April 23, 2007, Observation:
Last Thursday evening (April 19, 2007) Jo Anne and I had the privilege and opportunity of speaking at the interfaith Chapel at Chapman University in Orange, California, to a group of faculty and students. Being on a college campus so soon after the Virginia Tech Massacre brought into our minds and hearts most vividly the great tragedy that had occurred in the lives of those young students and some of their professors. We were all still sobered and saddened by what happened at Virginia Tech. Being with these students at Chapman University, we could feel their enthusiasm for life and hopes for the future, as well as sense their great potential, which made what had happened earlier in the week at Virginia Tech all the more heart rendering. That evening at Chapman University, our hearts and prayers went out to the families and friends of those whose young lives were cut short by this senseless act of violence.
I suppose that for many years to come, people will be asking the question why something like this ever had to happen. I have been thinking about this question a great deal this week, and probably don't have any better answer than anybody else, I am sure. However, let me share with you some thoughts that have come into my mind as I have pondered "why."
Years ago, a wonderful English teacher, in trying to teach me how to write, making a thesis statement and then supporting and defending it in each succeeding paragraph, gave me the following statement as an example of a thesis statement: "The history of the world is a bath of blood." It was plain for me then to see how by using that statement as a thesis for an essay, I could easily marshal evidence from history that would substantiate and defend that statement as being very true.
At times I think we may believe we are the only people that have ever experienced terrorist attacks, suicide bombers, senseless murders, and those of us who are older, many major wars where literally millions of people have been killed. Of course, all we need to do is look at the history of this world to realize that from the time Cain killed Abel "the history of the world truly has been a bath of blood." Instead of just focusing on what happened at Virginia Tech, perhaps a question that would put all of mankind's experience on this earth from the beginning of time into perspective, is why has "the history of the world been a bath of blood?"
I am no psychologist or philosopher, and I don't believe they have the answer anyway, because the ultimate answer comes from the Scriptures and is spiritual in nature. As I have pondered the question of man's inhumanity to man from literally the beginning of time, I have concluded that King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon went to the heart and root of the problem better than anyone else ever has.
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." [Mosiah 3:19]
I believe King Benjamin selected his words very carefully in speaking to his people. The natural man is, and has always been, an enemy to God from the very beginning. The natural man, void of the Spirit, can enter a state the Scriptures describe as "past feeling", and which I call a state of "spiritual paralysis". One who is physically paralyzed cannot feel those parts of his body that are paralyzed, and one who is "spiritually paralyzed" cannot feel the still small voice of the Spirit and in that state can do unthinkably horrible things. Nazi Germany became "spiritually paralyzed" as did the Nephites and Lamanites in Book of Mormon times as well as countless other civilizations and people from the beginning of time.
King Benjamin however, gives us the key to overcoming the "natural man." He says that if we will but "yield" to the "enticings" of the Holy Spirit we can put off the natural man. The word "yield" means "to give up and cease resistance or contention." Some synonyms are, surrender, submit, and capitulate. "Enticings" or entice means "to attract artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or desire." A synonym is the word "lure". Isn't it interesting that skilled fishermen know how to use a "lure" to artfully attract a fish to bite? Then they are able to work the fish until it "yields" or surrenders. The Holy Spirit will not beat us over the head or use any kind of force, but will constantly entice us to yield -- to surrender our pride, arrogance, vanity and lustful desires. As we are willing to yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit we can put off the "natural man" and become saints through the atonement of Jesus Christ, possessing the qualities of little children, being: submissive, meek, humble, patient, and full of love.
I doubt that CNN or politicians will jump on this as the solution to tragedies like the Virginia Tech Massacre, bloodshed and violence in Afghanistan and Iraq, and hatred and murder between Israelis and Palestinians, etc., but truthfully "putting off the natural man" is the only solution to these kinds of problems. Will this ever happen? Sad to say it won't until the Prince of Peace ushers in his millennial reign. In the meantime, I believe we will continue to see escalating terror, senseless murders, and the nightly news filled with stories of man's inhumanity to man. Those of our generation will come to know only too well the truthfulness that "The history of the world is a bath of blood," because the "natural man" is an enemy to God.
I don't think the Virginia Tech Massacre has anything to do with who has or hasn't guns, or an adequate security system, but it has everything to do with "the natural man" and "spiritual paralysis." Until individuals all over the world are willing to yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and become like little children we, as a world population, will be at a constant state of war.
Am I overly simplistic and idealistic? I am sure I am, but I know in my heart the truthfulness of King Benjamin's words as being the only solution to the wickedness and violence in which we live.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Monday, April 23, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Admiral Lord Nelson
April 13, 2007, Observation:
This week I just finished reading a most interesting book entitled, Nelson's Trafalgar, written by Roy Adkins. Years ago Jo Anne and I were in London and visited Trafalgar Square. In Trafalgar Square we saw the country's memorial to the most inspiring leader the British Navy ever had. Nelson's column, erected in 1840, stands 170ft high and is crowned with a statue of Nelson on the top.
At the time of our visit to Trafalgar Square we knew nothing of Admiral Lord Nelson or the Battle of Trafalgar. Although my curiosity was piqued then regarding Lord Nelson, I did nothing about it until several weeks ago when Jo Anne and I were in Costco. The minute we get into Costco I head for the tables that have the books on them, and lo and behold there was a paperback copy of Nelson's Trafalgar. I convinced Jo Anne I needed it badly and she humored me by letting me buy it.
Reading this book has been a sobering, but at the same time, an inspiring experience. The author has quoted extensively from the journals of the captains and seamen; there were 17,000 British sailors who fought in this bloody and horrific sea battle -- the last major sea battle fought by wooden ships with sails. The blood and carnage is a bit difficult to read about, but at the same time it heightens one's appreciation of sea life and war in the early 1800s and the courage of those involved. I will share with you two significant things I have learned from Admiral Lord Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar that have impressed themselves upon my mind and heart.
The Battle of Trafalgar was fought on October 21, 1805, off the coast of Spain near the large Spanish city of Cadiz, and at a point near the coast called Trafalgar. Napoleon had his French army poised on the coast of France ready to cross the English Channel and invade England. He couldn't do this however, unless he knew that he had destroyed the British Navy and could cross the Channel unmolested. The French and Spanish were allies and had a vast combined fleet of French and Spanish warships that was much larger than anything that Great Britain could put together at the time. France and Spain had the ships and the manpower but they didn't have Admiral Lord Nelson.
The British Navy had been blockading the harbor at Cadiz for months, but finally the combined French and Spanish fleet was able to escape which led to the showdown at Trafalgar. The leaders of the British Empire knew that if the British fleet was defeated by the French and Spanish that a French invasion would be inevitable. Admiral Lord Nelson, the Admiral of the British fleet, was given the assignment by his government and King to destroy the French and Spanish Armada. Nelson was a brilliant tactician and had gained vast knowledge of how to successfully conduct a sea battle between wooden ships with sails. He had been wounded in a previous engagement, losing one of his arms and an eye, and never again experienced robust health. Much of his life was spent at sea where he had also suffered from scurvy and other diseases incident to sea life in those days. He was only 5'4" tall but seemed so much bigger in the eyes of those he led.
