No Coincidences

Category: Uncategorized

  • White Privilege

    White Privilege

    I’ve tried to think if there’s something I can write right now.  There’s nothing I can write that will change the world.  That’s desperately what I’d like to do.  Maybe I could write something that makes a tiny difference. A friend of mine who is in a better position to speak on the pain being experienced by so many said in a video that it helps when we speak up. So, I’m speaking up.

    I’ve tried to decide if there’s something I can write for my black brothers and sisters.

    Let me start there.  I’m not saying African American.  No one calls me Finnish-American.  I am American.  My brothers and sisters aren’t African American.  Few of my friends have ever been to Africa.  They’re as American as I am.

    I’m going to give a personal anecdote that taught me something. Before you read, know going in, this is not me giving a commentary about how discrimination happens to white people too or to share that we are all discriminated against. Please get to my point at the end of the story.

    One early evening a couple years ago Beth and I left my condo to go get food.  I took a right turn a bit hastily through a red light, I didn’t yield as I should have.  I saw the police officer behind me.  He followed me briefly and pulled me over.  He came to my window.  He was a young, white, male officer.  Couldn’t have been older than 30.  He approached my window and asked for license and registration.  I handed it to him.

    He took my information back to his vehicle.  He came back and discussed why he pulled me over.  I knew why. 

    He was not being pleasant.  He was not kind.  He seemed angry at the inconvenience of having to pull me over.  He proceeded to tell me that recently someone was killed at a crosswalk because someone like me didn’t yield.  I apologized and said I understood.  I made a mistake and shouldn’t drive like that through crosswalks.  To this day I think about it almost every time I approach a red light.  I should have been more cautious.

    The officer was very…unkind.  I don’t know how else to describe it.  His tone, his demeanor, his stance, everything was aggressive.  Then he looked in at Beth and told her to give him her license.  She told him she didn’t have her license since she wasn’t driving.  This is where the whole situation turned.  He got really angry.  He told her she was required to provide her identification, and not in a nice way.  Beth said that wasn’t true.  She didn’t say it in a nasty way, just stated that wasn’t true and anyways she didn’t have her license on her.

    He then continued by saying that he didn’t know if we had just stolen this car and he needed her license to verify that, and that she was required to provide it.  He had my license and registration for my car in his hands so he knew the car wasn’t stolen.  I politely stated I lived just down the street and we could get her license if it was necessary.  But now he was being nasty and Beth was upset.  He started aggressively telling her, basically, that she was dumb for thinking she didn’t need her license when she left the house. 

    He got out a pen and paper and took down her information and looked her up.  He then told us he had bigger criminals to catch and to get out of here.  He didn’t give me a ticket, just told us to leave.  He told us we wasted his time because he wanted to catch criminals.

    For those wondering – I’ve since checked the legality of leaving your home without identification.  “It is absolutely not illegal to walk around on the street without ID in the United States of America. Under the 4th Amendment of the Constitution you are secure from unreasonable searches and providing your identification is a form of search.”

    I left that interaction feeling uncomfortable. Beth was extremely upset. I felt uneasy. I felt a little abused. I felt like a man took an opportunity from a position of power to make me feel small, to insult my girlfriend, to show his power.

    I’ve told this story to lead to one big, important point:

    At no point in that interaction did I ever fear for my life or fear for the safety of my (then) girlfriend.  It was uncomfortable.  That was it.  I never felt truly threatened. I’ve since thought what it would be like to be in that situation, to feel everything I felt that day, with the added feeling that my life might be in danger. I’ll likely never know what that feels like.

    I know there are good cops everywhere.  I know only some are bad.  Let’s get that completely out of the way.  That is not what this is about.

    That’s not what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about fear and oppression.  I don’t fear like that.  Why?  Why do some of my brothers and sisters have to fear?

    The title of this post is White Privilege. I want to say something I think I’ve realized far too late. Saying white people have white privilege isn’t an insult to white people.  I am white.  There may have been a time when I heard “white privilege” and took offense to this phrase.  Not anymore.  It’s time we accept that we’ve been given a leg up compared to so many others.  White privilege isn’t a personal attack on me.  It’s a fact.  We have to stop taking these statements of fact as an insult.  They’re not.  They’re facts.

