Blessed are ye...

We Mormons get called a lot of things....legalists...non-Christian...even "damned"

Now we can add "bigots, racist, intolerant, haters"
The last one is funny really. I have never in 40 years in my church, heard a hateful or even unkind remark about gay men or women in my church.
I have heard lots of things about families, and how important they are and how central to the Creator's plan and to the health of a culture and a nation.
Nana knows that Jesus said "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets."
Prophets always got in trouble for telling the truth to the culture
in which they lived.
(Sign in SLC protest: "Keep Government Non-Prophet")

Here we are at the call center in our stake on election day.

Here we are at a sign waving out at Blackhawk......

...and another one on Monday night before election on Crow Canyon in the rain.

There was the most wonderful feeling at all these events.

It felt like Zion's Camp.

Well, except when that girl ran up with scissors and tried to slash the banner the Ferrell's were holding and then held the scissors up to their 16 year old daughter's throat. Then ran away. Yes, this really happened.

If you aren't on the side of a Judeo-Christian, Biblically-based, non-relativistic morality in the current culture wars, you will not understand. But this battle to keep marriage traditionally defined as between a man and a women is our Cultural Armageddon.

It is not about hating anybody. That is pure propaganda intended to silence our arguments.

It is about preserving the sacred order that God established the world on. As different as all the varied cultures of the world are, there are a few things on which they agree. Marriage is between man and woman. A week is seven days. (see Genesis)

Think I'm crazy?

This is Katy Perry.

She is exhibit 1.

Yes, it matters to the society if you start moving the fences and changing the norms.

Her song, "I kissed a girl and I liked it" was catchy, bright pop

and spent weeks at the top of the charts

A few of the lyrics:

This was never the way I planned

Not my intention

I got so brave, drink in hand

Lost my discretion

It's not what I'm used to

Just wanna try you on

I'm curious for you

Caught my attention

I kissed a girl and I liked it

The taste of her cherry chap stick

I kissed a girl just to try it

I hope my boyfriend don't mind it

It felt so wrong

It felt so right

No, I don't even know your name

It doesn't matter

You're my experimental game

Just human nature

Too good to deny it

Ain't no big deal, it's innocent

I kissed a girl and I liked it

I liked it

Notice the words: curious, felt right, experimental, human nature, just try

Well Katy: Here's what Nana knows. Narcissism is all about making what you like the center of your life, becoming your own little god. You're well on your way, and well on your way to influencing the teeny-bopper culture that listens to you and buys your records.
Luke 6:43 "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither does a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes."

This is good fruit: A Forever Family

Veterans Day...A Little Late

This is a Veterans Day Post for my personal hero-

my Daddy

John Joseph Patrick Michael Mackey

Here he is as a dashing young Second Lieutenant during World War II.

He flew submarine patrol, keeping the Atlantic waters safe for Allied shipping.

My father....one of the Greatest Generation...who did what they had to do and 

didn't think that made them anything special.

Came home, went to Cal Berkley on the G.I. bill, by which a grateful nation made a university education possible for a poor kid from a poor neighborhood in Boston. Sometime, Nana will tell you the stories.  They are great stories.

Oh, all right.  I'll tell you one.

There were lots of Jews and Irish in the neighborhood.  Every Friday night, Jack would go around to the Jewish homes and light the stoves of the good Jewish housewives who couldn't strike a match on the Sabbath.  But the enterprising Catholic kid could,

 and made a nickel apiece doing it.

They didn't really know they were poor kids.  They organized their own football league, one neighborhood against another.  All the parents came out and watched on Saturdays, but no adult had anything to do with it except to cheer.

Here he is today.  He's 91.  Still has that sparkle in his eyes and the Irish Wit.

Thanks Dad.

To you and to all the heroes.  

Nana knows that you kids need to remember these guys and honor what they did.

It's very, very important.

