Sunday, November 30, 2008

In pursuit of truth.


Many ‘educated’ individuals have been swayed to believe that there is no God and that everything can be explained away in some scientific theory. But the fact that they are referred to as theories is telling in itself. There have been many theories that as scientific study continues change. Light is an example. There is still many debates as to whether light is a particle or wave and most text books refer to it as both because it has properties of both. There are still many theories as to how the earth even came into existence.
Besides scientific ‘truths’ there is also philosophical ‘truths’ that through out time have changed as society dictates. What is an accepted truth has sometime become an exposed lie. Even religions leaders have gravely mislead the masses at times. There have been massive suicides, witch-hunts, and other disasters when people have relied too heavily on people for answers. Truth must be sought after through the spirit. Through the Holy Ghost we may know the truth of all things. This does not take away the responsibility to study and learn. Sincere prayer is a key element besides study and pondering.
It is vital that we pursue truth in order to find it. Truth is not something that we get without effort but honest effort is rewarded.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Creating Bands with Calloused Hands


We were enjoying the sights and smells of the market area in Cozumel. As we walked along the shops, the keepers would earnestly urge us to enter their place. We were hungry and looking beyond the shops to a restaurant further down. We walked quickly sparsely noticing the street vendors but one man caught my eye. I recognized at once his unique life's challenge because my son had a dear friend with a similar condition. The lower half of his body was as if an infant while the upper body develops more normally but still with complications. He gets around by either walking on his hands or in a wheel chair. He created wrist bands with these multi-tasking hands. They were rough calloused hands and strong. I stood silently looking at the bands of many colors, thinking about how he had created his own small business on this street corner. There was no roof or door, just a corner but you felt you were in his place. Instead of holding a sign begging for money he had created a nice product for sale. He had a compact display unit that unfolded he could put on his lap to wheel home at the end of the day. He had a tool box with supplies to make new bands and offered to make one with what ever lettering I wanted. I could scarcely imagine what a day would be like to be him but I wasn’t thinking about that it was my son’s friend that came to mind, Curtis. Curtis lived across the street and would spend a lot of time on the shoulders of his bothers or on his skate board, his preferred means of transportation. As an adult he too found a way to make a living. He worked in Las Vegas in a magician show where he was part of an act where they sawed a man in half and the top half would walk off on his hands. Our daughter Kendy went to the show and although she had no former knowledge recognized Curtis and visited with him backstage after the show. It was that same year that Curtis died of complications in surgery; he was barely in his twenties. The major striking similarity of both these men was their warm smiles and determination to make their own means of income.