Paperclippings Blog: May 2007

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I pray because I believe, and I believe because I pray.

Joseph Walker--Deseret Morning News



Name:
Kelly
Location:
Utah, United States



Kelly is the mother of 5 adorable kids--4 boys and a girl. The girl came in a package with a boy (twins). Kelly is married to a charming young man who lives and breathes computers. They are also guardians for three nieces and a nephew.

She is active in the community having served as PTA President of a local elementary school, on the board of the Salt Lake Mothers of Twins, as a district round-table trainer with the Cub Scouts, as a volunteer for Sidelines (a support network for Women on bed rest during pregnancy) and she and her husband are active in the LDS Church.

Read more about me...






My City of Heroes level 50 hero


Salt Lake LDS Temple Centennial with a full 3D model of the building in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. This Single Image Stereogram was done at the 100 year anniversary of the building's completion.

Printed at 18x24 inches.







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"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Helaman 5:12




Courtesy of Scott Kurtz


 

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Burritos to Go (Jazz Band Performance)

I just have to brag for a minute. This is the middle school jazz band that my son has been performing with this year. This number is called Burritos to Go. Enjoy!

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Saturday, May 19, 2007

JFK --on today's issues...

My husband and I were walking around an Armed Forces memorial near my home. I saw a quote by John F Kennedy. I thought that his words were as apropriate today as they were then.
The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

I looked up other quotes by JFK and found even more applicable quotes. I wonder what JFK would think of the liberal of today.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President, who happens also to be a Catholic.

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.


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Monday, May 14, 2007

Good vs Evil (discussion)

In a recent conversation on another blog the topic of Good and Evil was discussed. I bring this subject here for more discussion. I invite anyone who would like to discuss their views of Good and Evil. In this discussion there is no right or wrong answers.

Phelonius at Sciolist Salmagundi said...

I always like the take on evil by Thomas Aquinas. He basically stressed that evil was not a 'thing' or even anything necessarily personified by a spirit being or a physical being. His claim was that evil is the absence of good. In other words, if a person accepts his or her responsibility (and the joy) of living to the good as much as possible, then the place for evil is very small indeed.

This argument was primarily aimed at the dualist theologies in which the creator God created both good AND evil. If there is not a real thing, good, that is pursued, then the absence of good is ipso facto evil. In this understanding, one cannot really embrace evil as much as one 'avoids' good.In the case of a complete madman, I think Thomas would have argued that he was impaired to the point that he did not know the value of pursuing the good. To your point, John, then this guy cannot be demonized in that sense. That does not mean that the responsibility is not his, and his alone, it just means that we cannot guess what the Maker's judgment will be.

I think Milton's Lucifer falls under this category rather well. The absence of loving the supreme God is to love the self as supreme instead. That, the sin of pride, is considered by Milton as the chief of all sins. That was why his Adam fell from grace, as he was tempted and fell from grace by wanting his own good rather than that of God.

John said...
I tend to agree with that, i.e. evil being the absence of good.It's logical.

Kelly said...
John, along the lines of evil being the absence of good...Darkness is the absence of Light. I can agree with that.and James, I agree that we cannot know the judgement Cho will face. We do not know what motivated this young man to commit such a heinous act.

Also, I do not believe that God created Good or Evil.

Phelonius said...
Kelly, interesting.That is a lot like the tradition of "Deism." Would you be willing to elaborate on the cause of good?

Kelly said...

Though it may have elements of "deism" my belief is that God is involved in our lives so far as we will permit.I believe that God IS good. I also believe that He allows evil to be present to allow us to choose between good and evil. If we are forced to choose good, are we really good?

Pardon my reference again to the Book of Mormon, but it is key to formation of my understanding or rather belief of the nature of God and good and evil.

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so...,righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.

And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.

And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.

And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.

Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.

And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God. "

I present this as my personal beliefs on the subject and by no means expect anyone to see it as I do.I like this debate.


Phelonius said...


That is the basis of deism, in a sense. It is not the hard deism of Thomas Jefferson, where God creates that world and then steps away to watch his creation run like a clock. There is a link between this line of thought and that of Aquinas. Thomas would not agree that God allows evil to exist, per se. He would agree that God allows us a free will so that we can choose between Him and hell, so to speak.There is a difference between definitions of evil. One person may say, why does God allow disease and hunger, floods and earthquakes?

Those things, in Thomistic thought, are better represented as accidents of nature than evil. The reason is that nature presents trials to us as well, but these are not brought about, necessarily, by any kind of rational or irrational choice. They happen because nature exists and nature is based on rude survival.True evil, as you also represented, is based upon the choice of a being that has the ability to choose. God, being all Good, is one choice. One can choose God or "Not God." The reason that that is evil is that all things that are "Not God" are by definition, evil.

This is the basis of salvation. If a person were an object that is truly evil, then there can be no forgiveness of sins. God cannot forgive an earthquake because an earthquake is acting out the natural forces of nature. A lion eats what it kills because it must. Humans, on the other hand, are the only creatures that are truly capable of choosing between a good and a "not good," so there is still room for a redemptive act.



Kelly said..

"One person may say, why does God allow disease and hunger, floods and
earthquakes?"


How we deal with adversity is another part of the equation. Do we turn bitter or do we rise above. Many have turned against God for things that have 'happened' to them by way of nature.While at the same time, many have become great because of the choice they made to make lemonade out of lemons.

"True evil, ..., is based upon the choice of a being that has the ability to choose. God, being all Good, is one choice. One can choose God or 'Not God.' The reason that that is evil is that all things that are 'Not God' are by definition, evil."

Exactly!I also agree that Mankind are the only ones who have the ability to choose between these two dichotomies.


