Twain on "sharpening our edges"

When an acre of ground has produced long and well, we let it lie fallow and rest for a season; we take no man clear across the continent in the same coach he started in—the coach is stabled somewhere on the plains and its heated machinery allowed to cool for a few days; when a razor has seen long service and refuses to hold an edge, the barber lays it away for a few weeks, and the edge comes back of its own accord. We bestow thoughtful care upon inanimate objects, but none upon ourselves. What a robust people, what a nation of thinkers we might be, if we would only lay ourselves on the shelf occasionally and renew our edges!

-Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad.

Tuning In.

I love this so much. And I love hearing President Faust's sweet voice.

Elder Holland on Avoiding Temptation

Whether we be single or married, young or old, let’s talk for a moment about how to guard against temptation in whatever form it may present itself. We may not be able to cure all of society’s ills today, but let’s speak of what some personal actions can be.

• • 
  Above all, start by separating yourself from people, materials, and circumstances that will harm you. As those battling something like alcoholism know, the pull of proximity can be fatal. So too in moral matters. Like Joseph in the presence of Potiphar’s wife, ⁴ just run—run as far away as you can get from whatever or whoever it is that beguiles you. And please, when fleeing the scene of temptation, do not leave a forwarding address.
• • 
  Acknowledge that people bound by the chains of true addictions often need more help than self-help, and that may include you. Seek that help and welcome it. Talk to your bishop. Follow his counsel. Ask for a priesthood blessing. Use the Church’s Family Services offerings or seek other suitable professional help. Pray without ceasing. Ask for angels to help you.
• • 
  Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it. Many of these influences, at least initially, may not technically be evil, but they can blunt our judgment, dull our spirituality, and lead to something that could be evil. An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, ⁵so watch your step.
• • 
  Like thieves in the night, unwelcome thoughts can and do seek entrance to our minds. But we don’t have to throw open the door, serve them tea and crumpets, and then tell them where the silverware is kept! (You shouldn’t be serving tea anyway.) Throw the rascals out! Replace lewd thoughts with hopeful images and joyful memories; picture the faces of those who love you and would be shattered if you let them down. More than one man has been saved from sin or stupidity by remembering the face of his mother, his wife, or his child waiting somewhere for him at home. Whatever thoughts you have, make sure they are welcome in your heart by invitation only. As an ancient poet once said, let will be your reason. ⁶
• • 
  Cultivate and be where the Spirit of the Lord is. Make sure that includes your own home or apartment, dictating the kind of art, music, and literature you keep there. If you are endowed, go to the temple as often as your circumstances allow. Remember that the temple arms you “with [God’s] power, … [puts His] glory … round about [you], and [gives His] angels … charge over [you].” ⁷ And when you leave the temple, remember the symbols you take with you, never to be set aside or forgotten.

Jeffrey R. Holland, "Place No More for the Enemy of my Soul," CR April 2010.

Spiritual Education

We are spiritual, as well as mental and physical; and our education, to be complete, and fully satisfactory, must take into account the demands of the spirital nature of man, and provide for religious instruction. The man whose mind and body alone are trained is not necessarily a safe citizen. . . . Spiritual education is the best known means of causing men to use their powers for human good.
-John A. Widtsoe, "Right Education as a Force in Obedience to Law," Improvement Era, November 1922, 74-75.

The man whose mind only has been trained may be likened to the ship with great engines and a huge propeller ready to drive the ship forward, but without rudder, hart, compass, or definite destination. When we add to the man, so trained, spiritual training, then it is as if we add to the ship, with its wonderful machinery, a compass, a chart, a rudder, and a dependable intelligence which controls the whole machinery, above and below deck, so that the vessel may reach a safe haven, according to a definite purpose.  
-John A. Widtsoe, id., 77.

The love of truth must be fostered if men are to travel the road to happy useful life. Unless you have learned to love truth your colege course has been in vain. Amost the prime purpose of college training is to enable men to distinguish between that which the powers of men have found to be true, and the inferences . . . that are drawn from such facts of observation. . . . Men must cling to truth at whatever cost. That must be the constant, most important teaching of the schools.
-John A. Widtsoe, "Serve you 'Won Generation,'" Improvement Era, July 1938, 393.

