Feb 20 Diversity Talk part 2

This next part of my talk may sound familiar to those who have read past posts here and here

We are all made of many puzzle pieces, some more complex than others. Some might view others’ puzzles as near completion, but we don’t really know. 

Only God sees the entire picture. He knows what the puzzle pieces are and where they fit. Sometimes He will send people into our lives to help us find our puzzle pieces.

Many of us realize that our own puzzle may not be complete for ourselves, so why would we think it is for another? If I don’t know about all the pieces that are missing from my own life or what pieces will make me whole or tie me to somebody else,  what makes me think I can view another’s completed picture?  I can’t. None of us can. 

Only God can see the complete picture. He knows how we fit.

Each of us comes from different backgrounds.  There are some people who have adapted diverse cultures or traditions that may not be our own.  That doesn’t make them wrong.  It doesn’t make us wrong.  We really can and do learn from one another.  It’s not our place to pass judgement but to fellowship and love.

We should all know the parable of the Good Samaritan who came across a traveler who had been beaten and left in despair.  Others had noticed the broken traveler but had passed him by. They may have crossed the street to avoid him.  He was NOT their problem after all.  Perhaps they were too busy – or more likely too prideful.  They probably didn’t share common interests or values    so why bother?  Maybe he had deserved to be beaten.

This reminds me of a picture my brother had shared to his Facebook feed.  He had taken a picture of a homeless man bent over in humiliation with a cup outstretched in his hands.  Although my brother had taken the photo in December he had not shared the image with anyone until he posted in June with these words:

“I saw a homeless man whose figure felt so tragic, I wanted to capture it because it was such a haunting and sad image to me. I really second-guessed whether I should do so because it felt cruel of me to take a photo of this man's misery like some sort of exploitative tourist. But there was something pathetic, and yet also filling me with a sense of compassion, about the man's posture, that I wanted to safeguard the image as a reminder to me that there are people in low places in life, and it behooves us to stand up and take notice and help each other, if we can.”

He goes on further to compare the image in the photo to a homeless cat that had wandered into his yard:

“ we remarked how it feels like he wants to be loved and held . . . but still is a bit guarded in doing so, as if the world has so abused him and tossed him aside, that it is a challenge for him to trust and learn to love again.

“I do not know what traumas this little guy has faced, but I know he has, and it is taking time for him to adjust to a life that is different than the one he had. . . .we discussed the parallels of foster kids or recovering addicts or war veterans or anybody, really, who has experienced trauma or betrayals or disappointments and is trying to heal.

“I wish at times that we could really see into each other's hearts and intimately know the burdens and pains that make us who we are and how we act. I think if we could see deeply into each other's souls, we would be more compassionate, patient, and understanding with one another.”

Feb 20 Diversity Talk part 1

 

The two conference talks I finally settled on were “Hearts Knit in Righteousness and Unity” by Elder Quentin L Cook (here) given in October 2020 and “Room in the Inn” by Elder Gerrit W. Gong (here) given in April 2021.

Elder Cook started off his talk by relating a story about the Kane family who had traveled from Pennsylvania with Brigham Young and company. One day the Kanes were visiting with Thomas and Matilda King and their family in the King home in Fillmore, Utah. As the Kings and Kanes were sitting down to their dinner, there were five Native Americans who came into the room.  Matilda King spoke to them in their dialect and one of their guests, Elizabeth Wood Kane, asked about what had been said. 

Elizabeth learned that Matilda had told the group that she had prepared a meal for the Kane family who would be eating their meal first and that the other five would have to wait but assured them that she had another meal for them cooking over the fire.  Each received the same meal and the same amount of food. Elizabeth had been impressed with the compassion Matilda had to do the same for all that entered.

Unity is enhanced when people are treated with dignity and respect, even though they are different in outward characteristics. Although outward appearance may seem easier to identify, there are inward characteristics as well.  We are always going to find people that think differently than we do or worship differently than we do or may have different values or seemingly no values at all.     

We are all children of God regardless of our backgrounds, whatever challenges we may have faced and what walk of life our path has led us to.  We are ALL equal in His eye.  He doesn’t label us his brown children and white children or his Mormon children and Jewish children and so forth. God wants ALL of His children to return to him and desires for ALL to come to Him in His inn.

I have a granddaughter who appears to be on the chunky side as well as academically or perhaps socially challenged compared to some of her peers.  Recently the school she attends celebrated the first one hundred days of school.  Each child was told to bring 100 items of his or her choosing.  Ally chose Band-Aids as it is a product that she uses on a daily basis and because “she has some really cool ones."

