de fam

When Chea was here last month she asked me where I wanted to go to take photos. I showed her my favorite spot and she said she could make it work. I love this view driving from Kenzie's back to Orem. Thanks fam for braving the weeds and tall grass. It was worth it.


Time never changes,
The memories, the faces
Of loved ones, who bring to me,
All that I come from,
And all that I live for,
And all that I’m going to be.
My precious family
Is more than an heirloom to me.
--Amy Grant

hard is good

Went out to cheer H and Lexi on today. They both ran the Spanish Fork Half Marathon. They are some kind of awesome.


Here’s Lex, tired but triumphant. 13 miles and she ran the whole way.


And here’s H.B. Gotta say, it was inspiring seeing him push himself across that finish line.

Here I was losing faith in human nature and bemoaning the aging process, then here comes H being so inspiring and all. Luckily, I wore sunglasses so the leaking tears wouldn’t show, eh? Anything is possible and it’s not too late. To run a half-marathon or to achieve personal goals. I needed the reminder.

He wasn’t in much of a talkative mood right after. I think he was hurting and just wanted to get home.

"There will be days you don't think you can run a (half) marathon. There will be a lifetime of knowing you have."
--Unknown


Nicely done, good brother and lovely niece. Nicely done.

guadium #99,993 an outing with the grandies

Highlights:
1. SLC and Trax. A new experience for Cate and Maddie.
2. Gateway Olympic Fountain. The dancing waters are magical. Citius, Fortius!

3. Bubble gum and Mike & Ike's.
4. Children's Exhibit at the Church History Museum.

5. We were hungry from all that fun, luckily J.B's is just down the corner from the Museum. Spaghetti, French Fries!, Sprite & Chocolate Pudding. Yes, I felt sorry for the waitress who had to clean up after us.
6. Rode Trax again to where we parked the car. The girls were zonked out not 5 minutes into the ride home.

We were originally hoping to visit the Discovery Children's Museum but found out when we arrived they were closed for seasonal maintenance. Some guy in the elevator felt sorry for us and secured us some free passes for next time. But the Interactive exhibit at the C.H. Museum was more than a suitable replacement. We've been to several in the past and I think this one is very well done. The girls loved it.

More info if you go here:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705387015/For-the-kids-5-things-youll-find-at-the-new-Church-History-Museum-exhibit.html

http://lds.org/churchhistory/museum/exhibits/current/0,16116,4089-1,00.html

http://www.heraldextra.com/momclick/activities/article_ca0cfb94-7208-11e0-a87d-001cc4c002e0.html

More pics at the GP.

happy birthday mr. jlw

A beautiful, wonderful man. Knows what it is to fight his own personal monsters and demons, just like we all do.

A grape juice toast then: To Janny. Here's to all your hard work in overcoming your Goliaths and here's to a bright and hopeful future. Clink.

http://youtu.be/j0IMASimhRo

Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
The monsters gone,
He's on the run and your daddy's here,
Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way,
It's getting better and better,
Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait,
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we'll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it's a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is just what happens to you,
While your busy making other plans,
Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy.

Keep your fingers crossed for him. Jiao has her exit interview on September 28th.

Unkulele has inspired me

So here’s the deal.

After much tinkering and fiddling around, we're almost ready to go into mass production with the, drum roll please …Aunt-ordian.

What’s the difference between an Aunt-ordian and a regular accordian, you say?

Well, the sound for one thing. Water damage and mold produce a truly unique squawk, er sound. The Aunt-ordian has been aged in a temperature uncontrolled, damp garage for like, 30 years. Sort of like a fine wine, you can’t rush the process.

And if you tape down the F# it creates an outer spacey mood.

Oh, and here’s where the biggest difference comes. Through a lot of trial and error I figured out how to tone down that sometimes big and annoying accordian sound. Yup.


By putting a pillow muffler on the back of the instrument it significantly reduces the volume. Which is useful when you want to go for a more mellow and romantic mood. Like if you want to be one of those strolling guys who play in restaurants for people in love and such. Or if you need to play in church.

