fit, and had broad shoulders. He said he would be fine  and told her to take the window seat. She asked again and he insisted again, so for the 3+ hour flight, he chose to sit next to me (not a small dude) and studied up for a firefighter exam, while she slept seemingly comfortably, resting against the inside of the plane. I spent the flight leaning a little extra into the aisle to reward this guy for his selflessness.

Now on to a contrasting example. A woman and her son were seated across the aisle from me. Her approximately 8 year old son had the window seat and she sat in the middle.  When the flight was nearly filled, a flight attendant  approached the mother and asked if she would be willing to move 15 rows up further in the plane and occupy a different set of window and middle seats.  The flight attendant was looking to relocate a couple with a baby in a car seat and I guess this aisle seat was the only aisle seat open on the plane. The woman claimed that her son had a friend with a family sitting in the window seat in the row behind them and she didn't want to separate the friends.  During the entire flight, the friends spent their time playing games in their individual iPads and, to my observation, did not interact once, except for the few minutes at the end while we were deplaning.  In one of these scenarios, love and selflessness were shown; in the other, a victim was potentially created. Sacrifice is at the very heart of love.

Occasionally I succeed and occasionally I fail.  I have enough victims lying in my wake that I ought not be concerned about the behavior of others, but I do have a stake in the society I was thrust into and regularly partake of.  Can you imagine a place where no one accuses and everyone forgives?  Where love and selflessness are the guiding principles upon which all behavior is based?  Where sacrifice is the default?  Where forgiveness rules the land?  Where NO ONE passes a car stuck in snow on the side of the road regardless of what item in our schedule we could use to justify not slowing down?  That sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

*Think we know what the word "abominations" means?  We should take a closer look, because I don't think it means what we think it does.  Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their abominations.  We should be sure we understand why that happened.

The Deletion of the Lectures on Faith

On this day in Mormon History 95 years ago, a new edition of the LDS Doctrine and Covenants was accepted as the newest version of the scripture.  Perhaps most remarkable about this new 1921 version is not what it contained, but rather what it no longer contained. 

Since the first publication of the Doctrine and Covenants in 1835 (not including the 1833 Book of Commandments), the book contained both the doctrine and the covenants.  The “doctrine” section was the Lectures on Faith, which were a series of 7 lectures given to the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, and the “covenants” section contained the revelations given through Joseph Smith up to 1835.  In 1844, another edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was printed, which contained all the revelations received up to that point.  This edition also contained the “doctrine” portion, and though Joseph Smith approved a version prior to his death in June of 1844, this edition did not print until later that year.  Editions were produced over the next 50 years, and they all contained the doctrine portion of the book.  In 1921, a church committee edited and approved the first version where the Lectures on Faith were deleted.

In any case, I have found these lectures immensely valuable and I consider them a necessary part of my studies into the nature of God and the developing of faith.

You can purchase the lectures, but free versions can be found online as well.  If you want a copy, let me know and I can email a pdf version.

The Apparently Not-So-Obvious Audience of the Book of Mormon

This Sunday in church, we spent 45 minutes in gospel doctrine class studying Mormon chapter 8.  If your not familiar with the chapter, open up your Book of Mormon and take a look.  If you are prone to heartburn, might I suggest taking an antacid beforehand?  Anyway, 45 minutes and yet we managed to avoid even skimming the surface of one of the most damning set of verses in the entire book.

How we did that, I'm not sure.  Is there a fundamental misunderstanding of who the audience of the Book of Mormon is?  Is it written for some other group of people that received the fullness of the gospel in the latter-days?

I believe there is a multi-faceted assumption promoted within the LDS church that directs most of the belief system of active, believing LDS Mormons.

Assumption:  We, as a church, can never apostatize..  God's true church was established in the latter-days never to be removed.  It will roll forth and fill the earth.  We have prophets that can never lead us astray, so the idea of falling into apostasy is not possible.  Because we can't apostatize, all the scriptures in the Book of Mormon that refer to the latter-day Gentiles rejecting the gospel, must be referring to some other group, and we're in the clear.

