Last week I wrote about what we might be missing as a disciple, but it is easier to talk about what the Pharisees missed, and there is probably some value in exploring that.
These were the religious leaders and scholars, and there was a long tradition of prophecy that showed pretty clearly how things would go. Matthew demonstrates this pretty clearly by referring to previous writings throughout his gospel to show the connections between the prophecies and the fulfillment, so it was possible to see. The people who should have had the best background for seeing it nonetheless missed it.
Remember, the disciples had a hard time not only visualizing that Jesus was literally telling them that he was going to die and rise again, but also accepting it when others said it had happened. Eventually they each got their chance to see him. Some people criticize Thomas for not believing the other apostles, but the other apostles didn't believe the women, even seeing that the tomb was empty and it was a fulfillment of prophecy.
The chief priests also got the information, and their answer was a bribe to the guards - say you were asleep and the disciples stole the body. Yes, dereliction of duty is punishable by death, but if anyone asks about it, we'll take care of it.
Now, given the false witnesses at the trial, and the conspiracy that was involved in the arrest, this dishonesty is not really surprising, except that you could argue that this should be the final proof that Jesus was the Christ all along. Maybe they doubted the other miracles, or misunderstood their significance, and were mad at the lies, but at this point that falls apart - they will tell their own lies rather than accept the truth. Why?
Certainly he challenged their authority, but there were still people with status who found ways to learn of him, like Nicodemus, or the young ruler who was being pretty good right up until he asked what he lacked and couldn't accept that it was giving up his possessions.
There are two easy ways to go wrong, and remember, this is among the technically righteous.
One is to care too much about things that interfere. That could be power and position and money, but it could also be Sunday activities that would interfere with attending church. On my mission I taught a wonderful family and the home was just full of the Spirit when we taught, but they were already members of a church that had a congregation they really loved, and they didn't want to break those social ties. If that hadn't been so devastating, I might have thought about suggesting they bring that congregation along with them - we would have taught everyone. If they had committed, they would have wanted to do that. What they saw was the potential loss.
The other thing is the you frequently hear that the Jews were expecting a political Messiah who would kick out the Romans and be an earthly leader. There was nothing wrong with wanting political deliverance, but that would have only been a temporary blessing for any of them. Jesus came offering them something eternal, but there were temporal blessings with it too. Reading the accounts of the healings, it is amazing to think about how that would have been for so many people to be able to see, and to walk again, and to be able to feel good after years of illness. He offered amazing gifts, but it's not what was wanted.
It is very easy to want something different than what appears to be God's plan for you. It is worth remembering that He knows more than you. Through prayer, these differences can be worked out, but you have to at least be willing to put your pre-existing ideas aside. Some people really cling to them.
Within the church, we're more likely to go wrong as Pharisees than as prostitutes and sinners, especially because we're more likely not to notice.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Being a disciple, before and after
I have recently started re-reading the New Testament, and one of the things that stands out is how much the disciples apparently missed.
I guess I really started thinking about it in Matthew 15, when the Savior himself asks, "Are ye also yet without understanding?" Then in the next chapter, he tells them to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Saducees.
Matthew 16:
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
That took me back to my mission, when our president was talking to us about the woman at the well. The disciples had gone to get food, but while they were gone an encounter with one woman turned into an opportunity to teach many.
John 4:
I guess I really started thinking about it in Matthew 15, when the Savior himself asks, "Are ye also yet without understanding?" Then in the next chapter, he tells them to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Saducees.
Matthew 16:
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
That took me back to my mission, when our president was talking to us about the woman at the well. The disciples had gone to get food, but while they were gone an encounter with one woman turned into an opportunity to teach many.
John 4:
President Bott said something like, "Meanwhile they're checking the ground for sandwich wrappers."
It would be easy to feel kind of superior. Reading through it seems like they needed an explanation for every single parable he used, when after a few you might think they would start thinking about it on their own.
