Are your windows clean?

I was washing dishes one morning, when the doorbell rang.  When I answered it, a young man stood at the door, asking if I would like my windows cleaned.  I looked over at the glass in the living room, and thought to myself, 'They look clean.'-- so I told the nice young man, 'No thank you', and he left.  

Six months later, the same nice young man came again.  'Would you like your windows cleaned?' Again, I looked, and knowing I had just used Windex less than five days ago, I said, 'No thank you'.  

This time, after he left, I stood inside my living room, and looked out.  I examined my windows around the house, I walked slowly past each one, and really looked.  You know what?  My living room window was sparkling clean.  My kitchen windows were pretty clean, but in the rest of the house.....those windows weren't so clean and sparkly.  They had smears, cobwebs and dust in the corners, and there was a dead fly in more than one window in the back of the house.

Maybe I should have said, "Yes."

 

How often do we take the time and energy to clean what can be seen by others on our public image, but leave our private, and personal areas less than clean and tidy?   Do we allow the dust and dirt to build up over time, or even worse: do we purposefully add to the grime?  I am speaking of living our lives in such a way as to have our public and personal identity be equally full of integrity-- of honestly living what we claim to hold dear.

Our eyes are the windows to our soul.  But sometimes our 'windows' get a little dirty.  It can be hard and difficult to stay close to our Heavenly Father if we are trying to see Him in our lives with dirty windows.  Things get clouded, and dull.  We can no longer see clearly, or even see and understand His directions for us if we choose not to consistently clean our act up.  

What does it mean to 'clean up'?  It means saying 'No,' a lot. It means saying, 'No,' to such public poisons like porn.  It means saying, 'No,' to big and little lies.  It means saying, 'No,' to acting in anyway contrary to what you know to be right.  It means keeping your private life just as clean and tidy as your public one.  

Wouldn't that change so many dynamics in our society if everyone did this?  

Cleaning our 'windows',  also means saying, 'Yes' a lot.  Yes to all the good things around us.  It is choosing people over things.  It is choosing to allow the Atonement of Christ to actively work in our lives.  It means us personally taking responsibility for keeping our eyes on the things that bring peace, hope, and faith.  

We are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, and as such, we have the divine right to inspiration and guidance from a loving Heavenly Father.  However, we must not forget what Peter Parker learned, "With great power, comes great responsibility."  We need to speak up, and speak out about what we are choosing for ourselves.  We don't get to sit down on the couch and expect everything on the T.V. to be a perfect fit for us-- and we certainly don't have to applaud those shows or movies that have so many people enthralled, if we know that there are going to be parts in them that we know will add grime to our souls. Instead, we take responsibility for what our eyes will see, and what our ears will hear.  

Here is a line I came across this week:  The real life we are preparing for, is eternal life.--  President Henry B. Eyring.   

I want to see life-- and I want to see it clearly.  

Pass the Windex.  

Faith Vs. Doubt : the winner is.....?

Most of us at some time or another have doubted.  Whether it be doubting ourselves, our abilities, others, or any one of a million things-- we have had moments of doubt.  But what good did that ever do us?  Honestly, did doubt ever help us win a race?  Ace a test?  Get a job?  In all the self-help books out there, is doubt listed as a great asset to building character, developing skills, or appreciating self-worth?  No, no it's not.  

And there is a reason why. 

Doubt is the oppressor of all our good intentions.  It sticks to our mind like mud, and is just as helpful. 

Then why would anyone ever doubt?  That is the ultimate question.  I can tell you why I doubt--  sometimes I think that I'm too small in the big scheme of things for me to really matter-- or even that what I do is going to really matter.  Sometimes I honestly forget that God knows a plan for me to do it-- and so I forget to try to figure out what that plan or way is.  Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by what lies before me, that I take it more seriously than I should.  Sometimes, I let the seeds of doubt take strong root over my mind...... but that is just the 'mud' talking. 

But I'm not alone.   There were (a long time ago-- but not in the next galaxy), four brothers who were in a tough situation.  And their prospects of coming out of it-- alive-- were not so good.  In fact, in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi chapter 3, verse 31 it says: "...Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands?  Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?"    These brothers were men-- not young children, and yet they were overcome by doubt.  They had allowed the 'mud' to cloud their thinking.

