The Internet: communication enhancer or silencer?

I suppose this post stems from one conversation with my wife that went like this:

     Jill: Are those pionees or not?
     Josh: We could just ask
     Jill: Why?  We'll just use the internet...

As much of the world is using the Net, people are less and less inclined to talk to each other.  Isn't it ironic that originally the World Wide Web was created to be able to communicate more easily, more quickly, and with less opposition with others all around the globe, and now, thirty some-odd years later, with more information at our fingertips, there is less need, less reason, less necessity in speaking with another human being!?!?  Given the choice to, for example, adjust your personal finances by yourself or talk to the financial institution holding your interests, I would venture to guess that 80% of the people  asked would rather just do it themselves.  That is, without talking to any other human being.

Ok, maybe that estimation is too high...  After all, there are still people of an older generation that would absolutely not want to do things themselves!  Maybe...

The thing is, anybody from a younger generation already think that the world is too slow and think that if they could only do it themselves, things would get done more efficiently, more timely, and more stylishly...  After all, nobody knows the fashion or the mode like 'them youngins'!

So, is it that we're just all too self-sufficient or could it be that we are simply impatient?  For example, my aforementioned dialogue with Jill, was it just that we would have to stop the car, get out of the car, walk over to the house, knock on the door, wait for an answer (at a house that may be empty and may very well be empty each and every time I stop to ask....) or is it that I know where to get online and where to go to look-up images of pionees (and, by the way, I have looked them-up now, as I've created this blog, and the flowers we were wondering about, are, in fact, pionees).  So, does that answer my original question of whether or not the Net keeps us from talking, or is it just a fact that it may or most likely would have taken weeks, maybe months, or I may never found-out the answer to my wife's question, but I could solve that problem with a few keystrokes (and if I had Siri, I could have simply asked her/it for the images) and without having to bother anyone!

As I typed "bother," I realized that this was at the root of her objection: Don't go and bother those people when we can find-out ourselves without having to take-up anyones' time or energy or patience.  I guess, the point of saying, "we can use the internet was to not bother people..."

What is funny, is that when I came home and said that I had looked up the images on the Internet of pionees to see if that was the same flower we had seen in our neighborhood, she had talked to a neighbor and a friend and knew that what she had suspected, was correct--the flowers we had seen were, in fact, pionees and she was right.  So, I ended-up looking up the flower on the Internet, as she had suggested, and she did just what I had suggested and asked a neighbor.

Funny!

The whole situation drug-up the question of wether or not people talk less because of the internet.  If we were to use my situation as the only data that we look-at to judge whether or not the Internet silences face-to-face dialogues, the answer would be: No.  Most people, though, may find that if they don't have to talk to a person, they choose not to.  I know I am contradicting my own results to my question, but that's what my intuitive but maybe overly cynical and critical "gut" is telling me (or is that simply a philosophically trained and questioning?)!

JPS

A follow-up to my follow-up...

Here's the thing...  Don't think of it too much and don't think that it's always a rational act--because it's not always, or rarely is.  Maybe I'm wrong...  The thing is, who am I to be writing a blog about love-making?

JPS

Love-making follow-up...

So, what happens when you or your spouse doesn't want to?  Alma says to us in verse 27 of the thirty-second chapter that, "even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until..."  and if one or neither of you can even desire to believe, then nothing that I can say will most likely help you out, I think.

However, if, through rational and logical and maybe scriptural and even historical talk... you find that you can desire, then let that desire work in you, as Alma says, and here we will equate that desire with what Alma calls a "seed":

"... as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.  And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness.  Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.  And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good."

Now, you've seen that your desire has "born fruit," or that your seed is growing, you will get some help, as, "every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness."

With both of you now planting and growing and making fruit-bearing-seeds, you know that those seed "is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten myunderstanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me."

And there you have it...  An informal lecture of love-making intertwined with a formal lecture from my favorite Book of Mormon prophet, Alma.

JPS

Eternal significance and purpose of love-making

Sex isn’t evil and bearing children is one method of gaining God’s glory, but, what about making love to your legally and lawfully wedded spouse?  Let’s not even discuss any other of type of illicit sex!  Making love is good, but why?

