A Thanksgiving Thought

Did they really have this back then?

Perhaps one of the more underrated holidays in the United States, Thanksgiving is rapidly being outpaced by Christmas as we see everyone from businesses to households starting to decorate themselves with winter festivities.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, I understand why people celebrate it (no matter how fabricated and whitewashed by mainstream boards of education) even though it's laced with sinister irony of early colonial era.

Wherever you stand on the spectrum of listening to Christmas music, the common denominator happens to be the days of rest many people receive during this period. For someone who works during Holidays, I still get several days off from my daily endeavors in school, etc. In addition, a great time to earn some extra cash!

I've only heard of Thanksgiving in USA and Canada. It comes with the unique cornucopia (haven't used that word since fifth grade), turkeys, and an insane amount of food. Just a side note, apparently the turkey was once considered to be one of the possible symbols for the United States back in its infancy. Guess who advocated that? That's right, Benjamin Franklin. This is according to Stan Ellsworth of American Ride, so I actually didn't do any research on this matter.

As ironic as it may seem for me to feel grateful enough to post on the Internet, I'm still going to tell y'all that I'm grateful for everything I have and been through in life. They truly shaped who I am. I'm thankful for the Lord's saving grace and teachings. I'm thankful for the trials and adventures I've had in my life thus far. Sometimes, it is better to be reminded to be grateful every once in a while than to never do it at all.

I hope you all enjoy a great Thanksgiving next week!

Food for Thought: In Memory of Those Who Passed

A less gruesome look at the destruction...

Did you think this was a Veteran's Day post? Nope. That'll come hopefully later this week. I spaced on the opportunity to show my appreciation for those who served my country, but it'll be done, don't worry. :)

Many people have heard the news about the aftermath of the typhoon in Philippines. I've seen many unfortunate and sad images of the state people had to suffer. I'm not going to lie, they were depressing.

The very least we could do at this time is to pitch in whatever we can to help the victims. Whether you prefer money or substance, there's always the options of volunteering your time and toss in prayers (or moments of silence, whatever) for those people.

I think the missionaries will be very busy for the next few months. Naturally, deaths, diseases, etc. follow a catastrophe. People are either humbled by the experience and rediscover the love for their neighbors or curse God and be bitter (or die, which ever one comes first).

This reminds me of the many instances, especially on my mission, when I hear people ask something along the lines of "if there's a God, how could He let something like this happen." We've all heard that from somewhere. To some, it is the convenient excuse to pretend there's no higher entity in this universe. To others, it is one of life's most mind-boggling questions that's been asked over and over. When I was a missionary, I believe my only response to that was either sarcastic or bear my testimony, which was a routine procedure because I didn't know better as a late teen lad into his early twenties. If I were to give my best attempt today, I'll probably be more thought-provoking than I was before.

The following stream of consciousness will be my thoughts on the matter and in no way, shape, or form reflecting what other LDS persons may tell you. There will be some cynicism involved, so you've been forewarned.

It is my belief that much of the justified anger comes from not having a reference point in the universe. That is, why are earth (pun intended) are we here? I've met different schools of thought on this matter. The most prevalent was probably the roll of die by the universe. Essentially, Big Bang Theory and evolution without God because it would be foolish to believe God would utilize these two things as tools to sculpt the universe (sarcasm). When faced with catastrophic trauma, they usually dismiss the existence of a loving Being because it's simply illogical.

There's a loving God who cares about His children. However, one must first understand why we are on Earth. God has said, "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39). Part of us being here on this Earth is because of the Plan of Salvation. This Plan, in short, was for our own progression and learning. Part of this requires us to choose for ourselves whether we will do right or wrong because our God believes in liberty and freedom, instead of coercion (Abraham 3:25).