How deep these assumptions go into LDS church membership is unknown to me, but if this gospel doctrine class is any indication, I would say they run quite deep.  When we ignore the fact that the Book of Mormon was written specifically for us, it becomes little more than a history book of a people we don't really have any historical evidence of.

A portion of this same assumption is found among King Noah's people in the Book of Mosiah.

Mosiah 12  
15 And behold, we are strong, we shall not come into bondage, or be taken captive by our enemies; yea, and thou hast prospered in the land, and thou shalt also prosper.

Unfortunately, this scripture in Mosiah is a quote by the wicked priests of King Noah.  They literally quote scripture to justify their presumed righteous position before God.  Because they prospered both in wealth and safety, they assumed themselves in God's favor and therefore Abinadi was a false prophet worthy of death.  The root of this assumption is pride.

I'm open to being wrong and to have completely misinterpreted these passages in Mormon 8.  Tell me there is some other church out there that focuses so much on how fine our clothing needs to be on Sunday, to the point where a young man cannot participate in the preparation and administering of the sacrament.  Help me understand what Moroni is saying, "and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts (emphasis mine)."   Is he speaking of everyone EXCEPT the 15 or so million Mormons and our 30,000 + congregations (or churches)?   Is there any other church out there that is building and adorning churches at the pace and price that we are?  Is it at the expense of the "poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted?"  Are there no poor among us?  What percentage of our children across our international church are malnourished?  20%? 30%? 40%?  Does our obligation to help the "least" of our society stop at the front doors of our churches?

Mormon 8
35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.

36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?

39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?

40 Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?

41 Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer.

 A mighty fine sanctuary

Moroni seems to have nailed us?  The vision of the Gentiles was not his alone, however.  Nephi's was similar.  Let's look at 2 Nephi 28.  Identical themes as Moroni; pride, corruption, fine clothing, robbing the poor because of our fine sanctuaries.

2 Nephi 28
3 For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord’s; and the others shall say: I, I am the Lord’s; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord—

4 And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance.

5 And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;

6 Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work.

7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.

8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

9 Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.

10 And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them.

11 Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.

12 Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.

13 They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.

14 They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.

What is it about these verses that is so difficult for us to understand?  What good is the word of God if it doesn't humble us and cause us to turn back to Him?  These verse ought to tear into our hearts.  Why don't they?

I sat silent in my ward Gospel Doctrine class, mostly because I didn't know what to say or how to say it.  I can't be the only one that reads these scriptures this way, can I?  It's entirely possible that I'm missing something.  But, at the very least, these scriptures cause me to shake and consider my awful state before God.  They make me want to wear jeans and a t-shirt to church.  What these scripture DON'T do is make me want to walk around after the pride of my heart and pat myself on the back because of my righteousness.  They cause me want to throw myself onto the ground, cry unto the Lord, throw off my pride, and humble myself before God that perhaps I may one day find myself as one of the few humble followers of Christ that Nephi mentions in verse 14.  Hopefully, that is the goal of every one of us who claim Jesus as our Savior.

My Unconventional Journey: An uncorrelated view of the new LDS policy on baptism

My Unconventional Journey:  An uncorrelated view of the new LDS policy on baptism

by guest writer Tracy Giles

I spent half of my childhood in a gay home and found the gospel as a teenager.  My story is very different from many. As a daughter, a mother, a Primary President, and a friend, I would like to tell my story of conversion and how having the gospel as a teenager was an incredible blessing. Included in my story is a different perspective to the new policy that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS church) has issued regarding children from same-sex marriages not being allowed to be baptized.  My heart is very heavy.

I was raised in a Bible loving, Christian home. I remember reading the Bible as a young girl late at night, next to a small night light in my room.  One particular night when I was about 8 years old, I got on my knees and prayed the most earnest prayer.  I asked the Lord sincerely why there were not prophets and apostles leading and guiding people in our time. I prayed for an answer to know why we were left alone in the world with only scripture stories of people from the past to guide us.  If God wanted to speak to His people on the earth today, I believed whole-heartedly he would. That prayer stayed with me for many years.

