The Natural Man

So I was scrolling through blogs earlier today and came across one that impacted me. The thing that grabbed my attention was that there was a picture of this guy in 2006 healthy, but then showed a chronological gallery of his decent in health due to cancer, then his recovery to health. I decided to see what he wrote after his experience.

There wasn't anything really related to his health, he wrote about prop 8, probably because he lives in California, I believe the date of the post was around the big hub-bub. In it he made some references to racial discrimination, and how when someone is born they have no choice over the color of their skin, but there have been many references made about equal rights for homosexuals like with different races. He stated how incongruant these two cases are.

His next point was that if we are going to give the right to "consenting adults" what's to keep us from stopping at gay marriage, why not allow polygamy again, and why stop there? If we allow any consenting adults to marry what's to stop the a father from marrying his son or his daughter, as long as they both consent.

What we keep hearing over and over again is that people are born this way. They say they don't have a choice, it's just in their dna to want someone of the same sex. I don't know that I believe or disbelieve this statement. I don't know that there's any way to pinpoint when that desire starts, I'm sure it varies for each individual, just the same as sexual attraction starts for every individual.

I want to add my voice to his with just a thought of my own. Maybe I do believe that men or women are born with that desire. This is a new idea for me, but I'm wrapping my brain around it slowly... That having been said, should we allow the natural man inside of us to rule what we do? Should we just eat foods that are high in sugar and fat because that's what we desire or crave? Should we cast off abstinence from sex until marriage because hormones urge us towards it, whether it be with our same sex or the opposite? What about theft? Should we abolish self control of every level to satisfy our natural wants and cravings?

The scriptures clearly state

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been since the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father

I have been working my entire life, and still am, to put off the natural man. I will be working my entire life to curb my desires and passions so that I can bring myself under control financially, physically, spiritually and mentally.

This life is a proving ground that God has given us to prove us, to test us, to see if we will put off our own will and take His upon us. To stop helping ourselves so dang much to the things that we want and look to the guy next to us and see what he NEEDS. I know I have a long way to go in this process, and it's not one that I can make alone, none of us can but through the mercy of Christ all things are possible.

We have not been left here alone, if we seek God, we will find him. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you.

Seriously GI Joe? Seriously?

So I don't know who this joker is, but he definately is not the iconic super-villian that terrorized my childhood. I'm a little more than displeased with the new spin on Cobra Commander. To be honest, I can't believe that Hasbro allowed them to completely change what he looks like and how he acts. When I want to see Cobra Commander, I want to see him the way he came out of his creator's mind like this:


I don't want to go too far out there, but look at the symbolism of his mask, you can see all of humanity reflected in it. When we fight Cobra, we're fighting the parts within us that we detest and want to destroy. It also reminds us that none of us is immune to power hunger and greed, that we need to keep them in check or we could end up like the Cobra. I hate to get philosophical about things that are pretty irrelevant, but there needs to be some justice in life. I didn't see the movie in theaters because I was afraid they would taint my good-time kid memories, and they did. Nice job losers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAVjF_7ensg&feature=player_embedded

This video confirms to me that we are not alone in the vastness of space. God didn't just create us and leave us here alone. I believe he has children without number, and he has enough room to fit us all. We are not a plague on this planet, it was created for us by a loving Father who wants us to experience life away from him for a time and choose to live the way he lives. We need to all love one another just as God loves us all; only then will we experience peace.

Where's my wife?

So this weekend Jamie and I drove a heavily loaded trailer to Great Falls, MT, which we will be calling home for the next however long. (I guess it depends on how much we like it and how long it takes us to finish school).

We had a pretty fun drive up; nothing ever goes as planned. We left at about 9pm Friday, only 3 1/2 hrs late. Not my fault! We had to fix the lights on the trailer we borrowed, then tarp everything down, bad idea... I H-ATE tarps. They are so flimsy. We lost 1 1/2 tarps on the way to Idaho Falls, spent the night there and got a new tarp at the army surpluss store there, it was a little better but not much. Arriving in Great Falls we had petitioned the ward we'll be attending for help unloading. Bishop Culbert was waiting for us when we got there, what a help he was!! After unloading we left for Charlo to spend the night for Sutton's baptism on Sunday; it was a great service. There's something so special about a baptism.

It was really hard to leave without Jamie, not knowing when I'll actually be able to join her there. I'm trying to decide how much work I want to take on, or whether I just want to get up there to be with her, I miss her like crazy!