Oh say, What is truth?
In response to the post about being careful that schools teach you or your kids a bunch of false crap, you ask... what is truth?
I respond in a poem/song/hymn
Oh say, what is truth?
1. Oh say, what is truth? ’Tis the fairest gem
That the riches of worlds can produce,
And priceless the value of truth will be when
The proud monarch’s costliest diadem
Is counted but dross and refuse.2. Yes, say, what is truth? ’Tis the brightest prize
To which mortals or Gods can aspire.
Go search in the depths where it glittering lies,
Or ascend in pursuit to the loftiest skies:
’Tis an aim for the noblest desire.3. The sceptre may fall from the despot’s grasp
When with winds of stern justice he copes.
But the pillar of truth will endure to the last,
And its firm-rooted bulwarks outstand the rude blast
And the wreck of the fell tyrant’s hopes.4. Then say, what is truth? ’Tis the last and the first,
For the limits of time it steps o’er.
Tho the heavens depart and the earth’s fountains burst,
Truth, the sum of existence, will weather the worst,
Eternal, unchanged, evermore.Text: John Jaques, 1827–1900
Music: Ellen Knowles Melling, 1820–1905
Doctrine and Covenants 93:23–28
How do we obtain that truth can sometimes be the trickiest and yet most beneficial stuggle of our lives.
There are so many avenues, so many philosophies of men so many ideas that people skilled in rhetoric can seem to convince you of.
Any manipulator or false prophet or eager teacher seems to have a large following of disciples eager to proclaim THE TRUTH.
As for me and my house. I hold tight to the concept taught by Amos the prophet in Amos 3:7
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."
This with the combination of the holy ghost will be the way we obtain the truth IMHO
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26
There are many other scriptures on how to help distinguish a truth from god from a philosophy of men or a philosophy sprinkled with truths of god. (Of which there are many of these mixings)
Finding Meekness : Letting Go
This is part of a talk given on Jan 17th
Parts in grey were notes that were taken out of the second draft, but I've left in the blog post.
The talk was cut in half even after that because of the time alloted after the first two speakers, I had to improvise.
It was created as a audio talk and probably works best that way... but in hope someone might like it I share it here. (For the couple of people at church that expressed interest in a copy of the talk)
May we all understand better what the meekness of christ means and be able to let go of the things preventing us from getting there.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
the objective I have is, to teach the following:
"Finding Meekness : Letting Go"
Letting go is part of Meekness and meekness is required to let go (put away childish things)
Let Go vs Grow Up
United Order is NOT Communism
Came accross this and simply have time to share it... that's all.
It came from a talk by none other than President Ezra Taft Benson
http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6162
On July 3, 1936, the First Presidency published this warning to Church members. I quote it in part; I hope you will get a copy of the full statement for your files. In part, the statement reads:
. . . Communism is not a political party, nor a political plan under the Constitution; it is a system of government that is the opposite of our Constitutional government. . . .
Since Communism, established, would destroy our American Constitutional government, to support Communism is treasonable to our free institutions, and no patriotic American citizen may become either a Communist or supporter of Communism.
To our Church members we say, Communism is not the United Order, and bears only the most superficial resemblance thereto. Communism is based upon intolerance and force, the United Order upon love and freedom of conscience and action. . . .
Communists cannot establish the United Order, nor will Communism bring it about. . . .
Communism being thus hostile to loyal American citizenship and incompatible with true Church membership, of necessity no loyal American citizen and no faithful Church member can be a Communist.
We call upon all Church members completely to eschew [and shun] Communism. The safety of our divinely inspired Constitutional government and the welfare of our Church imperatively demand that Communism shall have no place in America.
Signed,
President Heber J. Grant
J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
David O. McKay
Words of the Prophets – The ReTweeted Edition (Pt. 1)
These are the words of the Prophet and apostles as quoted by those in the twitter community.
The Best 50 tweets from the first session of #ldsconf oct 2009
Also many summaries and other thoughts while watching the world wide conference of the Church of Jesus Christ
These are my favorite quotes and thoughts throughout the first session. Starting with the end first.
I was able to follow All the twitters with the tag #ldsconf and hit a button to record all of my favorite messages.
I would like to share them with you here.
It's a great recap of the 2 hours of speeches.
A big thanks to
ByCommonConsent - 9 messages
LDStweets - 5
cboyack - 4
Glossology - 3
You all brought up great points!
You can follow my future favorite tweets here @jarvie/favorites
See all the best tweets below
Real stability for children
Disclaimer
So turns out I was all fiery on the subject and wanted to be all fiery... to get the juices running and people thinking.
