CS Lewis has a great riff in the Screwtape Letters. He talks about the common experience we all have of a temptation intensifying as if it were a pressure building up. He says that the devilish tactic in that situation is to convince you to sin a little to “let off the pressure” before it gets too strong.

Of course the whole metaphor of sinning as bleeding off temptation pressure is wrong. The temptation grows when you feed it.

Now let me tell you a story.  By the end your respect for ol G. will diminish a little.

We share a building with several other concerns. One of them, I gather, is a little peculiar. It’s been around for awhile, at least two generations, and they are very tightknit. They have a table with a display they put up in a sort of common lobby area that we all share but that is not open to the public. The centerpiece has a very old battle drum, a real relic from way back when, that it seems was important to the founder of that concern and has ongoing significance to it today. They treat it with a lot of reverence.

There is a drumstick on the display next to the drum.

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Yesterday the Lovely One told me she was stuck on Paul’s teaching Romans that we were coheirs with Christ.  Contrast with Christ in the premortal councils saying that the glory would be all the Father’s.  So what exactly does Christ have that we can inherit with him?

My off the cuff response was that Christ disclaiming payment doesn’t prevent him getting gifts and that anyway glory isn’t a commodity.  Glory is earned respect and ironically Christ being willing to save us for pure love without reward means even more glory accrues to him.

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My daughters met me this morning with a chorus of,  “Dad,  Dad,  we wanted to get out of weeding so bad we fasted for rain on Sunday and prayed for it every night. ”

It was raining.  We didn’t weed.

The Dark Bill of Rights

In theory we have the right of rebellion. But that is only theory. But it is fascinating to see cultures that DO have such a right.
And no, if any one asks or suggests, I think that is WRONG for us. We should be working within the system, in spite of how badly the system may be working. In spite of the fact the Constitution is hanging by finer and finer threads.

Porn vs Masculinity

As I said recently, we need to better understand and explain the doctrine of Gender and Family. This, by way of rebuke, clarifies Righteous Masculinity, to me. — I remember this as a powerful and insightful discussion… but that is all I remember. But I promise it is deep! I need to see this again.

You have heard of Cocaine Bear, and we just had Shark Week. I give you Cocaine Sharks!

Fantastic summary of great information on the Old Testament world view.  I wish I had this last year for the OT.

The Language of Creation

One great thing about family is people who think differently than you but who are close enough to you that the line of their thought crosses yours often.

CS Lewis’ First Friend and Second Friend are types.

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Our stake did Moroni’s Quest for the first time several years ago along with another stake.  This summer was the second time.  I went along as a general hey-you and chaperone.  Some of my teenagers went along as youth.

Having also gone on Pioneer Trek as an adult chaperone, I thought I would do a comparison.

For those who are unaware, Moroni’s Quest is when the youth normally ages 14-18 go somewhere and simulate participating in the events of the Book of Mormon for a few days, usually in costume.  Pioneer Trek is where the youth go somewhere and simulate participating in the western trek of the LDS pioneers by camping in the woods but pulling their supplies in a handcart instead of in a backpack,  usually in costume.  Both have a number of little set pieces and devotionals and such, and fun activities mixed in.

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Paul in his typical way lets the wicked high priest have it with both barrels.

And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. ³Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? ⁴And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest? ⁵Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.

Then he apologizes when he finds out it was the high priest.

What to make of this?  Remember there is no question that this high priest was apostate and was part of an apostate line.

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One of the best parts of the blog is looking at the list of post titles that Zen and John Mansfield have decided not to publish.  Sometimes for good reasons, but wow, those are some intriguing little glimpses.

I am not particularly gifted with dreaming. Still, I had an interesting dream Saturday.

I dreamt that the Savior visited each of his people, though they did not see him. He wanted to do some miracle in their lives. But first he wanted to test and evaluate them, to see if they were ready. The tests were little minor things, but most often people failed them, and in a way rejected Him. The people did not see the Savior or His disappointment when they were not ready. He would come back later, perhaps tomorrow, and try again.

The verse that really resonated with this:

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Rev 3:20

Now, I am sincerely wondering what those little tests would be in my life, and what I need to do to be ready.
I am still looking.

Higher Education as Privilege Laundering

What if We’re the Bad Guys Here? – David Brooks – NYT (link to archived article)
The discussion by the Reddit/SlateStarCodex folks are hilarious, horrified by this “Conservative” David Brooks. They struggle to comprehend how their class could have unfair advantages, and are not very much interested in any case.

If education has merely become a way for privilege to perpetuate itself, then I am beginning to feel about it like I feel about the Hollywood strike. The Studios are dealing in bad faith and are trying to force a bad deal, hoping to bankrupt writers so they are forced into a bad deal. The writers feel likewise. I, for one, hope they are both successful in their duels to the death.

When do we try to fix things, and when do we just let them destroy themselves?
We do the best we can first, because we understand the results of rejecting the Word of God.

We can’t and shouldn’t force these things, but we need to be ready to build a better world. Because we are going to be the only ones doing so.

From SC. Lots to chew on.

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One good thing about becoming middle-aged is it reveals to you your inner solipsism.  You feel aches and pains springing up here and there and it feels to you like some unique injustice.  Why of all the world is this cruel curse come upon me, you cry, because apparently in some part of your mind the experience of literally every one else ever doesn’t count.

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Just yesterday Benjamin Franklin’s quote crossed my mind:

Experience is a dear school but fools learn by no other.

Of course he doesn’t mean ‘dear’ the way we do.   Experience is not a school that people are really fond of.  The older meaning of dear is “expensive.”

“Costly.”  “Pricy.” (more…)

I recently tried to back out what our LDS birth rate is.  I modeled a bunch of scenarios.

One option is that we have what is normally a vibrant birth rate of 3.0 TFR, which means our actual membership is less than 4 million, compared to our official membership of 17 million.

Bruce C. made a very important point in response.  It isn’t so much what your birth rates are, its what direction you are headed.  3.0 TFR is very healthy—unless that number is a drop from higher previous birth rates .  The direction is what matters, and the direction is bad.  The comment is reproduced in full below (more…)