I've said it before, but SYSK is my go-to podcast. When I hear that cheesy elevator swing music, I feel like my ears have come home. I love Josh and Chuck and how they approach the wide variety of topics, and do a great job of being entertaining and looking at both sides of the coin. This podcast about how to gather valuable research as a responsible adult in today's age. Sound boring? Maybe, but it is very valid for us as educated individuals looking for truth in a swamp of half truths and strong wills. Science does not prove any religion. Science does not make you a republican or a democrat. Anyone can find someone and some article to agree with them. Educated adults are colanders who sift through the sources of their information to get the good stuff. You're not a sponge who's supposed to soak up all information until you're saturated with "well researched opinions." These research tips from my buddies Josh and Chuck help us sort through the muck to get to what science is actually saying and what we can safely deduce from it.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when evaluating the weight and value of a study or one of those clickbait articles you see as you scroll through your social media feeds.
Who / what was studied in this experiment? I think the most staggering nugget of information from the podcast was that most studies (80% according to a 2010 survey) used what is referred to as WEIRD test subjects. WEIRD stands for those who are Western-Educated from Industrialized, Rich and Democratic countries. What's worse is this demographic makes up only 12% of the world's population! That spells bad news bears when it comes to statistics. How many of our scientific proof is only indicating truth for 12% of the world? How broad of a stroke is the study painting from that information? It's not only misleading, it comes from a deep crevice of privilege perpetuating ignorance in those of us born lucky.
How large is the sample size? Depending on what you're trying to prove, but the vast majority of studies done should be chalked up as "preliminary studies" for how small their sample size is. 12 people? nope, can't use those numbers. That doesn't carry any further than information about those 12 people.
Is it repeatable? More importantly, has it been repeated?Often you will read about a study that shows such and such correlation. That scientist will get roses thrown at her feet and more plaques for her wall, but the scientist who retests it to confirm in a study independent of the first gets no funding and no glamour shots. With such a fast paced technology and engineering driven world, we want answers immediately. We pay extremely intelligent people to get us answers fast. Unfortunately, science is not fast. Clinical studies and lab research take years and years to come to a conclusion that can hold water. Without repeated testing, there is a 5% chance that any study will show a correlation just due to random chance. The media has a tendency to take and run with studies, and that 5% is a margin I am not comfortable with.
Who is funding this study? Confirmation bias is a real thing, and if you have a multi-billion dollar company signing your checks, you have a bit of pressure to give complimentary results. Scientists will through out results and call them "outliers," but science is not something you can treat like a buffet. You have to take those nasty kalamata olives of test results in your salad whether it leaves a bad taste in your mouth or not.
I worked as a research assistant in college, and we had a course all about how to read scientific articles from academic journals. For the most part, you only read the abstract, sometimes the intro, and the conclusion to get an idea of what is in the journal. You only look further at the rest of the chicken scratch if you're trying to repeat the study or if you want to tear it apart. My professor gave me this snarky handout to help interpret the scientific muck:
And admittedly, when it came time for me to write my own academic paper on my research, I followed some of these same guidelines. I can't tell you how many drafts I re-wrote due to my supervisor telling me to spice it up with bigger words to prove my intelligence--whether I was saying anything or not.
There are major issues with how scientific research is funded and performed today. For example, if your study is non-conclusive or if you didn't get the results you wanted, then it is really difficult to publish. This leaves hundreds of other scientists trying to scramble to do the same thing as you, but coming up with the same result. This type of competitiveness is wasting crucial, much-needed academic money and the time of some brilliant scientists around the world.
My good friend John Oliver also has the hard and fast (and a wee bit explicit) version of what Josh and Chuck have to say too.
Please please listen to this podcast! It's great. If you can eat this stuff up, SYSK has another episode about The Scientific Method that acts as a good companion to this one.
In the past few weeks, terrible tragedies have occurred. Big heartbreaks that have reminded me what a charmed life I live most of the time. My neighbors lost their 5 week old baby, a friend from back home died in a car accident, and some dear friends of ours lost their baby to cancer. Death seems to be a frequent companion as of late. But through many tears and heartfelt prayers, light continues to shine through. I have been strongly impressed with the spirits of the mourning families. Their testimonies of the Gospel of Christ have edified so many, and I have learned much from their strength and examples of faith.
