Am. Gov. #10

My American Government and Societies also attended the Art Museum this week. I was very surprised that we took the tour of the religious section; I suppose I just assumed we would be going through the American Dreams (my second favorite part of the Museum, after the religious section). I am by no means an art critic, nor do I have any qualifications to be one. However I know how art makes me, as and individual, feel. Anyone can look at art in that way.
Anyway, I love the painting of the Savior at the pool of Bethesda. My favorite part of that painting is the man sitting next to the pillar, looking on slightly. I have always imagined that he is eavesdropping, but trying hard not to look like he is. In my mind he is wondering who the Savior is, and also, "will He come see me next?" Hoping without daring to hope that the Savior's next stop will be to him.
To me it is almost a call. Maybe the man was "overlooked" by the Savior, and it is our mission to go be instruments in the hands of the Lord in finding and helping those that the Savior did not get to. It makes me feel like I need to go find those people, sitting by the pool at Bethesda wondering, "Will He come see me next?"
I'm certainly not the Savior, but I can be His servant and do His work.

NT #10

I went to the Museum of Art for my New Testament class. I must confess that the BYU art museum is one of my favorite places on campus. It's the first building I remember seeing. My brother Richard went to BYU when I was eleven, and my family came to Utah to drop him off at college. The only thing I remember about the trip is touring the art museum with my dad. At the time, the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit was showing. I had no idea what they were, and man oh man, looking back, if I had only known. But although I did not realize the value of the Dead Sea Scrolls, my heart was instilled with a love of the BYU Art museum.
Since coming to BYU, I have visited the art museum several times. I go with friends sometimes "just because" or sometimes I will just go through by myself, rediscovering my favorite pictures.
One of my favorite things to do is to sit and memorize the large painting of Christ at the pool of Bethesda. I just like sitting and looking at it.
So it was a real treat for me to go on my first official tour and have the guide talk about it. I am grateful for the effort BYU has made to create a wonderful art museum, and expecially the effort they have taken to create a religious section. The art museum will always be a beloved place in my mind.

NT #9

I've been struggling the last little while to figure out something to blog about this week, and frankly I still am struggling.
So I think I shall go with a little stream of conscience:
I have had the most trouble this semester than ever before in my life to read my scriptures regularly. I'm not really sure why that is, because it is definitely not the most busy I have ever been before. Sometimes I don't know if I would have read if it weren't for my religion class. This might sound a little trite, but I can really tell a difference when I don't read my scriptures. In a way, I'm kind of glad I've had this experience. I used to kind of be jealous of the kids who would get up to bear their testimony and they would say how much they loved seminary, and how their day just doesn't go as well when they don't attend.
I never understood how they could feel the difference.
But I realize now that it's probably not going to kill me to miss reading the scriptures once. But as my scripture reading becomes more hit and miss, I can really tell the difference that a little act can make.
So a few weeks ago I decided to recommit to reading my scriptures. I changed the time I read from right before I go to bed to the mornings on Tuesday and Thursday, or after my 10 o'clock class Monday-Wednesday-Friday.
I do believe this is working for me, and I really have been able to tell a difference.

Am. Gov. #9

We're going to go with a little stream of conscience today:
We watched the Amistad in class last week. It was a really good movie, rather intense in a few parts.
But there was a line in it that kind of caught my attention. Someone said something like, "Martyrdom is the strongest power for change."
I've also been reading a compilation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches, with commentary from people who knew him. One person said of him, "He always knew that martyrdom was the potential price of challenging America's version of racial separation."
Another quote from Dr. King himself, "If you haven't found something to die for, you aren't fit to live."
So what IS the purpose of martyrdom? Is it necessary to bring about change? Is death really the worst thing that can happen to you? Is it some sort of requirement for something?
Famous martyrs include Joseph Smith, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Abinadi, Christ.
Based on these examples, I'm pretty sure you don't die until your mission is finished. Each of these examples could have been killed before their time actually came, but they all finished what they came to do.
I think I'll study martyrdom a little bit more. I wonder if there is anything I would die for. I'd like to say, "yes, of course," but I wonder if I'd be too scared or something. I think I would die for my religion, but I would feel terribly unjustified and take it up with Heavenly Father later.
Well, anyway, those are my thoughts for this week.