Ally has a rare disease called Kabuki syndrome which requires her to receive two shots per day. Her mom had figured that Ally will go through over 120 Band-Aids a month on average.

 She says, “My girl is a warrior. She is strong. She is brave. She recognizes that she is different but let's it be known that being different is okay.”

 There are some of us who embrace the differences, and then there are others who feel threatened or afraid of the unknown – why that man has a different skin color, why a parent would allow his or her child to dress a certain way – but until we really get to know a person, we don’t know what makes them tick – and even when we do learn something that makes up part of their personality, we still don’t know everything.

Will Jeopardy be put in Jeopardy Again?

         I did not go into detail about the cancelled R.S. activity in this post.  I had suggested it before but it had always been on the back burner either due to the weather or stake activity that took precedence or lastly, the pandemic. 

https://jeopardylabs.com/

     We had scheduled the activity to celebrate the RS birthday but also a category for St. Patrick’s sounded fun.  We had planned to meet for the activity on a Saturday.  We had discussed whether to continue with it or not – but hey, enough is enough already.  Let us play the game that I had prepared – more than one time.  But no.  On Thursday the prophet announced no more meetings.  We stayed home for the next six to eight months and the game was living in the closet all that time.

https://www.steelecreek.org/churchathome-daniel

     Thus I wonder if we will have to cancel again.  I finally brought the game home to reprocess everything.  March 17^th is on a Thursday which is the same night we have decided to hold RS activities this year.  I don’t know what kind of a turn-out we’ll have. 

     So this will be today’s post and I will follow it with three posts on diversity as I relate the talk I had given in Church on Sunday.  Stay tuned.

Removing the Joy from Reading

        I remember taking Jenna to the library and checking out books.  We would read together.  She would look at books on her own.  She looked forward to any reading contest or book clubs.  She enjoyed traveling through books and acquiring knowledge.  Reading was a positive thing. 

        Fast forward to the school years that required certain books to analyze in order to receive a good grade.  Reading was no longer fun.  We had to dissect each sentence and look for symbolic meaning.  Why can’t we just enjoy books for the sake of entertainment or learn about subjects that really do interest us instead of something that the educational system came up with? 

        Jenna’s frustration leads her to say, “ why do you suppose the author chose the word ‘the’?  What does that mean? What can we learn about the author illustrating the sky was blue rather than orange or gray?  What do these colors represent?”

        I understand her frustration.  I felt the same way, and we’re not alone.  Being forced to read To Kill a Mocking Bird would not have been so bad if being graded on the representation of every word and character had not “killed” the joy of reading.  At least Jenna will read and memorize script.  I find myself relying more on video or audio entertainment than reading.  I get tired reading. 

        I’ve never been an avid reader.  I am slow.  I would rather read on my own terms though I often wish it was at a faster pace.  I do enjoy learning – but I’d rather research what interests me and what is easiest for my mind to handle.   

POP-tarts Have Now Failed Me

              I know that there will be many who may not relate to this post – at all.  Some people are okay with Pop-Tarts while others are not.  I know my uncle hates them.  Compares them to cardboard with jam.  This morning I think cardboard would have been preferable to the flour/water solution that seem to be the only present ingredients in today’s Pop-Tart.

        It’s not as though Pop-Tarts had been a staple in my home as I was growing up, but I do remember there being available.  Back in the day, they came in strawberry, blueberry and cherry.  They weren’t frosted.  We would butter them the way you butter toast.  Dad had showed us that if we butter the backside as opposed to the raised side, the butter would distribute evenly and not slide off.

    When frosting was introduced, I wasn't particularly fond of it and would often by unfrosted knock-offs.

        I realize that a child’s tastebud is different from that of an adults.  At least mine are.  What I thought tasted wonderful then I only tolerate now.  Often the reverse.  I don’t know when frosting was introduced but had often gone with a knock-off brand when I wasn’t always in the mood for frosting.  My eldest niece used to call them flat cookies.

        Roland and I have purchased Pop-Tarts several times while we’ve lived in Oregon.  Again, it is not a staple – just something fun as a snack or quick breakfast (depending on the flavor).   Pop-Tarts had come in packages of six or sometimes eight.  Now the package claims 16.  The box is the same size – perhaps a little smaller.  The Pop-Tart is definitely smaller than it was pre-pandemic.  Half the size.  The plain one is not so pleasant to the mouth – thus the frosting covering is NOT a bad choice as it covers up the super icky taste of today’s pathetic crust.  Gross. 