Of course, once you know there is a deeper meaning, even if you have some ideas, it probably seems reasonable to ask, and make sure you're not missing anything. We know what the parables mean because we have read the explanations.
There is a definite turning point after the Resurrection, and two factors with that seem very important to me.
One is the Resurrection itself. They had seen him raise people from the dead three times, including one who was believed past the point where being restored to life was possible. Still, it must have been very difficult to comprehend that Jesus would let himself die and then bring himself back. Even thought he told them it would happen, it was possible to believe he meant something else, shielding themselves from something that was too much to contemplate. Looking forward it is hard to imagine; looking back it all makes sense.
The other key change is that after the Holy Ghost comes - not as a visiting witness but as an abiding comforter. That makes things really different. The disciples can be stronger, wiser, and more faithful.
The obvious question, then, is for us, graced with the ability to look back, read the records with the explanations and the hindsight of seeing how things worked out, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, how should we be? Are we understanding as much as we should?
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Coordinating a sewing service project
My sister is in charge of the humanitarian projects for our ward. The main project is the "angel dolls". These are dolls made of muslin that just have the arms, legs, torso, and head. At the children's hospital patients are given these and the doctor uses a doll to explain the procedure that the child will be undergoing. The patients can decorate the doll to look like them, and they are also allowed to choose a robe, which we also sew.
Each ward gets a bolt of muslin that should be enough for ninety dolls. (It's about three dolls per yard.) The wards buy the flannel for the robes (about six per yard) and the stuffing. There are patterns for the dolls and robes.
Dolls need to be cut out, sewn, turned inside out, stuffed, and then have the gap that was left for the stuffing sewn up. The robes need to be cut and bordered, as well as sewing some parts together, which is done with a "serger" (overlock sewing machine).
We have done this three times now. The first time we got it in the middle, and most of the work was done at girls' camp.
Last year there was a relief society meeting where we worked on them. That went pretty well, but one thing we saw is that starting from scratch, it takes a while for the people on the sewing machines and sergers to have anything to do. We don't have either, so that is our most valuable resource.
This year we decided to do some pre-cutting so the machines could get started right away. We had about thirty cut out of each.
This helped a lot. All of the pattern tracing and cutting - dolls and robes - were done by the end of the evening. (There were three dolls where someone decided to sew around the pattern before cutting, so those three still need to be cut out.) All of dolls were sewn, and many were stuffed.
There were two issues, both of which probably had the same solution.
Only about a third of the gowns were done. There was another third that just had a border on the sleeves, but were not sewn together at all. Someone was doing it wrong. I am positive she did not know she was doing it wrong, but no one caught it.
The other is that we are short seven dolls. We got the muslin in two sections, which we were told meant there was extra, but we never actually measured the yardage. Perhaps some was missing. However, I think people may have been cutting a little wastefully. The dolls that were sewn while still in squares were definitely wasteful. To get three to a yard the arms need to overlap a little - not much, but it matters.
For both of these, I think the answer was more supervision. That is hard, because while my sisters can be very forceful in some ways, telling people how to do a craft thing, especially people who are volunteering, is not something they can do. They just worked without checking on others' work, and there were some downsides.
These are some of the issues that can come up when you are working with people. Instructing before can save the need to correct later, and it depends on personalities, but I believe it can go better. I didn't think it would all get done in a single night, and it was still a good start, but there are some areas to improve.
Frankly, one is on us, because I should have been there. I did most of the pre-cutting, so I had already put in a lot of work, but the reason I didn't go that night is because we had been fighting and I was sick of them. That's something we could work on.
Maybe next year.
Each ward gets a bolt of muslin that should be enough for ninety dolls. (It's about three dolls per yard.) The wards buy the flannel for the robes (about six per yard) and the stuffing. There are patterns for the dolls and robes.
Dolls need to be cut out, sewn, turned inside out, stuffed, and then have the gap that was left for the stuffing sewn up. The robes need to be cut and bordered, as well as sewing some parts together, which is done with a "serger" (overlock sewing machine).