    I’m sorry.  I know these words don’t change anything.  I know things need to change. I’m sorry I don’t know how to help change it.  I’m sorry I don’t know how to bring more love into the hearts of every person here.  I’m sorry there are people that hate.  I’m sorry there are people who discriminate.  I’m sorry there are people that kill.  I’m sorry there are people without empathy when a man is begging for air.  I’m sorry.  I know it doesn’t change anything. 

    I love my black brothers and sisters.  I’m sorry you have to fear.  It’s not right.

    I’d like to share two things a friend of mine shared, two ways we can start to make a small difference.

    1. Stop saying the N word. Don’t say it. Ever.
    2. Don’t let the little comments slide by. When you hear racist remarks or comments, speak up. Say something.

    All I can do is speak up, say my part. I know it’s not much. I love you. Many more people love you than you realize. There is more good in the world than we’re lead to believe.  I have to believe that.  I have to hold on to that.  I know that doesn’t change the world.  All I can do is hope.  Hope that love will eventually prevail.  Hope that discrimination and hate will end.  Maybe it won’t in this life. Or maybe we can still change. Maybe we can still make a difference.

    _________________________

    These are some links, videos, music that I’ve viewed recently that have impacted me. Please listen and read:

    President Nelson Calls for Repentance in Statement on Racism:

    https://www.ldsliving.com/President-Nelson-Calls-for-Repentance-in-Statement-on-Racism/s/92936

    Life of Privilege Explained:

    ****EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING****:

  • An Angel

    An Angel

    Some of God’s children are special beyond measure.

    They never lose their innocence and childlike wonder.

    I have a cousin who is like that.

    She taught me a lot.

    She has taught me about true joy.  She has taught me about true happiness.

    The simple things in life would bring such a laugh.

    The kind of laugh you couldn’t avoid.

    The kind of laugh that made you laugh, I guess because her joy was so contagious, so infectious.

    Olivia and her bike

    I had to laugh with her.

    God’s plan is perfect. 

    Despite a loving family, loving parents and siblings, there was never a perfect place on this earth for her.

    I’m not sure she ever had a comfortable moment on this earth.

    Despite that, still the joy, the joy was ever present.

    A new dress.  A butterfly.  A rad motorcycle.

    She could teach us so much.

    There was never a perfect place for her on this earth.

    I know when I next see her, she will be clothed with such beauty and glory that I will be blinded by her.

    But God’s plan is perfect.

    I know there is a perfect place for her with Him.

    If you looked very closely you could see her glory here.

    I know there is a perfect place for her.

    I’ve never been around a soul who deserved a perfect place more.

    I’m thankful for what she has taught me.  I’m grateful for her strength.  I’m grateful for her fight to stay here and teach us.

    I know her family is grieving now.  We all are.  We grieve when someone so good is taken from us.

    Take comfort in where she’s gone.

    No place was good enough for her here.  She’s finally in a place deserving of her light.

    We will miss her.

    Enjoy paradise Olivia. You are a princess every day and I can’t wait to see you again.

  • Book Review: The Joseph Smith Translation. Precious Truths Restored

    Book Review: The Joseph Smith Translation. Precious Truths Restored

    The Joseph Smith Translation.  Precious Truths Restored

    by W. Jeffrey Marsh

    Copyright 2002

    ______________________

    There are multiple ways I judge a book.  It can be so entertaining I can’t put it down.  I can feel enlightened by it, like I’m learning constantly through its pages.  Ideally a book does both.  I think this book more was on the enlightened, learning something from it category.

    I realize most people aren’t going to enjoy the books I’m enjoying.  Few people get excited about learning about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This is a book I wish every active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would read.  It did so many things for me: taught gospel truths, built my testimony of Joseph Smith and his divine call, and probably the biggest thing I took away from it, better understanding of the Bible. 

