My Own Gratitude

As I look back on my life so far, I remember again that I am profoundly blessed and I thank God for his watch-care for me and my family. It can all be summed up in one word: gratitude.

My mom generously gifted the house in Tucumcari to us and we were initially preparing it for sale until Lisa suggested living in it, her continuing love of the area coming through. After a huge downsizing, she is snugly nesting in her new place. I still work my weekdays about a hundred miles away in Portales and spend time with her on the weekends. I am grateful for the generosity of my mother!

Speaking of the job, I am blessed to continue my work at Eastern New Mexico University, administering some computer servers and applications. It can be a bit more pressure than I prefer and I will surely appreciate retirement when it comes, but it is fine employment that lets me provide well for my family. Few jobs pay as much in this area and I have friendly people to work with, so I hope I am not found complaining too much during the rough times!

My father is a great (sometimes better than I am) influence on my adult children. Three of my sons are serving our country in the military in many ways due to his encouragement. I never thought I would have such a military family, but it isn't surprising given the service of both Lisa's parents as Marines and Dad's time in the Air Force. Such service provides some wonderful opportunities to develop skills and discipline. I am very grateful for their willingness to give up part of their lives for our nation.

My children are all engaged in interesting pursuits, from cleaning petrified wood and water lines to building earthships and caring for the disabled, each chasing their own stars. It has been especially gratifying that we were able to celebrate a marriage this summer and the beginning of a new family!  I am a happy father for the development of my adult children.

Of course, I bask in the love of my wife, Lisa.  I feel undeserving most of the time, but she resolutely cherishes me and our life together anyway. It is hard to find anything for which I am more grateful than the enduring love and companionship of my wife!

Most of all, I am grateful for God's greatest gift, his son Jesus Christ, who payed for my sins and works to give me a glorious future. In so many ways and seemingly every day, God provides the inspiration that I need to do what must be done and I am surpassingly grateful for his interventions in my life!

I hope each of you can find many things in life for which you can feel gratitude and express it often to those around you.

"... it shall come in a day..."

It is pointless to quote much of Mormon chapter 8 which says that the things that have been prophesied will happen and will come by the hand of the Lord. No machinations of women or men, save it be mass repentance, will stay the things that will come that the prophet have said.

This was the prophecy of what conditions would be prevalent when the Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was brought forth.

Mormon 8:26-32

26 And no one need say they shall not come, for they surely shall, for the Lord hath spoken it; for out of the earth shall they come, by the hand of the Lord, and none can stay it; and it shall come in a day when it shall be said that miracles are done away; and it shall come even as if one should speak from the dead.

27 And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness.

28 Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches.

29 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands;

30 And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.

31 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.

32 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins.

It's obvious, at least to me, that Moroni truly was shown our day and that his counsel to those of us in these circumstances come from a position of inspired knowledge.

All wrongs must be made right that justice may prevail. Mercy gives us time to repent but time is nearly done as has been warned again and again.

Pathways to Blessings and Prosperity

I have spoken about prosperity at least once before and I have prospered myself in recent years. I don't know how much I deserve anything like it, but good things have happened regardless as I put myself in God's path.

My continued slow reading of the Book of Mormon might shed some light on some things that bring prosperity, physical and spritual. 

3 Nephi 5

21 Surely he hath blessed the house of Jacob, and hath been merciful unto the seed of Joseph.

22 And insomuch as the children of Lehi have kept his commandments he hath blessed them and prospered them according to his word.

As it reads, God blessed the house of Jacob (those would be the tribes of Israel) and has been merciful to the "seed of Joseph", which are more specifically the descendants of Ephriam and Menassah, the sons of Joseph. This is relevant to the writer Mormon, who is a descendant of Lehi, whose children were of both sons of the biblical Joseph.  It seems that these scriptures make reference to a lineal tradition of God's followers and covenant people.

The Book of Mormon has many references that God will "prosper" his people upon the Western Hemisphere who obey him.  The people of the Book of Mormon, both the righteous and the wicked, are descendants of Joseph, so blessings and mercy are due to them by heritage, if they seek such through obedience to his commandments, as in the second verse.

Blessings and mercy are not restricted to one or another of the twelve tribes of Israel: such is given to all the descendants of Jacob. Anyone who seeks out an authoritative baptism are included in the tribes of Israel and become an inheritor of these promises.

One of those promises is that we prosper according to our diligence in keeping Christ's commandments as in verse 22. 

Why not seek the prosperity that comes of being baptized into the house of Jacob and keeping the commandments of Christ?

Seeking meaning from peers and institutions more than parents

Most people look sideways to peers rather than up to God and their parents. There is nothing in the commandments to look to your peers. It says to "honor your father and mother."

I have been listening to and reading about how the meaningful life is transmitted over time. Older texts credit family transmission from parents or grandparents to children as the primary method of acquiring a meaningful life.

In the past few decades, it can be supposed that the academy, as processed through universities, have tried to usurp that role, as society has taught people that parents are selfish and silly, where scholars hold the key to meaning. I think this is why figures like Jordan Peterson have become so influential. He is both academic God and Father figure all wrapped in one.

But the proper course is that meaning comes from God, the eternal and reliable Father, as channeled through parents that have on-the-ground knowledge of understanding and  application.

There are plenty of bad examples to find, but the great part is that any man or woman can, as they marry and have children, can start the process afresh, hopefully influential into several generations of pointing their children to God and Christ, often better than their own parents did.

