Tired Road Warrior

I occasionally witness or hear of primary and junior-sunday-school lesson horror stories.  Where very young Mormon children are subjected, to what I consider to be, very outrageous discussions of inappropriate topics.  Two notables examples:

• A lengthy and bleak discussion of the tribulations and horrors of the Last Days.
• A very descriptive lesson on the gory nature of the crucifixion of Christ, involving such details as driving nails in the hands and feet.

Kids need to be kids.  Growing up needs to be fun.  There is plenty of time to learn the details of the crucifixion and of the Last Days.  And I’m not sure that studying  the latter is ever necessary.  Learning to be good stewards of the Earth might be a better more positive subject.

The following was written in a review by Mary Pols of the book Devotion by Dani Shapiro:

“Devotion does not provide a template for finding your personal Jesus (or whoever).  It’s a history of Shapiro’s quest to explore her own faithlessness.  She grew up in an Orthodox household but cast aside her Hebrew religious study as a teenager.  As an adult, her sense of God was that if he existed, he was not a micromanager.  (”As far as I knew, he had never gotten me a parking space.”)  She wants to believe in something but doesn’t know what.”

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I found the following short bio in the book “Strength is What Remains” by Tracy Kidder.  The book is about a Burundian refugee’s horrific experiences in his homeland and in New York.  While the story of Deo is very inspirational, it is the life of one of side characters that really haunts me:

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The following is an excerpt from an article by Peggy Fletcher Stack which originally was published in the SLTrib on Feb 13th, 2009:

(Daniel) “Fairbanks (associate dean at UVU in Orem) believes with most biologists that evolution is the unifying theory in the field. . . .

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As you drive into Monticello, Utah, which I do frequently, there is one solitary stop light.  In fact, it is the only stop light in San Juan County.  A few years ago, if you’d have turned toward the east, you’d have been on US 666 headed for Colorado and then New Mexico (the Four Corners areas).  You’d first be crossing pinto bean country and then into the Navajo Nation.

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I love to play Scrabble, but I’m not very good.  My friends and work colleagues routinely outplay me.  But I play on. 

In Scrabble, there are only a few “q” words that don’t require the vowel “u”.  One of those is “qat”.  Until recently, I had only a faint idea about its meaning or significance.

That all changed when I read a short article in a recent NG.  As it turns out, qat is a drug (stimulant) that is routinely used in Yemen and Africa’s Horn, but is illegal in the US and Canada.  In other parts of the western world (including the UK), however, it is very much legal.

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In response to your speech of October 13, 2009, at BYU-Idaho, I will not be joining you in the ”march” against Prop 8 proponents.  I realize that “there is a battle underway,” but I am on the other side, along with the likes of Harry Reid, Marie Osmond, and Steve Young’s wife.  For me this is a civil rights issue and not a religious one.  And I agree with Harry Reid, there must be more important ways for my church to spend its time and money.

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About the only official (or near official) Mormon publication I enjoy reading these days is BYU/Magazine.  The recent edition (Fall 2009) is an excellent case in point.  I really enjoyed the Commentary “Loving Our Neighbor” by Barbara Culatta, a BYU professor of communication disorders.  Ms Culatta is a convert to the Church from Catholicism, and has a brother who is a priest.  Her essay was a condensed version of a devotional address given in February.  After reading the one-page sermonette in BYU/Magazine, I decided to find the whole text.

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I feel strongly that members of the human race are co-creators of the Earth with God.  That we will be held accountable for the impact we have on this planet.  The creation was not a static event, but very much a dynamic event.  The earth is evolving even as I write.

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At one of the 2009 SLC Sunstone workshops, a Weber State Professor — Michael J. Stevens — taught a short course in management.  He described 4 types of managers ranging from disrespectful to respectful, and dominant to submissive:

Q1:  Imposer — makes authoritarian decisions

Q2:  Ignorer — avoids or postpones decisions

Q3:  Ingratiator — wants everyone to be “one happy family”

Q4:  Integrator — promotes self-direction in others

With the ideal being Q4. 

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