        I already know what some of you are thinking.  Why would I expect greatness in said product?  I don’t know that I expect greatness – but not such dull crust.  Compared to yesteryear – last century . . .

 And then to top it all off I had a fight with the toaster - first trying to put the dang things in - one broke.  And then getting them out.  There are still pieces that are stuck in the toaster - I cant get them out.  Seems the harder I try the more stuck they become.  I think there will be a smell of burnt in the near future.

Pop-Tarts’ website does not offer valuable information about revolution of product. This site does offer a bit more history (not much) if you are interested. 

Why Not Just Memorize the Entire Script

              When Jenna was seven years old I had signed her up for an acting class.  The show to be preformed was “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown”.  A few hours before taking her to the “audition” she painted red dots all over her face and told me she couldn’t possibly go because she had the measles.  I don’t know what she had against Charlie Brown at the time, but I know the entire “Peanuts” gang were not high on her list of shows to watch.  Pretending she was one of them seemed against her nature.

          That first night of class the script was passed out.  Three boys and four girls read the script according to how the instructor had assigned them before she changed what parts to read for.  Lucy and Linus were cast that night but she was still getting a feel for who the other children would play and who would be double cast (as there are just six characters).  Jenna had memorized everybody’s part except for Charlie Browns.  She was hoping to get cast as either Schroeder or Snoopy.

          The following week the children went over the script again.  Neither the instructor nor I could see either of the boys playing Charlie Brown as one seemed highly unfocused to play a main part.  The other spoke Spanish as his native tongue and did not read English well enough to pull off Charlie Brown.  Thus the instructor had asked if Jenna would be okay playing Charlie Brown.  She wasn’t, but we made Charlie Brown a girl instead of a boy. 

          Long before the final performance Jenna had memorized the entire script.  She has continued this for years.  She has never taken drama at school until this year.  Script was written and parts passed out – more students than characters.  Thus to include Jenna additional supporting characters were written in so that, if nothing else, she would at least be seen milling in the background.  People who say “there are no small parts just small actors” are full of it.  There are parts or even characters that are insignificant enough that they can be written out. 

          To her credit, Jenna has learned others’ parts as she has practiced going over lines with some other students.  During the course of time she has been asked to substitute for various students who would not/will not make it to the final performance (or sometime during the week of performance)  She has done that before – playing multiple characters or saying multiple lines when she is on stage with the one she is saying lines for (for example, there were three aunts in "Madness, Murder and Matrimony -or-Have Some Madeira, M'Dear?" who appeared on the stage at the same time, but when  another aunt was unavailable to perform one night, Jenna said both of their lines. 

 I am such a proud parent that I just feel the need to boast.  Here  are some of her accomplishments here and more on her Charlie Brown experience here.

You Are Messing Up My Account!

               Ever since we had acquired other services (such as Netflix and YouTube) in which we can each set up our own account,  Jenna would set up her account and do her best to safeguard it so that ONLY the shows/vids she watches will be documented.  No imposters welcome on her account.  Only Roland would often pick shows to watch regardless on whatever account he lands on.  I at least have the decency to use the guest account when I have not created one for myself or someone else has created for me.

              I do understand why she gets annoyed as Roland’s feed does include some less than wholesome activity – not that he has watched it all.  Sometimes a program may look interesting and may already be documented before it’s realized that there wasn’t enough interest in the program to continue – but once it’s been looked at, it may remain in the “pop-ups” for longer than desired (How embarrassing it would be if my friends saw that on my feed) and so she would go into his account and start watching children’s programming so that it would remain on his feed.  Again, he doesn’t care.  He might not even notice.

              So the latest is his obsession is with Rawhide.  He has discovered that YouTube offers the entire series.  Usually he falls asleep as it is playing and will forget to turn it off and the Rawhide programs will still be playing when Jenna turns on the TV (which is rare – but she does like watching her animator shows in the morning between getting dressed and leaving for seminary) or turn it on for music while she is in the kitchen doing chores after she returns home from school.  Seeing Rawhide in her feed tends to tick her off.  Jenna is not one to get upset or blow off steam.  Overall she is really good natured.  Even the complaints she makes are only temporary.  It’s not like she dwells on them.

