Canoes and Crows

As a youth, I was fortunate enough to enjoy several "aquatic excursions" on the rivers found in the mid-northern Appalachians. These have ranged from simple tubing trips down a creek or a river, to whitewater rafting with multiple intense moments. One particular trip involved a mild river, traveled with the aid of canoes. It was a shallow river, and several of our group wound up on rocks and tipped their boat as a result of it. Fortunately, my boat never did force us to test our floatation devices, but I would be a fool if I took the credit for that.

I've always lacked a bit of coordination in a boat. Most of that is because I've lacked coordination on land; I simply do not consciously control every place my body is. I can paddle hard and use my strength, but if I'm not careful that very strength is what tips me over. So, if I where placed in a canoe all by myself I would have been swimming down half that river. Instead, I had the help of another that was much better at boating. It was him that would guide the canoe, dodging rocks and finding channels. I would listen for his instructions, and then do my very best to follow them, be it paddle hard, back paddle left, switch sides, etc. Because of the teamwork, we were able to reach the end of the trip and take an enjoyable swim (instead of a forced one). This entire experience reminds me of a poem, About Crows by John Ciardi.

The old crow is getting slow; 
the young crow is not.
Of what the young crow does not know,
the old crow knows a lot.

At knowing things, the old crow is still
the young crow's master.
What does the old crow not know? 
How to go faster.

The young crow flies above, below, and rings
around the slow old crow.
What does the fast young crow not know?
WHERE TO GO.

I was like that young crow. I knew how to paddle hard and so we were able to speed past some obstacles. However, I didn't know where to paddle or which direction would keep us safe. My boat-mate did. The only reason we were able to get to the end was because we combined our abilities; I wasn't proud in my strength, and he didn't try to go by himself. In our daily lives, we need to remember that we are imperfect. Sometimes we are the young crow, full of talent or ability but not yet wise. We need to listen to the old crows, those that know more than we do and instruct us. Those leaders, family members, or perhaps wise friends may have greater wisdom than we do and can help us best us our strengths and abilities. Of course, their are plenty that don't have the same wisdom we do; it to these that we need to be the old crows, guiding those we are able to and helping them rise to their potential. I know that as we strive to be better, both in accepting help and helping others, we can all get down the river of life with minimal swimming trips.

Opposition, Wrestling, and Training

When I wrestled, my usual weight class was 189. This is the 3rd heaviest weight class in high school, and so I was a good deal larger and stronger than most of my teammates. If I wanted an easy match-up for practice, I could choose the 112 or even 145, and I'd be able to go through practice hardly breaking a sweat while my foe would be straining, trying to move more mass than he ever would need to in a match. However, we didn't get to choose our practice partners. Our coach would pair us up with whoever he wanted us to, and for me that was quite often our heavyweights (which could weigh up to 285). In these practices, I'd be the one pushing hard and straining to move mass greater than I normally would be called on to endure. This might not seem fair, but the fact that I normally practiced with heavier opponents allowed me to be stronger and more prepared for match day. This is the greatest reason we have for why opposition is so crucial in this life; having more required of us allows us to grow more and to become stronger for it.

A simple illustration of the match-ups

That makes enough sense. If our life is a time to grow, then we'll be given exercises and practices that will expand our abilities, test our skills, and develop our characters. So why does life seem so unfair at times? Even when we have the comfort that our trials will be for our benefit, it is still no fun to go through them. Let me share with you another wrestling trial: since my wrestling team was short a few members, I would often wrestle up a class; while still weighing in at 189 or less, I'd wrestle those in the 215 weight class. On match day, not just during practice, I'd be put up against somebody heavier and (often) stronger than I was. This is no longer time to grow and develop, a practice with no affect on my record; I was simply having a match that was tougher than those around me and that I didn't feel prepared for. Our trials in life often look like this; we are under-prepared, under-weight, under-skilled, and we don't have the freedom of mistakes that comes with practice. How can we grow when we are in such an predicament?

It is these instances that we learn what we can't anywhere else. In my matches, I learned endurance, humility, and occasionally self-confidence. In life circumstances we learn similar things; endurance through trials, humility to trust in the Lord, and self-confidence when we finish our trial. In every match I wrestled up, I was able to go in with confidence and cheer because I knew that simply winning wasn't all; if I could resist the pin, I'd help my team with points. If I failed, I could learn to be better next time. Life's trials might not be changed simply by how we feel when we go into them, but we will be changed by our approach to difficult times.