But either people agree anyway or the people that don't agree would just be set into a combatative mode.
So really what did I do?
I still believe we should be passionate about the subject.
I'm not a father.
But I was a child.
And sometimes truths/ideals are just what they are.
"I'm waiting to have kids"
I would just like to comment on something I hear people say often, being a wedding photographer and around lots of people getting married.
They say: they want to wait to have kids until they are financially more well off.
My response...
{deleted by me Imagine what you will, haha}
Yes I'm stirring the fire and getting you believers of this flawed logic riled up... I know this.
But think through things {Edited}
Maybe you SHOULD wait to have kids. 
Do you really think the best kids are those who's parents have the most money?
Do you really think that raising a kid without turmoil or hardship makes for the best environment for a kid with good morals and strong character?
I'm not saying plan on being poor!
Do you understand where I'm coming from?
And if you can't understand what I'm trying to point out and the prophets who said don't make up excuses as to why you don't want to be obedient to the command to bring forth kids into this world... then yes I support you in you not having kids yet.
In fact remember how enough is never enough... believe that junk too.
Enough IS Enough
Don't go with the sound ideal that Hugh Nibley taught when asked how much money or stuff is "Enough" when he said "Enough IS Enough" (Sarcasm intended)
What children need
But seriously... sometimes what they need is to see a lighthouse in a storm or a boulder in a rushing river.
They need to see the example of you the parents weathering the storm and being an immovable and stalwart example no matter the hardships. That is among the best things they could ever experience.
{Deleted to be nicer}
I'm sure you know how I feel by now.
And if you want to say... But Scott... It's hard in this economy and this world and it's getting more expensive to raise kids.
Point hasn't been gotten!!
Well when you do get your magic riches and weath... I hope you pick a DOG to raise instead of a child. {half kidding... yes i'm trying to include humor...}
What it all comes down to:
You can have a plan for life… (lets hope you have a good one)
But the lord might have another… and if you’re too stuborn to change it up. Sucks for you.
May i include… that perhaps this means you are meant to wait for a long time to have kids.
I’m not questing your choice of when to have kids… it’s this pretend logic you give to cover your selfishness (if it is the case)
Can I get someone to back me up?
Oh ok you can have a turn President Benson:
“Mothers who enjoy good health, have your children and have them early. And, husbands, always be considerate of your wives in the bearing of children. Do not curtail the number of children for personal or selfish reasons. Material possessions, social convenience, and so-called professional advantages are nothing compared to a righteous posterity…
Young mothers and fathers, with all my heart I counsel you not to postpone having your children, being co-creators with our Father in Heaven.
Do not use the reasoning of the world, such as, ‘We’ll wait until we can better afford having children, until we are more secure, until John has completed his education, until he has a better-paying job, until we have a larger home, until we’ve obtained a few of the material conveniences,’ and on and on.
This is the reasoning of the world, and is not pleasing in the sight of God. Mothers who enjoy good health, have your children and have them early. And, husbands, always be considerate of your wives in the bearing of children.” (Ezra Taft Benson, “To the Mothers in Zion,” Parents’ Fireside, Salt Lake City, Utah, 22 February 1987.)
Emphasis added
Don’t start coming up with your thinking as to why the world thinks this foolishness.
Start thinking… why did a prophet of God think this wise counsel?
What were his reasons?
The answer you find will be enlightening
Twitter and LDS Conference #ldsconf
The Trend Begins
Seems like last year the #ldsconf twitter trend started.
People started sharing their thoughts and quoting the speakers.
I was really engaged with conference last time.
Even more popular
This time I knew it was going to be even more popular, because the popularity of twitter since last october has sky-rocketed.
And I was right of course. It's crazy the amount of traffic it's getting.
See some results here
Some people took great track of the first two sessions of conference. Check back on the messages for what @cboyack wrote. Basically it's all the keypoints of the conference so far. With great insights
Someone else did a live blog with a bit more information
My gainful experience (twittering)
For my own sake I can honestly say:
- I am fixed to conference this time around.
- There is not even a thought of sleep.
- I am like a hawk looking for gems of wisdom.
- There are going to be more memorable quotes and themes this time around (More than any other time.)
- I must admit it's a little chaotic and a totally different experience.
- But, it is what it is, and even though it's not typical it is beneficial to me.
I can understand those who just want to sit and take in the spirit and the fealing of it all.
That's another option... following the twitter feed isn't really for that. haha
My conference twitter workflow
(playing on the fact that I teach: photography editing workflow)
I have twitterfall.com up
I'm logged in and I'm following the term #ldsconf
When you hover over the messages it pauses and gives you as much time to go through them and read them.