Many people don't know this, but we all existed before this life. We chose to come down to this Earth knowing the risks. It was established some of us may not make the best of decisions and would be lost eventually. To prevent that, the former Lucifer proposed to take the glory upon himself to enforce an absolute system where none can do wrong and return to God at the conclusion of mortality. That equates to no agency, the freedom to choose, whatsoever. Of course, God long decided that Christ, who would advocate choice, liberty, and freedom, would be the one to be the integral part of the Plan. To circumvent falling short due to sin, The Lord offered Himself as the one who atones people's sins. The rest was history as a third went against this notion and fell out with the now Satan. Basically, the war in heaven was fought over agency or our freedom to choose. As we choose and face the consequences, we gain valuable experiences to our eternal progression.

On a cynical note, it seems to me that those who reject this notion either believes God runs an eternal nursing home for the stupid or some sort of eternal socialist welfare program to cater the lazy. To them, there can only be a God if one of those conditions are met. No offense, I did serve in England, and applies to anyone in the world, I sometimes think some people have been on welfare for too long it's affecting their IQ.

So why the bad? The short answer is to create a contrast so we can know good from bad. Have you ever tried to explain to a child why something is bad and they just can't seem to see the picture until they live through it? Yeah, that's where we are at. Lehi taught this principle of opposites when similar issues emerged during his family's pilgrimage in the wilderness (2 Nephi 2:11). Many people underestimate the importance of knowing both sides of the coin through experience. Even the Lord Himself went through the mortal experience to prepare Him to be the ultimate comforter for all the trials we face in life (Alma 7:12). The allegory (well, actually a story by Boyd K. Packer) of describing what salt tastes like is an example of limitation of knowing about something without actually knowing how something feels.

Two of the main drive home points of being here on Earth are choosing to love God (Moses 7:33) and love our neighbors and ourselves (Mark 12:31). Jesus taught that principle Himself when he was approached and questioned. At the Waters of Mormon, we read about the baptismal covenant of mourning with those who mourn and comfort those who are in need of it (Mosiah 18:9). When someone is a victim, it is our duty to do what we can to be that support when we are able.

Back to being cynical... Does it ever occur to the naysayers that when someone's down and in need of a hand, it is the perfect opportunity to show love to our neighbor? Or is cursing God for something we signed up for best we can do? Each stumbling block in the path of humanity is another way to practice our virtues and grow spiritually as well as in absolute truths/knowledge of the universe. While God, on occasions, does wave His omnipotent hand and make things right, that is not always productive to our progress on Earth. Necessity has been one of the driving force behind scientific advancement and enlightenment. Many of us are able to help a neighbor because of resources or skills that we possess. If you ask me, I can't think of a more efficient plan to cover this many aspects of spiritual fundamentals in one lifetime than the way God has set things up. The knowledge we obtain in this life is crucial for our advancement in the next life after the resurrection (D&C 130:19).

To understand the points I've presented thus far, a humorous way to approach it for you, the audience, is to watch an episode of Futurama called Godfellas. It features Bender being the "god" of a tiny civilization and eventually meets the God Entity that taught Bender the balance between doing too little and too much for people, which always result in everyone complaining regardless of the outcome (see the whole Book of Exodus and Israelites reactions to all blessings and lack of them throughout the journey). So, the God Entity winds up letting everyone choose to do whatever unless he has to be involved. Basically, the only episode of that show that made me think about how we should put ourselves in His shoes for once. Like I've said before, this whole mortal existence is about education.

A very wise person once said, "we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)

Many people also scuff at the idea of prayer because it offers no substance. It's true, I don't just pray to my Heavenly Father and suddenly a bag of money falls from the sky. Please, dispute not because ye see not (Ether 12:6). Miracle is not always an instantaneous magical eraser of problems the last time I checked. It can be, but it's not always in an instant. You'll never know when or where someone will be placed in the right location to alleviate the pain of another. God doesn't cease to do miracles unless we stop believing that He does miracles (Mormon 9:19-20).

By this point, the best course of action is to do what you are able to or willing. That's one of the greatest things about this trial-filled mortality. The Lord consecrate our performance for our own good when act prayerfully (2 Nephi 32:39).

With that, I close my post. Cheers!

