The Sublime Roundabout

According to the site tracker, I'm the only one who still reads/views this blog. Interesting. Which means I could write just about anything and no one would care. ;) Hmm... Perhaps this is just too public of a forum to air grievances. Not that I really have any, anyway. I did read an interesting article on NPR yesterday: http://www.npr.org/2012/11/28/166022894/mormonism-a-scrutinized-yet-evolving-faith# I thought it was insightful. I also think it's interesting to consider that my own faith is evolving. Like Sister Brooks points out in the article, there are main, core beliefs that people hold to, and then there are the satellite beliefs that we don't know much about but are nonetheless interesting and have some gravitational pull. Since the beliefs are relatively new, both personally and as a set of religious dogma, the orbits of these satellites are erratic, more like a comet than a planet in its circular orbit. Few things in life are perfect. Even things that we

Rain clouds gather And cover the sky In a steel gray curtain That blocks out the light The light continues to shine And it is warm and bright But here below the land is dark In the absence of the light People walk into the wind Pulling their coats around them tight The slight misty rain falls Chilling faces, noses, bones The uniformly dreary heavens Do not impart any warmth And the earth free of shadow Awaits the return of the sun

So, I'm a planner. Seriously. I am a professional planner. I plan things - specifically, I plan the direction the city I live in and work for is going to go. This means a couple of things. First off, it means that I have a vision for the community. This vision is informed by many different things, including by my professional education and training, by experiences both personally and gleaned from others, by state and federal laws, and by what has happened here in the past. The most important aspect of this vision, however, is input from the community I am supposed to represent. If my vision is just that of myself, in a dictatorial kind of way, imposed without thought or regard to the needs, wants, and desires of those I serve, not only is the vision inaccurate, but it is doomed to failure - like a plane without wings, it will never get off the ground. As it says in Proverbs, where there is no vision, the people perish. The next most important thing, though, is communication.

Now that we've had a couple of weeks separation from the election, I think it's interesting to note a couple of statistics: The most impressive stat is that for the first time since FDR a Democrat has won a second term with a majority of the popular vote. This is interesting because it shows that Mr. Obama clearly appears to be doing some things - many things, really - correctly. In what amounts to the world's biggest popularity contest, Mr. Obama appealed to the most people.Still, the popular vote was much closer than the electoral college would make it appear to be. Another aspect of the turnout, and related to the above, is the fact that Mr. Obama was able to win such incredible percentages of young (18-29 years old), black, Hispanic, and female votes. This seems to be an indication of two things: first, that Mr. Obama appealed to these folks for real and substantive reasons; and second, that the Grand Old Party has singularly failed to represent these folks. The Rep

Auditory beams Stream from between parted lips Shining from the soul

There on the hill she waves The banner of the land of the free The home of the brave That which so proudly we hailed With the morning's first gleam Before our eyes floats unveiled Eyes undimmed by tears Find in her the hope of tomorrow And relief from their fears We gather under her wings To pray, to debate, and to pledge To raise the hymns a patriot sings We love the red, white and blue Forever may she wave! And to her forever let us be true

... according to one man in Texas. I understand the feeling of despondency. I've felt disenfranchised in my political beliefs a lot recently. Actually, this extends beyond my time in neo-conservative Texas, and really goes back to my time in Utah. Utah is the reddest of red states. And among the counties in Utah that are red, none is redder than Utah County. Something along the lines of 94% of the population are registered and dyed in wool Republicans. That's insane. How can you have a robust debate over issues where so many of the population are in agreement? The short answer is, you can't. Discussions I engaged in out West generally took two stripes: the shouting matches and the head shakers. Sometimes both, and usually one evolved into the other over time. Because most of my social circle disagreed a lot with me about many things, these discussions were fairly predictable. You'd think I'd be able to stay away from them... Alas, like a moth to the flame... S