When I heard the news of the deaths of these beautiful sons of God, my heart ached for the families and loved ones. All I saw was darkness. Why would this happen to such good people? How will they ever stop crying over their loss? I saw it as a harsh defeat, undeserved. All I could imagine was the deep sorrow these families are trudging through. But boy was I proven wrong. They have been blessed with the knowledge of the Gospel. Armed with those sacred truths, they understand this isn't the end. They will see their loved ones again. These families know where their sons, brothers, and friends have gone, and best of all, who they're with. Their perspective is truly beautiful, and that's because they see the Gospel clearly and radiantly. And it is splendid. Dwelling on the sadness of the circumstances distracts us from the joy knowing these sons are with their loving Heavenly Father. We may miss them here on earth, but it is but a moment in the grand scheme of things. These boys are home.
One speaker at my friend Dalton's funeral said, "His life was not cut short. He touched the spirits he was intended to and Heavenly Father called him home when his work here was finished." My friend, with a heart for God's work, perfectly described as "a big, excited man" by a mission companion, left when he was meant to. God does not make mistakes. Echoing this sentiment, my friend who lost her ten month old baby said "We know that Leland had already achieved what he needed to here on earth and has victoriously conquered this earth life and goes before us, surrounding us, ready to bless us with the presence of his spirit and help us in our journeys." It was a victory that he was no longer in pain and he left us all blessed for knowing him. Who knew someone so small could make such an impact on a community. I am grateful for knowing these families will see their loved ones again soon. Their testimonies stand strong and tall in the fog of sorrow. I know these sweet sons of God are in the arms of their Heavenly Father, and I know there's a reason they were called home sooner than the rest of us. I know families are eternal and divine, and I draw great comfort knowing these families knew it too. I know "that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (D&C122:7), even though we don't always understand right now. In a recent BYUI devotional, Darryl Foutz said, "because it is our Father's plan—who is perfect—then by some deductive reasoning this is a perfect test, designed specifically for you and for me." This is His perfect plan, and he has given us every reason to trust in it.
These tragedies weren't caused by God, but rather allowed for a purpose that is far grander than we can foresee right now. Perhaps the trials we face today aren't necessarily for us. Maybe it's to teach us empathy, or to know how to help others when we see them experience tragedies. These faithful families know their strength comes from above, and they refuse to "stop singing the song of redeeming love." (Alma 5:26)
As much as I want to take the pain from these families, I know I can't imagine what they're going through. But I am familiar with the one who can. Christ has gone to the depths of sorrow, and through His Atonement and His love can we be made whole again. I draw great comfort knowing the Savior has the deepest empathy for each spirit grieving. Christ is there to grant the strength we need. And to remind us where the light gets in. Always always.
So I love podcasts, and every once in a while I listen to one that I want to blast from the rooftops for all to hear. Sometimes because it made me guffaw awkwardly around my co-workers in the lab, or because it is a fantastic story or because it made me rethink my worldview. One particular podcast this week applies to the latter.
It's from an NPR station called Code Switch. This is a relatively recent podcast which tackles issues of race and culture in modern society, hosted by people of color who interview other people of color. They don't point fingers, only explain their experiences and issues that white people like me are slow to recognize. They don't make me feel bad for being white, but rather attempt to point out issues I would never think of because I've never be persecuted for the color of my skin. I want to take a minute to express why I appreciate podcasts of this nature.
I grew up in a small town in Eastern Washington. Not the so-green-you-feel-like-you-just-walked-into-Oz'-Emerald-City part, not the desert-goodness-gracious-so-many-wheat-fields part, but the part with 8 swimmable lakes around within a quick drive, the pull over to the side of the road and hike up a mountain to camp out, the part where you lose cell reception 15 minutes out of town part. It was beautiful and rural and often pretty redneck. My hometown is quirky. Its residents have this habit of a.) growing up there and never leaving and b.) growing up there, getting out, and inevitably moving back. It's in the bylines of the city handbook that growing up in Newport makes you a boomerang to end up there. I've gone through all the ebbs and flows of love and hate with this place, and have settled somewhere closer to the "love" side of the spectrum. But growing up in this podunk town gave me a myopic view of the world. I will be the first to admit. We had few people of color, so most of us didn't have a whole lot of interaction with people who looked different than us.
Fortunately, I have the kind of people in my life who challenge my privileged view of the world. I have people who have taught me to check my privilege. Yeah, I don't care if you're sick of hearing this. but really, we need to check our privilege and be an advocate for other people who breathe the same air we do.
