Once Again, From the Shadow of the Everlasting Hills . .

General Conference has begun.  I always enjoy general conference.  Gradually I am learning how to listen to get more out of it.  

I have heard some people express the opinion that conference is always just the same old thing, year after year.  I am reminded of something Elder Henry B Eyring said at conference, April conference of 1997 to be specific.

"In our own time, we have been warned with counsel of where to find safety from sin and from sorrow. One of the keys to recognizing those warnings is that they are repeated. For instance, more than once in these general conferences, you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness and sometimes even a third. Each of us who has listened has heard President Kimball give counsel on the importance of a mother in the home and then heard President Benson quote him, and we have heard President Hinckley quote them both. The Apostle Paul wrote that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Cor. 13:1). One of the ways we may know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of witnesses, authorized witnesses, has been invoked. When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude to live in such a blessed time."

Perhaps the repetition ought to be considered as much a flag of something significant being taught, as much so as when Mormon so often says, "And thus we see . . ." and perk up and listen a little bit better.  I have heard it sad that repetition is the soul of learning and I suppose in certain instances that is true.  For myself, I figure if the Lord thinks its worth saying enough that He has it repeated during the same conference or from conference to conference that its probably worth hearing and responding to. Its not always for the new guy, who has not heard it before, or for others who are more in need of whatever is being repeated.

Elder Jeffrey R Holland, speaking to a group of religious educators at a symposium held at BYU in August 2009 spoke of something Elder Boyd K Packer often did when listening to a presentation.

"President Boyd K. Packer, himself a master teacher and long-time administrator in the Church Educational System, has a question he often asks when we have made a presentation or given some sort of exhortation to one another in the Twelve. He looks up as if to say, “Are you through?” And then says to the speaker (and, by implication, to the rest of the group), “Therefore, what?”

“Therefore, what?” I think that is what the Savior answered day in and day out as an inseparable element of His teaching and preaching. I’ve tried to suggest that. These sermons and exhortations were to no avail if the actual lives of His disciples did not change."  

I have learned that one of the keys to receiving guidance and direction from the Lord is to follow the guidance and direction He has already given. A key to receiving revelation is to act on the revelation we have already received.  The Lord is unlikely to give new information if we have done nothing with the information He has already given us.  So as we listen to conference and hear a message that seems familiar because we've heard it before, maybe we should ask ourselves, "Therefore, what?"  What should we do with that piece of information?  How should we change in response to what we have learned?    It was Alma, as he was teaching Zeezrom, who said, "And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him." (Alma 12:9)

Plan Your Work and then Work Your Plan

Elder L Tom Perry passed away on May 30, 2015, just after April conference.  Elder Boyd K Packer passed away on July 3, 2015. Yesterday, September 22, 2015, Elder Richard G Scott passed away.  Over the years there have been a number of times when two apostles have passed away between conferences but this is the first time I can remember there ever being three vacancies among the apostles as we approach conference. Its unprecedented, at least in my life time. Not since 1906 have there been three vacancies at once. So there have been lots of news articles about each of these apostles and, in the social media, there has been lots of comment about who the people called to fill the vacancies might be, or ought to be.

There has been a lot of noise about how there needs to be more diversity in the quorum. Someone who isn't a white, north american (read "Utah insider"). Someone of foreign origin, like African, Latin American, or Asian descent. After all, those nationalities are very well represented among the church membership. They should therefore be better represented among the highest leadership. Or there needs to be someone called who is more "progressive", which is a political euphemism for less conservative, more "left-leaning", more liberal.  Someone with a more open mind toward gays, or women and the priesthood, or some other favorite cause.

It makes me sad, I think.  When it comes right down to it, the people that make such comments pit their own judgement against God's and find Him lacking.  Of course whoever is called will be an "insider", someone already well experienced in their church background. The Lord prepares the people that fill these positions as a general rule. I thought the Lord had departed quite from the norm several years ago when He called Elder Russell M Nelson, who was a practicing physician at the time.  Sure, he'd had plenty of church experience but he wasn't currently in a general authority position at the time of his call.  The same happened with Elder Dallin H Oaks. He was a Utah Supreme Court Justice at the time of his call.  David A Bednar had just recently been released as president of BYU-Idaho.  Elder Uchtdorft was an airline executive.  I'm not sure any of those were "insiders".  But they all had extensive background and experience in their church callings.  I guess my thought is that this is the Lord's church and He will call whomever He wants.  Whoever he calls quite possibly could end up being president of the church in 30 or 35 years.  Elder Russel M Nelson was called 30 years ago at the same time as Elder Oaks but set apart first because Elder Oaks had to clear his case load before he could leave the bench.  Now Elder Nelson stands next in line for the presidency, there because of a small detail that seemed inconsequential at the time he began his service as an apostle.

