Change is Evolutionary, Not Revolutionary

I watched a really cool movie last night by A&E about Benedict Arnold. I had no idea his wife was such a witch. It really got me thinking about the decisions I make.

Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment by Zaztrow

Quote from my Human Behavior textbook:

"If a social worker believes his or her religion is the one true religion, can that social worker fully accept clients who are members of some other religious faith? If your answer is no, do you believe that person should seek a different career?"

Will the time come when members of the Mormon faith and other Christian churches be told they must deny their religion to enter their chosen field of study?

My textbook also defines people who are pro-life as anti-abortion. If they can call me that, why can't I call those who are pro-choice, pro-death?

Why is it wrong to believe life begins at conception rather than at birth. Obama even said it when speaking of young father's responsibility.

It is really hard to stretch myself sometimes. How much easier my life would be if I just stuck with the status quo. It would be so easy to be the good little molly mormon and find fullfillment in church callings, home and family. Why am I so driven to do this? Why don't I just break down and call the cable guy? I could spend the rest of my life just watching BYU television and the Hallmark channel and keep my home sparkling clean and go to lunch.

Today I sat in a meeting with other Social Workers for 3 hours. I'm starting my practicum. This means I get to learn, hands on, the work of a social worker. It really isn't much different than most of the church work I have done. Teaching parenting classes, counseling people one on one. It is just so heartbreakingly sad. I hope I can handle it.

What the Bleep do we know anyway?

I had to watch this film for my religion/social work class...here is what I wrote about it:

I’ve never thought science and religion contradict each other. According to my limited experience and knowledge, they complement each other. My brainiac pre-med daughter called me from BYU a few weeks ago and when I asked her about her organic chemistry class she exclaimed, “Mom! I’m learning the secrets of the universe!” She went on to explain that God used chemistry to create the planet. From Mormon doctrine, Science is not a new spiritual way of understanding and God understands Quantum Physics and uses it in His work. Science effects how you perceive reality but the reality of spirit is as real as we are.

I found portions of this film insulting and contradictory in nature. One of the ‘professionals’ stated how the media warps our perception of life and men need only entertain one sexual fantasy to become aroused and women shouldn’t distort their perceptions of body image as a result of media YET…there…in the film…were two different scenes of people having sexual intercourse. The very ideas the film was trying to teach us to overcome and look beyond were used to entice our senses. I recognize the target audience for this film is young college goers who have been warped by the media – but as a 45 year old mother of four hormone filled sons and three beautiful daughters I find pornography of any form demeaning to women and I feel objectified and insulted as a human being, let alone a mother. To have it as part of a class assignment for a course on religion is especially insulting.
I learned 2 things from this video.

1. Every choice I make can make a difference in my life and the lives of others and I either choose to send out a self-serving message of selfishness which actually does nothing but bring me and others down – or you can send out a selfless message of love which builds me as it builds others. It is ironic that the more I seek to love the more goodness and love I attract.

2. The second thing I learned, (or what the film attempted to teach), was that God is created by man. This idea was contradictory in nature to the general message of the film which was to have faith in ideas outside of your narrow mindset. An ‘expert’ vehemently stated the fallacy of men creating God in their image. The message seemed to be that belief in God is self serving and destructive.
My belief in God has little to do with a vengeful god of wrath. The God I believe in is a compassionate Father who cares deeply about the lives of His children. He allows them the freedom of choice to create a world of their own making. He allows them consequences and when their choices are selfless and based in sending love out to others, their lives are blessed. The statement that men create God in their image contradicts the idea previously illustrated in the film. In the scene where the molecular structure of water is actually changed when blessed by a Buddhist monk, I understood the point illustrated being when a man calls upon a higher power to bless and change elements and it works there is evidence to suggest that a higher power exists regardless of man’s ideas otherwise.