The first thing that has impressed me about Admiral Lord Nelson was his style of leadership. After the British fleet had defeated and destroyed most of the combined French and Spanish fleet, the Admiral of the combined fleet, a Frenchman, said that the British won the Battle of Trafalgar because the captain of every British ship was a Lord Nelson. This was true! Lord Nelson had trained his captains to be very independent and self sufficient. As they went into the battle against the combined fleet his order was for his captains not to look to him or the flagship Victory to tell them what to do in the heat of battle. They knew he had trained them how to fight the battle once it began, and they were to be creative and use common sense as the battle unfolded. Thankfully for Great Britain this is what they did, because early on in the battle, Lord Nelson was mortally wounded and died. Most of the captains did not know he had perished until the battle was over and the combined fleet was conquered. On the other hand, the French and Spanish captains looked to their leader and flagship for direction as to what to do once the battle commenced. There was so much confusion, noise, death and destruction once the battle began, it was impossible to communicate from ship to ship and the British captains gained control quickly.
Never threatened by those about him, but wanting to create great leaders that could "win the battle" without him micromanaging them, Lord Nelson was a great and effective teacher and leader of men. This seems to me to be such a significant principle of leadership. Moses tried to teach this principle to his successor, Joshua, when Joshua was but a young man.
"And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him [Moses], and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. But there remained two of the men in the camp...and the spirit rested upon them... and they prophesied in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!" [Numbers 11:25-29] [emphasis added] I believe any successful organization that endures the test of time must have this style of leadership -- the Church certainly does.
As I have read this book I have also been impressed with the word and concept of "duty." Just before the English engaged the combined fleet, Nelson signaled from the flagship Victory the one and only message his captains and seamen would receive from him before and during the battle -"England expects that every man will do his duty." When this message was received it had an electrifying effect among the men on the ships. Seemingly, the desire in the heart of most of the British sailors that day was to do his duty come what may. Severely wounded men and officers remained at their posts doing their duty until victory had been gained and their beloved England saved. In fact, Nelson's final famous words (as related by Victory's Surgeon, William Beatty, who was with Nelson when he died) were "Thank God I have done my duty." According to Beatty, he repeated these words several times until he became unable to speak. To do their "duty" seems to have been at the heart of all that was important to Admiral Lord Nelson and his men. Doing their duty, they saved England from Napoleon's armies and ultimate domination of the Western world as we now know it by the Dictator-Emperor. Nelson's style of leadership and devotion to duty could be the foundation upon which any successful life or organization is built.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
This week I just finished reading a most interesting book entitled, Nelson's Trafalgar, written by Roy Adkins. Years ago Jo Anne and I were in London and visited Trafalgar Square. In Trafalgar Square we saw the country's memorial to the most inspiring leader the British Navy ever had. Nelson's column, erected in 1840, stands 170ft high and is crowned with a statue of Nelson on the top.
At the time of our visit to Trafalgar Square we knew nothing of Admiral Lord Nelson or the Battle of Trafalgar. Although my curiosity was piqued then regarding Lord Nelson, I did nothing about it until several weeks ago when Jo Anne and I were in Costco. The minute we get into Costco I head for the tables that have the books on them, and lo and behold there was a paperback copy of Nelson's Trafalgar. I convinced Jo Anne I needed it badly and she humored me by letting me buy it.
Reading this book has been a sobering, but at the same time, an inspiring experience. The author has quoted extensively from the journals of the captains and seamen; there were 17,000 British sailors who fought in this bloody and horrific sea battle -- the last major sea battle fought by wooden ships with sails. The blood and carnage is a bit difficult to read about, but at the same time it heightens one's appreciation of sea life and war in the early 1800s and the courage of those involved. I will share with you two significant things I have learned from Admiral Lord Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar that have impressed themselves upon my mind and heart.
The Battle of Trafalgar was fought on October 21, 1805, off the coast of Spain near the large Spanish city of Cadiz, and at a point near the coast called Trafalgar. Napoleon had his French army poised on the coast of France ready to cross the English Channel and invade England. He couldn't do this however, unless he knew that he had destroyed the British Navy and could cross the Channel unmolested. The French and Spanish were allies and had a vast combined fleet of French and Spanish warships that was much larger than anything that Great Britain could put together at the time. France and Spain had the ships and the manpower but they didn't have Admiral Lord Nelson.
The British Navy had been blockading the harbor at Cadiz for months, but finally the combined French and Spanish fleet was able to escape which led to the showdown at Trafalgar. The leaders of the British Empire knew that if the British fleet was defeated by the French and Spanish that a French invasion would be inevitable. Admiral Lord Nelson, the Admiral of the British fleet, was given the assignment by his government and King to destroy the French and Spanish Armada. Nelson was a brilliant tactician and had gained vast knowledge of how to successfully conduct a sea battle between wooden ships with sails. He had been wounded in a previous engagement, losing one of his arms and an eye, and never again experienced robust health. Much of his life was spent at sea where he had also suffered from scurvy and other diseases incident to sea life in those days. He was only 5'4" tall but seemed so much bigger in the eyes of those he led.
The first thing that has impressed me about Admiral Lord Nelson was his style of leadership. After the British fleet had defeated and destroyed most of the combined French and Spanish fleet, the Admiral of the combined fleet, a Frenchman, said that the British won the Battle of Trafalgar because the captain of every British ship was a Lord Nelson. This was true! Lord Nelson had trained his captains to be very independent and self sufficient. As they went into the battle against the combined fleet his order was for his captains not to look to him or the flagship Victory to tell them what to do in the heat of battle. They knew he had trained them how to fight the battle once it began, and they were to be creative and use common sense as the battle unfolded. Thankfully for Great Britain this is what they did, because early on in the battle, Lord Nelson was mortally wounded and died. Most of the captains did not know he had perished until the battle was over and the combined fleet was conquered. On the other hand, the French and Spanish captains looked to their leader and flagship for direction as to what to do once the battle commenced. There was so much confusion, noise, death and destruction once the battle began, it was impossible to communicate from ship to ship and the British captains gained control quickly.
Never threatened by those about him, but wanting to create great leaders that could "win the battle" without him micromanaging them, Lord Nelson was a great and effective teacher and leader of men. This seems to me to be such a significant principle of leadership. Moses tried to teach this principle to his successor, Joshua, when Joshua was but a young man.
"And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him [Moses], and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. But there remained two of the men in the camp...and the spirit rested upon them... and they prophesied in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!" [Numbers 11:25-29] [emphasis added] I believe any successful organization that endures the test of time must have this style of leadership -- the Church certainly does.
As I have read this book I have also been impressed with the word and concept of "duty." Just before the English engaged the combined fleet, Nelson signaled from the flagship Victory the one and only message his captains and seamen would receive from him before and during the battle -"England expects that every man will do his duty." When this message was received it had an electrifying effect among the men on the ships. Seemingly, the desire in the heart of most of the British sailors that day was to do his duty come what may. Severely wounded men and officers remained at their posts doing their duty until victory had been gained and their beloved England saved. In fact, Nelson's final famous words (as related by Victory's Surgeon, William Beatty, who was with Nelson when he died) were "Thank God I have done my duty." According to Beatty, he repeated these words several times until he became unable to speak. To do their "duty" seems to have been at the heart of all that was important to Admiral Lord Nelson and his men. Doing their duty, they saved England from Napoleon's armies and ultimate domination of the Western world as we now know it by the Dictator-Emperor. Nelson's style of leadership and devotion to duty could be the foundation upon which any successful life or organization is built.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Invasion of the Ants
Jo Anne's birthday is on April 1 -- April Fools' Day. She was the fourth child born after three brothers, and into a family that would ultimately number ten children. Being the first girl born in her family, and on April Fools' Day, she truly did fool her parents. There is no fooling however that Jo Anne has been a source of joy to all that have ever known her.
