I lived in the Holy Land for 4 months of my life. It was an experience that will be imprinted on my heart forever. From the first day there to the last, I enjoyed taking pictures of the many beautiful and diverse people that surrounded me. I learned a lot from looking at their faces. I often caught myself wondering what their story was...what was going on in their lives right at that moment in time. These are my pictures of the people I lived among. These are many of the reasons why I miss it. Every day.
I viewed an EXCELLENT documentary last night that I believe every one of us ought to watch. "Sicko" by Michael Moore not only solidified many of the views and values that I uphold as an individual, but made me really think about a lot of things -- number one being, how messed up the U.S. is when it comes to their health care system.
Here's a few things to get you thinking:
Nearly 50 million Americans are without health insurance...
Roughly 18,000 Americans will die this year because they don't have health insurance...
The U.S. is ranked 37 out of 191 countries for it's health care system...
A baby born in El Salvador has a better chance of surviving than a baby born in Detroit...
Like Canadians and Brits, the French live longer than we do...
Just some food for thought. I also watched the Presidential Debates last night...one more thing that helped solidify my vote for someone who will do everything in their power to make it so every American -- poor or rich -- will have access to quality health care no matter what.
Good news - I passed my national Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist exam yesterday! My four years as an undergrad in Recreational Therapy at BYU done me good :) After a couple of crazy cat weeks of cramming and studying and reviewing, the focus turns back to my masters classes....which are DEFINITELY keeping me on my toes!
All are present and accounted for Chief White Eagle...
Let’s get these troops out of the hot sun...hut two, three, four...hut two, three, four....hut two, three, four...”
The hike begins and troops hike off into the sunset.
All members of the Black Rock Patrol are
ready and excited
for yet another hike with Chief White Eagle, also known as Grandpa Brown.
Hiking through the hot Lake Powell desert, the gorgeous Princess Tiger Lily anticipates another exhilarating adventure with the brave Chief.
Little did I realize when I was born in Pocatello, Idaho, at Bannock Regional Medical Center, on July 9, 1983, that I would one day be a beautiful, tan, Indian Princess of the illustrious Black Rock Patrol.Or maybe I did..
Weeks prior to my birth,
Weeks after school had gotten out,
My mom spent every free moment
Lying out in the Hot July Sun
Next to the cool pool at the University Racquet Club,
Becoming a deep golden brown.
I’m sure she did it all for me...In fact, I’m almost positive that her underlying goal was to subtly prepare me for my many hot treks across the Lake Powell wilderness with a brave Indian Chief.
The Black Rock Patrol has seen over 34 members.Not all at one time of course, but 10 to 15 here and there.
Many had gone before me...and many
many
many
many
more would follow after me.
But as a young child, I was convinced, by Chief White Eagle,
that I was the
most important
Princess in the universe.
Ever since the very first hike,
where we received our unique Indian names, I felt that I was the most important.
....In the beginning there was a little five year old
whose given name was not Princess Tiger Lily,
but rather some name chosen by the Chief
that a little five year old obviously didn’t like
(and which she now regretfully no longer remembers.)
This caused the patient Chief White Eagle
to allow the little Princess to pick her own name
...one which happened to be Tiger Lily
from the five year old’s favorite Disney film Peter Pan....
I learned the first of many lessons from this first experience with the Black Rock Patrol and
Chief White Eagle.
I know I didn’t think about these lessons at the time...
Why then, it was only child’s play;
“trekking” across what seemed like miles upon miles of uncharted territories,taming the wild lizards found on each adventure,
fighting imaginative enemies,
finding buried jelly bean treasures,
collecting beautiful black rocks for which we were named, and
presenting prized feathers to Chief White Eagle to place in his hat.
As a little child, it never crossed my mind that the lessons the
Great Chief White Eagle
taught me would have more to do with life than a simple hike.
BE READY
Before every hike, Chief White Eagle encouraged me to always be ready.
Ready for any eventuality that might happen on the hike of life.
In first grade, I learned this lesson the hard way.
I was late to school day
after day
after day.
Getting their business started was a crazy time in my parents’ lives.
Late nights and long hours
working down at the store,
remodeling,
pricing,
completing odds and ends,
eventually caused me to be continuously late to
Mrs. Higer’s first grade class at Washington Elementary.