People who put up all these comments about what qualifications the people called ought to have just don't get it.  Jacob said it well, "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." (Jacob 4:10)  God has a plan and He's working the plan.  And it will unfold as He wants regardless of how we mortals, with our limited perspective, think it should happen.  I somehow doubt that the Lord is all that interested in a progressive agenda or cause.  He is more interested in following the plan that was determined and laid out before the world was ever created.

Me? I'm more curious as to whether or not they'll fill all three positions at conference in two weeks.  But then again, this didn't catch the Lord by surprise so there's no reason why they shouldn't fill all three.  Unless that's not in the plan.

Some Thoughts on the Sabbath

In the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Morgan Freeman plays a character named Azeem, a Muslim from the middle-east who has escaped from prison with Robin of  Loxley and traveled to England. Robin had been in the middle-east, fighting in the 12th century crusades. In England a young girl asks Azeem if God had painted him. Azeem replies, "For certain."  She asked why.  Azeem responded that Allah loves wondrous varieties.  I've always liked that little exchange - its so indicative of the truth of God's creations. He could have made the earth plain and simple, utilitarian and purely functional, no more than just enough to sustain life while his children lived out their lives.  But instead He created a place of incredible beauty, marvelous variety and amazing diversity, filled with all kinds of color, form and type.  

There isn't just green.  There are a thousand different shades and hues of green.

And He made the eye so that it could take in the incredible beauty of the world He placed us in.  Or at least a better beginning at it than anything man has ever created.  Pictures just don't do the world justice.

 Sometimes as I go about my life, doing the myriad little chores and tasks that make up life, the beauty of the world will suddenly intrude upon my consciousnesses and I'll find myself drawn up short, amazed by the resplendent grace in the scenery around me.

 I love the look, feel, and smell of the mountains, the trees, grasses, shrubs, and bushes, even the weeds have a beauty of their own that adds to the glorious whole.

 Clouds fill the skies in incredible variety, adding to the wonder stretched out below them.

 Rocks, streams, hills, plateaus, mountains.

 Rivers that dig out canyons.

Rain falling in the distance, adding their own sound and smell to the glorious vision of the earth stretched out all around.

 Fountains of water, whether small, trickling out of the rocks,

 Or larger, cascading down a mountain side, carving out a stream.

It is all a wonder to me.  And that's just the earth itself and vegetation growing on it, to say nothing of the animals He placed upon the earth. It is yet another bit of evidence to me of the love of the Lord for us.  That He made this place where we could come, but not only made it but made it a place of such incredible beauty and wonder.  Every little detail working together to renew and sustain itself since the time of creation until now, resilient and replenishing, with such incredible power to recover and heal itself of the thoughtless abuse mankind so often heaps upon the world.

The Lord said, "And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me." (Moses 6:63)  That surely is true - the hand of the Lord is evident in a host of glorious ways in all the beauty of the earth.  The scriptures tell us that our first parents were cast out of paradise and into the world, to fend for themselves.  The expulsion from paradise must be in reference to the fact that we now have to work to get the earth to give up her bounty because the world is still such a paradise to see and experience.  So pleasing and gentle on the eye, on all the senses. This is an incredible world the Lord has placed us in. I can see why the prophet exclaimed, "Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth".

A Temple Trip

For several weeks we had it on the calendar to go to the temple in Minneapolis.  Then, the first time it came up Brombeere wasn't feeling very well so we decided to move it back. To yesterday, which at the time was the next open weekend.  So yesterday came, we got up bright and early and headed for Minneapolis, a drive of several hours. Alas, when we got there we found it was closed.  Victims of our own poor planning again.  With this temple you're supposed to call ahead and get your name on the list for the session you want to attend.  We forgot to do that but were hoping we'd still be able to get it.  However, if we had called ahead like you're supposed to we would have discovered that the whole building was closed for cleaning.  We just didn't check.  

