I am afraid it will take us more than one week to make a family emergency plan. I may have set some unrealistic expectations, but also it is worth noting that things that involve coordination are more difficult. A family dictatorship might be able to get around it, but it would have other problems.
(And if at this point you want to wax philosophic about things like the efficacy of martial law in the case of a disaster and so on, you are welcome to do so. There is some fertile ground for discussion there.)
The part that caught my attention for the section on making a plan (https://p.widencdn.net/5rdg1y/redcrossprepareguide p.5) is the recommendation for additional insurance, because flood, earthquake, and tsunami damage generally aren't covered.
It caught my attention for two reasons. First, we had separate earthquake insurance until recently, and then a missed payment due to financial hardship resulted in abrupt cancellation. There wasn't a warning or a phone call, we were just terminated. Those are the rules, but they seemed harsh.
I did understand the justification for separate insurance. For the most common things, like a house burning down or an appliance failing and leading to water damage, those are things that happen here and there, and that's how the insurance company pays. Even with a large windstorm, the overall percentage of houses with damage for an area will probably remain small.
Getting a large earthquake or a river flooding or something like that tends not to be limited to one house in a neighborhood. No insurance company wants to cover all of the damage in a neighborhood that was flooded or reduced to rubble.
Generally speaking, that's why you want to have the governor or president to declare a disaster, because it opens up additional resources to the area, so it is not the insurance that is needed. Of course, sometimes you hear bad things about their performance.
This leads to the second reason this section weighed on me. I recently watched When the Levees Broke, a documentary about Hurricane Katrina. Yes, there were some issues with government response, during and after, but some of the insurance companies were not too helpful after either.
Okay, you may be thinking that there was a flood, which generally wouldn't be covered but there were things that should have been covered, like wind damage, but then it was blamed on the flood. The insurance companies acted like a bunch of weasels, and that is insulting to weasels.
(One of the grim moments of humor came from one of the affected homeowners parodying their slogans. You are not in good hands. You do not have a good neighbor.)
I don't have a good answer for this. It may be worthwhile to purchase additional insurance, and I obviously thought it was once, but you may also find that you do things that should help and don't.
All I can really recommend for all of this is to operate with faith. As you plan, be sure to pray. If you feel like you want the additional insurance, get it. If you find yourself looking for ways to learn how to make repairs yourself, that may allow you to bless many others besides yourself.
I realize that is not as comforting as it could be, but one easy mistake to make with preparation is to use it as a means of control, and there will be a lot that is out of your control. You can try and take steps to make things better, and be greatly rewarded for those steps, but it won't allow you to fix everything.
I had to accept this a while back during a first aid class. I am a big believer in first aid training, but I realized that it had limitations. I will not be able to fix a decapitation. If I am the one injured, I will need to rely on someone else's knowledge (depending on the extent of the injury). That may not happen, and my training could end up being very useful, but I don't know. The more I depend on knowing, the more my preparedness level is an illusion, and I don't want that.
Adjust your expectations accordingly while you prepare.
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Sunday, July 1, 2018
Prepare! A Resource Guide - Part 1: Be Informed
I sometimes brag about our area for emergency preparedness. None of these things were thought about when my mother located the house in 1978; she was just looking for four bedrooms and a fenced yard. We nonetheless have the following advantages:
Obviously, our main danger is earthquakes - a risk for the entire greater region - but I do appreciate the advantages we have. It would also be silly to get cocky about them.
After all, an earthquake can be a pretty big deal - perhaps not calling for quite the amount of doom The New Yorker called for, but still important.
A really bad wildfire can spread in surprising ways.
We are not in tornado alley by any stretch, but it has become more frequent to have tornado damage in nearby areas.
The windstorm that really demonstrated the superiority of our section of the electrical grid still knocked a large tree into our yard.
This area really is not great at dealing with snow.
Also, there are some things that can happen anywhere. A house fire can threaten anyone, and becomes more of a risk at this time of year with people getting careless with bottle rockets. Anyone can have a fall. A strike can affect the ability of stores to stock supplies. Not every water supply is subject to blue algae, but it matters if yours is.
