Let Freedom Ring!

As we, the People of the United States, through our delegated elected officials continue to incarcerate children separated from their parents who were attempting to enter our borders, let us pause to think about this on the day we celebrate national independence.

These photos were released by the U.S. government. My source here.

Twelve Steps to Recovery from Racism

"Hi! I'm Grant! I'm a recovering racist."

"Hi, Grant!"

This came to me in the night with a lot of other dreams of really weird stuff, but this might just work!

The LDS Church has done really well in applying the 12-Step program for drug abuse and some sexual issues borrowed with acknowledgment of and slight modification from Alcoholics Anonymous or AA.

So how does is apply in our Racism Recovery program?

How Thick Is Family Blood?

Back sometime in the lost, golden age when Barack Obama was President of the United States, I was engaged in a political discussion on the internet with a member of my extended family. This person said that Obama was the most racially divisive president ever, but that because I was blood family we would always be connected. I wanted a divorce.

Recently, that is since white-nationalists marched with torches chanting their antisemitism in Charlottesville, and since the LDS Church responded with a statement clarifying its first that "white-nationalism," "white-supremacy," and promotion of "white-culture" were sinful and unsaintly, another member of my extended family left voice mails for me saying that I was full of hate and a disgrace to the family name. I want another divorce.

It is odd that the only person you can divorce in your family is your spouse. I suppose you can disinherit your children and kick them out at some point from your basement. But I love my wife and kids. My wife is still with me going on 38 years of love amid life's challenges and my kids have pretty much moved out for good. Or, at least we can hope.

The concept of family honor and "blood thicker than water" strike me as pretty creepy when they are used to attack my beliefs and my personhood. It's probably a small fraction of what some minorities feel when under attack by antisemitism or white supremacy.

Why Liberals Leave the LDS Church (and This One Isn't)

Well, obviously because they're evil. duh.

It's a bit more complex than that.

IMHO, a lot of people leave the church because they don't feel comfortable there. They hurt in the very place where they want to feel healing. And the hurt overpowers the opportunity for healing.

It's hard not to judge. We do it constantly. And we often judge unrighteous judgments.

And when there is a cultural and political conservatism imposed where it need not be, it can create insurmountable conflict.

Yes, I'm speaking of the "wink, with, nudge, nudge" crowd who are so anxious for the world to be evil as they point it out so that they can rejoice when the wicked are punished and they are proven right.

Anonymous D gave me some insight recently that this kind of prideful thinking is very much the "Nephite Disease" of the Book of Mormon. It is in classifying people with whom we disagree as the "other" and relegating them to a level of righteousness and eternal judgment much lower than our own. If they're not with us, they must be against us and likely Lamanites to boot!

Why I Cry

I don't know when doves cry, only when I do.

I would seriously buy this music video if it were available for purchase on iTunes. I'll put it in here so I know where to find it easily. Best.Music.Video.Ever:

Bardd Rydw I - In Which I Become a Welsh Bard

The first scribbles of an idea came at the beginning of my most recent audit of a Welsh reading class at Brigham Young University. OK, so we're reading "Thomas the Train" in Welsh and I have a ways to go. If only I could spend more time in actual application with the language, I know I could pick it up.

My job still takes most of my brain space and there are so many other things that impose on my thinking time. Still, little by little it comes and my Celtic bones take strength from the ancient language of my fore-bearers. This Saxon-English imposed on me is like poison in the blood. Yet I swear the undying language will not cease from the earth as we children of the Black Mountains and Green Valleys strive to keep it alive.

Republicans, Please, Please, Reign In Your Fear Mongers!

I don't know what else to say! Republican presidential poll leaders are making outrageous statements to spread fear about Syrian Refugees.

I'll just have to let them speak for themselves:



And this:

War, Peace, Love, Hate, Evil, Good - - Dr. Who

Hat/Tip to MDeL and Cinemablend for the links, and I was very impressed as well when I saw last Saturday's Episode of Dr. Who.

I also just finished reading Sharon Kay Penman's Lionheart about the 3rd Crusade and Richard I who certainly earned his fame - not just on the battlefield but in the peace negotiations with his Saracen foes - and equals.

