Truthiness
Ducks in a Row
Monday, January 25th, 2010 | Truthiness | 10 Comments
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. This wasn’t part of the plan. I was supposed to get married at 21 or 22… 23 at the latest. Just ask anybody: family, friends, even my MTC group gave me six months post mission, tops. But here I am, 26 and counting, closing in on that dreaded “Menace to Society” age, and still unspoused.
I’ll admit, early on I really struggled with this, and while the thought of reaching my late 20’s without a companion still doesn’t thrill me, I’m more okay with things. In fact, a part of me feels quite fortunate. That part of me realizes I have been given a precious gift: the gift of time.
Despite all its blessings, I know marriage will be no picnic, and bring more than its fair share of trials into my life, both emotional, spiritual, and financial. With the extra time I’ve been given, I’ve been able to—and continue to—work on preparing myself, to “put all my ducks in a row”, so to speak. For example, these past several years I’ve tried to focus on being a better person every day and increase my talents. I am learning to cook. I’ve begun playing the guitar, and am becoming more well read. Over the past two years I’ve also scrimped every penny I could spare and begun investing and saving for a home, retirement, a rainy day… I’ve even started a ring fund. When the day does come that I’ll take the marital plunge, hopefully I’ll be a better husband, and eventually a better father, because of the time I’ve been given and the preparations I’ve made.
Ironically enough, my forced preparation for blessings that didn’t come early may be the very thing that helps me tie the knot down the road. Let me explain: occasionally people have asked me what my “type” is. This has always been a very difficult question to answer. It seemed the girls that really wowed me were as different as could be from one another: short blondes, tall brunettes, artists, musicians, athletes. As I’ve continued to think about it though, they have all had one thing in common: they were impressive. In one way or another they were excellent or pursuing excellence. You might say they each had their ducks in a row, and as a result, not only did I want to be with them, but they also made me want to be better me. Being stuck in survival mode is not attractive, but excelling, preparing, achieving… that is what has always been attractive to me, and I expect is precisely what is attractive to us all.
I recognize I still have a long ways to go in my efforts at arranging the various ducks in my life, but I must admit it feels good to be waddling in the right direction.
The Truth About Giraffes
Friday, December 12th, 2008 | Truthiness | 6 Comments
We discuss a lot of crazy ideas here, and that is something that is destined to continue. Just as “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” I think there is humor to be found in even the most trivial situations we find ourselves in and that seeing such humor is a gift. At the same time, I don’t think the purpose of life is just to have a few laughs along the way. I think we are here to learn truth, follow truth, and in the process become better people.
Thus the title of the blog: “Truthiness”. I think the word itself embodies both a focus on humor and truth. I share much more humor than truth on this blog, and where possible I do both at the same time, but right here, right now, I need to share a crucial truth we all need to hear: the truth about giraffes.
The truth about giraffes is actually more about truth itself. Don’t worry, this isn’t some trick… I didn’t use some wacky title to get you to start reading this entry just to fool you into digesting some philosophical mumbo jumbo… I would never resort to such manipulative tactics. Me? Manipulative? I’ve never heard such a preposterous idea. Okay, so it might be a little bit philosophical, but that doesn’t need to mean it’s dry boring stuff. If there is anything that my two favorite philosophers have taught us it’s that important truths can be taught via cartoon. Anyway, less talk, more cartoons:
Take a look at these pictures one at a time. What do you see? (answers to follow… no peeking)
Highlight the empty parentheses to see the solutions: Picture 1 is ( two fish kissing ). Picture 2 shows ( a giraffe walking past a window ) See it now? I’m sure at this point you’re scratching your head wondering “what was the point of all this, again?” The principle is this: Truth, once learned, becomes obvious. I guarantee if I were to draw these pictures for you 10 or 20 years down the road you’d be able to tell me what the correct answer is. I can’t look at these diagrams anymore and see anything but fish kissing and a giraffe. The truth has become too obvious.
This is important to keep in mind as we try to learn new things. If you’re not understanding something sufficiently, it’s because you don’t yet understand the principles upon which that truth is based. That which we understand, we remember.
I’m sure there are those of you who may not be convinced this particular truth will help you to learn more and to become a better person if followed. I hate to send you away empty handed so let me remind you of another truth I’ve revealed in this post and propose a proper course of action:
Truth: Rob has two favorite philosophers
Action: Buy Rob their complete philosophical works
Result: I personally guarantee you’ll be a better person (Me? Manipulative?)
