BYU :)

I am loving all my classes right now. I'm taking 16 credits, which sometimes gets a little stressful, but I love all my classes and I couldn't pick one to drop haha. Right now I'm loving how all of them are interacting and adding to each other. We talk about Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy in Classic Civ that goes right along with what I'm learning in my C.S. Lewis class, or we learn about Greek myths that go along with our discussions in C.S. Lewis and what I'm writing a paper on for Book of Mormon as Sacred Literature! My Old and New Testament classes are always interesting, and my History of Ancient Israel class is adding to my background knowledge. Basically, I'm just loving it. I'm getting such a good education, it's so interesting, and I'm just fascinated by all the new and awesome things I am learning that make me feel like a scholar, and are adding to my religious knowledge. Go BYU! :)

Temple Archetypes

I always come away from my Old Testament class being like "Woah I never knew that that's so cool my spiritual mind is blown!" :) It's awesome. Today we talked about temple archetypes and the Garden of Eden as a temple. I found it to be super interesting and profound. :)

Here are the 10 characteristics that all temples share; or, what makes a temple a temple.

The Garden of Eden meets each one. Ready? :)

1. Area made sacred by the presence of God
2. Represented the primordial hillock
3. Architectural embodiment of the cosmic mountain
4. Associated with the waters of life
5. Contains a Tree of Life
6. Sacred marriage
7. In it worshippers are clothed
8. Place of sacrifice
9. Destruction or loss is calamitous & fatal to community
10. God's word is revealed inside

:) It makes me super want to go to the temple. We're going this friday yay! :)

Clarification of a few points: 

oh by the way...

http://cecereadslewis.blogspot.com/

I blog here now,  for a class on C.S. Lewis. Check it out if you want my thoughts on and favourite quotes from his amazing works :) :)

who am I writing this for? [i am required to consider this, for school.]

I am supposed to mention, for a school assignment, what my audience has been. Um well. It has been. My family, mostly. Friends, perhaps. People that know me, people from home who are interested. I am also aware though that this blog is viewable by the entire world so I've tried to keep that in mind. And also my audience is kind of, just me. I write what I want to write, and that's what I like about it. When I write somewhere else, I feel like I'm writing for someone else. Here, I can write whatever I like. And like I said, it's an easy way to keep track of my life. So. My audience is me. And you. Whomever "you" are. You're welcome to read... or not :)

To that end, I write whatever I am thinking about. I try to keep a mix of life stories, thoughts about my life and my religion {obviously a huge part of my life} and just pictures and random bits of what I'm learning at school. It's pretty varied fare I suppose. To address a potentially varied audience. And in keeping with my varied and eclectic lifestyle :) I just try to be true to myself in every post. Which sometimes gets weird when people that I didn't expect to read my blog talk to me about it in person, but I guess that's just what comes with having an online presence. So that doesn't bother me or anything.

I also try to include links to other websites so that things are clarified and I give credit where it is due. And I include pictures because huge blocks of text are intimidating. And I write like I think. Because it's my blog. And I can do that. Stream-of-consciousness for the win! Hah. :)

So hopefully, as per the title of this blog, reading what I have to say gives you some small glimpse into my real life. This is me, as I really am :)

ta-da. :) 

God is {not was}, and He speaks {not spake}

In 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson pled with the students of Harvard Divinity School to teach "that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake." Weekend before last my testimony of this truth was re-emphasized as I had the opportunity to listen for myself to modern-day prophets and apostles share some of God's words for us during the annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which happens to be the church I belong to :) Going into the conference, I had prepared ahead for an excellent weekend of inspiration and learning from God. I was excited to hear God's word for today, and since I have a friend preparing to join the church, I was primed to look for messages that would be helpful to him and his situation.

Jeffrey R. Holland was the last second-to-last speaker during the two-day conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah. He entitled his remarks "An Ensign to the Nations," and was a very effective concluding* speaker for several reasons. First, before he even said anything, I was psyched to hear from him. I will even admit that when he got up to speak I made the "rock on" sign with my hands  (\m/ >.< \m/), much to my father's dismay. Elder Holland always gives really exceptional talks, so I was excited to hear what this one would be. He also has a great deal of credibility as an Apostle of the Church, serving in that capacity for nearly seventeen years. I'm nineteen years old so for as long as I can remember Elder Holland has been in a position to inspire and uplift me by teaching me the words of God, and I've had a long time to learn for myself that his calling as a special witness of Christ is indeed authentic. His remarks also came at the end of a fabulous conference, and the Spirit was already strongly testifying to me that what I had previously heard was true and of God.

wouldn't you know it...

this is me at my high school graduation, circa ten months ago.

this is me when I first started here at the university

and this is me, just a couple of days ago.

Wow. Weird to think that it's already been that long, and that in a couple of days I will be done with my first year of college. A year out of high school. A year of college complete. And where has it brought me? 

Umm...... gimme a minute. :)

did you hear about...?