We have done this three times now. The first time we got it in the middle, and most of the work was done at girls' camp.
Last year there was a relief society meeting where we worked on them. That went pretty well, but one thing we saw is that starting from scratch, it takes a while for the people on the sewing machines and sergers to have anything to do. We don't have either, so that is our most valuable resource.
This year we decided to do some pre-cutting so the machines could get started right away. We had about thirty cut out of each.
This helped a lot. All of the pattern tracing and cutting - dolls and robes - were done by the end of the evening. (There were three dolls where someone decided to sew around the pattern before cutting, so those three still need to be cut out.) All of dolls were sewn, and many were stuffed.
There were two issues, both of which probably had the same solution.
Only about a third of the gowns were done. There was another third that just had a border on the sleeves, but were not sewn together at all. Someone was doing it wrong. I am positive she did not know she was doing it wrong, but no one caught it.
The other is that we are short seven dolls. We got the muslin in two sections, which we were told meant there was extra, but we never actually measured the yardage. Perhaps some was missing. However, I think people may have been cutting a little wastefully. The dolls that were sewn while still in squares were definitely wasteful. To get three to a yard the arms need to overlap a little - not much, but it matters.
For both of these, I think the answer was more supervision. That is hard, because while my sisters can be very forceful in some ways, telling people how to do a craft thing, especially people who are volunteering, is not something they can do. They just worked without checking on others' work, and there were some downsides.
These are some of the issues that can come up when you are working with people. Instructing before can save the need to correct later, and it depends on personalities, but I believe it can go better. I didn't think it would all get done in a single night, and it was still a good start, but there are some areas to improve.
Frankly, one is on us, because I should have been there. I did most of the pre-cutting, so I had already put in a lot of work, but the reason I didn't go that night is because we had been fighting and I was sick of them. That's something we could work on.
Maybe next year.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Vines
I have not planted my tomato and pumpkin yet. I am still doing battle with the ivy that once inhabited the spot where I want to put it.
We have several invasive plants in our yard. The blackberries were volunteers whose initial growth happened behind an outbuilding. By the time we knew they were there, they were firmly established.
The first butterfly bush was a gift, but it grew well, and it really does attract butterflies, and we got two more before we knew that they actually grow way too well.
The ivy was the most deliberate. Mom worked at a place that had an ivy patch, and she liked it. She wanted some to climb one of the posts, which it did. We knew that ivy has a tendency to overgrow, which I believe is why she planted it in a pot - to keep it contained. Big mistake.
Yes, planting it at all was a mistake, but planting it in the pot seems to have made it worse. The ivy broke through the pot, but first it sent strong thick ropes circling the bottom of the pot, making a dense mass.
All I really want to say about the big mass is that it broke two shovels. That part is out now, but there is still too much ivy. There are vines and roots. Some of them don't look too bad, and you can pull on them relatively easy, but you keep pulling more and more, and it's still coming.
Some are thicker, but that isn't enough explanation for why they refuse to budge. So you keep digging deeper around it, trying to find the snag.
I have worked with other vines before, including morning glory and a member of the nightshade family, and yes I was constantly amazed at how quickly it had established itself, and how much of it there was. Sometimes I would tug on a vine and it was like unspooling cable. Still, the problem there was always just quantity, and sometimes the way it would tangle around the host plant. Toughness was not an issue. Ivy is tough.
There is still one section of root that I want to try and get out. The quantity that had already been dug up by then was amazing, especially compared to what was visible before I started. There may always be some left, but ideally I want it to not be so much that it has a resurgence that chokes my pumpkins.
Yes, I'm planting another vine.
We have several invasive plants in our yard. The blackberries were volunteers whose initial growth happened behind an outbuilding. By the time we knew they were there, they were firmly established.
The first butterfly bush was a gift, but it grew well, and it really does attract butterflies, and we got two more before we knew that they actually grow way too well.
