Month: September 2008

Categories
culture life

Racing Together

We were discussing Concern for the One today in class and as we talked about how some people get lost because they grow weary one of the class members, Travis Staten, talked about a marathon that he ran recently. He talked of how weary people get running a marathon and about how everybody encourages their fellow runners. I thought of my own marathon experience and I can attest to that spirit of cooperation. Not only the encouragement from other runners, but the verbal encouragement from those spectators who are watching and cheering for all the runners passing them on the course. I suspect that the selfless instinct to bolster the spirits of all those who are racing “against you” comes from the fact that the course is so long that you are competing against yourself or against the course more than against your fellow competitors. Finishing is an accomplishment.

Travis summed it up perfectly by describing the feeling among runners as:

I’m going to make it – and so are you.

When he said that I realized that our approach to life should be exactly the same.

Categories
culture life

Love Waxing Cold

I won’t link to this kind of news article, but suffice it to say that the prophecy in Matthew 24:12 is clearly coming to pass in our day.

And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (emphasis added)

The news that proves this is not exclusive to today, or this year, or even this age, but it is increasing in frequency as the coldness of heart that exists in the absence of love becomes more widespread. People are more likely to cling to fear and hopelessness when they do not have the warmth of love in their hearts to sustain them. Sin has a chilling effect on the heart.

I take comfort in the promise that those who endure to the end shall be saved because it implies that we cannot be dragged down eternally without our choice. I am also comforted by the next phrase:

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (emphasis added)

UPDATE 9/25/08: I found an example where I am willing to share a link.

Categories
life

I Gave at the Office

When I see people asking for handouts on the street I have faced a quandry about how to react. I can’t give to all of them and I have no desire to give if the gift would be wasted. After reading Mosiah 4 (again) I realize that “I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give” (verse 24) can apply for those who have enough to give but who have already given as much as they are able.

In my case, I no longer need to feel any pang of regret for not carrying cash to give on the streets when I have already given to organizations that are meant to help those very same individuals. In other words, I gave at the office once I received my means without waiting to see who I might meet on the street. I no longer need worry if I should give and take the chance that it would be used wisely by an individual because I have selected only the most effective charitable organizations to receive what I am able to give.

Categories
culture life

Done in Wisdom and Order

I have heard this statement from Mosiah 4:27 applied to many things:

And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.

Somehow in all the repetitions, in my mind the statement had become divorced from the context in which it was given. I don’t mean to suggest that it was not applicable in all the places I have heard it applied, but I learned a lot about the proper disposition of material goods (the context it was given in) when I avoided generalizing the counsel.

The statement was made at the end of king Benjamin encouraging his people to give of their goods to those who sought their help if they were able. His statement was to remind those who might be overly generous, to not bring themselves to a beggars status in their efforts to help the beggars. Making that connection was not a major revelation to me, but combined with much of the best financial advice I have come across I came up with a comprehensive approach to the best way to allocate your money to be generous with others while not running faster than I have financial strength.

There are 5 avenues to dispense with material goods. In the proper order they are:

  1. Tithing
  2. Sustenance
  3. Savings
  4. Philanthropy
  5. Luxury

Having the order is one thing, but knowing how and when to allocate your means to each avenue is the tricky part.

First, pay tithing on whatever means you have. With what remains, provide for your own sustenance, in other words, the necessities of life for yourself and your family.

Second, once you have more means than are necessary for your bare necessities you should allocate some means to savings so as to be able to weather the financial storms that life will bring your way.

Third, when your means are sufficient for you to be able to put some money into savings on a regular basis you should start some form of philanthropy even if you are not able to save as much as you would wish to save. (I use the term philanthropy so as to avoid confusion with some of the meanings of the word “charity.”) As your means increase, you should increase your allocations to both savings and philanthropy in a balanced way (that may not be a 50/50 split, but it should not be giving a pittance to philanthropy while saving large amounts of money).

Fourth, once your savings has increased to the level you feel comfortable with for your future needs you may feel free to allocate excess resources towards some luxuries. (Of course by this time your sustenance should be exceeding a cardboard box for shelter and a diet that is limited to rice and Cup ‘o Noodles®.) As your means continue to increase you should increase your philanthropy at least as much as you increase your luxury (and you might want to increase your savings as well).

Finally, if your material means begin to exceed the level required for luxuries enough to make your live materially easy (meaning that more luxuries would not bring more fulfillment in your life) then you should allocate virtually all increases in your resources toward philanthropy.

Categories
life

Meet Zach

Yesterday we got a dog. We’ve been talking about it for a long time and Laura and I had decided by June to get one after the move. Two weeks ago (or even a week ago) we were expecting to get a dog for Christmas, but on Friday we decided to go look at a beagle that was available at the Humane Society. Since we were looking at dogs, which the kids loved, we visited the Pet Super Adoption that was taking place in Salt Lake City – that’s where we met Zach (he was named Brom there). He’s a Heeler/Terrier mix. He just fit right in with the rest of the family. Since the event was closing for the night and we didn’t know much about heelers (we had focused our research on beagles) we decided to learn what we could about his breed overnight and then adopt him in the morning (assuming we didn’t learn anything too alarming about heelers).

It was interesting yesterday while we were out running errands to see how Zach was so attached to everyone in the family. At one point I got out of the car to run a quick errand and he went from content to nearly frantic (according to Laura – I wasn’t there) until I came back. Later Laura left for a short time and he had the same reaction.

After only 24 hours we have had our first escape (this morning before church) and our first home alone time (church). We also know that Zach can jump the fence so we’re happy to see that he tends to come back. We are already looking forward to the time when we all get used to the new rhythms of pet ownership when we and Zach all know what to expect of each other.

