Sunday, December 24, 2006 Observation:
This Christmas Eve is the 68th Christmas Eve it has been my privilege to experience. I hope to be able to experience a few more but one never has any guarantee. Christmas Eve for me has always been a wonderful day -- the best day of the year in many ways. Of course, I can't remember in detail all of those past Christmas Eves, but I do remember the special feeling they have always brought to me.
Never to be forgotten however, is the Christmas Eve of 1959. I was serving as the branch president of a small struggling branch of 46 members in the town of Ahuachapan, El Salvador -- today in that same town there is the El Salvador, Ahuachapan Stake. Christmas Eve was a great family tradition and celebration in our little town of Ahuachapan. Because of that no branch activity was planned for that special evening.
Several days before Christmas Eve my companion and I heard a knock on the door and one of the faithful and humble brothers in our little Branch entered our small apartment room and invited us to eat Christmas Eve dinner at his home with him and his family. We readily accepted, realizing what an honor it was to be invited into his home on this very special evening. Wouldn't you know it, just a few minutes later another equally faithful and humble member of the Branch knocked on the door and invited us to his home for dinner on Christmas Eve. We just felt we couldn't disappoint either family (neither family knew the other one had invited us), and thankfully the dinners were several hours apart which would make it possible to honor both invitations the same evening.
When we entered the first humble two room home on Christmas Eve, we were astonished to see the great feast this family had prepared for the Elders. They spent money they didn't have to make this dinner as special as possible, and we embarrassingly realized we were eating most of the food, and that they just wouldn't stand for any refusal of the food they were offering us as servants of the Lord. In their minds nothing was too good for us -- the Elders of Israel!
You would have been proud of the amount of food we ate at that first dinner and then we began to jog through the streets to our next appointment trying to burn up some of the calories we had consumed. The scene was repeated at the next home, but again, my companion and I were equal to the task and this family never suspected that we had just recently consumed an enormous banquet.
We stumbled out of their home and staggered down the street to our apartment which was adjacent to the Catholic cathedral. We fell onto our beds in a stupor, with visions of tortillas, frijoles, and tamales dancing in our heads. All of a sudden we were almost blasted out of our beds by a tremendous roar. We thought a terrorist had blown up the Catholic cathedral. We rushed to the window, threw open the sash, and beheld the sky ablaze with exploding rockets and fireworks of all kinds, all emanating from the courtyard of the Catholic cathedral. The streets were full of beautiful, humble, Latin American people with joyous smiles on their faces, rejoicing and celebrating in their own unique way, the birth of the Savior of us all.
Here in the United States we celebrate Christmas Eve a little differently than in Latin America. Each year at Christmastime, Jo Anne decorates our home as you do yours. The tree, the lights, and all of the other beautiful decorations make of Christmas a festive and wonderful time of year. Over the years my favorite decoration has been a small three letter word made out of red and green felt that usually hangs somewhere in the house during the Christmas season. That word is "JOY"! It is my favorite decoration because I think that one word "JOY" captures the essence of the spirit of Christmas and the ultimate purpose of Christ's birth and mission better than any other word.
The prophet Lehi, as he instructed his son Jacob, taught the eternal truth that "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy." The kind of joy Lehi spoke of can only come through Christ.
The joy the Savior brings to the world results not just from his birth but from the power of His atoning sacrifice for each one of us. The prophet Isaiah, 2500 years ago, wrote: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows...he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." [Isaiah 53:4-5].
A significant portion of His earthly ministry was spent in healing the bodies and spirits of those among whom he walked -- bringing them joy and pre-figuring His ultimate act of healing -- His resurrection and ultimately ours. "As Jesus healed, the scriptures say, "All the people were amazed" (Matthew 12:23). They brought their sick, their "blind, and dumb" (Matthew 12:22), those that were "possessed with a devil" (Matthew 12:22; also Mark 1:32), and their dead. They sought Him every day and into the evening. So great was His reputation and His healing power that they sought to "only touch the hem of his garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly whole" (Matthew 14:36). "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching . . . and preaching the gospel . . . , and healing every sickness and every disease among the people" (Matthew 9:35)." [Dr. Elaine S. Marshall] Christ was and is the Master healer of mankind.
As sons and daughters of God, living in this mortal world, we are subject to a variety of experiences. We have our seasons of peace when everything is going well and we also have our seasons of sorrow. Through Christ's birth, life, and atoning sacrifice however, whatever our lot in life at any given moment, we can still experience the joy that Christ desires to give to all who are willing to exercise faith in him and come unto Him with full purpose of heart.
Seventeen years ago at Christmastime I was lying in a hospital bed in a rehabilitation center. Although my family and friends did all they could do to bring the Christmas spirit to me in that setting, I will always remember what a bleak Christmas it was for me. My accident and subsequent injury was absolutely devastating. All was not well with my soul that Christmas and for some time after I felt depressed and empty inside. The help I needed could not come from mortal man but only from Christ.
As time went by however, a great miracle took place in my life. The Savior healed my soul. I was filled with joy, peace, and a sense of well being that I never thought I would ever experience again. The joy that came into my life and has continued with me through the subsequent years has come from the Savior and from no other source.
Because of my own experience I have come to understand more fully the words of the Savior to Joseph Smith when he said to him and all of us: "Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full. Therefore care not for the body neither the life of the body; but care for the soul and for the life of the soul." [D&C 101:36-37.]
Our challenge in life and especially at this time of the year is to not be so concerned about the physical and material but to care more for the things of the spirit that bring the joy of Christ into our lives and into the lives of others.
It is my prayer that this Christmas we may more fully understand the message of the Angel to the humble shepherds that night of nights when he announced to them, "... I bring you good tidings of great joy ...." [Luke 2:9-10.] So it was then, and so it is now, and so will it ever be!
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Be Still...
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Many years ago while serving as a young bishop, a family in the ward had a difficult struggle. I counseled with them, prayed with them, and prayed for them, but the problems persisted. I was agonizing over the eternal consequences of their behavior and didn't quite know what to do to help them. One evening just as I was going to bed and was pondering on how to best help this family the following words came powerfully into my mind: "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10; Doctrine & Covenants 101:16) My interpretation of these words at that time was that nothing I was going to say or do was going to resolve the complex problems experienced by this family, but that in due time God would provide the solution and necessary healing. I still prayed for the family, and kept in contact with them, but no longer tried to influence them with my "wise counsel". I also quit worrying about the ultimate outcome and felt great peace regarding this situation. It took several years but the problems were eventually resolved and the family came back into full activity with all the promises of someday being an eternal family. As a bishop, I had learned a valuable lesson regarding trusting in the power and goodness of a loving and kind Heavenly Father while at the same time recognizing my own limitations as a human being.
A number of years later I was badly injured while body surfing at Laguna Beach, California. The accident happened in the afternoon. As soon as I was stabilized somewhat, I was transported to the ER room of the nearest trauma center, which was in Mission Viejo. I was surrounded by loving family and friends, who were a comfort to me; however, I was still in a dazed and shocked condition regarding what had happened.
At about 12 midnight the neurosurgeons sent everyone home so they could perform an MRI on me to fully diagnose the seriousness of my spinal cord injury. When all my loved ones left and the doctors began the MRI with me still in my swimming suit, strapped to a board, and unable to move or talk, I have never felt so alone. My mind was just churning with questions like: "Will I ever be able to move my body again?" "Will I ever be able to breathe on my own again?" "Will I ever be able to talk again?" "If I am seriously injured how will I ever financially be able to take care of my family?" "How will I ever be able to be a husband and father if I can't move my body?" "Will I ever be able to teach again or serve in the Church?" And the questions just kept coming and coming and there was no peace, but only a troubled heart and fear.
Then a wonderful thing happened as I began to silently pray. I heard no voice and really no words came to me, but there came the impression into my heart and mind that somehow, ultimately everything would be okay. I had no feeling that I would be healed in the sense that I would be able to walk, breathe, and lead a "normal" life. However, a great feeling of peace came into my heart and I knew that somehow my family and I would be able to get through this. Although the words didn't come as they did when I was serving as a bishop, the message nonetheless was the same, "Be still and know that I am God!"