I strive to be well-informed and to form personal opinions using information from a variety of sources. However, I will be the first to admit that I am woefully ignorant when it comes to issues of racism and bigotry. I have lived in rural, white Washington my whole life, and now I live in slightly more POC-populated, but still largely white Utah. I know racism is bad, but I don't always have the acute perception to recognize it. I don't have any personal experience to connect me to what happens in Ferguson. No, I can't judge that because I have not lived there, and I do not understand what it's like. I have not had to go head-to-head with issues of race. Therefore, I am grateful for outlets like NPR's Code Switch podcast to make me aware and teaches me more empathy about people who have vastly different experiences from me.
One particular episode of Code Switch, called "I Don't Know If I Like This, But I Want It to Win," from last week expressed this inner turmoil that people of color have when a new television show or movie comes out featuring their people. There are so few television shows that have a POC as the main character (not a lacky, not a co-star, but the plot centers around them) that when one finally comes out, you feel this obligation to like it. You want it to succeed so there can be more shows like this, but what if you just don't like it? Whether it's badly written, or it's not your sense of humor, or if you don't feel you can relate to the characters. What if you don't like it, it bombs, and that broadcasting company doesn't let another POC show through for years to come?
This happened to Jeff Yang, a Korean TV critic who tore apart a show from the 90s called All-American Girl, which was about a Korean-American family. His review was so stinging, the show was cancelled and it took two decades for the network to sponsor another Korean-American show--which ironically, stars Jeff Yang's son. Irony, much?
I don't know what it's like to watch television and not see any heroines who look like me. I don't know what it's like to feel compelled to relate to a character just because they're the only one who represents my racial identity on the media. I have a wide variety of white women with a lot of varying personalities to choose my role models from. I'm not saying you have to like a black character if you're black, but I can see it would be frustrating if that is the only representation you get.
I can say I am getting a little bored with it all. I mean, we are a worldwide culture. We hear news of people all across the globe, and we need to get used to the idea that we, white people, don't have a right to rule the world. I want to see more culture and more people of color in the media. It adds much needed diversity, and will honestly really help eliminate a lot of un-recognized racism. It helps people who may not realize they're racist see POC as people. I know it's getting better, but it's 2016. I should be able to go to a movie and see more than one movie previewed with people of color as the protagonist-- not just an antagonist or sidekick. But I'm not.
We went to a movie the other day and I noticed all of the previews for upcoming flicks were about white people. The only preview with POC was one about Latinos, and it was primarily about drug wars. I don't know how helpful to the stereotype this is. The only POC in the movie we watched were "sidekicks" to muscular, masculine white men. I'm tired. I'm tired of knowing there is a richer culture out there and not seeing it. I hate having to look for it. And you shouldn't have to, you know?
If you have a half hour, whether it's on your commute to work, when you're washing dishes, or on your morning run, give it a listen! It's worth your time.
Many of my friends and loved ones have
fathers who love them deeply, were present in their childhood, and were
examples of hard work, charity, faith, and devotion. Many do not. This is for
both parties. Because regardless of the degree of fatherly devotion you’ve experienced
in your life, each of us have a perfect dad to look up to. No earthly father is
without faults, but we have a Heavenly Father whose love can more than make up
for the shortcomings of all the male figures in our lives. Because just as I
believe all women have a divine role as mother, I believe also that all men
have a divine role as a father, irrelevant of the presence of actual posterity.
In the message of the gospel, the entire
human race is one family descended from a single God. All men and women have
not only a physical lineage leading back to Adam and Eve, their first earthly
parents, but also a spiritual heritage leading back to God the Eternal Father.
Thus, all persons on earth are literally brothers and sisters in the family of
God.
It is in understanding and accepting this
universal fatherhood of God that all human beings can best appreciate God’s
concern for them and their relationship to each other. This is a message of
life and love that strikes squarely against all stifling traditions based on race,
language, economic or political standing, educational rank, or cultural
background, for we are all of the same spiritual descent. We have a divine
pedigree; every person is a spiritual child of God.
This is but an echo of the scripture in
Romans 8 that says: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
are the children of god.” We truly are children of God. I am deeply grateful for that knowledge. I have felt my Father's love in dark times. His hand is evident in
times of cheer and tragedy. He is ever-listening, ever-loving, ever-guiding to those
who hearken to his words.
One thing I always take for granted is
prayer. It is a direct line to the God of all. Whenever you need him, he is
there. You have a personal phone line to the one who keeps the world spinning.
