"Rise up, O men of God!"

Hymns, no. 324
 
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

[...]

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son! 
-Rudyard Kipling-

"We need to grow up in Christ, or we risk not growing up at all"
-Bishop Steven Rhondeau 

Firstly, I must apologize for the lateness of this post.  I intended to get this out long before Friday, and even promised a friend that I would.  I hope he will forgive my tardiness.

I've had a lot of trouble coming to the point I want to get at in this post.  Generally, I try to write when I am full of vigor and passion on a subject, when I have an axe to grind with the world.  With recent events and trends that I've observed, there have been plenty of times that I've felt that way, but I've insufficiently recorded those feelings to reproduce them here.  So, if this post seems like less than you've come to expect, I do apologize.

In a recent talk, Elder D. Todd Christofferson (a leader in the Church I belong to) admonished the brethren of the Church that it was high time we stood up.  Just a few weeks later, my own bishop gave a talk on the same subject.  In my notes from the talk, which I found very inspiring, I find these, words, among others:

• "Media that display men as fools or shows them exhibiting crass or stupid "frat boy" behavior are offensive"
• "Seek Jesus--stand by Him.  Be His man always.  He is the Man to be like-become like Him.  Allow Him to define your standard of manhood.  Never look to the world for this."
• "Fight-no great man became so by just 'going with the flow'"

Whether or not you agree with the religious tradition that I follow, if you have eyes to see, then you've seen that men are struggling now.  Perhaps you've felt one reason that Elder Christofferson cited for the downfall of men: where historically we've generally had some kind of task that makes us "men" instead of boys, a way of proving ourselves, today we find our world dismally lacking such a thing.  How do you know when you're a man?  Is the defining moment when you turn 18? When you learn to drive? Graduate college or high school?

May I suggest something less traditional? Or, should I say, less worldly?  Being a man is not so much about what we can do, as it is about who we are, and what we fight for.  In a much earlier talk on this same subject, Elder Christofferson gives us the example of his own father, who skipped lunch every day for nearly a year to buy his wife a special ironing machine that would ease the pain that ironing caused her.  Real men, as it turns out, learn to sacrifice, to serve others and love them.  In my religious tradition, I believe there is a rite of passage or two, that if we treat properly, can prove us true men.  At the age of twelve, young men are ordained to "the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins" (Doctrine and Covenants 13:1), a responsibility designed to teach them to be men.  This priesthood is to teach them to physically serve-both in the Church's ordinances, and in the homes of the ward members.  Upon reaching the age of 18, young men who have proven themselves in the ranks of Aaronic Priesthood offices become eligible to receive a higher priesthood, associated with more responsibilities and more blessings.  During this time, they are also enlisted to serve as full-time missionaries, and invited to enter the temple and make sacred covenants with God.  All of this with the aim that at the end of two years' service, they might return home as men of God, ready and willing to take on the full responsibilities of manhood; to sacrifice for the good of others, with a heart dedicated to a cause greater than their own pleasure.

Recently, a good friend asked me to come see a movie with him.  Unbeknownst to him, I had already made a pact with a very close friend of mine that neither of us would see this film, because we both felt very strongly about the way that previous films in its genera and series portrayed the interaction between women and men, and how it portrayed the societal ideal of manhood generally.  As tactfully as I could, I wrote him a note (as we were communicating via the internet) in which I declined to see this movie with my friend, even though he is someone I really care about, and do not see very often.  With the respect that characterizes true friendship, he accepted my decline, although he asked, what it was, exactly that I found so objectionable about the movie.  To this, I never got around to replying, because I was not sure how to tell him that, while there may not be any one specific scene that I read of in my research on the film, there is an overarching theme of violence and sexual objectification that pervades these movies (one morning on the radio, the DJs on one station spent at least ten minutes discussing and comparing the sexual attractiveness of actresses portraying the main female consorts of these movies' hero), and I refuse to take part in it.  The problem, I think, is that we spend too much time looking to see if there's anything that "crosses the line" in terms of showing "too much" in movies, and we forget that storytelling is a teaching tool.  Even if the movie does not graphically show things it ought not to (and they often do), if it portrays the ideal of manhood in a way that is wrong, this affects those who watch it.  Storytelling is always pedagogical.

