L.O.V.E

L.O.V.E - Nat King Cole

If you haven't heard this song yet,go look it up...it's good! 

But if you pay attention in this song you can tell that he is probably talking about a girl he likes right? Isn't that usually what we think of when we first hear these kind of songs?... Now go listen to it again and think as if he were singing about the Savior or Heavenly Father. (Okay maybe it doesn't exactly work, but still).
I think you can find the right kind of love in anything if you really try and look for it! (Even High School Musical!)
Love! Isn't that really all we can give to him? And how do we show that love? By serving others!
When I "Count my many blessings" and see all God has given me, how can I not give back so little when he has given me beyond comprehension amount of blessings?
As we are showing God we love him we express more then love toward him...love spreads like crazy! (It's like when your mom is super happy and excited, you can't help but being super excited and happy with her) It also spreads to everyone around you, which is what Heavenly Father wants...love!

A World Full of Love

Love is a burning thing. And it makes a fiery ring.

Money can't buy me love.

I can't help falling in love with you.

And the truth, you know love is all we need.

I just can't stop loving you.

Two strangers learn to fall in love again.

One love, one life.

You give love a bad name.

You know I love you so.

She will be loved.

Love alone is worth the fight.

To give me all your love is all I ever asked.

Darling, I will be loving you 'til we're seventy.

All of me loves all of you.

I love you like a love song baby.

Ain't nobody love you like I love you.

We found love in a hopeless place.

Boys only want love if it's torture.

I have loved you for a thousand years.

Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, k, k, k, I've heard it a million times. Like seriously. Are there any other subjects to sing about? Is there anything else you can write songs about?

(I shouldn't be talking, I write love songs too) :D

Honestly though, there are so many songs about love because that's what people care about. Music is often referred to as the language of love. People want to hear love songs because it helps them to love. Like Jordan asked, because we hear so much about love, can we assume we live in a loving world?

Think about 9-11. What about the Baltimore riots? School shootings? War after war. Politicians fighting for power and buisnessmen fighting for money. Murder. Theft. Deceit. etc., etc., etc.

The truth is, all of these happen because of love. Every one. The difference is the love. Things like this happen because people love money. Because people love power; people love hate. To sum it up, these things happen because people love themselves.

Love is on the radio because nobody wants to hear the truth. People like to think that we live in a loving world. If songs talked about hate, then only a few people would listen to them. If only a few people listened to music, the music industry would go broke. Love is on the radio because music distributors love money, not because they are trying to paint an accurate portrayal of our world. 

The hard truth is that we live in a world full of hate. Not to say that love doesn't exist among men, because it definitely does, but selfishness greatly outweighs true love right now in our world. 

So what is true love? It's pretty simple. We all know the answer. True love is charity. It's the pure love of Christ. Not the love of money or the love of self, but the love of God and the love of others. The greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor, and there is a stark contrast between that and loving yourself.

One day the love of God will overcome everything else. One day all hate and selfishness will cease to exist, and everyone will love everyone perfectly. That's what a lot of love songs are about: an ideal world with no hate. One day it will exist, and that love will be the greatest feeling of all. It will outweigh any other feelings of selfishness or thrill or lust, and we will live in the ideal world. Life is about love. Love is the answer. But we have to remember that it's about true love. It's about charity. God is love.

Can we reach it?

Love is an interesting concept...

I think in this world it really gets twisted into something wrong, when really, love should be a beautiful thing! They mention love many times in the scriptures--just the love that they mention is different from, I think, the way the world now perceives it.

I believe that God's love is different--in a very good way! I believe that worldy love is only a temporary state, when the Lord's is eternal. Isn't that always the way that it seems to be? The world is only a temporary state--when heaven, and all things good & godly are eternal.

And that's the truth of it! God loves all of His children with an everlasting love!

But how do we gain this everlasting & perfect love?

