I Want To Live in This Country

This is the country I want to live in:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

And:

43 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Instead, the one I live in right now:

And I've been very clear from the moment that I have become chairman of the FCC, I want to reinvigorate the public interest. What people don't understand is that the broadcasters, and you've gotten this right, are entirely different than people that use other forms of communication. They have a license granted by us at the FCC and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. And we can get into some ways that we've been trying to reinvigorate the public interest and some changes that we've seen. But frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action frankly uh on Kimmel or you know there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.

-- Brendan Carr

This is a twisting of "public interest" to satisfy an audience of one, your dear leader. The FCC's legitimate "public interest" charter is to manage the airwaves in a way that balances fair access, freedom from government interference in protected speech, and improper frequency broadcasting interference.

The murder of Charlie Kirk is a horrendous and despicable act by an evil person, and you, Brendan sir, have made it worse by not only explicitly refusing to follow 47 U.S. Code § 326, but doing so in a premeditated way, complete with current and future threats by name as a stated punishment for protected speech.

"Easy way" or "hard way" is the language of the mob, not an official who swore to support and defend the Constitution.

A Blaze of Light

Like solar flares, our thoughts, they zap and flit

And make us want to slot and clip

And organize to tale or song.

Then the through line, 

The red line, 

The bottom line, 

They box us in, 

And keep us rough,

And mean, 

And quick.

Until we float above, and look, 

And comprehend

The things we couldn't see, 

The flares of others,

Bright, 

And sharp. 

Against the edge,

Occluded by our satellite,

Our blind spot, 

But not all. 

Their corona streams around

And slides and twists

To our perceiving eyes. 

But only if we watch,

And wait,

Are still enough to see,

To act aright,

And love.

Ways of Blindness

We want hard 

And feel fast

and overlook 

the others' grief

others' sorrow 

We can't see 

Because we look

and want to look

above the rest

actively miss him

or mishear her 

Where would we

Get calm and reflect? 

is not the other

real too?

What about inside?

Where does the look go

that we miss

actively lie

by misseeing

When life is short

And hearing takes long

And what we miss

Will not repeat 

Every sight

Every together

Every one

Counts

Oneita

he told his mom, I think she might... be the one

she told him... go and buy a ring

she drove past when he was getting home

before he knew her friends would come 

they met, they saw, they joined as one

but then he saw the writing on the wall and signed

she went with and welcomed little Jim

then back home where Steph came in

he saw and welcomed her ambitious words

she'd wait again, when he wasn't home

they wanted more, but then they came another way

two red heads, first John, then Phil

and growing up they brought their light

and shone and burned, she loved them right

but then he could not drive himself back home

it broke her heart when Phil was gone

but she still had Jim, and John

they'd call, invite and hold so many little ones 

who all grew up, and left to live their own

then off to England, to help them write

evr'y name and date and place of 1881,

and back again, and to Nauvoo to count, and write, and do

but crack, it didn't hold, and Jim was gone 

way before his due

when Milton came she welcomed him

they lived and loved a wave of little ones 

the heart that loved then beat no more

and quiet then, and lonely too

and slower then, and slower too

she loved and cared and started to review

and count and tell and hold all them

all those who wandered through 

then two angels came to care and live and watch

they stayed, she lingered there

then softly and quietly, in the night, she too was gone

she'd taken flight, and hoped that Jim would hug her tight 

Procrastination is Your Friend

My friend told me:

    Procrastination is your friend when it's time for bed.

I think that is a true statement.

Stress on a Cracked Foundation

Think about a house standing strong.  Imagine a crack in the foundation.  Maybe the ground under the house has settled unevenly.  Maybe things have shifted since the house was built.

If it has gone long enough that the foundation is cracked, there is a failure waiting to happen.  Putting enough stress on a cracked foundation will lead to a dramatic failure.

This is like living at the edge of health: physical, social, emotional, or spiritual.  If you aren't constantly investing in repairing and strengthening your foundation, you are more susceptible to unexpected failure.

I want to eat healthy food, keep in touch with good friends, keep enough space in my life, and stay strong in my faith.  So that when the storms of life come, I can get through the challenging times.  When I ask God for help, I can be more confident I will be able to receive His help to bridge me back to a stable and happy future.

Discover, Receive, Commit

Yesterday, I was learning with my peers in a priesthood quorum at church.  The topic was answered prayer.

The combined message of three scriptures stood out to me:
- Matt 6:8 discover vs beg
- Jacob 4:10 receive vs command
- James 1:5-7 commit vs worry

The combination of receiving God's help, discovering what He has in store, and being pre-committed to act on His generous & challenging prompting is a magic combination to me.

It helps me feel a sense of sufficiency when facing my set of challenges today.  I'm grateful for the learning & strengthening environment afforded to me in my priesthood quorum.