"we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America's story..."
p.s. http://yeswecanholdbabies.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
melissa is coughing for an update, which i think means she really wants to hear what i thought about the mens final diving competition. i don't really remember much two months later, but i remember being conflicted as to whether be super happy that the australian guy came from behind by doing consistently awesome dives, or really sad that the whole country of china was severely let down by one guy who was tens of points ahead thought he had it in the bag. but then i feel a little upset - who are they to assume they have anything in the bag? just because they've won the first 7 medals in the event why should they feel entitled to the 8th? why shouldn't i root for the underdog? BUT they were so close and it would have been so perfect! we had our 8 for 8 and it was fantastic. should we try to take that away from china just because they're so good at so many other things? it was all settled when the camera showed how happy and surprised and thankful and crying and unbelieving the australian guy was. you deserve it, dude!
i am liking minneapolis so far, and while i was a little worried after attending the potluck lunch between sessions of conference on sunday, i loved FHE on monday and am excited to really get into this ward here. i definitely made a mistake not trying harder to make friends and do things with the indianapolis ward. i just spent 3 minutes typing and erasing excuses, but there aren't any really. i was kind of busy missing and visiting my old friends and didn't want new ones. this time however, excepting a trip to harvard yale (I JUST BOUGHT MY TICKET YESTERDAY HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) i am sticking around and trying harder. flag football on saturday woot woot woot woot.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:
is it true for everybody that there are some people you immediately click with better than others? i don't necessarily mean people that go on to become our dear friends, but rather casual acquaintances* or people you only meet once or twice. i'm thinking specifically of a kid in the indy ward who i sat next to in sunday school and with whom i shared my scriptures since he had forgotten his. we chatted as we went to sacrament meeting and while we didn't exchange phone numbers or fall in love, he was a friendly face and someone who was really easy to talk to, much easier than most of the other people i had met that day. he seemed like he was usually pretty quiet, so i think it may have been a little out of the ordinary for him as well.
it made me wonder why it should be easier to be friends with him than with a different, perhaps more outwardly friendly person. something that's always interested me is thinking about our lives before we came down to earth. i don't know exactly what the official doctrine is, if there is one, regarding our social organization in the pre-mortal life, but i like to think that we had friends and we knew who our family members would be and we spent time with each other. whenever i meet a stranger with whom i click easily or make a connection stronger than normal, i've started to wonder if maybe we were friends before, and maybe this pleasant feeling is our imperfect bodies' attempts to interpret the joy our spirits are feeling as they recognize each other and rejoice at this chance reunion so far from home.
i unfortunately haven't read much of Preach My Gospel, but of the bit i've been through one epiphany hit me wonderfully hard. there was a reference to Romans 8:16, a scripture i hadn't paid attention to before: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." to me this means that the way God speaks to us is by sending His Spirit to talk directly to our spirit. this is the way he communicates truth. this is why people can't be convinced intellectually that some religious teaching is true, even if they are willing or wanting to believe; they have to learn with their spirit and not their brain. and since it's really hard to trust a feeling when you're used to relying on logic to discern truth, many people don't understand how someone can have strong religious convictions without tangible proof, or use different standards to judge religious statements vs. scientific ones. i remember in high school jennifer griffiths shared with our seminary class that someone she talked with accused mormons of explaining everything "with a feeling" as our only proof. sister obrigawitch didn't have an answer, except "well, i guess they're right." i've always been conflicted as to why this was ok, and while at the time i accepted it and moved on, it didn't really click until i read this scripture. spiritual things are communicated through the spirit. when another spirit bears witness to our spirit, we perceive it as a feeling - warm fuzzies when we're with someone we should be with, chills through our body when we hear something inspirational, inexplicable (i've always wanted to use that word!!) tears when a friend shares something special. i like to interpret this scripture to mean that our spirits can communicate on a level that we don't entirely register and that our mortal bodies aren't really able to perceive.
and while i think close friends and family are in a different category - our spirits probably learn from each other and grow to love each other more as we spend time together - i can't imagine we didn't know one another before we came to earth. i like to think that the spirits of my grandchildren keep watch over me, and that they cheer when i do things that are good and when i do things that are wrong they are surrounding me, hollering at me to stop and to make the right choice. in my mind it's kind of like getting really into a tv show...they will yell and jump (like my dad when his team makes a big play) when i'm about to meet my husband for the first time. they'll slap their heads and yowl when i turn the corner too early and just miss him (MY LEAST FAVORITE PART OF ANY PLOT GAH), but that will just make them more excited the next time we are close. being able to guess how my midterm will turn out, they will holler and lament ("no no no no no no no...gahhh!!") when i fall asleep on my physics book, and knowing how much joy it would bring me, they probably had really big smiles on their faces when we bought our piano from the neighbors and moved it into the living room. when they're ready to be born they'll say "see you soon," and when i see them i won't be able to explain with my brain why i love them so much, but my spirit, who has felt their encouragement and love for eons rather than minutes, will finally be able to say thank you.
