A consecrated life

In General Conference, Elder D. Todd Christofferson quoted Elder Marvin L. Evans in a 1969 pamphlet.

“Life offers you two precious gifts—one is time, the other freedom of choice, the freedom to buy with your time what you will. You are free to exchange your allotment of time for thrills. You may trade it for base desires. You may invest it in greed. . . .Yours is the freedom to choose. But these are no bargains, for in them you find no lasting satisfaction.

"Every day, every hour, every minute of your span of mortal years must sometime be accounted for. And it is in this life that you walk by faith and prove yourself able to choose good over evil, right over wrong, enduring happiness over mere amusement. And your eternal reward will be according to your choosing.

"A prophet of God has said: ‘Men are that they might have joy’—a joy that includes a fullness of life, a life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, and the fruits of honest toil—an acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—of its requirements and commandments. Only in these will you find true happiness, the happiness which doesn’t fade with the lights and the music and the crowds.”

It is sobering to consider that every day, every hour, every minute must sometime be accounted for. I consider the care with which we account for every dollar, quarter, and penny. How is our time spent?

Caring for others or selfish endeavors

Visiting the lonely, or becoming the lonely

Feasting at the banquet of the scriptures or starving while devouring novels.

Growing closer or growing apart

Playing with others, or criticizing others

Solving problems, or making problems.

I would choose the former, forsake the later. Worn down by the cares of the world, we slide away. Lifted by the sabbath and daily counsel we climb back up. The more we feast and care, the more we maintain an abundant life. Faith/trust in Christ overcome the cares of the world.

Revelation

A couple things from Joseph Smith

1. Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is in vain for anyone to minister without it (History of the Church, 3:389)

2. This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted--by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom are placed (History of the Church, 5:135)

Revelation is the insight from God that directs us through our daily affairs. It is inspiring to know that in His reign of the cosmos he cares enough for the individual to guide them through their practical and specific challenges.

Secondhand Lions

Part of Uncle Hub's speech about what every boy needs to know to be a man.

"Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love... true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in."

I believe our belief (faith) makes the world around us. So believe the good things, doubt the bad. It leads to a much richer life.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rectitude is a perpetual victory, celebrated not by cries of joy, but by serenity, which is joy fixed or habitual. ("Character," Essays: Second Series [1844])

I found this to be a very accurate description, that described how I have felt for some time. Habitual joy comes from the serenity of a life well lived where the cares of the world do not interfere with the feelings of joy and peace. Moreover, rectitude, creates the confidence to stand before God and beside God with confidence that with Him as a companion, anything can be overcome.

Pray to solve technical challenges

Today I was listening to an interview between Sheri Dew and Elder Richard G. Scott. Elder Scott is a leader of our church as a member of the Quorum of 12 Apostles. At an earlier time he was also a nuclear engineer and had a key role on the staff of Admiral Rickover. In the interview he was asked about some of his lessons learned and he said, "Prayer is an important part of solving technical problems".

I work in a very challenging technical field and despite the field having been around for 40+ years in some form or another, we are advancing the state of the art. Prayer has been a rock for me throughout the years and will continue to be so. Without question, prayer can guide us through the most difficult technical challenges.

I love Maile

Today at breakfast, Maile was saying the prayer, in the middle Leila screeched and Maile said "Please bless us to not scream in the middle of the prayer"

Later, for whatever reason we were talking about fireworks and she thoughtfully suggested we ask the owner of the house if we can light fireworks here. Upon hearing that there is a state law, she said "Maybe we can light fireworks when we live in a barn"

Where does she come up with this!? To be fair, Anna talks to her and Arden about living on a farm, which means nothing to the kids, but farms have barns so that must be where we will live!

Sun Tzu's Art of war

From Sun Tzu's Art of War http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html

Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:

1. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
2. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
3. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
4. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
5. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.

It applies to so many aspects of life. If you want to convince anyone of anything, this is really the way to do it. If you are not prepared, your dead in the water. If politics come into play, good luck. If you don't know how to use your assets (strong and weak), you can't succeed.

As a whole team is more and more on the same page, they can get more done more effectively because they share a vision and the harmony is a key to success.

interesting that this was so well understood so many years ago, but it takes time to transcend the ages.