Self Reliance in a Techno World

Self reliance and technology are somewhat exclusive. The entertainment value we receive from technology serves to create dependence, not the reverse. Do you remember the days when a child would take a toy apart and put it back together as a form of entertainment? If a child disassembles his iPod today, it will simply be broken. No educational value will have occurred, and the parental wrath delivered will serve as a deterrent to such exploration or experimentation in the future. So, what to do? Most of us have no idea how our techno gadgets are created. We can't do the math; we don't have the skills to create; all we can do is dumbly consume. If we become increasingly tantalized and enslaved by technology, we become correspondingly weaker in our ability to think independently, to develop compelling interpersonal relationships, or to provide leadership for younger generations. What to do, what to do...?

Limit access to technology.

And, fill that void with productive family activities. Provide youth the opportunity to struggle to solve problems. Require them to think, to explore, to pray, and to discover success commensurate to the effort expended. A lot more should be said about this, and I don't have all the answers.

The Sanctity of Suffering

Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Suffering is necessary to our earthly experience because our response to the vicissitudes of life shapes our character. Facing challenges with faith tempers our souls, and the Lord's holy influence rewards us and solidifies the change. We cannot grow without experiencing and responding to suffering.

Christmas Testimony

Our family sang in a stake Christmas fireside last night, and it was a joyful experience to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. How much I love Him. How desperately we each need the blessings of redemption in our lives.

The Stories We Tell Children

We are all familiar, but perhaps not aware of the whitewashing we do with children's stories. An example of this is the story of the Gingerbread Man I found online and sent home in preschool. At the end of the story, the gingerbread man is sitting on top of the fox's head. He doesn't get eaten! Another case is Disney's movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which ends happily while the book had the girl hung and the Hunchback died with her body. Disney's Little Mermaid ends happily, while the original Little Mermaid became a Daughter of the Air. The changed outcomes of these stories are examples of a social wish to escape consequence and repudiate suffering paired with indoctrination that the wish is true. Reflection reveals the doctrine is bogus. Sometimes we can love deeply and still suffer; epic heroes and heroines are born from such choices, and we remember their passion. The original Hunchback of Notre Dame and Little Mermaid are cases in point. Our marriages should be so passionate. Sometimes we make poor decisions (like gingerbread men asking foxes for help) and we could die; we will certainly suffer! Children need to receive imagery that teaches truth.

Freedom and Opposition

Freedom is manifest through choice between options, or opposing opportunities. Receiving the consequence of our choices motivates future decision. Suffering or joy derive as natural consequences of our choices. Thus, freedom, suffering and joy form a feedback loop that cannot be broken without destroying the entity.

Today's society teaches us we can eliminate or avoid the suffering that derives from poor choices. Society says that in fact, you can pick your consequence at any given time by changing your belief system. Society wants to remove suffering from the entity, but it breaks down. People want a loophole, but there is none. I believe that as spirit children of our Heavenly Father, we have taken on us His law with His legal consequences. We cannot escape. The potential blessings are tremendous, and the opposing consequences are fixed.

Politics and the Purpose of Life

As I consider the political situation in the United States and the root cause of our political disagreements, I conclude many people lack a rational for the purpose of life. Some people are persuaded that centralized government is the only tool powerful enough to ease suffering and address poverty. This is a manifestation of despair. On the other hand are people who believe that personal freedom is fundamental and paramount, even if some suffering exists. Suffering serves the purpose of delineating options. It is a precursor of hope.

This essential battle has existed throughout human history, and these issues were fought over before the creation of this world. God, our spirit Father, set this world up with the intent that through their free choices and the redeemer He would provide, his children would learn and grow to become like Himself. Mistakes could be forgiven on conditions of faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, and obedience to the commandments He would give in His church. Christ volunteered to be born and suffer for our sins to enable our redemption. He earned the right to become our Savior through His perfect obedience to our Heavenly Father, culminating with His sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from death. This life is a test, designed to assess our faith in Jesus Christ through a lifetime of really hard trials. As we endure with faith and obedience to the ordinances of the gospel, we receive the grace of God in our lives through the power of the Holy Ghost, and we become new creatures. This plan has the potential to eliminate all suffering and ennoble and enrich all of God's children in this world, freely. However, each of us is free to choose. As the Apostle Paul stated, God has prepared kingdoms of various glories as destinations for His children, based upon their choices. God will force no man (or woman) to heaven.