Utah to Idaho...via Nebraska

   When opportunities cease to seek us, it divulges upon us to seek them...especially opportunities to serve. Some project pop out of nowhere like irksome mosquitos while others issue a beckoning challenge from afar. Thus, upon departure from the mountain hemmed smog of bustling Salt Lake City, Kimball and I made straight to Idaho like hounded jackrabbits, that is to say in a slightly zigzag fashion, hiding in a Nebraskan hole before darting the rest of the way up. In Nebraska Betsy and Seth were subduing work projects of their own. For instance sheet-rocking three rooms in a good friend's basement, and four extra hands I think were not unwelcome, but then I would not have and unbiased opinion about that. :)

   It was not all sweat and sagebrush for us there. Betsy played with a genuine down-strum, pickup riding, homespun, talented bluegrass band. We went to a festival where this band had won the competition last year and this year they were guest performers. If I said I enjoyed it, no one would be surprised to hear that, and therefore I will throw some weight into my little self-evident truth and declare that the audience also visibly enjoyed their music. You should have seen their CD sale afterwards!

   However, if you were to ask the band members what they liked best, this picture would probably be their reply. Jamming, jamming, jamming like they believed the world was created solely to accommodate their string fraying frolics! I doubt they care whether anyone listens or not. That is why I do not feel bad falling asleep after the clock silently signaled midnight and methodically pursued its measured tread toward the unattainable tomorrow, while the band obliviously chased their own goals.

    After the festivities were finished it was back to work! In addition to the sheet-rocking and all, we removed a great scraggly semblance of a tree on the church-converted-into-a-performance-hall property where we were lodging.

   When we took down this tree it took me back a few years, too, to when I had lived in Nebraska and worked for a company that did this kind of work all the time. Those were good days, and after all my experiences and the places I have been since, the days are still good. Unfortunately, sometimes I think my memory is kind of like this poor dismantled tree. It is there in its entirety...just not the same shape.

   Anyway, with the completion of our tasks there were 20+ hours of pavement between us and paradise. Did I just say 20+ hours; let me correct that, that silent unimpassioned clock gave me that statistic, but I think it must be attempting some kind of poor mechanical joke. Still, when I think of that trip it racks my mind into stretched out images. Everything about that trip was long: long hours, long mountains, long roads, long detours, long faces, long yawns all along the way.

   But did we end the journey as soon as possible? Of course not, we prolonged it just a little longer with a drop in on the contra dance in Missoula, Montana where Betsy and Seth infiltrated the band, upon invitation, for a couple of sets and then we were set and continued on our looong merry way "over the mountains and through the woods to..." our house!! Three cheers for the beautiful state of North Idaho and the nest in the mountains that we call home!
   I am always glad to be here, no matter how long it takes. Such are the words from our long absent Post Host, David. Hopefully, it will not be criminally long before we hear from him again.

It's Just Not Fair

    If I had earned a dollar every time I said that phrase growing up, I probably could have retired before I ever started working. Still, sometimes even today I find myself thinking that. Our society today is all hyped on "fairness", treating everyone equally, as if that was the ultimate goal and therefore gives license to stomp all over freedoms and agency in order to press everyone down to the same level of "equality."
    Going back to this oft repeated phrase of my childhood, just as often the answer I would receive to my aggravated plea was, "life isn't fair". To my young mind that explained nothing, soothed no hurt feelings, and only fueled the frustration over unfairness. My question was always, if life was not fair, why should we not try to change it instead of being content this frightful injustice? Should we not try to make it fair? But then again, I never did anything either to amend this tyrannical characteristic of life. After a prolonged season of acquiescence it was I that changed. My view of life in this respect has been modified. Some, including myself, call that repentance.
   This changing process took time and started with subconscious questions. One question was, if life is hopelessly unfair then does that mean that God is unfair?! Eventually, I discovered, and this was the best part, that yes, He is! And thankfully so! Only recently I have come to understand the blessing of inequality. Life is all about unequal exchanges. When you do a job well and do not get recognized or adequately compensated for it, is that fair? Most of us would say no. Flip it around and what would you say if you were recognized and rewarded more than enough? Again, I think many of us would feel we somehow deserved it, even if we expressed ourselves otherwise. Few would say that was unfair, but it is unfair, it is an unbalanced transaction. For that same reason God is unfair. How fair was it for Christ to create this world, work with us everyday, and suffer an infinite agony that we might have eternal joy if we sacrifice our tiny wills? What kind of inequality is that? Why is it that when we get the short end of an unequal exchange that we call it cheating, unfair, and down right piratical, but when we are on the sweet end of the deal it is okay and even commendable and noble of the other party. We call the person that "ripped us off" a jerk or something worse, but we praise the generous as examplary. What is the difference?
    Now, I am not saying it is wrong to accept gifts and that we should reject every generous offer on the grounds that it is unfair. If that was my message, we would have to devise a means of annihilating ourselves both physically and spiritually to escape the unfair bounty of God's ubiquitous blessings. It is my suite that we just take a second look at the life that we label unfair, and see how it is unfair in our favor more often than not.
    This semester at LDS Business College has heightened my awareness of God's unfair dealings with me. There have been many times when I have been overly blessed. For the first month I was using public transit and my own two feet to move from home to school to work and back home, and it was fine. God worked it out that I was given stewardship of a car. I call that an unfair deal! I did nothing to deserve it, I pay nothing close to what it is worth to me, and yet it is here at my disposal. Do not espouse the idea the blessings of God, though undeserved, do not have strings attached. All blessings are tools, as Elder Bednar explains in his book Act in Doctrine, for us to progress, do His work, and become like Him, which outcome is for our own joy and happiness. There again, it is all lopsided, the whole thing is skewed. God gives us a blessing/tool, which He helps us learn how to use, for us to become like Him, to the end that we might be infinitely happy as He is happy. "It's just not fair!" Thank goodness! King Benjamin expressed this thought most eloquently when he proclaimed these words in a General Conference of the Nephites.