Also, we don't always stay at home. Sometimes we might vacation in a tsunami zone or somewhere that gets hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires. Sure, there are seasons, but the seasons for a lot of those are getting longer. There were hikers trapped in the Eagle Creek fire (speaking of illegal fireworks), and no one died, but their day did not go as planned. Hikers are always supposed to be prepared for something going wrong, but would you be?
Specific awareness should accompany general awareness and vice versa. These are my greatest known risks, but also these are things that can happen, and these are things you should do.
I am not going to focus too much on any one area, because we will get to most of it with the other sections. If it looks like something is missing once we are done, I will get back to it, but take a broad view.
If some of that ends up being a little weird, like seriously considering the best course of action in a zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion, that can be okay. You may still come up with some realistic strategies for actual possibilities, and it can be fun. Your tornado plans should not involve hitching a ride to Oz, but if your alien invasion plans involve having an extra food supply, that could end up being very helpful for that long ice storm.
And the machete that you get because of zombies can be good for clearing underbrush, but don't focus too much on the killing plans. Most disasters are likely to go better with some cooperation.
- There's a mountain range between us and the coast, so there is no tsunami danger.
- We are not near a river, so there is also no seiche danger, but more importantly we are not in a floodplain.
- We are not under a hill, so there is no danger of landslides.
- We are not adjacent to any real wildfire danger.
- The power lines are mostly underground, so even in bad storms we rarely lose power.
Obviously, our main danger is earthquakes - a risk for the entire greater region - but I do appreciate the advantages we have. It would also be silly to get cocky about them.
After all, an earthquake can be a pretty big deal - perhaps not calling for quite the amount of doom The New Yorker called for, but still important.
A really bad wildfire can spread in surprising ways.
We are not in tornado alley by any stretch, but it has become more frequent to have tornado damage in nearby areas.
The windstorm that really demonstrated the superiority of our section of the electrical grid still knocked a large tree into our yard.
This area really is not great at dealing with snow.
Also, there are some things that can happen anywhere. A house fire can threaten anyone, and becomes more of a risk at this time of year with people getting careless with bottle rockets. Anyone can have a fall. A strike can affect the ability of stores to stock supplies. Not every water supply is subject to blue algae, but it matters if yours is.
Also, we don't always stay at home. Sometimes we might vacation in a tsunami zone or somewhere that gets hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires. Sure, there are seasons, but the seasons for a lot of those are getting longer. There were hikers trapped in the Eagle Creek fire (speaking of illegal fireworks), and no one died, but their day did not go as planned. Hikers are always supposed to be prepared for something going wrong, but would you be?
Specific awareness should accompany general awareness and vice versa. These are my greatest known risks, but also these are things that can happen, and these are things you should do.
I am not going to focus too much on any one area, because we will get to most of it with the other sections. If it looks like something is missing once we are done, I will get back to it, but take a broad view.
If some of that ends up being a little weird, like seriously considering the best course of action in a zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion, that can be okay. You may still come up with some realistic strategies for actual possibilities, and it can be fun. Your tornado plans should not involve hitching a ride to Oz, but if your alien invasion plans involve having an extra food supply, that could end up being very helpful for that long ice storm.
And the machete that you get because of zombies can be good for clearing underbrush, but don't focus too much on the killing plans. Most disasters are likely to go better with some cooperation.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Next phase - Prepare! A Resouce Guide
About three months ago I wrote about the Red Cross Prepare Out Loud event and how excellent I thought it was:
http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2018/03/prepare-out-loud.html
I am still looking forward to the next round of events in the fall, and choosing one nearby and inviting people from every house on my block. I think it is that important. It's not just that preparedness is important, but that being in touch with our neighbors is important.
Between now and then I want to focus on some traditional emergency preparedness using Red Cross materials. Yes, this blog has many old posts on emergency preparedness, but lately it has been more spiritual and intellectual. There are many important aspects to provident, and if you can't do everything at once, then you need to cycle through.
I will be using Prepare! A Resource Guide. It is something they gladly hand out, but also something that you can find online:
https://p.widencdn.net/5rdg1y/redcrossprepareguide
It is divided into fourteen sections. I can't guarantee that I will not break some sections down into smaller parts, or that I will not have some week where I need to go off an on urgent tangent, but for right now I am assuming it will takes us through September, and that if I do this right, our family preparedness will be in better shape.