Several days later the head neurosurgeon leaned over my bed and said "Jack, you will never move again. You will never breathe on your own again. You will never be able to eat solid food again. You will never be able to speak again. And you will never be able to live outside of some kind of care facility". I just knew that he was wrong and his words did not disturb me. I had it from a higher source that somehow a loving, kind and all powerful Heavenly Father would strengthen me to get through this. I didn't know how at the time except that I was to be "still" and know that "He was God!"
On the last night of his mortal experience the Savior counseled his beloved apostles by saying: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." [John 14:27] Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once said that the Savior's command to "not let our hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" is probably the most frequently broken commandment the Lord has given to us. To be troubled and afraid of the present or the future is to not believe in the ultimate goodness and power of Heavenly Father. We are so prone to counsel the Lord as we question at times what life has brought to us. Jacob said it this way: "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." [Jacob 4:10]
I am still trying to learn this profound lesson about life. There simply is no other way to not be "troubled" or "afraid" than to absolutely trust in the ultimate goodness and power of God and to be "still" and not to "counsel" Him. We don't know why certain things happen to us or to our loved ones, and the worst question we could ever ask is "why"? A severely handicapped man with aching heart was pleading out loud, "Why me Lord?" And he then heard the words very loudly in his mind and heart, "Why not you?" We have to learn to be "still" and trust in God and in his great power and love for each one of us.
The essence of what I am trying to say, and what I have learned through personal experience, is to truly believe in the Lord's counsel to Joseph Smith and to all of us: "Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good..." [Doctrine & Covenants 90:25]
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Many years ago while serving as a young bishop, a family in the ward had a difficult struggle. I counseled with them, prayed with them, and prayed for them, but the problems persisted. I was agonizing over the eternal consequences of their behavior and didn't quite know what to do to help them. One evening just as I was going to bed and was pondering on how to best help this family the following words came powerfully into my mind: "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10; Doctrine & Covenants 101:16) My interpretation of these words at that time was that nothing I was going to say or do was going to resolve the complex problems experienced by this family, but that in due time God would provide the solution and necessary healing. I still prayed for the family, and kept in contact with them, but no longer tried to influence them with my "wise counsel". I also quit worrying about the ultimate outcome and felt great peace regarding this situation. It took several years but the problems were eventually resolved and the family came back into full activity with all the promises of someday being an eternal family. As a bishop, I had learned a valuable lesson regarding trusting in the power and goodness of a loving and kind Heavenly Father while at the same time recognizing my own limitations as a human being.
A number of years later I was badly injured while body surfing at Laguna Beach, California. The accident happened in the afternoon. As soon as I was stabilized somewhat, I was transported to the ER room of the nearest trauma center, which was in Mission Viejo. I was surrounded by loving family and friends, who were a comfort to me; however, I was still in a dazed and shocked condition regarding what had happened.
At about 12 midnight the neurosurgeons sent everyone home so they could perform an MRI on me to fully diagnose the seriousness of my spinal cord injury. When all my loved ones left and the doctors began the MRI with me still in my swimming suit, strapped to a board, and unable to move or talk, I have never felt so alone. My mind was just churning with questions like: "Will I ever be able to move my body again?" "Will I ever be able to breathe on my own again?" "Will I ever be able to talk again?" "If I am seriously injured how will I ever financially be able to take care of my family?" "How will I ever be able to be a husband and father if I can't move my body?" "Will I ever be able to teach again or serve in the Church?" And the questions just kept coming and coming and there was no peace, but only a troubled heart and fear.
Then a wonderful thing happened as I began to silently pray. I heard no voice and really no words came to me, but there came the impression into my heart and mind that somehow, ultimately everything would be okay. I had no feeling that I would be healed in the sense that I would be able to walk, breathe, and lead a "normal" life. However, a great feeling of peace came into my heart and I knew that somehow my family and I would be able to get through this. Although the words didn't come as they did when I was serving as a bishop, the message nonetheless was the same, "Be still and know that I am God!"
Several days later the head neurosurgeon leaned over my bed and said "Jack, you will never move again. You will never breathe on your own again. You will never be able to eat solid food again. You will never be able to speak again. And you will never be able to live outside of some kind of care facility". I just knew that he was wrong and his words did not disturb me. I had it from a higher source that somehow a loving, kind and all powerful Heavenly Father would strengthen me to get through this. I didn't know how at the time except that I was to be "still" and know that "He was God!"
On the last night of his mortal experience the Savior counseled his beloved apostles by saying: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." [John 14:27] Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once said that the Savior's command to "not let our hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" is probably the most frequently broken commandment the Lord has given to us. To be troubled and afraid of the present or the future is to not believe in the ultimate goodness and power of Heavenly Father. We are so prone to counsel the Lord as we question at times what life has brought to us. Jacob said it this way: "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." [Jacob 4:10]
I am still trying to learn this profound lesson about life. There simply is no other way to not be "troubled" or "afraid" than to absolutely trust in the ultimate goodness and power of God and to be "still" and not to "counsel" Him. We don't know why certain things happen to us or to our loved ones, and the worst question we could ever ask is "why"? A severely handicapped man with aching heart was pleading out loud, "Why me Lord?" And he then heard the words very loudly in his mind and heart, "Why not you?" We have to learn to be "still" and trust in God and in his great power and love for each one of us.
The essence of what I am trying to say, and what I have learned through personal experience, is to truly believe in the Lord's counsel to Joseph Smith and to all of us: "Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good..." [Doctrine & Covenants 90:25]
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Monday, December 4, 2006
The best is none too good for us.
Monday, December 4, 2006 Observation:
As a 17-year-old boy I left my home in Ruth, Nevada and with my good friend, Mel Walker, drove to Provo, Utah to begin my freshman year at BYU. We moved into a room in Allen Hall, BYU student housing, near the pizza parlor now known as the Brick Oven. My dad always wanted to know where in the "hall" I lived and what in the "hall" I was doing. Well, I was living on the top floor and was associating with young men that in retrospect impacted my life for good in an eternal sense. Living on the ground floor were three Callister brothers from Glendale, California. Their grandfather was Elder LeGrand Richards who during the two years we lived in Allen Hall would come and speak to us occasionally on a Sunday evening as a favor to his grandsons. These were good boys who loved the Lord and whose example was worthy of emulation. The youngest brother was named Doug and was my same age. Doug is now Elder Douglas L. Callister of the first quorum of the 70. After he visited and spoke in our stake a few years ago I approached him and, I'm sure it was because of the wheelchair and his having heard of my accident, recognized me and we shared a few memories of our days living together in Allen Hall.
Because of that little relationship with Elder Callister, I eagerly listened to the talk he delivered at the BYU student devotional on September 19, 2006. The talk is entitled "Your Refined Celestial Home". I am probably somewhat prejudiced, but I think this talk should be required listening or reading for every family in the church -- especially those with children still living at home. You can find it by clicking on BYUbroadcasting.org and then clicking on "find a talk" and typing in the name, "Douglas L. Callister".
It is not my purpose to give a review of Elder Callister's talk, but I think I can share the essence of what he had to say through an experience Joseph Fielding Smith had with his father Joseph F. Smith many years ago. Having recently returned from a mission to Great Britain, young Joseph Fielding Smith was looking for some kind of employment to sustain himself and his young family. One of the positions he was offered was a "... permanent government position as an inspector of pool halls, bawdy houses and other places that sold beer and liquor, and to collect excise taxes, his territory to include Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. The job paid quite a handsome salary and was respectable enough in nature even though it would bring him into contact with some unsavory characters... The good salary would certainly help Joseph to get a house built. Joseph mulled the offer in his mind a few days... he conferred with his father about it before making a firm decision. His father advised him to decline the offer. "Remember this, son," he said, "the best company is none too good for you." So Joseph declined the job, and a few days later he received an offer he liked much better: Anthon H. Lund offered him a staff position in the Church Historian's Office." ( Joseph Fielding Smith, John J. Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 125-126.)