The ivy was the most deliberate. Mom worked at a place that had an ivy patch, and she liked it. She wanted some to climb one of the posts, which it did. We knew that ivy has a tendency to overgrow, which I believe is why she planted it in a pot - to keep it contained. Big mistake.
Yes, planting it at all was a mistake, but planting it in the pot seems to have made it worse. The ivy broke through the pot, but first it sent strong thick ropes circling the bottom of the pot, making a dense mass.
All I really want to say about the big mass is that it broke two shovels. That part is out now, but there is still too much ivy. There are vines and roots. Some of them don't look too bad, and you can pull on them relatively easy, but you keep pulling more and more, and it's still coming.
Some are thicker, but that isn't enough explanation for why they refuse to budge. So you keep digging deeper around it, trying to find the snag.
I have worked with other vines before, including morning glory and a member of the nightshade family, and yes I was constantly amazed at how quickly it had established itself, and how much of it there was. Sometimes I would tug on a vine and it was like unspooling cable. Still, the problem there was always just quantity, and sometimes the way it would tangle around the host plant. Toughness was not an issue. Ivy is tough.
There is still one section of root that I want to try and get out. The quantity that had already been dug up by then was amazing, especially compared to what was visible before I started. There may always be some left, but ideally I want it to not be so much that it has a resurgence that chokes my pumpkins.
Yes, I'm planting another vine.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Garden 2015
Last year I was facing a lot of ambiguity over what to do with the garden this year. Things are finally resolved.
I did give up the community garden plot. That was partly the cost, and people being annoying, but also a thought that I could use my own yard. The problem was that I couldn't quite come up with a complete plan for where to put what. There were too many other things going on to put in a lot of work.
I thought there just wouldn't be any gardening this year. That seemed reasonable, but it was disappointing and I rebelled inside.
My compromise is that I've bought one tomato plant and one pumpkin plant, and they will go into the flowerbeds.
The tomato is because I have a reasonable success rate with those, and I still have tomato cages. Also, last year it felt like every other plot in the community garden had a cherry tomato plant and they were adorable. I had an Early Girl plant, which doesn't get very big, but I wanted these cute, perfectly curved globules for myself, so this is a cherry tomato plant.
The pumpkin is because that was the one thing that didn't grow last year, which was really disappointing. I don't know for sure that it was the crooked neck squash suppressing the pumpkin, but this year it will not have any competition, and I am starting from a plant instead of seeds, so I hope that will work out.
I am also not ruling out doing a lettuce tray. I did grow some lettuce last year, but trying to clean it off was very frustrating. I have seen people grow them in serving pans with just a little soil, and it seems a lot more practical.
It is less ambitious than last year, but there should still be some learning, but without being a significant source of stress. Good enough!
I did give up the community garden plot. That was partly the cost, and people being annoying, but also a thought that I could use my own yard. The problem was that I couldn't quite come up with a complete plan for where to put what. There were too many other things going on to put in a lot of work.
I thought there just wouldn't be any gardening this year. That seemed reasonable, but it was disappointing and I rebelled inside.
My compromise is that I've bought one tomato plant and one pumpkin plant, and they will go into the flowerbeds.
The tomato is because I have a reasonable success rate with those, and I still have tomato cages. Also, last year it felt like every other plot in the community garden had a cherry tomato plant and they were adorable. I had an Early Girl plant, which doesn't get very big, but I wanted these cute, perfectly curved globules for myself, so this is a cherry tomato plant.
The pumpkin is because that was the one thing that didn't grow last year, which was really disappointing. I don't know for sure that it was the crooked neck squash suppressing the pumpkin, but this year it will not have any competition, and I am starting from a plant instead of seeds, so I hope that will work out.
I am also not ruling out doing a lettuce tray. I did grow some lettuce last year, but trying to clean it off was very frustrating. I have seen people grow them in serving pans with just a little soil, and it seems a lot more practical.
It is less ambitious than last year, but there should still be some learning, but without being a significant source of stress. Good enough!
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