"I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may do according to your own will...if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants. And behold all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments" (Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2:21-22).

    Because of an unfair God our existence has meaning, our lives have purpose, and happiness is at all possible! Next time you feel that life is unfair, remember it is a good thing. Our unfair "God will work all things for our good" (When I Pray for You, from Wissman's CD He Is Faithful).  

The Pursuit of Jefferson's Meaning

In the Declaration of Independence, why did Thomas Jefferson use the phrase “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness”? Often today, we speak of the three most fundamental rights as life, liberty, and property. Thomas Jefferson was a highly intelligent man and the phrase life, liberty, and property was not an unknown term to him. Was there something deeper he was trying to express by saying “pursuit of happiness”? I think there was.

First of all, what thoughts come to your mind when you think of happiness? The thoughts that come to my mind are contentment, satisfaction, fulfilled. Grammatically, happiness in a state of being; it is what we are and not something we have. Also, I think of happiness as being pleased with your state of being, feeling like life could not be better, or feeling free. This last idea of happiness, feeling free, is an idea used by many people especially in the advertisement industry. The featured products or philosophy always promises freedom from this problem or that condition or what not, which in turn will make you happy. The point being happiness is the feeling of being free. This all brings me to the subject I want to discuss.

For the sake of clarity in this essay, a few definitions should be established. Liberty is the ability to act and choose. Freedom is the state of being unrestricted or not being controlled. For my purpose I will adopt the definition of happiness as feeling free or unrestricted.

Being happy and pursuing happiness are two different things. I am sure glad he did not say being happy was a fundamental right, enemies of liberty would have loved that, because it would give them an excuse to try make government the provider of happiness, just like they have been trying to do with health care. It is just infeasible and completely contrary to the proper role of government. Anyway, Jefferson did not say happiness was a fundamental right, but “the pursuit of happiness” is.

Being free to pursue what you think will make you feel free is a pretty broad idea. However, it is wonderful because it includes property and a whole bunch of other things as well. Most people thing the acquisition of material things will bring them happiness. They assume it will make them feel unrestricted by hunger, want, lack of resources or whatever limitation they are trying to escape. Others think that certain objects are necessary to attain happiness, other feel that an organization like a specific church or club is essential to happiness. Believing what you want to believe is important to our “pursuit of happiness”, and still other feel that nothing will make them happy so they should be free to have or do nothing. Being free to move or stay in one place is involved in pursuing a feeling unrestricted, and ownership is vital as well because it provides an opportunity feel uncontrolled in how they use what they own. If anything ownership is necessary even to just provide for the basic necessities of life, which to some is crucial to pursuing happiness, others could care less. However, like all fundamental rights, the right to seek happiness in no way permits one to trample on the fundamental rights of others.

Basically, my object was to dig deeper into the denotation and connotations what Jefferson was trying to say. At least, I hope to have encouraged my readers to ponder more deeply into this important issue.

This was David, hosting and posting as usual. “Feel unrestricted” in sharing your opinion or insights with me, but be nice, because you never know when I may post again.