P.S.! this is closest i've ever seen motab come to kuumba: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8iW9AFr3VY. woooo!
i am liking minneapolis so far, and while i was a little worried after attending the potluck lunch between sessions of conference on sunday, i loved FHE on monday and am excited to really get into this ward here. i definitely made a mistake not trying harder to make friends and do things with the indianapolis ward. i just spent 3 minutes typing and erasing excuses, but there aren't any really. i was kind of busy missing and visiting my old friends and didn't want new ones. this time however, excepting a trip to harvard yale (I JUST BOUGHT MY TICKET YESTERDAY HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) i am sticking around and trying harder. flag football on saturday woot woot woot woot.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:
is it true for everybody that there are some people you immediately click with better than others? i don't necessarily mean people that go on to become our dear friends, but rather casual acquaintances* or people you only meet once or twice. i'm thinking specifically of a kid in the indy ward who i sat next to in sunday school and with whom i shared my scriptures since he had forgotten his. we chatted as we went to sacrament meeting and while we didn't exchange phone numbers or fall in love, he was a friendly face and someone who was really easy to talk to, much easier than most of the other people i had met that day. he seemed like he was usually pretty quiet, so i think it may have been a little out of the ordinary for him as well.
it made me wonder why it should be easier to be friends with him than with a different, perhaps more outwardly friendly person. something that's always interested me is thinking about our lives before we came down to earth. i don't know exactly what the official doctrine is, if there is one, regarding our social organization in the pre-mortal life, but i like to think that we had friends and we knew who our family members would be and we spent time with each other. whenever i meet a stranger with whom i click easily or make a connection stronger than normal, i've started to wonder if maybe we were friends before, and maybe this pleasant feeling is our imperfect bodies' attempts to interpret the joy our spirits are feeling as they recognize each other and rejoice at this chance reunion so far from home.
i unfortunately haven't read much of Preach My Gospel, but of the bit i've been through one epiphany hit me wonderfully hard. there was a reference to Romans 8:16, a scripture i hadn't paid attention to before: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." to me this means that the way God speaks to us is by sending His Spirit to talk directly to our spirit. this is the way he communicates truth. this is why people can't be convinced intellectually that some religious teaching is true, even if they are willing or wanting to believe; they have to learn with their spirit and not their brain. and since it's really hard to trust a feeling when you're used to relying on logic to discern truth, many people don't understand how someone can have strong religious convictions without tangible proof, or use different standards to judge religious statements vs. scientific ones. i remember in high school jennifer griffiths shared with our seminary class that someone she talked with accused mormons of explaining everything "with a feeling" as our only proof. sister obrigawitch didn't have an answer, except "well, i guess they're right." i've always been conflicted as to why this was ok, and while at the time i accepted it and moved on, it didn't really click until i read this scripture. spiritual things are communicated through the spirit. when another spirit bears witness to our spirit, we perceive it as a feeling - warm fuzzies when we're with someone we should be with, chills through our body when we hear something inspirational, inexplicable (i've always wanted to use that word!!) tears when a friend shares something special. i like to interpret this scripture to mean that our spirits can communicate on a level that we don't entirely register and that our mortal bodies aren't really able to perceive.
and while i think close friends and family are in a different category - our spirits probably learn from each other and grow to love each other more as we spend time together - i can't imagine we didn't know one another before we came to earth. i like to think that the spirits of my grandchildren keep watch over me, and that they cheer when i do things that are good and when i do things that are wrong they are surrounding me, hollering at me to stop and to make the right choice. in my mind it's kind of like getting really into a tv show...they will yell and jump (like my dad when his team makes a big play) when i'm about to meet my husband for the first time. they'll slap their heads and yowl when i turn the corner too early and just miss him (MY LEAST FAVORITE PART OF ANY PLOT GAH), but that will just make them more excited the next time we are close. being able to guess how my midterm will turn out, they will holler and lament ("no no no no no no no...gahhh!!") when i fall asleep on my physics book, and knowing how much joy it would bring me, they probably had really big smiles on their faces when we bought our piano from the neighbors and moved it into the living room. when they're ready to be born they'll say "see you soon," and when i see them i won't be able to explain with my brain why i love them so much, but my spirit, who has felt their encouragement and love for eons rather than minutes, will finally be able to say thank you.
P.S.! this is closest i've ever seen motab come to kuumba: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8iW9AFr3VY. woooo!
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