I am going to take some license with Joseph F. Smith's counsel to his son. I think Joseph was not just referring to the "company" of other people, but also to the full spectrum of the human experience. As sons and daughters of God "the best" in friends, education, vocation, music, the written word, the media we permit to come into our homes and minds, and a host of other things that could be mentioned are "none too good for us!" Choosing "the best" will bless our lives in mortality and prepare us one day for our eternal destiny to become as our Heavenly Father and to feel comfortable in and enjoy our "Refined Celestial Home."
In concluding his talk, Elder Callister related the following story to summarize his message to the BYU student body: "In a make believe kingdom a make believe King and his Queen, after many years, finally had a beautiful baby boy born into their family who would be the heir to the throne. Not wanting to spoil the boy, and hopefully to prepare him to be a good and just King, they secretly took him to the countryside for a peasant couple to raise. They were to tell him nothing of his birth and who he really was. When the boy was 18 years old the King and Queen went to the countryside to bring their boy home to become the next King inasmuch as his father was growing older and would soon pass on. To their dismay they discovered that their 18 year old son had become expert at plowing, planting, harvesting, and taking care of livestock, but he was ill-prepared and had no vision of who he really was, and what it would take to rule a kingdom, command armies, and meet the needs of his subjects. Their beloved son had been raised as a peasant and had become a peasant in spite of the royal blood that coursed through his veins."
We have temporarily been sent away by our Heavenly Father and King -- not to be raised as peasants -- but as princes and princesses, being refined in every way to one day inherit our own kingdoms. During this period of training and probation which we call mortality, truthfully, "The best... is none too good for us!" I am afraid that in many of our homes we are raising too many "peasants" with no vision of who they are and of their eternal potential. A "peasant" perspective regarding life seems to dominate our culture. You can observe it in our language, our dress, our music, the media, and what we choose for recreation. We have been plummeting downward from the "best" to the "mediocre" at lightning speed. Eric Anderson spoke a profound truth when he said: "The most insidious influence on the young is not violence, drugs, tobacco, drink or sexual perversion, but our pursuit of the trivial and our tolerance of the third rate."
Maybe it's because I am getting older and out of touch with reality, but I don't enjoy much of the music I hear that has recently been written and recorded. Does anybody like Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Chopin anymore? Are our kids being raised on musical french fries and hamburgers having their musical pallets paralyzed, resulting in no taste for the gourmet music of the Masters? What I'm saying about music can be applied to the media, literature, art, architecture, and dress of our times. Listen to President Hinckley:
"Let there be music in the home. If you have teenagers who have their own recordings, you will be prone to describe the sound as something other than music. Let them occasionally hear something better. Expose them to it. It will speak for itself. More of appreciation will come than you may think. It may not be spoken, but it will be felt, and its influence will become increasingly manifest as the years pass." (Be Thou an Example [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981], p. 56.) "Enjoy music. Not the kind that rocks and rolls, but the music of the masters, the music that has lived through the centuries, the music that has lifted people. If you do not have a taste for it, listen to it thoughtfully. If you do not like it the first time, listen to it again and keep listening. It will be something like going to the temple. The more often you go, the more beautiful will be the experience. (Ellen Pucell Unthank Monument Dedication, Cedar City, Utah, August 3, 1991.)
"I believe in the beauty of good music and art, of pleasing architecture, and of good literature untainted by profanity or verbal filth. ("This I Believe," BYU 1991-92 Devotional and Fireside Speeches, March 1, 1992, p. 78.)
I believe what President Hinckley believes and what Joseph F. Smith taught his son -- "The best... is none too good for you!"
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
As a 17-year-old boy I left my home in Ruth, Nevada and with my good friend, Mel Walker, drove to Provo, Utah to begin my freshman year at BYU. We moved into a room in Allen Hall, BYU student housing, near the pizza parlor now known as the Brick Oven. My dad always wanted to know where in the "hall" I lived and what in the "hall" I was doing. Well, I was living on the top floor and was associating with young men that in retrospect impacted my life for good in an eternal sense. Living on the ground floor were three Callister brothers from Glendale, California. Their grandfather was Elder LeGrand Richards who during the two years we lived in Allen Hall would come and speak to us occasionally on a Sunday evening as a favor to his grandsons. These were good boys who loved the Lord and whose example was worthy of emulation. The youngest brother was named Doug and was my same age. Doug is now Elder Douglas L. Callister of the first quorum of the 70. After he visited and spoke in our stake a few years ago I approached him and, I'm sure it was because of the wheelchair and his having heard of my accident, recognized me and we shared a few memories of our days living together in Allen Hall.
Because of that little relationship with Elder Callister, I eagerly listened to the talk he delivered at the BYU student devotional on September 19, 2006. The talk is entitled "Your Refined Celestial Home". I am probably somewhat prejudiced, but I think this talk should be required listening or reading for every family in the church -- especially those with children still living at home. You can find it by clicking on BYUbroadcasting.org and then clicking on "find a talk" and typing in the name, "Douglas L. Callister".
It is not my purpose to give a review of Elder Callister's talk, but I think I can share the essence of what he had to say through an experience Joseph Fielding Smith had with his father Joseph F. Smith many years ago. Having recently returned from a mission to Great Britain, young Joseph Fielding Smith was looking for some kind of employment to sustain himself and his young family. One of the positions he was offered was a "... permanent government position as an inspector of pool halls, bawdy houses and other places that sold beer and liquor, and to collect excise taxes, his territory to include Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. The job paid quite a handsome salary and was respectable enough in nature even though it would bring him into contact with some unsavory characters... The good salary would certainly help Joseph to get a house built. Joseph mulled the offer in his mind a few days... he conferred with his father about it before making a firm decision. His father advised him to decline the offer. "Remember this, son," he said, "the best company is none too good for you." So Joseph declined the job, and a few days later he received an offer he liked much better: Anthon H. Lund offered him a staff position in the Church Historian's Office." ( Joseph Fielding Smith, John J. Stewart, Life of Joseph Fielding Smith, 125-126.)
I am going to take some license with Joseph F. Smith's counsel to his son. I think Joseph was not just referring to the "company" of other people, but also to the full spectrum of the human experience. As sons and daughters of God "the best" in friends, education, vocation, music, the written word, the media we permit to come into our homes and minds, and a host of other things that could be mentioned are "none too good for us!" Choosing "the best" will bless our lives in mortality and prepare us one day for our eternal destiny to become as our Heavenly Father and to feel comfortable in and enjoy our "Refined Celestial Home."
In concluding his talk, Elder Callister related the following story to summarize his message to the BYU student body: "In a make believe kingdom a make believe King and his Queen, after many years, finally had a beautiful baby boy born into their family who would be the heir to the throne. Not wanting to spoil the boy, and hopefully to prepare him to be a good and just King, they secretly took him to the countryside for a peasant couple to raise. They were to tell him nothing of his birth and who he really was. When the boy was 18 years old the King and Queen went to the countryside to bring their boy home to become the next King inasmuch as his father was growing older and would soon pass on. To their dismay they discovered that their 18 year old son had become expert at plowing, planting, harvesting, and taking care of livestock, but he was ill-prepared and had no vision of who he really was, and what it would take to rule a kingdom, command armies, and meet the needs of his subjects. Their beloved son had been raised as a peasant and had become a peasant in spite of the royal blood that coursed through his veins."
We have temporarily been sent away by our Heavenly Father and King -- not to be raised as peasants -- but as princes and princesses, being refined in every way to one day inherit our own kingdoms. During this period of training and probation which we call mortality, truthfully, "The best... is none too good for us!" I am afraid that in many of our homes we are raising too many "peasants" with no vision of who they are and of their eternal potential. A "peasant" perspective regarding life seems to dominate our culture. You can observe it in our language, our dress, our music, the media, and what we choose for recreation. We have been plummeting downward from the "best" to the "mediocre" at lightning speed. Eric Anderson spoke a profound truth when he said: "The most insidious influence on the young is not violence, drugs, tobacco, drink or sexual perversion, but our pursuit of the trivial and our tolerance of the third rate."