    A statement from the summary on the back of the book states it:

    “will guide you through the history, significance, and insights found in the Prophet Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible.”

    The biggest takeaway I got from this book was the knowledge of how blessed I am to have the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) of the Bible and the fact that I’ve never once doubted its truthfulness and divine nature.  The book goes a lot into the history of the JST.  I didn’t know there were many years that the JST was regarded skeptically by members of the Church.

    I am truly grateful to be living while I’m living, with so much truth and light surrounding me.  This book helped me appreciate how lucky I am.  There was a part of the book where the author talked about how there would one day be a generation that never doubted the divine nature of the Joseph Smith Translation.  He talked about how that generation will know the scriptures better than any prior generation.  That generation will know Jesus Christ better than any prior generation, due to the truths restored by Joseph Smith.  He talked about this generation that will have more fullness of scriptures than any generation ever had.  Truly the fullness of times.

    This made me appreciate my place in time, my place in history, my place in the fullness of times more than ever.  It’s never been a doubt to me that the Joseph Smith Translation is holy scripture and worth studying.  It helps me trust Joseph Smith as a prophet and teaches me more about Jesus Christ. 

    I know these things aren’t to be taken for granted.  Our generation isn’t gifted greater scriptural knowledge simply by living now.  We must study and learn.  If we devote ourselves to the Word of God, there is more out there for us to devour and grow from than any people on this earth has ever had the opportunity to know.

    I’m so grateful to be alive today and I’m so grateful to Joseph Smith for the truths he restored.

    ____________________________

    To learn more about the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible go here:

    https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/revelations-in-context/joseph-smiths-bible-translation?lang=eng

    https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/joseph-smith-translation-of-the-bible?lang=eng

  • My Coincidences

    My Coincidences

    Have you ever noticed how easily we forget?  It’s a cliché statement on human nature – “humans have short memories,” but It’s so true.  Have you ever walked into work on Monday and been asked what you did over the weekend… and not be able to think of anything?  Sometimes it takes me 5-10 minutes to think of what I did 1 and 2 DAYS ago, never mind years. 

    Soon after I came back to church, I started keeping track of “coincidences” that I experienced.  It was my way of taking note of God’s daily influence in my life.  It’s a list of those answered prayers, small moments that seemed significant, things just working out.  I keep this list so I never forget God’s hand in my daily life.  I’ll fluctuate in how good I am at keeping the list.  Sometimes I’ll go weeks or months without adding anything.

    If I’m going to name my blog nocoincidences I gotta back it up with some data.

    My entries go back to 2016.  Four years of “coincidences.”  101 total entries.

    I’ve found it extremely helpful to look back on and remember how blessed I’ve been.  Even when things are hard, God is there.  I would recommend this practice to anyone. 

    My experiences vary from something I study before church being mentioned that day in someone’s talk, that always makes me pay attention; to the postcard I received the day I was wondering where to go to church.  There are tons of small moments that can become big moments.

    Reading back through them I realize most of them I can’t explain.  It was something I felt or something only I could appreciate.  Kind of like faith.  Even if you’re explaining faith to someone else with faith, your experience with faith will always be unique.  My “coincidences” as I call them are mine, and extremely personal. 

    One thing I notice as I read through these notes is even today, I don’t know the significance.  That night I felt a weird feeling as I was going to bed and decided to check the kitchen only to notice I left the oven on.  Was the house going to burn down?  I don’t know.  What I do know is the feeling I had to go back to the kitchen was distinct, and obvious.  God knows what would have happened, that’s enough for me. 

    There are many moments at work.  Moments of frustration, anxiety, worry.  Then I pray and it somehow works out.  The answer I’ve been staring at jumps out at me, someone calls and helps, I’m given more time, a boss shows sympathy.  These blessings come in many ways.  If I’m not looking for them, I would miss them every time. 