Canon and Zombies and Scripture

Another zombie, with a different
requirement for destruction

A little while ago, another online missionary (which means he also has a blog and a Facebook) wrote a post about zombies that I highly recommend reading, especially if you are a well cultured and interesting person. After reading that (or before) I'd invite you to go about halfway down the post and read something he said: "There's two ways to kill a zombie: Crush the body or remove the head. It's as simple as that." The purpose of today is to expound on this statement, and perhaps why it's not quite as simple as that.

The simple reason it's not so simple can be summed up with the word "canon." In fiction, the canon is the official rules, occurrences, people, and facts of the related works. So, when Elder Whitlock referred to the two ways to kill a zombie, he was drawing from a certain canon wherein the rules were as such. On the other hand, I normally draw my zombie canon from the works of Max Brooks, which includes the Zombie Survival Guide. This work of fiction (we hope) has extensive details into the hows and whys of zombies, and I personally think it is a great read. However, the canon for this book is that the only way to kill a zombie is to destroy the brain (if the head is simply removed, it can still bite). This is a clear and obvious difference of opinion, which can easily be resolved by saying the canon is different and going our different ways. That is perfectly fine in the world of fiction. This is not quite as easy to say in the world of religion.

Canon is classically used to describe what is official in a church (be it Catholic, Ecclesiastic, and sometimes Mormon). This extends to the holy scriptures; what is canon is accepted as truth, while what is not canon just doesn't carry the same weight. What do Mormons consider canon? The simple answer can be found in the Articles of Faith numbers 8 and 9, which I'll summarize here: the Book of Mormon, the Bible (correctly translated), and the continuous revelation given by God's prophets are canon. We believe in an open canon, not confined to the pages of books written in the past, just as the Apostles of old and the original Christians did (if they didn't, where did the New Testament come from?). I testify to you, humble reader, that this canon, and the Church it supports, has blessed my life and will bless yours. As I've suggested before, give it a read and try it out yourself.

The Choice of Faith

The topic on my mind lately has been an interesting one, and something that I think is rather difficult to talk about. It has to do with the thought "how do I know I'm right?" It stems from my natural tendency towards skepticism. When new information is presented to me, I first disbelieve it before accepting it. If I have a new idea, I second guess myself. If I see new research, I feel like it will be a while before it's useful. If I hear a conspiracy theory, I'll doubt it. And yet I present myself before the world, saying that I know the Book of Mormon is true. This brings us back to the previous question: "how do I know I'm right?"

Questions. I have a few.
But I don't let that stop me.

The skeptic in me would like to say that nobody can truly know of personal correctness. However, then I would dwell in an unfortunate state of not knowing what to trust, and that is not acceptable to me. The truth is, having faith is a choice, just as not having faith is a choice. This I can do. I can choose which influences that I receive, either internal (my thoughts, my doubts, my conclusions) or external (what I read, what I hear, what I feel), and I can choose which ones can convince me. I have chosen to place the highest priority on the spiritual witness I have received, or the powerful feelings of peace, joy, and certainty that I receive from following through with my responsibilities in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because I've given these experiences priority, I don't let other things (such as controversial history, angry shouts, or moments of confusion) have an effect on me. Even my existential doubts have lower priority.

I have sometimes wondered that maybe I'm "drinking the Kool-Aid," or blindly following something I haven't completely proven to myself. If the fact that I choose in this world to trust something I've never seen before seems weird to you, I invite you to to consider the following. Consider the happiness that I enjoy when I think about Christ and His church on the earth today. Consider how you feel right now. If I, with all my skepticism and worry that I might be wrong, can say that this is true, that I have received more joy from following the principles and ordinances of the gospel, and that I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's kingdom restored on the earth, what is to stop you? Do you want to have joy? I know you can overcome your doubts, your questions, your angst. I know because I have felt the Holy Ghost testify to me of truth and I have chosen to listen, and I have overcome my doubts, my questions, and my angst. The Bible says "by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:16,20). Well, this joy and peace is mine.