No Coincidences

Tag: actions

  • Gravity of God

    Gravity of God

    The push and pull of all things.

    Here’s another one of those thought experiments I’ve talked about before. Let’s see where this goes. Work with me.

    Earth’s gravity pulls us down, we push back on Earth, but Earth doesn’t feel us because we’re so small and insignificant.

    God is the gravity of our universe. The magnitude of His pull is so great that He is the force that keeps us in balance, connected to His gravity, two feet stable on the ground.

    My mind is having trouble wrapping itself fully around the concept I’m trying to describe, so bear with me.

    Visions of Glory talks about the impact of every single moment in our lives. When we do something, it ripples all around us. No action we ever take does not impact something or someone in some way. Everything. The smallest moments and the largest decisions. They all ripple through time and have such an impact.

    I believe this to be true.

    I’ve long tried to understand how God’s omniscience and our free will coexist. I know (or hope) this is something I’ll learn when I die. But for now, my mortal mind is working through this understanding. It’s been proposed that God is a great mathematician who quantifies the likelihood of every person in the world’s choices and comes to an approximation of what will happen in the future. That seems too simple…and seems to have some holes in it. Again, to me, in my simple mind.

    What I’m thinking with gravity and pull is this –

    God is the pull on all of us. He keeps us in balance, as already stated.

    We have pull on other things around us as well. As I mentioned, our choices have impacts on others. Now, it’s not our gravity, like God’s, that impacts others. We’re not celestial beings like God – yet.  But our choices, our actions, our thoughts do impact and change our surroundings and those around us.

    So God’s gravity pulls all of us. We pull others with our actions.

    I wonder, and I think I’m starting to believe, that there is a great cosmic physics happening. God is the center, the everything, the force that keeps us in motion. We make choices that impact others. In a way, we’re being trained to be like God, to have an impact, to have a force.

    Since God is the center, the everything, He sees our actions and how they will ripple, since they all report back to Him. He is our gravity. So as we ripple, He is the center, and He sees the all. Since He is our force, and we move around Him, He can sense it all, past, present, and future.

    Now, as I write this, I again am struck by the simplicity of my mind and how short I am falling in describing what I’m trying to describe. It’s like describing the color blue. I can feel what I’m trying to say, but I just can’t put it into words.

    Anyways, there’s the Physics lesson for the day. I know it’s a bit rambling and I’m not positive it makes sense. Thanks for reading.

  • Another Toddler Experience

    Another Toddler Experience

    I hope parents learn from their toddlers. I learn from Ivy all the time. Here is a simple example.

    Today we were all sitting on the couch. Sage was cradled in my left arm. Beth was sitting to my right with Ivy in her lap. Bengie, our aging dog, was between us.

    Ivy was doing peaceful mother-daughter stuff with Beth. Seemed boring to me. Plus, I was getting bored with what I was doing on my computer. So I reached over and poked Ivy. It was intended to be a tickle, normally Ivy’s favorite. But in that moment of peace, she did NOT like it. She scowled at me and turned away.

    I apologized for an improper time to play. Ivy and Beth continued to peacefully interact.

    A few minutes later, Ivy reached out and smacked Bengie. He understandably got annoyed by this intrusion on his peace and snapped back. This upset Ivy. Wanting to utilize a learning opportunity, I said to Ivy, “Ivy, don’t smack Bengie if you don’t want him to do that. He’s just laying there and you bothered him.” I continued, “How would you feel if I did that to you?…”

    Oh.

    I realized what I was saying. I had just done that to her. It was just moments later that she did the same thing to Bengie. I was close to missing that simple and obvious realization.

    I put my hand on Ivy’s head and said, “That’s probably why you did that to Bengie, huh?”

    A learning experience.

    I’m not sure how much Ivy learned from it, but I did. I was reminded that Ivy is watching, replicating, repeating, and behaving in the ways she sees me act. When she disrupts Bengie’s peace, well, I’d just disrupted her peace. When she loses her temper, she’s seen me lose my temper. When she gets upset, she’s seen me get upset.

    Obviously, Ivy is her own person and has her own emotions and actions. But it’s amazing to see how much she copies me. If she does something I’m disappointed in, it’s beneficial for me as a parent to stop and wonder, “is this something she learned from me?”

    I fear sometimes that parents don’t take enough responsibility for how we mold our children. Again, toddlers get angry and frustrated and do completely irrational things that they aren’t copying from us. But sometimes, a lot of the time, their behavior can be traced directly to something they saw us do.

    When we realize this, our every movement, word, and reaction around our children becomes something important.

  • Do I Learn from Ivy?

    Do I Learn from Ivy?

    Sometimes I find myself praying for God to change Ivy.  Not big changes, stuff like, “help her to not be grumpy,” “make her sleep well,” “help her to be happy.”

    Then something hit me that I of course knew but needed to come face to face with. Ivy is just going through her motions.  It’s more important for me to learn to control mine. 

    Ivy can be grumpy, mean, crying, not sleeping, screaming, and causing all other sorts of havoc.  That’s not what matters.  What matters is my patience, my learning, my growth.