Thinking about it... I really do think that perhaps in order to gain that love, His never-ending, perfect love--the only way to really gain that love is to feel what that person has felt. Perhaps that's why we have the 13th Article of Faith! "...we have endured many things and hope to be able to endure all things." Obviously, as humans, we shy away from pain, and we don't want to have to do through painful things--so often this article of faith is a hard one to follow. It says that people of our faith should "hope to be able to endure all things."

Christ is the only one who has literally felt everything.

So, at the moment, He is the only one who can actually feel that perfect, unfailing love for anyone.

I think that's why we have such a hard time being compassionate and loving towards others--because we don't completely understand--or even know what they're going through!

So... no... I don't think that complete, perfect, everlasting love is completely attainable for us in this life--but that doesn't necessarily mean we should just give up!

I remember in my first year of Vanguard a couple of years ago, watching this video. It is just interesting the way they portray it--how this guy is thinking pretty badly about people--being a little selfish--but once he puts those glasses on and sees what everyone is going through, he starts treating them differently!

I think this is one of the kinds of love we can attain in this life! Is to be able to love not perfectly--but to still love with Christ's love--to still care about others! I think we just need to look around and care, and love, just as Christ does! I think one thing that really can help us with this is to ask Heavenly Father to give you that love--to be able to not completely understand, but be able to still sympathize & love as much as possible! :)

~Gracious

Love, Service, and Perspective

The Universal Emotion

Everyone loves something. Bob loves Sally, Phil loves to make people smile, and Joe loves his truck. Love is arguably the most universal emotion. But there are many different things in which we can vest our love. Simply because everyone loves something does not mean that everyone loves the right things. 

We serve that which we love

We live in an insanely complicated world. How is it possible to know what we truly love? Marvin J. Ashton spoke once about how we can know our love for something, and how we show that love. He titled his speech, "We Serve that Which We Love," and indeed, I believe that the best way to find out what you love is to look at what you serve. 

Look at several examples of people serving that which they love: 

• A man loves his family, so he works 40 hours a week to provide for them.
• A teenage boy who loves the girls, so he opens doors for them. 
• A popular girl who loves her popularity, so she always has the most fashionable clothing. 
• A politician who loves his power, so he does everything to keep it (no matter how wrong it might be).
• A wall street director who loves money, so he embezzles and cheats his way to greater wealth. 
• A missionary who loves God, so he sacrifices two years of his life to serve Him. 

Our motive for doing things can be traced to our love. In the list above, we defined things which people do because they love something. Each of these situations are interchangeable, however. A man working 40 hours a week could also be doing out of love for money or for his job. A missionary could also go on a mission out of love for a girl rather than love of God. 

What Do We Love? 

Well, now we know that love is a cause of action, but the same action might be done for the love of many different things. Obviously the goodness of an action doesn't decide if that love is good, only that you are loving something. How do we know if our love for something is good? 

In order to determine what kinds of love are good and which are not, lets first look at what different kinds of love there are. 

One article said that there are four types of love: 

1. Agape (Christlike love, or charity)
2. Phileo (friendship, caring love)
3. Storge (family or natural love)
4. Eros (sexual or passionate love)

This list does show several things which we can love, but I feel that it doesn't quite touch what love actually is. 

In my mind there are three types of love from which stem all forms of love. One is pure love, and the other two are cop-outs. These are what the remainder of this article will focus on. 

Three Forms of Love

Love of Self

Call it lust, greed, selfishness, Eros, or pride, love of self is at the root. When I love me, I will naturally become prone to these other sins. But why is selfishness so bad? If I don't watch out for myself than who will?  This question has plagued the world since the time of Adam, in fact, lets start there. 

Cain, Satan, and the first business transaction

We all know the story of Cain and Abel. However, we often overlook a line in the story. Cain entered into an agreement with Satan, a business transaction if you will. Satan told Cain that if he would kill Abel, than Satan would reveal the "great secret" which was to "get gain." Gain for who? Cain. Love of Self.