My bishop's talk left me with one quote that I hope I will never forget- "We need to grow up in Christ, or we risk not growing up at all".  In conclusion, he read aloud the words of a hymn with special meaning to me, and to all of those of the (since dissolved)

ΣΓΧ, adding a verse not present in the LDS Hymnbook:

Rise up, O men of God! 
Have done with lesser things. 
Give heart and soul and mind and strength 
To serve the King of Kings. 

Rise up, O men of God, 
In one united throng. 
Bring in the day of brotherhood 
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!

The Church for you doth wait,

Her strength unequal to her task;

Rise up and make her great!

Rise up, O men of God!

Tread where his feet have trod.

As brothers of the Son of Man,

Rise up, O men of God!

  

Missionary Month: Part V - "What Ere Thou Art, Act Well Thy Part"

Recently, I've been asking myself a question that will probably sound really odd.  So maybe I'll give some background before I ask it.  Fact-according to the scriptures, the City of Enoch and all of its inhabitants were translated-that is, they were taken up into the presence of God to live with Him until Christ's Second Coming upon the earth (see Moses 7:69, cross reference Genesis 5:24).  However, according to the genealogy set forth in the book of Genesis, Noah was clearly a descendant of Enoch.  Which means that when the City of Enoch was taken up, somebody got left behind.  I guess I've been wondering, what was that like?  How did it happen?  Was Noah's family just out on a picnic one day and didn't make it back in time?  Most of all, I wondered, how did it feel?

I've had a lot of experiences recently where I feel like I've "missed the boat", so to speak.  And it hurts a little bit.  I feel like I'm doing the best I know how, and yet here I am, left behind.  This leads to a lot of introspection on whether I'm worthy, whether I'm really doing my best.  And discouragement.  A lot of that.

So, this morning, I had a little study time left, and I decided to see what I could find out.  I ran the chronology according to what's given in Genesis, and found a slightly different account in the Doctrine and Covenants.  Either way, it turns out that Noah was not born in the City of Enoch, but rather a few years after it was taken up (see Genesis 5, and D&C 107).  So, Noah probably grew up at the feet of men--his father, Lamech and grandfather, Methuselah--who had lived among Enoch's people.  Not only that, but who had been ordained to the priesthood under the hands of the first and second generations of men on this earth.  At least one of them--Methuselah, who ordained Noah--was present at a meeting three years prior to Adam's death, in which Adam blessed him, and in the which Christ Himself appeared to comfort Adam in his age (D&C 107:53-57).  Translation: the guys who were left behind when Enoch's city was taken up were not exactly what you call slouches.  Although little is known of Lamech, in the Bible Dictionary it describes Methuselah as " a righteous man," and "a prophet", and in both the Bible and modern revelation, Lamech is seen to prophesy concerning his son Noah (Genesis 5:29, Moses 8:9).  So, Noah certainly wasn't left behind unaided.  I figured that was all I was going to get.  And then I read Moses 8:2-3:

"And it came to pass that Methuselah, the son of Enoch, was not taken, that the covenants of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to Enoch; for he truly covenanted with Enoch that Noah should be of the fruit of his loins.

And it came to pass that Methuselah prophesied that from his loins should spring all the kingdoms of the earth (through Noah), and he took glory unto himself."

So, Methuselah "took glory" in the fact that he was left behind for the Lord's purposes.  And I guess that's what makes all the difference.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels a little left behind sometimes, and wonders if the Lord has a reason for not catching him up.  In those situations, though, I know from experience that beating yourself up doesn't help, and neither does envy or impatience.  It is probably healthy in these situations to ask oneself whether one is where they are because of unworthiness, and if so, to make the necessary changes.  After we look at our lives, though, and resolve to improve where improvement may be needed--after we have dedicated ourselves to the Lord, and asked Him to make this trial to our benefit--the best we can do is do our best to be what we God has called us to be, and take glory in the blessings that will surely follow.

Missionary Month: Part IV - On Liberty

"And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yeah, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage." -Alma 53:17 (emphasis added)

"...and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so longas there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land...And he said: Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions." -Alma 46:13, 18

Eleven score and sixteen years ago, this country was founded upon the ideal that all men are created equal, and that " the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them" to certain inalienable rights.  Since then, many men and women have given their lives to the cause of maintaining this idea of liberty.  Some fought and died for it on the fields of what is now the Eastern US.  Others fought and died for it in the behalf of those who couldn't on the beaches of Normandy, and in the Pacific.  Men and women marched on Washington, staged sit-ins and protests for liberty and equality during the civil rights movement.