The Sad Demise of Sin

We had a sense of sin when I grew up. The fences were up and we knew where they were. Even at Harvard they knew what sin was. As you will note from this excerpt from Harvard Magazine, circa 1963:

"Dean of students Robert Watson criticizes lax undergraduate attitudes toward parietal rules, insisting that Harvard 'must be concerned that its students do not set an example for the relaxation of morals among youth....fornication must also be understood as an offense punishable by the University on the same grounds as thievery, cheating, and lying.'" 

Ah for the good old days!

For those of you who've never heard of parietal rules, they are the rules governing men's and women's dorms-- when you had to be in and when the men had to be out. How quaint. Today at least two dozen schools, including Brown, the University of Pennsylvania, Oberlin, Clark University, Cal Tech, and Stanford, allow students to share a room with anyone of any gender they want to.

Bring Back Real Sin!

I know this doesn't have much of a chance as a slogan on college campuses, but Nana thinks it's a good idea.  We knew what sin was at BYU when I went there. 


Here am I in my prom hair in 1966. (No, I didn't use a bicycle pump to get it like that)

But we all knew exactly what sin was back then.  We were all concentrating very hard on not giving in to the lusts of the flesh. We never thought to use the excuse, "That's just the way I am. That's the real me." Sure sex is natural but we also knew the natural man and the natural coed were enemies to God.  We fought back and "chose eternal life, according to the will of his holy spirit, and [did] not choose death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to lead you down to hell, that he may rule over you in his own kingdom" (2Nephi2:28-29)  

Sin Today

Of course the world does have its own brand of Sin today-- even though they've pretty much abandoned the lusts of the flesh. Here's the current list, brought to you by the World Council of Great and Spacious Churches:

1. The sin of social injustice
2. The sin of intolerance
3. The sin of judgmentalism
4. The sin of not recycling
5. The sin of smoking

Things have definitely changed from the Middle Ages.  Then you got a convenient, concise list of Seven Deadly Sins.  Easy to memorize if not always easy to comply with. They are, or were:

Now that's a list of sins a person can sink their teeth into.  I think we should make them into wall art in Relief Society.  Nana thinks these are things kids need to know.

When all else fails there are the Ten Commandments and Galatians 5:19-21 with its list that includes fornication, lasciviousness,and reveling.

They just don't teach this stuff in churches anymore.  

Case in point:

One of my FAVORITE MAGAZINES(!)is "Touchstone, A Journal of Mere Christianity."  This is from their latest issue in a fascinating article called "Wise Blood" by Marilyn Prever.

"My husband and I used to help with marriage preparation for our parish, and we found that many of the couples were cohabiting. Some of them felt guilty about it, but many felt that they were not only innocent but virtuous, because living together saved money, and not only that, but they were being especially "responsible" because the woman was on the birth control pill. They thought God must be very pleased with them. Where do you begin to unravel such a tangle of errors? We did our best in the brief time we had and were surprised to find how many couples were open to the truth ("Why didn't somebody tell us before?"), but others had to find out the hard way that God doesn't just want us to have good intentions, he wants us to keep his Commandments."

How should we decide what things are sin and what things are not sin? God's word decides and we as Christians are to agree with God's word, not rewrite it.

So

Nana wants to know...

How are you going to repent if you don't know you're sinning?

What if they gave an Atonement and No One Came?

"Oh no thank you.  God loves me just the way I am.  I suggest you go feed the hungry.  Have a nice day."

The gospel of Jesus Christ is for sinners. That's all of us--just so you don't go getting a big head. The Doctrine and Covenants says we "are called to cry repentance to this people." We are apparently living in a culture that doesn't want to hear it. They want acceptance. No thanks on the redemption.

Well, take it from Nana, who has lived a lot longer than you have. Being stuck with yourself just the way you are is hell. I'll take redemption.    

Down but Not Out.....

Or...Never Give Up

Things happen in life that just plain stink. Like pitching to St. Louis' Albert Pujols in a NL playoff game in '05 and watching him whack a spectacular 4 run homer out of earth's orbit.