So feel free to follow along, not just in terms of looking ahead to see what I will write about each week, but also in terms of making your own plans and laying in your own supplies.
It is possible.
http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2018/03/prepare-out-loud.html
I am still looking forward to the next round of events in the fall, and choosing one nearby and inviting people from every house on my block. I think it is that important. It's not just that preparedness is important, but that being in touch with our neighbors is important.
Between now and then I want to focus on some traditional emergency preparedness using Red Cross materials. Yes, this blog has many old posts on emergency preparedness, but lately it has been more spiritual and intellectual. There are many important aspects to provident, and if you can't do everything at once, then you need to cycle through.
I will be using Prepare! A Resource Guide. It is something they gladly hand out, but also something that you can find online:
https://p.widencdn.net/5rdg1y/redcrossprepareguide
It is divided into fourteen sections. I can't guarantee that I will not break some sections down into smaller parts, or that I will not have some week where I need to go off an on urgent tangent, but for right now I am assuming it will takes us through September, and that if I do this right, our family preparedness will be in better shape.
So feel free to follow along, not just in terms of looking ahead to see what I will write about each week, but also in terms of making your own plans and laying in your own supplies.
It is possible.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Reassurance
Last week in Relief Society we talked about charity, and one sister brought up the need to have charity for ourselves, as well as for others.
This is a real need, and I think one thing that makes it harder is that we will often have so many good intentions that end up being more than we can manage. We want good things, but we are not doing them, or not as many as need to be done, or not as many as we think we should be able to do.
The comfort I can give here is that although we do not have infinite time, and that is frustrating, the time we have can be enough.
That has been especially noticeable for me in two ways lately.
One has been that my scripture study is often interrupted. It's a thing we are supposed to do, I have seen the benefits, but I get needed a lot. I have also seen that what I was studying is still there after. Maybe I will get back to it in a few minutes, and sometimes it waits until the next day, but still, it is there.
The other area has been housework. As my mother's health has fluctuated, I have been doing more of the housework. Sometimes I think I should do it all, and other times it seems important to still have her contribute in the ways she can, but there are some things that it is probably better for me to do anyway.
Growing up, Mom cleaned everything thoroughly, and she did the basics every day. She had her own rug shampooer. She didn't use that every day, but cleaning the bathrooms, dusting, windows, vacuuming and floors were done every day.
Not only have I found that I can't quite keep up with that, but since the Norovirus flew through our house I have been wanted to do a thorough surface cleaning of everything to make sure that no seeds of a new epidemic are waiting to sprout. My ideas for how much should be doable over the course of a day have been sadly mistaken.
Still, I have found that the work remains. It's not that frequency doesn't matter; there is a big difference between cleaning the toilets every other day and trying to get away with every three or four days. Frankly, that part is kind of disturbing. But if you can do one thing every other day, than that opens up a slot on the alternating days for a different task that can probably be okay every other day instead of daily.
The week that segued from long hospital visits to illness did not see any vacuuming done. I did not feel great about that. Nonetheless, everyone survived.
There are judgments to be made, and give and take. Perhaps part of making it all work is keeping enough of an eye on things to see what needs attention now and what can wait another day.
I have for some time wanted to do a series of posts on that topic, because cleanliness is a factor in provident living, and people don't always know all of the parts of it. Information can be harder to find that you would think.
That is on deck, but before that I want to spend some time on emergency preparedness. I should be starting that next week, but I still think it was important to talk about this today. When you are preparing for emergencies, it is very easy to panic about how much needs to be done, and whether it can be done soon enough. That will not help.
You can sense what areas are more important to address first. You can get good ideas for how to accomplish what you need. You can do things in wisdom and order, and exercise faith.
It can be enough time.
This is a real need, and I think one thing that makes it harder is that we will often have so many good intentions that end up being more than we can manage. We want good things, but we are not doing them, or not as many as need to be done, or not as many as we think we should be able to do.
The comfort I can give here is that although we do not have infinite time, and that is frustrating, the time we have can be enough.
That has been especially noticeable for me in two ways lately.