The Root of All Evil

"The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10) But is it really? What is the love of money other than love of self? Money has no intrinsic value, it is merely a way to get gain. Again, gain for who? The person with the cash. The love of money is love of self. In the earlier days of the church this was a very common principle. Lets look at a few quotes that explain it better than I can: 

"I see young men growing up, and in their growth is the love of wealth, the love of ease and worldly comfort, and the desire and greed for money. I will tell you that the man who has the greed or hunger for money within him, and does not repress it, cannot be a Latter-day Saint." (George Q. Cannon, October 6th 1873 Semi-Annual General Conference)

"Love not gold, nor silver, nor anything of the kind, but gather around you that which will make you “healthy, wealthy, and wise;” then all will be right, and real wealth will increase around you, and wisdom from God will illuminate your course through life." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 9)

"I have heard of some people who had sunken so low that they would sell anything for money; mother or father, or brother or sister, or friend or neighbor would never stand in the way. They would do anything to obtain money; money is their God." (Joseph F. Smith, Journal of Discourses, Volume 23)

We can see that love of money or worldly things is indeed evil. We also know that these stem from a love of self. They are false Gods which serve you. A religion based on self is no religion at all. (James 1:27)

 Love of Others

What a relief, right? Now we've gotten to the good kind of love. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it actually isn't the good kind of love. While it's better than love of self, it still misses the mark. Allow me to explain. 

Serving Two Masters

Doing things for the love of others is great. It is important that we genuinely care about each other. But this is not the higher law. This is because of a simple law of physics. You cannot move two ways at once. If we were to put that into gospel terms we would have Matthew 6:24: 

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

I would add that you cannot serve only others and still serve God. You can only serve one thing at a time, and that is the thing which you love. In order to more fully explain my meaning, I again turn to the words of prophets.

"Trying to please others before pleasing God is inverting the first and second great commandments. It is forgetting which way we face." (Lynn G. Robbins, October 2014 General Conference)

Make sense? You can only truly love one thing at a time, because "we serve that which we love," and "no man can serve (aka, love) two masters." Enough on this for now.

Love of God

Don't worry, this one is actually the good one! This is the pure form of love, and it is something that we will never achieve in our mortal lives. It is incredible in that it actually holds the pure forms of the other two types of love within it. I am not a strong enough wordsmith to explain this type of love better than the Lord, so I'll let Him do the talking for most of this section. 

"If ye love me..."

To begin, we have the first and great commandment: 

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." (Luke 10:27)

Later, Christ explains how we ought to show our love for Him:

"If ye love me, keep my commandments. (aka, serve him)" (John 14:15)

Okay, so keep His commandments, lets go back to the great commandments. After all, on them "hang ALL the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:40, emphasis added). As we have already shown that the first great commandment requires you to keep His commandments, lets look very closely at the second great one.

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:39)

Wait a second! He just said that if you love Him you should love others. Didn't we just cover that? And didn't He also say to love them as THYself? Doesn't that require some love of self in the first place? But there it is, if you condense the logical flow of those verses you can see it. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and if ye love Him, love others as yourself. 

A Matter of Perspective

In order to reconcile these three forms of love, lets consult one last verse. 

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33) 

It seems to be a matter of perspective. If you love God, you will also love others, and will also love yourself. If you don't put Him first, you will have no room to love Him. It's quite simple, and it is God's way of teaching us to rely on Him. President Uchtdorf put it very well in the October 2009 General Conference in which he said,

"God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God! For what we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become."

That is the eternal perspective, isn't it? Put the Lord first, and everything else will work out in the end.

The Right Kind of Love

In conclusion I'm simply going to summarize the article and hopefully drive home the message I've tried to share. 

Love is a universal factor in how we live our lives. The things we love are the things we serve. If you serve money, power, or popularity, you are only loving yourself. If you serve others solely for their sake, you are only loving others, because you cannot serve two masters. But if you love God, than you will serve Him, others, and yourself. It's all in the perspective, and it is our Father's way of teaching us to become like Him. 