Categories
culture

Living With Differences

In another case of starting to write a comment and discovering that the response would be a full-blown post, Frank wrote this excellent post about how we treat people who do things that run contrary to our values. He speaks of these things as differences, but I think it is important to recognize that while some of the situations are mere differences, many are cases where one party views the difference as a matter of moral importance. The reason that I think this is important is that I think that people act differently when they fear for their own moral standing than when the difference has no moral bearing.

There seem to be two main reasons why people shun or harshly treat others who are, or act, differently. One reason is that they fear the difference because they do not understand it, the other reason is that they fear that they will become different themselves if they do not repel those who exhibit the differences in question. In the first case, the solution is education regarding the difference so that there is no longer a need to fear. In the second case there are situations where quarrantine may be appropriate, such as with lepers in Biblical times.

With regards to issues that are perceived as having a moral bearing understanding of oneself might be the best way to differentiate between cases where acceptance is the proper course and times when quarrantine is the more desireable course. For many young people in the LDS culture there are two conflicting messages regarding interaction with those who are different – one is to be an example and befriend others, the second is to avoid the appearance of evil and steer clear of corrupting influences (which can easily be perceived as, or even turn into, shunning). If a person understands their own strengths and weaknesses they can decide when it is best to try to befriend someone who does something contrary to their values and when to avoid someone who would have a detrimental influence on them.

For example, if Person A smokes (to take a real, but hopefully non-political example) and Person B objects to smoking, Person B can decide whether to avoid Person A if Person B has enough self-awareness to know if they have any temptation to experiment with smoking. If Person B has such a propensity then they have good reason to stay away from Person A and others who smoke in order to address their own weakness (the weakness of Person B). If Person B has no inclination to experiment with smoking then they need not avoid Person A. Considering the medical effects of second-hand smoke, Person B may still choose to avoid person A while Person A is smoking but otherwise they may quite safely interact with Person A.

To put it another (generic) way, if we understand ourselves and seek to understand the differences that we encounter in others, we will be able to determine how dangerous those differences are to us personally and we will be able to treat others with respect while still protecting ourselves from those differences which play to our own weaknesses.

Categories
life

How Firm a Foundation

I woke up this morning with my brain making up variations on “The wise man built his house upon the rock.” (ex. “The wise man lived his life above reproach” or “The wise man spent his time above the fray.”) I really don’t know why I was thinking of that, but it fit right in with the lesson in Sunday school today about the foundation that we build our lives upon. One of the great things that Sister Monson did with the lesson was that she started off playing How Firm a Foundation while the class sang verses 1, 2, & 7. I love that hymn – like many that have extra verses written outside the music, we don’t sing the later verses nearly enough.

As we were talking about what it means to build our lives on a foundation of Christ I realized that our real foundation in life, no matter what we might profess, is the thing that never gives when push comes to shove. It reminded me of a discussion that took place on the blog of a friend in early 2007:

The key is to remember that there can be only one rock upon which to build your knowledge. Everything else must be window-dressing. . . Even your rock must be open for reexamination because if it can’t withstand a challenge it isn’t much of a rock.

If the foundation that we claim to be built on can be shifed by the challenges that we face then it is more sand than rock.

Categories
life meta

Cascading Changes

After splitting my political blogging onto another domain I realized that the change in focus here would necessitate some other changes such as a more appropriate set of features and a different theme. I realized that I had taken two years of experimenting to finally get the right setup to foster the dialog on political matters. I figure I have a headstart here since the purpose is a bit simpler and I have two years of experience that I did not have when I started Pursuit of Liberty. I don’t think this will take anywhere near two years to get the right setup to make this personal site operate like I want.

Today I unveil a new theme – it’s not complete, but it’s a start away from being a copy of what I had before splitting the sites.

Categories
life meta

New Domain

I have been wanting to get a more suitable domain name for Pursuit of Liberty for some time and I have been wanting to do some less political writing (family journal type) here. I finally took the plunge and purchased pursuitofliberty.net (I’m looking into getting pursuitofliberty.com, but while the current owner mulls multiple offers I decided to move ahead with something). Nothing is being removed here although anyone who actually visits the site will see that I have gone back to a previous theme. This will start to be updated less frequently and less politically and I will be developing a more personal theme that fits the different focus of my website. I have imported all the posts of any political nature at the new domain and will continue to write politically as I have been doing – minus the really non-political stuff. For those who are interested in my political writing, here is the new feed. I hope that everyone can make the transition smoothly with me so that all the great comments keep coming.

For those few people who have long wished that I would talk more about my family (Mom) your wish is granted, and you don’t even need to remember a new URL.

Categories
politics State

Talk About Tolling

As another group of local government officials stands up in opposition to tolling the Mountain View Corridor (MVC), I was surprised to read this in the Salt Lake Tribune:

While the Utah Department of Transportation has explored user fees as a funding option – one that could cost some west-siders up to $200 a month – state Transportation Commission Chairman Stuart Adams said his panel hasn’t seriously considered it.

“I don’t think anyone wants to take a tool out of the toolbox and throw it away,” Adams said, “but it isn’t a tool that has been talked about.”

I could not believe that the Transportation Commission has not discussed tolling yet. The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has and there are rumors that congestion pricing will be recommended for freeways nationally.

It’s about time that the Transportation Commission started talking about this tool – and they should apply it across the board. Ideally, I-15 and the MVC should each include congestion pricing along-side a free lane or two (meaning always free rather than only free when traffic is low).