But here is the biggest selling point, people. When you get tired of wandering around playing for lovers and church goers and need to take a nap, well you can just turn your dang Aunt-ordian over and Presto! Your instrument turns into an amazing pillow pet.


Yup, yup. I know. Genius.


Selling for $899.03 plus tax.

milking & churning

At it again. Another talk and lesson to prepare. How do I make the topic fresh and relevant, especially if said topic has been hashed and re-hashed? Yeah, dilemma. It's all been said before.

I've been hitting my files and researching ideas. Reading what others have said, certainly. But in the end, like it always does, it will come down to my own take, my own thoughts and words or it will not fly.

In other words, I milk a lot of cows but I churn my own butter. Yup.

Ok, this then. It's fitting. From "Do I Repeat Myself? The problem of the 'already said'”:

Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.

Originality, after all, includes not only saying something for the first time, but re-saying (in a worthy new way) the already said: rearranging an old tune in a different key, to a different rhythm, perhaps on a different instrument. Has that been said before? No matter: on with the story!
Whole article found here: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/08/do-i-repeat-myself/8572/

Oh, and this, too: http://tmiesen.com/tag/creativity/

People think creativity is like that; “creative” people are able to invent something new and original.
Well, I’ve got a sad story to tell you: Nothing is original. Everything is a mutation of a previous idea; it came from somewhere. It’s a recombination of previous words, objects, and technology to build something different.

and later:

Nobody has experienced the world in exactly the same way. Anything you make, everything you do, and any ideas you think of are combinations of every bit of the world that you’ve ever encountered. Nobody has been subjected to the same stimuli. Nobody has had the exact same conversation with the same person, and nobody has devoured the exact same media, pop culture, and advertising as everyone else. Your creative output is defined by your past. It’s only fitting that creative things come in many different forms.

hope is a thing with feathers

A few excerpts from my talk, given last Sunday. Maybe by posting I'll actually take it to heart.

Hope really is 'a thing with feathers'* for me, flitting and flying off and hard to hold onto, the bird never perches on my shoulder for very long. Even though I know better, it would stay longer if I didn't always shoo it away. It flutters off too often, and sadly at my own urging.

This then:

Hope needs to be nourished
From my own personal experience I need to say this about hope. It can die if it isn’t nourished. Hope needs nourishment. If we don’t eat we can’t live. I used to frequently say to my children when they were small “If you don’t eat your peas, carrots, potatoes and meat, you won’t grow up to be big and strong.” We need nourishment to live and hope needs to be nourished.

There are several ways we can feed hope in our lives: through thinking positively, listening to uplifting music, prayer, doing good works, being of service. These are all good. But it’s important to know also, that hope lives on memory. Memory nourishes hope. The scriptures, reading from them regularly and frequently and consistently, give us a needed sense of history and perspective. When I think my problems are unique or overwhelming the scriptures and the examples in them quickly put them in their place.

...The scriptures furnish us with perspective because most, if not all, of human experience is contained in them. They run the gamut of human emotion and examples and they are the standard by which we measure all truth. The scriptures expose sin and provide us with examples of how to overcome and how not to live a life. The scriptures shed light on who we are as God’s children and our part in the Plan of Salvation, the scriptures teach us of the Savior and our complete need for him.

Scripture is the guide then, that teaches us what we should believe and how we are meant to live to please God. The scriptures expose sin as our basic problem, and shows us the way back home by faith in Christ. Our Heavenly Father’s laws and commandments guide us on our earthly journey and his wonderful promises encourage us to persevere along the way.

Times we live in
The scriptures also help give perspective to the times we live in. World conditions today are downright scary. As news reports get worse about the economy, wickedness and calamities filling the earth, we all could use that calming influence and hope that the scriptures and the gospel bring.