Of her many sterling qualities there are two that are very special and have impacted my life in a positive way over the years. She has been blessed with the ability to live life and serve others with "unwearyingness." The word "unwearyingness" does not appear in my online dictionary, but I believe the meaning of the word is very self evident however. It implies never giving up, being firm and steadfast, and enduring well to the end. I can think of no better word to describe Jo Anne.
Of the many examples I could give to support my claim that she has developed in her life the significant quality of "unwearyingness" let me just share one. I sleep in a hospital bed downstairs while Jo Anne occupies the master bedroom upstairs. We have a baby monitor in my room, a receiver in the dining room, and one in the master bedroom. It works really well and Jo Anne can hear any unusual sound emanating from my bedroom. Almost every night, usually after midnight when she is in a deep sleep, I invariably need help. I speak in a normal voice into the baby monitor something like this, "Jo Anne, I hate to wake you up but I really do need your help; it is not an emergency -- don't panic -- but if you could come down it would be a great blessing because I'm not breathing really well." A minute or two will elapse and then Jo Anne will almost magically appear at my bedside. At that time in the morning she looks a little scary but she takes care of my need and then invariably asks if there is anything else she can do for me. She never makes me feel that I am imposing on her or that she is upset because I have awakened her out of a blissful and deep sleep. She has been doing this for years with "unwearyingness." I believe one's true "Christianity" is severely tested in the early morning hours when required to leave a warm comfortable bed to see to the needs of another.
The other character trait I will comment on that Jo Anne possesses in abundance is her creativity. She is never content to simply maintain the status quo. Regarding my care she is constantly inventing new and better ways of doing things. She has invented different items that I think could be patented that have made her caring for me and the quality of my life so much better. Her creativity however, reached its high point the morning of what I call the dreaded "Invasion of the Ants".
It happened one summer morning a number of years ago. The day and night preceding the "Invasion" the weather was unusually hot. Ants seem to want to be as comfortable as we do, and so during the hot weather they will seek a cooler environment. When Jo Anne put me to bed that night, because of the heat, she left my windows open a little bit to let whatever cool breeze was available into my room. During the night the Ant nation sent out some scouts to find food and a better environment for their friends and relatives. They somehow sensed that my bedroom window was open and lucky for them they found me. I'm sure the following conversation took place between the scouts: "Wow, look at the hunk of dead meat that we have found! If we can somehow get it home it will feed everyone for years to come. It's going to take the entire nation however, to accomplish this feat." And so during the night the entire ant nation invaded my bedroom and tried to carry me off. These ants were very smart in that they somehow sensed they shouldn't travel beyond my neck and therefore I slept blissfully through the night unaware of the "invasion."
In the morning Jo Anne came in to turn me onto my back, and when she pulled the covers off she saw I was covered from my neck to my feet with ants. I must admit she did scream just a tad and then disappeared. A second later she appeared at my bedside with a big can of Black Flag insect killer, and proceeded to spray me and the ants with a generous amount of this poison. In a minute or two she had successfully annihilated the ant nation and had almost gotten rid of me as well. Again she disappeared and quickly reappeared with her little vacuum cleaner (she is a vacuum junkie and always has a wide variety of vacuums on the premises), and using the hose attachment proceeded to vacuum up the dead ants from my body and the bed. Soon no evidence remained of the massacre of the ants, but the upside, as well as the downside was that for the next week, no insect, pest, or human being would get very close to me. You just have to love a girl with that kind of creativity don't you?
Thank you, Jo Anne, for your "unwearyingness" and "creativity", and by the way, have a happy birthday -- no fooling!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Of her many sterling qualities there are two that are very special and have impacted my life in a positive way over the years. She has been blessed with the ability to live life and serve others with "unwearyingness." The word "unwearyingness" does not appear in my online dictionary, but I believe the meaning of the word is very self evident however. It implies never giving up, being firm and steadfast, and enduring well to the end. I can think of no better word to describe Jo Anne.
Of the many examples I could give to support my claim that she has developed in her life the significant quality of "unwearyingness" let me just share one. I sleep in a hospital bed downstairs while Jo Anne occupies the master bedroom upstairs. We have a baby monitor in my room, a receiver in the dining room, and one in the master bedroom. It works really well and Jo Anne can hear any unusual sound emanating from my bedroom. Almost every night, usually after midnight when she is in a deep sleep, I invariably need help. I speak in a normal voice into the baby monitor something like this, "Jo Anne, I hate to wake you up but I really do need your help; it is not an emergency -- don't panic -- but if you could come down it would be a great blessing because I'm not breathing really well." A minute or two will elapse and then Jo Anne will almost magically appear at my bedside. At that time in the morning she looks a little scary but she takes care of my need and then invariably asks if there is anything else she can do for me. She never makes me feel that I am imposing on her or that she is upset because I have awakened her out of a blissful and deep sleep. She has been doing this for years with "unwearyingness." I believe one's true "Christianity" is severely tested in the early morning hours when required to leave a warm comfortable bed to see to the needs of another.
The other character trait I will comment on that Jo Anne possesses in abundance is her creativity. She is never content to simply maintain the status quo. Regarding my care she is constantly inventing new and better ways of doing things. She has invented different items that I think could be patented that have made her caring for me and the quality of my life so much better. Her creativity however, reached its high point the morning of what I call the dreaded "Invasion of the Ants".
It happened one summer morning a number of years ago. The day and night preceding the "Invasion" the weather was unusually hot. Ants seem to want to be as comfortable as we do, and so during the hot weather they will seek a cooler environment. When Jo Anne put me to bed that night, because of the heat, she left my windows open a little bit to let whatever cool breeze was available into my room. During the night the Ant nation sent out some scouts to find food and a better environment for their friends and relatives. They somehow sensed that my bedroom window was open and lucky for them they found me. I'm sure the following conversation took place between the scouts: "Wow, look at the hunk of dead meat that we have found! If we can somehow get it home it will feed everyone for years to come. It's going to take the entire nation however, to accomplish this feat." And so during the night the entire ant nation invaded my bedroom and tried to carry me off. These ants were very smart in that they somehow sensed they shouldn't travel beyond my neck and therefore I slept blissfully through the night unaware of the "invasion."
In the morning Jo Anne came in to turn me onto my back, and when she pulled the covers off she saw I was covered from my neck to my feet with ants. I must admit she did scream just a tad and then disappeared. A second later she appeared at my bedside with a big can of Black Flag insect killer, and proceeded to spray me and the ants with a generous amount of this poison. In a minute or two she had successfully annihilated the ant nation and had almost gotten rid of me as well. Again she disappeared and quickly reappeared with her little vacuum cleaner (she is a vacuum junkie and always has a wide variety of vacuums on the premises), and using the hose attachment proceeded to vacuum up the dead ants from my body and the bed. Soon no evidence remained of the massacre of the ants, but the upside, as well as the downside was that for the next week, no insect, pest, or human being would get very close to me. You just have to love a girl with that kind of creativity don't you?
