Surprised by Peace

The Library of America and I have a long-term relationship. In its early days, I had a subscription and was collecting and reading great American authors. The editions are beautiful and well edited by experts in literature or history. Thin pages carry a lot in one volume.

In later years, I've purchased an book or two now and then. Recently I ordered what looked like an interesting anthology:

I haven't gotten to it yet. It was still in its plastic wrap when I picked it up to move it somewhere and noticed an interesting name on the back list of authors, Joseph Smith, Jr.!!!

Remember

Last March, I was privileged to visit Hereford Cathedral when the weeping window of poppies was on display in commemoration of the one-hundredth anniversary of World War I. It was raining.

Let There be PEACE on Earth

And let it begin . . . in the International Peace Garden, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Why didn't I know this existed?

Yesterday, when I was looking for pics to go with another blog post, I found this wonderful place not far from downtown, at 900 West 1000 South on the Jordan River Parkway. When I arrived at the Family History Library before it opened yesterday morning, I took the opportunity to go wander the gardens.

It's still February, so there wasn't much going on with flowery aspects. I will return, hopefully many times. It's the kind of place I could wander as an old man and sit in peace.

I'll share my photo tour without commentary because I would be tempted to say too many things to detract such as I think the Swiss got a little carried away with their Matterhorn. I wanted to get in line for the ride, but didn't have my mouse ears. No, Peace, peace, peace, be still . . . .

Renounce Guns, Proclaim PEACE

It's time to call an end to Mormons arming themselves to protect against an imaginary tyrannical government or even for "self-defense." 

Don't get me wrong. I get the anti-government sentiment. I've worked for the feds for 34 years and don't like them much. But heaven help us if we continue on the path we are on!

There is a sickness in American culture (and I mean the US, not our Canadian or Latin American friends). Actually, there is more than one sickness. One is racism and the original sin of slavery which we have not shed, not nearly as well as other American neighbors who were also under this curse. The other, related sickness is the obsessive love of gun culture.

The LDS Church is more and more a world church. Sure, still with dominant American culture, but that is fading more and more and will only accelerate. We are the only nation where the LDS Church is established, Zion in the Latter-days, where we violate the laws of Zion on a regular basis by arming ourselves.

Hell to Pay

Sick to my stomach doesn't begin to express what I felt watching the links below. I suffered so you don't have to unless you want to.

The first is the President's melt-down, press conference of yesterday (Tuesday, August 15, 2017, a day that should live in infamy). I watched the whole thing. The first part was about infrastructure. At about 7 minutes, he opened it up for questions and he went way downhill from there.

NY Times Transcript and Video of trump's Press Conference

Then there was this from one of the organizers of the legally permitted march in Charlottesville (Yes, First Amendment protected). It's a selfie-video he did when he learned that there was a warrant out for his arrest. He claims to be a peaceful and law-abiding neo-nazi. [WARNING: rough language].

My Predictions for 2017

1. Obamacare will not be repealed. If the Republicans have half a brain among them, they will do some necessary technical edits and call it something without the "Obama" name in it. And everybody will be relatively happier.

2. Many Trump supporters will regret their vote so much that they will come to say, "If only Obama were back. Things weren't so bad then!" (Which I already believe).

       [Trump support significantly down Politico Aug. 10, 2017]

https://twitter.com/cspanwj/status/952198650330996737

3. I'm going conservative on this predicting only six (6) major scandals in the first year of the Trump White House. (Remember President Obama's record, a big fat 0 in eight years*. Even if you insist on Benghazi and "Fast and Furious" which even the promoters don't directly link to the President, that's two in eight years.)

[1. February 13, 2017, General Michael Flynn forced to resign as National Security Adviser for failing to tell the truth about discussing sanctions with Russia before the inauguration.]

[2. May 9, 2017, trump fires James Comey, FBI Director, in the same week Comey is testifying before the Senate Subcommittee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and the same day a federal grand jury subpoenas records. The reason given is untruthful statements regarding Hillary Clinton's emails. This ain't over yet.] 

[3. May 15, 2017, the Washington Post reports citing senior intelligence sources that trump revealed confidential national security information compromising a foreign-partner source to the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador in a meeting in the oval office last Wednesday, May 10.]