Fred Reed is One of the Best Commentators of Our Times

I first discovered Fred about fifteen years ago.

I put links to some of his columns here because they are often blocked without some obfuscation.  He is not considerate of the howlers who scream at things that bother them, so social media typically blocks his writing, which is a terrible shame and recommends him most highly.  Fred is a real "straight shooter".

https://www.amren.com/commentary/2022/02/fred-reed-joe-biden-democracy/ - The Care and Feeding of Rabble: Democracy Its Own Self

https://www.unz.com/freed/blackness-fatigue-enough-is-too-much/ - This gives the best explanation of how "diversity" is at the root of most violence and wars.  Mixing strongly different people together is a bad societal idea. 

You can see Fred's recent columns here:  https://fredoneverything.org/

The Robustness Principle

"Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in what you send"
_{Postel J., (1989) Request for Comment (RFC) 1122, Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Communication Layers, 1.2.2 - Robustness Principle.}

There are very few people who have been so wise and productive that I choose to revere them. One of these is the computer scientist Jon Postel, whose list of accomplishments is long.

If you are reading this now, you have Jon and a handful of others to thank for the massive "network of networks" that each of us use everyday in our digital communications. Youtube, Netflix, Facebook, and everything else on the Internet owe a great debt of gratitude to Jon and his colleagues who conceived, designed, and built the inter-network in the first place.

Most people consider computer science to be pretty esoteric, however I have found that in any field of endeavor, certain principles emerge that, not only explain reality, but guide us to better and wiser ways of being. One of these was identified by Jon Postel and is an underlying concept that makes the Internet work as well as it does - robustness. Used in our everyday interactions with others, the principle of robustness would stamp out the forces of censorship and "cancel" culture and allow for more open and effective communication among all.

First off, the principle teaches to never reject a message, no matter how poorly constructed or transmitted. Always try to find some way to derive meaning from all attempts at communication and give a useful response. In computer science, even if a digital packet is mal-formed and doesn't follow standard protocol, the robust listener will attempt to process and act upon it regardless, even if the response can only be an error message. In wider communication, if someone shouts at you in a language and using terms that are not recognized, robust people don't just walk away from the attempt- you somehow signal to them that you don't understand at the very least. Much of effective communication has to do with negotiation upon what terms and methods each party can accept messages. As an example, the best "error messages" are those that attempt to see a sender's intent and offer a suggestion toward better communication - perhaps "I'm confused. Do you mean this?" This is at the heart of the axiom "Be liberal in what you accept..."

When responses are given, it is most useful to be "conservative", which is another way to say to fall back upon established communication standards and protocols. Computer science is loaded with standards (Jon Postel was a heavy promulgator and editor of the RFCs, or the library of internet standards, among so much else) and the most effective and useful communication between computers and devices over networks happens when standard protocols for message transfer are used. A successful "citizen" of the "community" is one who knows and uses the established "language" in standard ways that other citizens readily understand. When a person sends a well-formed message (we call that "conservative" in computer terms), that message is received, understood as widely as possible, and able to be acted up on as the sender intended. A "conservative" response allows communication to flow more freely, efficiently, effectively, and widely - the hallmarks of good interchange.

In the end, the winners are those who are the best communicators, whether that is in technology or more generally in life. We are living in an aberrant moment in time where screaming nonsense with fingers plugging ears seems to be making waves and getting attention. This cannot and will not last long as it is not robust and will not stand up to the tests of time. Those who see some success from disrupting interchange today will find themselves side-lined and practically ignored tomorrow as they lack the understanding of protocols and standards that make effective communication and bring results. What is true of digital network attacks is just as true of constantly shouted slurs - it may make its way into every corner of the globe, but there will be no real change made and you will see the dumping of such messages into what computer scientists call "the bit bucket", or something like the social version of a rubbish bin. Potential listeners will learn to filter or eliminate or ignore such noise and the creators of it as an established response and seek out others who work to establish communication.

Do you want to survive and thrive in any society, technological or social? Take a lesson from Jon Postel and learn how to be robust!

God as an Impartial Judge

Many people have a mistaken idea that, because God loves them, they can do as they wish with their lives and plead for mercy later through demands that "love conquers all". This concept of laziness flies in the face of God's work to develop us into people who can become like himself.

"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." - Acts 10:34-35

God is not a respecter of persons.  He must judge us in an impartial way and he cannot make special exceptions for anyone. All must be judged by the same set of rules - this is the nature of justice. Also, God cannot abdicate his role as judge because he loves you - he will not throw aside required repentance and growth through appeals to his love.

Under earthly circumstances, a judge with a close personal relationship with the litigants would have to recuse themselves. God can't do that as he has a close and personal relationship with all of us as our Father and there can be no other judge put on the case.

That is one reason why Christ was sent by God the Father to open the way for mercy under condition of repentance.  God can still be loving through Christ where he must also be a "no respecter of persons" judge.  This is why Christ is referenced as "Love" in many writings - He is the manifestation of God's love where the Father must be the impartial Judge who cannot recuse himself.

Mercy has already been offered through the works of Christ - you and I cannot appeal to some further mercy or love after the fact when we are brought before God for judgement. We must obey and repent during our mortal lives, as stipulated by Christ, if we desire a pleasant conclusion. There will be no "throwing yourself on the mercy of the court" in the end - such mercy was extended beforehand and has to be worked out prior to your appearance before "the bench".

Please don't think that you or I can ignore Christ's offer of mercy now and still access it in the hereafter - now is the time to repent, not later.