No more excuses

I just read a couple of news articles about two horrible, violent acts. I realized that my greatest fear is that I'll do something monstrous to someone else and think of myself as a monster, not to be trusted around anyone. I'm glad that I've never had to forgive anyone else for something like what I read today.

But then, I realized that I'd have trouble forgiving myself for the same acts. At first, it seemed natural because they are deemed inexcusable in society. I believed that they were, in fact, inexcusable. And, by extension, unforgivable.

Read the whole story...

Life lessons from video games

I have played a lot of video games in my day. They are a form of entertainment, pure and simple. But as I look back, I'm surprised to see what I've learned and what I can learn from them.

A few years ago, I played a game on my roommate's computer called Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR). The plot centers around Jedi who lived years before the Star Wars saga began. A people, some of whom are Jedi, work together to stop an evil Sith from taking over the galaxy (to no one's surprise). As I played the game, my characters would "level up," or become more powerful. When they leveled up, I could choose how they developed; they would develop skill with various force powers, such as Force speed, the ability to destroy droids, or Force choke (Darth Vader's signature move).

I was pretty put out when I discovered that I couldn't develop every ability and make a character who did it all. I have always enjoyed making my characters so irresistibly powerful that no foe could possibly challenge them. It's still possible to make the character ludicrously powerful, but not in every way; the player is forced to choose some sort of emphasis.

Read the whole story...

Engineers and scientists

It’s easy to think of scientists and engineers as the same group of people. Both stereotypically wear glasses and use pocket protectors. Both use words that no one else understands and then has trouble figuring out what wasn’t clear. Both know about (and, for some unfathomable reason, enjoy thinking about) incomprehensible things. They commonly take the same classes and discuss the same concepts, although they sometimes use different terminology or notation; for example, many engineers use j and many scientists use i to denote the second root of unity (colloquially, the square root of -1).

Read the whole story...

Environmentalism, dirty dishes, and good friends

After I drive a car a few miles, there’s a little less oxygen and a little more carbon dioxide (as well as some partially combusted hydrocarbons and maybe some additives) in the air. The amounts of oxygen and so on are so small that they make no perceptible difference. But when lots of people drive lots of miles, they create a remarkable difference in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

The same is true of many environmental issues today: they are not caused by huge destructive acts. Rather, they’re caused by little things that have almost no impact on the environment. But, in aggregate, they can cause all sorts of change to the environment. For so long, humanity’s numbers and technology have been insufficient for us to impact our world in such a subtle manner, so we’ve generally adopted the attitude that any difference that seems insignificant is actually insignificant, no matter how many times it’s multiplied.

This type of thinking manifests itself in other aspects of our daily lives. For example, one plate or cup left out or a few bread crumbs on a table or counter hardly make a huge difference. But several people who live together, each one routinely leaving dishes out and surfaces neglected will quickly find that their living conditions have become unacceptable.

More significantly, we can fail to care for others. Not taking a moment for a friend or loved one once is usually not a big deal. A friend is still a friend, even when we fail to be the friend we should be. However, habitual neglect will destroy any relationship.

So take a minute to talk with a friend. Wash a few dishes. Take a walk instead of driving once in a while. The little positives add up in the same way that the negatives do.

Fitness of body and soul

I went for a run this morning before the sun came up. There was a moderately hard frost on the ground and some ice on the sides of the roads. Since I'm not much for the cold, it was chilly. I did a few push-ups and sit-ups afterward and then took a shower. It felt great to exercise again.

As I ate breakfast, I was reading an article by President Uchtdorf. He quoted Harold B. Lee, who said that it is what we do about what we know (about spiritual matters) that helps us to maintain that knowledge.

That is, we learn about spiritual matters through the mind and spirit. The evidence of such matters consists largely of thoughts and feelings, which are ever so easy to forget. If we do not act in such a way that we can continue to receive thoughts and feelings from God through the Holy Spirit, then we will lose sight of the evidence that we once had.