Thank you, Jo Anne, for your "unwearyingness" and "creativity", and by the way, have a happy birthday -- no fooling!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Friday, March 16, 2007
Healing of the paralytic
Friday, March 16, 2007 Observation:
A few weeks ago in our Gospel Doctrine class I was teaching a lesson about the healing miracles of Jesus using the Gospel of Mark as our primary source. As usual, the poor members of our class were at my mercy as I always select the content we will consider each week. The suggested scriptural content to be covered invariably exceeds the amount of class time available. This particular Sunday I chose to spend some time with Jesus' healing of a paralyzed man in Capernaum -- Peter and Andrew's hometown. The story is well known and is found in Mark 2:1-12. For some reason Mark's account of the healing of the paralyzed man is one of my favorite healing incidents recorded in the New Testament. I wonder why?
News spread like wildfire that Jesus was in town. His reputation had preceded him and the home he was in was thronged with a multitude of people, making it impossible to even get near the door. The paralyzed man had four friends that took him on a stretcher to the home, attached ropes to the stretcher and hauled the man up to the roof top, broke open the roof, and lowered him down at the very feet of Jesus. I like to think that the Savior had a smile on his face as he witnessed the ingenuity and faith displayed by these four men in behalf of their paralyzed friend. Jesus healed the paralyzed man who eventually left the home -- and in my mind's eye I can see the five of them walking arm in arm down the dusty lane -- undoubtedly rejoicing in the great miracle that they had participated in and witnessed. They must have talked about this Jesus and who he really was to be able to have performed such a mighty miracle. Perhaps however, the greatest miracle of all was the miracle of faith, love, kindness, and compassion, exhibited by four friends that brought the paralyzed man to the feet of Jesus so he could be healed.
My focus on this incident is perhaps a bit different from what many others would stress, which would be the faith of these men and the great healing power of Jesus. To me it is all of that, but also so much more. It is a wonderful and inspiring story of love, kindness, compassion, and friendship, involving four unnamed men and their paralyzed friend. I have thought that if Jesus were to come to our "village" I have friends, blessed with faith and ingenuity that would get me to the feet of the Savior so that I could be healed, whatever effort it might take on their part. Having been the recipient of countless acts of kindness and compassion myself during the past 17 1/2 years I have a little feeling for how the now healed paralyzed man must have felt toward his four friends and the Savior.
The other day Jo Anne and I traveled to Kaiser Permanente (our HMO) in Mission Viejo for Jo Anne to visit the dermatologist. It was one of my happiest trips to the doctor in some time because it didn't involve me. Jo Anne's visit didn't last long and we were soon in the pharmacy getting some medication and ointments that had been prescribed by the doctor. Things weren't moving along quickly in the pharmacy and it was cold in the building so I decided to drive my wheelchair out into the parking lot and face the sun which was shining brightly that day. Having the sun hit my face is like being under a giant heat lamp that warms up my entire body. I parked my wheelchair by the side of our van with the unrealistic expectation that Jo Anne would soon be there.
I imagine I was about 100 yards or so from the building, which is not really smart when you are on life-support. I had only been there a minute or two when a very large security guard approached me and politely asked if there was anything he could do to help me. I told him that I was fine and was waiting for my wife to come, an activity at which I was an expert. He laughed but looked very uneasy and wondered if maybe he could escort me back to the building. I hated to leave the sunny parking lot but I sensed that this security guard really had my best interest at heart, so I tooled over to the building to see if Jo Anne was still alive and making some progress in getting her medication from the pharmacy.
Through a large plate glass window that separated the waiting area from the pharmacy I could see Jo Anne standing in line behind a number of other people. I was grateful that I had a place to sit down and at least was rather comfortable in spite of the cold. I hadn't sat there very long when one of the pharmacists, a young lady, came out into the waiting area and asked me if she could help me somehow. She told me she had seen me sitting out there for some time and thought I must certainly need some help. I told her I indeed looked like I probably did need lots of help and if she could have any influence over the other people in line that maybe she could hurry along the process so that Jo Anne and I could eventually go home before they started charging us rent. She gave me a big smile as she disappeared into the pharmacy which was now beginning to resemble in my mind, the Bermuda Triangle.
Shortly after the lady pharmacist had spoken to me an elderly lady came walking out of the pharmacy and saw me sitting there. As she started to pass by she said "Boy, do you have a rough road to travel!" I smiled at her and told her it wasn't that bad, that life was really good, and that it was "good to be alive!" My comment caught her off guard and she stopped to visit with me, eventually leaving with a smile on her face and telling me that I had made her day. I could also tell you about several other people who offered to get me on the elevator while Jo Anne was registering us at the main desk but I won't. They were all kind, considerate, and concerned.
It has been a great learning experience for me to be part of a minority group for the past 17 1/2 years. For much of my life I was fairly "normal" and may not have been very sensitive to the underprivileged, mobility impaired, or those having special needs of one kind or another. I really can't express how acts and expressions of kindness and compassion from family, friends, and from strangers, touches my heart. As the years have passed by, instead of my injury making me cynical and suspicious of others, it has had the opposite effect. There are a multitude of good folks out there of every religious persuasion, nationality, and culture. I am impressed with the basic goodness and decency of so many of Heavenly Father's children.
"And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four." [Mark 2: 3]
Perhaps a worthy goal in all of our lives would be to be one of the "four" who made sure their paralyzed friend was given the opportunity to come under the healing influence of Christ. No one will ever know the feelings of joy and gratitude that must have filled the heart of the healed, formerly paralyzed man, toward his friends and the Savior.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
A few weeks ago in our Gospel Doctrine class I was teaching a lesson about the healing miracles of Jesus using the Gospel of Mark as our primary source. As usual, the poor members of our class were at my mercy as I always select the content we will consider each week. The suggested scriptural content to be covered invariably exceeds the amount of class time available. This particular Sunday I chose to spend some time with Jesus' healing of a paralyzed man in Capernaum -- Peter and Andrew's hometown. The story is well known and is found in Mark 2:1-12. For some reason Mark's account of the healing of the paralyzed man is one of my favorite healing incidents recorded in the New Testament. I wonder why?
News spread like wildfire that Jesus was in town. His reputation had preceded him and the home he was in was thronged with a multitude of people, making it impossible to even get near the door. The paralyzed man had four friends that took him on a stretcher to the home, attached ropes to the stretcher and hauled the man up to the roof top, broke open the roof, and lowered him down at the very feet of Jesus. I like to think that the Savior had a smile on his face as he witnessed the ingenuity and faith displayed by these four men in behalf of their paralyzed friend. Jesus healed the paralyzed man who eventually left the home -- and in my mind's eye I can see the five of them walking arm in arm down the dusty lane -- undoubtedly rejoicing in the great miracle that they had participated in and witnessed. They must have talked about this Jesus and who he really was to be able to have performed such a mighty miracle. Perhaps however, the greatest miracle of all was the miracle of faith, love, kindness, and compassion, exhibited by four friends that brought the paralyzed man to the feet of Jesus so he could be healed.
