Category Archives: Silence

Mowing the lawn in flip-flops

14 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Patience, Service, Silence, Teaching, Trials

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mowing stripes

A couple of Saturdays ago, I asked Luke (my 10-year-old son) to mow the lawn.  Based on his body language, and his verbal protests this burden that I had laid upon his shoulders was equivalent to asking him to build the Egyptian pyramids (not on MineCraft).  So, in an effort to console him; I explained that this process of mowing the lawn could in fact be very beneficial to him.  I explained that it could help build his muscles (he didn’t care), I explained that it could strengthen his understanding of the growth and life cycle process of grass (he didn’t care), I explained that it makes our home look nice and I even explained that by him doing that chore it would allow me to continue to perform other duties in the yard that also needed to be done (he didn’t care).  This left me with the opportunity of teaching him that in order for him to play Xbox that day or ever again that he would need to mow the lawn (and suddenly he cared a lot) and agreed to perform the task.

After this discussion, I started to get things ready for him to perform this monumental task.  I went to the shed and got the lawnmower.  I put gas in it.  I primed it.  Then I brought it to the edge of the driveway where the lawn starts.  I also trimmed the entire exterior of the lawn, so that when the lawn was mowed, it would look uniform in its mowed state.  While I was thus preparing – so was he.  Luke located an electronic device, secured his headphones, selected and configured his epic playlist, and appeared next to me pumped up and ready to go – wearing his flip-flops….  After I made him change into real shoes and I had started the lawnmower for him1 he went to work.

About 20 minutes later he came to me as a sweaty mess and informed me that he was done.  I asked if he had done the front and the side – all I heard in return was a huff and a grumble (and maybe a moan).  Off he went again (until he came back 30 seconds later and asked me to start the lawnmower for him again).  Another 15 minutes passed and he strolled confidently around the corner and proceeded to tell me that he was really done this time.  He had done it.  I thanked him and let him know that there were Gatorades in the fridge in the garage for times just like this when demanding physical feats are performed against all odds and electrolyte replenishment is needed.  He disappeared immediately.

Naturally, I stopped what I was doing to go inspect his Egyptian pyramid, and just shook my head because what I saw was pretty much a hot mess of sort-of mowed grass.  Sprinkled within the strips of mowed grass there were long lengths of not-mowed grass, and even a 4-foot strip of lawn that had been ignored completely.  The rows were uneven, scattered, and the mowed parts didn’t quite make it to the edge of the lawn where I had trimmed.  It looked like the lawn got a haircut from a blind man.

I was faced with two choices; go get him to finish the job, or clean up his mess.  I have chosen the first of these two options in several similar situations, just as many of you probably have.  After all, the layout of this story is pretty much exactly the same as when we ask any of our young children to clean their rooms, or when we ask their other (and sometimes older) siblings to help load or unload the dishwasher, sweep the floor, fold laundry, to pick up the house, to do their homework, or honestly to perform any task at all.  The fact of the matter is that they won’t do it as good as we do even when we tell them to “clean it like I would clean it”.  They just can’t.  At least not yet.

Luke had worked hard.  The sweat on his red face had proved it.  He felt like he gave it his all and I (his father) – knowing him and his personality as well as anyone – was fully aware of the effort he gave.  Even though the result was far from perfect, and far from what I would even consider satisfactory I was nevertheless happy enough with his effort to go over nearly the entire front lawn again and finish the job.  Next time around, and as he grows older, I will no doubt help him to see that although I am happy with his previous effort, I will identify a few areas of improvement and inform him of my updated expectations – and I may or may not still use the Xbox as leverage if needed.   Because even if he doesn’t care about building his own muscles -I do.  I know the result of continued hard work and can envision a time where I can just ask him to mow the lawn and have complete faith that it will happen – just like I would do it.

Our father in heaven asks us to mow the lawn.2  Sometimes that feels like He’s asking us to build the Egyptian pyramids, and as He’s explaining how it will help our muscles grow and provide us with context for the life cycle of grass, we mope around in a huff, murmur, and moan looking for our flip flops.  Then, while we are selecting our epic playlist hoping that our task will somehow escape us He is diligently “preparing the way for us that we may accomplish the thing which He commandeth us”.3

Then, after we finally make an effort, and when we’ve made a completely juvenile attempt at making the amazon jungle look like Wrigley Field and approach Him with sweat on our brows; He smiles at us, thanks us for our hard work, and hands us an ice cold Gatorade.  As we walk in the house to collapse on the couch from exhaustion He walks behind us and mows the lawn again to make sure that it was done correctly and that every piece of grass gets mowed.

