8-10-2011 - "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."

TOTD: Do you think there's more to this commandment than what we all initially think of?

We all usually defer to the thought that this means we shouldn't use the names of Deity to curse, and while this would certainly be a vain use of Their names I couldn't help but feel that there was probably more to this commandment.

Think of it - the Lord had 10 main things He wanted to make sure that we wouldn't do. Don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't have a God before me... don't curse with my name. While this is certainly important, it doesn't seem to carry the same magnitude as the other 9 commandments.

The only other time I have heard the phrase, "take the name of the Lord," is in conjunction with the covenant of baptism and in the renewing of that covenant through the sacrament. When we are baptized we are promising Heavenly Father that we will be saviors of men as Christ daily is a Savior to us. We are committing to be who Christ is and to walk as He walks, and to talk as He talks. We are literally coming unto Him by taking His sacred name upon us. So what would it mean to do that in vain?

I had struggled with finding the proper understanding of the word vain in the past. You hear it in popular culture like it's a good thing, like in the magazine Vanity Fair which I guess is purposefully glamorizing worldly things. But that definition didn't seem to fit the way it's being used in this commandment, so I would typically stop there. With the advent of the iPhone and its trusty apps, however, I've become a very prolific dictionary user. So this time around I went digging into the dictionary app to read the varying definitions of the word vain, and what I found opened up a lot more than I was anticipating. The word vain comes from the Latin word that also means wane.

So with that understanding of the word vain I learned that I shouldn't take the name of the Lord my God upon me with a waning heart or regressing effort. I should in fact be waxing in my efforts to serve God by serving my fellow man. I should be waxing strong in faith, hope, and charity. Much like the moon, I should turn my face towards the Son and get the world out of my view. I should let the Son's light illuminate me to a fullness. My light, which is truly the Son's light, would then reflect off of me and onto the world, and then they would see in the darkness my good works and know that it was of the Son. That is taking the name of the Lord with an increasing heart. Line upon line, precept upon precept, horizon over new horizon, until there is a fullness and no longer any disposition to do otherwise in my life.

This is what I learned, and I welcome any further discussion on the topic.

Earth-Life Syllabus

Earth-Life Syllabus

Semesters – The spring, summer, fall, and winter of your life.

Instructor’s Name:

God

Office Location:

Heaven

Office Hours:

Always

Contact:

Through prayer, always in Christ’s name. He will respond via the Holy Ghost, your friends, your family, and/or some other way. Just be listening.

I.     COURSE DESCRIPTION

       Life on earth is an opportunity and a blessing. Our purpose in this life is to have joy and prepare to return to God’s presence. In mortality we live in a condition where we are subject to both physical and spiritual death. God has a perfect, glorified, immortal body of flesh and bones. To become like God and return to His presence, we too must have a perfect, immortal body of flesh and bones. However, because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, every person on earth has an imperfect, mortal body and will eventually die. If not for the Savior Jesus Christ, death would end all hope for a future existence with Heavenly Father.

       Along with physical death, sin is a major obstacle that keeps us from becoming like our Father in Heaven and returning to His presence. In our mortal condition we often yield to temptation, break God’s commandments, and sin. During our life on earth each of us makes mistakes. Although it sometimes appears otherwise, sin always leads to unhappiness. Sin causes feelings of guilt and shame. Because of our sins, we are unable to return to live with Heavenly Father unless we are first forgiven and cleansed.

       While we are in mortality, we have experiences that bring us happiness. We also have experiences that bring us pain and sorrow, some of which is caused by the sinful acts of others. These experiences provide us opportunities to learn and to grow, to distinguish good from evil, and to make choices. God influences us to do good; Satan tempts us to commit sin. As with physical death, we cannot overcome the effects of sin by ourselves. We are helpless without the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

      

II.   COURSE EXPECTATIONS

       The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life. The first principles and ordinances of His gospel are faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We must then endure to the end. By applying these principles throughout our lives, we follow the example of the Savior, learn to live His commandments, and develop Christlike attributes. We can be forgiven of our sins, and we will be able to return to live in the presence of our Father in Heaven.

III.       TEXT

           The Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price

           Other recommended materials include: For the Strength of Youth, Preach My Gospel, LDS Hymns, Gospel Principles, and The Ensign Magazine.

Note - We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

IV.       COURSE SCHEDULE

The following schedule is general and is subject to change. The tests listed below will not comprehensively reflect all the tests you will take in Life, but you will always know when it’s test-time.

The course readings are to be done by inspiration from the list provided in section II with emphasis on The Book of Mormon; as it is written for our time.

For Stage 1 your parents will do the reading for you.

Course Stages	Course Readings	Description
Stage 1	Ch. 1 Birth Ch.2 Early Childhood	You will be born to Earthly parents and be tutored by them.
Stage 2	Ch. 3 Baptism Ch. 4 Adolescence	You will be baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, which will be necessary as you enter into adolescence. If you are a boy, you will receive the Priesthood which is the power and authority to act in God’s name.
	Test 1	At 16 (at your parent’s discretion) you will be eligible to go on group dates.
Stage 3	Ch. 5 The Decade of Decision Note: You will be tested at every stage from here on out.	All worthy males should prepare to go on a mission at the age of 19. Worthy females may go on their missions at 21 after prayerful consideration. You will get married. You will begin a family. You will get an education. You will get a job.
Stage 4	Ch. 6 Middle Life	Your children will begin this Life course with you as their tutor through Stage 2.
Stage 5	Ch. 7 Retirement Ch. 8 Empty Nest	Your children will continue through the stages of Life with their spouses.
Stage 6	Ch. 9 Grandparent Ch. 10 Death	You will become a grandparent. You will cross the veil having completed the course. Congratulations!