President Howard W. Hunter speaking at a BYU devotional taught:

I am here tonight to tell you that Despair, Doom, and Discouragement are not an acceptable view of life for a Latter-day Saint. However high on the charts they are on the hit parade of contemporary news, we must not walk on our lower lip every time a few difficult moments happen to confront us.

I am just a couple of years older than most of you, and in those few extra months I have seen a bit more of life than you have. I want you to know that there have always been some difficulties in mortal life and there always will be. But knowing what we know, and living as we are supposed to live, there really is no place, no excuse, for pessimism and despair.

(He went on to say):

In my lifetime I have seen two world wars plus Korea plus Vietnam and all that you are currently witnessing. I have worked my way through the depression and managed to go to law school while starting a young family at the same time. I have seen stock markets and world economics go crazy and have seen a few despots and tyrants go crazy, all of which causes quite a bit of trouble around the world in the process.

So I am frank to say tonight that I hope you won't believe all the world's difficulties have been wedged into your decade, or that things have never been worse than they are for you personally, or that they will never get better. I reassure you that things have been worse and they will always get better. They always do--especially when we live and love the gospel of Jesus Christ and give it a chance to flourish in our lives.

So reading the scriptures, brothers and sisters, and reviewing the stories and lives of those in their own time and own generation can really inspire us. Those stories comfort and encourage us and give us hope for the present and hope for the difficult days ahead.

And so the rest of my talk goes. But the part I need to breathe in today is the section I quoted.
And I know what to do. I've lived this so many times. When I feel the most hopeless it's because I feel the most helpless. So doing something, anything to help solve the problem nearly always helps. Moving our feet, the working toward, coupled with scriptural and historical perspective, can lift our mood and attitude.

*Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

--Emily Dickinson

on the hottest day of the year

Oh, man. 98 degrees in the shade. But we braved the heat for two dollar discount admission at the Thanksgiving Point Farm. My girls are some kind of frugal and stoic mavens.

And the popsicles were totally worth it.

Totally.


And pony rides. Did I mention ponies?


Beefy Hot.


My wilted girls. Love these hot mamas. he he he.

how i organize my world

I’ve been exposed.

Which is why I feel so vulnerable today. Quick, where are the cookies?

How come so threatened, you say?

Well, it’s because I raised such snoop-dog kids. Yesterday I was minding my own business attending to important internet stuff. I didn’t notice Mr. JLW picking up the piece of paper I had set aside.

He starts chuckling. Then ruffling.*

JLW: Oh. My. Gosh. Mom, is this what I think it is?

I look up from my computer screen.

Me: Huh?

JLW: (More laughter). Your kidding right? He continues to read, then asks incredulously, You made a list of all your lists?

Me: (sheepishly) Maybe.

Me: Give it here. I grab it out of his hands. You shouldn’t go around picking up random pieces of paper. I say with a nasty tone: I don’t go around reading your private notes to self or lists or… whatever.

I glare at him angrily and shoot him a crusty.

JLW: That’s because I don’t write notes to myself. But it’s okay, mom, I’m not dissing you making a list of your lists. It’s something probably everyone should do. I think I’ll go write one right now. Snarky snark.

He starts down the stairs, still ruffling, er laughing.

JLW: And it was a long list, that list of your lists! He continues chortling all the way down the stairs.

I consider biting him.

True to pop psychology research (that says when a person is shamed they will lash out wildly in defense, by blaming or deflecting or getting angry and loud**), I show him not to make me feel foolish. Ha!

Me: (Sputtering) You’re shunned. And I bring down my right arm all Dwight-like emphatic.

Ugh. Exposure of the onion layers reveals such secret weirdness, eh?

Addendum: I consider adding him to my list of people shunned.



*family joke. ROFL = Ruffle. If something is pee your pants funny, then its Pleats.