Because I like the stream to go fast .3 seconds and then pause it when i want.
I am favoriting the messages/tweets that I love so that I can compile them to make a blog post.
It's not just about spitting up great things and or reading through them fast...
It adds more meaning if I go over them again.
It's kinda like other people are taking my notes and helping me to see the important themes, and I can go over them and internalize them.
Plus I can see their Great insights to what was just said.
It's like making a fun experience into a pet project that can benefit more than just myself.
So I'm favoriting the good messages and even from time to time Retweeting the really good ones.
Revisit and Compile
Then i'll compile them here as an interesting post... here on the blog.
Like a quote page.
TwitterFall has super easy buttons to easily retweet and star/favorite tweets.
Normally I am a tweetdeck user
My recomendation
- Check it out and do it during tomorrow's session of conference
- Click on favorites (or quickly copy past for later)
- Compile them or do something later to make a post about what you learned.
- and then post a link for us to see.
Other Options
There are other ways to go about internalizing what you learned.
Probably better ways.
This is just an idea for those of you out there like me.
Specially those on Twitter.
About Me
Follow me on twitter @jarvie
Mainly I talk about Photography... since I'm a full time Photographer
Update: I favorited 35 messages from the second session of LDSCONF
Will compile them soon.
One Talk : 38 Gems
Neal A Maxwell - Oct 2000
The Tugs and Pulls of the World
38 Gems from one talk!!
I've heard some good talks with some great gems...
but to have one talk that packed!
It really is like a mini-quote book or daily flip calender.
There is a word of inspiration for each day... plus some.
I've selected out my personal favorites.
I continue to listen to this talk over and over... and I thought it would be good to go through the written version and grab some of the key points and write them out.
And then why not share them?
- "For true believers, the tugs and pulls of the world--including its pleasures, power, praise, money, and preeminence--have always been there. Now, however, many once-helpful support systems are bent or broken."
- "God's plan is not the plan of pleasure; it is the "plan of happiness."
- "The tugs and pulls of the world are powerful. Worldly lifestyles are cleverly reinforced by the rationalization, "Everybody is doing it," thus fanning or feigning a majority. Products are promoted and attitudes engendered by clever niche marketing."
- "Brothers and sisters, there are so many personalized prisons!"
- "Like goldfish in a bowl, some are mindless of who changes the water and puts in the pellets"
- "Granted, some sincerely wish for more power in order to do good, but only a few individuals are good enough to be powerful."
- "Actually, discipleship may keep the honors of the world from us."
- "those who bestow the transitory things of the world are, themselves, transients."
- "How ironical that some go "into a far country" (Luke 15:13), leaving the nourishing family garden--in which there may be some weeds--and go into a desert with its tumbling sagebrush."
- "Be wary, therefore, when some demand public tolerance for whatever their private indulgences are!"
- "Whether young or old, we need to be good friends, but also to pick our friends carefully."
- "By choosing the Lord first, choosing one's friends becomes easier and much safer."
- "We can also emulate the spiritual reflexes of Joseph in Egypt: when he was tempted, "he . . . fled" (Gen. 39:12), showing both courage and good legs!"
- "Youth and adults must get out of circumstances and situations which threaten."
- "The returning prodigals are never numerous enough, but regularly some come back from "a far country"
- "Like the prodigal son, we too can go to "a far country," which may be no further away than a vile rock concert."
- "The distance to "a far country" is not to be measured by miles but by how far our hearts and minds are from Jesus! (see Mosiah 5:13). Fidelity, not geography, really determines the distance!"
- "All the quick fixes do not really cure the emptiness and boredom of secularism."
- "Further, some who laboriously scale the secular heights find, after all, that they are only squatting atop a small mound of sand! They have worked so hard to get there!"
- "But why covet wealth anyway, if we only "spend money for that which is of no worth . . . [and] which cannot satisfy" (2 Ne. 9:51)."
- "By our being understanding instead of abrupt, others, in turn, may decide to hold on a little longer rather than to give way. Love, patience, and meekness can be just as contagious as rudeness and crudeness."
- "Hearts set so much upon the things of the world may have to be broken (see D&C 121:35). Preoccupied minds far from Him may be jolted by a "heads up" (see Mosiah 5:13)."
- "Many individuals preoccupied by the cares of the world are not necessarily in transgression. But they certainly are in diversion and thus waste "the days of [their] probation" (2 Ne. 9:27)."
