Self Reliance

One of the things that the Church is always emphasizing is the idea of self reliance.  Caring for ourselves physically and being prepared in case of physical illness, taking care of our social and monetary needs and being prepared for problems in that realm, and getting a good education to overall help with this self reliance has been a hallmark of the Church for many generations.

Sometimes, we forget what it means to be self reliant.

Hypocrisy

In Matthew 23, Christ denounces the Pharisees as hypocrites, even though they are the official leaders of the church in Jerusalem.  But it's very notable that He does not denounce their office.  In fact, the opposite is true; He tells the people they still have to follow them.  He said, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not."

Don't Forget the Lion

One of the first hymns I memorized as a child was "The Spirit of God."  The final verse begins with a very memorable line: "How blessed the day when the lamb and the lion shall lie down together without any ire."  I didn't really understand it as a child, but I though it was talking about the peace during the millennial reign.  Now I understand it to be talking about the mercy and justice of God.  But I think, as humans, we still don't get it.

Losing the Spirit

When I was growing up, I was repeatedly taught about how disobeying the commandments caused us to lose the spirit.

Freedom vs. Commandments

I have always been interested in the unusual dichotomies within the LDS doctrine.  The most often discussed is the mercy vs. justice dilemma.  But another that is very important is the commandment vs. freedom paradox.  It seems like a paradox, because our Father in Heaven gives us commandments at the same time as he claims to grant us freedom.  As a parent, it does seem like an impossible situation to resolve.  I want my children to have freedom so they will learn to be independent and responsible, but at the same time I want to give them rules to protect and guide them.

Without Natural Affection

Twice in the epistles of Paul (Romans and 2nd Timothy), in a list of transgressions, he includes "without natural affection."  In the letter to the Romans, it is just a few verses after a description of male homosexuality, and so it has been often tied to same gender attraction.  However, also included in both lists are disobedient to parents, boasters, proud, and trucebreakers/covenantbreakers.  It's not like the description of homosexual lusts were any more connected to "without natural affection" than to any of the other transgressions in the list.

Catching Up

When I was a student, I remember sometimes missing class or getting behind in some subject or other.  It was always possible for me to catch up, to make up the missing learning and get back with the class.  But the process was far more difficult, and I always felt like I was barely keeping my head above water, when this happened.  The principle is that it's easier to keep up than to catch up.

Is the Church for Everyone?

I've heard people express that the LDS Church is not for everyone.  Certain people thrive in the Church, it is said, while others will struggle.  Many feel that those of a gay orientation would probably fair better in a different church, for example.  This can be a surprisingly touchy subject because of the doctrine that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the "only true and living church on the face of the whole earth with which [the Lord is] well pleased." (Doc & Cov 1:30)

Faith, Hope, Charity

What does it mean to have faith?  The first principle of the gospel is not just faith, but faith in Jesus Christ.  That's a little more specific, but what exactly does that mean?

Chastity

In one of my favorite webcomics, the chaplain in a mercenary army explains that his religious order doesn't believe in celibacy, but rather chastity.  So basically, no sex outside of marriage.  Seem a bit strict?  I've had friends express that expecting teens to abstain from sex is extremely naive.  They figure that the only celibate teens are those that can't attract the opposite sex.  My experience has been quite different.

Belonging

When I was young, I didn't have a great sense of belonging.  I didn't feel like I belonged in any particular group of peers.  I often satisfied that need through reading, as I often identified with the characters in books more closely than those in the real world.  But also, I'm not sure I felt that need as strongly as others.  I rather relished my "outsider" status, at least in my own eyes.  But the need to belong was still there.  As I grew through my teen years, I developed a much better sense of community, and had a great group of friends.  And while I still feel like I didn't exactly "belong," I felt friendship and appreciation, which were what I really needed.  I think, some may feel that to honestly feel like I belonged, I would have had to reveal my gay orientation to a group of friends, and that was not going to happen.  But even then, I'm not sure I would have really belonged.  Or maybe I'm misunderstanding.  What does it mean to belong?

Cogito Ergo Sum

I think, therefore I am.  Thus said Rene deCarte, the famous mathematician and philosopher.  If I didn't exist, I couldn't question my existence, so I must exist.  However, I can't know your thoughts.  This puzzle has yet to reach a logical conclusion.  How do we know anything beyond our own existence?

The Most Serious Sin

What is the most serious sin?  It seems very tempting to try to rank sins.  Alma does it a little when chastising his son Corianton.  But I think people often misapply Alma's words.

In The Dark

In the Book of Mormon, secret combinations are the main culprit for the destruction of several whole civilizations.  What's so bad about secrets?  It's pretty clear that those secret societies like the Gadianton Robbers depended on the mask of secrecy to avoid the immediate consequences of their evil acts.

Temple Marriage

As a Mormon, I believe that virtually everyone will go to heaven.  However, our capacity to grow and develop in heaven depends upon what we learn and what we do here in our mortal lives.  In particular, only some people will have prepared themselves to be able to tolerate the continual presence of God the Father.  That's why one of the prime focuses of the Church is the temple.  Temple ordinances are not optional.  They are an important part of the preparation.

Peer Pressure

I did not grow up with a tendency to recognize peer pressure.  I certainly had friends, and got along with others.  I cared what others thought of me.  But I wasn't prone to the kind of peer pressure that most kids go through.  I think that helped me deal with my own differences.  I sometimes felt like there was nobody that was like me, that I was all alone.  More often I realized that there must be others, possibly many others, but I would probably never get to know who they were.

Anyway, I think the extent of my feelings of peer pressure was that I didn't want others to misunderstand me.  So I couldn't tell anyone about my orientation, primarily because I knew that others tended to have serious misconceptions about homosexuality.  They would fail to understand me, and that seemed to be the worst thing ever.  I still feel that way somewhat.  Being misunderstood is one of my greatest fears.  But I've got to think peer pressure is different for most other people.

The Perfect Salad

From a very Platonic logical view, there can only be one perfection.  Any variation from that perfection would be different, and therefore flawed.  I don't believe in that view of perfection.

It would be like saying that there is a perfect salad ingredient.  Therefore, the perfect salad would consist entirely of that perfect ingredient.

Building a Home

Everybody begins life with a very different set of starting circumstances.  We are born in different areas, to different parents, at different times, with different predilections, strengths, weaknesses, etc.  These circumstances of our births form the foundations of our lives.  Because everyone gets a different setup for life, a different foundation, so to speak, we should take care not to judge others based on our own limited experiences.  If we want to build two homes on very different foundations, we can't expect the buildings to be identical.  But at the same time, the principles of building remain the same, and both buildings are guided by the same end goal (which is providing shelter in the case of home-building).

Being Sifted

In Luke 22 we are told of Christ's warning to Simon Peter: "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat."  This one is an interesting passage that I have a hard time understanding.  I've heard many interpretations of this passage, but I'm searching for something that makes sense in context.  The Savior follows with "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not."  So it seems that the antidote to being sifted as wheat is to have faith.  So what does wheat have to do with faithlessness?

Blessings

As I was talking with my wife, recently, we discussed whether or not I would like to have had a straight orientation.  It was an interesting discussion, and I had some thoughts.

First, I realized that I value my whole self, and changing my orientation would change who I was.  I like who I am, and do not really want to be somebody else.