**That's what they say about Brutus anyway. And why Olive Oyl was able to tolerate his presence, he was shamed as a child. But Popeye believed none of this.

luke 6:38 a giver, not a taker

I can't help the poor if I'm one of them
Found this little maxim tucked into the pages of the hymnbook a few weeks ago. It was written on the back of a Sacrament meeting program and when I turned to the opening hymn it fell out. Don't know what prompted the insight. Maybe the speaker, a flash of revelation, who knows. But I thought it a great find and my own secret message. It has even made me think of purposely leaving favorite quotes in random places.

This little proverb is a perfect fit for my own personal philosophy and strivings. I don't want to be a taker. I want to be a giver. That's hard to do if we don't have the means, not just financially but in energy and intellect, too. Because most of us put off being givers until that 'someday when I come into money or have accumulated enough'. Only to learn too late that giving is an attitude and not totally dependent on our circumstances and we ought to be doing it as we go along. We can always give something and give with an open heart. And when we do, it comes right back to us in 'good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over'.
I've known quiet givers, people who are generous with their time and money.* Their example inspires me and shows me a better way.

Liking this, too: http://commencement.vassar.edu/2001/010520.king.html

Stephen King, America's Boogie-man, spoke at Vassar College as the commencement speaker. He wanted the graduates to think about how they would spend their lives, so the speech took a very personal turn. He told them about a day in 1999, when he was struck by a car and severely injured.

As he lay recovering in a hospital bed and then for months later, he had a lot of time to think about life.

Some of what he told the students at Vassar:

“I’ll tell you one thing you’re not going to do, and that’s take it with you. I’m worth many millions of dollars, and a couple of years ago, I found out what ‘you can’t take it with you’ means.”

“I found out while I was lying in the ditch at the side of a country road, covered with mud and blood and with (a badly broken leg). I had a Master Card in my wallet, but when you’re lying in the ditch with broken glass in your hair, no one accepts Master Card.”

“We all know that life is ephemeral..., but on that particular day and in the months that followed, I got a painful but extremely valuable look at life’s simple backstage truths: We come in naked and broke. We may be dressed when we go out, but we’re just as broke.

And how long in between? Just the blink of an eye.”

And then he said:

“Of all the power which will shortly come into your hands, the greatest is undoubtedly the power of compassion, the ability to give.

We have enormous resources in this country - resources you yourselves will soon command - but they are only yours on loan.”

“I came here to talk about charity, and I want you to think about it on a large scale.

Should you give away what you have? Of course you should.

I want you to consider making your lives one long gift to others, and why not? All of you want to get at the getting place, but none of that is real. All that lasts is what you pass on. The rest is smoke and mirrors.”

Finally, he said,

“I give because it’s the only concrete way I have of saying that I’m glad to be alive and that I can earn my daily bread doing what I love. Giving is a way of taking the focus off the money we make and putting it back where it belongs - on the lives we lead, the families we raise, the communities which nurture us.”

The whole speech worth reading.

*I happen to live with one. Yup, I do.

guadium # 99,994

Nielsen's Grove Park in Orem. An awesome place for the grandies. Ducks to feed, a fountain to wade in and swings that go in circles. We had so much fun last evening that we grabbed Faye and Megs and went back this morning.

More info here:
http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/orem/article_00779d6e-9264-5a70-bfee-f0dee61a4e0e.html

this weeks reading

If you're wondering what happened to Sunday's post, well, I deleted it. It was mean and I knew better. But here's something you might like.

Five Blessings of Reading
1. In reading, we experience one of the greatest pleasures human life can afford us; books sweeten, nourish, brighten, and enrich our lives.

2. Books enable us to live more lives than the one allotted and allow us to experience impossible adventures.

3. Books help us to process, order, and understand our personal experience and gain perspectives on others’ lives.

4. Books enable us to see outcomes where we presently only see possibilities; solutions where we presently see only dilemmas; direction where we presently only see impasse.

5. Books allow us an opportunity to learn how to discern the Holy Spirit and respond to its promptings.
--Richard H. Cracroft, BYU Magazine, Summer 2011. p. 55

Yup, yup. Reading is an important way to grow and imho an essential ingredient in developing character.