Still others have fought for it in less recognizable ways.  My parents were some of these; I was taught from a young age that it is a privilege to live in this country, and with that privilege come responsibilities, like serving in the community, voting, and working hard for the living I need.  Above all, I was always taught to revere the men and women who pioneered the way, and who purchased my liberty with their own blood and sweat, and to love America with all my heart.  We had a book/tape combination (now a thing of the past, I know) when I was small that sang a song to the effect of "Take your hat off and stand up when the flag goes by", because that's how you show your respect and love for America.  It's one of those things from my childhood that's stuck with me.

I've made no bones in the past about my feelings regarding the current state of things.  Today I was just as disappointed as ever.  My dad, my two little sisters and I went to the parade by our house.  We were late, and so we had to settle for a spot behind two rows of other people.  My sisters were totally engrossed in getting candy, which left Dad and I, neither of whom are talkers, really.  So, I mostly listened to the things people said around me.  More than once, I heard complaints regarding the "lack of patriotism", or the "commercial nature of these entries".  And yet, when the Classic Skating kids went by, it was all cheering and laughing, and when the several military floats went by? Utter silence.  That might be interpreted as a good thing, but when the military colorguards went by with the flag, guess who the only two people standing in my sight were.  If you guessed Dad and I, you got it.  And it's not like these people around me were too young to know what they ought to be doing-most of them must have been in their late thirties at least.  Add to that the conversation I had with my little sister on the walk home about why it is that no, stores don't always close today, because they can make money by being open, and lots of people don't get the day off, and you can see why I might be wondering if this is how the Founding Fathers would have us be celebrating their sacrifice.

The fact is, liberty may be something that every human being is entitled to, but it isn't something that comes automagically.  Liberty has already cost the blood of thousands of young men and women, as well as the tears of their mothers and families.  Freedom is not now, nor will it ever be free, because there is always someone looking to take it away.  I think most of us understand that, but the problem I see is that everyone is looking for someone else to come and stand up for them.  It's simply never worked that way.  Want more patriotism at the parade?  Stand up when the flag goes by.  Shout "God bless America" and mean it.  You want something?  Go work your tail off and get it.  That's always been the American Dream.

Don't get me wrong: I think America is still a great place to live, and there are a lot of people who are still trying to live the way I want to.  Most of them are probably doing better than I am at it.  I just think it's sad that today's meaning has been lost in the fireworks and commercialism.  After all, it's not just physical freedom from bondage that the revolutionary war brought us-because of the spiritual liberties allowed in this nation (which, by the way, are rapidly being eroded, thanks to the fact that some people's sensitivities are offended by the fact that others might consider what they are doing "wrong", whether the Laws of Nature and Nature's God say that they are wrong or not) the Restoration of the Gospel could occur, allowing us freedom from the spiritual bondage of sin.

The fact is, we stand in many ways on the brink of losing the liberties (including the religious ones that were the motivation for the movement of most of the groups that colonized the early US, by the way) that so many have died for, simply because we've grown fat, and lazy, and complacent.  We've reached a point where most people I know, when they're honest, know they ought to be doing something, but feel that they can't do enough.  That's true--this problem is one that requires personal responsibility; it takes everybody (or at least at lot of people) standing up to fix a problem like this.  So, let's start real simple: show some respect for the men and women who gave their lives so we could fly that flag.  Take your hat off and stand up when it goes by you, and teach your kids to do so as well.  Spend a little less time scoping out your place at the fireworks show, and a little more talking about why we have this holiday.  Then, if things don't change, please complain to me.

Missionary Month: Part III - Dealing with Darkness

"...and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces: and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." -Isaiah 25:8-9 (KJV)

"No waters can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies" -Hymns, No. 105

Let's take a trip back in time, to Friday night, before the whole movie debacle, but after I'm hanging out with friends.  We take a walk.  Somehow, we get talking about the state of the world, and it just gets dark and scary and ooky for a while.  Finally, one friend has had enough.  She just doesn't want to think about it any more, and rightfully so.  We get back to her place, and the mood is still dark and she doesn't like it.  So, being the nice guy I am, I try to fix it.  "What can I turn the conversation to that will be happy?" I wonder to myself.  And then I blurt, "If you could be any mythical creature, what would you be?"

We have a relatively long and inconsequential conversation on the subject.  There's some laughter.  It works out ok, I guess.