As we grow older, and this process is repeated He will gently explain to us how mowing the lawn is helping us, and someday He hopes that we will come to learn not only how to mow the lawn just like He would, but why it is so important to mow the lawn at all.

Notes

1 Before you think that Luke is completely helpless, you should know that our lawnmower really is difficult to start, and is also fairly hard to operate in general.  It’s old and does not have the fancy ‘self-propelled’ feature that many other lawnmowers do.

2 This task of mowing the lawn could be replaced with any task referenced above (cleaning the house, washing the dishes, vacuuming, scrubbing the toilets, homework, etc.)

3 1 Ne. 3:7

Not Papaya Juice

25 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by in Food, Opposition, Silence, Trials

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Something awesome happens when you squeeze an orange.  Juice comes out.  It doesn’t matter whether it is sliced in half and then squeezed with hands directly into a glass or chopped up in big pieces and thrown into a juicer, or even if it is peeled and then ‘juiced’ by my teeth and they chomp up and down, the fact of the matter is that regardless of the particular method of squeezing involved, the juice that is inside that orange is going to come out under pressure.

How strange would it be if we squeezed an orange, only to find something other than orange juice?  Perhaps it could be apple juice, pear juice, or if you are really unlucky it could be guava or a papaya juice – or worse still a glob of black goo.  That’s when you just throw it in the trash (papaya and goo).  We would label it as a Pharisee fruit and shake our heads in disgust wondering what on earth went wrong.

Fruit is a product of a tree1, and rightfully and literally is called the fruit – not just because that’s its name, but also because it is a literal product of, or the end result of the growth process of that tree/vine/bush.  In this sense, the juice that is inside the fruit could be considered the fruit of the fruit – or the end result of that fruit’s maturity – or in other words, what it ultimately has to give at the end of it’s life cycle (when its time to be squeezed).

Paul taught, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance”. 2 Peter added, “beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful”.3

Mosiah and Alma were almost identical in their descriptions of the qualities that we should posses (as enticed by the Holy Spirit), being “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, and all long-suffering”.4  Then, the Lord himself indicated that power (the only real kind) must gained and exercised by “long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge”… and that our  bowels should be “full of charity, and that virtue should garnish our thoughts unceasingly”.5  By my count that’s a list of at least 31 traits (at least 13 are duplicates) that should be “in us” if we have the spirit and if we are to be good fruit.

The next question then, is what comes out of us when we are squeezed?

Regardless of what method of squeezing is used, or who (or what) is doing the squeezing; if we experience pressure (and we do), our fruit juice will start to come out.  Squeezing could be things like pressure at work,  juggling the various demands on our time, busy schedules for everyone, church callings, high expectations, unfair and perhaps uninformed judgments, words, thoughts, or actions towards us by anyone and everyone, and really every other thing in the whole world that has been specifically tailored to our individual lives, or products of living in a fallen world to see how we respond individually to being squeezed.  After all, that’s why we are here isn’t it?

When things get hard (they will and they do), and the light seems to be fading, and sometimes when the lights are bright and everything is fine, you can bet you’re being squeezed – and what comes out of us (how we treat others, how we turn outward in that moment, how we act, etc.) is a really good indicator of what is really inside of us.  Let’s all hope that when we are being squeezed we have more to offer than a pile of black goo or papaya juice – because this world already has enough anger, resentment, vengeance, un-forgiveness, lack of patience, short-suffering, harshness, contention, vice, vanity, pride, selfishness, and insubordination.  There is enough and to spare of that black goo.  Instead, let’s hope that when things are the hardest, the toughest, the gruesomest, the darkest, and the most difficult – when we are really getting squeezed – that sweet and flavorful fruit juice of the spirit is what people will see coming from us.  Things like patience, charity, long-suffering, kindness, temperance, goodness, faith, joy, meekness, humility, and love.  Let’s match the world and provide enough and to spare.