John said...

"Why does God allow bad things to happen?"

That's not some profound theological mystery that takes a lifetime of exegetical study to glean out of The Bible. It's spelled out quite plainly in the first book (Genesis): Live in this paradisical utopia (i.e. Eden) under One Rule and nothing bad will ever happen. Choose to break the One Rule, however, and you're on your own (and don't blame God for what happens).

So, what do you think....?


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Saturday, May 12, 2007

Collection of quotes

When I was a sophomore in high school my English teacher would post a quote at the top of the chalkboard each day. She rarely told us who coined it and they were usually not more than a one-liner. From the very first day I started writing them down in a notebook I carried with me. Since I didn't miss a day of school that year I got every quote she put up.

There was one day, however, that this teacher was late to class and had failed to get a quote up on the board. The class took it upon themselves to find a quote and post it in the designated location.

Here is a selection of some of my favorites from that year.

1-God's last name is not Dammit.

2-He who throws mud will also get dirty.

3-Keep your words soft and sweet in case you have to eat
them later.

4-There are dozens of rules to success, but none of them
work unless you do.

5-Failure is the path of least persistence.

6-The door to success is labeled push.

7-A friend is a present you give yourself.

8-The battle of the sexes will never be won by either
side. There's too much fraternizing with the enemy.

9-What you don't know may not hurt you, but it will
certainly amuse a lot of us.

10-To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most
people just exist. ---Oscar Wilde

11-Stretching the truth won't make it any
stronger.

12-Astronomy is over your head. --Dave Thomas

13-Geometry is easy as Pi. --Tim Walters.

14-Bumper Sticker: "Support the crisis of your choice.

15-I value the friend who for me finds time on his
calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.

16-Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday
life.

17-When I see you my stomach gets all over and over
excited. Nothing much happens in my head, or that I can feel in my
heart--maybe, my stomach is in love with you.

18-Love is a feeling you feel when you feel you are
feeling a feeling you feel you have never felt before.

19-Life is fragile--handle with prayer.

20-Every man goes down to his grave bearing in his hands
only that which he has given away.

21-If you cannot do great things, do small things in a
great way.

22-A friend is one who knows all about you and loves you
just the same.


You can read the rest at http://paperclippings.com/literature/quotes/quotes1.html.

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Tuesday, May 08, 2007

A Rendezvous With Destiny--Reagan

Thanks to Born-again-Redneck for this find. This is so applicable today as it was when he gave this speech. If you have ears...HEAR this!!

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Friday, May 04, 2007

The End of the World! Or the beginning... MEME

I was tapped by J~ over at Eeps, Meeps and Ipes for the "Blog Apocalypse" meme. It was started by UrbanMonk, who is donating to charity based upon the participation.

"Now there's a reason to do participate in the meme!Anyway, it goes like this: We're gonna pretend the entire Blogosphere is coming to an end! You have the opportunity to make one last post. A chance to summarize your blog, leave people with one last gem, whatever. What do you say?"

Well, My blog is a mixture many things. It is called Paperclippings after all. Mostly it is an outlet for things that are on my mind. Sometimes others are interested in what I say. Other times they could care less. That does not matter. This is my outlet. I do, however, appreciate those who stop to comment and visit.

I forgot to add a tag to the end...

I tag:

  1. John O at whatever medium he chooses.
  2. Curtains...
  3. Republicus
  4. Amy
  5. Phelonius

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Thursday, May 03, 2007

My Faith

While I was serving as an LDS (Mormon) missionary in Virginia many years ago the other lady missionary I was serving with had to go in for an eye doctor appointment. We arrived at the eye doctor with our name tags on. We didn’t go anywhere except on our preparation (laundry) days without our name tags.

A few days later we got a call from this eye doctor telling us that he wanted to meet with us to discuss a matter of religion. We both got the feeling that he wanted to Bible bash with us. We felt strongly that we should leave our scriptures in the car.

As we entered his office he asked us to sit. He then proceeded to tell us that because of our belief in the Book of Mormon and in Joseph Smith he could not in good conscience treat my missionary companion. He told us that because our religion teaches that faith is more than just an acceptance of Jesus Christ that we were children of the devil and we should change our ways or we would be going to hell.

I was reminded of this event recently as I have posted comments on a few blogs. As I have used verses from the Book of Mormon to back up what someone else has said or to demonstrate why I believed something I have been met with a myriad of responses. I have been told things that I believe—or think I believe that have little to do with what I actually believe. I have, on an occasion or two, been told that Joseph Smith got the Book of Mormon out of a hat. That last one has got to be the most bizarre. Do people really believe that he did that or are they just passing on something they heard?

As we were reading after meeting with the eye doctor that day in Virginia I came to some verses in the Book of Mormon. This gave me my view of all of this.

2 Nephi 33: 10-12

And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.

And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day.
In the end it will be Jesus Christ who will judge whether we have followed his teachings or not. It will be Christ who will say whether the Book of Mormon is the word of God or not.

As for me, I believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God as much as I believe the Bible to be the word of God. I believe that it was written by people in ancient America who came from Jerusalem 600 years before Christ. I believe that if God could help the children of Israel cross the Red Sea on dry land that He can teach a man to build a boat to cross an ocean—just as He told Noah how to build the ark.

I believe, as the scriptures say in John 10: 16, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”

I believe that God is no respecter of people. We are all His children and that we are not alone. He has not left us to stumble through this life without His help. I know for myself that He has guided me in my own life. He has given me direction in the things that I should do. God has not stopped talking to his children. It is only when we stop listening that His word fails to get through.

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Another Web meme (my Daemon)

I got this from a friend on her blog....and so in keeping...for those who know me...does this fit?

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