So we had transfers yesterday. This happens every six weeks (usually), but sometimes it is a bit crazier that others. Today we have four missionaries going home and 17 new missionaries arriving. In preparation, a lot of craziness happened yesterday. We had many of our dear people here at the same time, switching cars, getting bikes, getting TIWI cards, asking questions, moving luggage around, trying out bikes, finding helmets, inspecting cars, etc.
The challenge of note came when two sisters said that their car would not start. They have a Chevy Malibu. I have a portable power unit that can jump start a car, and as I was in the middle of TIWI training and many other interactions in the office, I sent that device out with them to get their car started.
After a long while, I wondered what had become of the stalled car, breaking away for a moment from office madness to check on the sister missionaries. It looked like they had attached things correctly, but nothing had improved. I tried and the car would not turn over for me either. Checking in my trunk for some traditional jumper cables, and finding none, I asked a couple of other elders near by and none of them had any either. Remembering having seem some in the office, I went back in and encountered many requests from missionaries waiting for me in the office, one set of elders offered to take the cables I handed them to go out and connect the cables to a mission truck to get the car started properly.
After another long while and many dizzying office interactions, I set a couple of sisters watching a training video and ran back out to check on the misbehaving Malibu. The elders were stymied, not having any success, leading us all to wonder whether there be other electrical issues at hand.
Finally, I looked at the clip where the jumper cables were attached. Not being familiar with these newer, more sophisticated, computer-controlled cars, I looked more closely at what we thought was the battery. I started moving clips and covers around to discover that we actually were trying to jump start the fuse box.
I saw what was really the battery, another nondescript black brick under the hood, moved the various clips and covers and finally discovered the battery posts. We connected the jumper cables correctly and after a little effort from the truck battery, the Malibu finally jumped to life!
It took about 8 of us (including the sisters) to get this reluctant Malibu to respond.
As I told Shauna back in the office of our Malibu misadventures, I exclaimed to her, "This is what comes of putting a musician and computer geek in charge of a fleet of mission cars."
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Eternal Nature
[This is another thought found among my writings on my computer.]
Very soon after birth we become experts in temporality
There are eternal things, affected by but not destroyed by time:
• each of us - eternal beings
• relationship - there is always a relationship between us – eternal beings
• matter - it is never destroyed, but changed over time. The condition of matter is viewed temporally
• truth - eternal concepts
• space, location - is eternal, changed by temporality
- June 16, 2018
Very soon after birth we become experts in temporality
There are eternal things, affected by but not destroyed by time:
• each of us - eternal beings
• relationship - there is always a relationship between us – eternal beings
• matter - it is never destroyed, but changed over time. The condition of matter is viewed temporally
• truth - eternal concepts
• space, location - is eternal, changed by temporality
- June 16, 2018
Non-conformity vs Individuality
[This was written many years ago and newly discovered among files on my computer. The thinking arose at the time from a reaction to a statement of one of my children, self-declared as a non-conformist.]
I see a non-conformist as being a person who overtly chooses to shape his actions to avoid conforming with society, authority, etc. This is an intentional process and could be a process of avoiding conformity merely for the sake of non-conformity.
I take the view of the individualist. I see an individualist as being a person that is not tied to conformity, but one who does not necessarily avoid it. If I choose to conform, it is a conscious choice and one taken because I see benefit in that action. I could just as well choose to not act in accordance with the norms of society. I feel that a non-conformist could easily become an abberant to society, possibly a hermit, a renegade, one who does not fit into society at all. I have strong feelings about loyalty, responsibility and service that would be very difficult, if not impossible to fulfill without some sort of conformity with society. To be able to support a family, to give service to others and to be loyal to family and friends, I must function within society. I feel that I can accept some conformity in order to be effective in using social interactions and structure to achieve my goals.
I feel that honoring my individualistic intentions is not easy. To radically reject society would be easy, as it would be to completely surrender myself to conformity. I must consciously choose when to conform and when not to. I must also be ready to accept any negative consequences of my choices, whether I consider them mistakes or not. Perhaps what I choose to do may eventually be less economical or productive in accomplishing a particular goal, but if I chose to act contrary to societal norms, I can accept myself even though I may receive ridicule from society.
I see a non-conformist as being a person who overtly chooses to shape his actions to avoid conforming with society, authority, etc. This is an intentional process and could be a process of avoiding conformity merely for the sake of non-conformity.
I take the view of the individualist. I see an individualist as being a person that is not tied to conformity, but one who does not necessarily avoid it. If I choose to conform, it is a conscious choice and one taken because I see benefit in that action. I could just as well choose to not act in accordance with the norms of society. I feel that a non-conformist could easily become an abberant to society, possibly a hermit, a renegade, one who does not fit into society at all. I have strong feelings about loyalty, responsibility and service that would be very difficult, if not impossible to fulfill without some sort of conformity with society. To be able to support a family, to give service to others and to be loyal to family and friends, I must function within society. I feel that I can accept some conformity in order to be effective in using social interactions and structure to achieve my goals.
I feel that honoring my individualistic intentions is not easy. To radically reject society would be easy, as it would be to completely surrender myself to conformity. I must consciously choose when to conform and when not to. I must also be ready to accept any negative consequences of my choices, whether I consider them mistakes or not. Perhaps what I choose to do may eventually be less economical or productive in accomplishing a particular goal, but if I chose to act contrary to societal norms, I can accept myself even though I may receive ridicule from society.
The House Without Doors
[This is a memory, written about 3 years ago during a visit to our daughter's family in New York]
It was probably between 6 and 6:30 AM when I heard the music drift through the house. Perhaps "drift" is not the proper descriptive word. The encouraging hymn was sung with love and vigor - "Shall the Youth of Zion Falter?" I lay awake for a while and then dropped back into sleep. It had not been a particularly good rest up to this point, having begun with laying in bed, listening to the wailing of little Elijah - too tired, yet stubbornly resistant to the much needed sleep. This was the only life he knew - the house without doors.
This morning, the frantic, yet productive currents of activity swirled around me at about the same time as the music of yesterday morning. All were about everywhere looking for that book or article of clothing - a determined whirlwind of little bodies and older children grabbing and assembling what they needed for their journey to join the family activities later in the day in Pennsylvania. Other than the few plaintive cries of little Elijah, the undercurrent of conversation and connections was permeated with a love characteristic of this courageous family. The swirl of activity spoke the one message: It matters not that we live in an unfinished house - the physical circumstances that envelope us is but the current abode where we, as a family love, share, learn and grow together - feeling the hand of God shaping each precious life.
October 2016
It was probably between 6 and 6:30 AM when I heard the music drift through the house. Perhaps "drift" is not the proper descriptive word. The encouraging hymn was sung with love and vigor - "Shall the Youth of Zion Falter?" I lay awake for a while and then dropped back into sleep. It had not been a particularly good rest up to this point, having begun with laying in bed, listening to the wailing of little Elijah - too tired, yet stubbornly resistant to the much needed sleep. This was the only life he knew - the house without doors.
This morning, the frantic, yet productive currents of activity swirled around me at about the same time as the music of yesterday morning. All were about everywhere looking for that book or article of clothing - a determined whirlwind of little bodies and older children grabbing and assembling what they needed for their journey to join the family activities later in the day in Pennsylvania. Other than the few plaintive cries of little Elijah, the undercurrent of conversation and connections was permeated with a love characteristic of this courageous family. The swirl of activity spoke the one message: It matters not that we live in an unfinished house - the physical circumstances that envelope us is but the current abode where we, as a family love, share, learn and grow together - feeling the hand of God shaping each precious life.
October 2016
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