After a moment of reflection, I concluded that God gave us our bodies the way they are for a reason. He gave us bodies that require maintenance: exercise, good nutrition, hygiene, and caution. Learning to care for our bodies teaches us how to care for our spirits. We exercise our spirits by doing the things that we know we should do. We nourish our spirits by studying God's words and by praying. Spiritual hygiene involves careful and honest introspection and frank conversation with God, asking Him to forgive us when we fall short. And we should be careful to avoid wounding our spirits through sin.

As we care for our bodies our spirits, we will find similar results: we will be stronger, healthier, and happier. And God is kind enough to teach us about one by showing us the other.

How to be a good gospel learner

My dad taught one of the lessons in church this Sunday. This won’t come as a surprise to anyone, but I raised my hand a couple of times during the lesson to answer questions and participate in other ways. I participated even more than usual and the class participated, or so it seemed to me, even less than usual.

Classmates and teachers frequently say things about how often I comment. Out of respect to their mothers’ instruction to say nice things or nothing at all, most of what people say is congratulatory or grateful. But there are enough comments that are neutral or negative to leave no doubt in my mind that my degree of participation is bothersome to some of the people in my classes.

I have taught the gospel as a missionary, as a summer camp counselor, and as a seminary teacher, in addition to a few other capacities. In each of these capacities, I was told that good gospel teachers ask questions because effective gospel learning means that the learners (students and teachers) are taught individually by the Holy Spirit, which usually takes place when they carefully consider the principles being discussed.

As I thought about my dad’s lesson, I realized that students can choose to be good gospel learners. That is, they can choose to learn about the gospel, independently of their teachers.

Good gospel learning is based on the same principle as good gospel teaching; the teacher is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit teaches when we are trying to learn.

Students can train themselves to ask the same type of questions to themselves that their teachers are trained to ask. They can look for similarities between a story or scriptural passage and aspects of their own life and they can try to identify good examples to follow or mistakes to avoid. They can identify choices that they can make in their own lives to live according to the principles that they learn. Considering gospel principles in this way will certainly invite the personalized teaching of the Holy Spirit that is the objective of every gospel learning situation.

This sort of questioning does not come naturally to every student, but there are things that students can do to develop this ability. Preparing gospel lessons has developed my ability to ask these questions, especially as I have prepared questions for my students in those lesson plans. Asking the type of questions mentioned above during personal gospel study will also develop this ability. Students may also find it useful to read lesson material before class so that the ideas have time to sink in; it may be that people are good at asking themselves useful questions, but not good at asking them quickly enough to be of any use during a class period.

Finally, I encourage every person in every gospel teaching situation to participate vocally. Every one of a person’s ideas may not change someone else’s life, some will. A person’s ideas certainly cannot benefit others if they are not shared. Also ideas become better developed as they are articulated. Those who give voice to their ideas will find better ways to apply gospel principles in their own lives.

I encourage my readers to participate both mentally and vocally in their classes, for their own benefit and for the benefit of others.

Feelings of inadequacy at Christmastime

It doesn't take a whole lot to excite me, so the glitz of Christmastime is more than enough. I love the lights and the music and everything else that's shiny. But Christmastime can be a downer, too.

I love to serve people. I can't think of a thing that makes me happier than putting a smile on a friend's face. I try to find and to meet others' needs every day, regardless of the month.

During the month of December, the people around me seem to catch the vision. Everyone knows about opportunities to serve and takes them. People become so generous and happy. And I feel exactly the same, so I think that I'm falling behind.

This feeling, of course, is not a positive one. It reflects a desire to excel (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/58/41#41). Its premise doesn't even make sense; it is based on an oversimplified comparison that I make between myself and others. I can't possibly know enough about my own psyche to adequately compare myself to anything and certainly can't know others' thoughts well enough to compare.

My feelings of inadequacy at Christmastime demonstrate a need for me to improve: to improve my attitude and to rid myself of the habit of comparing myself to others. Pres. Eyring suggested a healthier way to improve (found here): I can compare myself with myself at times past. If I am improving, then so will my feelings at Christmastime. My hope is to continue to build on my strengths without trying to make myself better than anyone except my past self. I am confident that if I do so consistently, each Christmastime will truly be brighter than the last.