So we looked at the grounds and flowers, which are always nice.

Then we decided that since we were in town we might as well find something to do rather than just turn around and go home.  A few minutes on the cell phone app and we came up with something.

We decided to go down town and see the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Located almost right in the city center, its a green space that includes a number of sculptures along with some seasonal gardens.  We saw the nautilus.

The Cross and Rectangles.

The molecule.

And the arbor walk.  That was nice.  It had a whole bunch of plants and flowering bushes for the whole length of it

If you look close you can see bees all over these flowers.  Big ones.

We saw the spoon bridge and cherry.  Water runs out of the top of the cherry and  flows over the sides, down onto the spoon.

I missed the name of this one.  Everything is suspended from the tripod and gently swings.

I don't remember what this one was called either but it was sure weird lookng.

I'm not sure this was a sculpture as much as just a walking bridge into the gardens.  Downtown Minneapolis has a network of walking bridges that run from building to building at the second floor level.  You can actually go quite a ways without ever going outside into the weather.

They also had a little conservatory with plants growing inside of it.  Different plants, depending on the time of the year.

There was also a big fish sculpture inside the conservatory.

The park is eleven acres and the sculptures are widely scattered so it didn't take a real long time to see most of it. Then we decided it was time to leave the downtown area and head out.

There was also a snowman we saw. Oh, wait.  This wasn't part of the sculpture garden. This was up in Maplewood, on highway 36 as we were heading back to the area of the temple to find a place to eat.

And we found a place.  We had eaten at the Machine Shed in Oakpark several years ago, when it was brand new.  At the time it was pretty much the only thing in the neighborhood but now there's all kinds of development around it.  

So we enjoyed a quiet, very yummy meal and then headed back home.

Not the day in the temple we had hoped for but still a very restful, peaceful afternoon in the city.  A good time together, even if not doing what we had originally planned.  And, yes, we are going to get batter about checking before we go.

Three, Two, One!

A couple of years ago we had three of our kids' families all expecting at the same time. The grandbaby count took a jump after that. Well, guess what! It's happened again! When they're done the count will be at twelve! Exciting!

Moosebeere's wife is first - she's due in October. This will be their third child.  This could be exciting because they just moved and now live over a hundred miles from her doctor. The plan is to go stay with family that are much closer when the time gets closer. Let's hope the kid cooperates and doesn't come early.  That could get real exciting.

The next is Erdbeere. She's due in January. This will be their second child.  The plan again is to not tell anyone the gender ahead of time. Are they old fashion and want to wait until the kid's born to find out? You know, like everybody used to always do? No, they just enjoy keeping everyone in suspense. I called it correctly last time - think I can do it again? I'm guessing a girl this time.

 

And the last one is Schwarzbeere's wife. She's due in February. This will be their first child.  Unlike Erdbeere, they are excited to tell the world what they're getting. They're having a gender revealing party here in a few weeks, after they find out. They don't know today - haven't found out yet. 

So, yeah! Three, two, and one.  I'm officially excited again. Grandbabies are so fine!

Homegrown Tomatoes

There ain't nothing in the world that I like better
than bacon and lettuce and homegrown tomatoes.
Up in the morning, out in the garden, get you a ripe one, don't pick a hard one.
Plant 'em in the spring, eat 'em in the summer. All winter without 'em is a culinary bummer.
I forget all about the sweating and the digging every time I go out and pick me a big one.
Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can't buy and that's true love and homegrown tomatoes.

You can go out to eat and that's for sure, but there's nothing a homegrown tomato won't cure.
Put 'em in a salad, put 'em in a stew, you can make your own, very own tomato juice.
You can eat 'em with eggs, eat 'em with gravy, You can eat 'em with beans, pinto or navy.
Put 'em on the side, put 'em in the middle, homegrown tomatoes on a hot cake griddle.
Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can't buy and that's true love and homegrown tomatoes.