My mother and father loved my brother and me very much. I know they tried to make their marriage work, but ultimately it ended in divorce and my mom in a same-sex relationship.  It was an earth-shattering experience to go through.  My world didn’t make sense any longer.  I chose to stay with my mom, and my brother moved in with our dad.

At the age of 13, we moved to Laguna Beach. My mom owned a coffee shop with her new girlfriend and I started my freshman year of high school.  With my father absent and my mother and her partner spending every waking hour at their cafe, I spent many hours alone. I was alone and in a downward spiral. My family was gone.  

This was a very dark time in my life.  I found myself in really troubling situations multiple times.  A girl from school, who was a member of the LDS church, befriended me and on one occasion when we were hanging out at her house, she explained to me that a prophet leads and guides her church. I told her that only God can call prophets and apostles.  She explained that Jesus Christ sat at the head of the church doing just that.  Upon hearing this news, tears swelled in my eyes. I had found it.  I knew I had found what my heart so desperately needed.  The Spirit overcame me and I knew that I needed more.

Naturally, my mom took notice that I was spending time with LDS friends, and wanted to know about their views on homosexuality. I was given the answer that you can be gay in the church, but you just can’t practice it. I spent time pondering this and ultimately decided that as long as I was welcome with open arms and had a place in the church, I could move forward. I felt like this was the path Jesus Christ wanted me to take.  Everyone at church knew me and knew that my mom was in a same-sex relationship. They were accepting of our family life, so I felt like I had found a home.  My complete conversion didn’t happen fast. My home life was still very confusing for many reasons.  However, every time I needed clarity and comfort, I found it in the LDS church. I found it in the scriptures. I found peace through the Savior, Jesus Christ.

My parents were not supportive of the doctrine of the church, so I met with the missionaries at church buildings or in members’ homes.  While my mom didn’t like the church, I was still allowed to go.  We were able to make it work.  It was those fundamental years in high school when things could have gone really bad for me, but didn’t because I had found something that brought me so much joy.  Having the church and knowing I had a place in it changed my life in high school. I still made mistakes, but It was such a good environment for me.

After high school I was on a spiritual high, so I moved to Provo, Utah to experience as much of the church as possible.  I was so saddened by what I found there.  I was never invited to church. Dates ended when guys found out I hadn’t been baptized or that I had a gay mom.  I would hear members of the church idolizing the general authorities (highest church officials). They treated them like celebrities.  They were put up on pedestals and made infallible.  With the exception of a few people, I felt the members to be judgmental, gossipy and competitive.  I was really disturbed by what I found in Utah. I left after 4 months, without any interest in joining the church.  Side Note: Obviously, this does not represent all members in Utah. This was just my own personal experience as someone investigating the church.  There are many wonderful people there.

Forgetting Mormonism, I ended up moving to Los Angeles and started working in the music industry for a famous music producer. Life was back on track, or so I thought. A year or so later, I was at the gym trying to get in a good workout and a girl on the treadmill next to me started up a conversation.  She was a member of the LDS church and discovered I had once lived in Utah but was not LDS.  Though she extended an invitation for me to come to church with her, it was several weeks before I felt a prompting to attend. I couldn’t find the girl’s information, but the name of the ward popped into my mind. Back then we had to use the yellow pages, so I looked it up and off I went. Sitting quietly in the back of the Relief Society meeting, I was asked to introduce myself. I stood up, gave a brief introduction and sat back down.  The girl in front of me turned around, smiled and said, “I’ve been waiting for you.” At the age of 20, I was baptized.

My family has some different beliefs than I do, and they truly didn’t want me to get baptized. Differences set aside, they were able to support it, and I’m thankful that the choice was always mine.  I’m thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who saw fit to give me the challenges I‘ve had in life because they’ve only made me stronger. As a teenager, I learned how important it is in life to respect the life choices of other people. Even though my mom and I don’t see eye to eye when it comes to spiritual matters, we can treat each other with fairness and kindness. I didn’t learn that lesson in a Sunday school class, I learned that lesson because I was living it. It was my life.