My focus on this incident is perhaps a bit different from what many others would stress, which would be the faith of these men and the great healing power of Jesus. To me it is all of that, but also so much more. It is a wonderful and inspiring story of love, kindness, compassion, and friendship, involving four unnamed men and their paralyzed friend. I have thought that if Jesus were to come to our "village" I have friends, blessed with faith and ingenuity that would get me to the feet of the Savior so that I could be healed, whatever effort it might take on their part. Having been the recipient of countless acts of kindness and compassion myself during the past 17 1/2 years I have a little feeling for how the now healed paralyzed man must have felt toward his four friends and the Savior.
The other day Jo Anne and I traveled to Kaiser Permanente (our HMO) in Mission Viejo for Jo Anne to visit the dermatologist. It was one of my happiest trips to the doctor in some time because it didn't involve me. Jo Anne's visit didn't last long and we were soon in the pharmacy getting some medication and ointments that had been prescribed by the doctor. Things weren't moving along quickly in the pharmacy and it was cold in the building so I decided to drive my wheelchair out into the parking lot and face the sun which was shining brightly that day. Having the sun hit my face is like being under a giant heat lamp that warms up my entire body. I parked my wheelchair by the side of our van with the unrealistic expectation that Jo Anne would soon be there.
I imagine I was about 100 yards or so from the building, which is not really smart when you are on life-support. I had only been there a minute or two when a very large security guard approached me and politely asked if there was anything he could do to help me. I told him that I was fine and was waiting for my wife to come, an activity at which I was an expert. He laughed but looked very uneasy and wondered if maybe he could escort me back to the building. I hated to leave the sunny parking lot but I sensed that this security guard really had my best interest at heart, so I tooled over to the building to see if Jo Anne was still alive and making some progress in getting her medication from the pharmacy.
Through a large plate glass window that separated the waiting area from the pharmacy I could see Jo Anne standing in line behind a number of other people. I was grateful that I had a place to sit down and at least was rather comfortable in spite of the cold. I hadn't sat there very long when one of the pharmacists, a young lady, came out into the waiting area and asked me if she could help me somehow. She told me she had seen me sitting out there for some time and thought I must certainly need some help. I told her I indeed looked like I probably did need lots of help and if she could have any influence over the other people in line that maybe she could hurry along the process so that Jo Anne and I could eventually go home before they started charging us rent. She gave me a big smile as she disappeared into the pharmacy which was now beginning to resemble in my mind, the Bermuda Triangle.
Shortly after the lady pharmacist had spoken to me an elderly lady came walking out of the pharmacy and saw me sitting there. As she started to pass by she said "Boy, do you have a rough road to travel!" I smiled at her and told her it wasn't that bad, that life was really good, and that it was "good to be alive!" My comment caught her off guard and she stopped to visit with me, eventually leaving with a smile on her face and telling me that I had made her day. I could also tell you about several other people who offered to get me on the elevator while Jo Anne was registering us at the main desk but I won't. They were all kind, considerate, and concerned.
It has been a great learning experience for me to be part of a minority group for the past 17 1/2 years. For much of my life I was fairly "normal" and may not have been very sensitive to the underprivileged, mobility impaired, or those having special needs of one kind or another. I really can't express how acts and expressions of kindness and compassion from family, friends, and from strangers, touches my heart. As the years have passed by, instead of my injury making me cynical and suspicious of others, it has had the opposite effect. There are a multitude of good folks out there of every religious persuasion, nationality, and culture. I am impressed with the basic goodness and decency of so many of Heavenly Father's children.
"And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four." [Mark 2: 3]
Perhaps a worthy goal in all of our lives would be to be one of the "four" who made sure their paralyzed friend was given the opportunity to come under the healing influence of Christ. No one will ever know the feelings of joy and gratitude that must have filled the heart of the healed, formerly paralyzed man, toward his friends and the Savior.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Monday, March 5, 2007
Choices verses Circumstances
Monday, March 5, 2007, Observation:
Last week I had the opportunity of visiting with my 40-year-old nephew, John Michael Stuart. John was born with cerebral palsy which affected his motor skills but not his mind. He is bright beyond bright, has read widely and deeply, is currently writing a book, has a master's degree in social work, teaches the temple preparation class in his ward, and serves as executive secretary in the bishopric. John's life has not been easy but he is a great example to me of one who has not let his circumstances in life, limit or control his behavior in a negative manner.
One of the burdens John has had to bear throughout his life is that those who don't know him, at times mistakenly believe that not only is he physically impaired but mentally handicapped as well. One can only imagine the anguish this has caused John. As we were visiting the other day he told me of an experience he recently had at a little post office in the mountains where he and his family were staying. He needed to mail a letter but because of his lack of motor skills was unable to address it. He got in line and when it was his turn he asked the postmistress if she would please address his letter for him. In an angry voice she told him no. She said she didn't have the time or the desire to do so and why would he ask her to do this in the first place. John tried to explain his predicament but she simply refused to listen or respond in a kind manner to him. In the midst of his frustration a lady standing behind him tapped him on the shoulder and told him that she would be happy to address his letter for him. John gave her the address, she wrote it on the envelope, and the letter was mailed.
John was incensed, burning up with anger, boiling inside, because of the way the postmistress had treated him. When he saw his family again, in telling them what had happened, he started railing on the postmistress, how horrible she was, and how she had offended, and mistreated him. A family member after listening for a minute wisely said, "But John, what of the lady who was kind enough to help you?" John said those words were a real wake-up call to him. He was embarrassed that he had focused his attention and anger on the offense, without once thinking of the kindness of the woman who had helped him. John's reaction to his negative experience was not unlike the reaction many of us have had as we have been offended or "put upon unjustly" by someone or something at some time in our lives.
Several thoughts have been churning in my mind as I have contemplated John's experience. One thought is that mortal life could well be described as "Choices versus Circumstances". We all are subject to circumstances and situations of an infinite variety; being offended and mistreated is just one example. However, because of the priceless gift of agency we are free to choose how we are going to react to any given circumstance with which we are faced. One might say, "Why do there have to be people like the obnoxious postmistress?" The answer to this question and all of the others regarding the difficult things that can happen to any one of us is simply that it is part of our mortal experience and testing. It is not the circumstances that matter but how we react to them, using our freedom to choose.
At times we may think that life is unfair, but it really isn't; it is just life! Some circumstances we bring upon ourselves because of certain choices we make. Other circumstances come to us unexpectedly and without our wanting them, simply because we are living in a world governed by natural law. Our bodies are created in such a manner that as we grow old they begin to wear down and wear out. Because of our mortal bodies and because we live in a world governed by natural law we are subject to a vast array of physical afflictions, potential accidents, and other challenges that can unexpectedly come into any of our lives. Very few of us are faced with the same circumstances in life, but we all have the precious gift of agency that gives us the freedom to react to our own peculiar and customized circumstances anyway we choose. There is never any justification to look at the heavens and shout "Life is so unfair!"
My life has taught me that perhaps the best choice we can always make under any given set of circumstances is to be grateful for all the good things we have, show kindness to others and be forgiving of offenses that may come our way. To be filled with anger, to feel that we have been "picked on", or to be unwilling to "let it go", is to be miserable ourselves and to make those about us miserable as well.
During the 1880s a French writer by the name of Guy de Maupassant, created some 300 short stories that were widely read during his day and beyond. One of his most famous was entitled "The Piece of String". The story is about a peasant named Hauchecome who came on market day to the village. While walking through the public square, his eye caught sight of a piece of string lying on the cobblestones. He picked it up and put it in his pocket. His actions were observed by the village harness maker with whom he had previously had a dispute.
