The Participatory Prerogative

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat" 

--Theodore Roosevelt

Moments to volunteer with raised hand come and go. There have been times when I've raised my hand at the request for a volunteer and times when I haven't.  Those opportunities either prosper or perish. It is interesting to look back upon the times that I have volunteered to make a statement, make an estimate, or make a fun-loving fool of myself. Not once have I said, "Oh, I wish I would've just shut my mouth or remained partners with my seat in the corner." Not once have I thought, "Dang, I shouldn't have given my buddy a ride or helped mom with the dishes." We get more than we give. It's a strong equation. 

This morning my accounting professor asked for a volunteer to put up the solution to a problem we had worked on in class. I had the numbers and I was ready. My hand was raised. I went to the front of the room with my notes, grabbed the dry-erase marker, and promptly forgot any morsel of how I had gotten my answers. Great. Yet, with the promptings of my professor help was offered. Problem solved--eventually. My voluntary performance was less than stellar but I wasn't bothered in the least by it. This is why: I was up and doing rather than down and stewing. 

There is great power in participation. It is powerful beyond the chapter's theory or the current methods. The key lies in the question: can one put the theory into practice and make it live? It begins with action followed by heightened understanding. 

Yes, there will be failure but we must use that for better tomorrows. After this morning's accounting encounter, I am a lot more familiar with contribution margin income statements than I was while sitting in the background. Any man can hear and see, many can come to know, but find a man (or woman) who can apply and do and he will be a victor. 

So, with Mr. Roosevelt's reminder, let us remember that we are not meant to dwell among the "poor spirits" as we do mighty things. We are built to triumph over suffering and "enjoy much" and gray is not our color! 

Stay the Course

My Beautiful Bride...

I love you, Jewels

I Suppose...

"The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not overturning it." --Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton (British politician, poet, critic, and novelist (1803-1873))

I think a lot about Moses and his face-to-face encounter with the Lord in the Pearl of Great Price  . The Lord tells Moses that He has a work for Him to do and that He would show him the workmanship of His hands. Upon seeing the world upon which we live, Moses "greatly marveled and wondered" (Moses 1:8). Upon God's presence leaving Moses, he was "left unto himself" and discovered that "man is nothing, which thing [he] never had supposed" (Moses 1:9-10) . I am sure Moses was not going to try to overturn any of these observations with his own.

 Notwithstanding a lack of grand and galactic encounters, we should ask ourselves how we  feel about the things that we "never have supposed" in our lives. As I do so, I realize that all of mine could be encapsulated in a paper-bent pamphlet while my collection of "Here's what I think" could be gathered in a hard-bound volume, footnotes included! I don't feel that this is a positive divide. Perhaps, I need an editor!

Each has his or her views on life. We all know what we know. Persuasion is part of our existence (just ask my Comm 352 class). Constantly,  we look at life with personal view finders. Often, we share our personal interests in an effort to influence others or express our feelings. This is a natural and healthy activity. Persuasion puts us on the offensive but what is the other side of the balance? 

I was conversing with a co-worker the other day. He is from Iowa; I am from Idaho. He has his views and I have mine. The conversation turned to politics. We skirted over some of the current "issues" throwing in a few " I thinks" along with the occasional shoulder shrug. It was healthy and non-violent. As the conversation went on, I realized that some of my co-workers thoughts were things that I never "had supposed." He shared similar sentiment with my views. Yes, persuasion was involved but there was nothing to defend. In the end, my co-worker and I were asking questions in unison about things neither of us "had supposed." Nothing was lost in a war-like effort to overturn ideas; rather, all was built upon in an effort to see more.

I submit that we need to find the other side of the offense. If we continue on the offensive too long we eventually turn defensive. The anecdote lies in humility and meekness. It is recognizing that we really do know what we know and that is never enough!

A great talk on meekness:

"Meekly Drenched in Destiny", Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Prayer

"Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets. I do not mean his maker, but himself." --William Inge

Amidst the visscissitudes of life, proper guidance should be accepted and welcomed. Prayer is the vital link between man and his maker. We can't get too far on our own.
 
Johnathan Edwards, in his article "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" writes:
 

"But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. "

Often we may be housing feelings that the following poem offers:

"With thoughtless and impatient hands


We tangle up the plans

The Lord hath wrought.

And when we cry in pain He saith,

“Be quiet, man, while I untie the knot.”

Believer or not, we have taught to "counsel with the Lord in all thy doing, and He will direct thee for good" (Alma 37:37). He knows what He is doing--we need Him.

p.s. God is not angry.

Davey

"Father! - to God himself we cannot give a holier name." ~William Wordsworth

They say it takes a real man to be a dad. In my short 24 years watching my father, I'd have to agree. It takes a real man to work and earn and save in order to give provide and bless his house. It takes a real man to watch his sons and daughters make their choices both for good or ill. It takes a real man to love and teach without raising his voice or losing his temper. My dad is a real man. He's not in it for himself; he's in it for the good of his family. He's never had to tell me how to be a good man. I've simply had to watch him. That is power.

To you, dad, I thank you for being my father and friend. A father and a son--what a combination. Its definitely a type and shadow of Those we worship. They work together and become even better.

"In life they were not divided, in death they are not separated."

Happy Father's Day! Love ya Davey!

Hope in the Light

"Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.’ … Hope sweetens the memory of experiences well loved. It tempers our troubles to our growth and our strength. It befriends us in dark hours, excites us in bright ones. It lends promise to the future and purpose to the past. It turns discouragement to determination.” --Samuel Smiles

Scripture continually empowers hope. It is called an anchor to the soul as we "see the promises afar off" (Heb. 11:13). We are commanded to "plow in hope" and walk in a "perfect brightness" thereof (see 1 Cor 9:10; 2 Nep. 31:20).

What do we do when we are hopeless? We believe in it! Abraham was promised to be the father of nations;  his wife, Sarah, was barren. Ironic. Abraham "against hope believed in hope" and was "fully persuaded" that God would fulfill his promises (Rom 4:18-21).

Hope is more than a wish. It is a faith-fueled assurance of good things to come. It is the power to go and be awesome. It is the power to move against the grain of circumstance, to enable the power of faith, to walk toward eternity, and be lifted beyond the veil of death and imperfection.

We must hope in the light. Christ is that light. If you find no hope in this, just believe!

Tell me what hope is for you?

Brilliance

"Simplicity is the key to brilliance" --Bruce Lee

The great American thinker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said: 

"A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within....Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else, to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another." 

"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide;...The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried" (Emerson, "Self-Reliance").

The mind of man is a most powerful instrument. It is incredibly demanding of fuel and fire. It abhors the idle moment and has no use for mediocre mental equivalents of empty calories. Embedded in the mind of man is the propensity to create and see and understand. Emerson gives this caution, "We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents" (Ibid).

Marvel with me at the fact that you and I have had or will have ideas that are completely our own in their beauty, their display, and their consequence. None but ourselves will see in just the same way we might see. What one man sees, another man sees differently. What one man  cannot see, another will grasp as an impression forever upon him. You and I are draped in brilliance that, too often, we keep folded up in our back pocket as a dejected handkerchief. In reality, it stands as the light of our eye and the voice of our heart. No idea ever shared will be wasted. And, believe me, there is "enough and to spare" (D&C 104:17).