Lessons in Venice

Samy and I are here in Venice, Italy as part of our anniversary and it's been a blast so far. Today we took a gondola ride along some canals with a young gandolier named Gianni.

Along our 40 minute ride I realized one of my all time romantic dreams. I spent a special moment with my best friend, who also happens to be the woman of my dreams, and enjoyed each other's company in Venice (it's the closing scene from the movie Italian Job). I realized bow fast time goes by and I realized that all we have IS time, so enjoy it with the ones you love. Samy and I have a long future ahead of us and I'm excited for the ordinary and for the extraordinary moments as well, because that is the stuff that eternity is made up of, and when you understand that, each moment becomes extraordinary.


-Joe G.

Elser Bednar Blows my Mind

Sunday morning here in Taipei, Taiwan and it's a special Stake Conference today with Elder Bednar as the guest speaker. He spoke simply and powerfully about he Restoration and why our church is named The Church of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints. He then focused on the strengthening power of the Atonement. First he shared from Mosiah 3:19 about how through he Atonement we can become clean from our sins and overcome the natural man. Then he read in the same verse how the Atonement is used to make us into Saints, converting us to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then he took us to Mosiah 24:13-16 where the Nephite people are enslaved by the people of Amulon. The Lord, in His infinite wisdom, does not simply take their burdens and suffering away, because from an eternal perspective there are eternal principles to realize through those experiences that can't be realized any other way. So, then what DID the Lord do? Did he just not answer their prayers? No. He (this us the important part) strengthened them.

Sometimes in our prayers we tell the Lord how we want our answers to come or how we want our blessings to be brought to us. We can have the faith to understand that the Lord is going to answer our prayer no matter what, and we can also have the eyes to see when and how that blessing comes without prescribing it'd method of realization.

Elder Bednar then invited us to buy a simple copy of the Book of Mormon and read through it looking for examples of how the Lord strengthens His people in affliction.

The Church is true and the Book is blue
Amen.

-Joe G.

Good ol' C.S. Lewis

"I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the horses the new strength of fear for the last mill so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."
--The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicles of Narnia) C. S. Lewis.

And so it is with God. God is all around us, guiding us along our daily paths.



-Joe G.

Mormonism & Truth

"Mormonism, so-called, embraces every principle pertaining to life and salvation, for time and eternity. No matter who has it. If the infidel has got truth it belongs to 'Mormonism.'. The truth and sound doctrine possessed by the sectarian world, and they have a great deal, all belong to this church. . . .All that is good, lovely, and praiseworthy belongs to this Church and Kingdom. 'Mormonism' includes all truth."
-Brigham Young, discourses p. 3


-Joe G.

Love as an Eternal Principle

Consider this:
If: God=Love
AND
God=Eternal, Everlasting, Infinite

Then:
Love=Eternal, Everlasting, infinite

Often we think the more something is distributed, the smaller it becomes. But if you divide Infinity x-amount of times, even infinite times, it's still infinite. So the more you love, the more your love will reflect the characteristics of something that is truly infinite.


-Joe G.

Truth be Truth

"While the vision may not always be clear, truth is never really threatened nor overcome by light."
--Mervin B. Hogan, Author


-Joe G.

Other Truths

Consider this excerpt from a Chinese text:
"Laozi asked Confucius, "Have you after all attained the Dao (The Way)?" "I've searched for it for twenty-seven years and have not found it," answered Confucius. Laozi said, "Supposing the Dao could be offered up, there is no one who would not offer it to his lord. Supposing the Dao could be presented as a gift, there is no one who would not present it to his relatives. Supposing the Dao could be told to others, there is no one who would not tell it to his brothers. Supposing the Dao could be bequeathed, there is no one who would not bequeath it to his children. That we cannot do so is for this reason alone: unless you have an appropriator within to make it your own, the Dao cannot take up residence in you."

Without defining The Way or The Dao in your eyes, what principles of truth are most sacred to you? Would they diminish in value by sharing them with others, or would you
diminish their value by not sharing them with others?

Challenge: Share it. Share it without fear, for how could there be fear in sharing something held dear by you, and then shared with those whom you also hold dear?


-Joe G.

Music Can Teach

I love music. It has the power to lift you up and fill you with light. I've found that even in good music, however, we can find incorrect or non-productive ideas expressed in the lyrics. Last night I heard one of Usher's songs and one line in the chorus says, "So dance like it's the last night of your life."

I thought about this and I just don't agree. Through the Gospel plan we understand that death doesn't exist, there's only life. When our mortal bodies pass into immortality, we're not dying but becoming more alive than we've ever been.

I understand the thought that if you only had x-amount of time to live, you'd most likely do the things which seemed either the most important, or most enjoyable for you. But, I also feel that if we truly understand the everlasting nature of existence, we will not only be unafraid of death, but we will live more fulfilling lives. This fulfillment will then come from our love and understanding of live, rather than from our fear of not having another chance to do this or that and acting on the fearful impulse of doing it now.

Frustration

Tonight I found myself getting frustrated at a bunch of things that weren't working out the way I'd wanted them to. Then I did the next logical thing you do when you're frustrated...start criticizing the Chinese government. In the mean time Samy just listened to me, then gave me some reassuring words about everything being ok.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. My older sister was this close |--| to being diagnosed with cancer and I'm complaining about having to pay extra fees to get my visa extended for our trip to Taiwan this summer. I gotta get my head on straight cuz my perception of the cards life has dealt me seems to somewhat blurred. I've been blessed with a royal flush and i'm acting like all I've got is a pair of threes.

People, we see what we want to see. Choose to see the good.



-Joe G.

Of Contracts & Covenants

Today Samy and I met with the guy who's gonna sublease our apartment during the summer. While I was drafting up a contract, I found it interesting that we use this form of agreement even if none of us are lawyers or in the least bit familiar with contractual law. I feel the purpose of a contract is to establish a relationship. It establishes the terms upon which the relationship lays, and puts the relationship under obligation, or in other words the contract makes the relationship a real thing.

I think this is an interesting way to look at our covenants with God. I don't think we have covenants to meet some universal prerequisite for blessings, and I don't think God uses covenants so we're obligated to Him. I believe we have covenants for the pure and simple reason to have a clearly defined relationship with Him. Our covenants give us the terms by which we might improve and increase that relationship. Our covenants also line out potential results of our actions.

The basis of earthly contracts are essentially economic. I think it important that we don't translate these economic incentives of keeping our contracts unto the realm of how we keep our eternal covenants.


-Joe G.

Line Upon Line

Today I was in the library working on one of my research papers when I realized the eternal principle of 'line upon line, precept upon precept.'. Whether it's spiritual principles, love for someone else, financial success or a research paper, it would be wise to learn the heavenly virtue of patient-diligence. The combination of these two powerful principles help us to have lasting joy in our journey as we make our way from one line to another line, from one precept to the next. We live in a world of convenience and often desire quick solutions to complex questions. Let us remember that the Lord will show us from A to B first, then lead us line upon line to Z.



-Joe G.

A New Goal-A New Me

I've just decided to make a goal to record at least one piece of spiritual guidance or understanding until the next General Conference

Instead of making a 'to do' list, try making a 'to be' list instead. There is no check mark than can be used to adequately show the true becoming of one thing or another, but it is through our desires to become something that we can find the right things to do. We must have a destination clearly in mind before planning our pit stops along the way.


-Joe G.

There's Prophets in the Land!

Today Samy and I got to watch General Conference today and it was just a great experience. I feel like I've received guidance from God about how I can be a better husband, a better man, a better brother, and a better priesthood man.