A Curious Instrument

As a culture, America has turned a very sad corner and seems hell-bent on destroying itself in the name of unfettered selfishness. I hope to provide a few examples of this and what needs to be done to bring ourselves as a people back from the brink of irrelevance. For all of its terror and brutality, I think groups like the Islamic State embrace a few social traits that strengthen their chances for survival and success beyond our own: They marry women to their most loyal men permanently. They get these women pregnant by their husbands early and often. They indoctrinate their children into their worldview and religious convictions. They demand that their members sacrifice many of their personal desires to serve the requirements of their culture and its success. I am not any sort of fanboy of ISIS nor do I approve of their methods, so don't turn me in as some traitor in our current hysterical climate! I am also not comparing any religious dogma in particular here, say betwee...

As you know, I take issue with people who profess to be "atheists". I know it is very trendy and "intellectual" to disbelieve in God or, more likely, to consider oneself above the need for something like God. It brings to mind  a quote from Star Trek: First Contact where Jean-Luc Picard evokes his supposed "evolved sensibilities" that didn't include things as low as enjoying murder or revenge. Many people, hoping to look sophisticated, claim to have likewise "evolved" beyond a low belief in and devotion to things like God or religion, but I see this as a terrible self-delusion. I hope you have learned that I acknowledge a God in my life. If you hadn't yet noticed, The Psychic Proximity Principle , as expressed in my Feeding the Soul of Steve Jobs booklet, is simply a way of accessing the wisdom of God in relation to yourself and your relations with others. Such things work because I have found that my loving God will always share his...

Imagine yourself as one of my devoted readers. I know - it's a stretch. "Jason, I find The Psychic Proximity Principle  really intriguing and read your  Feeding the Soul of Steve Jobs  booklet through a hundred times!  I am really mad, though. You talk all about how important it is to pay attention to inspiration and follow your heart, but you never told us how to actually get inspiration !" Well, I really didn't intend to put everything in one booklet.  I do want to write others, maybe even on the same subject! However, because I want to be helpful and not make anyone pine away, let me expand on something I talked about a little in the booklet and hopefully fulfill someone's request. I talked about walking in the mornings.  I would go either up the big hill and around an elementary school in one town, or the five miles to work in another. I took anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half with me moving at a pretty stiff pace. At first, I did what an...

I have been a religious leader for thirty years, both ecclesiastical and administrative. I have worked with all sorts of people in all kinds of capacities and have enjoyed both sides of religious work. Of course, you already know that I am a Mormon  and we are increasingly known for our "Home Teaching" program, where our priesthood holders visit Latter-Day Saint (LDS) families in their homes with spiritual messages and encouragement to live better lives and attend to their religious duties. A good friend of mine of another faith, who doesn't think much of Mormon doctrine otherwise, did say that Home Teaching was inspiring to him and he wished his own church had the resolve to do something similar. Pretty good program, yes? As an LDS priesthood leader, I collect statistics on family visits made and report them to regional (stake) and the general leadership.  The question often comes up of what can be "counted" as a proper visit, as many attempts just simply d...

I recently published an intriguing little booklet called Feeding the Soul of Steve Jobs , which is about finding the sort of life and success that Steve Jobs enjoyed. It dove-tailed so well with my popular blog-post about The Psychic Proximity Principle that I used it as the framework for the booklet, giving all of you a wonderful case study in putting the power of weak magnetism to work! As I was writing, I went off on a tangent about the evils of acquiring money for its own sake. I was going to use it as a bonus chapter in the booklet, but I decided against it.  I still find it useful, so I decided to put it here for your "fun and profit"!  Enjoy! For those of you who have no interest in realizing your potential beyond a low money-grab, I will happily share two legal and honorable methods for becoming "well-off". I and several friends have used these two methods to become financially "set".  Either will provide anyone with enough money to get th...

In my time working for the military, I have been introduced to the concept of the "rat-hole". This is a situation where a lot of time, money, and other resources are spent on something that ultimately accomplishes very little or nothing. There are rat-holes all around us and we often don't realize it until they have already stolen a lot of our precious time and money! I'll tell you about one of the bigger rat-holes where I have wasted a lot of life: disability exemptions. Many people know my son Matt, who was diagnosed with autism just before his third birthday. If you spend time with him, you will quickly learn that he is disabled. He doesn't have the judgment needed to live independently, to contribute as an equal partner to a marriage, or to lead a family. He was determined by experts to be disabled . A determination of disability is essential to help a person get the added help they need and to get recognition by society that such aid is justified and need...