The church has come out with a new policy that doesn’t allow children of same-sex marriages under the age of 18 to be baptized. This new rule makes it so that even if a child living in a same-sex marriage household receives permission from their parents, they will not be able to receive the ordinances of the church.  The child and family are no longer allowed to exercise their agency in this matter.  Reasoning for this policy has been explained by Elder Christofferson, “We don't want the child to have to deal with issues that might arise where the parents feel one way and the expectations of the church are very different.”  

My story in the church began when I was 14 years old; a child.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has built its foundation on the vision of a 14 year old boy who prayed in the woods. He overcame great adversity both in the grove and defending his testimony until the day he died.  Children carry greater strength than most people give them credit for.  The goal of the new policy is to protect them so, “they’re not placed in a position where there will be difficulties, challenges, conflicts that can injure their development in very tender years.” I don’t know of any teenager in or out of the church that isn’t faced with incredible challenges in these latter days that could injure their development. It’s a dark world right now and children today are faced with hardships that are beyond what other generations ever had to deal with.  Why would a church exclude a group of kids that so desperately need a place of fellowship in these dark times?  If the LDS church is truly God’s kingdom on earth and the only place to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, why would they want to exclude children that so badly need the blessings the church claims only it can offer?  If their parents are ok with it, gay, straight, whatever, with a parent’s consent they should be allowed to be baptized. If the same-sex parents aren’t ok with it, then they don’t have to give consent.  Why the need to take away their agency to decide?

What I find very interesting about Elder Christofferson’s explanation of this policy is that he never quotes the Lord or talks about how this came as revelation. Referenced in his explanation was a sociology professor and a member of the board of directors of Affirmation, but not scripture or the Lord. The philosophies of men were used to justify it to the world. If the Lord is truly at the head of the church, then do we need to rely on the the opinions of experts? Again, if the Lord is at the head of the church and He leads a child to the gospel, He will provide a way for that child and their family through the difficult times.  There may be hard years, but the Lord will provide a way. As Elder Eyring said, “If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill.”

Some may say that the children of same-sex couples are more than welcome to still attend church activities and be apart of the LDS community. Isn’t the point of not allowing these children to be baptized to protect them and their family? If they are still welcome to attend church activities won’t that place them in an environment that will provide opportunities to learn things that will confuse them and cause conflict in their homes? The only way to truly protect them then is to have them not come at all.  The church’s new policy labels same-sex marriage partners as apostates and forbids the ordinance of baptism to their children.  What a sad thing that is.

If you have ever read the scriptures, then you must be familiar with the fact that prophets have been known to make mistakes. It’s written throughout history. Joseph Smith made mistakes, he admitted to them.  Old Testament prophets did things that needed to be corrected, which is also true of Book of Mormon prophets. There are examples in the New Testament of Jesus Christ correcting his apostles.  In today’s church, it has become all or nothing.  Either you believe the church is run by Jesus Christ and therefore every single thing that is said by one of our church leaders is of God, or you don’t. If you don’t, you become labeled as someone who doesn’t support your church leaders.  I believe that our church leaders can make mistakes. Big ones. Not giving blacks the priesthood was a huge mistake.  You can still be an active member of the church with an understanding that our church leaders are human beings. They are men. They are not perfect and they will make mistakes. Instead of blindly following them, we should be praying and pondering all things, then letting the Spirit testify to us if it is true. Follow Jesus Christ and let Him lead you.