It is always open, never busy, the connection is never broken. I am grateful he
cares enough about me to offer me that. He answers your pleas. Of this I am certain.
I am grateful for the never-ending proof of
His love for us. He gave us this beautiful world. Flowers are a strong
testimony of God’s love for us. He could have created a pretty flower with a
sweet scent for us to enjoy. Instead, he’s given us over 400,000 types of
flowers worldwide, so we have a wide variety of beauties to relish over and
over again. That’s the kind of love Heavenly Father has for us. 400,000 times
more than I can fathom.
Most of all, I’m especially grateful for
the love God has shown us through sending his son. Through Christ, we have a
perfect example, a perfect friend, and a way to return to our Father. Never mourn the shortcomings of a father
figure, for we have all we need. We have a god who continually watches over us. To those who feel fatherless, please know that you are loved.
I want to express gratitude to the many fatherly figures in my life who have
worked hard to emulate the love and devotion of our father above. Thank you to
the new fathers who are trying their best, thank you to the empty nesters who
have worn out their life in the service of their family, and thank you to
bishops, pastors, mentors, counselors, and other community leaders who have
acted as fathers to the fatherless. Thank you, fathers. May you continue to
direct, guide us to THE father of all.
My Mister and I recently took a trip to Washington DC to visit his brother. This was Vaughn's first visit to DC, and basically, he was like a kid in a candy store about all the museums, memorials, and historical landmarks. It was a blast! but the highlight of the trip was really the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum. If you have never been, it is a must. If you find yourself in the DC area, do not miss the opportunity to come to this museum. This is an amazing place. The format and layout is very inspired, and if you are able to devote several hours to visit this museum, it can change your life and your entire perspective of humanity.
Lincoln Memorial
A co-worker asked me why I would go somewhere so sad. And yeah, it is devastating and heart-wrenching. The Holocaust was one of the worst events in human history, and we continue to feel emotional repercussions of it through continued generations. All of humanity has been affected. We spent about four hours soaking up all the perfectly laid out information, and I swear I cried at least 3 hours of that time. It is an excruciating topic, but it is crucial. Avoiding hard things in history does not help us learn from them. If we do not face these events head on, we are bound to repeat the atrocities. Hitler himself knew that he could "get away" with such barbaric tactics because similar acts had slid through the cracks before. He is quoted saying of the Armenian Genocide:
"I have issued the command and I'll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formations in readiness for the present only in the East with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum) which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
Do you think talking about the Armenian Genocide would have prevented the Holocaust? I don't know. But perhaps it would've given more people pause, and perhaps more people would have survived the concentration camps. So let's talk about it. Let's talk about how easy it is for history to repeat itself. The museum is is organized in three floors: 1.) how Hitler came to power and how Nazi propaganda turned public opinion against the Jewish people, 2.) the concentration camps, and 3.) the resolution and end of war. We spent a lot more time on the first floor than the 2nd and 3rd, because I found it fascinating how it all went down. Germany had a solid government in place, didn't it? It had checks and balances. It had democracy. How did this happen? While we were on the first floor, I overheard a woman say, "It takes a lot of very sick people to do this..." and my internal response was something akin to this:
I wanted to turn to her and shake her. No! It doesn't take a lot of "sick" people! That's the point of this whole museum. because these were regular people, good citizens, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers. People with jobs just like yours and mine. People who came home at night, ate dinner with their family, attended church, volunteered, watched TV, worried about their children's futures, and where to get the best price for groceries. It doesn't take a lot of sick people. It simply takes a lot of scared people. Fear can change the perspective and opinion of nations. The Nazis came to power because people were afraid. The economy was in difficult times, the world had already been ripped to pieces from the brutal "Great War," and Germany was in trouble. When you feel weak and afraid, human nature dictates to turn to the strongest ally you can see. That ally just happened to be a power-hungry psycho who has done far more damage to our world than just making the name "Adolf" taboo for your child, all the while promising to bring redemption to their country. Hitler and his party were originally viewed as the crazy, right wing party. They were in the minority. A non-threat. Hitler landed himself in prison, no one really cared. He wrote a book. No one really cared. His racist newspaper was banned. Meh. He was viewed as a bigot, an extremist, someone you didn't want leading your country. But he became High Chancellor, and within months, dictator because people were scared. People started saying, "You know, there has to be someone to blame for this crisis we're in. Hey, Hitler seems to be yelling pretty loudly. Oh, and he's blaming people who look and act different than us? Sounds about right." and thus they developed an almost cult following.