We need to take the 'mud' seriously if we are going to overcome it. 

Faith, on the other hand, works miracles.  It channels the Power of God into our mortal selves, and brings us to a higher playing field.  When we allow faith to work within our hearts, we are also forming a partnership with God--  and that is when the miracles start to happen.

In  the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 3:7  it says: "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  *

If God gives a commandment, God is going to make a way for it to be possible.  Our part is to have faith that this is so.  God loves us, He wants us to succeed, but we must have faith in this-- because when we have faith, He can channel His grace, His glory, into our hearts.  When we are working to do our best to have faith-- and not give power to the muddy doubts-- we are able to think more clearly, take stock of our possibilities, and move forward with our lives to make the most of them.



*If you have a Book of Mormon handy, check out the location of these two scriptures-- you will find they are on page 6 and 7..... facing each other, eternally as polar opposites.

  

Honesty

Honesty is being true, speaking truth, and acting true.  It doesn't actually cover all of that in the BYU-I Honor Code-- it mostly is about not cheating, not making up references, and giving credit where credit is due.   

 

But here's the thing: honesty is so much more.  It is about having what is in your heart and mind match with what is coming *from* you-- written word, spoken word, or actions-- and having all of that match what you know to be right and true.    There are times when I've been immensely overwhelmed with things in life, and I have thought: does it *really* matter if I just  _______?   So, depending on how in tune with the Spirit I am, will determine who I am listening to-- Satan or the Holy Spirit.  

 

The Holy Spirit does not lie.  It can't.   But if we choose to listen to the other guy, well...... he lies all the time.  But he is tricky about it-- because he knows we are smart, so he doesn't always outright lie, he weaves truth and lies together; he mixes it up.  And if we are leaning into his temptations, we are giving him control-- over many parts of our lives, including our own honesty-- remember even Adam and Eve went and hid in fear-- so they were trying to conceal things too.  The Holy Spirit, by contrast, likes us to share -- that we may share one another's joys, but also that we may share one another's burdens, too.

 

I think real honesty comes in those moments when we are living what we know to be good and true, and when those moments come, they come with joy-- joy of not only knowing that we are acting with true and honorable integrity, but also I think we feel the joy that comes from our Savior who is thrilled when we are following Him.  He knows what we need, and when we are acting in accordance to that truth, we feel the joy that He has for us.  The more we act honestly with what we know to be right and true, the greater our opportunity for joy.  

Between You and God

Between You and God

by J. Wester

A new twist on my favorite quote by Mother Theresa

 

 

There may be a day when all the seeds you plant will either rot, wither, or get eaten;

Plant anyway.

 

There may be a day when you are asked to do something above and beyond your skills;

Try anyway.

 

There may be a day when a friend needs more than you think you can give;

Give anyway.

 

There may be a day when no one smiles back at you;

Smile anyway.

 

There may be a day when you fear the coming day;

Greet it anyway.

 

There may be a day when you give your heart away and it may be broken;

Love anyway.

 

There may be a day when your faith in humanity is shaken to the core.

Hope anyway.

 

There may be a day when you wonder if prayers are answered;

Pray anyway.

 

There may be a day when you are struggling to know if God knows you;

Believe anyway.

 

 

"You see, in the final analysis, it's between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway."

'Twas the day before Christmas (2014)

'Twas the day before Christmas,
And all thru the house,
Not a creature was stirring--
Thank goodness no mouse!
All the stockings were hung,
All the presents were wrapped,
The music; the mayhem--
All the fun, while I napped.


For tonight I must stay,
Awake at the helm,
For magic awaits,
in Mischief's sweet realm.
The toys and the glitter
Are sweet but sub-par,
For Mary's baby
got his own shiny star.


And when I ponder
Just what that gift means
To my soul and yours--
Well, it's more than it seams.
It's all about giving--
the best that you've got.
It's not about size,
or color, or shop.


A baby was born--
Heaven's best gift,
To show us a path,
And our burdens to lift.
No wrapping required,
'though I hear cloth was used.
And I've heard all the stories
of crowns that abused.


So on the 'morrow,
there'll be magic and tree.
Mixed all together
in exuberant glee--
But tonight is the time
By candle's bright light,
We gather to read,
Of that First Christmas Night.

