Consider the Lilies

Time to take a short break from studying and share a bit about why today was a better day.

To start with a scripture passage Matthew 6:28-34
       And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therfore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Now- what does this passage have to do with anything? For starters, it is one of my favorites.  These verses are a simple reminder that God will take care of us as we trust in him.  These verses though have recently developed an even deeper meaning to me.  To those who know me well, I teach at the MTC.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is well known for the missionaries sent throughout the world.  The MTC- or Missionary Training Center- is where they go for a brief training before being sent everywhere.  I get to work with these young men and women and prepare them for that work.  Many of these missionaries keep in touch with me after they leave by adding me to a list of recipients who receive weekly journal-like emails.  I'd like to share an experience relating to this scripture verse from Elder Butler, who has been serving in the Philippines for approximately 2 months.  He also read these verses and shared the following:

I initially thought about the people here and how for many of them, if they don't work on Sunday, then they don't eat on Sunday, and as missionaries we are asking them to keep all of Gods commandments including keeping the Sabbath day holy, and for me I would sometimes hesitate within myself, because I know these peoples situation and I know what it means for them to not work on Sunday and attend church. But it is a promise of the Lord, and the Lord knows that we need physical things as well as spiritual things, and if we put our priorities in the right place and show our faith the Lord he will make sure that we are taken care of. He takes care of the birds and clothes the lilies of the field in raiment that is more impressive than Solomon's temple, and he can also provide rice for a family if they make the decision to keep His commandments and keep His Sabbath day holy.

But in addition to this, as if to drive the point home, later that day as we were out teaching our less actives and investigators it was a very hot day and I didn't have any more water on me and I was very very thirsty, and sweating a lot, and of course I can't drink the water from the houses of the people or else I'll get sick. And there is no way we could return to our apartment to get water without wasting a lot of time, so we continue on with our teaching. But just as I was about to get to the point where I would need to get water from some place or else I might have some problems, it starts raining. And at first this was almost a mocking gesture to me, but then as we arrived at our investigators house I noticed how the water was running off my umbrella in a small stream. So I asked them for a cup, and with a few weird looks from them I took the cup and filled it up twice with the water running off my umbrella and drank. And as soon as I wasn't thirsty anymore it stopped raining and became clear and hot once more.

Now this may have been a small thing, and maybe you could call it a happy coincidence, but to me it just reminded me of what I had studied earlier. I was in need, and the Lord provided a way. And if He can do that for me when I'm thirsty, He can do the same for these people when they are hungry. And as a result I have no more fear in asking these people to keep the commandments of the Lord, because I know that when he makes a promise he makes good on it.

After reading his experience, my conviction of the above passage didn't change, but I gained a deeper understanding of it's truth.  God really will provide all that we need.  As I continue to trust in Him and do my best, everything will be alright.  If I work my hardest and remain obedient and still don't get an A in every class, it does not mean I've failed.  I merely didn't need it (as much as I might think I do) because the Lord will provide all that we need.

Day 2

Step two of Becoming Better:
In an effort to be more fit- I went to swim class despite really not wanting to do it.  That's all.

I've also decided to take better care of my teeth by actually using the Listerine that has been sitting on my bathroom shelf since I moved in.  I had forgotten how much that stuff burns.   It also happens to be whitening Listerine, so I've taken a "before" picture. When I finish off the bottle I'll take an "after" picture so we can see if the additional cost of whitening Listerine is worth it.  Should be exciting!

Finally, today was an opportunity to learn the importance of loving others as God loves them.  Two women from my ward (local unit) at church shared a message with me of the little ways that we can strengthen each other in our faith.  One of the most important ways is to love them.  Everyone has moments when they feel alone or out of place.  New people always move in and out of my apartment complex and they probably feel a little like an out-cast for the first few days.  But they, just like you and I, are children of God.  His is a family to which we all belong.  No one is out of place.

Becoming Better

I've been analyzing my life the past few weeks and have concluded that I'm doing a pretty decent job.  I've maintained healthy habits, an effective study schedule, a somewhat-effective sleep schedule, and I'm trying hard to be a better friend.  Yet I've decided that I can become better.  There are little simple things I can do to improve life even more.  I can cut down sugar intake, increase exercise, turn my thoughts more toward Christ, and strive to love people around me even more.  I can do better, so I will.  I hereby recommit myself to live a better life.  I don't plan on jumping into this and change completely who I am today, that feels a little unreasonable. Instead, I plan on changing just one thing a day, or even one thing a week.   I would like to invite you along on this journey with me......

I feel like I am using the word I too often.  Admittedly, this is a very introspective blog, so the word I is somewhat required, especially since this is a pledge to change my life.  Yet the intent is not to focus on me.  I want to be a better person in order to be closer to God and better able to serve him.  Though I seem to be doing well compared to the standard college student, am I doing well enough to maintain my ability to serve God throughout my life?  My intent is to tell you of my journey to become better and the effect it has on life.  Maybe this will inspire you to see something you can do better, maybe you will just learn a new recipe as I share healthy (but student-affordable) recipes that I discover in my journey.  

This week- I decided to become a little healthier by switching from 2% milk to 1% milk.  This change was slightly forced upon me because the store was out of 2% milk when I went shopping last night. Unfortunately, the difference in taste is really distinct, but hopefully it will become more enjoyable.  Let's see how this goes.