[4. July 11, 2017. Donald J. Trump, Jr. releases emails evidencing that he sought out allegedly harmful information on Hillary Clinton offered by Russian sources when he previously denied he had any Russian contacts during the campaign.]

[5. July 21-31, 2017, Scaramucci. #!*@&#^*@^#**#!!!!!!! 'nuff said.] 

4. I do think our institutions are strong enough to withstand even Trump in the White House and we will not sink into Fascism. Even if he manages to burn down the Capitol and blame it on the terrorists or the Democrats, the military won't allow him to establish martial law. And many of us will not just be standing in front of the tanks if they do,but  they will have to go over the top of us. We are too many (a solid majority of voters, for one thing). Our service men and women are true patriots, not Trump stooges.

It's Time for Peace on Earth, Good Will to All

It's been a long, cold, lonely Winter. And it only started a couple of days ago!

The problem was that the Fall was pretty tough. The Malheur defendants were sent free (well, some went back to jail awaiting trial in Nevada); there was an active-shooter incident at the school where my wife teaches (the Science Teacher hero was in our home the other night as my wife is Science supervisor and we hosted the Holiday dinner); and, then there was that horrible man elected president. That caused some serious trauma for some.

So, I return to the events of summer to catch a bright light for Christmas.

In our wandering of the National Gallery in London, we came across the original of one of my favorite Nativities.

There it was in all its Glory! And I mean Glory! The Christ Child glows for all the world to behold, especially the poor shepherds.

I love this one as it is contemporary to my distant Cousin Poet, Henry Vaughan, and his twin, Thomas, the highly religious Alchemist married to Rebecca.

Here is my photo of the entire piece:

It is floor-to-ceiling huge, larger than life, as it should be.

May God bless us everyone!

And my wish to all is a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for all who seek joy and peace!

And speaking of Peace, I leave you with another Christmas Poem of Henry Vaughan:

The Nativity

Peace? and to all the world? sure, One
And He the Prince of Peace, hath none.
He travels to be born, and then
Is born to travel more again.
Poor Galilee! thou canst not be
The place for His nativity.
His restless mother's called away,
And not delivered till she pay.
     A tax? 'tis so still! we can see
The church thrive in her misery;
And like her Head at Bethlem, rise
When she, oppressed with troubles, lies.
Rise? should all fall, we cannot be
In more extremities than He.
Great Type of passions! come what will,
Thy grief exceeds all copies still.
Thou cam'st from heaven to earth, that we
Might go from earth to heaven with Thee.
And though Thou foundest no welcome here,
Thou didst provide us mansions there.
A stable was Thy court, and when
Men turned to beasts, beasts would be men.
They were Thy courtiers, others none;
And their poor manger was Thy throne.
No swaddling silks Thy limbs did fold,
Though Thou couldst turn Thy rays to gold.
No rockers waited on Thy birth,
No cradles stirred, nor songs of mirth;
But her chaste lap and sacred breast
Which lodged Thee first did give Thee rest.
     But stay: what light is that doth stream,
And drop here in a gilded beam?
It is Thy star runs page, and brings
Thy tributary Eastern kings.
Lord! grant some light to us, that we
May with them find the way to Thee.
Behold what mists eclipse the day:
How dark it is! shed down one ray
To guide us out of this sad night,
And say once more, "Let there be light."

Quiet, and Peace

Six years ago on the Mountain at Blaendigeddi Fawr, it was peaceful but not so quiet. The bleating of sheep was nearly constant. It was a peaceful noise and maybe that’s why you’re supposed to count them to go to sleep. Other than the sheep, it was very quiet and certainly peaceful.

This excursion began, as per usual with every muscled strained and tightened to the max as I held the wheel of our tiny Toyota only occasionally, and more naturally I might add, the left hand slipping to the gear shift hoping not to slip the gears. Standards are very popular here and much less expensive to rent. I thought that was compelling reason enough to be economizing and not extravagant as my wife would usually prefer. But apparently her muscles were tighter than mine when she tearfully said, “You’ve known me for 36 years, so you should know!”