So I was excited when Chea gave me the assignment to read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

Not finished yet, but Chea, you were right.

It is stirring in me the sort of feelings as in Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.

Yes. Definitely. We will discuss.

But wait. You haven't read Housekeeping? Go read, people. Then visit Professor Hungerford (an online fav of mine!).

She discusses this novel here:
http://academicearth.org/lectures/marilynne-robinson-housekeeping-1

Second part:
http://academicearth.org/lectures/marilynne-robinson-housekeeping-2

Oh, and this month's MoDa selection:
Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister
http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Beginners-Erica-Bauermeister/dp/0399157123

"I think love is kind of like those waves out there," she said. "You ride one in to the beach, and it's the most amazing thing you've ever felt. But at some point the water goes back out; it has to. And maybe you're lucky-maybe you're both too busy to do anything drastic. Maybe you're good as friends, so you stay. And then something happens-maybe it's something as big as a baby, or as small as him unloading the dishwasher-and the wave comes back in again. And it does that, over and over. I just think sometimes people forget to wait."
—Erica Bauermeister (Joy For Beginners)

"You can only be young once. But you can always be immature." —Dave Barry

Being a mature adult. So. I’m taking this to mean no adult temper tantrums, ‘notice me, notice me!’ antics, blurting out stupid insults, putdowns or 'neener neeners', or speaking without thinking. No, the emotionally mature read the social cues in any situation and adjust their behavior to ‘appropriate to the moment’.

Maturity includes the ability to regulate emotions, delay gratification, maintain a calm demeanor, and an ability to schedule the hard stuff first. So says Social Science.

It means we get over having to be right all the time, or our ‘what’s in it for me?’ attitude. The mature don’t bully and they don’t boss and they don’t gloat.
And above all, the highly mature internalize personal accountability.

Oh, sheesh. It’s tough being an adult. Such a stinkin' life-long process to grow up. But the ability to recognize when we are being immature, to step back when acting like a two year old, and remind ourselves that the goal here is to become civilized, well, I hope that counts for progress. Because I have been doing a lot of ‘oh crap, why did I just say that?’ lately.

The easy thing is to remain childish, selfish and unaware but it’s not very fulfilling. And it’s embarrassing. We look like, well, immature jerks. He he he.

Here then, this says it better:

http://www.appleseeds.org/PDF%20Files/10-11/Steps_Maturity.pdf

because I am recommending Middlemarch

Woo boy. JLW and I have had this discussion frequently. He accuses me of relying on professional critiques way too much. And then I come right back at him by saying he does the same thing. He won’t watch a movie I recommend until he has read a plot synopsis and several ‘credible’ reviews.

But he has a point. The internet with all its information can also taint us, making it more difficult to ‘reach an unbiased and wholly personal verdict’ about books, movies, music, art, etc. It’s the BIG VOICE and I am as guilty as anyone in sometimes listening to it way too much. All the more reason to develop powers of reasoning and mature thinking skills. If we don’t then the BIG VOICE can really diminish us. By making us trust our own judgment and preferences less we become unsure of our own opinions. The BIG VOICE then becomes our voice. Not good.

This then:

There’s an essential freedom in being alone with one’s thoughts, oblivious to and unpolluted by anyone else’s. Diminish that aloneness and we start to doubt our own perspective. Do I really think Blue Bottle coffee is that great? Or Blazing Saddles that funny? Do I really not like that pizza place because it isn’t authentic New York-style? Sure, it’s entirely possible to arrive at one’s own opinion amidst a cacophony of others. But it’s also possible to bend, unknowingly and imperceptibly, toward a position not naturally our own.

