Gliding in Chinese

I think that as part of the process of learning Chinese, I DO need to feel comfortable not speaking it and comfortable with my nonverbal forms of communication. I do, and I suspect that it's somehow similar to gliding on a two wheeler before confidently using the pedals. But I'm not sure how . . . Is it about learning to listen to the sounds? Or learning to hear more than the words?

A Little More Calvinism? Please?

Yesterday in Sunday School a Single Adult (“with out the Y” for Young) member of the Branch brought up some interesting thoughts. He prefaced his comment by claiming to be somewhat of a Calvinist (and yes, I could hear a collective ‘huh?’ from the rest of the class). He then proceeded to make the claim that a lot of our discussion of free agency served to dumb down our understanding of God and the role he plays in our lives. I’m not sure that this dear brother had a clear direction for his comment, but some part of me understood and his attempts to communicate those thoughts have given me fodder for contemplation today.  

Here’s some of what I’ve discovered and my process for getting there:

• First: “What’s a Calvinist?”

According to calvinistcorner.com “Calvinism, also known as Reformed theology, is a system of biblical interpretation that focuses on the supreme sovereignty of God, His majesty, His holiness, etc. It relates this to man's fallen, sinful nature. Because of the great chasm between God and man and because of man's sinfulness, God must predestine people into salvation...or none would be saved. Therefore, salvation is the work of God and we are the recipients of His gracious election.”

• Ewww. That sounds like we’re taking the free agency and accountability completely out of things.

Maybe a person could take the reasoning that to that extreme. But just suppose we really are at the other extreme end of “we have the complete ability to choose the course for our lives”. Do we really believe that? Of course we don’t. No matter how hard we try and how many things we do right, sometimes things just don’t work out. And to a certain extent we are all still a product of our environment, up bringing, etc.

• So what? Why do I care about this?

If we are only concerned about the choices we are currently making, then we in sometimes small and sometimes big ways negate the Divinity that we have developed in partnership with God, but we also miss the advantage of understanding how God uses a variety of influences, situations, and processes to help us grow.

• Huh?

In another example from this Sunday, a sister in Relief Society was sharing a time when she was feeling particularly down about her husband’s travel schedule for work. While complaining to her husband (via Skype/internet) about how hard it was to have him gone, she told about realizing how she was being selfish. After all, she had her children with her, and he didn’t have anyone or anything but his work. Selfish? It sounded about right. Completely accurate? No. A classic example of dumbing down God and one’s self. It certainly works to help one move quickly away from a poor choice. But in order to keep making good choices, there has to be more depth.

• Ummm, OK . . .

Another example is the almost cliché, “I will go and do the things the Lord hath commanded” of 1 Nephi 3:7. This phrase really makes for a great Obedience rallying cry. But this cry is empty without the phrase that follows it “for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” Without it we will either succeed or fail, there is no room for mercy and personal growth.

• So . . .

The moral of the story is: Be careful with simple answers and rallying cries. Be prayerful and seek to Know God, in all of his wonder and majesty, through your obedience and studying and pondering. Don’t take too much on your own shoulders; God plays a bigger role in things than we sometimes give Him credit for.

PeaNUTs

Very often I'm a hard nut to crack when it comes to humor. This, however, I love.



Yup, it cracked my nut. ;)

Kindle Journal ~ 8/20/11

Here's a peak into my mental health today. I share it not in seeking for help. I share it only to give others a picture of what my life is like right now.

Whew! Order and space and function!

• I have a clock with hands that gives order to my time and not just a phone with digits that gives me input. 
• I have a laundry room in a bathroom instead of a bathroom with a washing machine in it.
• I have laundry drying on racks instead of clothes hanging around drying.
• I have a kitchen rug at the sink instead of a towel in front of the sink.
• I have towels hanging on hooks and repaired racks instead of towels and broken towel racks lying around the bathrooms.
• I have cans instead of piles waiting to be taken to the kitchen trash.
• I have scriptures in a central location and a TV that`s less so.

Hmmmm, chaos and opportunities for more order, Faith, and effectiveness . . .

• I still have piles of books and school supplies and Sunday clothes that need a place to call home.
• I have appliances with no English or Romanized characters or means for interpreting and understanding how to use them other than trial and error.
• I am almost completely illiterate and incapable of communicating with anyone outside of my home. I do not even know where to start in making a plan for improvement.
• I have no reliable, independent means of transportation other than my feet.
• I have a generous, giving, and happy heart with those outside my home. I have a guilt clouded, impatient heart with my children.
• I spend a lot of time thinking about what my kids are doing and not enough time thinking about what they are becoming.

A Little Something to Ponder Concerning Seasons

Seasons and Community fascinate me. Here's an interesting take:

A Post-Air-Conditioning World by lskenazy

Hi Readers! Stan Cox, author of the new book, “Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer),” wrote a great oped for The Washington Post last summer about what life would be like if we still sweltered. As a person who is always freezing, I LOVE the idea of an un-airconditioned world, not just because it would allow me to peel off several (dozen) cardigans, but also because I believe in what Cox preaches: That when we HAVE to go outside for relief, we gain a lot more than a cool breeze. We regain the whole idea of neighborhood. And we regain a season! As he writes in his oped:

Saying goodbye to A.C. means saying hello to the world. With more people spending more time outdoors — particularly in the late afternoon and evening, when temperatures fall more quickly outside than they do inside — neighborhoods see a boom in spontaneous summertime socializing.