“Know what?” I wisely said only to myself. As we went along, she explained that she would expect me to know how nervous it made her for me to drive in Britain and how I should have paid the extra money to get an automatic as that would be one less thing for her to stress about. And I thought I was a male hero for economizing. Venus and Mars.

Our marriage is still intact and I didn’t hit anything at all except for a small rabbit for which I am very sorry. It wasn't the rabbit that bothered her.

Back to the quiet. Our inn at Three Cocks (the proprietor told us that some overly sensitive Americans prefer to call it “Three Roosters”), was so quiet with its thick stone walls and modern windows inside the thick casement of the older window. And there was not a sheep to be seen or heard for at least a quarter of a mile!

Trump Wrong on Foreign Policy and Immigration

1) Trump willing to use nuclear weapons in Europe and Middle East:

See the Independent article here. Our European and other allies are very concerned - as are most thinking people in the U.S. My main opposition to Hillary Clinton is her hawkish attitude and her vote for the Iraq War. Trump is far worse. Hillary should revive the devastating daisy-petal-nuke ad from Lyndon Johnson in 1964 to use against Trump.

Guest Post: Anonymous D on Calming Down

Anonymous D offers some good spiritual advice after I shared with him something I learned today that may or may not be shared on this blog at a future time relating to my native Malheur.

What a crazy time. I have no counsel about political events, I do get a little concerned when you say your anxiety level is rising. My anxiety is elevated as well, however I'm certain that things will calm down. It's probably a good year to be reading the Book of Mormon.  So some general reminders:

"Blessed Are the Peacemakers"

There is an LDS conference talk that never got the attention it deserved. It was delivered by now President of the Quorum of the Twelve, Russel M. Nelson in October, 2002. I had finished my first ever marathon that morning in St. George and my grandmother and I were watching conference. She was then 92 years old. I remember her saying, "My! I've never heard them speak so directly about current issues!"

For a reminder, October 2002 was the big lead-up to the mid-term elections and Congressional authorization to go to war in Iraq. It was wrong then and few people saw it. My Grandma did and so did I, not just because of this talk, but the talk sure helped.

Elder Nelson's talk was soon overtaken by events and President Hinkley's address of April, 2003 after the war had exploded on the world and some obligation to our troops engaged in battle and civic duty were required. That talk still broke my heart. I think that it is time to share Elder Nelson's talk. We didn't have the same ready access to share thoughts with the world so easily in that day which seems to be freshly relevant.

"Blessed are the Peacemakers"

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.

Culture War Is Over If You Want It

With thanks to John Lennon and Elder Dallin H. Oaks, two unlikely yoked oxen if ever there were, I am so very pleased to have my declaration of Peace in the culture wars validated. It was written in 2009 but reflects many years of thought on the subject.

Elder Oaks gave a surprising endorsement of basic constitutional principles of the separation of Church and State although I still prefer a solid wall rather than his curtain. But I get the point that influences for good should filter from one side to the other. His speech was released by the LDS Newsroom, the official informational source for newsworthy items all approved at the highest levels of LDS Church leadership, under the heading:

NEWS RELEASE — 20 OCTOBER 2015
Mormon Apostle Calls for Balance and Accommodation, Not Culture Wars

I encourage you to read the article and watch or read his entire speech attached.

I Will NOT Vote for Hillary!

I know I've sworn off political blogging for a while. But this actually helps explain one of the reasons. It may even win me some love back with many friends and family. But then, probably not. Because I'm not voting for any of the Republican clowns who are even worse than 2012 which I didn't think could even be possible. And not that it makes much difference in Utah anyway.

No, my reason is simple.

The Iraq War was wrong.

It was wrong before it started. It was wrong while it was going - except that we did need to support our troops while it was going which we failed pretty miserably thanks to Rumsfeld, Cheney, and W who wanted war on the cheap. And the Iraq war was wrong now as almost everybody admits.

And I knew it was wrong long before it started and throughout. I think Hillary did too and that's one reason why I oppose her and will forever. And dang it, Joe Biden voted for the war too. Hillary admits it was wrong now as she goes all tough on Iran even with grudging support of the President's negotiated agreement.