              It is annoying but also kind of funny as it is such an idiotic thing to become upset about – and yet understandable.  I have deleted my own account when it becomes too full of his programs and Netflix has suggested to me programs that I might be interested in according to my feed – but it’s not my feed.

If there are any “Don’t Miss This” activity on Jenna’s YouTube account than it was me, but was an accident as I do try to make a conscience effort to go to the “Guest” account but all the “Teaching With Power” are on Him.  And in perspective Rawhide and Teaching with Power in a YouTube feed are really not that bad compared to some of the “thrillers” and other interests that would pop up on the Netflix feed.  I’m certain that there are other people who can relate.

Look for the Rainbows

 My first post this month and I still seem to be running on empty.  I was intrigued by my brother’s post (found here) and often wish that I was as profound and gifted with words as he is.  I absolutely love his comparisons and thoughtfulness. 

I recently gave a thought on light and had meant to include rainbows in my thought but had forgotten to.  It wouldn’t have been as good as how Steven had put it.  I suppose I could use real names now.  He isn’t Corey nor am I LaTiesha.  The photos I have used are pictures of how we look though our names were changed for various reasons (some of which I explain in the very first post on New Years Day 2012)

The news has said that the mask mandate will lift come March 31.  I noticed many have already decided to enforce the lift as Roland and I had gone to Costco today and I saw more patrons without masks than with them.  All of the workers were wearing masks.  I didn’t notice any signs saying they were required.

Our governor tried the same thing last year in June, to lift the mandate – but in August it went back into affect.  If it isn’t COVID, it is something else such as the elements or the truck driving strike.  I get it.  But I don’t comprehend how it’s going to solve anything.  I would think it would damage the economy even more.  But we need to look for those rainbows, right?  The storm isn’t going to last forever.

Empty Pews

 

          I think it was Friday night when our bishop posted that the COVID cases are high in the ward and advised members who had/have symptoms to stay home.  I thought that church was cancelled but learned that I had misread.  Still, I wondered why it hadn’t been cancelled all together.  Our numbers were few.

          I counted 36 people in the chapel and perhaps 20 more in the overflow – I don’t know why the accordion doors hadn’t been closed so that those who chose to sit that far back wouldn’t have the option.  It isn’t as though there were any screaming youth to take out.  In fact, there were only six youth in total.  Only two of them were primary age.

          Roland had been called to teach Sunday School for the youth ages 12-14 but ended up with both classes making his class total a grand total of all four youth that had come to church yesterday.  It was definitely an interesting Sunday.  I hope there were more who had chosen to attend virtually.  I don’t think I have ever seen our numbers down quite that low – though the pandemic has put a strain on attendance.  Even the missionaries are in quarantine right now.

Dense Fog

 

The fog continues to envelope our county.  Each morning seems to be more dense than the morning prior.  Usually Emily (better known as Alexa Echo) gives an warning from Amazon about the weather conditions and air quality.  Funny, she never mentions the air quality during fire season when it is much harder to breathe than anything the Oregon air currently offers. 

Usually I will look across the street and see my neighbors’ houses and some of the trees behind them.  But now it appears I am looking at the houses through a dirty screen.  And everything is white.  And the back hill is a frosty overgrowth which hasn’t been mowed since last year.

That is Too Funny

 Roland has always played mind games with telemarketers, scammers and what have you.  He keeps them on the line pretending to be interested by asking a bunch of irrelevant questions to show his interest although the caller isn't prepared to answer said questions and begins to feel inadequate about product, service or whatever it is.  Eventually they hang up.  Sometimes Roland is the one who hangs up.

I am in awe about his approach the last few times.  What a work of beauty.  Most often the caller number will show along with location of said number.  Roland will pick up and say,: "Salt Lake City (or whatever area happens to be calling) you're on the air.  Go ahead."  The caller hangs up immediately!  I LOVE it!!!!

Nature Moves

         Last year when I walked Bonnie, I took my cell phone or camera but have not done that for the past four months or so.  I can’t seem to find all the camera chargers and corresponding batteries and the cell phone I have weighs too much and is too big to keep in pocket and Bonnie is so strong that I’m afraid of dropping it.  Thus I have missed out on some spectacular views  I suppose I could just recharge one of my older flip phones.  Picture may not be the best quality, but I’m not using it for anything other than to look up numbers that are not on my current phone.

         As I watched the clouds surrounding the hills rise to the top I thought about how nature changes within seconds.  Snow melts.  Rivers dry out.  Moisture evaporates.  Clouds move across the sky.  Always different than it was before.  ALWAYS.