Spread Happiness - Express Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this day is full of opportunities to be with family and friends and that while you are with them, you take the time to tell them how grateful you are to have them in your life: write it out, call them, express it face to face-- however you do it--give voice to why they mean so much to you!

Because “silent gratitude is of no use to anyone” (G.B. Stern).

Live in Thanksgiving daily. :)

The Science of Happiness

"Zion Shall Not Be Moved" -Ponderize - Week 19

These last couple of days I haven't been able to decide on a scripture to ponderize for the week.  After this evening, I have finally chosen one.

I attended a cottage meeting tonight that Big Ocean hosted where two of my friends presented.  Mother and author, Nicholeen Peck, spoke and so did JaKell Sullivan, who has been a strong voice against Common Core for many years now.  My friend Kim Ells, assistant for Family Watch International, showed an informative and extremely disturbing video on what is entailed in the Comprehensive Sex Education Curriculum that the Federal Gov. is trying to push in every State. (They've already succeeded in some.)

It wasn't really new information to me since I heard a great deal about these teachings when I went to the United Nations and World Congress last year.  I knew these disgusting  publications were being distributed to youth through the International Planned Parenthood Federation and our own Planned Parenthood. It's just now their teachings are getting published into our education system and encapsulated in words like "sexual health" so it's "easier" for schools to choke it down their throats.

It grieves my soul and inflicts great sorrow upon my heart to see something so wonderful, so beautiful, so sacred, this very real sacrament with God, cheapened, trampled, exploited, and dragged through the mire.  It's a clear shot bullet to the heads of our innocent children.

This is a very real war and the firing squad is mowing down our babies.  People  just don't understand how very serious this is. I would encourage every parent I know to get informed.  http://www.comprehensivesexualityeducation.org/

Sometime tomorrow I should be able to get access to the 20 min. video my friend Kim showed tonight.  When I do, I'll be certain to share it.

I have no doubt that we will witness in the next few years a massive division take place all across the globe.  It's happening now.  But we must not lose heart... with that division also means there will be a great unification.  People of all faiths, all nations, all races and backgrounds are coming together to combat these attacks.  I've seen it.

I really need a verse that is hopeful to ponderize this week to help me remember this:

 "Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God. Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered.  They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their inheritances, they and their children, with songs of everlasting joy, to build up the waste places of Zion."— D&C 101:16 - 18

-Alicia

Love Isn't Blind

It seems to me that the trends of the world often follow the pattern of what I call "shallow love."  So many relationships leave no room for imperfection in one another and therefore leave no room for growth.  When the going gets tough or if anything dissatisfies... they abandon everything.

C.S. Lewis observed this about Gods love and maybe we can apply something of this pattern in our own lives with everyone we come in contact with:

"To see in some measure, like God.  His love and His knowledge are not distinct from one another, nor from Him.  We could almost say He sees because He loves, and therefore loves although He sees." 

 "He loves although He sees."  Think about it for a moment! "He loves although He sees."  I believe that is what endears us to the Savior's heart.  That is the quality that makes us comfortable to fall before Him as our imperfect selves.  There is no piece of us that is hidden, He sees the good, the bad, and the ugly in our souls... and yet He loves us still.  

In this Shakespeare Sonnet, observe how he describes love.  It is unchanging even when it finds reason to change and sees the infinite worth even when the person may not "measure up" to it. 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,

That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

 If this be error and upon me proved,

 I never writ, nor no man ever loved. 

I really like where Shakespeare describes that true love "bears it out even to the edge of doom."  It reminds me of the verse I'm pondering this week on charity.  

After the Apostle Paul describes this wonderful virtue he warns us that we don't see the full picture and even don't understand our own hearts but the Lord does and eventually we will see clearly through Him.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12).

Pure and Christlike love always evokes and promotes feelings of unity, appreciation, and gentleness...  never discord, dissension, or hostility.  We are covenant people who have taken upon us the name of Christ and our behavior should reflect that same kind of perfect charity... to "love although [we] see."

Finally, I'll close this post with some thoughts from President Eyring in 1998

The sacramental prayer can remind us every week of how the gift of unity will come through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we keep our covenants to take His name upon us, to remember Him always, and to keep all His commandments, we will receive the companionship of His Spirit. That will soften our hearts and unite us. But there are two warnings which must come with that promise.

First, the Holy Ghost remains with us only if we stay clean and free from the love of the things of the world. A choice to be unclean will repel the Holy Ghost. The Spirit only dwells with those who choose the Lord over the world. “Be ye clean” (3 Ne. 20:41; D&C 38:42) and love God with all your “heart, … might, mind, and strength” (D&C 59:5) are not suggestions but commandments. And they are necessary to the companionship of the Spirit, without which we cannot be one.