Portraits
I want to say that this cannot happen in our world today. I want to say that our human society has become more diverse, we have access to knowledge about different governments, cultures, religions, lifestyles and skin colors. I want to say that, but at the same time I don't know if I can stand behind that statement. Because the Internet is amazing. But both a strength and a downfall of this versatile tool, is that you can find exactly what you look for. Although the resources are there, we don't always use them for good. Just like we can have healthy food in grocery stores, doesn't mean we'll get thinner and our cholesterol will go down. We surround ourselves with what we want to hear, what we want to know about. If you don't want to read the Quran, you won't. If you want to learn how horrible Muslims are, that's what you find. We are a society who benefit from the Internet as a medium for us to pick out facts that validate our already stubborn beliefs--buffet-style. We can unfollow, unfriend, unsubscribe, and un-associate with whoever we want, and create this nice cush bubble of opinions we agree with. This is especially dangerous as we run ourselves headlong into an anti-political, no-negotiation, no-conversation, bullheaded way of solving issues. We say MY issue is more important than THEIR issue. My infirmity is more important than the struggle of that homosexual or that homeless person or that Muslim or that Israeli or the person that lives in the city or that of the farmer. We no longer look at the big picture. Which is the biggest irony of our age today, when so much of that big picture is available to us with our information inundation. Here's why that is an extremely dangerous thing to do. A tactic used by Hitler's regime was to inundate the airwaves with antisemitic propaganda. Over and over, every poster, every newspaper, every radio show had jabs at Jews. They're parasites, they're not like you, they're rats, they're manipulators, they'll take advantage of your kindness, they want to take over the world. He has a quote from Mein Kampf, "If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed." And boy, that lie was caught, hook, line and sinker.
Deuteronomy 4:9
Nowadays, WE control our own personal airwaves. WE create our own propaganda. If you only follow one newspaper, if you only watch Fox News (or CNN or BBC) or only ready The Skimm (guilty) then you are getting biased data. No matter how hard that news agency tries to be down the middle on the spectrum. You are forming a cone of ignorance. Very specific opinions swirl and reverberate around your head. And THAT is how we become bigoted and allow horrendous things to happen to people. The Holocaust didn't occur because Germany was full of sadistic psychopaths. It happened because regular people like you and me were scared and thus manipulated without realizing it. If we're not recognizing our own biases, checking our privilege, challenging our views, showing empathy to people very different from ourselves, we too live in our own propaganda driven worlds. In the very last part of the museum was this quote from a Protestant pastor named Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
We are taught to apply the scriptures to ourselves. That's really hard. It's hard to step back and say "this isn't written for people long past," this isn't for people who aren't Mormon, this isn't for the neighbor who leaves church early or even your spouse who has that annoying habit. It's for you. It's for you.
We also fall into this habit with history. We don't "liken" history unto ourselves. We think the mistakes of the past are made because our ancestors were ignorant and dumb. But we have the benefit of retrospect. We see the outcome of their actions, but we often can't see the outcomes of our own actions. Germans weren't stupid. They weren't ignorant. I would bet we would be just as apt to make the same decisions they did if we did not know the horrors awaiting to be written in history books. But we have the benefit from this knowledge. We can learn from those mistakes. At the end of George Orwell's classic, "Animal Farm," is a very poignant. The pigs have started walking on two legs and were having dinner with neighboring farmers and other men. The other animals are peaking in the windows to see what they're up to.
"But they had not gone twenty yards when they stopped short. An uproar of voices was coming from the farmhouse. They rushed back and looked through the window again. Yes, a violent quarrel was in progress. There were shoutings, bangings on the table, sharp suspicious glances, furious denials. The source of the trouble appeared to be that Napoleon [a pig] and Mr. Pilkington [a man] had each played an ace of spades simultaneously. Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
Are we the pigs, or are we the men?
The banner in front of the DC Holocaust museum states in bold, all capital letters "NEVER AGAIN." If we don't see that repetition of history is a possibility, we have learned nothing from the atrocities of the Holocaust. The museum has been for naught. So let us be kind. Let us strive to understand people different from us. Let us welcome challenges to our faith systems, our perspectives, our opinions. Let us "act and not be acted upon." Let us change our minds, and let others do the same. Let us be brave and stand up against the world's atrocities. Let us have the courage to see the plights of others and let us learn precious empathy. Let the human race progress and become better. Let us always remember that "we are the lunatics." But most of all, let us learn to love people better, especially those different from ourselves.