Flash forward to this morning.  I'm eating my breakfast-I have the day off, and I'm excited that I get to go help a friend who's getting a house ready to move into (I got to use a nail gun...need I say more?), so I decide to start on my study as I eat.  I like to start off with a little something from the Ensign, because it's generally straightforward, very applicable, and easy to understand-it's like a spiritual warmup for the heavier stuff (like Alma 13) I'll be reading later on in the scriptures.  I pick the first article with a title that sticks out to me, "Facing the Future with Hope".  And it has a couple paragraphs that address this very concern-the feeling from Friday night:

One of today’s great challenges is learning to conquer fear and despair in order to overcome trials and temptations. It takes only a few moments for us to open a newspaper, scroll the web, or hear a news broadcast on radio or television to be confronted with distressing accounts of crime and natural calamities that happen every day.

Understanding the promises in scripture concerning how the Lord will conquer evil and how truth will conquer error can help us face the future with hope and optimism -Elder José A. Teixeira, Ensign, July 2012, "Facing the Future with Hope" (pp 15-17)

As I read those words, I begin to see in my mind a different way-a better way-of dealing with the darkness of the other night.  I begin to remember scriptures I've called upon before, in times of trial and fear, for the strength to go on.  Two, in particular, favorites discovered on the mission, stick out to me, and I wish that I'd shared them that night.  Both say essentially the same thing-that in the day of His Second Coming, Christ will wipe away the tears of those that have waited for Him.  They will be His people, and He will be their God (see Isaiah 25, and Revelation 17).

How would that conversation have gone differently if I'd confronted the darkness in the world with the hope presented by the Light of the World?  I'm not really sure.  But I'd like to find out.  The interesting part for me about this whole thing is this-as we discussed the darkness, it only got worse.  Sure, each of us felt we should do something, but what can one person possibly do against the onslaught that looms?  How can one person hope to make a difference against that?  And then as I read the scriptures this morning, and pondered what they said, I knew.  Sure, I'm only one guy, and maybe my stand against the darkness of the world will be insignificant.  But someone else out there wishing they could do something may just see it, and make a decision to do the same. According to another article I read in the Ensign yesterday, "Anytime we live a principle of the gospel more fully, someone else is blessed either directly or indirectly." (Russell T. Osguthorpe, "The Lesson is in the Learner" pp 30-33).  

Besides, when any man worthily stands against the darkness, whether he realizes it or not, I firmly believe he stands with the Lord, the God and Rock of Israel at his back.  It's possible we still will be rejected, hurt, maybe even made to cry, but in the end, when that day of reckoning comes, those who stood in spite of the temptation to despair, whose hope in Christ was stronger than their fear of failing, will find every tear wiped away in the joy of their Redeemer's love.  But the best news of all is that we don't even have to wait for that...As I read the words about the Lord wiping tears from the faces of the faithful, I couldn't help but think of Alma's words: that He suffered " pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind... that the word might be fulfilled which saith he [took] upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." (Alma 7:11).  The fact is, He's already wiping tears from off the faces of His people; He already is their God, and they His people.  And He invites every one of us to come in, and be part of that-to come to Him and be healed.

Once, on my mission, just after a leader I had greatly admired had been transferred away, I found a note he had cleverly secreted in my suit pocket during a companion exchange.  On it? A scripture reference that I suppose sums up the way we have to deal with darkness and despair:

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31

Missionary Month: Part II - Mistakes

"weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning...Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;"
-Psalms 30:5 (King James Version)


I'm not entirely sure that this will be a daily thing for the entire month (if you missed what's going on with that, check out this post), but it could be.  As it turns out, I waste a lot of time on a lot of worthless stuff, so when you remove that, I have a lot of spare time; time I can use to do things I really want to-like write a journal, and study a ton of scriptures, which then leads me to want to share stuff.  Since I'm still working on the whole "recluse" thing, that means I'll probably come here for that.