Life demands assessment. Indeed, it’s often improved by hearing from the Roger Eberts of the world (or whoever the equivalent is in the Review Your Purchases genre). But we have to watch how much outside assessment we let in. There’s something heartbreaking about surrendering to strangers the delicate moment of giving order to the world. In those instances when we bring our cognitive reasoning to bear on our surroundings, when we aim our singularly human powers of evaluation at a piece of art or a fellow person, it’s a fundamental expression of the self. There are wonderfully democratic and empowering things about an Internet full of anonymous voices. But when those opinions replace our own blundering around for truth, we’re in trouble. Too much charting becomes an unnecessary handrail, too many floodlights along the dark path. I give that only two out of five stars.
Whole article here:
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/st_essay_rating/

Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. ~Mark Twain

This:

3 Steps to New Habits

View more presentations from Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford

Sort of reinforces the idea that habits are best gently coaxed and not forced with grit-your-teeth-willpower.

54

This is what 54 looks like folks. Yup. Wrinkles and greying but hey, I'm still here. True I move slower and not as much stamina, but I can't complain.

There was a time in my life when I wondered if I would live to see the next morning. Well, I did live and every birthday since my 29th has been a bonus. Bad times, dark times, good times, all a gift. I am glad to have reached 54.

ld surprised me with a CRV, one he had his eye on for a while. Sweet ride. Sweet man.

Keny gave me a wok pan I have been hinting for and JLW gave me a sweet and funny JannyCoupon.

And that Martha-Meghan made the most amazing chocolate cheesecake. She'll post the recipe over at Humble Pie soon.

Thanks for the phone calls, texts, treats, gifts and good wishes everyone. I love you all. Mean it.

Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked

In honor of my pioneer heritage I spent the wee hours this morning walking, er, reading. I like this:
http://mormonscholarstestify.org/396/richard-lyman-bushman

and this, too:
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=107&chapid=1202

I begin with an insistent question that shoulders aside even truth in demanding our attention: How should we live a life? It may take a long time to discover the truth, especially if we follow the tortuous path of scientific rigor. But we must answer the question of how to live a life every second of every day. We may have only tentative answers, to be replaced from day to day, but some answer we must find for the inescapable query, What is good? What is worth pursuing? What should we give our time to? How should we treat other people? How should we think of them? How should we feel and act? These questions thrust themselves insistently upon us and demand immediate answers in our actions and thoughts. We cannot wait to hear from science or the universities about these matters. We are in the middle of the fray the minute we open our eyes each morning.
We sometimes think that if we knew the true, then we would know the good. The right way to live should grow out of the right way to understand. A goodness based on falsehood would be faith built on the sand. The true and the good should come together, we want to think, and indeed may be close to equivalent. In the pragmatic tradition that has influenced my thinking, I carry that hope one step further to say that what we find to be truly good is the truth. The only truth we can know is the truth that works.

and then later he concludes with this:

The Mormon truth, above all, tells us how to be good and helps us to get there. Faith and repentance are wrapped up together. The goodness that I see in the Mormon lives about me, and day after day in my own life when I construct myself as the scripture directs, is every bit as real as the abstractions of scientific scholarship. I can, if I wish, cast an aura of rationality over this belief in an effort to explain and justify myself to my academic colleagues. Our valiant apologists will go on defending the faith with scholarly evidence, to keep up our connection with the academic establishment. But I hold to my beliefs not because of the evidence or the arguments but because I find our Mormon truth good and yearn to install it at the center of my life. After losing many followers when he taught an especially hard doctrine, Jesus asked his disciples, "Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:67–68). The truth we have is truth to live by.

Go read, people. Go read.

Am I a cultural or a converted Mormon? Would I have recognized the gospel and joined like my ancestors did? What were they thinking and feeling?

Dunno. But they were drawn to powerful ideas. Ideas that motivated them and set the course for future generations. I am grateful to them, all of them.

connecting desert dots

Had wonderful discussions today about part of this talk:
http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=12737&x=60&y=3

Visited with Meghan about it in the morning and then with JLW this afternoon. I think it has application to evaluating our own upbringing and how we were parented as well. It’s a healthy thing to re-visit our childhood and look at our parents objectively. Warts and all. Most therapy sessions will go there. Formal therapy or not, emerging adults tend to do this consciously or not. I did it, we all do.

