Alleged Debate

No, I didn't watch it. There would have been too much stress and anxiety to deal with. I thought I would just watch some highlights this morning but after reading a few of the reports of the debacle, I'm not sure I want to do even that.

The best thing to do at this point is to share a scripture:

Abortion Again

 Once more I will try to explain and persuade. Abortion is a serious, moral wrong when done for selfish reasons, IMO. However, as my Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made it very clear that there is no absolute prohibition of abortion:

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes in the sanctity of human life. Therefore, the Church opposes elective abortion for personal or social convenience, and counsels its members not to submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange for such abortions.

The Church allows for possible exceptions for its members when:

Pregnancy results from rape or incest, or

A competent physician determines that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy, or

A competent physician determines that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth.

The Church teaches its members that even these rare exceptions do not justify abortion automatically. Abortion is a most serious matter and should be considered only after the persons involved have consulted with their local church leaders and feel through personal prayer that their decision is correct.

The Church has not favored or opposed legislative proposals or public demonstrations concerning abortion."

Is there anything in this official statement that looks like an absolute ban or ban on voting for those who support a woman's right to choose? I don't see it.

And how are the rare exceptions to be determined? Not by a judge in a legal proceeding, not by debates in Congress or the State Legislature. It is a personal, medical, and religious determination to be made, not a political one. The statement ends with this:

The Church has not favored or opposed legislative proposals or public demonstrations concerning abortion. 

I don't have to mingle this with scripture or provide much philosophy to trip anybody up. There is absolutely no prohibition to vote for Democrats who support a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion!

City of Rocks to Remember

 Stones memorialize.  

It is a rare privilege to take a Grandson on an adventure. My second Grandson went with me to explore a portion of the California Trail that our ancestor, Elinor Jenkins Vaughan Hulet, likely took on her way to Jacks Valley at the foot of the Sierra just above the Carson River. City of Rocks is now a popular climbing destination. The stones were there when Elinor passed.

In 1848, Addison Pratt and other members of the Mormon Battalion came from California on the trail to meet the Saints including some of their families already in the Great Salt Lake Valley. They cut off from the main California Trail that came up the Raft River from the Snake (in present day Idaho) just below where it came through City of Rocks. Pratt named the The Twin Sisters landmark and it stuck.

Whether informed by Mountain-Man information or however, I'll have to check. But it's amazing that they could establish a new trail and come out where the I-84 freeway passes at Snowville long before Snowville (or the freeway) were ever established. The freeway still follows their route from Snowville at the Utah/Idaho border into the Valley. From Snowville to City of Rocks, the trail is a bit more rugged.

4 - 1 - 7 - 2 - 8 - 3 - 10

Not a mathematical sequence or formula, not a password, not my Jr. High locker combination, and I'm not really that into numerology. 

It could be a secret code. It makes perfect sense and the clues are all here in the blog. Yes, a mystery. It could be presented like this: 

4

1

7

2

8

3

10

or better:

4

        1

7

        2

8

        3

10

Starting to see any patterns?

On a recent trip to the waterfall, I built this into my head as a kind of mantra. Earworms are common when I run or hike (I hike now rather than run). In my marathon training days I did some laps on tracks which became rather numerous so I developed counting methods to measure the miles. Repeating the numbers, I would place fingers in different positions on the hand.

I could draw it as a schematic:

Water Remembering

One shot.

It lives apart from the designated reality in which I snapped it.

Now, I designate another.

Rising Up in Centerville . . . Utah

We celebrated Juneteenth this year and marched for equal justice. It went well. I've struggled though to find the words to express it because I am so out of my depth. Which is why I dove in the first place.

It is encouraging that significantly more than any time before, protests for racial equality are not just something for the targets of oppression. The protests since George Floyd died under a knee have included Americans in all their diversity and privilege. The protests have even gone international. Some of this is to protest the retrograde racism of the trump administration of course. I'm all in for that. And still, I can never feel the depth of the Black American experience. So we try.

My immediate family appears to be woke or at least in the process. A daughter and I marched for refugees and immigrants when trump first starting imposing his bans. There was to be a peaceful march for racial justice in downtown Salt Lake City for Juneteenth this year. I wanted to go except for the risks of Covid-19. We had talked about doing a local march. The daughter who marched with me before prompted me on to set up our march in front of Centerville City Hall and police headquarters. My other daughter said she was in too. We rolled.

Here's our notice:

My daughter went up-front with our Centerville Police:

Solstice 2020: Ebenezer II

"Here I raise my Ebenezer

Here there by Thy great help I've come
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home."

Stone of Remembrance.

My Grandson and I found it up on the side of the mountain when we were gathering smaller stones together for my latest rock garden. I've been trying to convince someone in the family quarantine circle to help me go get it. I had rolled it over by myself, but I knew I wouldn't get it into the car alone. Oh, on the day of discovery we were too dog-tired after a hike to lift it in.

My wife did not want to go fearing that I would drop it on her foot. She finally coordinated my eldest, her son, and our A-5 (fifth child) to go up there after the Juneteenth March in Centerville for racial equality and justice. (Probably deserves another blog post.) They seemed okay and the four of us lifted in in and out of the Rav-4 without any feet being smashed.

If only I had taken a photo of it in its natural habitat!

Already prepared my remembrances to lie underneath the stone.