Editorial: Expectation vs. Reality

Recently, I had a chance to read a Huffington Post article about Generation Y and how unhappy they are at their stage in life. I have to admit, the author brought up some valid points; however, political and social changes since our parents' days also impacted our lives immensely. You can find the article here.

Many of my friends have positive outlooks notwithstanding this downed economy. In fact, most of them believe they will land in their dream jobs. There's nothing wrong with a good attitude. Being a self-proclaimed realist, I tend to have lower expectations; however, this doesn't mean I don't have high goals. Let's face it, I am not a "smiler" you see around campus.

I will briefly sum up my thoughts about the article.

The article claims that the main driving force behind young adults' dissatisfaction in life is unrealistic expectations. I can attest to that somewhat because I know many people who expect a high paying job straight out of college. If happiness = reality - expectations, I would assume most of us would be disappointed. I, for one, haven't done well in the dream department because I don't always reach or exceed my goals.

Does that make me depressed? Well, at first. It's especially discouraging when I compare myself to some of my better performing peers. Then, you look at your parents or people their age who have/had successful careers and you feel absolutely worthless. Later, I realized I should question the amount of effort I put into whatever I do. Geniuses and smart people exist, but many of the classmates I know who do really well have put forth tons of hours into studying and perfecting their crafts. The take home message: work harder and stop comparing yourself to others constantly. We should learn to appreciate our own metaphoric pasture we spend time nursing and only use others as a reference point for possibilities. Oh, social media is totally not an accurate portrayal of people's lives.

Another important point I took out of the article is chronological. It took me some time to understand that most people didn't just go from college graduate to making $200,000 a year in a blink of an eye. This is when unrealistic expectations set in again. A little research tells me my parents did not start with six-digit salaries straight out of school. In fact, that didn't even happen for the first decade of their careers. Point being, you would have to be a very innovative person or someone with extraordinary skillsets to climb the dollar tree that quickly.

My personal opinion on salaries: I should stop expecting ridiculous items that's only good for showing off. Just cover the bases and we'll work from there. A step at a time.

Attitude is another thing you'll notice in the article. It's true that everyone is special (but is everyone useful? Haha!), but I do believe we let it get to our heads sometimes. Instead of an enabling attitude to overcome obstacles, it has somewhat devolved into the entitlement clause. Yeah, there are plenty of people who think they deserve better when they don't meet the cut.

That's as far as I go when it comes to agreeing with the author on the horrific work ethics of my generation.

A different economic atmosphere does impact the industries. In addition, schooling was much more affordable 30 or 40 years ago compared to the last decade or two. As much as the media play up on the "socialism" fear, it was because of government programs that created opportunities for average joes and janes for them to emerge as the middle class. Unfortunately, our leaders have decided that they want to go a different direction by stop subsidizing higher education, trades, etc. as time progressed and put forth full effort into sustaining the ailing Social Security program along with the broken Medicaid system.

Back home in Pennsylvania, I've heard many cries for more monetary support our K-12 education. I never believed money can solve everything. Pouring oil into a broken engine won't make it run smoother. My concern has always been not knowing where exactly the funds go (or they report something ridiculous like $2000 for a picnic table). Teachers should be paid well. But, when teachers' salary can match or exceed the average local income, I think there's something to be said about the situation. Not to mention, it wasn't too many years ago when I heard of investigations on certain high profile characters in the system.

Arguably, the Baby Boomers are the backbone of the voting population (along with people who are probably have too much free time due to various reasons that won't be gone over here). With a party system that only cares about getting elected, you wonder why officials are less American than a legal immigrant.

Bottom line is, I can see there are some underlying issues with young folks today. Although, I highly doubt scrutinizers from the previous generation can draw a blanket statement about everyone. Too many factors are involved and it's hard to say who would do better in each situation.

I do believe, however, that we should all forge our own destinies and stop imagining greener pastures with flowers and a unicorn vomiting rainbow in your backyard too soon. It'll come, but probably not right away.