The Cheese Curd Smile
Sunday, November 30th, 2008 | Life Update, Truthiness | 7 Comments
This past Saturday I ventured to Logan with one of my roommates for a double date. I went out with a girl who calls herself “Gudger” (different, I know), while my anonymous roommate had a blind date with one of Gudger’s friends. We had fun bowling, making lunch together, and touring around Logan by way of tandem bicycles (this was only made possible the fact that Logan’s 9-month-long winter had been delayed, likely due to the current rate of world piracy). Good times were had by all, but despite my joking beforehand to my roommate when I asked him, “Are you ready to meet the love of your life?”, I don’t think it was the love connection he might have been hoping for. Great girl, there was just no spark.
After dropping off the girls, us guys headed to Gossner’s dairy to buy some legendary Cache Valley cheese. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the expression of pure glee I saw on my roommate’s face as he walked out with four bags of cheese curds; he was like a little kid on Christmas morning.
I think we all deserve to end up with someone who brings the “cheese curd smile” to our faces. Granted not all relationships start out with that euphoria, and each relationship has its ups and downs, but if it doesn’t bring a smile to your face when you spend time with that special someone, or if you don’t feel even a bit of happy anticipation upon receiving an e-mail or text from him or her, it’s probably a sign that “someone” isn’t so special.
Enjoy your cheese curds, roomie. May we soon find that smile once more upon your face due to reasons completely unrelated to having eaten fine dairy products.
People, Projects, and Possessions
Sunday, October 26th, 2008 | Truthiness | 3 Comments
“Never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved” ~Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, Nov 2008
I have a knack for looking beyond the mark. Between work, church responsibilities, sporting events and other activities, it’s easy to lose focus and look past those things which are most important, or which should be most important in my life: people. A friend of mine once summed it up by saying “People are more important than projects”. Unsurprisingly, putting people first is not an easy thing to do. It means sacrifices must be made and projects sometimes need to be left unfinished. As I think of those individuals who have influenced my life however, they have all had this one thing in common; they have all focused on individuals rather than themselves and all that they had to accomplish.
Recently I’ve experienced that this principle is not limited to projects. Back in July my dad was kind enough to sell me his car. As everyone around him knows, he loved his car. He took good care of it and as a result it was in great shape and he would regularly receive offers from individuals who wanted to purchase it from him. When he hinted one day he might be getting rid of it to buy something newer I jumped at the chance and offered to buy it from him. Before we completed the sale I got the impression he was having second thoughts. When I expressed that I didn’t want to buy his car unless he wanted to get rid of it he exclaimed that it was just a possession, and that possessions are not worth getting attached to. He taught me that not only are people more important than projects, but they are more important than possessions as well.
I’m grateful for friends and family who have taught me by example to put people first. When we have eyes to see, I think it will become quite obvious to us that life is really all about relationships and that “people are more important than projects and possessions.”
I Need Thee Every Hour
Sunday, October 19th, 2008 | Truthiness | 5 Comments
“God, who oversees the interlacings of galaxies, stars, and worlds, asks us to confess His hand in our personal lives, too. Have we not been reassured about the fall of one sparrow and that the very hairs of our heads are numbered? God is in the details! Just as the Lord knows all of His vast creations, He also knows and loves each in any crowd—indeed, He knows and loves each and all of mankind!” ~Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, Nov. 2000, 16.
“Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” ~Doctrine & Covenants 6:36
I believe in being independent. It is very fulfilling to be able to take care of yourself. When I was still attending school, however, I had some experiences that taught me just how independent I wasn’t. Perhaps I became convinced that I was a big boy and could do things on my own, but all the sudden I couldn’t find anything and I didn’t do so well on even the easy tests. I was trying too hard to go it alone and was neglecting my relationship with Father.
The Lord pleads with us to “look unto [Him] in every thought” and it is only by doing so that we are safe. Perhaps I was forgetting Him in my life, or at least not giving Him the attention He deserved. When God is at the center of our lives everything runs like a finely-tuned machine and revolves in its proper place like our magnificent solar system. However, when Father is off in the distance, we are the ones at the center of our lives and that is a dangerous position to be in. I remember the old joke, “How many deacons does it take to screw in a light bulb?” “Only one, because he just holds up the light bulb and the world revolves around him.” The sun is at the center of our solar system and due to its being a stable body, everything else works perfectly and allows there to be true life and meaning on our planet. Likewise, if the Son is at the center of our crazy lives everything works right. But take a smaller body, such as yourself, and revolve everything around it and it will all just go hurtling off into space; we have not the power to keep order when acting alone.
I thought I had this lesson ingrained but apparently I lost its finer details as a few years later I found myself being tutored once again by a loving Father in Heaven. I was at my parents’ house and, thanks to some undercooked hamburgers, found myself feeling very poorly. Now, I think I have a pretty good tolerance for pain and for cold, but sick is something I don’t do well. This sick spell was so bad I decided later it was probably a good things we didn’t keep firearms in the house. It was only 24 hours of food-poisoned agony, but it was a 24 hour period where the words I need thee every hour rang true once again.
