Today's topic, Being Prepared.  I keep seeing all the shows about being prepared for a doomsday.  There may indeed be a doomsday and I try to be prepared.  These preppers stockpile food, fuel, water, guns and ammo. They fear the end of the world and what it means for them.  I am not against their right to do so.  Who knows, they may out survive us all. 

My dad, a man I respect more than almost anyone else, is a quasi prepper.  He has food and water, guns and ammo etc. but he isn't extreme.  He feels that the world is coming to an end and he fears it will be BAD, BAD and that he must be able to defend and protect his family from all comers.  Who can fault his desire keep us safe?  I can't.  If you do then keep it to yourself or we will fight.  Which, frankly, neither of us want.  And come on, how school yard to fight over someone else's right to fight?  That would be silly. 

My dad at various stages has done all kinds of food prep.  He would think to put some food, water, and blankets in our van in case we were stuck somewhere in harsh weather conditions. And that, with dependability of our van always in doubt, was a smart move.  I have eaten my share of dried eggs, when I say my share I mean all my share, they are disgusting and I don't eat them anymore.  I have also had plenty of powdered milk.  My parents used to buy whole milk and cut it with powdered to make it last longer.  They canned fruits and vegetables, cracked wheat and had other food stuffs that we ate. We kept a garden and I miss that part of food prep.  My mom would say go pick some squash, or tomatoes, beans etc. for dinner.  I really miss the fresh vegetables literally from garden to table.

I, myself, also prep.  I have food and water storage, which in hind sight my dad wouldn't want me to disclose because you might come and through force of arms take my food in a crisis.  Of course, most of you live too far away and in the apocalyptic scenario my father envisions you wouldn't be able to afford the fuel to get here.  So, I guess I am OK on that front.  I just wiped the sweat from by brow now that the fear has left me.

People tend to focus on a doomsday outcome.  Though I prep, I  consider myself an any day prepper.  Any day I could suffer a major injury, loose my job, etc.  Isn't it smart to think ahead and be prepared with a little extra?  How can that be bad?  The worst thing that happens is you have extra.  So, I see nothing wrong with being prepared for any day. 

I remember, years ago, hearing a woman speaking about such preparedness.  She, her husband and children had just moved to a new area for her husband's new job.  And just a few months later the company made cuts and he was out of work.  She didn't speak about fear or how bad things were but rather about how happy she was to have been prepared.  She had put aside not just the essentials of food and water, but had put aside things to make treats.  She had thought ahead and put aside chocolate chips, nuts and such.  Come on, who feels deprived while eating a chocolate chip cookie?  I am assuming they didn't have to eat it with a cup of powdered milk.  That would sort of take the shine off the idea.

Recently, I attend a conference on trauma.  I found it very interesting and felt that I learned a lot.  One of the speakers was from the government.  He is head of emergency preparedness and served for Bush and Obama.  He spoke about national preparedness and I could tell he was passionate in his endeavor to think about the what ifs, particularly catastrophic incidents and how to prevent loss of life.  As I listened I couldn't help but think that what if we were more individually prepared?  I don't think that we can foresee or be prepared for everything.  But, everyone of us could have a 72 hour kit for every one in our home an emergency plan for our family.  I have a 72 hour kit, but will admit to you that it needs updating.  There are many websites to go to in order to figure what you need.  They range from simple to elaborate.  I was going to put some in but feel that would be inappropriate.  I don't advocate any.  I just advocate being prepared.  So, if you have interest in a 72 hour kit please peruse the web.


Seriously, any moment of any day our lives could change in way we don't expect.  Any day we could face challenges that we have no idea are on our horizon.  Don't let the doomsday preppers put you off the idea of Any Day.  And if you and I are prepared for any day the resources from churches, the government  and other charitable entities can go further because we are taken care of.  Admit it, Any Day sounds so much nicer if we can face it with out fear.

Today's topic Creationism vs Evolution.  You know there are a lot of people with a lot of ideas about who is right.  Maybe I am crazy, but I don't think just one is right.  Oh, don't mistake me, I absolutely believe that the earth, moon, stars and all things in or on them are created by a loving Father in Heaven.  However, I have no problem believing He used science, particularly since He invented it, to create our world. 
 
Disclaimer: Many of the things I will address in this post come from my LDS roots, but I do not represent the LDS church. Though colored by my relgious views I have my own thoughts and ideas.