    I’ll say it again, Ivy’s going through her motions, and I’m learning to control mine.

    There will come a point when she will be responsible for her actions and will be accountable for her behavior.  How can I expect her to be great at controlling her behavior as she gets older if I haven’t mastered my own behavior yet?  She will learn from my (and Beth’s) example.  It makes me think of the Macklemore song called Growing Up where he says,

    “I’ll be patient, one more month

    You’ll wrap your fingers round my thumb

    Times are changing, I know

    But who am I if I’m the person you become

    If I’m still growing up”

    (Side note, as writing this I almostttt lost my patience as I pulled a piece of paper out of Ivy’s mouth and kept her from deleting everything I just typed.  The joys of fatherhood 😊)

    Back to my point, Ivy does what she does and is what she is, innocent and perfect.  I’m the one that needs to change.

    So, when I find myself mistakenly saying, “Heavenly Father, please comfort Ivy and make her know she is safe and watched over so she can sleep tonight,” instead I say, “Heavenly Father, give me the strength, energy, and patience, that even if Ivy doesn’t sleep a wink tonight, I can help her know she is watched over, I can make her feel comforted, and I can have complete patience with her as she helps me to grow.”

    I am eternally grateful for fatherhood and all it is teaching me.

  • Organized Religion

    Organized Religion

    What do you think the point of organized religion is?

    I had an obvious realization recently, only recently.  The point of organized religion is to bring you closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  If organized religion doesn’t bring you closer to God, then why do it?  I think it’s why we see so many people disenfranchised with organized religion.  In their hearts and souls, they know and hope what organized religion will bring – closeness with God.  When it doesn’t do that (and in fact sometimes does the opposite) they move away from it.

    The second point of organized religion: to bring us peace. 

    This second part isn’t as simple as “I belong to a church so I am happy and peaceful.” We know that Christianity is not always comfortable. This peace is bigger than worldly comfort. This peace is the knowledge that you are right with God. This peace is more eternal than this life.

    Why don’t organized religions do these two things?  Some do, and I’m not discounting those who come closer to God and find peace in any faith.  My point stands, that a lot of people have moved away from organized religion.  Why?  Why don’t most organized churches bring us closer to God or bring us peace?  They don’t have the proper authority from heaven to do so.

    God, through revelation has told us exactly what we need to do to come closer to Him and to have peace:

    1. Faith in Jesus Christ
      • Start by simply believing in Jesus Christ.  Believe He was born, believe He lived, believe He is the son of God, believe He died for you and your sins.
    2. Repentance
      • Once you believe, be better.  Don’t take for granted the suffering Christ went through for you.  Pray to God and ask forgiveness for the mistakes you have made and continue to make.
    3. Baptism
      • Religion has corrupted this simple principle.  All God asks is you make a symbolic gesture to show that you have faith in Him, faith in Jesus Christ, and will remember them.  Then use that show of faith to change and be better.  God has asked us to be baptized.  Follow His commandments and be baptized. 
    4. Gift of the Holy Ghost
      • The world is ever distracting and evil.  God has given us someone to provide strength.  The Holy Ghost is one with God and Jesus Christ and can be with us always.
      • I have the perfect example to help illustrate the important role the Holy Ghost plays.  I received a text from a friend one afternoon while I was working telling me his dad had passed away.  My friend didn’t want me to find out over social media, so he texted me.  When I read it I initially thought selfishly.  I was at work.  There wasn’t anything I could do.  I wanted to kneel and pray and cry.  But as I was sitting there something happened.  As clear as if a person whispered in my ear, I heard and felt a message.  Clear as day I knew important things.  This was my friend.  He was hurting.  Clear as day, “go to your friend.”  I’m not affectionate, it’s hard for me, ask my wife.  Beth knows that better than anyone.  It’s not in my nature to want to go comfort and cry with a friend.  That seems hard and vulnerable.  But in that very important moment I know the Holy Ghost came to me and directed me.  I know it was important for me, and I believe it was important for my friend.  The Holy Ghost did that.  I know that because I’ve worked so hard to be able to hear when the Holy Ghost speaks to me.  I have so many examples of that.  I could go on for days about the important moments that the Holy Ghost guided me.

    After the Holy Ghost, the final step: endure to the end.  Take the sacrament each week to renew your covenants from baptism.  Repent every day.  Remember Jesus Christ every day.  That’s it.  That brings you closer to God.  I know because it has for me.

    People don’t change overnight.  I know to many it seemed like I changed overnight.  I didn’t.  It was years of slowly changing habits, changing thoughts.  Many saw first-hand who I used to be but didn’t see the slow, gradual change to who I am now.  I always told myself I was “good.”  What good was me telling myself I was good if my actions and my selfishness said otherwise?  Four years ago, if I received the text I mentioned above I would have said “I’m sorry” and “let me know if you need anything.”  Today, I’m different.  I’m different because of Jesus Christ.

    What’s important?  I know why I’m here.  I know where I come from.  I know where I’m going. This brings peace.