To dismiss that faith is an act of self service to give power to men who believe in science to increase their following and thus their power…which is hypocritical in nature when science often points his finger at religion for using false authority to gain power over others. True religion gives power. Shouldn’t true science do the same?

The Secret

Have you read this book or watched the film?

I am evidence this principle works. I saw this film over a year ago and read portions of the book. I put the idea to the test.

I took 4 post-it notes and wrote statements on them. I posted them inside my personal cabinet in by bathroom which I opened and saw every day. I wrote “I am in the position to own a beagle puppy.” This statement came to pass in a miraculous way. At the time I was living in Alaska with my perfectionist, bionic nosed, dog hating husband. Speaking of which, the second post-it read, “I love my husband completely and unconditionally and he responds with complete generosity. Both of these statements worked together and the puppy I obtained was a more expensive breed than I had even anticipated. I wrote “beagle” but what I thought, every time I read it was “King Charles Cavalier Spaniel”.

It has to be said that prayer is a principle that works much like “The Secret”. It was asking my husband to pray about getting a dog that cinched the deal. I believe God wanted me to have Brinkley. I refer to him as my ‘prayer puppy’ and he is the breed I wanted even though I wrote what seemed more practical (and less expensive).

My third post-it was “I am in a position to help my sister Beth own a larger, more adequate home”. I’m still pinching myself that this one happened. I wrote it, read it, re-read it and prayed for it. I thought it would happen and planned for it happening in a different way than it happened. I thought I would come into a sum of money but I couldn’t figure out how I could help Beth and Jim without hurting their pride. Then one day I was talking to my brother. He told me his wife had turned to him in church and said, “We need to sell Beth and Jim our house for what we owe on it.” Andrew thought for a moment and said, “Yes, we do”. They’re children were raised and they were down-sizing to a townhome.

To make a long story short, I wasn’t in the position to buy my sister a home, (which wouldn’t have worked anyway), but I was literally in the position to help her get into one…which is what I had written on the post-it. I helped by cleaning out the home my physically impaired, pack-rat brother, his wife and children had lived in for 12 years. I was thrilled to spend several days organizing, cleaning and enlisting others to help. Within 6 months of posting my note – Beth and her family of 6 children moved from their tiny, inadequate home in an inconvenient location to a large, 5 bedroom home conveniently located to her husband’s work and better schools for her children.

My 4th post-it note read, “I am in the position to finish my graduate degree”. Nuff said.

Definitions of Religion, Spirituality and Compassion

Instead of watching tv, I'm in grad school. This is an assignment for my social work and religion class...

Religion: "Pure religion made him run" is a line from a poem my Mom wrote about my unselfish, generous, hard working brother-in-law. I think there is a big difference between religion, (a man-made institution) and pure religion (a God-made one). When I think of religion I usually think of a negative feeling associated with men in powerful, coercive positions. I think of groups of people gathering to socialize more than to worship. I think of women dressed up to look good for men, other women and the image they see in the mirror. I think of oppression of race and gender. I think of piety, pulpits and pampas pale power hungry people. I think of oppression of race and gender. When I think of religion, I DON'T think of God. True religion is what SHOULD happen when spirituality and compassion meet. Too often crosses burn, sheets are worn and people are subjugated.

Spirituality: When I think of spirituality, I think of peace. I think of nature and sun, sky and sea. I think of mother painting a beautiful landscape. Nature seems to be the most spiritual promoting environment. The first think I drew was birds flying off against a setting sun. Birds seem to embody man's idea of spirituality. Perhaps that is why Mayans depicted Quetzalquatl as a feathered serpent...because he was a creature of both the earth and the heavens (John Lund). Spirituality is a sense of connecting with those gone before. Communion with loved ones on the other side. At times it is achieved within "sacred" buildings but more often for me. Personally, I connect with things and people of spirit in nature or when reading holy writings and pondering them. It seems like earthly people get in the way in man-made places.