One has been that my scripture study is often interrupted. It's a thing we are supposed to do, I have seen the benefits, but I get needed a lot. I have also seen that what I was studying is still there after. Maybe I will get back to it in a few minutes, and sometimes it waits until the next day, but still, it is there.
The other area has been housework. As my mother's health has fluctuated, I have been doing more of the housework. Sometimes I think I should do it all, and other times it seems important to still have her contribute in the ways she can, but there are some things that it is probably better for me to do anyway.
Growing up, Mom cleaned everything thoroughly, and she did the basics every day. She had her own rug shampooer. She didn't use that every day, but cleaning the bathrooms, dusting, windows, vacuuming and floors were done every day.
Not only have I found that I can't quite keep up with that, but since the Norovirus flew through our house I have been wanted to do a thorough surface cleaning of everything to make sure that no seeds of a new epidemic are waiting to sprout. My ideas for how much should be doable over the course of a day have been sadly mistaken.
Still, I have found that the work remains. It's not that frequency doesn't matter; there is a big difference between cleaning the toilets every other day and trying to get away with every three or four days. Frankly, that part is kind of disturbing. But if you can do one thing every other day, than that opens up a slot on the alternating days for a different task that can probably be okay every other day instead of daily.
The week that segued from long hospital visits to illness did not see any vacuuming done. I did not feel great about that. Nonetheless, everyone survived.
There are judgments to be made, and give and take. Perhaps part of making it all work is keeping enough of an eye on things to see what needs attention now and what can wait another day.
I have for some time wanted to do a series of posts on that topic, because cleanliness is a factor in provident living, and people don't always know all of the parts of it. Information can be harder to find that you would think.
That is on deck, but before that I want to spend some time on emergency preparedness. I should be starting that next week, but I still think it was important to talk about this today. When you are preparing for emergencies, it is very easy to panic about how much needs to be done, and whether it can be done soon enough. That will not help.
You can sense what areas are more important to address first. You can get good ideas for how to accomplish what you need. You can do things in wisdom and order, and exercise faith.
It can be enough time.
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Sour girl
It was a concern to me when I would read old conference talks and find that the old magic wasn't there.
I can't say that I have always paid rapt attention to conference; my note-taking has been primarily a way to stay alert, because the length of conference alone is enough to lull me to sleep. Still, even if there were things that I noticed on reading that I didn't notice while listening, or there were things I missed, my general feelings were positive and enjoyable. Since that conference when I got mad at Elder Hallstrom, it hasn't been the same, but I thought it was different. Finding those irritations in older conferences meant the difference was me.
I wasn't happy about that. I wasn't overly worried, because I am still fully engaged and committed, but it felt like it could be a hard thing if I was going to stop enjoying it. (I have been released from nursery too, so I am going to start interacting with a lot more adults now too.)
There have been little things that have helped. It was even there in the talk from Elder Haight: yes, he quoted something blatantly false and Pat Buchanan, but also the counsel he gave for staying strong was accurate and did not align with what he had previously said.
There was comfort in an Ensign article on the Proclamation, that I thought would be horrible but wasn't. (I wrote about that here: http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2018/04/comforted.html.)
But the thing that really brought everything into harmony was a talk from Bonnie D. Parkin, just after she was released as Relief Society president.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/gratitude-a-path-to-happiness?lang=eng
The annoyance came in the first two paragraphs, with reference to women's roles in the home and family, and this question from Eliza R. Snow:
"Do you know of any place on the face of the earth, where [a] woman has more liberty, and where she enjoys such high and glorious privileges as she does here, as a Latter-day Saint?”
We are surrounded by chauvinists, there is much of our practice the reinforces it, and that is not being against home and family but let's broaden our perspective a little!
See, that's sour. I have never not been feminist, but I didn't used to react like that.
But then in the third paragraph, there was a story of a family that had suffered a lot, but realized that they were surrounded by support, and that has been the story of my family lately. It inspired me to kneel down and say a prayer of gratitude for the support received. It was also the basis for a conversation with my sisters later that came up spontaneously, but it was relevant and I referred to the talk and we had a good talk.
That's when I realized, for all of the frustration, I am still guided and inspired and comforted by church materials. I still have that.