Thursday night, I went to the temple with some friends.  It was good, as going to the temple ought always to be.  I had a lot of questions come to mind during the endowment, which is a bit unusual for me.  One thing that I have pondered a lot, and felt like I've never really gotten a satisfying answer on is the Fall (not autumn, silly, Adam).  It's not that the idea of Adam falling and us ending up in this state to be tested bothers me-I understand that part.  And I get that the Fall was necessary so that we could come to earth, and so that the Atonement could be provided.  I get that it puts us in a position where we have agency.  But somehow it just always seemed like we focus on it a lot more than we should for all of that.  I mean, every investigator has to be taught about the fall, usually the second time they meet with missionaries.  And it's a pretty big chunk of the text in that lesson.  On my mission, I always figured that this was because we had to teach people the correct way of viewing it, and help them understand that there is no such thing as "original sin", that men are to be held accountable for themselves and themselves alone.  And I think to a degree that was why we focused on it in the mission.  But that doesn't explain why some people have referred to is as one of the "Three Pillars of the Church", or why it's brought up so much in the scriptures.  I think there's more to it than that.

On Thursday night, as I pondered it, I came to a partial conclusion, but I still didn't fully understand.  I came to realize that the reason we talk about the fall so much is that we each have our personal "fall" moments, that we each have to step forth from the innocence of our personal Edens, and make mistakes, and that somehow there is an advantage in this.  I didn't get why, but I trusted the feelings I was getting, and sort of left it at that, hoping that somehow I would muddle out how to act on this knowledge later.  By the time we left the temple, I had largely set it aside, something to worry about later.  What I didn't know about that moment, that little tidbit of light, is that a loving Heavenly Father, who knows me better than I know myself, who wants the best for me, was preparing me for what would happen a little over 24 hours later, when I made the mistake of ignoring several promptings of the spirit that would have helped me avoid seeing a movie that left me feeling sick inside, and like I had betrayed the God I've covenanted to follow.

I came home that night, and one of the first things I did, in my haste to avoid ever feeling that way again, was to text one of the friends who invited me, and tell her I didn't think I could hang out with them any more.  And then I got on my knees, and I prayed...I prayed about a lot of things, and I told Heavenly Father about that text.  Immediately, I knew that had been the wrong thing to do.  As I told Him about the kind of man I wanted to be, I felt a gentle nudge in my heart--a question: "But how will you be that kind of man if you never spend time around other people?  How will you learn to say no when it's hard if you just withdraw from others all the time?"

Not finding any real good answers to that question, I went to bed, still troubled.  I woke up troubled.  I did my grocery shopping troubled.  And then, my wonderful little sister, who I had shared most of this with, because she's pretty much my best friend, although now that she's engaged, I barely ever see her, texted me these wise words--"personally I think making mistakes is the best if it causes change" (emphasis added).  And that's when I got it.  Does the mistake still hurt? Do I still wish I'd walked out of that movie?  You betcha. But in a way, my making that mistake was a good thing, because it finally pushed me over the edge into action.  I finally felt enough pain to drive me to make a real commitment to overcome a problem.  Just as it was better for Adam and Eve to Fall, so that they could grow, it is better for me to be putting myself out there with other people, where yes, I might make mistakes and do things that make me feel like a jerk, because how else do you learn how to stand up and say "enough is enough"?

Let me make the point I'm trying put forth very clear here:  I'm not saying that it's a good idea to knowingly walk into a situation that I know is going to end in me doing something I shouldn't.  In retrospect, knowing what I know now, I should have listened to my feelings.  I've learned that now, the hard way.  But sometimes that's the way that learning has to occur.  In order to get good at anything, one must start out being terrible at it; it's very rare that someone just picks something up and is awesome at it from the moment they start.  Perhaps such people exist, but I'm not one of them. 

So, I made a mistake the other night.  Does that mean I withdraw back into my antisocial bubble and live a life of solitude so that no one ever pressures me into doing something wrong?  Does it mean that I choose from now on never to spend any time with anyone who I have not first vetted to make sure that their standards and mine coincide?  I think not.  I think it means that I pick myself up, dust off, and get back out there, knowing now what I'm really up against, and ready to stand up to it the way I should.  Because Heavenly Father never meant for us to be recluses, or to spend our lives within the walls of the temple.  He meant for each of us to get out there into the dark, crazy, sinful world, and take a little of the temple with us, to lead each other to do the right thing and become more like him.  He knows we'll make mistakes-that point is moot.  The question is, do we learn when we fall?