Love God, nothing else, and you will have a more pure love for everything else. 

The Theory of Knowledge

I was in one of my church meetings yesterday and before it started, someone was talking about one of their classes in school called "Theory of Knowledge," it was basically the study of epistimology, how you find truth, and how you really know if something is true. The first thought that came to me was that I would avoid taking that class anywhere, especially in college, because they would just confuse me and hurt me in my search for truth instead of help me. If you don't know me very well, you should know that I'm a believer. You can tell me something insane, and as long as I know you're not insane, I'll believe it. I'll believe a million crazy things, but does that mean I know them? No. But faith is believing in things not seen but true. And the only way you can really know something is by going to God, showing Him your faith in that specific thing, and letting Him perfect it. 

So for my inspirement, I know it's cliche, but I'm gonna go with the flow this time and do a poem.

You can say that you know what two plus two is

That you know the force that turned Rome to ruins

But really, think, when it comes down to it

How can you really know what truth is?

There are instruments we can use to get there

And experience to make us much  more aware

The reality of the truth is true

But you gotta work for it; it starts with you

We gotta use the tools that we have been given

So between our mind and heart there's no division

Don't tell me all about your disinclination

When you can go and find the truth through revelation

Tools were used by Galileo Galilei

It's too bad he never found truth during the day

So why do we wait for the sun to come out

To ask our Father what truth is all about?

If you've got a question, an answer will come

You just gotta find the source then add up the sum

Of all your evidences and incidents

Because a day will come when you'll find out what it meant

Sometimes it's so simple, you just gotta use your brain

Logical thinking really isn't such a pain

Don't just listen to "proffesionals" talk on the news

All they want is money, they're just there to amuse

It don't matter if Obama says that it's true

Would you believe him if he said that grass is really blue?

People tell you that the scientist can only say

What's right or wrong, but it's not that way

To gain the knowledge and wisdom of truth

All you need is a spiritual telephone booth

Plant the seed and try the experiment

'Cause truth is truth regardless of malicious intent

And really, what is false is only of this world

One day the father of lies will be the one in the swirl

The way to find truth is to get on your knees

And God will give it to you, if you only say please

The Greatest Power

There's a power greater than any force in the universe. It is strong enough to dispel darkness, dismantle doubt, and destroy despair. 

This power can free souls from the tightest traps. It can mend broken hearts. It can lift a man out of the depths of despair.

It is like a fourth dimension. It goes deeper than what are mortal eyes can see. It is a universal communication. 
The usage of this communication is accomplished through service. The outcome of this service is like a chain of light penetrating all those in contact with it. Those that give, and those that receive. It is a gift.

Ever single human spirit has this power within them. Although, it seems that more and more, this power is being stored away into deep corners of the heart to be left alone and slowly disintegrate. 

Sometimes hate or fear, or lack of use drive it away. Don't let it be replaced! This gift is too valuable to lose.

There was one man who had never let it fade. It was always brightest to its full capacity. Some people were drawn to that light, and some were repulsed by it.  Because of it, he suffered. He suffered more than any being in the history of forever. But because of that, you, and I, and everyone, can be saved. The suffering didn't put out his light; it made it eternal. 

This power, this force, this strength, this dimension, this gift, this light, can heal. 

Some say the world runs by chaos, some say it's governed by chance. Some say evil drives out any hope of overall perfection. But I think this power is stronger. If we have and use and spread it, we can change lives, change ourselves, and change the world.

What is it? 
It is Love.

Finding Inspiration

How does God give us inspiration?

Sometimes do you forget and ask in frustration?

Asking the wrong sources and only feeling worse and starting to doubt and curse?

How can one know how to get personal revelation in this big universe?

Looking up to heaven and seeing the beautiful stars,

Bringing understanding and ingraining it like scars.