Maybe it's because I am getting older and out of touch with reality, but I don't enjoy much of the music I hear that has recently been written and recorded. Does anybody like Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Chopin anymore? Are our kids being raised on musical french fries and hamburgers having their musical pallets paralyzed, resulting in no taste for the gourmet music of the Masters? What I'm saying about music can be applied to the media, literature, art, architecture, and dress of our times. Listen to President Hinckley:
"Let there be music in the home. If you have teenagers who have their own recordings, you will be prone to describe the sound as something other than music. Let them occasionally hear something better. Expose them to it. It will speak for itself. More of appreciation will come than you may think. It may not be spoken, but it will be felt, and its influence will become increasingly manifest as the years pass." (Be Thou an Example [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981], p. 56.) "Enjoy music. Not the kind that rocks and rolls, but the music of the masters, the music that has lived through the centuries, the music that has lifted people. If you do not have a taste for it, listen to it thoughtfully. If you do not like it the first time, listen to it again and keep listening. It will be something like going to the temple. The more often you go, the more beautiful will be the experience. (Ellen Pucell Unthank Monument Dedication, Cedar City, Utah, August 3, 1991.)
"I believe in the beauty of good music and art, of pleasing architecture, and of good literature untainted by profanity or verbal filth. ("This I Believe," BYU 1991-92 Devotional and Fireside Speeches, March 1, 1992, p. 78.)
I believe what President Hinckley believes and what Joseph F. Smith taught his son -- "The best... is none too good for you!"
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Isn't It Incredible What 26 Little Letters Can Do?
November 21, 2006 Observation:
On Halloween, October 31, 2006, I listened to President Gordon B. Hinckley speak to the BYU student body at their weekly devotional. I was impressed that at age 96 he was still able to speak with such intelligence and clarity. It was his opening remarks that caught my attention. He said that on one occasion, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was asked what books he had read that had influenced him the most. Emerson replied that he could no more remember all the books he had read than the meals he had eaten, but they had made him what he was. As I reflected on what Emerson said, as quoted by President Hinckley, it struck a chord within me as being a true statement. I suppose all of us are shaped, not only by the meals we eat, but by the books we read.
I have been blessed in my lifetime to have been exposed to some of the greatest books ever written which certainly have shaped my thinking and even my behavior I believe. My mother introduced me to many great books as a young boy, and then I met Dr. Nan Grass while attending BYU, who for an entire two semesters, five days a week, taught me to love the great literature of the English language in her marvelous course, "Major British Authors". Through her guidance I began to love the writings of Shakespeare, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Browning, Lord Byron, Matthew Arnold, John Milton, John Donne, Chaucer, and a host of others.
And then, still a young man, I came to Southern California in 1970 to be the institute director at the Institute of Religion at California State University at Los Angeles. I was able to determine what I would teach and one of the first classes I chose to teach at the Institute level was entitled "Presidents of the Church". At that time there was a very meager lesson manual for that course which was a great blessing because it forced me to read a biography on each one of the presidents we would be discussing. This began a passion that I still have to read biographies of great people. I would read the biography of one of the Church Presidents and then around the dinner table each evening I would tell my little children stories from the lives of the prophets. They were a very receptive audience and came to know a great deal about the presidents of the Church. Little did they know how much they were helping me to teach my Institute class by trying out stories from the lives of the prophets on them.
The lives of these great men, along with the great literature I had been reading, shaped my thinking and inspired me to always want to be a better person. I am always looking for good biographies to read. How blessed I have been to not only read the biographies of great Church leaders, but also of men like George Washington, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and many others as well.
Since my accident and loss of physical mobility I have also come to love history, and through my reading have witnessed the building of the Panama Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Transcontinental Railroad, been on the Lewis and Clarke expedition, circumnavigated the globe with Magellan, experienced the incredible year of 1776 and Washington's crossing of the Delaware, seen World War II through the eyes of a "Band of Brothers", and on and on it goes. How dull and boring my life could be if it were not for the magic of reading.
Through my reading one of my favorite historical characters has become Theodore Roosevelt. I am just amazed at this man. I think my subconscious self would like to be like Theodore Roosevelt. I have read three major books on his life and am just finishing a fourth that I picked up at Costco (not a bad place to find a good cheap paperback). It is written by a lady by the name of Candice Millard and is entitled "The River of Doubt". Roosevelt wanted to run for a third term as president of the United States but the Republican Party didn't want him. The Republican Party was backing very strongly, Howard W. Taft, at the time and therefore Teddy formed his own political party which became known as the "Bull Moose Party". Because of the third party Teddy formed, the Republicans lost the 1912 presidential election. Teddy was used to winning and when he lost the election by a substantial margin he went into an unusual depression. Shortly after the 1912 election he was invited to South America on a speaking tour, and his family, thinking an exciting adventure would help his depression, encouraged him to accept the invitation. He accepted on the condition that he could also do some exploring. He was 55 years old at the time. This book about his adventures and adversity in traveling down a river ("The River of Doubt") in Brazil that no one had explored and was not even on a map is exciting and reveals so much about the character of this great man. He suffered greatly in the vast Amazon rain forest -- 1913-14 -- and died a few years later, much younger than he would have had he not taken this trip.
Theodore Roosevelt had traveled extensively in his lifetime. He led his Roughriders up San Juan Hill in Cuba, had fought grizzly bears, had a big cattle ranch in the Dakotas, and was tough as nails. I think his trip to Brazil tempered him somewhat and taught him a great lesson about life as evidenced by a statement he made near the end of his life. "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." [Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States, 1858-1919]
Having studied his life, this statement appears to me to be so untypical of this adventurous and vital man. However, I believe any human being who learns to do what he can, with what he has, where he is, has discovered one of the great keys to a happy and fulfilling life. I believe I have tried to adopt Roosevelt's philosophy into my own life since my accident. I haven't always been successful in doing so, but those days that I do all I can, with what I have, where I am, are rewarding and fulfilling days.
At this Thanksgiving time there are a multitude of things I am thankful for, but very high on the list is being able to read. Although my body is mobility impaired, through the magic of reading, my mind knows no limits. Through reading I have become acquainted with some of the greatest people with the best minds that have ever lived, and have vicariously experienced many of the world's most important events in history. Isn't it incredible what 26 little letters can do?
"... and be content with such things as ye have..." [Hebrews 13: 5]
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
On Halloween, October 31, 2006, I listened to President Gordon B. Hinckley speak to the BYU student body at their weekly devotional. I was impressed that at age 96 he was still able to speak with such intelligence and clarity. It was his opening remarks that caught my attention. He said that on one occasion, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was asked what books he had read that had influenced him the most. Emerson replied that he could no more remember all the books he had read than the meals he had eaten, but they had made him what he was. As I reflected on what Emerson said, as quoted by President Hinckley, it struck a chord within me as being a true statement. I suppose all of us are shaped, not only by the meals we eat, but by the books we read.
I have been blessed in my lifetime to have been exposed to some of the greatest books ever written which certainly have shaped my thinking and even my behavior I believe. My mother introduced me to many great books as a young boy, and then I met Dr. Nan Grass while attending BYU, who for an entire two semesters, five days a week, taught me to love the great literature of the English language in her marvelous course, "Major British Authors". Through her guidance I began to love the writings of Shakespeare, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Browning, Lord Byron, Matthew Arnold, John Milton, John Donne, Chaucer, and a host of others.
And then, still a young man, I came to Southern California in 1970 to be the institute director at the Institute of Religion at California State University at Los Angeles. I was able to determine what I would teach and one of the first classes I chose to teach at the Institute level was entitled "Presidents of the Church". At that time there was a very meager lesson manual for that course which was a great blessing because it forced me to read a biography on each one of the presidents we would be discussing. This began a passion that I still have to read biographies of great people. I would read the biography of one of the Church Presidents and then around the dinner table each evening I would tell my little children stories from the lives of the prophets. They were a very receptive audience and came to know a great deal about the presidents of the Church. Little did they know how much they were helping me to teach my Institute class by trying out stories from the lives of the prophets on them.