It’s an important step because once we get past all the parental flaws and weirdness and the blame ‘they pinned my diapers on too tight’ stuff we are free to forgive our parents and love them with a new maturity.

It is a little scary recognizing my children have and are working out all my parenting mistakes. But I encourage this pursuit with the hope that they will one day come full circle and realize how much ld and I have loved them. And still love them. And always will.

The sweetest words have come already. Words I never thought I would hear. Today. While he didn’t ‘rise up and call us blessed’ the appreciation and love expressed shows he has matured. I will take this kind of love, love that has been tested and strained and recovered over any kind of shallow childlike adulation.

It wasn’t a leap for Megs and JLW and I to see the parallels in this talk. Faith and love, they are not so far apart, I think. Indeed, a maturing faith and spirituality is the hoped for result in all our desert wanderings.

This then:

First, a few words about faith.

As a freshman at Georgetown University, I took a required course, The Problem of God, from a wonderful professor, Dr. John F. Haught. This Catholic theologian became one of my most influential teachers and mentors.

One day toward the end of fall semester, Dr. Haught introduced theologian Paul Ricoeur’s concept of the three stages of religious faith. 6

The first stage, childlike faith, may be likened to the clear, unimpeded view that one enjoys standing atop a tall mountain. As children, our faith is simple and uncritical, and we can see clearly in every direction. There is something quite beautiful about this stage of faith. To me it is exemplified by hearing a chorus of Primary children sing “I Know My Father Lives.”

The second stage Ricoeur calls the desert of criticism. At some point, often during adolescence, we descend from the mountain of childlike faith and enter the critical world. We might label this world “high school” or, better yet, “college.” Here we find that others do not share our faith. In fact, some openly disparage what we hold dear. We learn that the very idea of faith is thought by many to be childish or delusional. We may become skeptical, perhaps even cynical.

The desert of criticism is akin to being in the midst of a blinding sandstorm, where you are forced to lean into the wind and take one step at a time without a clear view of where you are going. Walking by faith becomes difficult. Some of our former beliefs cannot survive the desert of criticism.

Ricoeur did not malign the desert of criticism, for some childish beliefs are incorrect and should be abandoned. As the Apostle Paul says in his discourse on faith, hope, and charity, “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.”

Furthermore, it is only in coming down from the mountain that we are able to enter into the world and engage others who are different from us. To a great extent this is where life is lived and where we can make a difference in the world. Some people never leave the desert of criticism, and in time the memory of their childlike faith may dim. After prolonged exposure to the desert of criticism, some even lose their faith altogether. Ricoeur maintained that once one has entered the desert of criticism, it is not possible to return to the mountain of childlike faith. It is a little like leaving Eden. Something has been lost; life and faith can never be quite so simple again.

But he held out the possibility of a third stage of religious faith. On the other side of the desert of criticism lies another mountain, not as tall as the mountain of childlike faith, with views that are not quite as clear and unobstructed. But we can, as Dr. Haught explained it, remove ourselves periodically from the desert of criticism and ascend this somewhat less majestic mountain. Ricoeur calls this possibility of a second faith “postcritical” naivete or a “second naivete.”

Here the truths and realities of our childlike faith can be reaffirmed or revised. Although the view is not completely unimpeded, and the storms of the desert of criticism remain in view, and some of our childish beliefs may be left behind, we can emerge from the storm and reaffirm our faith. Our faith will not be as simple as it once was, but it need not be lost. In fact, I believe our faith may become more powerful than before, for it will have weathered and survived the assaults of the desert of criticism.

To me, postcritical naivete is a state in which both our hearts and our minds are open and we remain willing to experience childlike spiritual wonder; it is a place where we remain open to the promptings of the Holy spirit. As Paul puts it, “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.”

-- The Most Important Three things in the World
Brett G. Scharffs (Given at BYU devotional on 12 May 2009)
(Yes, Meghan. Years ago you babysat the authors kids☺)

Much more to think about here.