One especially memorable time was when I was dropped off at school...
only to find that I was the
ONLY
student there that day.
The night before must have been an extremely tiring
one, working late,
for my own mother to drop me off at school on a holiday.
ROLL CALL
Every hike began with roll call.
Everyone had to be present and accounted for in order for the hike to begin.
Everything was a troop effort and so it was vital that everyone be there.
In the same way, everyone on the roll call of my life must be present for my life to be complete.
With
1 me
1 mom
1 dad
3 brothers
2 sisters
2 grandmas
2 grandpas
9 aunts
9 unclesand....
46 cousins
many good times have been and still are being experienced.
During these family-filled-non-stop-roll-call moments,
I found myself on my first plane ride
to Disney World Orlando, Florida...riding the Space Mountain Ride with my cousins
at Disney World, the home of Mickey Mouse, over and over and over again...
seeing Mickey Mouse and
wanting to dress up like him...
playing dress-up and having tea parties with
Grandma Hofman to the sounds of Broadway music...
helping Grandma learn her lines for the Broadway play, Hello Dolly
and then enjoying the show... experiencing, with my mother,
the thrilling show of Les Miserables on Broadway...walking the colorful streets
of LApretending to be on Broadway with
Grandpa Brown...pulling
Grandpa Brown out of a cement hole at
the Army Training Course above Bartz field...going with my brothers and sisters to
Bartz and it’s snow laden hills to sled and learn the arts of skiing...
skiing for $5 at a $60 hill with my dadand momduring Christmas vacation...experiencing a bit of our Hofman
heritage eating Dutch pancakes on Dutch Christmas with Sinterklaas and Swarte Pete...
eating kidney beans and applesauce with Grandpa Hofman...
making homemade applesauce with my mom into the wee hours of the night...
toilet papering for the first time with my Grandma Hofman the night
of my twelfth birthday...
spending countless birthdays with relatives at
Lake Powell...banging heads and getting dead legs from falls into the water, off the wiener tube at
Lake Powell...and hiking into Bloomington Lake to jump into the ice water...
My family is the most important of all things in my life.So it is a must that everyone on the roll call is checked off and accounted for.
ENJOY YOUR SURROUNDINGS
On hikes, I learned about nature, about God, and about life;
Spending time at our cabin in Victor, Idaho,
Camping at Willow Flats,
Hiking to Navajo, Havasu, and Mooney Falls in Arizona,
Climbing up our “Masada” at Lake Powell,
Floating the Snake River near Jackson.
I look at the physical world differently now after having been with Chief White Eagle and having learned of his love for nature.I learned from him that God is the reason for everything. He is the CREATOR of all things.And I have a responsibility for taking care of his creations.
FOLLOWING THE LEADER
Chief
White
Eagle
Taught
Me
How
To
Follow
The
Leader
No
Matter
What
Or
Where
We
Were.
Leaders are given to us for a purpose.
On hikes, they lead us to our destination.
In life, they guide us and influence us, hopefully for the better.
What a perfect example of a leader was the Chief.
Action figures and super heroes come and go with time, but Chief White
Eagles stay
ever true and “super”
in the eyes of little children.
Ever since my first Black Rock Patrol hike,
being inducted into the Patrol, and receiving my Indian name,
my Grandpa has been one of my many heroes.
Through Chief White Eagle’s example, I have learned that it is important to follow the leaders and influences in my life, and to also remember that I am also a leader to others
Following Grandpa Brown on hikes,
Being followed by five younger siblings,
Following Grandma Hofman in singing,
Being a leader to fellow students,
Following mom and Grandma Brown in art,
Following friends, teachers and role models....
“Follow me boys,
follow me.
Pick ‘em up and put ‘em down
and follow me!”
REACHING THE JOURNEY’S END
Throughout my Life’s Hike,
Chief White Eagle’s subtle lessons have stayed clear and vivid in my mind.
It’s not possible for all little kids to experience a Chief White Eagle in their lives.
Hikes are not always
easy little walks through groomed paths
where everything is beautiful, lush and gorgeous.
Sometimes, it takes a littlehard work,
perseverance,
and often times starting over,
to get to the final outcome such as a
pristine waterfall or mountain lake.
And so is the hike of life.
Throughout the adventure,
I’ll experience rugged paths and hardships,
ugly realities,
and many different types of people.
No doubt about it.