Going to the Temple and feeling the peace

That only the Temple can help you to release

Appropriate Media, Books, Scriptures, and Others,

Are all great ways to strengthen you for your troubles

Heavenly Father loves to give you inspiration through prayer

He will help you because of how much He cares

I know as we seek His guidance and direction

He will help us in loving correction, through His marvelous perfection

“God wants us to be a sure and steady guide, when all the world is falling apart

You want us close to where you are,

like the stars”

Beautiful Savior

I recorded this song for Easter & put pictures to it! :) I think the Savior is an amazing example of "The Breath of God". Every breath He breathed--He was serving, He was doing the Father's will! I think that's what we should strive to do always! :)

I'm so glad I have Him for an example! :)

Love,
Gracious

Learning How to Breathe

Here is the post I shared on my blog after this last week's reading and discussion:

I hated running the mile in Junior High. Our P.E. teacher would set her stop watch to time us, line us up and make us run around the big field in front of our school. Usually the boys were out in that field playing some sport and could see my humiliation. I would start running for a few minutes and was quickly out of breath. I would walk for a few minutes so I could breathe again, and then I would try to run until I couldn't breathe. It was torture. I always came in close to last, dizzy, and sweaty.


(Gem teaching his sister how to exercise)

One day, I was talking to my mom and mentioned how much I hated running the mile. She listened with concern and then she asked, "How do you breathe when you run?"

"I don't!"

"When I was training for track under an Olympics coach, he taught me to breathe differently when I would run."

This Olympic coaching was news to me and I asked her about it, but she took me back to my original question...

"It is a long story, and life took me in a different direction, but I did learn how to breathe."

"What did he teach you?"

"Try breathing in for two quick breaths and then out one breath."

"Really? That seems unnatural... I don't know if I can do it while I run."

"Try it, it just takes a little practice."

So I practiced this the next time we had to run the mile. It was kind of awkward and I couldn't do it the entire time, but I did find that it helped. The next time I ran, it started feeling more natural. It only took a couple of times before I could run the entire mile and come in near the front of the group. Who knew such a simple thing could make such a difference?

 I love hearing my babies take their first breath right after they are born, knowing that their lungs are working, and feeling the wonder of their being alive and new to this mortal world. I also love seeing them take their first breath after they come out of the waters of baptism and seeing their smile as they are "born again" and have made the choice to follow Christ - the source of the breath of life.

I have been pondering "breath" this Easter season - what a gift it is to be alive and breathing - seeing the blossoms on the trees, hearing the laughter of my children, feeling their chubby arms around my neck. And what a gift it is to know that because of my Savior's sacrifice - they, and I, will live forever. Joy, laughter, and love never have to end!

This seems like a good time to insert some pictures of our week :-):

 Origami exhibit at BYU

I love that expression

Bud, patiently waiting at the park for the girls to finish art class

 Spontaneous picnic at a near-by park:

What a gift is life! (I have been learning about "breath" in the scriptures and in Hebrew. The letter "Hey" in Hebrew means breath and revelation - breathing in God's Spirit and connecting to Him. Breath is very symbolic really. Have you ever thought about it? I do not see life the same way since I learned about the letter Hey - it might be my favorite Hebrew letter because I see it constantly all around me, and as I see it, I feel connected again to my Heavenly Father. I invite you to research "breath" or "revelation" in the scriptures and see if you don't start to see the connections all around you.  Here is a video to help you get started - it is worth the time it takes to watch it, I promise!):



It occurred to me, during my run on Friday, that this life is about learning how to breathe. I sometimes yearn to live in a little cabin in the mountains where my little ones can chase squirrels and we are surrounded by pine trees with a little stream where we can make dams and race leaf-boats. Or to live in the 1800s where people walked to each other's homes and talked and danced and had only 3 dresses to take care of.

Lancaster.com

I realize now that what I am yearning for is that constant connection to God. I want to be breathing in His Spirit at all times and feel His beauty, majesty, and love all around me. I want to step away from all distractions and just breathe. I love my daily moments of breathing-in my life and being filled with joy, gratitude and love. The Atonement is what made that connection possible despite my shortcomings. I love my Savior for what He did for me.

