Cause of Blessings

The most beautiful woman in the world made a statement on M* that brings up an important point.

...another comment that bothers me is when people say " The Lord knows we wanted a child, or we wanted many children and has blessed us because of this desire". Well if desire was all it took I would have at least 5 by now. I have always desired to have many children.

Which raises the question, what does God use as a basis for blessings?

Already, Mary has shown us that it cannot be our desire for that blessing. Many people who desire a certain blessing yet never receive it. Alternatively, many people who do desire the same blessing still receive it.

What about obedience? Does a person’s obedience to the commandments affect the likelihood of receiving a blessing? Back to the fertility example: there are many obedient people who never get pregnant, and many disobedient ones who do. Therefore, that cannot be it.

What about prayer? Same thing. Many people pray for it and never get it. Many people never pray for it and still get it.

Certainly, God does not just arbitrarily pick blessings to send to us. Or does he?

Age of the Bloggernacle

Last spring, the bloggernaccle took off. Traffic skyrocketed at T&S, A Soft Answer posted new Mormon themed blogs every day. T&S even had some break-offs.

What I want to know however is how old is the Bloggernacle? When did the first Mormon-themed blog start? I know T&S started in November 2003. Our Thoughts started in July 2003 (although you can't tell that any longer). KZION started in June 2003.

Were there any naccers before then? Anyone from May or April 2003? Anyone from 2002?

Bloggernacle Makes Church Boring?

Does the Bloggernaccle make Church boring?

I get very little out of church nowadays. Certainly I feel spiritually refreshed when I take the sacrament, but that takes all of 10-15 minutes. Certainly, I hear a new insight shared in class every few months or so, but it doesn’t happen every week.

Sometimes I feel like, what’s the point? Why attend gospel doctrine class when all that’s going to be said is the same thing that was said four years ago? Why attend elders quorum when all that’s going to be done is the “instructor” will read from the book and ask the obligatory questions at the end of the chapter? I can go home early and get more from personal study.

At least when I was teaching the deacons each Sunday until last august, I felt like coming to Church had more purpose than taking the Sacrament. The responsibilities I have now as ward clerk certainly are not Sunday specific (except for meeting attendance).

Some might say that there’s more to Church than learning. True. Supposedly, we are supposed to find fellowship with the saints. I must be missing something, because that fellowship jut doesn’t seem to be there. Well, it is sort of.

All the young married couples are friends because they attended the YSA wards together. All the older people—the doctors, lawyers, accountants, business owners—are friends, but only because they are neighbours in upscale Tudor Estates and Park Royal. Most everyone else is a multi-generation Mormon with roots back to Utah and New England. We certainly do not fit into any of the groups here in this ward, let alone in the city.

That’s not to say we haven’t tried. We have had numerous couples and families over to our house to visit, have supper and/or to play games. Only one couple has reciprocated that gesture. Our home teachers hardly even come visit us; November was the last month.

There is no one like us here; no one with whom we feel a kinship; no one whom we can call our friends.

So, fellowship is out of the question. Which brings me back to my original question: does the Bloggernaccle make Church boring?

Has my exposure to thought-provoking dialogue spoiled me? Has my desire to answer deeper gospel questions warped my expectations of Church? Do I need something more than fluffy experiences and cookie cutter testimonies? Can I find fulfillment in repetitive Correlation materials presented without uniqueness?

Sacrament and Young Children

Why do parents feed sacrament bread and water to babies and toddlers? What purpose does it serve?

Certainly the children are too young to show that they are willing to take upon themselves the name of Jesus, willing to always remember Him and willing to always keep the commandments.

It cannot be an effort to make sure the children remember the sacrifice of Jesus. They are too young to understand who He is, let alone the sacrifice he made or what implications His sacrifice has in our individual lives.

They have not been baptized, so they cannot reflect upon the covenants they normally would have made at baptism.

So, what’s left? Perhaps the parents want to instill a habit in their children. If so, is that a good measure to take? Should we be teaching our children to take the Sacrament out of habit? Can this be detrimental when they are older.

Hiding Talents

I have had a lot of time to reflect and think and contemplate this week. A lot has gone through my mind.

I am very lucky. God has blessed me with many talents. Some people struggle to find a single talent, and I have been blessed with many. With talent comes responsibility. With lots of talent comes lots of responsibility. Or at least that’s how I see it.

I feel like both the first steward and the last steward. I feel the Lord has given me many talents but that I am burying them in the ground. At the same time, I do not want to bury them; I bury them because I do not know what else to do with them.

That is the basis of how I have been feeling for the last couple of years. That’s not all of it, but it does play a part. I want to make a big difference in this world. God has given me many talents and I have a great urge to use those many talents to do something great. I want to use the talents to touch and affect the lives of many people.

Unfortunately, I need time and money.

This past week I came to the decision that whatever it is I need to do will have to wait. I have a family to support and raise and that takes up my time and money. It is not something I am willing to sacrifice for the betterment of society. Society will just have to wait.

What does this mean for Our Thoughts? I do not know. It may be back. I am just not convinced that this is where my energy needs to be spent.

A dozen or so people commented in my last post that they wanted Our Thoughts to continue. I appreciate the support, but I really do not know if that is enough for me to keep going with Our Thoughts.

All I can say is don’t remove Our Thoughts off the RSS reader just yet.

Dreams Are Small

In land of stars the blackness rules and light is slave to dark.
A land where stars are forced to stay where night has e'er them parked.
The stars are small, their skies are broad, the space above us vast,
Yet we on earth are small as sand and brittle as the glass.

Our hopes and dreams are big to us, and joy inside us felt
When we wish upon them much and look to them for help.
But dreams get broke and hopes do shatter and wishes don't come true.
They're all br'ttle, 'cuz they're all small when they're looked in view.

Why Bother?

Why do I even bother?

Lately I have been feeling that the things I do online make no difference; they serve no purpose. What I do interests no one. None of the projects I have done (including blogs) attracted anyone.

So, Our Thoughts is gone. I did not back anything up. Everything I have said since July 2003 is now gone. I have no idea if I will ever post more than this post.

Who cares? What's the use?

P.S. Sorry