HOPE in World Peace and Collective Security

We went pretty hard on the President last night. So today I further reveal my idealism which some find pollyannish to the max. But it's who I am. "And I'm not the only one. I hope some day you will join us. And the world will be as one." (Thanks, John).

The President is so close to being right, I hope he doesn't blow it with a US go-it-alone policy. Congressman Chris Stewart spoke at my son's high school yesterday and said that the US has a duty to be the world's policeman. I told my boy that I think our Congressman wants to have you all as soldiers. "I kind of got that idea," was my youngest's response. We have to stop people like Chris Stewart.

You may find it surprising, but my ideal for international intervention is what George H. W. Bush did. Sadam invaded Kuwait. US went to Security Council. US lead a true coalition of a multinational force for a limited objective of removing Iraq from Kuwait. Iraq suffered devastating military loss and left Kuwait. Iraq lobbed missiles at Israel for no good reason except to break up Arab states in coalition. US & others destroy Iraqi missile capabilities. Multinational force went home. (Except we didn't quite go home. We set up military bases in Saudi Arabia with Saudi consent. And that helped triggered the brutal plan for 9/11 in bin laden's warped brain.)

Please, President Obama, No More Crusades!

Anonymous D expressed some hard truths the other day:

Getting tired of the "Obama threw away victory in Iraq" thing. There was never "victory" in Iraq. The conservatives, neo-cons and Fox News enthusiasts who blew up the world never admit to the mess they made--That it can never be put back together again--That the idea that democracy would flourish in this region was simply not true. It's a nice rhetorical device to blow something up and then blame the guy after you for not being able to fix it.

Let's face it,  Iraq will require a 50 to 75 year commitment. It will eat up men, women, and treasure. That should have been stated up front instead of 10,000 men or whatever the Neo-Cons thought. We will be there long after we're dead, and probably our children.

The "Well-regulated Militia" IS the National Guard

While not at all the main point, that's my favorite line concept out of the new statement on violent acts in Mormon History from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are like much of the world, sadly, a "warlike people" (Pres. Spencer W. Kimball) and have need of repenting from following false gods. IMO, the militia movement is a "false god."

It is gratifying to see that the statement on our history is pretty much in line with themes I have been promoting since college. It is also in line with what I have been reading and thinking over the years from the Mormon Indian Wars to Mountain Meadows. I have even referenced the Mormon Reformation of 1856-57 and some inappropriately violent fall-out in doing my family history. My friend Ardis at Keepapitchinin.org gets cited in that one as well as in the new statement of history from the Church.

I'm not doing this to toot my own horn (or even Ardis's). My purpose is to promote truth until it has swept every continent and called all the Lord's children to come to Him and not rely on the arm (or arms) of flesh, even those generally good among us who make horrifying mistakes at times. Our role is to be better. To love one another as Jesus taught us - not to promote divisions and hatreds that lead to war and violence.

The Great War Redux?

You do all know how WWI started, right? We're coming up on the Centennial. Let's not commemorate by starting up again.

Competing nations were building navies and armies for advantage in world commerce, particularly in controlling colonies around the world. A game of treaties went on. Then, some Serbian Nationals (ethnic Slavs, remember) shot the Archduke of Austria which ruled the Balkans in those days.

Talk about dominoes - The Austro-Hungarian Empire cracked down on its little Serbia, Russia defended its cousin Serbs against Austrian aggression, the Kaiser was allied with Austria-Hungary, France was allied with Russia to help protect it from Germany, England was the protector of little Belgium and allied with France against the Prussian ruling Germany. And we had the war that didn't quite end all wars.

Let's Not Charge Lightly into a Crimean War

As proud as Palin is on her Putin prediction, let's not follow the rest of the FOX mentality by rattling our sabers for silly self-gratification. The worst of it are the US Conservatives joining Putin in his criticisms of our President. Let's call them "Jane-Fonda-Patriots."

Best.T-Shirt.Ever.

After a busy day attending the Farmington Parade (Farmington can't seem to decide if it is celebrating the 4th or the 24th, so they have their parade in between), babysitting, napping, house-cleaning, temple, wedding reception, etc., my wife says that her Kohl's cash is about to expire and asked if I wanted to go with her.  I said, "Sure!"