To come back to the center of everything, let’s think about the time when the best of us all was squeezed beyond anything that you or I can even imagine.  Then realize that during those excruciating moments of absolute pain and anguish, the fruit that was “in him” was literally squeezed right out of him, and was left for all to see – and it was the purest of all love.  Pure, humble, constant, amazing love.   His squeezing was so intense, that it caused him “even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit”. 6 Yet there he was, all the while worried about you and me, and making sure that we had a way out.

Let’s share goodness, even when we don’t think anyone deserves it.  Maybe especially when we know they don’t deserve it, because after all, we are all in the growing process of becoming fruit, and the juice that is inside of us is what we ultimately have to give during every step and leading up to the end of our life cycle.  And fortunately for all of us, a loving father has provided us a strong and beautiful tree (and vine) that provides nourishment, love, and encouragement through his grace to help us be the best fruit we can be.

Notes

1 – I realize that there are some fruits that grow on vines, bushes, or in bogs as well, but the principle is the same (they grow on some type of plant).

2 Galatians 5:22-23

3 2 Peter 1:5-8

4 Mosiah 3:19 and Alma 13:28

5 D&C 121:41-45

6 D&C 19:18

A Profound Silence

03 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Faith, Preparation, Silence

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Several years ago when I worked for a local gas company as a meter reader, with the job of reading meters manually (that means I walked around and wrote numbers down).  One day, I had parked the truck on the curb but left my door open (probably so I could still listen to the radio as I walked to the meter and back) while I worked.  About the time I finished writing the numbers down I heard the all too familiar sound of a man-eating dog.  After being born into the world pre-programmed to be petrified of dogs (gift of the pre-existence), 4 years as a paperboy, 2 years as a missionary in Brazil, and 4 more as a meter reader, there was no chance for negotiations.  So, naturally I ran.  In that moment, I ran faster than Usain Bolt has ever run – guaranteed.  In the .3 seconds that it took me to travel the 100 feet from where I was to the vicinity of where the truck was parked I managed a glance at the beast that was seeking my life.  It was pretty much a werewolf with fangs and claws like a T-Rex.  I was doomed – or so he thought/hoped.  As he closed in on me something truly amazing happened; with about 10 feet to go I knew there was not time to stop, get in the seat, and shut the door – so I had to do it all in one fluid motion.   I leapt, flew 10 feet in the air, and during that graceful move I contorted my body into a sitting position, and at exactly the same time I twisted my body sideways so that I was literally flying through the air in a seated position – which allowed me to gracefully land perfectly into the seat of my truck.  This is amazing on its own, but I need to add one more detail.  During this acrobatic motion, I also was able to grab the door handle and swing it shut with me (as if it were part of my own body) and in the precise instant that I landed on the seat, the door shut with me leaving the werewolf hound on the outside looking in – amazed and angry at what had just happened.

The moment I was safe in the cab of my truck – I looked around in a desperate hope to see if anyone had witnessed that most graceful move in the history of graceful moves.  I searched the streets, neighboring windows for anyone, anywhere, anything that could have witnessed this event – and I was met with crickets.  Nothing.  Complete and utter silence.  Nobody saw it, nobody was cheering for me, nobody was shaking his or her head in amazement.  Just me and the carnivorous werewolf who was cheated out of his lunch – and even he didn’t linger in awe.  I was so disappointed that I didn’t have anyone to witness my feat.  In what may very well be the most athletic and awesome move that has ever been performed by anyone, anywhere (including the dunk contest, figure skating, and all those trampoline competitions or chess matches) I was left completely on my own, with not a single soul even knowing about what a great thing had just occurred. And to pour salt in my emotional wounds, the expectation that I would still read the rest of the meters on my route during my shift remained in full force.  Life is cruel.

Sometimes the most amazing things are accomplished without a single human eye to see it or a single ear to hear it.

We are all asked to do a lot of things.  Hundreds and hundreds of things that can and will help us become better.  In addition to all those things, we are required to do things every single day like go to work, sleep, shower, rest, use the bathroom, shop for groceries, mow the lawn, wash clothes, fold clothes, help the kids with homework, make dinner, clean dinner, wash the dishes, clean the house, teach our kids to be nice to other people, teach our kids the gospel, teach our kids what the world is really about just to keep from living in a garbage can down by the river.  In my house there are no bleachers, there are no film crews and cameras.  None of these amazing and important things are done in front of an audience.  In fact, all of these things, the very things we are asked to do, are done in obscurity, with absolutely nobody watching.  They are done in silence.  Don’t believe me?  Ask your wife.