    Look for the blessings in your life.  If you don’t look for them it’s easy to feel alone or like things never work out.  Write down all the blessings in your life, everything you’re grateful for.  Look at all the moments that just work out and realize you’re being watched.  Look at all your “coincidences” and appreciate them. I have 101 coincidences I’ve written down in 4 years.  101.  It will be so amazing to one day stand before my Father in Heaven.  He will laugh jovially at my 101 remembrances and He will open my Book of Life and show me the countless, infinite times His hand was with me.  That will be a good day.

  • Seer Stones

    Seer Stones

    Imagine giving someone a spyglass in the year 600.  A spyglass is the refracting telescope you picture pirates using on the open sea before finding their target.  The sinister pirate stands on deck, extends the spyglass to its full length, looks through one small hole and sees what his own two eyes could barely make out on their own.  A ship.  Ripe for plunder.  The spyglass wouldn’t be officially invented for 1000 years, in 1608 by most accounts.

    Imagine giving that to someone in the year 600.  They would be amazed; it would be such a phenomenon to them.  Another example is the microscope, also invented around 1600, but perfected over the next 400 years to what we have now.  That would blow someone’s socks off in the year 600.

    The James Webb Space Telescope is replacing the Hubble Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope known to man.  Imagine showing that to someone in 1830.  There’s a good chance they wouldn’t believe their eyes.  There’s a good chance the people from these times would consider what they’re being shown witchcraft or sorcery.  If you showed someone a modern-day microscope found in every high school science class and told them you could see the cells of a plant they might put you to the stake for burning i.e. Salem Witch Trials.

    The James Webb Space Telescope is described:

    “will provide improved infrared resolution and sensitivity over Hubble, and will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, including observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe, such as the formation of the first galaxies.”

    I don’t know what all that even means, and I’m here, in the year 2020.  The word “events” seems to imply that this telescope will be powerful enough to literally look so far away that we’re seeing the past.  I won’t get anymore into the science of telescopes and microscopes because I didn’t pay enough attention in my science class to give accurate information about that.

    My point is this: if in history you showed someone a device that wouldn’t exist for 1000 years, they might not believe it, or they’d think it was some sort of magic.  That is exactly how people reacted in 1830 when Joseph Smith talked about seer stones.  Miraculously, it’s how people react today to the idea of Joseph Smith using seer stones.

    The natural eyes of Joseph Smith were seeing revelation and things of the spiritual realm just like we look through a telescope and see things that we previously could not.  God-fearing people everywhere believe in heaven and hell, God and angels, and yet can’t accept a prophet of God seeing things we don’t.  The concept of a stone being the medium should not be a stumbling block.  Who in the year 600 would have thought glass would be the medium with which we look into the cosmos? 

    Our nature today is to be so skeptical of anything of a spiritual nature.  If you stop and look at it in a logical sense, the principle is sound, the logic is there.  The same people today who hold a cell phone, press an icon on a screen, type in a statement, and suddenly have billions of results, scoff at the idea of a stone that helps translate ancient scripture.  How crazy is that?  99% of people today don’t understand internet, email, or electricity yet use it every single day.  To be clear, I don’t understand how most of those things work, I don’t understand the intricacies involved.  I don’t have to understand, I see it in front of me, whether I understand it or not, the proof is there.  It exists.

    Seer stones are not cooky, bizarre, unprecedented technology.  They are a different kind of telescope.  When Joseph Smith looked into them, he saw, through revelation and the power of God, things he couldn’t see with his natural eyes.  A person in 1830 couldn’t comprehend a mobile phone. Many today refuse to comprehend the thought of a seer stone.  It doesn’t mean seer stones didn’t exist.  There’s so much we don’t understand, and we are marveled by technology daily.  Is it that difficult to think God had a device that would allow man to do extraordinary things long before the mobile phone?

    I know that seer stones exist, just like cell phones.  I know that Joseph Smith used them to translate an ancient record.  The Book of Mormon wasn’t written by a natural man.  It was translated through the medium of a seer stone, provided by God.  All of us here in the year 2020 who don’t understand how the very phones we hold provide all the miracles they do, how can we be so skeptical?

    ______________

    For anyone who would like to learn more about seer stones the link below is a great resource and watch this short video:

    https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/seer-stones?lang=eng