Musings on Life and Living

My friend America suggested reading this talk by Elder Holland. Having done so, I found this wonderful little gem: When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound which the Son of God Himself died trying to heal. Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change, and improve. Is that faith? Yes! Is it hope? Yes! Is it charity? Yes! Above all it is charity, the pure love of Christ. If something is buried in the past, leave it buried. Don't keep going back with your little sand pail and beach shovel to dig it up, wave it around, and then throw it at someone saying, "Hey! Do you remember this?" Splat! Well, guess what? That is probably going to result in some ugly morsel being dug up out of your landfill with the reply, "Yeah, ...

I recently spent a few days as a substitute at the middle school level, which, among other things, reaffirmed my deep dislike of teaching those in middle school. Actually, that isn't exactly true. I love teaching everybody. I hate trying to teach those in middle school. Some have a knack for it. Some do not. I am definitely in the latter camp. During this time, I watched another teacher do the teaching while I merely assisted. The class was discussing an author's purpose for writing, and the teacher led the discussion something like this: Teacher: "What are the two major types of genres of books?" Student(s): "Fiction and nonfiction." T: "Right. And how can you tell them apart?" S: "Nonfiction contains facts, and fiction is made up." T: "Correct! What is the author's purpose for writing nonfiction?" S: "To inform, or educate." T: "And for fiction?" S: "To entertain." T: "Exactly!" The ...

I had thought about posting a picture of our very first Christmas tree. In fact, I even took a picture so that I could do just that, much like the Olsons, Christensens, and Ruggieris did. Then I started writing this and thought, "Man, I'll have to hook up my camera... post the picture... that's so much work..." So I wasn't going to. But now I am, anyway. Go figure. While I am waiting for Picasa to get all set up, I think I am going to take advantage of the interlude to point out that my camera still has pictures on it from over a year ago. And I have as of yet to do anything with my honeymoon photos (Don't worry - they basically consist of either me or Gretch standing in front of the various visitors' centers in Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.) On another note, I am totally clueless as to how to effectively use Picasa. I must change this. (Two days later, this is still true.) Okay, now we're ready for the story of our fi...

Quite a while ago, I began contemplating how I measure time. The thought was born of a line from a favourite song, "Seasons Of Love", which is in a musical I've never seen, Rent . The line simply asks, how do you measure a year? I've realised that I measure several years throughout the calendar year. About 11-12 days ago, I measured the year since I proposed to Gretch and she said yes. Not too long ago I marked the fourth year since I returned home from my mission in California. There are the years I've been in school, the years I've been alive, and the years since I first started using the Internet (about 14 now, I believe). Rarely, though, do I mark a year on the first day of January. In fact, I cannot think of a single memorable event that has occurred in my life that took place on 1 January. And yet, here I am, recognising today as the first day of the calendar year, and thinking that this is a good reflect on the year past and the year to come. In the pas...