Isn’t it a passion, or an illicit?  I think that is the point.  Let me explain…  It’s just like becoming more mature and wise and having integrity with keeping the commandments.  We are given this power—the closest we can come to being a God in this life—creating, with relatively few governing rules or laws and we are to learn to control our feelings/wants/desires while being commanded to multiply and replenish the Earth.  God isn’t giving two contradictory commandments, as we all can learn to control ourselves, while we are expected to experience the joy of love making

Not a good enough explanation?  Let me try again…  On Sunday, it’s not (or shouldn’t be) a matter of keeping yourself from doing all of the list of things that one would do if not keeping the Sabbath day holy, but should be filled with all of the different things that one does to glorify God and reverently serve each other.

Think of this: Alma teaches us that desire comes before faith.  You must desire or have a desire in you to gain faith.  Faith, I think we will all agree, is one of the ultimate things you can achieve in this life.  The more you get, the better off you are!  Desire, then, is not an evil thing.  I guess we can agree that it's neutral.  Some desires lead to sin and other desires lead to godliness.  Good.  I'm glad we got that settled...  But, we're still not where we want to go!  But, we have the concept of desire as our first axiom, which leads to faith which is the first principle of godliness and of God's church.

So, just like you achieve "closeness" to your eternal companion by following God's commandments, gaining faith--not only in the principle of obedience to your righteous acts together or with each other, but in each other and our faith becomes "knowledge in that thing" (Alma 32) that we did.  We are both becoming more and more like our Father in Heaven and in His Son, Jesus Christ.  Don't forget that we are also becoming closer to each other.  As we both become closer to God, we will simultaneously become closer to each other.  As we righteously become closer to one (you can't become closer to God in an unrighteous way, but someone may think that they are getting closer to their spouse by some perverse reasoning...  sex-aholics or other good things twisted to perversion, etc.  Just stop it!  STOP IT!) of the two (God or our spouse), we will reciprocally become closer to the other.  Thus, as we become closer to God, we become closer to our spouse and vice versa….

Now, let's get back to the doing-good-on-Sunday point--one of the ways that we become closer to God is by faithfully fulfilling one of His commandments, which is keeping the Sabbath day holy.  His very first commandment, remember, was given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which was to "multiply and replenish the Earth."  Does that mean, then, that you only righteously make love to your wife if you are trying to "multiply and replenish the Earth"?  No.  For an explanation there from someone with more authority than me, you'll need to do a little research yourself, but since you asked, one of the reasons we make love is to become closer spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically.

You can become closer with any one or more of those ways and have a lop-sided relationship.  Just think about becoming closer spiritually to the exclusion of all other fashions and in all other respects.  Take any to the extreme, and you are left with nothing-but-that-practice.  Becoming more like God, though, means not becoming lop-sided.  His life, He sees, His focus is one-eternal-round.

Since we came here to talk about the eternal significance and purpose of love-making, though, let's stick with that.  Actually, I think we have and I believe we've done well.  If you can't see the significance or purpose, re-read.  If you still can't see them after re-reading, go and do something else and maybe come back in a year or two or after some major changes in your life.

And in the maybe-not-so-famous but very funny words of Mr. Green from CLUE, "I'm going to go home to sleep with my wife."

JPS

Vendettas or Holding Grudges...

Who is it hurting?  Who is it supposed to hurt?

Think about it...

Now think some more...

Do you have an answer?

It's not fun to admit, but you are the only one getting hurt and it's you hurting yourself!

Not only that, but you are most likely hurting others that you care most about by taking offense to anything that even looks like you are not being supported.  What?  What are you saying?

That's right--you are  hurting people that weren't involved in your charade/dispute and even more-so everyone involved at all in the episode, whether you like it or not!

Are you saying I'm hurting them?

Yes!

Are you saying I'm hurting him?

Are you saying I'm hurting her?

NO!

Just stop.  Stop it!

JPS

Missionary Work

The way that I see it, you either do missionary work because of one of two reasons (or most likely both):

1) you have had or are having an experience like Alma the Younger or Paul and you can't bare the thought of any of your brothers or sisters being pained like you have experienced and can't stand the thought of them being tormented like you have been; or,

2) you are excited to spread the word because of your love of God and of your fellow-men and want to preach the gospel to all the world.

That or you don't do missionary work and, like Elder Anderson said in April of 2013, you just hope that the guilty feeling that bothers you for not sharing your testimony will simply go away and bother someone else!