4-8-2011 Courage

TOTD: Simple or profound - What is courage in your perspective?

Why: Courage has been on my mind A LOT lately. I couldn't even pinpoint when I began thinking about its implications, but stick with me; there's a lot to this one.

Courage is the most fundamental quality to learn and apply once you gain a conviction of eternal truths. Having a testimony but lacking courage will result in either hypocrisy or rebellion. That about sums up the thesis statement.

That statement cuts me to the core because I know it's true, and yet I still lack the proper portion of courage for what I feel to be a deep testimony of eternal truths. The fact is, most of us do. We can be convinced of the truth and still not be converted. That is what we are here to learn.

In our pre-mortal state we heard the Plan of our Heavenly Father, which teemed with truth, and we all shouted for joy. But just merely being excited for our purpose here didn't accomplish its ends. That would be as absurd as Lance Armstrong being told he could compete in the Tour de France after having beat cancer and him getting excited as if he had already won. It still took the work.

That's where courage comes in. Courage bridges the gap between conviction and conversion. Courage is displayed in the work, and often the work is very small.

In my TOTD I asked if courage was simple or profound. As always I received responses that agreed with my thoughts and many that differed, but none were wrong in my assessment; just viewed from different perspectives. Here are some of the responses I received:

      -  "Courage is your reliance on your faith" - Micah
      -  "Courage is doing what is right when the world says or does the opposite" - Dinah
      -  "[Courage is] a right to have an opinion and actually taking action on that opinion" - Kyle
      -  "Doing something that you're not comfortable doing but is the right thing to do or doing the not so popular thing which is the right thing to do" - Alyssa
      -  "Courage is the ability to honestly assess our weaknesses and correct them and make them strengths" - Aubry

Courage is something that is profound, but just look at the simple statements my friends/family used to describe this profound concept: relying, doing right, taking action, doing something uncomfortable, correcting weaknesses. In just a few words we can comprehend something that will affect us eternally.

So in answer to my own TOTD question, I say that courage is profoundly simple yet simply profound.

I realize that in my own life the most courageous things I could be doing could fit on a simple checklist: say family/personal prayers daily, do family/personal scripture study daily, do a Family Home Evening once a week, attend my church meetings, and so on.

It won't come as a surprise to many that know me that I actually DID make a checklist for myself... In fact, I went ahead and made a new version of the customized planner I have been working on:

 

Well, in conclusion, I think we all need to go back and watch movies like these:

All of which are based on true stories and depict men fighting courageously against the odds to do what they feel is right.

Thanks for reading (all 2 of you :))))

3-25-2011 - Sport Reactions

TOTD: I realized last night that this is very telling: What is your reaction to witnessing a team you're rooting for get destroyed?

Context: Last night I was over at my brother's apartment with my wife Sydney. We were there to watch college basketball. BYU vs. a team they eventually lost to. From what I learned in my crash-course study of BYU basketball yesterday before the game, this was the closest they've gotten to a championship in a long time (obviously I don't really watch a lot of sports beyond just the highlight reel).

So I studied about this Mormon dream-team and learned about a guy named Jimmer Frederette. I watched highlight after highlight of this guy come through for his team in amazing ways. It literally started to bring a tear to my eye. Which, actually if you know me isn't all that uncommon.

So we got to my brother's apartment at about halftime and saw the score: 36 to 36. My brother explained to me that Jimmer wasn't "on," and when the game started back up I saw that it was true.

When the final few minutes of the game began to wind down and the score was still so close, something very intriguing began to unfold. Not on the game, but within the 3 of us there watching it. As the game progressed, our reactions to BYU not performing well began to sound VERY familiar:

My brother's response was to say something along the lines of, "it's over, they lost" when BYU clearly had enough time and the ability to stage a comeback, if only their hearts could get behind it.

Sydney had to literally get up and walk away because, she said, it was too painful to stay and watch them do so bad.

And finally, I for the last few minutes of the game could NOT get my head around why BYU was not rebounding a SINGLE SHOT!!! I was very impatient with their seeming inability to perform in the way that I thought would help them win. Or at the very least help them to not look as terrible while losing.

What I learned: Each of our responses to witnessing this team we wanted to win get demolished were the exact same responses I've seen us have in trials.

My brother tends to dwell on worst case scenarios when confronted with problems, Sydney tends to fight all that she can bear and then leaves and tries to flee the problem when she feels that she can bear no more, and I definitely get impatient and not understanding of others circumstances when things aren't going as planned.

My learning continued in conversations I had with my trusted friends Wesley and Jimmy today. Their experiences seemed to parallel and evidence my claim that the way we react to watching a sports team we are rooting for get demolished is the same as our reactions to trials in the weakest sense.

What do you think?

Does this work in your case as well?

Give it some thought, and let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading!

Moving to a real blog

So, I like to be exact in my speaking and writing. Which tends to cause confusion if I don't have a clearly outlined thought process...But here we go anyway:


I figured I better make Thought of the Day a blog. The reason being is that every time I send out a TOTD (see description to learn more about what that entails) I learn some amazing things. That was the original purpose behind the whole thing. I learned on my mission and on many other occasions that understanding is compounded when it's discussed with trusted people. So I wanted to get as much understanding as possible. But I instantly felt selfish with all of this new-found knowledge. So I planned to put those understandings on Facebook under the group alias 'Thought of the Day,' but only 12 people have joined so far... So that doesn't seem to be a platform that will do these amazing understandings any justice. For now.

So I turn to you blogger. I will post here the new learnings after each TOTD, and of course I will also paste them to the group on Facebook. And soon, maybe, more people will get involved in the discussion.

For now, I will be consistent in doing these things, and hopefully in time compile somewhat of a database of thoughts, discussion, learning and understanding.

Thank you for reading.