To all the children who this directly affects, I’m so very sorry.  I’m brokenhearted for you.  I mourn with you and your families. Please know our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ would never reject you. They love you and they want you to experience the fullness of His love. I love my mom and all my friends and family who are or were in a same-sex relationship. They are some of the most amazing people I know. They are kind and loving. They are funny and brave.  They are charitable and selfless. They are incredible examples of unconditional love. I have seen them first-hand teach and live some of Christ’s most important lessons.  It’s been an honor to have them in my life.  You also can have both in your life: the gospel and the people you love who are gay. This journey you are on may seem hard at times, but Heavenly Father will never leave your side.

Meadows, not lawns

"What is a weed?  I have heard it said that there are sixty definitions.  For me, a weed is a plant out of place."                         - Donald Culross Peattie

A not-so-fond memory of my childhood was the required digging up of dandelions in our yard.  My mom seemed to enjoy it though.  She would sit outside for hours, chewing on sunflower seeds and digging up dandelions.


For those that aren't familiar, allow me to explain. This here handy dandy tool is used to "pop" up dandelions.  Just place the point an inch or two behind the dandelion, apply downward force at an angle toward the bottom of the weed root, and then attempt to pry it up.  If you do it properly, you will hear a "pop" and you can easily pull the dandelion out of the ground.  It's really quite simple and oddly satisfying.

 As a kid, I tried a short cut and would mow the lawn to chop the tops off, thinking I was ridding our lawn of the noxious weed.  Ah, the logic of a teenage boy.

If I had this neat gadget, I may have enjoyed it a little more.  Dandelion extraction with the Cadillac of removal tools.  Fiskars, a Finnish company (hyvä Suomi!) is known for their scissors so why not get into the dandelion removal business?  That looks like an efficient way to prune a lawn. 



I've been thinking about lawns recently.  Not because of an infestation of dandelions and weeds, but because mine is dying.  It's dying because I'm not watering it enough.  There's something about a lush well-manicured lawn that is properly watered.  It invites you to have a picnic or lay down and search for cloud animals, feeling the breeze of the wind on a warm spring day.  My lawn isn't inviting anything right now.

I read an article today written by an LDS woman, Lavina Fielding Anderson, titled, "In The Garden God Hath Planted:  Explorations Toward a Maturing Faith."  There is a lot in here that speaks to me (and some that doesn't) and I feel is relevant for us today, despite being written 25 years ago. I encourage you to take some time to read it yourselves.

Borrowing off of Ms. Anderson's analogy, I often wonder about the type of individual who can thrive in our church environment.  Is it one that comes to us as a green blade of grass and comfortably plants themselves among the other like-color blades of grass in a beautiful, lush, green lawn?  Is this person happily waiting for the weekly mowing that shaves a little off the top so they are the same size and shape as their neighbor?  Do they get their nourishment from the same amount of water and nutrient source so as to progress and grow and develop at the same relative speed as the other blades of grass in the same general area?

 

What type of individual DOESN'T thrive?  Does a blade of grass that is initially accepted into the lawn, but doesn't soak up water or nutrients from the soil the same as the next guy, die off and whither into thatch?  What happens when a dandelion comes along that wants to hang out in the grass?  Are they accepted as they are or do we quickly "pop" them off at the root and demand they become a blade of grass?  Do we do what I did as a kid and "shave" the top off so as to simulate conformity for another week until it's time to mow again?  Where are the dandelions in our churches and communities?  Are they attempting to pose as a blade of grass hoping they don't get discovered?  Perhaps we know who the dandelions are, but choose to hang out with the rest of the green grass instead.  It's more comfortable fitting in.

 

Maybe it isn't supposed to be a green lawn after all.  Maybe we are individual plants, flowers, grasses and weeds in a vast meadow, each with our own identity that is neither right nor wrong, but equally loved by God.  Are we providing the right kinds of nutrients for each individual plant to survive, or are we assuming that ALL need the same care?  Don't we each grow at our own pace, different from our neighbor, but all contributing to the beauty and majesty of the Meadow?