No condemnation is coming from me--Jesus Christ is everyone's final Judge--sure, it's true that He didn't judge while on the Earth.  You can remember Him or His words, though, when He spoke to the woman taken in adultery, whom He freely and frankly forgave: "Go and sin no more."

You see, Jesus Christ has the power and authority to forgive, not only at the final judgement, but also here on the Earth.  That is a giant and gigantic blessing to me and to everyone here on the Earth!  Repent and He will forgive.

Open your mouth.  I find and see that most people do missionary work (or they excuse themselves from doing any more missionary work) by sharing their example.  That's great and good and even necessary, but in the end, it will be insufficient.  A good example should run all-throughout your life, but then, when the Spirit prompts (and it will prompt if you have taken the sacrament and are worthy of it still, and why shouldn't you be?  Remember, no condemnation here...); share your testimony.  Say something!  Open your mouth!

If you feel the weight of the sins that you've repented-of and are now clean, open your mouth!  Help someone else that may be in a similar situation that you've experienced.  If you love God and your fellow-man, open your mouth!  God's spirit, THE spirit, the HOLY SPIRIT will help you and will fill your now-open-mouth with the words that you need to say.

Don't trust me?  Try it.  Do it.  You'll not only never know unless you see if the promise bears fruit(s) just like you'll never be able to say whether this post was right or a lie unless you do it...  Otherwise, it could always be asked, "Well, did you try it out?"  If your answer is, "No," then just stop it!  Stop it and open your mouth!

JPS

"Transcendence"--Is God dead?

Nietzche was wrong.   And not with just that one idea; he was wrong over and over and over and over and...  He was infinitely wrong!

Not just that German philosopher, but everyone who bases or has based their philosophy on his concepts or axioms--they are all wrong too!

I am just going to commit a logical fallacy in this position and refer to the authority of God.  God himself has told me that Friedrich Nietzche is wrong, because the living God and living Christ are infinitely far from being dead.  They are actually further from being dead than is possible to imagine: even the thought of them being dead is ridiculous.  They are both infinitely alive!  Even if you has an infinite amount of reasons that pointed to Their or His being dead, you would still be short an infinite amount of infinite reasons; in the end, God is LIFE!

As far as Transcendence goes, I haven't seen it, though I might see it, but even if we build the "ultimate computer," even if we achieve transcendence thanks to those computers (even all the computers and servers that are the foundation for the World Wide Web), we cannot even begin to approach God, or His attributes, or His love, or His grace, or His qualities, or His omnipotence, His omniscience, His omnipresence, or His perfections.  In order to even begin approaching God, His perfections would have to be imbued in each of them and there would, of necessity be an infinite number of them--impossible almost to the threshold of sacrilegiousness or blasphemy!  Can you say, "Without beginning of days or end of life"?  What about LIVES!?!

God doesn't only live in each of us (but even the sum-total of human lives does not approach an infinite amount).

Just pray.  Find-out for yourself and stop trying to outthink the Father of us all.

JPS

We bought it! Our new house is now officially ours (mortgage and all!). What, you thought we could have one for free?

The loan closed today and we can pick-up the keys to our new house!

JPS

Buying a New House

What?

I have owned a house once before, in Orem--just West of State Street at about 2000 North--but we sold it to pay-off debts (but not all of my student loans!).  It is time, once again, to own a new house.  New family, new wife, new kids, new home.

That is right.

But now, a new home...  No, the house isn't brand new.  Give me a break, it's just new to me and my family!

JPS

Loan payments

If you went to school and earned an advanced degree, you are in debt (unless you did it the smart way, like my wife).  If you went back to school to get an advanced degree to be a school counselor, you are in debt unless you did it the smart way, like my wife.  Needless to say, I did and I am.  I am in debt.

The silver-lining to this is the caveat that says, if it takes you longer than 25 years to pay it off, you will be forgiven that debt.  I'm not exactly positive that this applies to everyone, from any school, and being financed by any company/bank/credit institution, but it turns out that it does for me.

My wife wisely commented, "If you could pay it off in under 25 years, you are most likely making enough money to where it isn't an insurmountable amount (to pay off)."

Still, for an advanced degree, that total amount is daunting and can make you feel as if you're going to be crushed.  No mercy.  No pause button.  Just an age-old adage that, "Interest never sleeps!"  For a loan, I don't want that to be true.  It's fine, when the interest is working for me--is in my favor--but creeping-up on me from behind is a scary thought!

JPS