If I was to change this life I lead, you could call me Johnny Tomatoseed.
'Cause I know what this country needs is homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see.
When I die, don't bury me in a box in a cold dark cemetery.
Out in the garden would be much better 'cause I could be pushing up homegrown tomatoes.
Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can't buy and that's true love and homegrown tomatoes,
homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can't buy and that's true love and homegrown tomatoes.

I Like to Ride my Bicycle, I Like to Ride my Bike . . .

After years and years of not having been on a bike I finally got back on one this summer and have been riding regularly ever since.  I have tried to get out for a ride at least two or three times a week. I think the last time I rode with any regularity was back when I was in college.  I would have Brombeere haul me and my bike up to campus in the morning.  Then I would go to my classes, doing as much homework between classes as I could.  Then, after my last class of the day, I would ride home.  It was always a downhill ride since the campus was up on the bench and our house was down off the foothill a mile or two.  Then we graduated, moved to California, got real tight in our budget and ended up selling our bikes.  I really haven't ridden much since then.

Me and Marvin

So this summer, as my health had improved to the point that I could, I began borrowing Schwarzbeere's bike and riding.  After a few weeks, and after having decided this was something I could sustain, I found a used bike that was in real good condition and at a price I could afford and bought it.  It is a highly customized bike.  The guy I bought it from works at the bike shop I always go to.  He told me he had upgraded nearly everything on it.  It is only a 14 speed but it still does just fine for me.  It even has a custom paint job - I don't even know what brand of bike it is.  I can't find anywhere on it that says what kind it is.  But it has the word "Marvin" painted on it so that's what I call it.  I bought a few things to make some changes to the seat and pedals and had Stachelbeere help me put it all on.  When we were done he said everything we had done was a downgrade, which was true.  But I'm not what you'd call a serious biker, out to go on the hundred mile rides.  I just want to tool around town getting some exercise and enjoying the scenery.

The community I live is very bike friendly and has a real nice system or bike trails all over the place around and through it.  A lot of the roads around town have bike lanes and nearly every corner has a ramp so you can ride on the sidewalk when the traffic is too heavy to be in the street. There is an official biking trail system that has nearly 30 miles of trails mapped and marked.  I suppose its not really fair to call it a bike trail system because its for walking, jogging, hiking, rollerblading, rollerskating, and biking.  In the winter I've seen cross country skiers on it. Much of it is designated areas of the city streets, with painted markings on the road and signs along the way to help you know where the path goes.  Some of it is asphalt trails.  And much of it is crushed granite pathway. I find that a little harder to ride on and find myself going a little slower but the prettiest portions of the trail are the crushed granite portions.

Brombeere is a school teacher and it was right at the end of the school year when I began riding.  That is her busiest time of year and things get pretty intense for her as she brings the school year to a close, what with all the year-end activities they do and with grades to compile and record, budget to plan and her classroom to close up for the summer.  But as soon as all that was over and the school year ended she began to go with me on rides. That was nice.  She's in better shape than me, too.  So I had spent the first few weeks building up how far I could go but when she started riding with me she had no trouble at all hoping right into it right at what the pace that had taken me weeks to work up to.  That was nice, too.  Its nice to have someone to ride with.

 

I think one of my favorite parts of the trail system to ride on is the portion that goes over by the river that runs through town.  Its quiet and I occasionally see wildlife.  To the point that I have begun taking my camera with me on rides pretty often.  I have yet to get any good pictures of anything - they hear me coming and usually run off before I can get stopped and get a picture. But I've seen deer, turkey and a host of smaller vermin.  The other day when I was out it seemed like every chipmunk and ground squirrel in the county was also out. That's also something that I usually only see on the granite trails.  Not so much in town on the streets.  Some of the trails go through areas that are fairly remote, for the city anyway, and you tend to see the wildlife more. There is, however, one small portion of the trail that goes behind a senior residence hall and the residents come out and feed the ducks since its on the river and there are plenty of ducks there.  The ducks know the drill and hang out nearby all the time.