The other warning is to beware of pride. A unity which comes to a family or to a people softened by the Spirit will bring great power. With that power will come recognition from the world. Whether that recognition brings praise or envy, it could lead us to pride. That would offend the Spirit. There is a protection against pride, that sure source of disunity. It is to see the bounties which God pours upon us not only as a mark of His favor but an opportunity to join with those around us in greater service. A man and his wife learn to be one by using their similarities to understand each other and their differences to complement each other in serving one another and those around them. In the same way, we can unite with those who do not accept our doctrine but share our desire to bless the children of our Heavenly Father.


We can become peacemakers, worthy to be called blessed and the children of God (see Matt. 5:9).

...........
- It's a new day. Let's seek for and choose opportunities to "see through the glass" with clarity, with the Spirit, with the eyes of Christ.

-Alicia

Come Together

Organizing the inventory on the shelves in the back room of Sears shoe department was my responsibility when there were very few customers on the sales floor.  I was seventeen and though it wasn't the most exciting part-time work, it still gave me a paycheck.  I beat the boring doldrums in the backroom with my multi-cassette anthology album of The Beatles.  No doubt that when my headphones were in, I unknowingly serenaded a few passing customers to "Hey Jude."  I must have listened to that anthology a hundred times.  Something close to an obsession, I went through a phase of my own Beetle's mania.  Have you ever looked up the lyrics to "Come Together?" Yeah.... all this time, I've been singing it wrong.  I always wondered what it meant by, "hold you in his armchair or Morris Jumboo." (Those lyrics, even when they're sung right, never made sense anyway.)  Toe jam football?  Joo joo eyeballs?  Those guys were so high but I still loved them.

I seem to associate everything in life with music and for some reason, every time I hear a talk on unity or Zion, "Come Together" begins to play in my head (not exactly saturated with religious analogy, I know.) Even still, one morning, I thought it would make the perfect wake-up song to bring our kids out for family scripture study. so I turned on the living room speakers and I sang into the hall, "Come together, right now... and we'll read."  Don't try that at home, your kids will hate you forever.  (Just saying.) It was fun for me.

But speaking of coming together, of unity, and of studying scripture.  I've been thinking about the gathering that is happening in these last days.  Traveling to the United Nations and experiencing World Congress last year helped open my eyes to this incredible miracle that is happening right now.  People of all faiths and religions, Jews, Christians, and Muslims all working together to defend religious freedom and the family.

President Henry B. Eyring expounds on this principle:
"We see increased conflict between peoples in the world around us. Those divisions and differences could infect us. That is why my message of hope today is that a great day of unity is coming...

The Lord’s prophets have always called for unity. The need for that gift to be granted to us and the challenge to maintain it will grow greater in the days ahead, in which we will be prepared as a people for our glorious destiny....  
You have seen evidence, as I have, that we are moving toward becoming one. The miracle of unity is being granted to us as we pray and work for it in the Lord’s way. Our hearts will be knit together in unity. God has promised that blessing to His faithful Saints whatever their differences in background and whatever conflict rages around them. He was praying for us as well as His disciples when He asked His Father that we might be one. The reason that we pray and ask for that blessing is the same reason the Father is granting it. We know from experience that joy comes when we are blessed with unity."

Having our hearts and spirits knit together in purpose, in love, in light, and in truth is the way to joy.  I have experienced this for myself and know it to be true.
It's no coincidence to me that right smack in the middle of Lehi's and Nephi's vision of the Tree of Life, you find this verse, "And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holly ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be." - 1 Nephi 13:37

No matter how fiery the trial that comes, no matter the struggle, no matter the midst of darkness or the persecution that settles around us, I pray my heart will never lose courage.  I pray I will keep the vision of hope alive, the vision of Zion and trust that "They that be with us are more than they that be with them." (2 Kings 6:16.)  
For "There is hope smiling brightly before us, and we know that deliverance is nigh." -Hymn 19

-Alicia

Traditions Old and New

"If we will build righteous traditions in our families, the light of the gospel can grow ever brighter in the lives of our children from generation to generation." 

- L. Tom Perry

Burning Bright On the Darkest Night
The first new tradition our family participated in is all about "light growing brighter."  It happens every 21st of December, the darkest night of the year, the Winter Solstice.  My friend Alicia and her husband Stan invited us to join them in their annual tradition of making candles out of real bee's wax.  Stan's father, and grandfather were bee keepers and he and Alicia are the ones today who keep the family honey making business buzzing. :P  Alicia is one of the amazing and talented ladies in our home school co-op group.  It's so fun to have her share with us her wealth of knowledge of how the bees make the wax and the process they go through to extract it.   I reminded Chandler that his name means, candle maker or light bearer.  He rolled his eyes at me, "I know mom.  How many times do you have to tell me that?" I smiled and ignored his grumpy attitude, glad he at least made the decision to come along with us that evening.   It really was a great Family Night and we look forward to doing it again a second time next year.