*6. Dr. Haught’s discussion was an adaption of Paul Ricoeur’s thought. See Paul Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, trans. Emerson Buchanan (Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 1967), 347-57; see also John F. Haught, The Cosmic Adventure: Science, Religion and the Quest for Purpose (New York: Paulist Press, 1984), 94-95.

Begin. The rest is easy.

Oh man. Delay, procrastination. It's such a demon.

Lose this day loitering, ’twill be the same story

To-morrow, and the next more dilatory;

True indecision brings its own delays,

And days are lost, lamenting over days.

Are you in earnest? Seize the very minute:

What you can do, or think you can, begin it;

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Only begin it, and the mind grows heated:

Begin it, and the work will be completed.

--attributed to John Anster, also found p. 476 of the 1908 edition of Notes and Queries

Napkinry

Yup. All made from it. Clicky clicky.

My girls make fun of me. I have discovered a new medium. As much as I love cardboard, duct tape, paper mache and felt I am crazy about napkins. Oh family crafters, do you realize what a fantastic material this is to work with?

In one of my gluing sessions this year, I discovered by accident its many versatile properties.

It sews up like fabric, unlike paper is easily moldable when glue is applied, has a great texture and look, doesn’t fray and is cheap, cheap , cheap as in dollar store cheap.

I have made bows, flowers, banners, costumes, sculptures and even wrapped gifts with it.

Have I persuaded you yet? Give it a go.

Paper napkins make my day.

we celebrate

Kenz and Brig were manning a booth all weekend but Megs, the grandgirls ld and yours truly got up early and went to see the Balloons yesterday.

Great fun, especially if you bring along party-in-a-box Meghan. She taught the girls the Macarena, walk-like-an-Egyptian and all the actions to Y.M.C.A.

Because the 4th is a potato-salad-kind-of-day we headed up the canyon for a little BBQ. Bratts on the menu and big tub of red vines.

More pics over at GP.

I say that the strongest principle of growth lies in human choice. --Daniel Deronda (George Eliot)

Been in this George Eliot phase the last couple of weeks, helped along I’m sure by the DVD collection ld gave me for Christmas. Here:
http://www.bbcamericashop.com/dvd/the-george-eliot-collection-14080.html

I watched Daniel Deronda a couple of nights ago and while a lot is missing from the book it’s a pretty decent rendering. I know, I know Deronda is not her best book and has many criticisms. Still, there is something about Daniel that is compelling to me. So much so, that it is this months MoDa selection.

Read it/see it, girlies. Let’s discuss.

http://www.online-literature.com/george_eliot/daniel-deronda/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/deronda/synopsis.html

goldilocks for the grandies

Our first Grandsbury meeting had us making finger puppets. Thanks to Meghan for the 3 Bears idea. Penee fixed a nice lunch and we chatted as we sewed. What exactly is Grandsbury? Our newly formed sister-in-law Grandma's club. We make stuff for our grandkids and discuss the grand themes of life. Yup, productive visiting.

the creative process teaches

Liking this today:

"What you need to know about [your next piece of art] is contained in the last piece. The place to learn about your materials is in the last use of your materials. The place to learn about your execution is in your execution. The best information about what you love is in your last contact with what you love. Put simply, your work is your guide: a complete, comprehensive, limitless reference book on your work. There is no other such book, and it is yours alone. It functions this way for no one else. Your fingerprints are all over your work, and you alone know how they got there. Your work tells you about your working methods, your discipline, your strengths and weaknesses, your habitual gestures, your willingness to embrace.

"The lessons you are meant to learn are in your work. To see them, you need only look at the work clearly -- without judgement, without need or fear, without wishes or hopes. Without emotional expectations. Ask your work what it needs, not what you need. Then set aside your fears and listen, the way a good parent listens to a child."

-- David Bayles & Ted Orland, Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

A definite weekend read.