What is our obsession with trying to convert everyone into a uniformly green lawn of "identical blades?"  Sometimes I fear that we "value" the lawns over the meadow as Ms. Anderson suggests.  Perhaps we are a little too efficient in maintaining our lawns so everyone looks, acts, believes, grows and lives in conformity.  There is value in creating an atmosphere where a dandelion can come in, take a look around, and decide this wouldn't be such a bad place to hang out, without feeling that their presence will distract from the perfectly cut green grass we work so hard to maintain.

As for me, I'm a dandelion.  Really not of much worth.  In all fairness, I should be uprooted and tossed aside if not for the grace of God, who hopefully accepts me as an individual weed in His meadow.  I believe God wants us to create meadows, which accept all manner of plants. I believe He wants us all to thrive as an individual by drinking of the living water, that we may never thirst.

In a lesson on living water, Jesus teaches us from an interaction with a woman of Samaria. in John 4: 7-14.  

The Lord, resting near a well, asked the Samarian women for a drink.  This woman was caught off guard as the Jews didn't have "dealings" with the Samarians.  She was a clearly a dandelion to the Jews.  The Lord replied,

"If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."

 Confused at how He was going to provide this drink of "living water," she inquired of the Lord and He replied,

"Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." 

The Samarian woman didn't quite catch on.  She was hoping some type of literal water that would forever quench her thirst and eliminate the need to walk to the well to constantly fill her cup.

My lawn will surely wither this summer as the sun beats down onto my water-deprived property.  Despite the vast oceans of salt water along our coast, California is, in a very real way, dying.  There is water, but it will not quench our thirst.

The Lord and His gospel, in all His mercy, provides a way to drink of the cup of eternal life and never thirst again.  If we drink not of the living water we will surely die. All need this nourishment.  Shall we not create an environment of long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, and unfeigned love, which allows all people to come in, stay, and drink of the living water freely? 

I was almost a Yankees fan...

  

      As a kid,  New York City fascinated me.  Maybe it was the big buildings and the endless streets.  Perhaps it was the crowded sidewalks, the subways, or the chess players in Washington Square Park.  Whatever it was, I loved going there.  My mom navigates "The City" with extreme ease and finesse.  It's like the city knows she's there and slows down ever so slightly when she visits.  I'm convinced she could charge a hefty sum for her tours. New York City has cleaned up quite a bit since the 80s, but we lovingly referred to it as "New Yuck Stinky," with stops at the "Empire Stink Building" and my favorite, "F.A.O Dirty Shorts."

     Similar to only a few other cities in the country, a visit to the baseball stadium is mandatory when visiting New York, and a lifetime of trips to The Big Apple are meaningless without seeing a Yankees baseball game.  Love them or hate them, they are a sports club with a ton of history.  New York isn't really New York without baseball.

     I wasn't particularly a Yankees fan when I lived in New Jersey.  Actually, I was more of a Mets fan, with the likes of Dwight Gooden, Greg Jefferies, and the always-exciting Darryl Strawberry, just to name a few.  As kids in the late 80s, my brother and I  were drawn to collecting baseball cards, since going to an actual game was out of the question.  We were quite the collectors.  How do 7 and 10 year old boys support a baseball card collection hobby/habit, you say?  Well, we were self-proclaimed entrepreneurs, selling anything we could get our hands on.  We also stole quarters from our sister (Shelly, if you are reading this, we probably owe you like $10 if you don't charge us 25 years worth of interest).  Baseball cards and Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum living 45 minutes from The Big Apple; life was good.

     You can imagine my elation when my mom came home one day and said that her work was giving its employees tickets and chartering a bus to an upcoming Yankees game.  My mom received 3 tickets and I won out over my brother and sister; just mom, dad and me. A bus ride to Yankee's stadium for a baseball game is nearly too much for a 10 year old kid to handle.  "Just buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack. I don't care if I never get back." I don't remember too much about the bus ride, other than sitting on the right side of the bus, starring out the window, and praying like mad that the dark clouds that were forming didn't turn to rain.  Had someone been looking into the bus at me, they would have seen the saddest little face ever on the other side of a rain-soaked window.  The rain came and didn't stop, and the game was called before we even got to the stadium.   Rather than heading straight home, the bus was diverted to Liberty Park.  Rain or shine, it's always a good day to visit the Statue of Liberty.  I never did get to a Yankees game.  In fact, I didn't attend my first professional baseball game until I was an 18 year old Marine Recruit watching the Padres play in San Diego, but I remember very clearly my trip to Liberty Park.