Sometimes you have back-to-back adventures
that take you from one corner of the country to the next and you walk yourself
ragged and enjoy the wonders of inner-city public trans. And sometimes you have
a weekend of perfection at home with your SO.
This weekend was that weekend. It
was an ideal weekend that reminded me
why I love weekends so much. In the past few weeks we spent a few days at Disneyland and a couple days in Washington DC. It was soooo fun, but we are soooo tired.
And this week was rough. Like, fell-down-the-stairs,
messed-things-up-at-work, almost-missed-my-flight-home kind of rough. I needed
this weekend to be a restful one so I could deflate from the long vacation and
from the work week. So what constitutes the perfect weekend for me? Allow me to
give you a rough outline:
Friday night—Date night! Vaughn and I went
to grab dinner at the mall food court and watched the new Captain America movie
(so good!). It wasn’t super romantic, but it was sweet time with my dude.
Saturday –The beauty of Saturday is you don’t
have any time frame to stay inside. Like, I can read my scriptures for as long
as I want in the morning without having to cut it short to race to work. So I woke up and did
just that. Then I went for a run—which is a big deal for me, since I haven’t
run in several months due to an injury. It was beautiful and sunny, but not too
hot. Per-fect-oh. Then I read a bit, made breakfast for my husband,
dawdled online with emails and blog stuffs. And by some miracle, I convinced
Vaughn to come with me grocery shopping! Huzzah! He hates grocery shopping, but
when he does go, he tries to act annoying so I don’t ever take him with me
again. I think it’s cute. Mostly. That afternoon, we hung out with
some of our best people. We did a picnic up at Bridal Veil Falls and played with
their baby (I made him cry by trying to put sunscreen on him. Whoops). As our
Saturday night tradition dictates, Vaughn and I grabbed some A&W root beer
on the way home and watched some cheesy 90s movie we found on Netflix. It was a productive, yet somehow also lazy Saturday. You can't get much better than that!
Sunday—Fun day! I adore the Sabbath. I love
the opportunity to have an entire day to devote to serving and thinking of
Christ. It’s refreshing and rejuvenates my spirit. As I started writing this, it started pouring rain outside, and it's one of the most calming sounds for me. Rain patters and Rob Gardner make a perfect Sabbath soundtrack. We also have a really
fabulous ward with truly inspirational people. My church group functions as I
believe all Christian church communities should: we take care of each other, we
uplift one another, we don’t judge, we just genuinely love on one another, and we help each other center on Christ. I
have the perfect example of this.
In my church, we have something called
visiting teaching where each woman in the ward is assigned a couple of women to
fellowship. The idea is that no one falls through the cracks, and each sister’s
visiting teacher can be a friend and support. I’ve had the same visiting
teacher for probably two years now. She is wonderful, wise, and supportive. Well,
the assignments recently changed in my ward and she is no longer my teacher.
She went out of her way to come up to me to say that although she’s no longer
my visiting teacher, she still wants me to know she’s there if she needs
anything and that she’d like to have us over for dinner sometime. I was very
touched by that. And this is true of so many people in our ward! I have learned
so much from them.
Although Sundays have been pretty busy for both Vaughn and I due to our callings in the church, it truly is a day of rest and rejuvenation as we are uplifted and guided by the Lord. Serving others is the best medicine for a hard week.
Cheers to another successful weekend for
the books! Good luck on your Monday!
For a long time, it was difficult for me to
motivate myself to “get in the spirit” of Christmas each December. What with
all the cacophony of consumerism and stress of the winter holidays, it is
always difficult for me to feel like Christmas is actually a celebration of
Christ. I mean, I get it. Christ was born of a virgin. It’s a miracle. But the
fact that he was born as a man wouldn’t be important at all if it wasn’t for
what happened at Gethsemane—and not just Gethsemane, but Cavalry and especially
the following Sunday Morning. To me, Christmas has nothing on Easter.
Easter is very real and very easy for me to
get excited about. In fact, I would even say Easter is my favorite holiday, because I actually understand what the fuss is
all about. I’ve always spent Easter with Christ as the focus. My family always
had a special lamb dinner to remember the
Lamb. My mother always lovingly gave us Easter cards with scriptures; the
cross was a prominent decoration and reminder; we always attended church where
we usually heard an Easter Cantata or some sort of music dedicated to Christ
and the Atonement along with a sermon emphasized on what the Resurrection means
for us. Even as a twenty-five year old woman, I still get an Easter package every year. It’s as big a holiday for my family as is Thanksgiving or Christmas. And isn’t that how it should be? Shouldn’t it be the most important holiday that we can celebrate?
