The Sublime Roundabout

As promised, here are the top 10 things I am going to miss about Texas: 1. The people. Texas, for those of you who don't know, is the single most welcoming place I have ever lived. People are warm and genuine and sincere. They accept people as they are and have the biggest hearts of any place I've ever been. It breaks my heart to think of the incredible people I've come to know and love and will have to leave behind. 2. The weather. I know, I complained about it in my last post, but just as mercurial as my attitude is, the weather in Texas is just as changeable. And it's lovely. Just this morning my drive in to work was graced by misty fog banks with beautiful early morning sunrays bursting from behind the loblollies. The sky is wide and high, and the low clouds rolling in off the Gulf are just breathtaking. 3. The environment. Yes, there are mosquitoes. But other than that, it's absolutely gorgeous here. The southeast Texas swampy areas are just so incredibly...

I'm a bit cranky this morning. So I've decided to write the top ten reasons why I'm glad to be leaving Texas: 1. Ted Cruz, Ron Paul, and Rick Perry. I almost feel like I don't need to elaborate on this. I will be happy to get someplace where the folks who represent me nationally and in the state are more closely aligned with rational, coherent, intelligent thought. 2. Mosquitoes. I went to my daughter's open house last night and got five mosquito bites. Five. Indoors. No me gusta. There are mosquitoes all year round here. 3. Hurricanes. Yeah, perhaps this doesn't need any explanation either. This year has been light, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been worrisome. 4. Food. This may sound weird, because southern cooking is typically associated with comfort and satiety. Six years of southern cooking is too much, though. I need a salad. 5. Heat. It starts getting hot here around Valentine's Day. It stays hot until Veteran's Day. You just s...

So, I heard that yesterday out genius Republican Congressional folks passed a measure that would cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (AKA Food Stamps) by $4 Billion. Um, what?!? Because now poor people don't need to eat? Or, there are those who are poor but are not really THAT poor, so they don't deserve to eat? I'm confused. This program is PERFECT. There is nothing wrong with providing people with food. The purpose of providing people with food (as opposed to with just cash) is that they HAVE to use this kind of thing FOR FOOD. Sure, they can then use the rest to buy ammunition to rob banks, build rockets to the moon, and otherwise complete their nefarious desires to wreak mayhem and devastation on the hard-working taxpayers of America. I'm so sick of the silly arguments about SNAP. People who have never been poor should not judge those who are. People who have been poor should show more empathy. And people who claim to be Christian, who claim the ...

It starts with friction Abrasion Striking a flint Against a harder substance Scratching the match head Across a rough, hard place The spark is lit Glowing, hot, and full of potential It spreads quickly Turning that which seemed solid Into plasma Light escapes The flame burns A candle is lit All the darkness In the world Cannot extinguish the Light From one candle But the wind buffets And the flame flickers Gutters And dies down low. But then a twin flame arrives A flame to share the heat To brighten To warm To strengthen To share And the flame glows bright again Brighter, even, than before Because the flame is not alone Sharing the light With the twin flame

We read as a family last night about the Savior's visit to the people near the temple in Bountiful, shortly after his resurrection. It never ceases to bring tears to my eyes, no matter how many times I've read it. The Savior of the world, the Light and the Life, the Great Master of the Universe, humbly taking a child and placing his mighty hands on the tender head and giving blessing... Each of the children received a blessing. One by one. The Master spoke to them, spoke to the Father in their behalf, and tenderly wept as He did so. He was mighty, but He was lowly. And He loved (loves!) the little children. We read in the Book of Mormon Institute Manual the following quote: Church members in Chile had a similar experience when President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) visited them: “One of the greatest expressions of love for children that I have seen occurred when I was serving as a stake president in Chile. President Spencer W. Kimball visited Chile for an area confer...

So I wrote in that last post about Rand and how he's changed. Well, the change was immediate and dramatic. His changed nature is highlighted in the follow-up to the scene with his father. In the follow up, Rand is amongst his friends and they're all marveling at the change that had taken place. Across the room, Rand sees his father. Rand runs to him, his eyes full of fear, regret, and shame for what he's done, and where he's been. He puts his arms around his father and weeps. His father lovingly says that he doesn't blame him for doing what had to be done, and says that everyone stumbles on their way to greatness. It doesn't absolve Rand from the responsibility he bears for the mistakes he's made, but his father does not condemn him for them. What seems to be more important - for everyone - is what they've learned from their past, and how they use that information to guide their future. And I was reminded of John 3:16-17: 16 ¶For God so loved t...

So for the past several months I've been reading this series called The Wheel of Time. It's pretty good - lengthy, and nearly impossible to get through at times (can be boring), but still enjoyable. I'm getting towards the end, and it's really reaching the climax. The main character is a young man by the name of Rand al'Thor, who is raised as a sheep herder/farmer, but later comes to understand his destiny. He is the Dragon Reborn, and as such, must face off against the evil forces of the Dark One. Where I'm at in the series, he's tried to unite all the peoples in his world in an effort to rally the forces against the Last Battle, where he alone must take on the Dark One. It is strongly hinted at, both in various prophecies as well as his own dogged determination, that Rand will not survive the Last Battle, but must die to overcome the Dark One. Throughout the series, there is the symbol of a great weaving wheel, the Wheel of Time. It's a wheel, rather...

Yesterday on my way home, I heard this: http://www.npr.org/2013/09/03/218627288/why-being-wealthy-doesnt-lead-to-more-giving (Transcript follows:) Patricia Greenfield has tracked families in Chiapas, Mexico, over four decades. Many were very poor when she started her study. Slowly, over time, they grew wealthier. Along the way, Greenfield noticed something: As the people she followed grew richer, they became more individualistic. Community ties frayed and weakened. Greenfield expanded her findings to form a more general theory about the effects that wealth has on people: "We become more individualistic, less family and community oriented." In a new study, the UCLA researcher makes the argument that the same thing has happened in the U.S. over a longer period. Greenfield bases her finding on an analysis she conducted of more than 1 million books published in the U.S. between 1800 and 2000. Greenfield used the Google Ngram viewer, a tool that allows rapid...

You know, real life doesn't just suddenly resolve itself. You have to keep working at it. Democracy, marriage, friendship. You can't just say, 'She's my best friend.' That's not a given, it's a process. Viggo Mortensen