NT #8

I just finished reading Between the Testaments by S. Kent Brown and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel. It discusses the 500 years between Malachi and Matthew, and sets the stage for what the culture was like in the New Testament.
I feel like my understanding of the intertestamental period grew exponentially; probably because I knew absolutely nothing about it before a few months ago.
I understand more about how the Bible came to be, how it was compiled, why it was translated etc. I understand more about the politics of the time period, how Rome got involved in Judea, who the Maccabees were etc.
I think it is so important to understand about history. It leaves you more able to understand human nature, understand people's arguments, and understand motivations for a lot of things people, past and present, do.
I think you understand that people are people, no matter what century or culture they were born into. There is a disposition to do good in all of us, and there is a disposition to do wrong in all of us, in any time period.
Those are my thoughts.

Am. Gov. #8

I've been watching a lot of documentaries lately about other countries where the people have sadnesses. Sadnesses in their lives ranging from genocide to arranged marriages to child abductions to having to drop out of school because their family can't afford it.
These movies make me realize that I have so much to be grateful for. It's very easy to focus on the negative points in America, and the problems we have (And heaven knows we have problems) but today I would like to focus on the good.
I am glad I was born in America because we are a land of opportunity, and a land of change. The two work together very closely; our society changes to offer opportunities to those who have few. Let me explain this.
200 years ago, blacks were sold as slaves. Because of the way our government is set up, blacks gradually were emancipated, given the right to vote etc. 50 years ago, blacks still faced terrible prejudices against them. Because of the way our government and society is set up blacks were able to do non-violent protests and change views of society. In most other societies they would have simply been incarcerated or even executed. Today, we have a black man serving as our president. Is that something great about our country, or what?
Same thing with women. In the beginnings of our country, women did not have suffrage, they did not have opportunities for education, they did not have nearly as many equal opportunities. Look at how much that has changed!
America is an equalizing land! Yes, we have had our prejudices, we have had our periods of racism, and I believe some prejudices still exist today. The system isn't perfect, but it becomes more so all the time as our society becomes more and more accepting of others.
I love our land!

Am. Gov. #7

It seems like, in the Mormon culture at least--I can't rightly say about others-- there is a certain negative connotation about the word justice. But do we really even have an understanding about what that means?

We use the word justice all the time. We demand justice, we offer "justice for all" in our pledge of allegiance, and we say that mercy satisfies the demands of justice.

Obviously, justice can have both negative and positive connotations. In my religion class last semester, we talked extensively about mercy and justice, but I'm not really sure that I understood the class discussions until recently.

Justice, to me, means a fair chance, and a guaranteed consequence. Let me give an example. I remember one time in my high school biology class overhearing a conversation about curfews. One girl was complaining that her mother was SO strict for making her come home at midnight. She moaned about the punishment she received if she was late even five minutes. The other girl kind of shrugged her shoulders and said, "well, at least she cares about you. My mom doesn't even care about where I am at night."

The conversation moved on to other things, but the memory of it stuck with me. Whether they knew it or not, those girls were discussing justice. The first girl had a guaranteed consequence if she came home late. The point of the second girl was, when a mother exacts justice it shows her love for her child.

So to me, there is no negative connotation to the word justice. It shows consistency and it shows love. I just love that our country, although imperfect, endeavors to establish justice for all.

NT #7

I think everyone, at some time in their life, has wanted to go back in time. It is already exciting enough to travel to new places in the present day; imagine what it would be like if you could choose any time. Recently, I've been wondering what it would be like to go back in the time of Herod. I would like to see his amphitheaters, stadiums and other construction projects. I would like to talk to people of the time and ask them their opinions about life, religion and philosophy.
Often when I read about history, I always have questions like, "what was this person thinking when..." Then I wish someone had left a record somewhere to answer those questions.
Today, as I was feeling that wishful twinge, it occurred to me that someone down the road of history will probably wish that they had lived in the early twenty-first century, and wish that someone had left a record of our proceedings and what our thoughts are on life, religion and philosophy. I wonder what people in the future will want to know about our day. I wonder what they will think about us. Which little details will they be most interested in? It's all very enthralling to think about anyway, if nothing else.