This year's Easter package from my mama
Joseph Smith said, “The fundamental
principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets,
concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third
day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our
religion are only appendages to it.” The Atonement and the
Resurrection are what it’s all about! Nothing would matter without it. There
would be no “good news,” just a harsh line separating good and evil, leaving “the
good” unattainable, and The Law condemning us all in our imperfections.
But that isn’t the end. The end is more
glorious than any of the disciples could have imagined. Jesus died, after three dark days, rose again. The resurrection is a
testament that God does not leave us in our sorrows. Our life story is not a
tragedy. As President Hinckley said, “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s
not okay, it’s not the end.” When Mary Magdalene first went to Christ’s tomb
that Sunday morning, she mistook it as the end.
For me, this is the climax of the beautiful
Easter story. Mary Magdalene is at the garden tomb. She has seen that the tomb
is empty and had immediately gone to the Apostles. Peter and John had run to see for
themselves, but soon left Mary alone and weeping in the Garden. She is heartbroken
that her Lord has been betrayed and killed and now his body stolen? This is too much. Then a
man, who she believes is the gardener, asks her what is wrong. She unknowingly
responds with an emotional plea to know where the body of Jesus is. She does
not recognize the man as her lord and savior until he says her name.
“Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned
herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.” (John 20:16) As if the storm clouds broke to reveal a marvelous sun shining, the sorrow vanishes and is replaced by sheer joy. The grave could not hold him! Jesus overcame death to bring us hope! His victory is for us individually.
I heard someone once speak of Luke 22:43 in
a church meeting, where an angel came to Jesus while he suffered in Gethsemane.
The scripture says the angel provided comfort. The speaker said “What could the
angel have possibly said to bring comfort to Christ while he endured the pains
and sorrows of all of humanity? I think the only comfort the angel could offer
during this time was a reminder of why he was suffering. A reminder of those for
whom he was atoning, those he loved so well—or in other words, us. To Christ, I
suggest that the angel was whispering our
names.”
Now this isn’t doctrine, but it definitely
depicts how deep Christ’s love is for each of us individually. If you were the
only person on Earth, Christ’s love extends so far that he would suffer and atone for
just you.
However this is a two sided coin. A true understanding
of what Christ did shows that if Christ would die for just me, he would
willingly sacrifice for each person you meet. Every person you see on the
street, every brother and sister, every coworker, neighbor, felon, immigrant
and politician. This idea hit me hard this week. I was
listening to Lamb of God by Rob Gardner when I was told that someone had
intentionally, blatantly and cruelly belittled my husband. My husband,
the kindest, most loyal goofball anyone will ever meet. The man with a heart of
gold who goes out of his way to help people. The man I love! I was lividly stewing
about it, thinking about how we’re supposed to turn the other cheek, and what I’d
do if we weren’t instructed to do so. I was finding comfort in the thought that
people like that will get their just rewards in the end—then I realized, as I
listened to Mary’s song, “Here is Hope,” that no. “People like that” will not
get their just rewards. And that’s the point of the Atonement, that none of us
will get what we deserve.
It is extremely humbling to realize that I
am part of the demographic of “people like that.” We all are. We all are
desperately in need of a Savior, whether we realize it or not. And any sin, “big”
or “small,” prevents us from entering the presence of God. I’m still wrestling with this concept. There are only a few people in the world I
would say I hated, and as a Christian I am being asked to see them as someone
worthy of love? Not just my love, but the love of my sweet Savior as well? Not
by my strength can such a feat be attained. And that’s why Sunday Morning is so
important. As President Packer said “Restoring what you cannot restore,
healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and you cannot
fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ.”
So how do we celebrate this sacred day,
glorious day of all days? Here are some ways that Vaughn and I have found help
us really center on Christ during the Easter season. Our traditions are mostly
during Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. I would love to hear how
you celebrate the Savior during this special season personally and with your
families!