Later in the day the loss of a purse was reported. Hauchecome was arrested on the accusation of the harness maker. He was taken before the mayor, to whom he protested his innocence, showing the piece of string that he had picked up. But he was not believed and laughed at. The next day the purse was found, and Hauchecome was absolved of any wrongdoing. But, resentful of the indignity he had suffered because of a false accusation he became embittered and would not let the matter die. Unwilling to forgive and forget, he thought and talked of little else. He neglected his farm. Everywhere he went, everyone he met had to be told of the injustice. By day and by night he brooded over it. Obsessed with his grievance, he became desperately ill and died. In the delirium of his death struggles, he repeatedly murmured, “A piece of string, a piece of string.”
Sadly, the experience of this peasant farmer and its tragic ending is mirrored in the lives of far too many of us. I am glad that my nephew John was able to use his agency to focus on the kindness of the lady that helped him, rather than harbor in his heart feelings of anger and resentment. He was blessed because of it. Many circumstances we cannot control or change, but we can always choose how we react to them because of the priceless gift of agency. Choices and circumstances will continue to be the common lot of each one of us. Hopefully we will never forget that: "... men are free according to the flesh... to choose..." [2 Nephi 2:27]
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Monday, February 19, 2007
Time for Pondering and Prayer
February 19, 2007, Observation:
As you may realize, being paralyzed from the neck down and living on life support has a little bit of a down side. However, what you may not know is that it has an enormous upside as well. To me, one of the great up sides of my condition is that I have more time than the ordinary person to ponder, meditate, and pray. Over the years I have found this to be a great blessing. My Filipino caregiver, Rey, comes each evening at about 10 p.m. to put me to bed. I am usually down for the night by about 10:30 p.m., unless the Lakers go into overtime. I say my evening prayer and make it shorter than I would want to because when I get in a prone position my inclination is to immediately go to sleep. Rey comes at about 8 a.m. each morning to start working on me and getting me ready for the day. However, I usually wake up at about 6 a.m. and from then until Rey comes I have two precious hours to think, meditate, ponder, and pray. Over the years many great ideas and inspiration have come to me during those early morning hours. I have the time to pray in depth and it has proven to be a great blessing in my life.
This world in which we live is so hectic and moving along at such a fast pace that I believe it is difficult for most of us to find a quiet time to ponder and pray. We have cell phones in our ears, radios and TVs competing for our attention, or iPods possibly blasting music into our heads on a continual basis, and so it goes in this modern age of electronics. I fear that for many of us the voice of the world through the electronic media makes it almost impossible for the Lord to speak to us through the "Still Small Voice of the Spirit". It may have been easier for Abraham and those living a quieter lifestyle in his day to commune with God and receive his revelation and inspiration in return. But, that was his day, and we face the challenge in our day of somehow cutting through the strident voices all about us so that the Lord can speak to us through the Spirit.
As a recently returned missionary from Central America I had a life-changing experience regarding pondering, meditating, and prayer. Immediately after my mission I went into the Army for six months active duty, and during basic training in particular, I believe in retrospect, I lost some of the spirituality I had developed in the mission field. After my active duty was over I immediately enrolled in BYU once again and was blessed to have as my roommates three returned missionaries from Central America. We lived in a home near campus owned by a wonderful widow who cooked for us as well as renting her rooms; it really was an ideal situation.
The first day of the new semester I realized I had left an important book at home and walked rapidly back to where we lived to retrieve it. As I entered the hallway where our bedrooms were located I heard somebody talking in a conversational way in the bedroom next to mine. The door was ajar so I peeked in and saw Ben Martinez, one of my roommates, on his knees at the side of his bed praying. Ben was about three years older than me and was a role model that I had always admired and looked up to. He sensed my presence and quickly concluded his prayer. I was embarrassed and sorry to have interrupted his prayer, but it gave Ben an ideal teaching opportunity with me as the student. He told me that each semester he waited until his roommates had finalized their class schedules and then he would arrange his schedule so that he could be home alone for at least an hour each day to pray out loud, ponder, meditate, and commune with the Lord. I can't tell you how impressed and touched I was by Ben's example. I knew that here was a young man who knew it was so important to pray and seek guidance from the Lord on a daily basis that he was willing to arrange his entire schedule around this most important activity in his life. I had learned the importance of prayer in the mission field and it had been a fundamental part of my life, but I had to admit I had become a little lackadaisical in communicating with the Lord as I should. Ben's example inspired me to do as he did and to arrange my life in such a way that prayer and pondering became the foundation of each day. Ben since then has been a mission president in Mexico, held many positions of responsibility in the Church during his lifetime, and is now serving as President of the Guatemala City Temple. I am indebted to Ben for being such a fine example to a struggling young returned missionary. His example was more powerful than any words he could have ever spoken.
I personally know there is no more important thing we can do each day of our lives than to make time to ponder, meditate, and pray. It is so important in fact, that we need to make a conscious effort to somehow work into our busy schedules this special sacred time. Too often our prayers are on-the-fly and we give the Lord no opportunity to bless us with the inspiration and revelation we need that day.
The Scriptures are replete with examples of the eternal truth that pondering and prayer precede revelation and divine assistance. The Book of Mormon record reveals the following regarding Nephi and the great revelation he was granted regarding the vision his father had received. "FOR it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord..." [1 Nephi 11:1] Of course this dispensation was ushered in because a young boy pondered over a passage in the Book of James that led him into the grove and the prayer that sliced through centuries of spiritual darkness and opened the heavens to an ultimate outpouring of revelation and spiritual knowledge not exceeded in the history of mankind.
I wouldn't wish my paralysis off onto any of you regardless of its many upsides, but what a blessing it has been to me in giving me the time to ponder, meditate, and pray. My spirit has been strengthened and my mind enriched as I have lain in bed, unable to move my body, but able to let my mind reach out to a loving and kind Heavenly Father, who through the Holy Ghost, has inspired and blessed me more than I could ever say.
I believe the words of Socrates are very true: “The unexamined life is not worth living” (“Apology,” The Dialogues of Plato, trans. Benjamin Jowett, Chicago) I believe all our lives could be much richer were we to schedule into our daily lives as one of our highest priorities a special time to ponder, meditate, and pray.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
As you may realize, being paralyzed from the neck down and living on life support has a little bit of a down side. However, what you may not know is that it has an enormous upside as well. To me, one of the great up sides of my condition is that I have more time than the ordinary person to ponder, meditate, and pray. Over the years I have found this to be a great blessing. My Filipino caregiver, Rey, comes each evening at about 10 p.m. to put me to bed. I am usually down for the night by about 10:30 p.m., unless the Lakers go into overtime. I say my evening prayer and make it shorter than I would want to because when I get in a prone position my inclination is to immediately go to sleep. Rey comes at about 8 a.m. each morning to start working on me and getting me ready for the day. However, I usually wake up at about 6 a.m. and from then until Rey comes I have two precious hours to think, meditate, ponder, and pray. Over the years many great ideas and inspiration have come to me during those early morning hours. I have the time to pray in depth and it has proven to be a great blessing in my life.