I’d also like to make a connection that I think is rather amazing.   First, we need to understand or remember that these things – the every day things we do in complete obscurity when absolutely nobody is watching – are the very real ways and means for each of us to actually put on the armor of God, and to help prepare our children prepare themselves with that same armor.  Remember that the armor of God includes several defensive tools and a single offensive tool, and when united together this armor can be described as our “weapons of war”.

With that understanding, let’s read the following passage in Alma 55 (verses 16 and 17):

…and Moroni had prepared his men with weapons of war,… while the Lamanites were in a deep sleep and drunken, and cast in weapons of war unto the prisoners, insomuch that they were all armed; Yea, even to their women, and all those of their children, as many as were able to use a weapon of war, when Moroni had armed all those prisoners; and all those things were done in a profound silence.

This passage is so amazing when you consider yourself as Moroni and the prisoners as our children, or those whom we love and have responsibility for.  While the world is “in a deep sleep and drunken” it is our responsibility to “cast in weapons of war unto the prisoners” until they become “armed”.1  This includes the women, the children, and “as many as are able to use a weapon of war.  And maybe the best part of all – “those things were done in a profound silence”.

The word profound means “pervasive or intense, thorough, complete”.  Think of the intense meaning then, of a profound silence.  Not just a lack of noise, or even a quiet situation; but a deep and intense, pervasive silence.  This is the acclaim that we are slotted to receive for the hard work that the Lord has asked us to do.  This is the applause that we can expect from the world while we are trying against all rational thought to read (and understand) scriptures with our young children at 6:30 in the morning.  These are the sounds that we can expect to encounter while we are busy arming ourselves against the loud and boisterous world.  Profound silence.

For some context, let’s remember that some of the most amazing things in the entire history of the world have happened in a profound silence – and yet have the most deafening results.  The atoning prayer and resurrection of Jesus Christ were done in what may be considered the most profound yet reverberating silence of all.  Our small, simple, and weak efforts every single day to arm ourselves and our children with “weapons of war” that are often done in a profound silence, will be the very real means by which  “all the poor and meek of the earth… may become a great mountain and fill the whole earth.2 with power, light, love, joy, and peace.

So, 14 seconds from now, when you are wondering why the world doesn’t celebrate your every accomplishment to follow the savior, or you can’t figure out why the blessing dump truck hasn’t arrived at your door because you read your scriptures today, just remember that the quietest acts of goodness may end up being the loudest of all – and that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived as a man, suffered unspeakable things, and performed the most amazing and infinite act of pure love that will ever be known – “and those things were done in a profound silence”.

Notes

1 It is also interesting to consider that we cannot “cast in weapons of war unto the prisoners” if we don’t have any weapons for ourselves.  Consider the parable of the 10 virgins in this light.

2 D&C 109:72

A Man Among Them

05 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Humility, Silence

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There are over 7.3 Billion people on earth.  Just to illustrate with an actual number, that’s more than 7,300,000,000 people living right now and each one of us is “a man among them”. 1   We have all been asked to “let our light so shine” and to “stand with brightness”. Yet, with that many people in the world, we might feel like our lights just aren’t what they need to be sometimes because even when we unite ourselves with the other 15 Million Latter-Day Saint members, we realize that 1 Million is only one-thousandth of 1 Billion.  Too often we feel like we are too small even (and maybe especially) if we live in an area with a higher concentration of members.  We may feel like we are just one person among so many or that there is no way that the Lord can use us to bring about a change – let alone a “mighty” change.

We may think or feel something like; “I am just one person, among so many, what can I do”?  If we feel that way, we are not alone.  I imagine that everyone at some point has felt that they were just “a man among them” – because that’s exactly what we are, and that’s exactly what the Lord wants us to be.

I love the story of Abinidi.  It is a popular story; one which most of us remember clearly from primary because of it’s PG-13 rating.   Yet, there is so much to this story that we don’t know yet.  We know the results of the story (his martyrdom), and the effect of his willingness (Alma’s change of heart) and we can understand why it is in the Book of Mormon.  Yet, there is something at the very beginning of the story that we should also understand.  It is in the verse in which Abinidi is introduced to the reader – which we may skip far too easily.

