I think this was week two of the quarantine directive.
This is one of my favorite scriptures, and I think it’s a perfect quote for this difficult time.
A few years ago we tried the shaving cream egg dying strategy. It was fun, but we ended up with a lot of “eggstra” colored cream after. So, just as an experiment, we tried it on paper. It ended up looking really cool! So I thought I’d try a free hand drawing of the Salt Lake Temple on it.
In the first church meeting today, one of the speakers talked about we need to focus on feeling the music of the gospel (probably alluding to this conference talk) in addition to focusing on the doctrinal dance steps.
Taking it one step further and internalizing it, I had this thought:
I know all the steps... but I'm not a great dancer. I often get off track. But as long as I can still hear the music, I know that I can always join back in and start the steps again. It's only when I lose the music that I'm really lost: The spirit is more important than the letter of the law.
I sometimes have trouble focusing in church, my creative brain getting easily distracted and wandering on to other topics. When I have a secular song stuck in my head during an experience that is supposed to be sacred, I often try to turn the song on its head and find gospel connections. That's what led to my reinterpretation of this song from The Greatest Showman as Eve's story. Enjoy.
*overheard at church as I walked in with American Flag earrings*
"I wish I could be as passionate about something as Alayna is about holidays."
She's got a point. Holidays are a magical time where I wear my heart on my sleeves and ignore how loud or bright or crazy my outfits are. But the earrings and scarfs and stockings are just the outside manifestation of my deep love for these days, what they stand for, and the opportunities for unity they present us with.
This weekend, we observe Veterans Day. In order to honor something, we have to really understand it. While making a list of some of the qualities of veterans, I ended up with a really unique and meaningful conclusion that I'd like to share with you. Most of these are applicable to all Veterans who have served, but because I have a specific Veteran in mind please excuse my use of the masculine pronoun in my list.
The Ultimate Veteran
He served for those without the strength or power to save themselves.
He left his home to fight on foreign soil.
Some derided and devalued him; some esteemed him as a hero.
He willingly paid the ultimate price for many who will never really know him.
He didn't serve from a specific state (nation), but because he served, our state is forever changed.
He fought for our freedom....
...freedom from sin and pain and death.
His name is Jesus Christ.
This weekend, as we remember the veterans who serve and sacrifice with Christlike love, may we also remember Jesus Christ, the veteran of the world.
Veterans Day is a holiday.
But it can be a holy day, too.
In the mission I called them #HermanaEenTheories. Essentially, they are the little distilled "aha" moments of spiritual insight that come to me throughout the week and really should be shared so... enjoy these ones.
"Our lives are like a chessboard, and the Lord moves us from one place to another—if we are responsive to spiritual promptings. Looking back, we can see His hand in our lives." Ronald A. Rasband in "Divine Design" Well, if life is like a chessboard, then I must be a knight because the moves are unpredictable and all avenues seem blocked and then hey! Suddenly I'm where I'm supposed to be.
Also, Ronald A. Rasband sounds like Dug, from Up. ( I think it's the roundness of his tone and the lack or contractions).
Sometimes I have to do FHME activities.
I want to have a knee-jerk reaction to the Spirit.
Other people's testimonies relating to the Reformers and another one including the seasons (we complain about the weather and the seasons--whichever ones we are in, we find something to complain about. We do the same things with the seasons in our lives. Let's not complain), I love to hear the different ways the gospel the truths are made manifest in the lives of others because I see them EVERYWHERE in mine.
Why did the early saints dedicate so much to the building of temples? It was the price of eternity.
The Gospel is the Golden Ratio of my life. I see it pieces and patterns in all aspects of life and creation.
Borrowed wisdom:
Elizabeth: Salvation is like a group project--you have to help each other out in order for your family to be together forever.
Eliza: If salvation is a group project, then Jesus is that person who will do all of the work and still let you get the good grade.
4th Nephi 1:17 "There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God." Many of them may have been Lamanites by birth, so it wasn't a change in their parentage... rather, a decision not to have that be their primary identifier. Instead, they chose to identify first as "the children of Christ." What are the "-ites" in our lives? (BYUites, Datingites, Singleites, Disneyites, Missionites, etc.) But if we take away the ites, if we focus instead on what we have in common, if we "un-ite" ourselves... we will be UNITED in Christ.
- I was really excited to share this in my portion of the Relief Society class today and it was incredibly validating to hear the shocked gasps and verbal ahas (it even got a few claps). So it wasn't just me that was weirdly happy about this nerdy connection (shout out to Elder Ryan Davis for the concept).
I am curled up comfortably on the couch, leisurely turning the pages of a novel. Friends and roommates meander about, making cheerful conversation. Christmas music floats through the warm, bright air which mixes with the steady but gentle steam rising from the mug in front of me. I lean forward to take a sip. As my always-cold fingers touch the warm ceramic, I remember.