This world in which we live is so hectic and moving along at such a fast pace that I believe it is difficult for most of us to find a quiet time to ponder and pray. We have cell phones in our ears, radios and TVs competing for our attention, or iPods possibly blasting music into our heads on a continual basis, and so it goes in this modern age of electronics. I fear that for many of us the voice of the world through the electronic media makes it almost impossible for the Lord to speak to us through the "Still Small Voice of the Spirit". It may have been easier for Abraham and those living a quieter lifestyle in his day to commune with God and receive his revelation and inspiration in return. But, that was his day, and we face the challenge in our day of somehow cutting through the strident voices all about us so that the Lord can speak to us through the Spirit.
As a recently returned missionary from Central America I had a life-changing experience regarding pondering, meditating, and prayer. Immediately after my mission I went into the Army for six months active duty, and during basic training in particular, I believe in retrospect, I lost some of the spirituality I had developed in the mission field. After my active duty was over I immediately enrolled in BYU once again and was blessed to have as my roommates three returned missionaries from Central America. We lived in a home near campus owned by a wonderful widow who cooked for us as well as renting her rooms; it really was an ideal situation.
The first day of the new semester I realized I had left an important book at home and walked rapidly back to where we lived to retrieve it. As I entered the hallway where our bedrooms were located I heard somebody talking in a conversational way in the bedroom next to mine. The door was ajar so I peeked in and saw Ben Martinez, one of my roommates, on his knees at the side of his bed praying. Ben was about three years older than me and was a role model that I had always admired and looked up to. He sensed my presence and quickly concluded his prayer. I was embarrassed and sorry to have interrupted his prayer, but it gave Ben an ideal teaching opportunity with me as the student. He told me that each semester he waited until his roommates had finalized their class schedules and then he would arrange his schedule so that he could be home alone for at least an hour each day to pray out loud, ponder, meditate, and commune with the Lord. I can't tell you how impressed and touched I was by Ben's example. I knew that here was a young man who knew it was so important to pray and seek guidance from the Lord on a daily basis that he was willing to arrange his entire schedule around this most important activity in his life. I had learned the importance of prayer in the mission field and it had been a fundamental part of my life, but I had to admit I had become a little lackadaisical in communicating with the Lord as I should. Ben's example inspired me to do as he did and to arrange my life in such a way that prayer and pondering became the foundation of each day. Ben since then has been a mission president in Mexico, held many positions of responsibility in the Church during his lifetime, and is now serving as President of the Guatemala City Temple. I am indebted to Ben for being such a fine example to a struggling young returned missionary. His example was more powerful than any words he could have ever spoken.
I personally know there is no more important thing we can do each day of our lives than to make time to ponder, meditate, and pray. It is so important in fact, that we need to make a conscious effort to somehow work into our busy schedules this special sacred time. Too often our prayers are on-the-fly and we give the Lord no opportunity to bless us with the inspiration and revelation we need that day.
The Scriptures are replete with examples of the eternal truth that pondering and prayer precede revelation and divine assistance. The Book of Mormon record reveals the following regarding Nephi and the great revelation he was granted regarding the vision his father had received. "FOR it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord..." [1 Nephi 11:1] Of course this dispensation was ushered in because a young boy pondered over a passage in the Book of James that led him into the grove and the prayer that sliced through centuries of spiritual darkness and opened the heavens to an ultimate outpouring of revelation and spiritual knowledge not exceeded in the history of mankind.
I wouldn't wish my paralysis off onto any of you regardless of its many upsides, but what a blessing it has been to me in giving me the time to ponder, meditate, and pray. My spirit has been strengthened and my mind enriched as I have lain in bed, unable to move my body, but able to let my mind reach out to a loving and kind Heavenly Father, who through the Holy Ghost, has inspired and blessed me more than I could ever say.
I believe the words of Socrates are very true: “The unexamined life is not worth living” (“Apology,” The Dialogues of Plato, trans. Benjamin Jowett, Chicago) I believe all our lives could be much richer were we to schedule into our daily lives as one of our highest priorities a special time to ponder, meditate, and pray.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Thursday, February 8, 2007
John's Helicopter Ride
February 8, 2007, Observation:
Our son John is currently in Afghanistan serving in the Air Force as an ER doctor. The Air Force paid for his education and now he is paying them back with the skills he has developed over the years. John and his friend Matt Mecuro, as 16-year-olds, were body surfing with me that fateful day when I had my accident and were able to get me onto the beach and basically saved my life. John was very involved in my care until he left on his mission and through it all gained a desire to study medicine. His home base is in Las Vegas at Nellis Air Force Base, but each year he is deployed somewhere in the world -- Afghanistan or Iraq we are thinking -- to practice ER medicine as needed. He is at a big army base outside of Kabul, Afghanistan where he and two other ER doctors manage the ER unit 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Part of their duty is to take turns going out in helicopters to pick up the wounded. John's first experience in a helicopter took place a few days ago. I thought you might enjoy hearing from John about what took place.
"Hey Dad and family,
"So things are going well here. I went on my first Helicopter mission a few days ago. It was pretty exciting. We had to go pick up an enemy combatant who was shot while trying to set up an IED (improvised explosive device). We flew about an hour to where the patient was being held. He was shot in the bottom while bent over setting up a bomb, but the bullet went into his stomach and hurt his intestines and nicked a big artery in his pelvis. By the time I saw him he had already gone through 11 units of blood, which was the entire supply of that base. Throughout the chopper ride back I had to monitor his vitals and had to keep giving him drugs to keep him sedated. He kept waking up and looking at me, so I kept giving him drugs to knock him out.
"We flew really close to the ground, about 200 feet. The surrounding area is really pretty and you would never know there was a war going on. There are a lot of rivers and farms, kids playing soccer, etc. In the helicopter was myself, 2 pilots and 2 guys looking out both sides of the helicopter keeping lookout for possible enemies on the ground. Behind us we had a big black hawk helicopter loaded with guns that was covering us in case we came under fire. I was a little nervous on the flight to the base, but on the way back I was so busy with the patient that I didn't have time to think about the dangers.
"Its pretty amazing the effort we make to take care of the enemy. I don't think they would do the same for us. I mean the guy got all the blood at that one base. If one of our soldiers had gotten hurt, there would not have been any blood for them. Also the risk involved in just going to pick the patient up. When the patient got here, we were also out of B- blood, and we actually had to get volunteers to give their blood to this guy who was essentially trying to kill us. I think it says something really special about this country that we would put so much effort into saving people like this."
I don't know about you, but reading John's e-mail made me feel proud to be an American. Imagine risking your life to save the life of an enemy who is seeking to take your life -- even giving him your own blood. We do value human life and freedom in this country!
I believe that many of the pundits in Washington, DC could benefit from reading John's simple little e-mail. I know many are opposed to what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, and maybe President Bush got us into this war on terrorism in Iraq prematurely -- who really knows? But isn't it refreshing to know that we really are trying to do something very good in the world and that we place such a high value on human life, dignity, freedom and liberty.