Please join me in Becoming Better

That Guilty Look

I never last long in a game of Mafia regardless of my position.  I can be a detective or citizen and I will still be promptly accused of being a mafia member.  Why is this- because according to friends I just look guilty.  So I'm always dead, usually quite soon.  In a round of BS, I have the opposite situation.  I easily get away with playing a lie and am often called out when being completely honest.  A friend claimed this was because he "can't tell the difference between [my] lying face and [my] fake lying face."  Notice, neither of those are my not-lying-face, apparently I don't have one. Point being- I got thinking about what causes me to look guilty even when completely innocent.  I have come up with this (somewhat prideful) theory- it's because I'm smart... let me explain.

My roommates, along with much of America, are a little obsessed with today's surge of superhero movies. We learn to trust Mr. Incredible and distrust Syndrome.  Through comics and movies, we come to idealize Superman and fear Lex Luther.  Our list of heroes continues: Human-torch, Wolverine, Captain America, Hercules, Spider-man, and even Metro-man.  Individuals who are born with or have brilliant powers bestowed upon them.  Now, I do not believe that these individual are idiots, but they are not considered to be brilliant.  Their status as a superhero is linked only to their morality and their super-strength (or other such skills).

In contrast, let's look at our villains. Lex Luther is described as an evil genius.  Syndrome used his intelligence to make his own "superpowers" and machines to attack America.  Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin both have brilliant experiments go wrong, causing them to go mad and become evil.  The world is full of villains without extra-ordinary powers.  They are instead highly intelligent individuals who choose to use their knowledge for evil.  Is modern media teaching us to fear knowledge?  Are we being trained to rely on the strong and shy away from the creative genius? And ultimately, do those I associate with distrust me because of my intelligence?

To argue against my own theory- I recognize that our collection of villains is more heterogeneous than I portray above.  We have many villains such as Loki, Doctor Doom, and Venom who also have great powers and choose to fight against good instead of for it.  Not all villains are brilliant.

Our heroes aren't as well balanced.  Where villains are a fairly even mix of average-Joes and potential Einsteins, very few heroes are highly intelligent.  And how do we treat them? Batman is distrusted by law-enforcement and considered a villain by many.  Iron-man is also portrayed as a play-boy who might just go blow something up because he's bored.  Dr. Banner is a perfectly good individual as a human, but is hated as the Hulk because he is only against whomever is more entertaining to crush, be that the good guys or the bad guys.  Lastly, we must keep in mind our beloved Mega Mind began as a bad guy and only became the good guy when his attempt to make a good guy backfired on him (which I suppose could be an additional argument against his intelligence).

So basically- my fun, slightly prideful theory is that everyone thinks I'm guilty because I'm smart.  The world is trained to distrust genius and rely on those with strength and power.  Now I just need to figure out how to get this guilty look off my face.

Bread in a Can

New year, new name, new look- why not?

but don't worry- I kept the fish

I'm Ready!

Dear 2013,
We have only just met, yet we have already shared special experiences.  We have already had a chance to stay up till 4 a.m. and have also had the chance to wake up far earlier than I desired.  We've gone shopping, visited the doctor, and even had a hair appointment. I feel we shall soon be good friends.

Yet I foresee the journey will not always be so easy.  I wonder what you have in store for me.  You have prepared miracles for me.  There is adventure, excitement, and magic awaiting us as this friendship develops. But this isn't all, is it?  I fear what else lies in wait.  If I could see it all now, I probably would strive (admittedly in vain) to end our friendship immediately.  There will be pain and sadness.  Some adventures we face will be filled with loneliness and misunderstanding.  Can you deny this? You know it as well as I.

But I am not afraid.  You and I- we'll make it through.  I see this friendship lasting a long time.  Regardless of what lies ahead, and mostly because of it, I will become a better person.  One who will look back with gratitude for the time we had together.  That which is ahead of us will be difficult, wonderful, and life changing.

I'm ready!

Essence

For my world literature final, we were asked to present the essence of one of the works which we had read during the semester.  Basically, we were to come up with something that we felt captured the entirety of the work and allow others to find meaning through it.  My group chose to do The Odyssey, and this was what we had far to much fun discovering. (it should be noted, only the first 5 minutes of the video where shown in class.

And here is our write-up.  It probably doesn't appear all that funny, but we had fun writing it anyways, so I hope you enjoy at least learning of The Odyssey from it.

The essence of The Odyssey is found in the ocean. The ocean represents a consistent inconsistency found in both Odysseus and Homer’s outlook on human nature. Odysseus stays consistent in his purpose of returning home to Penelope and Telemachus. However, his promptness varies like the waves of the sea. For example, he has a desire to get home, but when he approaches the island of the kyklops the adventure delays his primary purpose. Other examples of consistent inconsistency are his love for Penelope compared to his lust for other women and the thrill of travel compared to the stability of the islands. The different islands, as part of the ocean, are representative of stages in life discovered in the different parts of the journey. They can also signify the situational inconsistency of human beings despite their consistent personality traits. The journey through the ocean symbolizes development. This is seen in comparing Telemachus and Penelope. Penelope, living on land, embodies the very idea of stability by showing little development throughout The Odyssey. Telemachus is initially stable, yet he experiences growth as he starts his journey on the ocean. Athena tells him to “go abroad for news of your lost father…you are a child no longer” to encourage him to make his journey so that he can grow and develop (193-194). However, extended development on the ocean leads to the stormy, wild personality that we see in Odysseus when he returns home. This can be contrasted to Penelope’s calm demeanor developed while on land. The ocean therefore is the essence of character development throughout The Odyssey and the consistent inconsistency found within it demonstrates Homer’s outlook on human nature.