This is a snippet of an instant messaging conversation between myself and my {non-BYU, not-yet-mormon, well-beloved} friend. I'm the one with poor capitalization habits. Cut me some slack; it was Facebook chat.

//

did you hear about brandon davies?

{byu basketball player}

Nah

oh

well he got kicked off the team for breaking the honor code

and i feel bad for him.

What'd he do? 

sex

... 

Why do you feel bad?

did you know 7/10 americans have lost their virginity by age 19?

i feel bad because everyone's talking about it.

it must be embarrassing to have everyone talk about your mistakes.

Everyone should certainly forgive him once he shows clear signs of repentance.

Dyou know the ted haggard story?

there's nothing for me to forgive him for haha.

no, i don't.

//

And then we moved on to other things. Specifically: Ted Haggard, forgiveness, decisions, agency, control, love/hate, the Wicked soundtrack, our mutual love for wearing pajamas, LDS temples, bibical name meanings, nonsensical words and sentences, menstrual cramps and what boys have that is comparable, the future, French grammar, and bedtimes and wakeup times. We interspersed a few insults for good measure, and said goodnight. Clearly we're very intellectual creatures :) 

If you want to know my opinion about Brandon Davies and the BYU Honor Code... here it is.

Privacy in a world of Facebook

These videos are the inspiration behind my research paper on how social networking has affected our concept of privacy. My idea is that for many of today's teenagers, the idea of keeping their private lives private is actually quite foreign. Growing up I remember "chat rooms" and learning about online safety - never give out your real name, etc. Today that concept is laughable. 500,000,000 people have their full name on Facebook. And people aren't shy about posting status updates:

Avodah

A little over a week ago I wrote about how it's hard for me to feel like prayer is really working. {http://bewhyyou.blogspot.com/2011/02/prayer-works.html}

Well today in class I learned that the Hebrew word for work is the same as the Hebrew word for worship. The word avodah is translated both ways. How cool is that? :)

why it's so hard t

"Normally, when a person tries to read or concentrate on a project or task, the amount of beta waves in the brain increase. 

beta waves

These are the fastest waves in the brain and help keep a person attentive.

A person with ADHD who tries to concentrate produces slower theta waves, which have the opposite effect."

theta waves

--Matters of the Mind, W. Dean Belnap, M.D 

So telling a person with ADHD to "concentrate harder" is really going to have the opposite effect; sitting down and "focusing" is going to make them more antsy and distracted. They'll need to learn other ways of producing beta waves. 

I don't know if I have ADHD; without any formal training or real knowledge, I'm inclined to believe that a lot of people have it to some degree. This quote intrigued me because sometimes I feel like the more I try to concentrate, the more difficult it becomes. Maybe it has something to do with brain waves!

in.ter.es.ting.

:)

new favorite vocab word

eschatological {gesundheit!}


it means "referring to the last days." 


as in, Isaiah's prophesies can be Messianic {referring to the Messiah} in nature, eschatological in nature, or both! 


:) 


and that is the vocab word of the day.

of Jyana, understanding, and becoming One.

In Hindu belief, one of the ways to escape the eternal wheel of reincarnation is Salvation through the Way of Knowledge, or Jyana. This belief holds that an understanding of the reality that all things are One is the way to salvation.


In order to leave this wheel of perpetual reincarnation, one must understand that Brahman (the One Reality, the Universal Life, the World Soul) and Atman (the Individual Life, the Human Personality) are one and the same. Their scripture records an effort to describe what this means:


A father asks his son Shvetaketu to break open a fig, and then to break open one of the seeds inside. "What do you see there?" he asks. "Nothing at all, sir," his son replies. Then the father says to his son:

"Verily, my dear, that subtle essence which you do not perceive - from that very essence, indeed, my dear, does this great fig tree thus arise. Believe me, my dear, that which is the subtle essence - this whole world has that essence for its Self; that is the Real...; that is the Self; that (subtle essence) art thou, Shvetaketu." Chandogya Upanishad 6:12-14 

Kind of confusing. But I like it for that reason. It makes me think.

infinity means forever

I love my advanced religion class this semester. Today I learned that we will never stop relying on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is infinite; we never get to check off "apply the Atonement in my life," or be like, "thanks Jesus, that was cool," and move on. We will always be relying on our Savior who ransomed us and provided the way for Eternal Life. He is the reason there is a life after death; the reason I can be reunited with my Father in Heaven and live with Him forever.  I will always be indebted to my Savior for his great Atoning Sacrifice.

"He is my Savior and my Redeemer. Through giving His life in pain and unspeakable suffering, He has reached down to lift me and each of us and all the sons and daughters of God from the abyss of eternal darkness following death. He has provided something better—a sphere of light and understanding, growth and beauty where we may go forward on the road that leads to eternal life. My gratitude knows no bounds. My thanks to my Lord has no conclusion." --Gordon B. Hinckley

I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever. ~Ps. 86:12 

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

~Amazing Grace 

Poetry and the Mind of God

 Reading for class late one night. Stumbled upon this little gem:

"Scholars are undecided as to whether his [Isaiah's] book is a collection of carefully prepared compositions by the prophet himself, or whether his inspiration was simply so intense that his poetry is an expression of the mind of God." Victor L. Ludlow

Holy cannoli.

