Fun date with Sarah

After today's family birthday party, I drove down to Provo and went on a date with Sarah. We attended the story telling festival down there with some of her extended family. I had a good time. My only regret was that there wasn't a whole lot of alone time to get to know each other better.

We have a tentative date set for another get-together in two weeks. I'm looking forward to it!

Colds and Boy/Girl. Yeah its random.

Well not much has happened since yesterday. While in Houston last week for work related training, I caught a cold and now that I'm home, I'm really suffering from it. I think Houston's outsides are too warm and the insides too cold. Everytime I walked in or out of a building my body went into shock. If it was all warm or all cold I probably would have been fine.

Ben told me that Esther, who is visiting along with Rachael and Claudia-Sue, isn't a girl yet because she doesn't have long hair. When she gets long hair she'll be a girl. Well, he's started noticing differences. It's all downhill from here. I'll leave the finer details of distinguishing genders for when he's older.

Today in church I stumbled onto an allegory. Becoming exalted in the celestial kingdom (the subject of today's Sunday school lesson) is like a mortgage. God is the bank/lender, Christ is the real estate agent acting as the go-between for both parties, the Holy Ghost is the notary who puts the seal of approval on the transaction, and we are the happy people allowed to take out the loan.

We promise to make regular payments by obeying the commandments and keeping our covenants. God promises us a deed to the celestial estate. We get to live in the house (home a temple) if we continue to make our regular payments. If we stop making payments we can be evicted and the estate is seazed. If we faithfully make our payments or catch up on delinquent payments (repentance) until the full amount of the mortgage is paid, God gives us the deed to the estate.

Thus endeth the allegory of the mortgage.

Another day of paintball

Today I played paintball with some friends. I pretty much dominated the games ending the day with 8 eliminations and was never hit (8:0 not bad). I actually felt kind of bad that I slaughtered everyone so bad. I should have just sat out a couple games to let the others get the spotlight too. Or at least play with my pump to make it harder for me.

I do strive to play well, but I also want to encourage newer players to also enjoy the game and grow in skill themselves. Next time I see myself dominating, I'll take a step back to let the others have fun. I don't want to win at the expense of everyone's enjoyment.

The NCAA is making a policy that native american names, imagery, and mascots must be removed by schools by Feb 2006 to be able to host tournaments ect.

I'm guessing the decision is part of the Politicaly Correct agenda sweeping the nation. I wonder if these people have actually asked the native americans if naming schools after them offends them. I'm 1/32 Cherokee and wouldn't mind having a richer bloodline among native americans. I'd be happy to attend any school that so honored the Chereokee. The schools aren't picking the names out of dishonor or for savagery. They pick the native american names to honor OUR fine heritage.

The University of Utah is one of the schools that would have to change based on these rules. The Utes are a part of Utah's (another native american word) heritage and culture. Because of rampant colonization of America, these tribes have become mere shadows of themselves. Is it politically correct to stamp out the last remnants of them? To erase all memory of their existance? That is a far greater insult than naming your institution of higher education after them.

Hakuna Matata, what a dangerous phrase

Ben and I watched Lion King 1 & 1/2 today. It got me thinking. Two differing philosophies struggle against each other in the original Lion King. One was of no worries and the other of stand up to your responsibilities. It appears that the philosophy, or at least the phrase, hakuna matata is what is remembered most by those watching the story. And it is the wrong one.

The right philosophy is to stand up to your responsibilities, even if it means worries, hardship, and struggle. Why didn't Disney give us a catchy phrase for doing the right thing? People are missing the lesson of the Lion King because of it.

Simba leaves his home, struggles to find out who he is, and struggle against the evil within himself (apathy, comfort) and then the evil that faces his family(Scar), before he can claim his home in glory. There are many parallels with the Plan of Salvation. We have left our heavenly home, must struggle to find out who we are, fight the evil that bombards us (and repent if necessary), and with Christ's atonement, return to our heavenly home in glory.

Hakuna matata will come, after our labors in the vineyard. If we choose the right we may find inner peace in this life but even then we may need to mourn with those that mourn and face other sorrows. When our heart is filled with peace from righteous living and a perfect hope in Christ, we will worry about the wellbeing of our neighbor as well. Hakuna matata is the fruit of righteous living, not the way to live.

Transhumanism

I recently stumbled on a site on transhumanism and posthumanism. Interesting stuff. Transhumanism is the study of intelligence after the pace of knowledge reaches singularity. According to the current expansion of human knowledge, we are learning more at a faster rate then ever. Within 30 to 50 years, some transhumanists predict, that we will reach that singularity and life as we know it will cease as ALL knowledge will be available anywhere to anybody. Medical science will allow for death to be truely conquered and imortality will be reality. Artificial intelligence and bio-engineered lifeforms will be the norm.

Very interesting reading to say the least. Following their logic trail one came to the conclusion that post-singularity we would have enough knowledge and technology to control the very fabric of the universe and perhaps even create our own universes. Another person postulated that an intelligence that has already reached post-singularity could have designed THIS universe with the intent to have the right physics properties to allow a universe in which intelligence could develop. In essence we become gods born from a universe created by a god.

All the god stuff from this theory bothers some of the people debating transhumanism. The average christian gets uncomfortable with the concept that we could become like God. To us in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this concept seems perfectly natural. We are literal sons and daughters of a god who loves us and wishes for us to become like him. Why would he want us to remain eternally inferior to him? He loves us, he wants us to reach our full potential.

The transhumanists do forsee events that sound a lot like Christ's millenial rein and beyond but appear to be missing core eternal truths. Justice and mercy, Christ's atonement, the plan of salvation. You know the important stuff. I do feel that the sudden explosion of knowledge and technology in latter days is part of God's plan in preparing the world for Christ's coming but I would not make any kind of prediction of when it will come based on transhumanist predictions. Even the angels don't know when his coming is and they're pretty close to the guy doing the planning.

How Dreamy!

I had another one of those vivid dreams again. I've been having these a lot lately. Kinda crazy.

In this one I was in college with a bunch of other students. The furnature in the class kept getting rearranged. The class had something to do with dental work and social relationships. Yeah, that makes sense. After the class I went to the student building where the furniture there kept getting rearranged too. I walked through to the computers on one end, found them all occupied and walked back the way I came to find a nice chair and table to do some homework but the furniture was all changed arround.

At some point, the student center became a hospital and I was a nurse helping some old guy. He didn't want to stay in his hospital bed so I kept running around getting things ready for him so he wouldn't slip or fall or find some other way to hurt himself. It was kind of exhausting. I kept hoping he would just stay put so I could do my homework.

This one is probably about school starting again this month. I've been thinking about it a lot lately.