Pitcher Brad Lidge is a guy who has had his ups and downs....

Up: Picked 17th overall in the 1998 draft by the Houston Astros.

Down: Missed big chunks of first four seasons. Torn rotator cuff. Broken bone in his arm. Strained ribcage muscle. Bad knee.

Up: In the 2003 season was named Rookie of the Year.

Up: In 2004 was made a closer for Houston. Great season.

Up: Finished 2005 season with 2.29 ERA. High hopes into the playoffs.

Down: Pujols' homer in the playoffs. Podsednik's walk-off homer in Game 2 of World Series that ended in a sweep for Chicago. The bloom is off the rose and Houston fans start to gripe.

Down: 2006/07 seasons. ERA rising. Ends at 5.28. Loses closer job.Fans fickle. Not worth the money they say. He's lost it, they say. Regains his closer job but he's no longer the Hero. His knee is blown and needs surgery.

A NEW CHANCE: Acquired by the Philadelphis Phillies before the 2008 season.

Down: Tore the meniscus in his right knee in Feb '08, same knee he already had surgery on. Uh oh. Had more surgery to repair it.

Up: Fighting his way back. Looking good. In the first two months he played the 2008 season, he had 12 straight saves. Returned to Astro's home field and smoked 'em. Ended the regular season perfect with 41 straight saves.

Higher: Wins MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award. Finishes season with a 1.95 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 62 games.

Up, Up: His streak of saved games continued. 6 for 6 in the postseason heading into game 5 of the World Series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. This was it.

Away!: The Phillies are playing at home and lead by one run. Top of the ninth. If they can just hold Tampa scoreless they win the world series. Lidge retires Evan Longoria on a pop fly. First out. Than Dioner Navarro singles into right field and the Rays have a man on base. Pinch-runner Fernando Perez steals second, moving into scoring position with just one out.

Lidge retires pinch-hitter Ben Zobrist on a line drive to the rightfielder. Every Philly fan's heart is in their throat. Two away. Remember, the tying run is on second.

Pinch-hitter Eric Hinske is up. Foul ball. Strike one. Check-swing. Strike two. This is it. The third pitch.
A swing and a miss!

The Phillies are the new World Champions of Baseball. First series win since 1980! Brad Lidge is on his knees on the mound, with his hands stretched heavenward.

The place went nuts!


See for yourself:





And then they started putting microphones in his face. I was watching the game and in the first sentence he spoke he thanked Jesus Christ and his teammates. I couldn't find the moment replayed on the networks or u-tube but my friend who watched the game heard it too.

Mr. Lidge had said a similar thing when he received the NL Comeback Player of the Year at the end of the penant race.

"I'm thankful ..to the Phillies for giving me an opportunity to come here, and be able to close and have confidence in me. And really thinking about it, I mean I have to thank God for the blessings I've had in my career, whether it's been ups or downs, I mean just to be able to play in the major leagues, I mean for me has always been a tremendous blessing. I also feel that I need to thank Jesus Christ for giving an example of how to never be too up or too down. To be humble when things are going good and when things aren't going good to realize it's just a game and to have perspective...

A reporter asked him for his favorite scripture and he said,
"I really like the things Jesus said. One in particular, where Jesus says, 'What good is gaining the whole world when you lose your soul to achieve it.'
That would be a paraphrase of Matthew 16:26.


So what Nana knows
is that this guy, Brad Lidge, is a good role model in a world that badly needs them.

I'm really not a baseball fan but I like redemption stories and athletes who give the glory to God.

So in his honor I am going to do my own paraphrase of a scripture--2nd Corinthians 4:8-9.

Paul the apostle knew something about forging ahead past the roadblocks of life. Here you go...

"We are toubled on every side, but haven't quit believing; we are faced with setbacks, but do not despair,
We are abandoned by fair weather friends, but not forsaken by The One who matters most; we are down, but not out!"

So never give up, kids. As it says in the Good Book, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23

Love you,
Nana