But through it all I will survive and eventually get to my ultimate goal, if I can remember the most important advice from the Great Chief White Eagle, that
after a comment made by Kimberly saying that Hadlee kind of looked like the baby princess actress on the movie Willow, I had to do some investigating....here is what I discovered...let me know what you think!
and just to clarify -- I DO NOT think that my sister-in-law Jordon is an accurate look-alike for Willow...she is MUCH more beautiful! love ya Jord!!
so, it's true. since the last time i posted (well, the time before the last time) I started my Masters of Social Work program at BYU (I just can't seem to get enough of this busy little town in this valley...) I'm pleased to say that it's all been good so far.
The Social Work program is a 67 credit program...2 years (well, 5 semesters, 4 months each)...I anticipate graduating April 2010. Man, that sounds so far off, but really, it's gonna be here before I know it.
Classes are good. I've actually been pleasantly surprised. The line-up includes: * Social Work Policy(I've really really enjoyed the readings and lectures for this class...Dr. Seipel seems to think a little bit more like the folks I love...a.k.a. my left-leaning crazy amazing family...)
* Social Work Research Methods(should be a decent class...we get to start our research project for the program in this class...I need to figure that out...)
* Casework(I'm excited for this one too...I'm learning SOOO much....things that I've wanted to be better at but maybe just didn't know how to implement or initiate...)
* Global Issues of Children at Risk(this is a fascinating and emotionally driven class...Dr. Jini Roby is from Korea and was an orphan there when she was 11 yrs old...she was adopted and brought to the states...her background is AMAZING and I'm learning more than I ever knew before about the issues that face vulnerable children ALL over the world.)
* Person & Environment(again, another interesting class...the first 3 weeks has been spent learning about something called "Interpersonal Family Dynamics" or Persogenics...learning about a way to identify personality patterns of interactino and how we interact with others who are similar or different to our own. FYI - I am an "AMIABLE/ANALYTICAL." the other patterns were DOMINANT and EXPRESSIVE....what are you??)
and last but not least: * Rock Climbing!!!(need I say more?!)
Life is good...it's busy and crazy, but it's good. I really am blessed. I have good friends. I have an amazing family who loves me. I am happy to be here where I am, at this particular time. I am grateful for the experiences I have had that have brought me to this point. I am grateful for the experiences that have shaped me and have helped me see myself in many different lights.
I am STOKED for the next two years of intellectual, academic, spiritual and personal growth.
BRING IT ON!!!
p.s. here is a pic of the people I will be eating, sleeping, drinking, and breathing SOCIAL WORK with for the next 19 months of my life :) they are stellar people!! yay for MSW class of 2010!!!!
Well, if you've caught yourself wonderin' what in the heck Brittany Arlene Hofman is doing with herself these days, let me tell ya!! I, of all people, ought to be able to fill you in :)
This is old news, but last September through December I spent 4 rockin' months in Israel with the BYU Jerusalem Center Study Abroad. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! Every day was spent being immersed in the culture and history of the land and beautiful people. We traveled throughout the country (with two opportunities for visits to the secured West Bank), swam in the Mediterranean Sea at Tel Aviv, explored the sights where the Savior walked, talked and spent his last days and hours, spent 2 weeks on the Sea of Galilee, hiked in the Golan Heights, explored a fortress overlooking Lebanon, came to know each winding street in the old city of Jerusalem, visited the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, spent a week among the ruins and pyramids of Egypt, climbed Mt. Sinai in time to witness an early morning sunrise, sang "I am a Child of God" in every church we set foot in and made forever friendships. I will carry Jerusalem and the experiences and friendships made in my heart for a long time to come. And, I'm pretty sure a piece of my heart was left back in room #304 of the J.C. overlooking that beautiful city!
I came back from Jerusalem to complete one final semester at BYU of pre-requisite classes for the BYU Masters of Social Work program which I applied and got accepted to. I start my grad program in the fall, and am super anxious and excited to get that underway!