Rather than cowering alone in chilly home-entertainment rooms, neighbors get to know one another. Because there are more people outside, streets in high-crime areas become safer. As a result of all this, a strange thing happens: Deaths from heat decline. Elderly people no longer die alone inside sweltering apartments, too afraid to venture outside for help and too isolated to be noticed. Instead, people look out for one another during heat waves, checking in on their most vulnerable neighbors.

Children — and others — take to bikes and scooters, because of the cooling effect of air movement. Calls for more summer school and even year-round school cease. Our kids don’t need more time inside, everyone agrees; they need the shady playgrounds and water sprinklers that spring up in every neighborhood.

Okay — he sounds a little hokey. But only because we’ve become so divorced from the idea that we can stand a little discomfort that we dismiss the idea that we really COULD be happier while sweatier.

I’m not sure how to bring this revolution about, since we already live without a.c. in my house and it’s not like anyone seems eager to follow our lead. (Or visit in July.)  But it’s something to think about, while our teeth chatter next to the A.C. vent. — Lenore

A Sabbath Day Witness

Reading Elder Perry’s talk in the April 2011 General Conference has inspired me to record a few thoughts of my own regarding the Sabbath Day. I am grateful to parents who taught me as a youth so that as an adult I could reap the benefits of a deep-rooted ritual. Today my heart rejoices at the opportunity for regeneration I get each Sabbath. It’s my regularly scheduled break from world so that I may purge my heart of the unnecessary worldly cares.

Elder Perry says: As we consider the pattern of the Sabbath and the sacrament in our own lives, there appear to be three things the Lord requires of us:

first, to keep ourselves unspotted from the world;

I love being intentional about everything I do on Sunday. I love dressing up for church and all day dressing at least a little better than I do during the week. I know the Lord loves me even if I don’t, but I love drawing closer to Him through what I wear. I love avoiding certain programs, music, and activities so that I may remain as unspotted, as possible, from the world on the Sabbath. I love a day to set aside the cares and interests of the world so that I may focus on the cares and interests of another.

 

second, to go to the house of prayer and offer up our sacraments;

On Sunday I go to church, and I cleanse my heart and soul by offering up my sacraments unto the Lord. The sacred music, the company of Saints, the talks & classes, and opportunities to serve all help to purify and reconnect my heart with His. Even juggling 6 kids into reverence during a 70 min long meeting serves to deepen my humility and bring my heart closer to His.

and third, to rest from our labors.

I love having a day where I don’t go to the store. Yes, sometimes the ox is in the proverbial mire, and in which case I take care of needs as they arise. But I love doing what I can so that others can rest from their labors as well. And mostly I love having a day where I keep things as simple as possible so that the Lord can really be the focus of my day as much as possible.

And, of course, Elder Perry says it so well:

Let us remember the blessings and opportunities that are ours as we attend sacrament meeting each week in our wards and branches. Let us prepare and conduct ourselves on the Sabbath in a manner that will call down the blessings promised us upon ourselves and our families. I bear my special witness that the greatest joy we receive in this life is in following the Savior. May we keep His commandments by keeping His sacred day holy is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

AMEN

The Sunrise

This isn't a usual habit of mine, but I thought I would share excerpts from my journal this week:

What an amazing week! It started with a fun celebration with my sisters and parents. They helped me purchase some great new shorts and then we shared a lovely lunch together. Nathan’s baseball games started this week and Rob planned a surprise party for me on Monday night after the first one. I really enjoyed sharing with the friends that came. Anne had her Honor Band Concert on Tuesday—a really fun and enjoyable event. Wednesday the family dropped everything to help Rob with his landscaping jobs that day. His usual assistant was sick, and we dove in with our manual labor to help him. I’m still sore, ;-) but it was just what I needed to help me overcome my stresses. That evening was Rob’s Skype interview with Laurent LA (and another baseball game for Nathan).

We have been praying quite a bit for assurance in the decisions we are making. When Rob called me at the game to say the interview had gone well and that he had the job, it really was like the sunrise (as one GC speaker described today), so peaceful, so beautiful, and so much more amazing, even mind-stretchingly so, than I had ever anticipated. The dawn had been slowly approaching for some time, and now I no longer deny the joy of this new day.

Saturday we enjoyed Conference and began the process of sorting our possessions. Oh, and we began studying Mandarin. I deeply hope that we can stay unified and loving with each other through this adventure. Tonight, we had a great evening with Mom and Dad sharing our new adventure to China along with dinner. It was SO awesome to feel the spirit as we shared the story of how we decided to take this position. I will never forget the comments that Dad made, particularly when he told us his feelings that we were doing the right thing. I know it will be hard for them and us, but we’re one very important step closer now that they know. Now I really hope that I can sleep well tonight. Love—Verena