At one point I even entered in a bike-a-thon hosted by one of the local youth clubs.  They had several length rides to choose from. There was a 62 mile course, a 30 mile course, a 13 mile course and the "family ride", which was just four miles.  That's the one I rode in.  But I rode my bike six miles to get to the starting line. I usually don't ride with a helmet - I have yet to find one I could stand to have on me.  Trust me, I've been looking.  Since you had to have a helmet to be in the ride I borrowed Brombeere's and it worked okay enough for the day.  And even though they gave everybody that participated a shirt I didn't wear it in the ride.  But it was still fun.  Lots of families and little kids. I was nearly the last one to start - there were so many little kids in the pack at the starting line that I held back, not wanting to get in anyone's way.  By the time I got back to the finish line the pack had spread out quite a bit and I had worked my way up to nearly the middle.  That was fine with me, it wasn't a competition. It was a fun ride. 

Sometimes when I'm out riding my route takes me across train tracks.  Most of the railroad crossings I run into very seldom have any trains on them.  Two, however, usually do.  In the center of our fair community is a train yard, pretty much cutting the town in half.  There are a number of streets that have either an underpass or an overpass so that traffic doesn't get hung up by trains but those involve hills, going either up or down over or under the tracks. The two crossings immediately on the east and west ends of the train yard have no bridges over or under them.  I'm enough of a wimp that I try to avoid those but for those two crossings that is unavoidable.  Well, if you're going to avoid the underpasses, anyway.  But train traffic in our part of the state in recent years has significantly increased and because the trains are pretty much not subject to local jurisdiction, they block the crossings frequently and do it at their own will and pleasure.  Enough so that in some communities it has become a significant problem that the law enforcement and legal communities are still hashing out.  The trains leaving the train yard usually aren't so bad, they're leaving and at the most will block a crossing without stopping, gradually picking up speed as they go.  They block the crossing for only as long as it takes the train to go by.  Its the trains coming into the yard that can sit across the crossing for what seems like forever.  Its like they have to make room as the train comes in so it will come in, stop, back up a little ways, stop, go forward again, stop again and so on for 20 - 30 minutes or more.  There was one day where if the train had pulled forward another 40 or 50 yards I could have gotten around.  But it didn't.  That same day my route took me across a crossing twice, once right at the edge of the train yard and again, about a mile to the west, on the other side of the river.  Sure enough, I caught a train at both crossings.  At the one crossing I go through to get to the downtown area if I get impatient I can just go around by going to an underpass that's a block over and not to much of an incline.  At the other crossing, however, to go around involves riding a mile or two.  I have yet to attempt that way.  We'll see what happens some day when I finally do.

Another 40 or 50 yards and I could have gotten by.

School has started up again and Brombeere can't go out as often any more.  So we both go when she can and I go without her when she can't.  I enjoy being out, even if the day is hot and humid.  That just means I come back all sweaty and hot. Its nicer when the days are a little cooler.  Its nice when there isn't much wind. Once or twice I've been caught in the rain because I didn't make it "back to the barn" quite fast enough. Sometimes I've been able to hear the thunder as the storm is approaching. But in any case, its still a lot of fun. My rides usually are running at between nine to twelve miles.  My cruising speed is usually between eight to ten miles an hour. There's a bike club here in town that bills itself as easy paced, more for the social than physical enjoyment.  They have monthly rides of about 13 miles where they go see various things around town on little tours they put together.  They also have dessert rides where they meet, go on a short three mile or so ride and then come back to the starting place for a dessert at a local shop.  They also have pot-luck rides where they meet at a pre-designated place, ride a few miles to a nearby park and have a pot-luck dinner and then ride back to where they started. Everybody brings something they can carry on a bike. Not too ambitious, just enough to be fun. They're active during the summer and then shut down for the winter. I follow their blog and know their schedule but Brombeere hasn't been able to go this summer and I'm too much of an introvert to go alone.  But maybe next summer.

In addition to the wildlife, one of the things I like about being out on my bike are the smells I often pass. Often you can smell freshly cut grass, or somebody's cookout, some times you can smell the propane they're using, sometimes the charcoal, and sometimes you can smell what they're cooking.  Sometimes you can smell the trees (when I'm on the trails that go through the wooded areas), or other vegetation back in on the wooded trails, sometimes, especially lately, people's fireplace fires on the days that are a little cooler. And sometimes when there's a storm in the air you can faintly smell the coming rain.  Its a good workout for me.  And its so very nice to be out on my bike.  I'm going to miss it when the weather gets to where I can't go out any more.