This last April (2008), I graduated from BYU with an undergraduate degree in Therapeutic Recreation. Part of the stipulation about receiving that degree entailed a 4 month summer internship at an agency of my choosing under the direction of a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. I chose West Ridge Academy - a residential treatment center for youth-at-risk - in West Jordan Utah. The last four months have been a great learning experience as I have been part of the rec therapy staff at West Ridge. We have spent many hours with boys and girls on the awesome ropes course located on our campus, rafted the Green River, backpacked the Little Wild Horse in Goblin Valley, rappelled in Leprechaun Canyon near Hanksville, UT, backpacked to Lake Blanche with the youngins from West Ridge, tube-warred and wake boarded with the generosity of the National Abilities Center in Park City, enjoyed getting to know the individual boys and girls who have come to West Ridge Academy looking for change.
West Ridge Academy used to be the Utah Boys Ranch (started by the same legendary Lowell Bennion who started the Idaho Teton Bennion Boys Ranch next to our cabin in Victor, Idaho). One of my favorite aspects of the facility is that because it is affiliated with the Church (althouth it is non-denominational), the Spirit definitely abides in its halls. And, to me, the Spirit is KEY in helping people change, especially these youth who are struggling. There are full-time married missionary couples who are responsible for being "spiritual advisors" in the youths' daily life. It really is a unique program and I feel blessed to have been able to take part in the change that many of these kids have experienced.
I end the internship this coming Monday -- my four months is up. This week 20 of the boys are actually on a 40 mile backpacking trip up King's Peak - the highest peak in Utah (over 13,000 ft). I should be with them right now, but I was strickin' with some nasty flu last week that just seemed to linger through this week. The boys left Tuesday morning. I was packed and ready to go, but woke up Tuesday morning with a fever of 103 degrees. Needless to say, my supervisor wasn't too stoked about bringing me, and I honestly didn't think it was the best idea myself. So -- I stayed back.
Last night, my friend Charity and I drove to her home of John Day, Oregon (Central Oregon)...her grandpa is sick and not doing too well. She wanted to come home and since I wasn't doing anything, I came with her :) She's been visiting with her grandparents and family while I've just been chillin' and getting projects done. It's been relaxing -- and a more beautiful place to chill than South Jordan, Ut!!
Welp -- other than many trips home to Pocatello to visit my super cute niece Hadlee, a 4th of July trip to the cabin in Victor, our annual Lake Powell family reunion in July and hanging with friends and family, that's about the excitement in my life right now!!
It's true. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out how to get some color on the back of my uber boring blog. I finally found the right link to add the right HTML code. I know I could have asked someone for help, but I must like to suffer.
ANYWAY....welcome to my new colorful blog! It's so much better than the drab minimalist template that once caused the lucky viewer to suffer upon each visit! Maybe I will now be inspired to keep it updated for once!
"....This is about all of us. Who all seem to know deep down that it's incredibly hard to be alive and interact with the world around us but will try and cover it up at any cost. For as badass and unaffected as we try to come off, we're all just one sentence away from being brought to the edge of tears, if only it was worded right. And I don't want to act immune to that anymore. I took the biggest detour from myself over the past year, since I decided that I wasn't going to care about what people thought about me. I got to the point where I had so much padding on that, sure, I couldn't feel the negativity, but that's because I couldn't feel much of anything. And I think I'm done with that.
I'm not the first person to admit we're all self conscious, Kanye was. But what I want to do is to shed a little light on why we're all in the same boat, no matter the shape of the life we lead: because every one of us were told since birth that we were special. We were spoken to by name through a television. We were promised we could be anything that we wanted to be, if only we believed it and then, faster than we saw coming, we were set loose into the world to shake hands with the millions of other people who were told the exact same thing.
And really? Really? It turns out we're just not all that special, when you break it down. Beautifully unspectacular, actually. And that truth is going to catch up with us whether we want to run from it or not. The paparazzo following me to the gym ain't gonna be Herb Ritts and the guy he's following ain't gonna be Bob Dylan. It's just a matter of how old you are once you embrace that fact. And for me, 30 sounds about right.
What now, then? I can only really say for myself: Enjoy who I am, the talents and the liabilities. Stop acting careless. In fact, care more. Be vulnerable but stay away from where it hurts. Read. See more shows. Of any kind. Rock shows, art shows, boat shows. Create more art. Wear hoodies to dinner. Carry a notebook and hand it to people when they passionately recommend something and ask them to write it down for me.
Root for others.
Give more and expect the same in return, but over time.
Act nervous when I'm nervous, puzzled when I don't know what the hell to do, and smile when it all goes my way. And never in any other order than that.