The lives of these great men, along with the great literature I had been reading, shaped my thinking and inspired me to always want to be a better person. I am always looking for good biographies to read. How blessed I have been to not only read the biographies of great Church leaders, but also of men like George Washington, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and many others as well.
Since my accident and loss of physical mobility I have also come to love history, and through my reading have witnessed the building of the Panama Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Transcontinental Railroad, been on the Lewis and Clarke expedition, circumnavigated the globe with Magellan, experienced the incredible year of 1776 and Washington's crossing of the Delaware, seen World War II through the eyes of a "Band of Brothers", and on and on it goes. How dull and boring my life could be if it were not for the magic of reading.
Through my reading one of my favorite historical characters has become Theodore Roosevelt. I am just amazed at this man. I think my subconscious self would like to be like Theodore Roosevelt. I have read three major books on his life and am just finishing a fourth that I picked up at Costco (not a bad place to find a good cheap paperback). It is written by a lady by the name of Candice Millard and is entitled "The River of Doubt". Roosevelt wanted to run for a third term as president of the United States but the Republican Party didn't want him. The Republican Party was backing very strongly, Howard W. Taft, at the time and therefore Teddy formed his own political party which became known as the "Bull Moose Party". Because of the third party Teddy formed, the Republicans lost the 1912 presidential election. Teddy was used to winning and when he lost the election by a substantial margin he went into an unusual depression. Shortly after the 1912 election he was invited to South America on a speaking tour, and his family, thinking an exciting adventure would help his depression, encouraged him to accept the invitation. He accepted on the condition that he could also do some exploring. He was 55 years old at the time. This book about his adventures and adversity in traveling down a river ("The River of Doubt") in Brazil that no one had explored and was not even on a map is exciting and reveals so much about the character of this great man. He suffered greatly in the vast Amazon rain forest -- 1913-14 -- and died a few years later, much younger than he would have had he not taken this trip.
Theodore Roosevelt had traveled extensively in his lifetime. He led his Roughriders up San Juan Hill in Cuba, had fought grizzly bears, had a big cattle ranch in the Dakotas, and was tough as nails. I think his trip to Brazil tempered him somewhat and taught him a great lesson about life as evidenced by a statement he made near the end of his life. "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." [Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States, 1858-1919]
Having studied his life, this statement appears to me to be so untypical of this adventurous and vital man. However, I believe any human being who learns to do what he can, with what he has, where he is, has discovered one of the great keys to a happy and fulfilling life. I believe I have tried to adopt Roosevelt's philosophy into my own life since my accident. I haven't always been successful in doing so, but those days that I do all I can, with what I have, where I am, are rewarding and fulfilling days.
At this Thanksgiving time there are a multitude of things I am thankful for, but very high on the list is being able to read. Although my body is mobility impaired, through the magic of reading, my mind knows no limits. Through reading I have become acquainted with some of the greatest people with the best minds that have ever lived, and have vicariously experienced many of the world's most important events in history. Isn't it incredible what 26 little letters can do?
"... and be content with such things as ye have..." [Hebrews 13: 5]
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Friday, November 10, 2006
Memory
Friday November 10, 2006
I have learned over the years to accept and deal with the big problems of life like being paralyzed and living on life support. It's the supposedly simple and small things of life that make me cry out at times, "It just isn't fair!"
For example, my Internet provider for a number of years now has been Comcast. Without consulting me, Comcast sold out to Time Warner, and a couple of weeks ago I got a letter in the mail from Time Warner informing me that some outfit called Road Runner would now be my new cable Internet provider. They told me I had a week in which to convert my e-mail system to Road Runner and gave me the necessary information to get on Road Runner's "easy installation" website.
With some trepidation I accessed the website and my eyes crossed and began to water as I tried to follow the "easy installation instructions". I soon discovered that these simple instructions would cross even a rabbi's eyes and challenge the intelligence of a rocket scientist. You may not know this about me, but I am a hard loser and like a challenge, so I dove into it and tried my best to get my e-mail working once again with the Road Runner service. Conservatively speaking, I spent 15 hours before I admitted defeat. It happened late one night when nothing I tried seemed to work and I just admitted to myself that there was no way I could get this Road Runner e-mail service to work. I vowed that the next morning I would not even look at the Road Runner website nor even think about e-mail.
The next morning my son, Rich, called and wanted me to do a school project for his son Trevor which involved the use of the computer and e-mail. I told Rich I would love to help out but my e-mail was not working right. Well, about noon Rich showed up and I showed him what I had done and was doing to install the Road Runner e-mail program. He took one look at it and said "Dad, I'll bet you that your password is case-sensitive." I gave him my password and he punched it in using uppercase instead of lowercase and it was like hitting the jackpot. 25 or 30 e-mails appeared in my inbox and I haven't had a problem since.
Why are our kids so much smarter than we are? It just isn't fair! Then to infuriate me just a little bit more, the other day for some reason, I went to the Road Runner home page and at the bottom right hand corner in small letters it said something like, "By the way, for you former Comcast users make sure that when you type in your password realize that it is case-sensitive." Have you ever felt you were getting close to being sanctified and translated only to have something like this happen and you think thoughts and mutter things under your breath that are hard evidence that the "natural man" is still alive and well?
And then my voice recognition software began giving me problems. For no reason at all a little sign would pop up and say, "You are having a memory problem." Well, lots of my older friends and I do have memory problems so this was not exactly a revelation. However, Dragon Naturally Speaking 7.3, my voice recognition software program, wasn't working the way it normally did. I had Jo Anne call John Klabius, the owner and operator of a little company called "Voice Solutions". I have been working with John for over 10 years now and he has always proven to be honest and straightforward regarding the selling and installation of Dragon Naturally Speaking products. He told me that the 9.0 version of Dragon Naturally Speaking was incredibly good, and that if I upgraded it would solve all my problems. The next day John came over to install the new version and was surprised at how slowly the installation program was operating. He asked me how much memory I had in my computer. I proudly told him I believed it had 512 megs of RAM memory (whatever that means), which I thought was a lot of memory. John informed me that I needed at least one gig of RAM memory for the new Naturally Speaking software to run well, as well as all of the other programs on my computer. I foolishly stared at him for a moment and then said, "The only Gig I ever knew was a Griffith" (son of Ed & Bunkie Griffith).
Well, I knew I was pushing my luck with Jo Anne. The new upgrade for Dragon Naturally Speaking had set us back several hundred dollars and to upgrade to a gig of memory, whatever that was, wasn't going to be really cheap according to John, depending on how my computer was configured for memory. Thankfully, Jo Anne has lots of faith and trust in John Klabius, so nonchalantly I revealed to her that John said we needed to upgrade the memory in my computer to a gig in order for Dragon Naturally Speaking to work well. Jo Anne got a dazed look on her face and muttered, "The only Gig I know is a Griffith!"
To her credit she loaded me in the van the next day and we paid a visit to Micro Center, a computer store located just several blocks from where we live. We took my Hewlett-Packard laptop with us and told the salesman that we wanted to double the amount of RAM memory in the computer for a total of a gig. As we were in the store I began thinking what an incredible thing it is to be able to go to a store and buy "memory". Wouldn't it be wonderful if when our thought processes slow down that we could go to a Micro Center and have several gigs of memory implanted in our brains. I guess we would be willing to pay almost anything to get just one gig of memory installed in our brain as we get older.
As generally happens, Micro Center sold us and installed only half the memory we needed and had requested. It took us several days to iron out all the problems but now I am the happy owner of a gig of RAM memory and the 9.0 version of Dragon Naturally Speaking. Nothing is ever easy and the "natural man" in us wants to cry out "Life just isn't fair!"
I know we can't go to a "memory store" to upgrade our memory as it goes on the decline. However, thankfully, there is a form of a "memory store" available to all of us at really no cost. The "memory store" I refer to is the Scriptures. In the Scriptures, if we search them each day, we are reminded of the most important things in life, and especially the most important thing -- the mission and atonement of Christ. Incredibly, there are 275 references in the Scriptures that use the word "remember" or a form thereof. There are an additional 73 references in the Scriptures that use the word "remembrance" and if that were not enough, 39 references where the word "memory" is used.