Making a daily priority list has been a huge step for me in learning how to breathe. I am a "bouncer." I bounce from idea to idea and love starting new projects. It is a gift to have ideas and to be excited about trying them, but it has also sometimes held me back from developing habits which only come from persevering with something through thick and thin. I now find myself more often living in the present moment more fully, while still feeling like I am calmly progressing to higher ways. I do remind myself - often - that my priority list is a tool. Finishing everything on the list is not my goal. But using it as a reminder of what is most important to me in my journey of learning how to love as He loves (or, in other words, learning how to breathe-in His Spirit) is why I need it.

I did find that having the list on the phone sometimes made it easier to get side tracked with checking emails or social media real quick before moving onto the next task, so I deleted the email and facebook apps from my phone. Sure, I could still use the internet to get to them - but who has time to do that? I decided to only check emails or Facebook when I am on the computer and never on my phone (unless it is important, of course) so that has also helped a lot. It has been nice. I am feeling more like I am living in my cabin in the woods :-)

Our church has a conference twice a year where we get to hear from the prophet and apostles of the Lord and other leaders. Talk about a breath of fresh air! We got to hear from them yesterday and we get to listen again today. I LOVE this time of year. Here is a link to the conference if you would like to hear what they have to say. You can look at past talks or watch it live in a few hours at 10 am and 2 pm mountain times. What a great way to spend your Easter!  They have been talking a lot about safeguarding the family and staying focused on what matters. My favorite talk so far has been one that talked about tuning our homes to the music of the Lord. He said,  "Sometimes in our homes we are successful in teaching the dance steps, but are not as successful in teaching how to hear the music" - the whole talk by Wilford W. Anderson was profound. I also LOVED Linda K. Burton's talk - it inspired me to better appreciate my good husband. Elder Bednar's gave me greater understanding about the difference between worldly fear and Godly fear - so enlightening! And Elder Christofferson's talk about marriage was one of the greatest sermons I have ever heard on the topic. Everyone who is married or hopes to be really should read it and ponder it.  It is so very needed in our world!

It sounds like the family is waking up. Thanks to my loving Savior, I am off to live another day! Have a happy Easter!

Conference Ah-has

Does anyone have any conference highlights they might be willing to share? I would love to hear what you heard that stood out to you!

Distorted Perfection

I've been thinking a lot these last few weeks about how imperfect I am, and how my perception of things is so imperfect. Going along with the epistemology, I have found myself trying to find truth in all the places I look. I have found myself relating to Galileo in a lot of ways. He didn't know everything, but he tried to learn new things and understand the universe more perfectly. This is exactly what I feel I need to be doing more in my life.

I also find myself getting somewhat depressed as I think about how dark the world is. This Sunday I was finally able to express all those feelings in the form of a poem. This poem might focus on the more depressing side of things. But it is mostly about how everything, even darkness and pain, can reflect true perfection.

Distorted Perfection

A fire dances on the ground, 

The darkened forest makes no sound, 

The sky is pricked with pins of light,

And the lake reflects them to my sight.

The water moves with a calm grace.

As I glance down and glimpse my face,

I try to look past the distorted reflection,

I wonder if I'm able to gain perfection.

This forest world is shadow filled, 

The darkness breaks what'er I build. 

Light and truth are seldom found, 

In a forest with no wholesome sound. 

Upon this earth is nothing worthy, 

Of any form of transcendent glory, 

But from the twilight I lift my eyes, 

And perceive the stars upon the skies...

I see light and truth reflected clear,

And now to heaven I draw near! 

The darkened shadows of the earth, 

Are small when next to the stars rich mirth. 

The fire here echos the fire in my heart, 

The heaven above is but a small part,

Of the beauty and glory of our loving King,

And is only reflecting the light He brings.

This world of shadows and darkness and sin,

Is only a distortion of the great light within,

Lake and fire and forest and star,

Are simply God's tools to prove who we are.