And when it's all over, whether at the end of this fabulous career or of this life, which I hope takes place at the same time, I should look back and say that I had it good and I made the most of it while I was able. And so should you."
"Supposedly, in the "traditional wisdom" of things, people become more and more socially and politically and economically conservative as they grow older. This notion is based partially I suppose on the premise that conservatism protects the status quo and that older people want to keep what they have and keep everything the way they are used to having it.
But I think there are many for whom this process works in reverse. As they enter the Autumn of their lives, they are more traveled, more broad-minded, and more tolerant and appreciative of customs, ideas, and appearances other than their own. The wider perspective with which they view the world causes them, in a way, to grow more liberal if the word is defined as an interest in repairing the inequities in the world and making changes that exhibit compassion, empathy and the equality of all rather than protectionism, isolation and superiority of the few."
I've been thinking alot lately about examples -- especially regarding the impact that our examples can have on people when we have NO idea that they are watching! I have been pondering a lot on how SO MANY people in these last few months have come to influence my life on such a deep level...and the majority of those influential moments came from my observations of their examples. Examples such as kindness towards others, concern for others, receiving impressions and then acting on those impressions...examples of sacrifice, love, and humor in times of need...examples of being a good listener, lending a hand, giving advice...examples of offering a smile to a stranger passing by. These quiet moments that I have been blessed to observe have helped me see the importance of always trying to be a good person -- always trying to help others and have a sincere desire to just be good. Most of all, these observations have made me pause and think about how many people are watching ME and my actions. Am I a good example to others around me? I would hope so!
I'm not a big television fan, but a few months ago, I was blessed to see a commercial for an insurance agency that happened to be very inspiring and impactful. What kind of person calls themselves blessed after watching an insurance ad? Call me crazy, but I am one of those people! Thanks to Google and YouTube, I was able to find the commercial online...It is for Liberty Mutual Insurance and can be viewed at:
Many of you, if not all of you, who are reading this little note are people who have been good examples to me in my life -- whether you realized you were being a good example or had no idea!! And for that, I just wanted to thank each of you for impacting my life for the better.
I read a quote by Ellen Degeneres yesterday which made me laugh. After I got through my laughing fit, the significance of her words made me sit back and re-evaluate some things. She said:
“I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It's been about two months since I've worked out. And I just don't have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh..and watch tv. And get a bone density test. And uh.. try to figure out what my phone number spells in words.”
As much as I hate to admit it, this has been the definition of my life these last few months. And not just with working out but with many different facets of my existence. I complain about not having enough time, but it’s my own fault. I need to pause and take a moment and re-evaluate what I am doing with my time. Where do my priorities really lie?
“We realize our dilemma goes deeper than shortage of time; it is basically a problem of priorities. We confess, we have left undone those things that ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.” - Charles E. Hummel
“Success is only another form of failure if we forget what our priorities should be.” - Harry Lloyd
As for my other, completely un-related and random thought process….Two men with hearing disabilities came into my office today. They were lost and needed to know how to get to the landscaping building. The first thought that came to my mind was “dang, how are we going to communicate with these guys?” I was grateful that as soon as they let us know they were deaf, Karla quickly grabbed a pad of paper so that they could communicate with us. (kudos to Karla).
The second thought that came to mind was that of regret in not actively cultivating a talent I once developed in high school – American Sign Language. I guess that I’ve always wanted so much in my life to make everyone I come in contact with feel comfortable, loved, accepted, understood, etc. etc. etc. and I felt like I couldn’t quite do that this afternoon. I felt helpless (although I know that our attempts were not totally in vain as we were able to be of some help through writing and hand signals). But I just know how important it is for people like these two men to be able to communicate with others in the manner in which they are able to communicate.
It reminds me of my mission to Spain. Especially in those first weeks and months, I couldn’t speak Spanish perfectly. But I tried. I made very feeble attempts to speak to the people in their native tongue. They knew I was NOT native (it’s not hard to tell) and I often stumbled over words and made many grammatical errors, but I knew that it made them feel so good just knowing that I cared enough to try to communicate with them in the only way they knew how to communicate.
I guess what I need to remember is that as long as I’m trying to make others feel that sincerity and desire to make them feel good or understood or whatever it may be, then that is all I can do sometimes.