I remember dreaming of a moment like this.
It is a very different night. I am walking down the cold Spanish street. My steady exhale adds temporary warmth to the air in front of me, thawing my frozen nose for a moment—but just a moment. I breathe in—the air so cold and clear that I almost choke—and expel another smoky cloud of warmth. The humid air chills me to the bones and worsens with every new weak gust of wind. My cold toes lost feeling long ago and I walk, numbly kicking against the groves of cobblestone.
The two of us are the only figures to be seen in this silent, empty street. We walk quickly, but in no certain direction. A heavy darkness fills the night, broken only by the intermittent streetlamps' sickly yellow pools of light and the fleeting warm rectangles of opened doors. Occasionally, other figures will dart by: they do not want to talk, they are not often kind. I try not to count the minutes until we can go inside; I try not to get discouraged. As I look up, past the brilliant stars to the familiar, luminescent moon, the desperate longing of a single, simple human need fills me—I want to be warm. And somewhere behind my conscious thought, a warm dream forms. It is revisited many times in the most intense moments of the winter nights that follow.
And now that warm dream is my reality. I look back on those nights I thought would never end and I see only distant memories. Was it really a year or more ago? In a weird conundrum, my heart bursts with gratitude at the memory of those moments, awful and eternal as they seemed at the time. I marvel at how quickly they vanished and life rolled on. My reflections in this unexpected flashback have given me a precious, unexpected gift: perspective. Though that hard time is gone from me in all but memory, others will rise—and indeed, have risen—to take its place. But I am armed with confidence in a simple truth learned from my reflections on a moment in the cold Spanish street, and I know, “this too shall pass.”
My Dear Friend, I do not know your pain. I have not had a loss that great and my mind refuses to imagine it. Even if I could, the myriad differences in the details of our lives decry the injustice of such a comparison. Your pain and grief are uniquely your own just as your strengths and memories are. I do not endeavor to empathize fully, but in my limited way... I want to try. I want to lend my support and share what strengthened me. You have been so strong. I saw you a couple days before and you were still the same loving and positive girl that I admire so much. You did not wear your worry on your sleeves. You have planned and taken care of so many things, you have overcome great fears. I lost Eduardo, I lost my Grandmother. These were the things that comforted me: Alma 40:11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. 12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.
1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,20.) Revelations 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. "So if you've died and crossed the stream before us, we pray that angels met you on the shore, and you'll look down and gently you'll implore us to live, so we may see your smiling face once more."
[From “Danny Boy” 3rd verse.]
It took me a while to cry over my losses. I grieve in a very distinct way, and maybe you do, too. We know about the plan of salvation. You know you have a loving Heavenly Father with a perfect plan. You can count on it. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Love, Alayna
I thought it was strange. (someone should sue me for the over use of that word)
On my walk to my seminary carpool, I've become used to seeing the sunrise.
Yesterday there was no sunrise. No clouds. Not even a highlight of the rising sun. The entire sky was a mass of even gray. No variation. No color. Just a dusty gray. (Literally. We later found out that it was caused by dust in the wind)
Given what happened yesterday, I can't help but see this as a metaphor or symbol.
Yes. The Boston Marathon bombing.
I... don't want to write the facts, so here's a link. Basic Facts
What does this mean? I'll tell you one thing. Gun Control isn't the problem. If it were, this wouldn't have happened. No. The problem is that there are people out there who just want to hurt others. People who want to kill people. And they are always one step ahead.
It's sickening. Frustrating.
What can we do? Pray for the victims, punish the culprit. Learn what we can. Wait for the next disaster.
There have been more. But these are the ones I remember. I remember what I was doing that day. I remember who told me, or how I heard it first. I remember the facts, and how they kept changing as time wore on. I remember the victims. I remember the murderers. I remember asking why.
Why. Why do people kill? What could possibly push them this far? How depraved must that person's mind be... to plan such destruction. When will it happen again?
And then I get to thinking like this.
There is so much WRONG with this world.
One man's heartache is another man's headline.
And then someone said this.
"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.
It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and
watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall
shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household
names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine?
Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their
basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and
going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because
he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.
CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as
the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics
somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video
interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and
heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the
killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news
stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity?
None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations,
sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this
and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.
You
can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering
the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental
health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You
can help by turning off the news."
And then I heard this.
And I remember.
The world can't be as bad as it seems.
It can't.
Because in this world of horror, depravity, and darkness...
You and I live.
We carry on.
We pray. We love. We nurture.
We teach correct principles. We learn of forgiveness.
We are children of God. All of us. All of us.
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light"-Albus Dumbledore.
We are the light of the world. You and I. The helpers. The heroes.
Darkness is nothing more than the absence of light.
As long as we are here, as long as we don't give up, darkness cannot win.
I didn't see the sunrise that morning. The colors didn't shine through. But this doesn't mean that the light wasn't there.