That is really, really cool.

how to think; not what to think

I recently read an article called "Diagnosing and Treating the Ophelia Syndrome" by Dr. Thomas Plummer that really intrigued me.  He writes that the "Ophelia Syndrome" occurs when a person is being taught by someone in authority not to think for themselves, but to "think [themselves] a baby" and trust their teacher to tell them what to think. {see Hamlet, Act I sc. iii}


To describe the syndrome in modern terms, Dr. Plummer quotes S. I. Hayakawa: 

Most people don't know the answer to the question, "How are you? How do you feel?" The reason why they don't know is that they are so busy feeling what they are supposed feel, thinking what they are supposed to think, that they never get down to examining their own deepest feelings... With authority figures telling us what to think and how to feel, many of us are busy playing roles, fulfilling other people's expectations. Not many of us ask ourselves, "How do I feel? What do I think?" - and wait for an answer. (S.I. Hayakawa, "What Does It Mean to Be Creative?," Through the Communication Barrier. ed. Arthur Chandler [New York: Harper & Row, 1979], 104-105)

This struck me because I have at times felt like I had to give a certain answer. When people asked me how I was or how school was going, I would automatically say "good!" - even if it wasn't true. I'm supposed to feel good, and I'm supposed to like school, so I would just tell people what they wanted to hear. Or at school, I would just give the answer I knew the teacher was looking for, instead of voicing my honest opinion. It's easier that way, and you usually get a better grade. Teachers tell us the things to know; some would argue that that's their job. 

Dr. Plummer would disagree. He posits that,

"Eventually every discipline enters into the unknown, the uncertain, the theoretical, the hypothetical, where teachers can no longer tell students with certainty what they should think." 

I firmly believe it is more important for me to know how to learn, rather than what to learn. An ability to think and discover for myself will serve me far better than a memorized list of dates, facts, and figures.

Bibical Trivia

This blew my mind:

O L D      T E S T A M E N T
1  2  3       1 2  3 4  5  6  7  8  9

How many books in the Old Testament? 39.

How many in the New Testament? 3*9=27
How many in the Bible? 39+27=66.


Also 666 is the Devil's number so... take one off to get the Bible's number? Works for me :)


Furthermore, the Old Testament can be divided into three sections: 

• The Law (Torah), also known as the five books of Moses; 
• The Prophets, (Nevi'im); and
• The Writings (Ketuvim), which is sort of a catch-all category for everything else. 

Together these are called the "TaNaKh," which is just the Hebrew word for their Holy Book.


And also, in each section, there is one book that is far and away the most important, as measured by how frequently it is quoted. Can you guess which they are? :)

• The Law (Torah) - Deuteronomy. Most people would probably guess Genesis or Exodus. However, Deuteronomy {which means "repetition of the Law,"} contains the entire Mosaic Law, including all of the Ten Commandments; plus the all important Shema, which is basically the definitive statement of Jewish identity: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord."
• Prophets (Nevi'im) - Isaiah. Duh. He is quoted everywhere. {Plus I learned this in my Isaiah class so it was kind of a giveaway.}
• Writings (Ketuvim)- Psalms. Fun fact - Jesus Christ quotes the Psalmist more often than he quotes anyone else, even Isaiah. 

Pretty interesting, huh? I thought so :) 

Humility --> Excellence? Yes!

Before reading Henry B. Eyring's speech, "A Child of God," I had never really considered the connection between humility and educational excellence.

In his speech, he posits that great learners:

1. Welcome correction,
2. Keep commitments,
3. Work hard,
4. Help other people, and
5. Expect and overcome resistance. 

He writes that knowing who we are - children of God - will lead to feelings of humility, which will in turn give us the power to become excellent learners.

Each of his suggested habits requires humility to implement into real life:

• It takes humility enough to take criticism without feeling cut down; welcoming correction takes humility and self-knowledge above and beyond what's normally expected.
• If we know that we are children of God, progressing to become more like Him, we will make it a priority to keep our commitments, since He does so perfectly. 
• If we know that we aren't perfect, but also that we are children of the most Intelligent Being in the universe, we will work hard further our education. 
• We will help other people, knowing that they are also children of our Heavenly Father. We will have the humility to realize that they have something to offer us as well. 
• We will know that we will experience difficulties, yet none we can't overcome. 

He concludes with this promise:

The way to grow in the faith that we are the children of our Heavenly Father is to act like it. The time to start is now. And if we act upon it, we will be blessed with a humility that gives us the power to learn and the power to serve and the power to rise up to the privileges that God wants to grant us. 

So, that's what I will do. :)

finals

are like death.

the end.