Wise Men and Women Still Seek Him

Christmastime always provides the perfect opportunity to reflect upon the many blessings we’ve received over the past year. The most meaningful of blessings are made even more meaningful when considered in the light of God’s greatest gift to us, His children, even the gift of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate at this season.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Were it not for the divinity of Christ’s paternity, were it not for the sublime events which we celebrate at Easter—Jesus’ suffering on our behalf in Gethsemane and upon the cross, His death, burial, and ultimate triumph over death through His resurrection—there would be no reason to celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmastime.

But in truth all humanity has every reason to rejoice and to celebrate that Jesus Christ is who He and all the holy prophets said He is: even the Son of God, the Redeemer and Savior of the world. Indeed we may rightly say that wise men and women still seek Him.

May we find the peace and joy that are obtainable only through Him; may we anxiously look forward to and prepare for His Second Advent, when He will come to reign as King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Messiah: Behold the Lamb of God

I saw this today and thought it looked really interesting. I thought you'd be interested in it too. Looks like my alma mater is up to good things.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for God and Jesus Christ; for my family and friends; for freedom, safety, and good health; for work and school; and plenty.

What are you thankful for?

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
--Psalm 100

Gross!

I ride TheBus to and from school each day. It's a pretty good system, albeit a very crowded one. When I do get a seat, I try and make use of the time by reading.

Monday started out no different from any other day. I got on the first of the two buses I ride to school, found an open seat on the very back bench, and began reading through a paper I'm trying to write with nine other classmates (don't try that, by the way).

The man I was sitting next to was a friendly fellow. He spoke a lot to me, very enthusiastically, asking me where I was from and how long I'd been on island. He said a lot more but I could hardly understand a word of it. We didn't chat long because his stop was well before mine.

Just a couple of stops before mine, the girl on the same back bench as me suddenly threw up! I instantly felt bad for her but also had thoughts of H1N1 running through my head. I tried not to make a scene as I packed up to get off at my stop. Before exiting, though, I informed the driver of the situation, hoping that the girl's day would get better.

When I stood up from my seat, however, I was shocked to notice something cool on the seat of my pants. I felt behind me and realized that my pants were completely soaked through with who knows what liquidy substance!

It took all the fortitude I had to keep from freaking out as I walked to the front of the bus to talk with the driver about the girl who had thrown up in the back of the bus. I didn't know if I'd sat in water, or soda pop, or urine. All I knew was that I was half-way along my hour-long trip to school and I had to turn back to change out of my soaked shorts.

After I got home and cleaned up and made it to school the rest of the day went just fine. Ever since then, however, I've been a little more leery of sitting in the seats on TheBus.

An Inconvenient Truth, Indeed!

Dear Mr. Gore,

I watched your film, An Inconvenient Truth. It was interesting, though I couldn’t tell if the movie was about global warming or about you. My wife said that the inclusion of your personal story was probably an attempt at connecting with Joe Publics like me. Frankly, I didn’t think we connected very much at all.

In truth, you and I do have some things in common. We’re both guys. We’re also both white. And we’re both married. In high school we both played on the varsity football team and threw for the track and field team. But that’s about where our similarities end.

You see, Mr. Gore, you are old, I am young. You are famous, I am not. You are rich, and, by governmental standards, I am poor. You have at least one car, I have none. You own at least one house with at least 20 rooms. I rent a two bedroom apartment. You probably have air-conditioning; we do not. You probably keep your hot water heater on all day and all night. To save money, we only turn ours on for up to two hours each day. If you do your own laundry, you probably dry your clothes in an ultra-efficient dryer. We can only afford to hang our clothes and dry them in the sun and wind.

The data you present in your film is convincing. I too think we have a burgeoning problem with the effects of global warming. I too believe we’re going to have to change a lot to avoid catastrophes. You made it sound like the governments of the world would bring about these necessary changes. What I find hard to believe is that an educated man such as yourself--who has seen government from its very insides--would still believe that the government can run as efficiently as a top-of-the-line energy-saving refrigerator. You know better than I do that it simply cannot happen.

Instead of increasing the size of an already bloated, sickly government, why not promote increased individual self-government? Why not preach a doctrine of personal sacrifice today for the welfare of our children tomorrow? I listened anxiously to hear you say in An Inconvenient Truth that we each needed to check personal greed, or curtail wasteful commercialism. I waited for you to say that we ought to use fewer resources and live simpler lives. Instead, you surprised me with a remarkable social gospel with the premise that we can have our cake and eat it too--that we can save the earth while living in the lap of luxury.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I found it easy to swallow the gnat of global warming but strained to choke down the camel of your extravagant personal lifestyle. Regardless of whether you ever intended to, you have set yourself up as a messiah to the world. Why not try coming down and living at the level of your most humble potential disciples? Or would you find their way of life to be a very inconvenient truth?

Day of Disasters

We are living in a day of disasters. I don't know if I've ever seen news of so many catastrophic natural disasters in a row in so little time.

The Samoan islands were hit by a tsunami on Tuesday morning. The death toll has reached 150 and the need for relief is great.

The Philippines have had serious flooding and now are expecting more as another 'super-typhoon' approaches their many islands.

And an earthquake in Indonesia has left more than 777 dead.

The odds are that you are only one or two degrees removed from the effects of these disasters. Either you have friends and family, or you have friends with friends and family, that are caught in these tragedies.

There are many agencies and organizations working to administer relief to these disaster stricken peoples. Please consider making a donation, however small (remember the true worth of the widow's mite).

LDS Philanthropies Red Cross Oxfam International MercyCorps


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Samoan Tsunami: Aftermath

From what I've been able to read in the news and hear from friends, the death toll in the Samoan islands has reached at least 100 with a high chance that it will continue to increase as rescuers pick through the wreckage left by the tsunami that hit yesterday morning.

Now that the tsunami has come and gone, we begin the massive relief and rebuilding efforts in Samoa and American Samoa. Islands in both polities have suffered devastating losses of life and property, but many people and organizations, both on and off the islands, have already mobilized to administer relief to the Samoans.

A friend of mine, Sam Denton, said he "called the [LDS Church] headquarters and they were able to tell me that all missionaries are accounted for and OK. I also spoke with the emergency response division of the church. They advised they of course are already working on the ground in Samoa to start relief efforts. Their advise at this time was to give to the humanitarian efforts fund or donate in kind donations to Deseret [Industries]."

An official report from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirms that the Mormon missionaries in Samoa have all been accounted for, but "two local sister missionaries from the Tonga Nuku’alofa Mission serving on the Tongan island of Niuatoputapu, which borders Samoa," are currently missing.

Your prayers and money or in-kind donations are much appreciated. I know that this is a tough time economically for many of us. But think, if you have food and shelter, that is more than many Samoans have at this time.

One easy way to free up some funds is to fast, or abstain from food, for one or two meals and then donate at least the value of the food you would have eaten. The prophet Isaiah said that a true fast is not for the purpose of self-torment, but to administer to the relief of those who need it. He also promised that God would bless those who fasted in this manner. (See Isaiah 58:1-12)

Jesus Christ also taught, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (See Matthew 25:31-46) Another ancient prophet reminds us that "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (See Mosiah 2:17)

For the Samoans, this tsunami is as 9/11 or Katrina were to Americans. Our hearts go out to them. Our prayers ascend to heaven for them. But as faith is an action more than it is a mere passive belief or profession, we will administer to the Samoan people of our substance.

(All photos were taken in American Samoa. Photo Credits: Phil Murphy)