President Kimball once said: "Scriptures are man's spiritual memory. In a very real sense special records, such as the holy scriptures, are the spiritual memory of mankind." (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 125)
And so, as wonderful as it would be, sadly, we can't go to a "memory store" and buy a gig of memory and have it implanted in our brains. However, if we are wise we will be renewing our spiritual memory through the searching of the Scriptures every day of our lives. Ultimately, our spiritual memory will prove to have been a greater blessing to us than our deteriorating physical memory.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
I have learned over the years to accept and deal with the big problems of life like being paralyzed and living on life support. It's the supposedly simple and small things of life that make me cry out at times, "It just isn't fair!"
For example, my Internet provider for a number of years now has been Comcast. Without consulting me, Comcast sold out to Time Warner, and a couple of weeks ago I got a letter in the mail from Time Warner informing me that some outfit called Road Runner would now be my new cable Internet provider. They told me I had a week in which to convert my e-mail system to Road Runner and gave me the necessary information to get on Road Runner's "easy installation" website.
With some trepidation I accessed the website and my eyes crossed and began to water as I tried to follow the "easy installation instructions". I soon discovered that these simple instructions would cross even a rabbi's eyes and challenge the intelligence of a rocket scientist. You may not know this about me, but I am a hard loser and like a challenge, so I dove into it and tried my best to get my e-mail working once again with the Road Runner service. Conservatively speaking, I spent 15 hours before I admitted defeat. It happened late one night when nothing I tried seemed to work and I just admitted to myself that there was no way I could get this Road Runner e-mail service to work. I vowed that the next morning I would not even look at the Road Runner website nor even think about e-mail.
The next morning my son, Rich, called and wanted me to do a school project for his son Trevor which involved the use of the computer and e-mail. I told Rich I would love to help out but my e-mail was not working right. Well, about noon Rich showed up and I showed him what I had done and was doing to install the Road Runner e-mail program. He took one look at it and said "Dad, I'll bet you that your password is case-sensitive." I gave him my password and he punched it in using uppercase instead of lowercase and it was like hitting the jackpot. 25 or 30 e-mails appeared in my inbox and I haven't had a problem since.
Why are our kids so much smarter than we are? It just isn't fair! Then to infuriate me just a little bit more, the other day for some reason, I went to the Road Runner home page and at the bottom right hand corner in small letters it said something like, "By the way, for you former Comcast users make sure that when you type in your password realize that it is case-sensitive." Have you ever felt you were getting close to being sanctified and translated only to have something like this happen and you think thoughts and mutter things under your breath that are hard evidence that the "natural man" is still alive and well?
And then my voice recognition software began giving me problems. For no reason at all a little sign would pop up and say, "You are having a memory problem." Well, lots of my older friends and I do have memory problems so this was not exactly a revelation. However, Dragon Naturally Speaking 7.3, my voice recognition software program, wasn't working the way it normally did. I had Jo Anne call John Klabius, the owner and operator of a little company called "Voice Solutions". I have been working with John for over 10 years now and he has always proven to be honest and straightforward regarding the selling and installation of Dragon Naturally Speaking products. He told me that the 9.0 version of Dragon Naturally Speaking was incredibly good, and that if I upgraded it would solve all my problems. The next day John came over to install the new version and was surprised at how slowly the installation program was operating. He asked me how much memory I had in my computer. I proudly told him I believed it had 512 megs of RAM memory (whatever that means), which I thought was a lot of memory. John informed me that I needed at least one gig of RAM memory for the new Naturally Speaking software to run well, as well as all of the other programs on my computer. I foolishly stared at him for a moment and then said, "The only Gig I ever knew was a Griffith" (son of Ed & Bunkie Griffith).
Well, I knew I was pushing my luck with Jo Anne. The new upgrade for Dragon Naturally Speaking had set us back several hundred dollars and to upgrade to a gig of memory, whatever that was, wasn't going to be really cheap according to John, depending on how my computer was configured for memory. Thankfully, Jo Anne has lots of faith and trust in John Klabius, so nonchalantly I revealed to her that John said we needed to upgrade the memory in my computer to a gig in order for Dragon Naturally Speaking to work well. Jo Anne got a dazed look on her face and muttered, "The only Gig I know is a Griffith!"
To her credit she loaded me in the van the next day and we paid a visit to Micro Center, a computer store located just several blocks from where we live. We took my Hewlett-Packard laptop with us and told the salesman that we wanted to double the amount of RAM memory in the computer for a total of a gig. As we were in the store I began thinking what an incredible thing it is to be able to go to a store and buy "memory". Wouldn't it be wonderful if when our thought processes slow down that we could go to a Micro Center and have several gigs of memory implanted in our brains. I guess we would be willing to pay almost anything to get just one gig of memory installed in our brain as we get older.
As generally happens, Micro Center sold us and installed only half the memory we needed and had requested. It took us several days to iron out all the problems but now I am the happy owner of a gig of RAM memory and the 9.0 version of Dragon Naturally Speaking. Nothing is ever easy and the "natural man" in us wants to cry out "Life just isn't fair!"
I know we can't go to a "memory store" to upgrade our memory as it goes on the decline. However, thankfully, there is a form of a "memory store" available to all of us at really no cost. The "memory store" I refer to is the Scriptures. In the Scriptures, if we search them each day, we are reminded of the most important things in life, and especially the most important thing -- the mission and atonement of Christ. Incredibly, there are 275 references in the Scriptures that use the word "remember" or a form thereof. There are an additional 73 references in the Scriptures that use the word "remembrance" and if that were not enough, 39 references where the word "memory" is used.
President Kimball once said: "Scriptures are man's spiritual memory. In a very real sense special records, such as the holy scriptures, are the spiritual memory of mankind." (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 125)
And so, as wonderful as it would be, sadly, we can't go to a "memory store" and buy a gig of memory and have it implanted in our brains. However, if we are wise we will be renewing our spiritual memory through the searching of the Scriptures every day of our lives. Ultimately, our spiritual memory will prove to have been a greater blessing to us than our deteriorating physical memory.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Halloween
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 Observation:
Each year when Halloween rolls around I am reminded of my mom and dad, long since gone from this earth. They were married in Abraham, Utah on October 31, 1925 -- Halloween. At the time of their marriage my dad was 17 and my mother 18. My dad had only an eighth grade education, but my mother had graduated from Hinckley high school, near Delta, Utah, as valedictorian.
They couldn't make a living by farming in Abraham, so when my 17-year-old dad heard that there was work in the mines in White Pine County, Nevada, he went there to investigate. He traveled to Ruth, Nevada, a very small mining town, and went to the Star Pointer Mine, an underground copper mine, owned by Kennecott Copper Corporation. The day he went to the mine there was a large line of men also seeking work. Dad was only 5'4" and weighed, at that time, probably 125 to 130 pounds. The hiring boss took one look at him and told him there was no way that somebody so small could do the hard physical labor required of a miner. Dad, never lacking in confidence, told the boss that he could out shovel any man he had working for him. The boss liked his spirit and said he would give him a chance to prove what he said was true. That began dad's career as a "mucker" in the Star Pointer Mine. A mucker is one who shovels ore into little ore cars after blasting takes place in the tunnel in which they are working. True to his word, dad was a world-class mucker as I learned later in life in trying to keep up with him shoveling anything.
Dad sent for mom and they began their life together in Ruth, Nevada and working for Kennecott which dad did until the day he died in 1970. On his 34th birthday he was walking home from work one day and realized that he had spent exactly half of his life working underground. He applied for a new position above ground which he was granted and eventually began working in the warehouse where his expertise with numbers and handwriting stood him in good stead. He was working in the warehouse at the time of his death.
Mom and Dad had one message for their boys; "Go to college, and don't end up in the mines." We must have paid attention because all four of us graduated from BYU and went on to receive graduate degrees. Both mom and Dad were instrumental in inspiring us to go on to college and to a better lifestyle, but mom was the driving force. It was not until I was paralyzed and living on life support that I truly appreciated what my mother did for me as a young boy.