Every 23rd of December

The next tradition is every 23rd of December we gather with all of my husband's siblings and parents at his sister's house in Alpine.  We feast on delicious food and take turns doing a family talent show or skit on the stage in their basement. Anyone who is out of state watches the show through Skype. It ranges from piano or violin playing, reader's theater, reciting poetry, family trivia, or singing Christmas carols.  The main rule is to have a great time.  After all the performances we go back upstairs and treat ourselves to my father-in-law's traditional sweet rolls,"Bert's Buns." 

Then here's my favorite part; we all get a copy of the famous Rawlin's Photobook.  Me and Joseph's seven sisters rotate through designing and coordinating the photographs of everyone in the family from the past year.  It's hard to keep track of a growing family of nine children but that's why we use the wonderful tool of the internet.  No matter where anyone is living in the world, they access our family photo book for the year and upload pictures on to their assigned pages. It results in a book that includes everyone, captures priceless memories, shares our stories, and inspires greater love and unity.  We've stopped doing gift exchanges even with the grandchildren.  This is hands down everyone's favorite gift from the oldest in the family to the youngest.  After we open the latest Rawlin's Photo Book edition, everyone spends over an hour reading, laughing, reminiscing, and enjoying it together.

Christmas Eve

Our own little family Christmas Eve tradition has gotten more fun since we decided to try my friend Suzanne's idea of a Shepherd's Dinner.  We give the kids their own special candle and eat on the floor by the light of our Christmas tree.  The food is simple: grapes, pomegranate, fresh vegetables w/ hummus, pieces of cheese, a fresh loaf of uncut bread, and some kind of meat or fish.  (stuff a shepherd would eat)

The kids get a little restless after dinner so before we continue with the old-world theme, we watch my favorite Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."  Then we do our reading of Luke 2.  (We've given the kids the option to dress up as the characters but every year they would rather use our Bethlehem Nativity pieces and act out the scriptures with them.)

After the Nativity, we unwrap our new Christmas Book, a tradition we started in 2011 or 2012.  This year our book was "The Tale of Three Trees" by, Angela Elwell Hunt.

Then we send the kids off to bed.  They like to sleep in the same room together and stay up all night watching more movies.... usually, The Grinch and Elf.  It's the only time of year where I'll let them watch as many movies in a row as they want.

Christmas Morning
Before we open any presents, we have a family prayer of gratitude. We read "The Living Christ" and share briefly what we want to give our Savior the new year.  For breakfast, we always invite a neighbor who lives alone to share our traditional strawberry, cream cheese, french toast. We hope that by doing this our children will learn to reach out to others on Christmas day, to think outside of themselves and see that the most meaningful thing is not the gifts but being in the presence of people who love you.  This year it was my dear friend, Lou.

Well, there you have it.  Traditions old and new.  They give us purpose, meaning, and direction.  And in the words of Tevye, “Because of our traditions, everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do.”

-Alicia

The Kingdom of God is in You

I LOVE a good movie score!!  I have always been enthralled with the magic of music, how it can stir our hearts, inspire our souls, enlighten our minds, increase our passions, enhance our words, and give meaning to sight through the wonder of sound.  This song called "Time" by, Hans Zimmer, was recently attached to a scene from an old black and white movie, The Great Dictator.

The Great Dictator is a 1940 film made by Charlie Chapman.  It is a story of a good man, a Jewish barber, who saves the life of a wounded pilot during World War 2.  During his rescue, this Jewish barber receives a concussion and loses his memory.  He and the pilot try to escape the Nazis and somehow are able to dress up in German uniform to help them get away unrecognized.  But the Jewish barber, who is played by Charlie Chapman, looks almost identical to Adolf Hitler.  In the mix-up, he is urged to speak to the soldiers and gives a speech completely opposite, and diametrically opposed to anything the real Hitler would have said.

The first time I saw this scene combined with the music from Hans Zimmer, I was taken back at how powerful it was. It stirred in my mind the plea and cry we hear from men and women called to speak in Christ's name today, called to cry repentance, to preach faith and devotion to God and to one another.  They plead for unity, for love, kindness, for gentleness, and at the same time stand by morals and principles, never condoning acts contrary to our Divine nature.

 I've been reading in the scriptures and pondering the constant rejection of the prophets of God.  In our family study, we are reading about Abinadi.  In my personal study, I'm reading in the end of 1 Nephi where "even the very God of Israel... men trample under their feet;... they set him at naught, and hearken not to the voice of his counsels."  (1 Ne. 19:7) "They turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel. And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish" (1 Ne. 19:13,14)

As we approach this weekend and have this wonderful opportunity to hear the word of God spoken by the mouths of His prophets, I pray we will not let their cries fall on deaf ears, that we will not "trample them under our feet" but that we will take them into our hearts, treasure them, live by them, and teach them.  The time we have on this earth is a gift to us.  For myself, I desire to use it better... for it will slip quickly out of my grasp. There is so much work to be done.  I pray that I will be inspired to be about the work that matters most.

-Alicia

The Speech - From, The Great Dictator

"I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost....

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. .....

Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!"