Green Oasis

I am grateful for…

1. … a half-baked idea for a new blog (shh! don’t tell anyone about it yet) that I’m really excited about. I think I’ll have fun with it even if no one else pays attention (which is a good sign).
2. … the chance to learn stuff, one of my favorite things to do.
3. … the opportunity to watch the crazy, improbable miracle of life as I watch young things sprout and grow.
4. … the perspective that watching things die gives me.
5. … the good fun I have with my wife.

I hope no one got antsy waiting an extra day for this.

I am grateful …

1. … that spring has arrived.
2. … that I kind of knew what I was doing on my midterm.
3. … that my garden lasted through the winter.
4. … that I didn’t turn out to be a horrible father (you never know for sure).
5. … for a supportive partner who helps me in many ways big and small.

Here’s a love story, the kind you won’t hear about in a love song. The author’s spouse was made paraplegic in a car accident. He writes about how they suffered humiliations and frustrations and managed to live happily together. May my love be as resilient.

We know that most people—strangers, anywhere—will knock themselves out to help us if we explain what we need. We know to say “Yes” to nearly everything because there is probably a way to do it. We know there is happiness available every day, most of it requiring more effort than money.

(via kottke.org)

Is this a case of a rogue Mormon bishop? Bishop Church of the Nauvoo 3^rd Ward authorized an email via the LDS church’s official website that said in part:

As has already been seen in Massachusetts, this will empower the public schools to begin teaching this lifestyle to our young children regardless of parental requests otherwise. It will also create grounds for rewriting all social mores; the current push in Massachusetts is to recognize and legalize all transgender rights (An individual in Massachusetts can now change their drivers license to the gender they believe themselves to be, regardless of actual gender, which means that confused men and women are now legally entering one another’s bathrooms and locker rooms. What kind of a safety issue is this for our children?). Furthermore, while the bill legalizes civil unions, it will be used in the courts to show discrimination and will ultimately lead to court mandated same-sex marriages.

To help defeat this bill, please call your state representative and state senator and ask that they support traditional marriage and vote against the civil unions bill. If you are unsure who your legislators are, please see the link at the end of this email. [emphasis added]

Note the overt appeal to fear and subtle appeal to disgust. This is the typical modus operandi of the leaders of authoritarian followers. The message offers no evidence of compassion or an effort to understand his fellow human beings, something I would expect from true followers of Jesus of Nazareth.

This message also belies the idea that Mormon leaders don’t tell their followers how to vote. It also comes closer to expressing the true desires of most LDS people: no equal rights for people in same-sex relationships. I doubt that the bishop’s leaders will be publicly pleased at his actions.

One more piece of evidence that the fears and squicks of many of the LDS people stand in the way of social justice. These less than honorable gut reactions should not be allowed to masquerade as the moral high ground.

(via Dancing With Crazy)

I am grateful for …

1. … my older daughter: her curiousity, her intellectual enthusiasm, how considerate of others’ feelings she can be, how loving she is.
2. … my younger daughter: her joi d’vivre, her tender heart, her beautiful laugh, her willingness to share.
3. … my wife who treats me better than she should and is generally more wonderful than I deserve.
4. … the clothes on my back: that they’re clean, that I don’t have to wear the same clothes every day, that I don’t have to walk around naked (I’m sure it’s not as fun as it sounds).
5. … the internet and how connected it is making our world.