Chapter 11 of Mosiah explains that the kingdom was conferred from Zeniff to one of his sons (Noah), and that Noah did not walk in the ways of his father.  Verses 2-19 outline the horrible things Noah did as king to burden and tax the people and if we are observant, we will notice that the conditions of that kingdom as explained pretty much mirror the conditions in which we live today.  They also include a victorious mini-battle which contributes to Noah’s pride and boasting, which all set the stage for Abinidi.

Verse 20 reads “And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinidi…that’s it.  That’s the extent of our introduction to one of the greatest heroes in the book of Mormon.  The Lord wouldn’t have it any other way.  We never learn, but Abinidi was very likely a simple, humble and righteous soul (probably normal in every sense of the word) who tried his best every day to live according to the principles of the gospel as ‘a man among them’.  One man among a city and community full of wicked priests, idolatrous and wicked people.  I imagine that Abinidi had vowed long before this call came from the Lord to serve in whatever capacity he was asked to fill.  I imagine that the oil of Abinidi’s lamp had been slowly filled over many years of devoted scripture study, prayer, obedience, and hard work.  I imagine that Abinidi had teachers, friends, family, and numerous struggles just like the rest of us.  Yet, when the call came  – he was ready to serve – and “he went forth among them” and did the will of the Lord.

We all know the story; the people are filled with wroth and naturally want to take away Abinidi’s life because he testified of their wickedness.  The people try to kill him, but the Lord “delivered him out of their hands” (the first time).  This put Abinidi on their hit list, and “they sought from that time forward to take him”.

I like to think that the Lord used that first assignment as a test for Abinidi to see if he would “do all things whatsoever the Lord [his] God shall command [him]”.3  It couldn’t have been easy for Abinidi to rise up and preach to the people, especially since he was “a man among them”, yet he did it.  The Lord may have also been providing some additional instruction and preparation (temporal and spiritual) to Abinidi because it’s not for two more years that he returns (disguised) and gives his amazing testimony to king Noah and his priests.  No doubt these two years consisted of fervent prayer, trust in the Lord, willingness to submit to his will that led to an unflinching willingness to seal his testimony with his life.  Abinidi’s amazing testimony, teachings, and witness is then outlined in chapters 12-16.

As humble and simple as that introduction was for Abinidi, being “a man among them”, let’s remember the amazing and “mighty” change which was the result of this testimony.  In chapter 17 (verse 2) of Mosiah we are introduced to the lone young man who “believed the words which Abinidi had spoken”.  This introduction is strikingly similar, which reads “there was one among them whose name was Alma”…

We know that this “one among them whose name was Alma” believed and acted to change his life, and the life of his posterity which blessed many people and provided us with lots of great reading material – for which we are all grateful.

Before we think that Abinidi and Alma are the only two with simple introductions, let’s remember Amulek who is introduced to the reader (when Alma came upon him) by the glorious and wordy “he said to ‘a man‘” (Alma 8:19).

We all live in a world filled to the brim with all sorts of iniquity, and we feel like we are just “one man among them”.  But, we can be patiently and humbly obeying and doing our best to be ready for when the Lord calls us to “perform a work” – whatever that work may be.  That work may only affect “one among them”, but that one has the potential to become many.   We can also help those who are in our care (children, spouses, etc.) to patiently and humbly do their best to be ready, because the Lord will call us.  Let us strive to be men and women of God, patient and humble enough, that our introduction and story can simply be “there was a man among them” named (enter your name here) who did the will of the Lord.

General Note:

In regards to emphasis as outlined in my previous post. We can also place more focus on the term ‘man’1 – especially as it causes us to ponder on what a real man or woman is.  For example, we could read it “And it came to pass that there was A MAN among them”.  This denotes that Abinidi was a true man of God2 among the people.   This thought is strengthened when read in context of John 19:5 (Behold, the man!) as that indicates the ultimate goal of true manhood.   One other thought to consider while reading these passages, is the difference between the use of son of man, and Son of Man (with capitalization).  This second usage is “A title that Jesus Christ used when speaking of himself (Luke 9:22; 21:36).  It meant the Son of Man of Holiness.  Man of Holiness is one of the names of God the Father.  When Jesus called himself the Son of Man, it was an open declaration of his divine relationship with the Father”. 3

Notes

1 I will use ‘man’ here, but do not infer any difference in characteristics between males and females, especially as it relates to righteousness.

2 See “Be Men!” by Carlos E. Asay, April 1992 (click here)

3 The Guide to the Scriptures – Son of Man