There is a spirit of pessimism and negativism abroad in the land. 10 years ago President Gordon B. Hinckley described it as follows: "... there is a terrible ailment of pessimism in the land. It's almost endemic. We're constantly fed a steady and sour diet of character assassination, faultfinding, evil speaking of one another. Read the newspaper columnists. Listen to the radio and television commentators. The writers of our news columns are brilliant, the commentators on the electronic media are masters--but they seem unable to deal with balanced truth, notwithstanding their protests otherwise. The negative becomes the stuff of headlines and long broadsides that, in many cases, caricature the facts and distort the truth--at least the whole truth." [CES fireside, March 6, 1994]
President Hinckley, in that same CES fireside talk, also said while speaking of the United States of America: "I know that she has problems. We've heard so much of these for so long. But surely, my brothers and sisters, this is a good land, a choice land, a chosen land. To me it is a miracle, a creation of the Almighty. It was born of travail. The Constitution under which we live is the keystone of our nation. It was inspired of God. Of it the great Englishman Gladstone said, "As the British Constitution is the most subtle organism which has proceeded from . . . progressive history, so the American Constitution is . . . the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man" ("Kin Beyond Sea," North American Review 127 [September/October 1878], p. 185).
Since 9/11 we feel we have truly been put upon as a nation. Can you even imagine what it would have been like to have been living in England at the beginning of World War II when Nazi Germany had already overrun most of Europe and was threatening to invade England as well? Thankfully for Western civilization there was a Winston Churchill, who like President Hinckley, was the essence of optimism and courage. He rallied the people as no one else could in that dark and desperate time. In speaking at Harrow School which he had attended as a boy he significantly said: "Do not let us speak of darker days; let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days: these are great days--the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race." [Address at Harrow School, 29 October 1941]
And then Churchill spoke the following stirring words to his countrymen after the disaster at Dunkirk when the prophets of doom were prophesying disaster and the imminent demise of the British Empire: "We shall not flag or fail. . . . We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." [Speech on Dunkirk, House of Commons, 4 June 1940]
I believe we need the spirit of a Winston Churchill today in this country. Our way of life, the way of life that inspires us to give our blood to the enemy to save his life, must be preserved at any cost. Whatever your feelings about the war on terrorism or about President George W. Bush, don't you believe we have just begun a battle to the death with a very evil ideology that would rob us of everything we hold dear?
Thank you John, for reminding us that we do belong to a pretty special country!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Our son John is currently in Afghanistan serving in the Air Force as an ER doctor. The Air Force paid for his education and now he is paying them back with the skills he has developed over the years. John and his friend Matt Mecuro, as 16-year-olds, were body surfing with me that fateful day when I had my accident and were able to get me onto the beach and basically saved my life. John was very involved in my care until he left on his mission and through it all gained a desire to study medicine. His home base is in Las Vegas at Nellis Air Force Base, but each year he is deployed somewhere in the world -- Afghanistan or Iraq we are thinking -- to practice ER medicine as needed. He is at a big army base outside of Kabul, Afghanistan where he and two other ER doctors manage the ER unit 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Part of their duty is to take turns going out in helicopters to pick up the wounded. John's first experience in a helicopter took place a few days ago. I thought you might enjoy hearing from John about what took place.
"Hey Dad and family,
"So things are going well here. I went on my first Helicopter mission a few days ago. It was pretty exciting. We had to go pick up an enemy combatant who was shot while trying to set up an IED (improvised explosive device). We flew about an hour to where the patient was being held. He was shot in the bottom while bent over setting up a bomb, but the bullet went into his stomach and hurt his intestines and nicked a big artery in his pelvis. By the time I saw him he had already gone through 11 units of blood, which was the entire supply of that base. Throughout the chopper ride back I had to monitor his vitals and had to keep giving him drugs to keep him sedated. He kept waking up and looking at me, so I kept giving him drugs to knock him out.
"We flew really close to the ground, about 200 feet. The surrounding area is really pretty and you would never know there was a war going on. There are a lot of rivers and farms, kids playing soccer, etc. In the helicopter was myself, 2 pilots and 2 guys looking out both sides of the helicopter keeping lookout for possible enemies on the ground. Behind us we had a big black hawk helicopter loaded with guns that was covering us in case we came under fire. I was a little nervous on the flight to the base, but on the way back I was so busy with the patient that I didn't have time to think about the dangers.
"Its pretty amazing the effort we make to take care of the enemy. I don't think they would do the same for us. I mean the guy got all the blood at that one base. If one of our soldiers had gotten hurt, there would not have been any blood for them. Also the risk involved in just going to pick the patient up. When the patient got here, we were also out of B- blood, and we actually had to get volunteers to give their blood to this guy who was essentially trying to kill us. I think it says something really special about this country that we would put so much effort into saving people like this."
I don't know about you, but reading John's e-mail made me feel proud to be an American. Imagine risking your life to save the life of an enemy who is seeking to take your life -- even giving him your own blood. We do value human life and freedom in this country!
I believe that many of the pundits in Washington, DC could benefit from reading John's simple little e-mail. I know many are opposed to what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, and maybe President Bush got us into this war on terrorism in Iraq prematurely -- who really knows? But isn't it refreshing to know that we really are trying to do something very good in the world and that we place such a high value on human life, dignity, freedom and liberty.
There is a spirit of pessimism and negativism abroad in the land. 10 years ago President Gordon B. Hinckley described it as follows: "... there is a terrible ailment of pessimism in the land. It's almost endemic. We're constantly fed a steady and sour diet of character assassination, faultfinding, evil speaking of one another. Read the newspaper columnists. Listen to the radio and television commentators. The writers of our news columns are brilliant, the commentators on the electronic media are masters--but they seem unable to deal with balanced truth, notwithstanding their protests otherwise. The negative becomes the stuff of headlines and long broadsides that, in many cases, caricature the facts and distort the truth--at least the whole truth." [CES fireside, March 6, 1994]
President Hinckley, in that same CES fireside talk, also said while speaking of the United States of America: "I know that she has problems. We've heard so much of these for so long. But surely, my brothers and sisters, this is a good land, a choice land, a chosen land. To me it is a miracle, a creation of the Almighty. It was born of travail. The Constitution under which we live is the keystone of our nation. It was inspired of God. Of it the great Englishman Gladstone said, "As the British Constitution is the most subtle organism which has proceeded from . . . progressive history, so the American Constitution is . . . the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man" ("Kin Beyond Sea," North American Review 127 [September/October 1878], p. 185).
Since 9/11 we feel we have truly been put upon as a nation. Can you even imagine what it would have been like to have been living in England at the beginning of World War II when Nazi Germany had already overrun most of Europe and was threatening to invade England as well? Thankfully for Western civilization there was a Winston Churchill, who like President Hinckley, was the essence of optimism and courage. He rallied the people as no one else could in that dark and desperate time. In speaking at Harrow School which he had attended as a boy he significantly said: "Do not let us speak of darker days; let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days: these are great days--the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race." [Address at Harrow School, 29 October 1941]
And then Churchill spoke the following stirring words to his countrymen after the disaster at Dunkirk when the prophets of doom were prophesying disaster and the imminent demise of the British Empire: "We shall not flag or fail. . . . We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." [Speech on Dunkirk, House of Commons, 4 June 1940]
I believe we need the spirit of a Winston Churchill today in this country. Our way of life, the way of life that inspires us to give our blood to the enemy to save his life, must be preserved at any cost. Whatever your feelings about the war on terrorism or about President George W. Bush, don't you believe we have just begun a battle to the death with a very evil ideology that would rob us of everything we hold dear?
Thank you John, for reminding us that we do belong to a pretty special country!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
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