I call Father’s reminders a wake up call. As independent as I would like to be, there are some things we aren’t meant to go solo on, and its not just the big things either. Asking for His help with even the menial tasks ensures He will be with us always. He will ever be on our minds—as He should be. We will have stronger relationships with Him. It also shows humility; It doesn’t take much for us to acknowledge we need His help to overcome death, but what about next week’s geography test? Our Father is indeed Lord over the whole earth. He who notes even the sparrow’s fall knows us and all our needs and is willing to help us just as soon as we acknowledge Him and ask for His assistance.
Pop Quiz
Sunday, October 12th, 2008 | Truthiness | 2 Comments
“Surely, what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.” ~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 192
“Opportunities to server others in meaningful ways, as we have covenanted to do, rarely come at convenient times. But there is no spiritual power in living by convenience. The power comes as we keep our covenants.” ~M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, May 1999, 85
I am a very structured person. Everything I do has its time and place, and at times it can be a bit distressing to me when other events interfere. Because I am so structured, I like to schedule my service into specific blocks of time. Upon discovery of the above quotes, however, I realized that service is not something you just do at a set time every day as if it were some rote tradition. Service is an attitude; it is something you do always, whether in a premeditated act or as a result of situations you find yourself in. You do it always because that is who you are, not just how you act from time to time.
The gospel, much to my chagrin, is not a bunch of to-dos but rather a compilation of to-bes. It is the unexpected moments, the barging in to discover the rats in our cellar, that really show us who we are. I like to think of these unexpected service opportunities as pop quizzes administered by the Great Teacher. He places people in our path who need a helping hand so as to gauge our progress. This pop quiz format may not be the most pleasing form of testing to the student; we may much prefer to study and cram for a scheduled exam and at the appointed time spew out all the facts and wisdom we have collected, but such a test doesn’t do much to measure what He is looking for. Only the unanticipated, unplanned-for pop quiz calculates who we have become.
“Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.” (3 Nephi 12:48) O that we may discover the rats in our lives and root them out, that we might find ourselves better prepared for further heavenly testing.
Recommended reading: “The Challenge to Become“
The Principle of the Last Minute
Sunday, October 5th, 2008 | Truthiness | 3 Comments
I’ll admit it; I have a least-favorite scripture. In the standard works there are plenty of verses that inspire and encourage, but there are also a few that just scare the bejeebers out of me. Consider the following:
“Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless–whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day…” ~Mosiah 23:21-22
When we reflect upon the term last day we may think of the time when Christ will return and reign with glory, or perhaps, rather, it is the battle of Armageddon that comes to mind. I don’t know if either of these is the appropriate interpretation of the term in this scripture, however. Looking at these verses in context, here Alma and his followers fall into bondage under Amulon, who persecutes them, places burdens upon their backs, and prevents them even from praying to their God. After sufficiently trying their patience, however, the Lord finally delivers them from bondage at the last day. That is the part that scares me: the Lord waiting until the last day to deliver.
I call this the Principle of the Last Minute
I have had several experiences where I have seen this principle in action. I’ll share one that is perhaps the most meaningful because it is so trivial:
About two years ago I bought a projector. I enjoy movies and was looking forward to watching them on the big screen. After some initial fiddling with my new purchase I realized I was missing a vital cord I would need in order to make use of the projector. I ordered the necessary cord and my roommates and I planned a movie night for the upcoming Friday.
The cord was being sent to my brother’s house and so on Friday, the day of our planned first movie, I drove there to pick it up. Unfortunately it had not yet arrived. While I’m sure we could have rescheduled the movie night it was important enough to me that we still hold it that night that I said a quick prayer asking that the cord would be delivered. The day wore on. Still no cord. Finally, I could wait no longer and had to head back to my apartment. I was literally one minute from walking out the door when the doorbell rang. I just laughed. I knew what it was. Sure enough, there on the doorstep was the package containing my cord.
I never cease to be impressed by how aware Father is of my needs. Even something so silly as a computer cord is not unimportant to Him as long as it is important to me. I’m grateful He has continually heard and answered my prayers, even if He has made me wait until the last minute.
I still don’t like that scripture.
Watch out, World!
Monday, September 29th, 2008 | Truthiness | 3 Comments
Welcome to my blog. If you were looking for cute pictures of my nephews and nieces go here, here, here or even here. Or, if technology is more your thing go here. Finally, all would-be Pirates go here.
Here on MY blog is where I plan on sharing my deep thoughts and crazy ideas, sprinkled with occasional life updates. I just turned 25, and feel I’m finally becoming the person I will be the rest of my life. What follows are my views on Truthiness and The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.