Compassion: The word I see is "passion" which means (in my mind) intense love. I think of service and casseroles. I grew up in a home where whole, matched socks were a luxury. I rarely had them. My love language is gifts. Compassion = shopping for stuff others need. Cleaning is compassionate when it brings peace to others but NOT when it stresses them out. Compassion = letters, written and sent. Words of love that will live on after the author is gone. Unseen service in the form of prayer which motivates the prayer to do more than simply kneel and ask but also rise and act. Compassion is what brings religion and spirituality to the earthly realm.

Poem by my Mom

This and a pair of warm socks to Doug:

Little socks that wrap these feet
Keep them warm andn dry and neat
They'll be going up and down
Doing good all over town

You are small (but you are two)
Try to ease the worker's shoe
Feet will ache when day is done
(Pure religion made then run)

Pure religion, undefied,
Guide the feet of willing child
Makes him toil--oh, more than fair
Just to say, "I truly care".

Still without television and living to tell about it...

Okay. I'm back to reality. Back to blogging. Back to grad school, housework, responsibility on a grand scale and escape from it by fb, blog and family web site. Ah the joys of modern technology.

Still no tv.

I did join the Y, which, of course, allows me some very limited television privileges. Last night I worked out for the first time. Disguised the whole idea as Family Night. Promptly left the kids in the raquetball court and headed straight, (in a wandering fashion), to the treadmill. Forgot my headphones. Read the news feed for a boring while and found some magazines. My brain has evolved without television. I actually would rather read? Is this normal? I think not. but I read several fascinating articles on wife abuse in Montana, healthy recipes and how to train turtles. Just kidding. I didn't read about turtle training. I made that up to throw you off and just make sure you are paying attention.

I also discovered my new Vietnamese nail art glows in the dark. But I digress.

Had to cut the workout short when Brianne informed me that Doug Junior was bleeding. She hit him in the head with a raquetball raquet. Not on purpose.

We spent the rest of our well planned family night at a doctor friend's (my fav doc out of town), and had his eyebrow glued shut. Then we went to the grocery store to stock up on icecream since it is snowing outside and comfort foods become more of a necessity after Christmas.

What did I ever see in television?

December 27th was when I wrote this...by hand.

Christmas was marvelous this year. We came home from our cruise and my niece had done a great job caring for the home, kids and pup. It hit me as I was sitting on the couch watching the kids go through the goodies in their stockings, that I had almost died 2 years ago. Phee-you. I'm so glad I didn't. There is so much joy to hae onearth with my kids, hub and fam.

We took meals around to the homebound on Christmas day. We sang a few carols at each stop. One elderly man in a tiny, shabby trailer got big tears in his eyes when we sang White Christmas. He was so alone. It was hard to leave him there.

When we were done delivering meals we went back oer to the mission, (from whense we came with the food), and we sang to the homeless who were eating their meals there. It was an interesting experience. There were a couple of men who seemed to really enjoy the music and even called out requests of songs for us to sing and then they would sing along. It was sweet to watch them enjoy the simple pleasures of a good meal and Christmas carols sung by serious (cough) ametures! But hey - what we didn't have in talent, we made up for in ENTHUSIASM!!!!

Go Jesus!

There was a woman in our audience who didn't appreciate our gift much. She did eveerything in her power to yell at the people around her louder than we were singing. She actually seemed oblivious to us. At one point she quit yelling long enough to realize she was finished with her meal. She picked through what was left on her plate, (which was quite a bit), picked up the plate and dumped it on the plate next to hers, which had preiously belonged to a man who had been kicked out for yelling back at her.

We all looked sideways at her and kept on singing. She was led out at some point and when we finished with our little concert, there she was, outside of the building, yelling at whoever was in earshot outside. Unfortunately, as we walked to our cars, it included us. Joseph is particularly sensitive to profanity. He flinched as he heard her repeatingly say the "F" word. I put my arm around him and he looked at me with such sorrow in his eyes. He said, "Ladies shouldn't swear."

I agreed.