She was a voracious reader all of her life, and instilled a love for reading in me and I believe in all of my brothers as well. Almost every year for Christmas and my birthday I would be given a beautiful book of some kind. I remember receiving and reading such books as Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Heidi, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Bobsy Twins, and a series about a great fictitious athlete by the name of Chip Hilton. Chip Hilton was a fabulous baseball and basketball player and through this series I followed him from high school through college. I could hardly wait to get my next Chip Hilton book.
Mom was the cultural refinement teacher in Relief Society for many years. Her love was to teach great literature which she shared with me and my younger brother, Kim. She introduced us to Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and a host of other great writers. In the early 1950s before the civil rights movement began she had us read a book entitled "Black Like Me". I still remember how horrified I was as a young boy to read of the plight of African Americans in the United States. My mom was forward thinking with regard to these kinds of things.
However, she was not only a voracious reader but she loved music and sports as well. She never forced me into music but once I signed up to play the clarinet in the fourth grade and then to take piano lessons when I was 12 years old she would never let me quit. I can still remember her standing behind me and counting out loud while I practiced the piano. She was a pretty tough taskmaster. As the years went by I began to love music and had always loved sports of any kind. She was a knowledgeable sports fan and won a little money by entering the Ely Daily Times football prognostication contest for college football. In her 80s when she would be living in our home for several months out of the year, we would watch every Lakers game we could together, and she knew what was going on and had a few insults for the referees if the call went against the Lakers, or especially her hero, Magic Johnson.
When I had my accident it took only a few days to realize that my life from that point on would be a life of the mind and spirit. Because my mother had instilled such a love of reading and music in me, and because of her constant encouragement for me to do my best as an athlete I discovered that my life could be very fulfilling and satisfying because I loved so many things that I could do with my mind. Of course I couldn't play my instruments anymore or participate in sports as I had once done, but I could listen to music, and watch sports, and especially I could read and write with my voice recognition software. Reading the scriptures and other great books has been so fulfilling and rewarding during the 17 years I have been paralyzed, but I have also enjoyed great music, great baseball, basketball, and football games, as well as Turner classic movies.
The mother of a teenage boy who had a spinal cord injury called me to ask me if there was any hope for a good quality life for her son. I began telling her enthusiastically about the computer and the blessing it is to someone in my condition to be able to read and write and have access to the Internet and etc. There was a pause and then she said "I'm afraid that won't do my son any good. All he has done during his lifetime is to play and ride motorcycles. I don't think he has ever read a book." That was one of the most tragic statements I have ever heard.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell once spoke of traps that we might fall into during mortality if we are not careful. "[one trap]... is that some of us neglect to develop multiple sources of satisfaction. When one of the wells upon which we draw dries up through death, loss of status, disaffection, or physical ailment, we then find ourselves very thirsty because, instead of having multiple sources of satisfaction in our lives, we have become too dependent upon this or upon that..." (Neal A. Maxwell, But for A Small Moment, 1 Sept.1974, BYU Devotional)
Thanks mom and dad on this Halloween for having blessed me in so many ways to deal with my physical ailment because of the multiple sources of satisfaction in life to which you introduced me as a young boy.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Each year when Halloween rolls around I am reminded of my mom and dad, long since gone from this earth. They were married in Abraham, Utah on October 31, 1925 -- Halloween. At the time of their marriage my dad was 17 and my mother 18. My dad had only an eighth grade education, but my mother had graduated from Hinckley high school, near Delta, Utah, as valedictorian.
They couldn't make a living by farming in Abraham, so when my 17-year-old dad heard that there was work in the mines in White Pine County, Nevada, he went there to investigate. He traveled to Ruth, Nevada, a very small mining town, and went to the Star Pointer Mine, an underground copper mine, owned by Kennecott Copper Corporation. The day he went to the mine there was a large line of men also seeking work. Dad was only 5'4" and weighed, at that time, probably 125 to 130 pounds. The hiring boss took one look at him and told him there was no way that somebody so small could do the hard physical labor required of a miner. Dad, never lacking in confidence, told the boss that he could out shovel any man he had working for him. The boss liked his spirit and said he would give him a chance to prove what he said was true. That began dad's career as a "mucker" in the Star Pointer Mine. A mucker is one who shovels ore into little ore cars after blasting takes place in the tunnel in which they are working. True to his word, dad was a world-class mucker as I learned later in life in trying to keep up with him shoveling anything.
Dad sent for mom and they began their life together in Ruth, Nevada and working for Kennecott which dad did until the day he died in 1970. On his 34th birthday he was walking home from work one day and realized that he had spent exactly half of his life working underground. He applied for a new position above ground which he was granted and eventually began working in the warehouse where his expertise with numbers and handwriting stood him in good stead. He was working in the warehouse at the time of his death.
Mom and Dad had one message for their boys; "Go to college, and don't end up in the mines." We must have paid attention because all four of us graduated from BYU and went on to receive graduate degrees. Both mom and Dad were instrumental in inspiring us to go on to college and to a better lifestyle, but mom was the driving force. It was not until I was paralyzed and living on life support that I truly appreciated what my mother did for me as a young boy.
She was a voracious reader all of her life, and instilled a love for reading in me and I believe in all of my brothers as well. Almost every year for Christmas and my birthday I would be given a beautiful book of some kind. I remember receiving and reading such books as Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Heidi, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Bobsy Twins, and a series about a great fictitious athlete by the name of Chip Hilton. Chip Hilton was a fabulous baseball and basketball player and through this series I followed him from high school through college. I could hardly wait to get my next Chip Hilton book.
Mom was the cultural refinement teacher in Relief Society for many years. Her love was to teach great literature which she shared with me and my younger brother, Kim. She introduced us to Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and a host of other great writers. In the early 1950s before the civil rights movement began she had us read a book entitled "Black Like Me". I still remember how horrified I was as a young boy to read of the plight of African Americans in the United States. My mom was forward thinking with regard to these kinds of things.
However, she was not only a voracious reader but she loved music and sports as well. She never forced me into music but once I signed up to play the clarinet in the fourth grade and then to take piano lessons when I was 12 years old she would never let me quit. I can still remember her standing behind me and counting out loud while I practiced the piano. She was a pretty tough taskmaster. As the years went by I began to love music and had always loved sports of any kind. She was a knowledgeable sports fan and won a little money by entering the Ely Daily Times football prognostication contest for college football. In her 80s when she would be living in our home for several months out of the year, we would watch every Lakers game we could together, and she knew what was going on and had a few insults for the referees if the call went against the Lakers, or especially her hero, Magic Johnson.
When I had my accident it took only a few days to realize that my life from that point on would be a life of the mind and spirit. Because my mother had instilled such a love of reading and music in me, and because of her constant encouragement for me to do my best as an athlete I discovered that my life could be very fulfilling and satisfying because I loved so many things that I could do with my mind. Of course I couldn't play my instruments anymore or participate in sports as I had once done, but I could listen to music, and watch sports, and especially I could read and write with my voice recognition software. Reading the scriptures and other great books has been so fulfilling and rewarding during the 17 years I have been paralyzed, but I have also enjoyed great music, great baseball, basketball, and football games, as well as Turner classic movies.
The mother of a teenage boy who had a spinal cord injury called me to ask me if there was any hope for a good quality life for her son. I began telling her enthusiastically about the computer and the blessing it is to someone in my condition to be able to read and write and have access to the Internet and etc. There was a pause and then she said "I'm afraid that won't do my son any good. All he has done during his lifetime is to play and ride motorcycles. I don't think he has ever read a book." That was one of the most tragic statements I have ever heard.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell once spoke of traps that we might fall into during mortality if we are not careful. "[one trap]... is that some of us neglect to develop multiple sources of satisfaction. When one of the wells upon which we draw dries up through death, loss of status, disaffection, or physical ailment, we then find ourselves very thirsty because, instead of having multiple sources of satisfaction in our lives, we have become too dependent upon this or upon that..." (Neal A. Maxwell, But for A Small Moment, 1 Sept.1974, BYU Devotional)
Thanks mom and dad on this Halloween for having blessed me in so many ways to deal with my physical ailment because of the multiple sources of satisfaction in life to which you introduced me as a young boy.