Lights

I am sitting here at my desk at six on a Sunday morning.  My husband and children are asleep, while I have some time to 'just be' by myself.  I am used to this pattern.  I usually have an hour or so before anyone starts to wake up.  I can't claim I use this time to clean (I don't), or to prep for the day (not usually), but as the house is so still, this is the time where my thoughts tend to drift into the deep waters.......

Last night when we were driving home our daughter asked if we were putting up Christmas lights on the outside this year.  It was a logical question-- a few of our neighbors had already done so, and December was moving along.  My response was: "YES! I love Christmas lights!"  I don't actually love the take-down, but the putting them up part can be fun. Ok, sometimes it's frustrating, and it can turn into family 'discussions' if everyone is tired, but-- it's like magic....When all was dark, and suddenly there are lights-- which if you ask me, from a distance look like they are floating in the air-- and suddenly the world at is darkest, most lonely part of the year..... becomes filled with hope and filled with joy.  Who can say no to that?!

Those lights are symbolic because-- for me-- those lights represent not just a holiday filled with presents and cookies (which are nice and wonderful in their own right), but they represent the beginning of time when God said: Let there be Light, and there was Light..... The lights also remind me of how there was a time when God so loved the world (yes, this crazy, mixed up, often insane world), that he gave His son.... his baby boy-- to us-- US!--and once again, this place was filled with Light. 

Have you ever noticed how many traditions are filled with light?  Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas are the most familiar, but there are so many that stretch back in our human history. 

Living in darkness is not where we belong.  We belong in the light-- in light that brings people together in joy and gladness. Just like the lights on a house, or the lights from a candle-- when there is light, there is hope.  There is peace of heart, and a willingness to make room for another in the warmth of the flame.

There is LOVE.

Are we putting up lights?  YES.

The Cemetery

I spent half the day yesterday in a cemetery in Coalville, UT. It was boiling hot, and I felt as if I was melting as I walked up and down the rows and rows looking for particular last names.  I wish I had had a map (really-- old cemeteries should have maps! Not paper ones-- the kind they have in malls.  What I've just written does sound rather incongrous, doesn't it?! So maybe not those kind-- in stone perhaps? Something to match the atmosphere....) Anyways, I was looking for my great-aunt that I learned a few days ago had been buried there. 

I had been there only once before-- another day filled with stormy weather and flowers, but at that time, laughter was also present as the kids and my husband had come too, and we had turned it into a game of 'who can find an ancestor?'  I remember we had split up, and I had a list of names of ancestors that had been buried there.  People who I never met, but were related to me and the kids, if I went back three or more generations.  Several had traveled across the plains back in the day, some were born here.  I had bought six large mums, added ribbons, and we drove up on Memorial Weekend.  We thought it rather fun--and when we were done, we left and went out to dinner.

That was last summer.

This time was different.  This time, it was just me and a sea of grass, broken by marble, granite, and stone.

I took a dozen red roses, thinking that as I was looking for her, I could place one on my other ancestors graves too. I was given general directions to her grave-- but amidst the sea of green, I knew that I should have asked for something more precise.   My ancestors were buried together in small groups throughout the cemetery.  It was frustrating; it was daunting-- and as much as I was determined to bring flowers to my great aunt, my time was not unlimited, and a storm was rolling in.

In some ways it was again a treasure hunt. Some headstones were barely discernible-- the slow erosion of time had smoothed over many of the names.   Others-- modern, flat markers, were hidden from view as the cut grass had blown across them, concealing their presence.  I noticed that some headstones were new-- and yet the dates were very old, meaning that someone thought of these people long after they died, and didn't care to let Time have the last laugh.  The headstone of my great-great-great grandparents was one of these.  My great-great-great grandfather was a busy soul when alive-- bartender, spy, scout, and later on a justice for the peace.  I only know of him because of my great-aunt.

My great-aunt must have loved family history.  The pages I have-- charts, names, and even a few pictures-- all come from her.  When I was three she gave me the most darling footstool-- which helped me over the years get into some marvelous mischief.  She wrote me letters after I was married-- nice chatty ones.  And then one day the letters stopped...

It wasn't until I had only a few minutes left that I found her spot.  As I knelt to put the rose there, I noticed that a rose had been engraved on her headstone.   I'm glad I chose the roses.....