"When the president talks to God" lyrics by Bright Eyes
When the president talks to God Are the conversations brief or long? Does he ask to rape our women’s' rights And send poor farm kids off to die? Does God suggest an oil hike When the president talks to God?
When the president talks to God Are the consonants all hard or soft? Is he resolute all down the line? Is every issue black or white? Does what God say ever change his mind When the president talks to God?
When the president talks to God Does he fake that drawl or merely nod? Agree which convicts should be killed? Where prisons should be built and filled? Which voter fraud must be concealed When the president talks to God?
When the president talks to God I wonder which one plays the better cop We should find some jobs. the ghetto's broke No, they're lazy, George, I say we don't Just give 'em more liquor stores and dirty coke That's what God recommends
When the president talks to God Do they drink near beer and go play golf While they pick which countries to invade Which Muslim souls still can be saved? I guess god just calls a spade a spade When the president talks to God
When the president talks to God Does he ever think that maybe he's not? That that voice is just inside his head When he kneels next to the presidential bed Does he ever smell his own bullcrap When the president talks to God?
Marc Peruzzi - I echo your words. This editorial brought back a flood of similar memories of my own first days on the ski hill...memories of the Franklin Junior High School ski program that took us up to the Pebble Creek ski hill during that blessed and yet extremely awkward year of 7th grade...introducing me and countless other insecure 7th graders to the exhiliration of being in the moment...the freedom of the hill. And as Marc put it so well - maybe the Pebble Creek hill was a little "pathetic by today's standard's...[maybe not quite as low-key as Peruzzi's Mount Tom]...but it was enough to make me and every other middle-schooler on that bus a skier for life."
This is beautiful:
"It was before the dream heli trips in Alaska or powder days in Vail's Back Bowls or ski tours in Utah's Wastch range. Before smacking slush bumps in t-shirts on Killington's Outer Limits. Before loading my college schedule with only Tuesday/Thursday classes. Before high school road trips to Vermont in a '77 Pontiac LeMans. Before dating, before puberty. Before any of that there was a ski bus, and night skiing, and a ski hill on a quarry in Massachussett's Pioneer Valley. A ski area called Mount Tom.
There were jumps x-ed off with bamboo. Friends. The taste of freedom. An expert run called Waterfall. Perspiring Catholic girls in waffle-weave cotton long underwear with floral prints. Speed. Repetition. Instruction. Improvement. Leg burn. The high-voltage buzzing of a seventh-grade mind. A rare smile on the dour face of an overly introspective kid.
Six after-school bus trips a winter. A program that cost 60 dollars total - fries and hot chocolate not included. Some crummy yellow lights. Snowmaking with what looked like a fire hose. A pitch like a bowling alley. Maybe 13 runs.
Pathetic by today's standards. But it was enough to make me and every other middle-schooler on that bus a skier for life. Mount Tom, all 680 vertical feet of it, was simply massive.
Mount Tom is dead, along with hundreds of local hills like it that have disappeared over the last 25 years. Mount Tom lived from 1962-1998. It was the only convenient skiing in that part of the state. And cheap. No one really seems to know why it closed. It certainly wasn't making anybody rich, but it must have been sustainable.
I want to think back fondly on my Mount Tom nights, the nights that formed a skier, but I can't right now. The warmth has been taken from me. If skiing isn't convenient and cheap, then only privileged kids get to ski. So when I think of Mount Tom, I think of all the kids who will never know the place. All the kids who will never know skiing. Never know powder, first chair, shattering surface hoar, or counting the minutes until Saturday morning for something other than the cartoons.
We can do better than that." ~Marc Peruzzi, Editor-in-Chief SKIING magazine (February 2007, vol. 59, no. 6)
So, I had more time than usual this Christmas break to sit down and JUST read (books OTHER THAN textbooks!!). I've been reading Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley and I've come across a lot of thoughts and commentary that couldn't help but make me think about the conversations that I've had as of late about politics, socioeconomics, and religion in general. I thought these were each worth mentioning - just some food for thought.