Oh, he was no great hero in a human sense about as far removed from Sainthood as a Warrior-King could be. He did know how to make an entrance. After relieving the Siege of Jaffa by climbing up a Templar backstair and then holding off a series of attacks from a much larger force:

Once they realized the battle was over and they'd actually won, Richard's men went wild. Their jubilant celebration stopped abruptly, though, when they saw Richard galloping his stallion toward the enemy. As they watched, first in alarm and then in delighted disbelief, he rode the entire length of the Saracen line and none dared to accept his challenge.

And then he entered a peace treaty without conquering Jerusalem - and Christian Pilgrims were allowed protected entry.

I'd like to see Dick Cheney try something like that.

Reconciling the Impossible - The At One Ment

As part of an ongoing dialogue between Anonymous D and me, I leave here a challenge with a simple answer but which requires some serious thought and self-awareness if you are prepared. Some may just call it trite or silly religious babble. I lovingly call it hope because of my faith in Christ.

Many things constantly before us seem to be in irreconcilable conflict:

Political, social or philosophical Right versus Left or Conservative versus Liberal.

The religious concepts of Justice and Mercy, Grace and Works, and Good versus Evil.

All gaps in knowledge regarding Science and Religion.

"Fools give you reasons, Wise men never try."

The Utah Shakespeare Festival at Cedar City was great this year. We enjoyed good times with good friends and saw three plays. Only one was Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2. People are oddly apologetic for the historical plays and they are the reason I love Shakespeare (even if some of the history is subject to debate).

The greatest moment was when I met one of the actors who happened to sit in the row behind us in South Pacific.

My new buddy, Falstaff, and I

Yes, that's John Ahlin who played Sir John (Jack) Falstaff in Henry 4.2 the night before! And I impressed the actor by introducing myself as a descendant of Davy Gam (Dafydd ap Llywellyn) who is named in the lists of the dead in Henry V.

The character of Falstaff was my first introduction to the higher forms of the performance arts. It was in fourth grade when we had the blessed opportunity of loading up on school buses to attend a kids' program at the Seattle Opera. It was a few scenes from Verdi's Falstaff including a revelation of a bit of stagecraft with Falstaff falling off a bed and his corpulent body switched out for some brightly colored cloth matching his clothes. (Why Falstaff would be hiding in bedrooms they never quite explained). And that's all it took for me to fall in love with a stage full of music and action.

Standing for Something (You Don't Agree With)

We have some really good friends who are dedicated home-schoolers. I don't agree with home-schooling. I think that in spite of the best intentions, no parent is able to provide the wide diversity of specialized knowledge that a variety of teachers can in the public schools. It also tends to undermine the purpose of public schools which is to give every child an opportunity for a basic education to be a functioning member of a self-governing democratic republic. The socialization skills with children of different backgrounds also help in the melting-pot ideal of America.

Still, we love our friends dearly. We never debated our differing views on home-schooling. I'm not even sure of their actual reasons for doing it.

At their request, I once participated in a conference where home-schooling families got together to hear presentations on a variety of subjects. I was asked to do a session on the Founding Mothers concentrating on Abigail Adams and her influence on husband John through their rich trove of correspondence. It was fun!

"Have Courage and Be Kind"

My wife took me on a date last night. She had movie passes for earning points from hall duty at the Jr. High where she teaches. She invited our boy to go with his "friend" as it was Family Night and he came up and asked if we should see Cinderella or Insurgent. I said, "It's a date! You go see Cinderella." I think he'll be fine with some missionary experience coming up.

Both Vanity Fair and I seemed a little surprised at how good it was:

Thomas Wolfe Was Wrong

My Mom unintentionally started my grudge with Thomas Wolfe. I never was happy about moving from the Seattle Area. I made some good friends in Wyoming and there are many beautiful places in Wyoming. Rock Springs is not one of them. I once told my Mom that I intended to buy back the house on Finn Hill where I grew up. It was only a pipe-dream and she recognized it as nostalgia for our old home and some resentment in me for the move to Mos Eisely Spaceport, er, Rock Springs.