To have that old unruffled enjoyment, I would have had to keep turning off parts of my heart and the compassion in them. I know, some people think that it is turning off your brain, and maybe that could work, but for me it would have been my heart. I would have to ignore everything that I have taken in from anyone marginalized, and harden my heart against them. That price would be too great, and it would hamper my salvation, and I am glad that was not how it came out.
But the other alternative for many is to not be able to enjoy church anymore - which often leads to no longer going. I could not have accepted that. Doing that leaves a church full of conformists who want to convert the whole world, but not accept those people in the world as they are. We do not need that.
Or maybe I could have ended up just staying, but staying sour. That would be terrible too. This has ended up being the best possible outcome for me.
Back after I embraced hating my family (not quite that way), I remember the next Sunday seeing someone whom I could easily find annoying, but still spiritually siblings - still a good person, though flawed - and I remember getting this cycle in my head of "Love, but know" and "Know, but love". It was a cycle, because whether you start by knowing their flaws and love them anyway, or you love them and are still aware of their flaws, I don't know. Both still have to be possible.
That's not exactly cynicism, though it can resemble it. Maybe it's just a little sour.
I can't say that I have always paid rapt attention to conference; my note-taking has been primarily a way to stay alert, because the length of conference alone is enough to lull me to sleep. Still, even if there were things that I noticed on reading that I didn't notice while listening, or there were things I missed, my general feelings were positive and enjoyable. Since that conference when I got mad at Elder Hallstrom, it hasn't been the same, but I thought it was different. Finding those irritations in older conferences meant the difference was me.
I wasn't happy about that. I wasn't overly worried, because I am still fully engaged and committed, but it felt like it could be a hard thing if I was going to stop enjoying it. (I have been released from nursery too, so I am going to start interacting with a lot more adults now too.)
There have been little things that have helped. It was even there in the talk from Elder Haight: yes, he quoted something blatantly false and Pat Buchanan, but also the counsel he gave for staying strong was accurate and did not align with what he had previously said.
There was comfort in an Ensign article on the Proclamation, that I thought would be horrible but wasn't. (I wrote about that here: http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2018/04/comforted.html.)
But the thing that really brought everything into harmony was a talk from Bonnie D. Parkin, just after she was released as Relief Society president.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/gratitude-a-path-to-happiness?lang=eng
The annoyance came in the first two paragraphs, with reference to women's roles in the home and family, and this question from Eliza R. Snow:
"Do you know of any place on the face of the earth, where [a] woman has more liberty, and where she enjoys such high and glorious privileges as she does here, as a Latter-day Saint?”
We are surrounded by chauvinists, there is much of our practice the reinforces it, and that is not being against home and family but let's broaden our perspective a little!
See, that's sour. I have never not been feminist, but I didn't used to react like that.
But then in the third paragraph, there was a story of a family that had suffered a lot, but realized that they were surrounded by support, and that has been the story of my family lately. It inspired me to kneel down and say a prayer of gratitude for the support received. It was also the basis for a conversation with my sisters later that came up spontaneously, but it was relevant and I referred to the talk and we had a good talk.
That's when I realized, for all of the frustration, I am still guided and inspired and comforted by church materials. I still have that.
To have that old unruffled enjoyment, I would have had to keep turning off parts of my heart and the compassion in them. I know, some people think that it is turning off your brain, and maybe that could work, but for me it would have been my heart. I would have to ignore everything that I have taken in from anyone marginalized, and harden my heart against them. That price would be too great, and it would hamper my salvation, and I am glad that was not how it came out.
But the other alternative for many is to not be able to enjoy church anymore - which often leads to no longer going. I could not have accepted that. Doing that leaves a church full of conformists who want to convert the whole world, but not accept those people in the world as they are. We do not need that.
Or maybe I could have ended up just staying, but staying sour. That would be terrible too. This has ended up being the best possible outcome for me.
Back after I embraced hating my family (not quite that way), I remember the next Sunday seeing someone whom I could easily find annoying, but still spiritually siblings - still a good person, though flawed - and I remember getting this cycle in my head of "Love, but know" and "Know, but love". It was a cycle, because whether you start by knowing their flaws and love them anyway, or you love them and are still aware of their flaws, I don't know. Both still have to be possible.