The Missionary Month: Part I - The Challenge

Last night I hung out with some friends.  They're good people--people I genuinely enjoy being around.  We had a really good time for most of the night, went on a long walk, talked, etc.  It was nice.  And then we went to a 10:30 movie.  Which was a terrible idea.  From the time the idea was proposed, and the movie chosen, I felt like I shouldn't go.  But I caved.  And then, to make matters worse, I rode with someone else.  Long story short-I didn't walk out when I should have (which was about 30 seconds into the movie), and went home feeling terrible.  I cried myself to sleep, I felt that bad (yes, I'm willing to admit that.  Anyone think I'm less manly for it? Whatever).  I vowed I would never let that happen again.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I've let a lot of things creep in, and I've lost a lot of the confidence and things I gained on my mission.  And so I devised a plan.  A crazy plan.  Hopefully so crazy it just might work.  I call it the missionary month.  It's pretty simple, really.

Beginning tomorrow (July 1st 2012-the anniversary of the day a wise stake president reached out and changed the course of my life, by the way), I will be doing my best to go back to mission rules for a little while.  Of course, there are some things that I think need to be altered a little for my current lifestyle, but, for those of you who don't know, basically what this means is:

• Missionary schedule:  I'll probably be a little lax on this, but I will be in bed by 11, and up no later than 7, or there will be a reason why.
• Study: 1 hour per day.  No ifs ands or buts.  I'll relax the rules on study a little to include not only the missionary library (Jesus the Christ, Our Heritage, Our Search for Happiness, and True to the Faith), the standard works (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price), and the Ensign, but will probably say that time outside of my regular hour is ok to spend reading other Church books.
• Media: No tv (pretty much already done), or movies (this will be more difficult) outside of Church videos.  All music should directly invite the Spirit and invite one to come unto Christ (this means it's back to a lot of MoTab...anyone with EFY CDs they'd like to share-I'd appreciated it).  My internet usage will be limited to updating the blog now and then, checking email as necessary for work and school, and functional use where it is absolutely necessary (ie finding out how to get somewhere, fix something, etc).  Notice that Facebook
• Dating: I will openly break mission rules and continue to actively make an effort to go on a date every week (after all, a stake president commanded it).
• Sharing the Gospel: I haven't decided on an exact metric for this, but I do feel like this is an opportune time to start opening my mouth.  I will at least make a more concentrated effort to go meet my neighbors.
• Attire: I will also flaunt this rule.  My dress will always be modest, but I'm not wearing a suit.  That being said, I may wear a long tie to church every week just to mess with people.

There will probably be more.  I'll update this blog as the month goes on.  I've felt pretty strongly that this is something I ought to share and put out there for others to try.  Why?  Well, I feel like a mission is a life changing experience for a lot of reasons-one of them is that on a mission one spends a pretty extended period of time away from all of the filth the world has to offer, which puts them in a position to see very clearly which things in the world are good, and which are bad.  One of my friends always says that I am very innocent.  She was impressed, apparently, by the fact that I was pretty much blushing and looking away, and extremely uncomfortable for the whole movie (which, by the way, was rated PG-13) last night.  I tried to explain (although I didn't do so well) that I wasn't always this way.  Not that long ago, I probably would have felt--well, not comfortable, I was never that deadened, but ok enough to go along with the other people with me who were just laughing and talking about how funny it was afterwards.  Luckily, when I came home from my mission, I saw the filth in a lot of things that I had liked (which that movie pretty much made look clean, to be honest), maybe even loved, before, and I decided I didn't want to be that guy any more.

So, I'm going to start off missionary month in missionary style-with an invitation.  Anyone-everyone-who reads this is personally invited to join me.  I don't care if  you've been home for a year, or ten years, or ten days (alright, ten day-er, I'll give you a pass.  You probably need to spend some time outside the scriptures for a while so you stop weirding ladies out), or even if you never served a mission.  My rules aren't the same as your rules might be-you need to decide that for yourself with where your life is right now.  So, will you join me?  I promise that if you do, you'll find a greater sense of spirituality in your life, and you'll remember what's really important.  And, who knows, maybe some of the rules will stick with you for more than a month... Any input, ideas, or experiences? Feel free to post in the comments.

Out of Time

"Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem...then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to do iniquity..." Hel. 7:7

About this time of year, when I was in the sixth grade, we had a concert.  I don't remember all the details, but I remember that everyone participated, and we spent time in class preparing for it.  Our theme?  America.  The culmination of the whole event was when we sang "God Bless the USA" to a standing ovation.  This was shortly before 9/11, so it was not a time of particular patriotism to speak of, but we filled the entire auditorium at the middle school next door to our little elementary school.  It was a big deal.  This isn't where I learned patriotism, but it's certainly one of the places that it was reinforced in my mind.