And I had my troubles at my first high school that I have chronicled here. Yes, I was kind of a dropout. There were the teenage turmoils and Quadrophenic angst going on as well. Maybe I do get Thomas Wolfe's point that if you write fiction based on your family and friends and are honest enough to the point of recognizable characters in your critiques, yeah, you can't go back home.

Four Things I Will Never Do

1. Answer the question: "Is my wife perfect?"

2. Answer the question: "Is my church perfect?"

3. Make a list of what is possibly wrong with my wife.

4. Make a list of what is possibly wrong with my church.

I love my wife and my church. I have committed and covenanted to be with them for my whole life and even beyond. The four things listed above are entirely irrelevant to the love, commitments, and covenants that sustain me.

Live-Blogging LDS General Conference Spring 2014 - Saturday PM

Watch it LIVE here: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch?lang=eng&cid=HPTU040114644

OK. I'm back. Had to get something I remembered on to Family Search/Family Tree. Then a few more groceries came.

Pres. Eyring Conducting and Pres. Uchtdorf is doing the sustainings.

Elder Ted Callister released from Presidency of the Seventy. Lynn Robins sustained. A bunch of 70s called with very few Anglo names. Sunday School General Presidency and Board released.

New Area Seventies. Much variety of names and languages. Ted R. Callister is Pres. of the Sunday School Pres. with Devin G. Durrant as second counselor (is that the basketball player? Son of George? I loved George Durrant.)

"It's a long walk." Every time.

Audits and Stats. 3, 050 Stakes. 83K full-time missionaries, etc.

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve:

Universal At Onement

Whether it's some unified field theory in Physics, Zion of one heart and mind in a religious context, or the constitutional ideal of a more perfect Union, we seem to have an innate human need to find unifying answers. I suppose the philosophical Darwinists of human behavior call this one of those traits generations bred into our genes for species survival. But it sure seems that we, like the poet Yeats, want a power to unite what may be whirling out from a center that cannot hold.

Stop. Hold on. That's what I choose to do. The alternatives only lead me to despair.

Faith & Evidence

The Coma Galaxy Cluster , NASA photo

Without coming to any definitive resolution, I engaged in an interesting discussion of Faith & Evidence with a good friend and my oldest daughter. The friend is close in age to my daughter and they are mutual friends. I'm glad I can call my daughter my friend as well - and my friend is like a son. That's what happens when you're bishop.

The discussion resulted from the last post on the Book of  Mormon and a book that may or may not have influenced Joseph. The participants have granted me permission to share the dialogue here:

Is the Pope Capitalist?

Apparently not.

A humble Pope Francis honors the poor and ill.

It has been entertaining to see the right-wing go after the Pope, of all people. I mean, if Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are all against the guy for his views on Capitalism and the Social Gospel, almost they persuade me to become a Catholic! Except that if anyone really reads the Book of Mormon, the revelations of Joseph Smith, or teachings of Brigham Young, they wouldn't be a Capitalist either. It's only the Anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon who preach that each man prospers according to his own genius!

The Armor of Light Against Darkness

Last night while playing family games, I looked around and sensed my opportunity. While my wife secretly starts listening to Christmas music about Halloween, I generally try to hold off on Christmas decorations and themes as long as possible. But with all those good kids of mine, I figured today would be December Eve and a great day to do the Christmas lights on the house and the tree up in the living room. They were helpful to a point. I took it all calmly enough with the usual jitters of my height anxiety. The end result is lookin' good!

Whether it's preparation for the solstice, the Hannakuh celebration of ights, family fun festivities, or the Christmas Spirit, there is something about the glory of light when the world turns dark and cold.

Our Heroes Are Furloughed

". . . . we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching. . . ."

-LDS President Spencer W. Kimball, Bicentennial Address, July 1976, "The False Gods We Worship"

Sunburned my head today. 

I shouldn't complain, but the quick walk to church turned out a little differently than expected. We heard that unmistakable crunch of a car accident as we rounded the corner heading to the church. We saw the white car spurt forward and to the right taking out the stop sign. Then there were people on cell phones down the street and a few running out. We did not run as 911 appeared to be in play and several people were already there.