- "Mark it down, brothers and sisters, people too caught up in themselves will inevitably let other people down!"
- "Let us adopt the attitude recommended by President Brigham Young: "Say to the fields, . . . flocks, . . . herds, . . . gold, . . . silver, . . . goods, . . . chattels, . . . tenements, . . . possessions, and to all the world, stand aside; get away from my thoughts, for I am going up to worship the Lord" (Deseret News, 5 Jan. 1854, 2)."
- "There are so many ways to say to the world, "stand aside.""
- "Alas, so many couples are too busy."
- "Moments are the molecules that make up eternity!"
- "Mercifully, our errors can soon be swallowed up by resilient repentance, showing the faith to try again--whether in a task or in a relationship."
- "The validation of our worth really comes from knowing who we are, not solely from what we do."
- "By paying more attention to what we are rather than exclusively to what we do, our public and our private persons will be the same--the man or the woman of Christ."
- "Our intrinsic value is not dependent upon mortal acclaim anyway; in fact, the world may actually see us as weak and foolish (see 1 Cor. 1:27)."
- "God is infinitely more interested in our having a place in His kingdom than with our spot on a mortal organizational chart."
- "We may brood over our personal span of control, but He is concerned with our capacity for self-control."
- "Father wants us to come home, bringing our real resume, ourselves!"
- "our mortal jealousies still occur regularly over money, turf, a slight, or the "robes" and the "fatted calf" given to others (see Luke 15:22-23)."
- "True belonging occurs when we know who we are and to whom we really belong!"
- "Isn't it marvelous, brothers and sisters, that God, who knows everything, still spends time listening to our prayers? Compared to that cosmic fact, what does the world really have to offer us? One round of applause, one fleeting moment of adulation, or an approving glance from a phantom Caesar?"
What I believe pt 2
To answer the opponents of california's Prop 8 amendment is hard at times
I suppose that it could be tricky because for me personally many of the evidences some request as to why and how gay families hurt society i have not studied as much as would be needed to give the answers they seek, in the way they seek.
What I believe
It is largely my personal trust
--that I know that there is a God
--that god has always called prophets
--prophets speak the will of the lord.
That makes me believe that we can feel good to take steps to protect the sanctity of marriage and thereby support the definition of marriage.
It is my belief supported by the idea that:
"God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his sevants the prophets." amos3:7
And my belief
-- that through all ages there is a prophet to help give inspired insight into hard issues.
Unpopular at times
This can be very unpopular at times and hard for many people to agree with.
Sometimes we see through a glass darkly...
But I know we can trust that, TIME always VINDICATES the prophets
A Prophet of god will always be right even when it is unpopular or hard to know why it is so.
------
It is also my belief that the following is true:
"The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches." Link to full statement
In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children
"Stand up for freedom, no matter what the cost. It can help to save your soul and maybe your country. May god give us the wisdom to recognize the dangers of complacency, the threat to our freedom and the strength to meet this danger courageously." Ezra Taft Benson
To watch more of this talk go here: Starting at 0:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehD390q9G3k
"I am only one,but I am one.
I cannot do everything, but I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
What I can do, I should do.
And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do."
Edward Everett Hale
I suggest some following resources for now
Eyes upon ALL Men
"Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high and whose eyes are upon all men..." DC1:1
(For further insight into this concept please read the first few pages of Hugh Nibley's essay "Zeal without Knowledge")
For me this is what I got out of this scripture this time around:
(Obvious reasonings that I just never thought about in this way until today)
Nibley discussed that our minds are more or less set to think about one thing at a time. That's just how our mind operates and even when we think we're multi tasking we are actually processing one thing at a time. These are other conceived notions about how our minds operate... and when people assume that it is in like fashion that God's wisdom and mind operates, it is then that problems in understanding arises and possible confusion occurs.
God can have his "eyes on all men" not because he processes the circumstances of all men everywhere in every possible world (that might or might not exist). But because his mind isn't one at a time at all. (how many at a time I don't know...whether or not there even is a limitation) It is with this information that we can understand better how his eye is on the sparrow and the Lily of the fields as well as every man woman and child.
In short he doesn't have our physical limitations that's an important thing to remember and that opens up a world of understanding.
His eyes are surely on every man and not just every so often not just every day when we check in (or fail to check in) with a prayer. Not just when we call out his name. His eyes are always on us and every man all the time, not just because his love and caring propels him to do so... but because it is also completely within his realm of capacities and power to do so.
How important is it to understand the character of God!!
It helps us to understand so much about his plan which is the gospel.
For my part it helped me to understand and gain deeper insight into a common scripture