Music
Last weekend we attended a production of Lamb of
God, (mentioned previously), performed by Witness Music Utah, an
interdenominational Christian musical group. It is a powerful oratorio about
the last few days of Christ’s mortal life. It depicts emotions of the apostles
and his mother, Mary during the events. It has a strong message of hope laced
throughout, and I wish I had the ability to express how much this work impacted
me. I felt not only Christ’s love, but a deep love for him in return. Lamb of
God was an answer to prayer. I bought the CD as soon as I could and have been
listening to it every single day since. If you have the chance, I would strongly
recommend seeing this performance live next year, but until then, you can buy
the CD at WitnessMusicUtah.org. It is SO GOOD. Aside from Lamb of God, I’ve found that listening to Easter hymns really help
you reflect on the Savior and the Atonement.
Family
Scripture Study
We also redirected our nightly family scripture
study to the scriptures that corresponded with the events of Holy Week. You can find these kinds of reading lists on
Pinterest (where you find most everything else) or in this article from one of Vaughn’s amazing religion professors:
Eric D Huntsman. Here is Dr. Huntsman’s reading list:
Palm Sunday: Triumphal Entry; cleansing of
the temple
(Matthew 21:1–17; Mark: 11:1–11; Luke 19:28–46; John 12:12–19)
Monday: Cursing of the fig tree; cleansing of the temple in Mark; teaching in
the temple
(Matthew 21:18–22:14; Mark 11:12–19; Luke 19:47–20:18; John 12:20–36)
Tuesday: Lessons from the fig tree; more teachings in the; the Olivet Discourse
(Matthew 22:15–25:46; Mark 11:20–13:37; Luke 20:19–21:38; John 12:37–50)
Wednesday: Plot to kill Jesus; the anointing described by Mark and Matthew;
Judas agrees to betray Jesus
(Matthew 26:1–16; Mark 14:1–11; Luke 22:1–6)
Thursday: The Last Supper; Gethsemane; betrayal and arrest; Jesus before the
Jewish authorities (Matthew 26:17–26:75; Mark 14:12–72; Luke 22:7–71; John
13:1–18:27)
Good Friday: Jesus in the hands of the Romans; the Crucifixion; the burial
(Matthew 27:1–61; Mark 15:1–47; Luke 23:1–56; John 18:28–19:42)
Saturday: Jesus in the Spirit World
(Matthew 27:62–66; 3 Nephi 9–10; 1 Peter 3:18–4:6; D&C 138)
Easter Sunday: The Resurrection
(Matthew 28:1–15; Mark 16:1–14; Luke 24:1–49; John 20:1–23)
Family Night
This year we
spent our family night making Resurrection cookies and reading through the
story of Jesus’ betrayal and resurrection as laid out here. The cookies are meringue-like and bake with a hollow hole in the center to symbolize the empty tomb. In the past, we have also made Lazarakia bread. That is an orthodox tradition where you make this heavy sweet bread in the shape of Lazarus in the burial shroud.
Resurrection cookies
Dinner in the Dark
In the Book of
Mormon, we learn that during the three days after Jesus’ death, there was
complete darkness. (3 Nephi 8:20-23) To remember this, we had a meal in the
dark by candlelight on Saturday. We had sparkling grape juice and challah bread
(Jewish braided sweet bread eaten during Shabbat).
Holla for the Challah!
Candlelight dinner
Seek
out Opportunities
This year we had the opportunity to attend BYU’s
Easter Conference, where we heard Dr. Huntsman, Dr. Daniel K. Judd and the beloved
Sheri Dew speak. They spoke of the Atonement and standing as witnesses of
Christ. It was the perfect way to celebrate Good Friday. There are also
opportunities to participate in Messiah sings and other concerts (like Lamb of
God!) in your community. Seek them out!
I know some who actually take Good
Friday off work to celebrate in their personal way. I had the blessing of attending a Christian university that gave us Good Friday off, and I found great significance in taking the opportunity to go to the temple. In my church, because baptism is so important, we believe in performing baptisms by proxy for those who have passed without the opportunity of being baptized in this life. Proxy baptisms and other ordinances are performed in LDS temples. I found great
significance in taking the opportunity to go to the temple and worship in that
way on Good Friday. "Dying," by being lowered into the water and "rising" as you are lifted out truly helped me better understand what Christ did and how we each have our own personal "deaths" and victories every day (1 Corinthians 15:31) as we utilize the Atonement in our lives.
I know that my Savior lives. I am grateful
for His Atonement and the opportunity to start over again and again. I’m
grateful for Christ’s example, and his patience with me. I know it is through
him that I can be made whole. And I know that what President Howard W. Hunter
said is true: “Whatever Jesus lays his hand upon lives.” By his stripes I have been healed, and because he rose again, I can become better.