Spiritual perfection, under the true laws of God, should be the aim of all men; the trained mind and the vigorous body may be used in winning such perfection. The will for righteousness transcends in importance, any intellectual accomplishments. It is for the development of the greater power that the Church Schools have been established.
-John A. Widtsoe, "The Church School System," Improvement Era, August 1923, 865.

I feel like I've lost a little of the savor of learning new truths and applying them for the benefit of anything but getting babies to sleep or avoiding tantrums. I hope I can revive it as I teach my kiddos so that they can catch it.

This also makes me reflect on my legal education at BYU. In law, it seems so easy to subjectify truth; it makes me want to reexamine the role of truth in law practice. Maybe I'll get really ambitious and write some really profound article and get it published in the Clark Memorandum. Maybe I'll forget about it entirely. And now I'll have this post to remind me later and make me feel guilty if I've done the latter =).

Everything happens for a reason.

That's what people always say. But I don't recall ever having seen it so straightforward in a scripture before:

  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 
  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
  And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

2 Corinthians 1:3-6

In other words, Paul felt that when he was comforted, it was so that he could comfort those he served, and when he suffered, it was so that he could relate with those who suffered, and both so that he could better know Christ.

Paul on Revelation

I am trying to process this. Thoughts?

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
(1 Corinthians 2:9-16)

My one-sentence translation as it stands:
When the scriptures say that "man" can't receive the mysteries of God, they refer to "the natural man;" by putting off the natural man and receiving the Spirit, we can receive all things.

(Okay, I sort of cheated on the one-sentence thing with the semicolon. At least I only used one...)

Thoughts on Liturature and Mormons

I only had a chance to skim this article, but thought it was a good one. I have been trying to take some time for literature lately.

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=166&sourceId=f05018e7c379b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Wisdom and Simplicity, or Learning the Hard Way

Can you tell where I've been reading lately? Here's some more great counsel from Paul:

I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.   Romans 16:19

The footnotes give the Greek translation of the word for simple as blameless or innocent.

Right off the bat, this reminded me of feelings I had toward the end of law school. During my penultimate semester I took a class on internet regulation, and a large portion of the class focused on pornography, since that was a field my professor was working hard to help regulate. I wrote a paper for that class on law and moraliy, and then expanded that into my 30-page substantial writing requirement during the following semester. For both the class and the paper, I read through a lot of studies and watched a lot of forums, and I recall feeling ambivalent about the studies that were conducted about pornography. On the one hand, they seemed necessary to evidence the damage that pornography can inflict on its viewers, but on the other hand it didn't seem quite right to make people watch pornography in order to study its effects. I myself wouldn't feel comfortable participating in such a study. Yet that exact study seemed so pivotal in substantiating my point.

Paul reminded me of the fundamental problem: the world insists on learning things the hard way! It should be enough for us to study and familiarize ourselves with what is good, so that we can quickly recognize and cast away evil. If we are wise as to the good, we don't need to study evil in depth to know we should avoid it. But the world, which so often mocks and derides the good, requires proof of a terrible consequence before possibly admitting that something may be bad. Thus the Lord instructed:

Wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth.   Doctrine & Covenants 38:30

With respect to parenting, I am reminded of how the Savior himself was raised:  Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.  (Isaiah 7:15) We don't need to teach our children all about evil in order for them to avoid it. Spencer W. Kimball told a story of a young man who had gotten involved in various perversions. When asked where he got the idea for such things, he said that he'd gotten it from his bishop. In an attempt to warn the young man about every possible evil, the bishop instead planted unworthy thoughts in the boys' head that, when fed, manifested themselves in sin. (See Faith Precedes the Miracle. I don't have the book here, or I'd find the page.) The world will do all it can to teach our children about sin. We can focus our energy on showing them the sweetness of every good thing.

UPDATE: Funny, today (May 4th) on Facebook someone posted this quote from Brigham Young:
We should not only study good, and its effect upon our race, but also evil, and its consequences. (JD 2:93–94.) Ha ha ha. So clearly there has to be a balance; we can't just ignore that evil exists, and we should acknowledge and even study its consequences. But still that does not require becoming an expert in evil itself. Always a balance...