(p. 163-164) Such considerations [regarding conflicts in our society] admonish me to ask whether all is well in Zion, and I find the answer in myself alone Have I taken the message seriously? No. I have been quite half-hearted about it, and much too easily drawn into what I call the Gentile Dilemma. That is, when I find myself called upon to stand up and be counted, to declare myself on one side or the other, which do I prefer - gin or rum, cigarettes or cigars, tea or coffee, heroin or LSD, the red rose or the white, Shiz or Coriantumr, wicked Nephites or wicked Lamanites, Whigs or Tories, Catholic or Protestant, Republican or Democrat, black power or white power, land pirates or sea pirates, commissars or corporations, capitalism or socialism? The devilish neatness and simplicity of the thing is the easy illusion that I am choosing between good and evil, when in reality two or more evils by their rivalry distract my attention from the real issue...It can be shown that in each of these choices just named, one of hte pair may well be preferable to the other, but that is not the question. There is no point in arguing which other system comes closest to the law of consecration, since I excluded all other systems when I opted for the real thing. The relative merits of various economies is a problem for the gentiles to worry about, a devil's dilemma that does not concern me in the least. For it so happens that I have presently covenanted and promised to observe most strictly certain instructions set forth with great clarity and simplicity in the Doctrine and Covenants. These are designated as the law of consecration, which are absolutely essential for the building up of the kingdom on earth and the ultimate establishment of Zion.
(p. 168) There is plenty to do to satisfy the work ethic without a profit motive, "but the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish" (2 Nephi 26:31).
(p. 170-171). Is the law [of consecration] unrealistic, impractical? It is too much too late for me to worry about that now, for I have already accepted it and repeated my acceptance at least once every month. At a recent conference (October 1978), Elder Mark E. Petersen spoke of the importance of keeping all the covenants we have made - and none is more important, more specific, more sacred than this one. What about Brother So-and-So or Presidend So-and-So? He is free to do as he pleased; I did not covenant with him I knew quite well what I was promising to do and when and where I was to do it, and why - now it is up to me...In 1882, President John Taylor sent out a letter declaring, "If people woudl be governed by correct principles, laying aside covetousness and eschewing chicanery and fraud, dealing honestly and conscientiously with others,...there would be no objection" to their free enterprise - he was appealing to them to do away with covetousness and feigned words, the very things that had put them in control of the economy. But while attempts to implement it [the law of consecration/united order] come and go, the covenant remains, and those who have entered it must live by it or be cursed (D&C 104:3-5), for in this matter God is not to be mocked (D&C 104:6). I am in a perfectly viable position at this moment to observe and keep it, as I have promised, independently of any other party. I do not have ot wait for permission from any other person or group to act.
(p. 236) "What is man," asks Shakespeare, "if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast no more. Sure he that made us with such large discourse, looking before and after, gave us not that capability and god-like reason to fust in us unused." And what is it to be used for? Those very popular how-to-get-rich books, which are the guides to the perplexed of the present generation, say we should keep our minds fixed at all times on just one objective; the person who lets his thoughts wander away from anything but business even for a moment does not deserve the wealth he seeks. Such is the high ethic of the youth today. And such an ethic places us not on the level of the beast but below it.
(p. 240-241) Modern revelation has some interesting things to say about idlers: "Let every man be diligent in all things. And the idler shall not have place in the church" (D&C 75:29). An idler in the Lord's book is one who is not working for the building up of the kingdom of God on earth and the establishment of Zion, no matter how hard he may be working to satisfy his own greed. Latter-day Saints prefer to ignore tht distinction as they repeat a favorite maxim of their own invention, that the idler shall not eat the bread or wear the clothing of the laborer. And what an ingenious argument they make of it! The director of a Latter-day Saint Institute was recently astounded when this writer pointed out to him that the ancient teaching that the idler shall not eat the bread of the laborer has always meant that the idle rich shall not eat the bread of the laboring poor, as they always have. "To serve the classes that are living on them," Brigham Young reports from England, "the poor, the labouring men and women are toiling, working their lives out to earn that which will keep a little life in them [lunch is what they get out of it, and no more]. Is this equality? No! What is going to be done? The Latter-day Saints will never accomplish their mission until this inequality shall cease on the earth." But the institute director was amazed, because he had always been taught that the idle poor should eat the bread of the laboring rich, because it is perfetly obvious that a poor man has not worked as hard as a rich man. With the same lucid logic my Latter-day Saint students tell me that there were no poor in the Zion of Enoch because only the well-to-do were admitted to the city...The moral imperative of the work-ethic is by no means the eternal law we assume it to be, for it rests on a completely artificial and cunningly contrived theory of property.