Fast forward eleven years to the present.  I'm at the movies on Tuesday night, watching the much anticipated Avengers.  It was awesome.  Ever since I saw Captain America and Thor last year, I've been super excited.  Arguably my favorite hero in this series of movies has been the Cap'.  He's kind of old fashioned, even for a guy from the '40s.  Even there he was different from other guys.  Here, he's just plain an oddity.  After the movie, the girl I went with (who fruitlessly keeps asking me what my favorite things are, not realizing that I am really bad at the whole "favorite" thing) asked what my favorite part of the movie was.  I replied that one of them was at one point when someone points out to Captain A. that he ought not to involve himself in a skirmish between Loki and Thor, after all, "they're basically gods."  Without missing a beat, Captain Rogers replies, "There's only one God, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that", and then throws himself into the middle of things.

The line was funny, and make no mistake, but it demonstrated something else.  See, in the movie, Rogers/America is portrayed as something of a throwback, "the real deal".  With his "spangly outfit", and his can-do attitude, he's the picture of old-timey patriotism.  And conflated in that is a certain level of religiousness, like it or not.

Tonight, I went to what, I suppose, would be the equivalent today of the concert we did when I was in sixth grade.  My littlest sister attends the same school I did.  It was held in the little cafe-gymna-torium at the school, and they didn't even bother opening the divider halfway back.  Even then, the room had more empty seats than full ones.  Where the majority of the school participated in the concert when I was there, this was a volunteer, extra-curricular choir that had probably thirty or so kids in it.  When they asked us to stand and sing the national anthem with the choir, I'm pretty sure my parents and I were the only members of the audience that I could hear singing.  Oh, and you'd better believe there wasn't a single mention of the word God in the whole performance.  There were the unavoidable references from those pesky founding documents that make some people so zealous to undermine the credibility of our founding fathers (you know, that bit about men being "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights", and that part in the Bill of Rights that guarantees we can worship how we will), but for the most part, the concert skirted the issue of God.  And it showed. 

Don't get me wrong-it was a nice show, and I'm sure the kids put a lot of effort and heart into it.  It was thought provoking, and a nice expression of appreciation for the country we live in.  But something was missing; it didn't have the draw or the power that our concert did so long ago (and I know that wasn't because kids' singing skills have made any kind of change).  We invited our parents and grandparents and we filled the auditorium, and when we sang "God Bless the USA", I know that at least I felt something.

Like it or not, you have to admit that not that long ago, America was a very religious nation.  You have to deal with the fact that this nation's existence as we know it hinged upon immigrants seeking freedom to worship God as they liked, without fear of public condemnation for their beliefs.  You have to deal with the unlikely confluence of factors that led to a rebel force routing the greatest military of their age.  And then you have to deal with the fact that there's this somewhat uncanny temporal link between when the power of America to stand against its foes began to fade, and when the religious underpinnings of our society became the object of public disdain by those in the media.

Ironically, with the rise of the "hipster" movement, "retro" is in.  As long as it's about what you wear, or your mode of transportation.  If it's about who you actually are, though, forget it.  Morality is too old fashioned.  Openly talking about God might just offend someone.  No, the only people that are allowed to do that are the anti-religious ones.  And teaching your kids, not just letting them "decide for themselves", based on the facts that are "made available to them"?  That's indoctrination.  Unlike what the learned "experts" who decide our curriculum, media exposure, etc (and therefore the "facts" made available), are doing.  That's education.  Oh, and when someone blatantly lies about what Jesus says (or in the case I saw today, doesn't say) in the bible to support their "progressive" view, that's dandy; don't try to correct them by quoting His actual words, because that's "propaganda", and you should think before you just spout it.

I'm sure many of you have quit reading this rant by now.  That's ok.  I guess my point is, America is, and always has been, intertwined with a belief in the divine.  Moreover, in the religion that I believe in, it's stated that whoever would possess this land in freedom must "serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ..."  It's part of who Captain America is.  Many great scientists and leaders of industry and our nation did (and still do) it. 

This theophobia exhibited by so many is really a pretty recent development.  I don't intend to change because of it, just like I don't intend to change just because some (very "modern") people think a man opening a woman's door, or walking her all the way to her doorstep when it's late at night is sexist.  It's a part of who I am.  Call me old fashioned, if you like.  You wouldn't be the first one this week.