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Sword of Damocles
Thursday, October 12, 2006 Observation:
I have a friend whose e-mail name is "Sword of Damocles". He has studied classical literature and was in a Ph.D. program studying philosophy at Columbia University in New York City for several years. When I first saw his e-mail name I was intrigued by it, but at the time did not know of its significance. However, in doing a little research I found out the following regarding the "Sword of Damocles".
Damocles, in classical Greek mythology, was a courtier at the court of Dionysius I. He so persistently praised the power and happiness of Dionysius that the tyrant, in order to show the precariousness of rank and power, gave a banquet and had a sword suspended above the head of Damocles by a single horse hair. Therefore, because of this ancient Greek myth, over the centuries the expression, "the sword of Damocles" has come to mean "an ever-present peril".
I don't think my friend is paranoid necessarily, but why would he choose the "Sword of Damocles" as an e-mail moniker? I must ask him some time. As I have thought about it though, I believe it is his way of stating a fundamental truth regarding his mortality. In a sense, we all have the Sword of Damocles dangling over our heads. My expression for the Sword of Damocles -- "an ever-present peril" -- is "living on the edge". I have been especially sensitive to the "Sword of Damocles" philosophy while living on life support for 17 years. I have had numerous brushes with death, all of them convincing me that I indeed am living in "an ever-present peril". You may think this is a very negative way of looking at life, but I don't think so. Realizing that I am "living on the edge" and under the dangling "Sword of Damocles" helps me to appreciate and value each good day I am given. It motivates me to make the best of every day of life I am granted.
You may not want to believe it, but we are all "living on the edge" and directly under the dangling "Sword of Damocles". I personally believe it is a healthy thing to realize how fragile life is, but I don't think the Lord wants us to face the present or the future with fear and trembling. To feel at peace and secure each day of our lives is what living the Gospel should do for us isn't it?
A while back I was speaking on the phone to my good friend, Jim Carter, who lives in Ogden, Utah. Jim has some health issues at this time in his life, and as we were sharing our medical histories with one another -- a sure sign of old-age -- I said to him, "Jim, when do we get to start living happily ever after?" He laughed and said that sounded like a question for one of my observations. Well, I suspect that the Lord did not place us on this earth to really ever live "happily ever after".
Elder Boyd K. Packer put it beautifully in comparing the plan of salvation to a three act play. “There are three parts to the plan. You are in the second or the middle part, the one in which you will be tested by temptation, by trials, perhaps by tragedy … Remember this! The line ‘And they all lived happily ever after’ is never written into the second act [of a play]. That line belongs in the third act, when the mysteries are solved and everything is put right...Until you have a broad perspective of the eternal nature of [the plan], you won’t make much sense out of the inequities in life...When you know the plan and the purpose of it all, even these things will manifest a loving Father in Heaven”. (The Play and the Plan [satellite broadcast, 7 May 1995], 1–2)
And so, really only in fairy tales do princes and princesses live happily ever after. That is not to say that life is not to be filled with peace, joy, and fulfillment, but that peace, joy, and fulfillment -- fruits of the Spirit -- will come from righteous living, exercising faith in Christ, and being strengthened by Him to deal with the vicissitudes of mortality.
I think we must be careful not to give our children a false impression regarding life. They need to understand at some point in time that seemingly bad things can come into the lives of everyone. A careful reading of the parable of the house built on a rock, as opposed to the house built upon the sand, will reveal that the full fury of the storm came to both houses. Just because one house, or life, was built upon the rock (Christ) did not protect it from the full blast of the wind and rain. However, because it was built upon Christ, it did not fall!
The storm sooner or later will come to all of us. It is not a matter of if, but of when. However, if our lives are built upon the sure foundation of Christ, "... when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." [Helaman 5:12]
Whether we want to believe it or not, living under the dangling "Sword of Damocles" or "On the Edge" is a reality for each one of us. I think we will have to wait a while, at least until we enter the spirit world, to begin "living happily ever after!"
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
I have a friend whose e-mail name is "Sword of Damocles". He has studied classical literature and was in a Ph.D. program studying philosophy at Columbia University in New York City for several years. When I first saw his e-mail name I was intrigued by it, but at the time did not know of its significance. However, in doing a little research I found out the following regarding the "Sword of Damocles".
Damocles, in classical Greek mythology, was a courtier at the court of Dionysius I. He so persistently praised the power and happiness of Dionysius that the tyrant, in order to show the precariousness of rank and power, gave a banquet and had a sword suspended above the head of Damocles by a single horse hair. Therefore, because of this ancient Greek myth, over the centuries the expression, "the sword of Damocles" has come to mean "an ever-present peril".
I don't think my friend is paranoid necessarily, but why would he choose the "Sword of Damocles" as an e-mail moniker? I must ask him some time. As I have thought about it though, I believe it is his way of stating a fundamental truth regarding his mortality. In a sense, we all have the Sword of Damocles dangling over our heads. My expression for the Sword of Damocles -- "an ever-present peril" -- is "living on the edge". I have been especially sensitive to the "Sword of Damocles" philosophy while living on life support for 17 years. I have had numerous brushes with death, all of them convincing me that I indeed am living in "an ever-present peril". You may think this is a very negative way of looking at life, but I don't think so. Realizing that I am "living on the edge" and under the dangling "Sword of Damocles" helps me to appreciate and value each good day I am given. It motivates me to make the best of every day of life I am granted.
You may not want to believe it, but we are all "living on the edge" and directly under the dangling "Sword of Damocles". I personally believe it is a healthy thing to realize how fragile life is, but I don't think the Lord wants us to face the present or the future with fear and trembling. To feel at peace and secure each day of our lives is what living the Gospel should do for us isn't it?
A while back I was speaking on the phone to my good friend, Jim Carter, who lives in Ogden, Utah. Jim has some health issues at this time in his life, and as we were sharing our medical histories with one another -- a sure sign of old-age -- I said to him, "Jim, when do we get to start living happily ever after?" He laughed and said that sounded like a question for one of my observations. Well, I suspect that the Lord did not place us on this earth to really ever live "happily ever after".
Elder Boyd K. Packer put it beautifully in comparing the plan of salvation to a three act play. “There are three parts to the plan. You are in the second or the middle part, the one in which you will be tested by temptation, by trials, perhaps by tragedy … Remember this! The line ‘And they all lived happily ever after’ is never written into the second act [of a play]. That line belongs in the third act, when the mysteries are solved and everything is put right...Until you have a broad perspective of the eternal nature of [the plan], you won’t make much sense out of the inequities in life...When you know the plan and the purpose of it all, even these things will manifest a loving Father in Heaven”. (The Play and the Plan [satellite broadcast, 7 May 1995], 1–2)
And so, really only in fairy tales do princes and princesses live happily ever after. That is not to say that life is not to be filled with peace, joy, and fulfillment, but that peace, joy, and fulfillment -- fruits of the Spirit -- will come from righteous living, exercising faith in Christ, and being strengthened by Him to deal with the vicissitudes of mortality.
I think we must be careful not to give our children a false impression regarding life. They need to understand at some point in time that seemingly bad things can come into the lives of everyone. A careful reading of the parable of the house built on a rock, as opposed to the house built upon the sand, will reveal that the full fury of the storm came to both houses. Just because one house, or life, was built upon the rock (Christ) did not protect it from the full blast of the wind and rain. However, because it was built upon Christ, it did not fall!
The storm sooner or later will come to all of us. It is not a matter of if, but of when. However, if our lives are built upon the sure foundation of Christ, "... when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." [Helaman 5:12]
Whether we want to believe it or not, living under the dangling "Sword of Damocles" or "On the Edge" is a reality for each one of us. I think we will have to wait a while, at least until we enter the spirit world, to begin "living happily ever after!"
Dad/Grandpa/Jack
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