(p. 248) No one is more completely "of the world" than one who lives by the world's economy, whatever his display of open piety.
(p. 280) A bishop told me this month that people coming to renew their temple recommends when they are asked whether they keep all their covenants frequently answer no, explaining that they do not keep the law of consecration. A General Authority recently told me that the important thing is to observe the law of consecration "spiritually." Yes indeed, say I, and the law of tithing also - how much better to observe it spiritually than in a gross, material way - a great comfort to the rich. And yet the express purpose of both those laws is to test the degree of our attachment to material things, not to provide an exercise in "spiritual" semantics.
I feel the need to comment on some sweet moments I have experienced this last week as I have been able to observe my dear grandparents interact. My grandma is dying of a terminal lung disease. My grandpa hates leaving her side...I can imagine he is scared that if he were to step away for even a second he would miss something special - fleeting opportunities that are leaving us all - too fast. Or maybe he's scared that if he were to leave her for but a second, that might be the second she might go. Hard fact to swallow, even for me. I can't imagine how he swallows them every day - after being her companion for over 50 years. It's an emotional sort of time. It's hard to think of saying 'so long' to someone who has had such a profound impact on the person that you are and the person you hope to become. Much pondering and reflection.
I stopped in last night to say a quick hello and give a hug and kiss goodnight. Grandma was on her way next door to my aunt's house to get her hair permed. You never thought going maybe just 50 yards next door could be such an ordeal. Grandma finished her dinner. Grandpa cleared the table, as he has done the last 2 1/2 years since she was diagnosed. Grandma slowly stood up, left the kitchen and changed into some sweats...trailing her oxygen hose behind her...another permanent fixture that has so normally become part of her since her diagnosis. I then observed grandpa as he walked to the garage, grabbed two portable tanks of oxyen and brought them to the kitchen. I could hear grandma calling from the living room "Cor, don't you lift that wheelchair out of the car by yourself." I helped him with the heavy beast. After he got the wheelchair out of the garage and next to the porch, he loaded the portable oxygen tank and helped her make the transfer from her permanent oxygen to the portable. Grandpa told grandma to sit down and rest for a minute. The process of changing, walking to the kitchen and making the transfer of oxygen tired her out...it's amazing how we can take our own ability to breathe for granted. I do it everyday.
The next step...tenderly supporting grandma as she walked down the stairs into the wheelchair. By her side the whole way down. I walked beside him as he began to push grandma down the drive, onto the sidewalk, and up my aunt's drive - Grandma worried that he was pushing her up the incline all by himself. I assured her I was helping.
Such a detailed process - all for what we able bodied people would consider a simple task of walking merely 50 yards next door. Probably not even that much. But, my eyes unabashedly welled with tears as I watched my grandpa so tenderly, lovingly and carefully take care of the love of his life. Definitely an example of pure, undying and eternal love. Something that makes it extremely hard to think of the time when I too will have to say 'so long.'
Come and sing a simple song of freedom Sing it like you've never sung before Let it fill the air Tell the people everywhere We, the people here, don't want a war.
Hey, there, mister black man, can you hear me? I don't want your diamonds or your game I just want to be someone known to you as me And I will bet my life you want the same.
Come and sing a simple song of freedom Sing it like you’ve never sung before Let it fill the air Tell the people everywhere We, the people here, don’t want a war.
Seven hundred million are ya list'nin’? Most of what you read is made of lies But, speakin’ one to one ain't it everybody's sun To wake to in the mornin’ when we rise?
Come and sing a simple song of freedom Sing it like you’ve never sung before Let it fill the air Tell the people everywhere We, the people here, don’t want a war.
Brother Solzhenitsyn, are you busy? If not, won't you drop this friend a line Tell me if the man who is plowin' up your land Has got the war machine upon his mind?
Come and sing a simple song of freedom Sing it like you’ve never sung before Let it fill the air Tell the people everywhere We, the people here, don’t want a war.
Now, no doubt some folks enjoy doin' battle Like presidents, prime ministers and kings So, let's all build them shelves Where they can fight among themselves Leave the people be who love to sing.
Come and sing a simple song of freedom Sing it like you’ve never sung before Let it fill the air Tell the people everywhere We, the people here, don’t want a war.
I say … let it fill the air … Tellin’ people everywhere … We, the people here, don't want a war.