That's not exactly cynicism, though it can resemble it. Maybe it's just a little sour.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Talk part 5 - Strength
This will be a little more random and wrapping up, but these are things that I pretty much know that I said in the talk.
In conjunction with not needing to be afraid of being afraid of the world, I focused on some of the tool that we do have.
I found it a little surprising to be talking about modern revelation, because I had just spend so much time on the four Gospels, followed by a lot of time on Matthew 25. That is true, but also my study now involves conference talks and church magazines. When I am studying the magazines in Italian, I can easily look up the English versions online. We have scriptures online, and on our phones, and with topical guides and indexes.
I started my study of the mortal ministry of Jesus with his visit to the Americas, which happened just after his mortal ministry. I studied in conjunction with the Harmony of the Gospels - that is a study aid that the church has put in the scriptures. I studied in conjunction with Jesus the Christ, written by a latter-day apostle. I have gotten my guidance on what to study at any given time, and I can get that because of the Holy Ghost, which I received through the laying on of hands because we have the priesthood. And if my study gets a little more specific now, it has been built on a foundation of many years of reading the scriptures, yes (which started with hearing someone in a church talk say that we should), but also I had seminary and institute classes and many years of Sunday school, sometimes as the student but sometimes as the teacher.
There are a lot of tools out there to help us learn and understand and apply the scriptures to us. Take that farther out, and look at the light of Christ and missionary work and the Holy Ghost in general, even without laying on of hands. Think of temples, and learning in the spirit world, and a Millennium to make sure that everyone gets every possible chance -- there are many things out there to bring us all back to our Heavenly Father, and that should be no surprise to any of us knowing that He gave His Son. We can be awed and grateful and happy -- those are all reasonable reactions -- but there is nothing in what we know that should make it surprising that God values every person, and that we should too. We know enough to know that.
I am grateful for the scriptures and temple and prayer. There are things we have gone through over the past couple of years that I would not have been able to make it through without being able to not only pray for help but also being able to receive guidance and reassurance.
It is all out there for us if we will partake.
And that's really the end of the talk, pretty much, but there has also been a realization recently, after I gave the talk, and that is something that may speak to many members. That is what I will write about next time.
I think.
In conjunction with not needing to be afraid of being afraid of the world, I focused on some of the tool that we do have.
I found it a little surprising to be talking about modern revelation, because I had just spend so much time on the four Gospels, followed by a lot of time on Matthew 25. That is true, but also my study now involves conference talks and church magazines. When I am studying the magazines in Italian, I can easily look up the English versions online. We have scriptures online, and on our phones, and with topical guides and indexes.
I started my study of the mortal ministry of Jesus with his visit to the Americas, which happened just after his mortal ministry. I studied in conjunction with the Harmony of the Gospels - that is a study aid that the church has put in the scriptures. I studied in conjunction with Jesus the Christ, written by a latter-day apostle. I have gotten my guidance on what to study at any given time, and I can get that because of the Holy Ghost, which I received through the laying on of hands because we have the priesthood. And if my study gets a little more specific now, it has been built on a foundation of many years of reading the scriptures, yes (which started with hearing someone in a church talk say that we should), but also I had seminary and institute classes and many years of Sunday school, sometimes as the student but sometimes as the teacher.
There are a lot of tools out there to help us learn and understand and apply the scriptures to us. Take that farther out, and look at the light of Christ and missionary work and the Holy Ghost in general, even without laying on of hands. Think of temples, and learning in the spirit world, and a Millennium to make sure that everyone gets every possible chance -- there are many things out there to bring us all back to our Heavenly Father, and that should be no surprise to any of us knowing that He gave His Son. We can be awed and grateful and happy -- those are all reasonable reactions -- but there is nothing in what we know that should make it surprising that God values every person, and that we should too. We know enough to know that.
I am grateful for the scriptures and temple and prayer. There are things we have gone through over the past couple of years that I would not have been able to make it through without being able to not only pray for help but also being able to receive guidance and reassurance.
It is all out there for us if we will partake.