      9/11 nearly made a Yankees fan out of me.  The emotions of that day and the weeks that followed were that of uncertainty, fear, vulnerability, and anger.  The healing began on different days for everyone, but for me, it was watching President Bush throw out the first pitch in game 3 of the World Series on October 30, 2001.  That moment elicited emotions of patriotism, resolve, unity, and endurance.

 

       Prior to the pitch, Derek Jeter warned President Bush that if he didn't throw a strike, the crowd would boo him. Perhaps in any other game at any other time this might have been true, but he wasn't interested in testing them.  The stadium erupted with chants of "U.S.A" as President Bush threw a perfect strike from the pitcher's rubber.  Had I been more invested in baseball at this time, this moment would have certainly created a new Yankees fan in me.  But alas, I deployed with the Marines shortly after for the next 18 months.  In that 18 months, I did a lot of things, including learning to surf, meeting my wife, and fighting in a war, but I didn't spend anytime thinking about baseball.

      I was almost a Yankees fan. Things could have been a lot different, but it just didn't work out.  There is NO WAY that I could have attended a Yankees game at the age of 10 and not have been converted to a lifetime fan.  To this day, I don't have a baseball team that I'm drawn to.  Don Mattingly was a cool baseball card, but if I would have seen him play live, it would have cemented a love for a team that once housed Ruth, DiMaggio, Gehrig, Mantle, Maris, and Jeter.  Given the chance, I will certainly attend a game at Yankees stadium;  not necessarily to root for the home team, but to celebrate a team that I almost spent a lifetime cheering for.

Have a catch with your kid, for crying out loud!!

So, I was never really any good at sports growing up.  My exposure to sports didn't start until I was 13 years old and getting hit on the football field.  No, not on the real field in a game;  the practice field.  The only time I made it onto the real field was during the 5th quarter of our middle school football games.  Did everyone else have a 5th quarter?  I feel like maybe Idaho just made it up so all the crappy players like me could get some playing time after the game was over when we couldn't do any damage to our team's stats.  Even in the 5th quarter, I was the worst player.

Despite the talent void in my life, I really enjoyed being around sports.  

As a kid, I remember throwing around the nerf football with friends, getting picked last for basketball, and I even have a single faint memory having a catch with my dad, though it's entirely possible that this memory never happened. 

I tried to hang out with kids that were good at sports.  They inspired me they way they shot that basketball or drove my head into the dirt during a football drill.  It never really caught on though.  I was just too late to the game.

There was one fleeting moment of brilliance in my juvenile sports career; a little league game-winning RBI.  I'll spare you the details mostly because my mom was unable to make the game, and reliving the experience always brings tears to her eyes (assuming she reads my blog).

Anyway, even this moment of brilliance was just luck.

Recently, Harrison started playing soccer.  I'm not even entirely sure that he REALLY likes playing soccer.  He's good at it and seems to enjoy it ok, but certainly not as much as I want him to.  Making up for a lost childhood, you say?  ABSOLUTELY.  And I'm totally ok with this.  I'll live vicariously through Harrison's 5 year old soccer games without an ounce of shame.

Here's a video of Harrison's 2nd goal of the year (his first goal failed to make it to video).  

Notice that he just scores and stands there.  Shouldn't he be more excited?

The below is my first attempt at producing a .gif.  Harrison's coach sent these sequential photos and I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.  I don't remember seeing this in the game last Saturday?!?  I almost feel bad for Harrison's "victim," but hey, soccer is a contact sport according to the Roseville Soccer League.

In any case, he certainly learned this blocking move from me.  When we are practicing, I make sure he eats some turf every once in a while.  It's good for the soul.