And that's really the end of the talk, pretty much, but there has also been a realization recently, after I gave the talk, and that is something that may speak to many members. That is what I will write about next time.
I think.
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Talk part 4 - not fearing the world
After mentioning my worst pet peeve about Mormons, I mentioned getting really mad at David B. Haight.
I have already blogged at length about that in Frustrated:
http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2018/04/frustrated.html
Still, if it was treading on shaky ground admitting to have a pet peeve with Mormons, it could also be very risky to admit to getting mad at an apostle. No one has reprimanded me, and a friend told me that the stake presidency member on the stand laughed when I said it, so I guess I'll be fine.
If you don't want to go back and re-read the other post, it was for an October 1992 conference talk, where he quotes (along with Pat Buchanan) Michael Hirsley in saying that "the nation's most widely accepted prejudice is anti-Christian". It angered me for its blatant wrongness and that there would be people who still believe it. We have people who have open access for church and temple attendance, prayer, scripture study, association with other members - anything that we need to do to worship and meet our standards of righteous living - but think it is persecution that a gay couple can get married or that school prayer isn't compulsory, even though praying in school happens all the time.
So I was mad at that, but I still continued reading the talk, and there was something interesting, and that also relates to my previously mentioned pet peeve of fear of The World!
This is something that I didn't say in the talk, but as I was being frustrated with that quote, and how wrong-headed it is, I remembered something. I don't remember who it was, but someone had said that that the brethren know what is going on in the world. I believe that to a point, but more that they know what is going on with members - and that's whom they lead, so that is valuable - but that there is a lot that they miss.
During his mortal ministry Jesus - and John the Baptist before him - spent time with prostitutes, publicans, sinners, and wine-bibbers. They were judged for it, but they were not corrupted by it, and they saved people because of it. I'm sure not everyone repented, but that didn't mean that they had no value.
So going back to my Frustrated post, is the reason our church isn't heroic enough and forward enough is that we are too isolated to even get there? How much good is there that we could do, but are not even thinking about doing, because of that?
I have already blogged at length about that in Frustrated:
http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2018/04/frustrated.html
Still, if it was treading on shaky ground admitting to have a pet peeve with Mormons, it could also be very risky to admit to getting mad at an apostle. No one has reprimanded me, and a friend told me that the stake presidency member on the stand laughed when I said it, so I guess I'll be fine.
If you don't want to go back and re-read the other post, it was for an October 1992 conference talk, where he quotes (along with Pat Buchanan) Michael Hirsley in saying that "the nation's most widely accepted prejudice is anti-Christian". It angered me for its blatant wrongness and that there would be people who still believe it. We have people who have open access for church and temple attendance, prayer, scripture study, association with other members - anything that we need to do to worship and meet our standards of righteous living - but think it is persecution that a gay couple can get married or that school prayer isn't compulsory, even though praying in school happens all the time.
So I was mad at that, but I still continued reading the talk, and there was something interesting, and that also relates to my previously mentioned pet peeve of fear of The World!
The only sure way to protect ourselves and our families from the onslaught of the teachings of the world is to commit to live the commandments of God, to attend our Church meetings where we can learn and be strengthened in our testimonies and partake of the sacrament to renew our covenants, to prepare ourselves to worthily enter the temple where we may find a refuge from the world and a place of renewal of our capacity to cope with the evils of the world. I so declare to you as I leave you my witness and testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.The protection from sin is not isolation from the world; it is the active living of the gospel.
This is something that I didn't say in the talk, but as I was being frustrated with that quote, and how wrong-headed it is, I remembered something. I don't remember who it was, but someone had said that that the brethren know what is going on in the world. I believe that to a point, but more that they know what is going on with members - and that's whom they lead, so that is valuable - but that there is a lot that they miss.
During his mortal ministry Jesus - and John the Baptist before him - spent time with prostitutes, publicans, sinners, and wine-bibbers. They were judged for it, but they were not corrupted by it, and they saved people because of it. I'm sure not everyone repented, but that didn't mean that they had no value.
So going back to my Frustrated post, is the reason our church isn't heroic enough and forward enough is that we are too isolated to even get there? How much good is there that we could do, but are not even thinking about doing, because of that?
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