So, evolution says there was a big bang and over billions of years we became what we are from nothing to a single cell, to complex creatures.  Creation says there is a God who created us and the world for us which to some is far fetched.  I find evolution harder to swallow than the idea that an Omnipotent being creating everything.

For some reason most of us assume it is all or nothing.  Either we came from nothing until a big bang or we came from nothing until God created us. The scriptures tell us God created the world in six days.  Some may have a problem with what I am about to say, but I don't care.  I believe that to make it easy on us lesser beings that God called his creative periods days.  You know as I wrote the words lesser beings, which we are, I was struck that even so our Father in Heaven loves us and wants us to be happy.  So much so that He created this beautiful, magnificent planet and has let us come here to learn.  Since, in the beginning there was no earth to rotate every 24 hours there was no day. So, who is to say what he meant by using the word day?  

 I don't believe that it is all or nothing. I believe God used science to create. He understands and uses the laws of science.  He has absolute knowledge of how to make those laws work at His will. When I hear people question how old the earth is by our best science vs what the scriptures say I get a little irritated. I have thought about the scriptures and miracles. The miracle of turning water into wine, the loaves and fishes etc. They all started with something. Meaning, the water was turned into wine it didn't just appear. The loaves and fishes fed a multitude with baskets left over even though there was really only enough to feed a hand full and instead fed thousands. The thought that there may have been materials available for God to create with makes sense to me. 

 Who says He created the earth out of nothing? I can't think of a miracle where something came out of nothing. I know of miracles that we know little about how they were accomplished such as manna from Heaven. We just know that it would be there in the mornings. How it got there I don't know but since it is called manna from Heaven I have an idea.  

As to learning we think we know better.  You know, we have been to college, we have high tech devices at our finger tips (while I write this I mean literally) we send people into space, we can perform surgery in utero.  I mean we can do amazing, incredible things.  We are so advanced so much smarter than our ancestors.  We get smarter every day.  Except that that is what we really think. We aren't smarter, we just know more, which is different.  So, of course we don't think that God could know more than we.  After all we are sophisticated and wise. 

One of my problems with the theory of evolution is why didn't every thing evolve?  Why did we become human but crocodiles stay basically the same for millions of years?  We are supposed to believe natural selection made us men and women and cats, well cats.  Genetic mutations created us not an Omnipotent Omniscient being.  To be clear a big bang, a single cell, to single cells living in groups to simple sea creatures, and yada yada yada here I am!  I still find that more far fetched than a higher power. 

I was just struck by the notion evolution tells us how, natural selection, and Heavenly Father teaches us why.  Moses 1:39 "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

So, we have a how and we have a why.  In my head I keep thinking about children and their favorite question.  It isn't how, it is why.  Why would we choose to believe that we just happened instead of we are children of a loving Father in Heaven?  I can't think of a good reason why.

Today's topic, Words.  You may have figured that I love to talk.  Whether writing or actually speaking I enjoy expressing myself.  And what do I use?  Words.  I don't have the largest vocabulary but I feel it is varied enough.  I seem to get by and make myself understood. 

My sister and I have a couple of word games we play.  One (won) is words that sound alike but (butt) are spelled differently like pare and pear or metal and mettle.  We (wee) go back and forth texting each other word pairs (pear, pare) and of course (coarse) trying to (two, too) out do (dew, due) each other.  It is a fun to think about words while (wile) I (eye, aye) am reading.  I will sometimes examine all (awl) the words and try to see (sea) if there (their they're) is one I can find a sound alike for (fore,four).  Sometimes this is easy and others not (knot) so (sew) much.  But, you (ewe) get my drift I am sure. 

Another game we play is words spelled the same but pronounced differently depending on the context.  Like a bow in your hair or taking a bow.  There are a lot of these. We tend to fight over one word.  I see it in the same light as read as in read (red) a book and read (reed) as in read the sign.  Live as in I live in the US or live as in the show is live.  To me it is the same meaning different tense.  But she says no and has some support.  Yes, we have discussed this with other people.  And, yes, I know what this means, we are truly geeks. (I just thought of one for our other game, what and watt, I don't think we have used that before) Anyway, these are harmless mental exercises that hopefully keep us sharp.  That is the dream. 

Unfortunately, I can be sometimes unthinking when I speak. Is anyone shocked?  Something that I do is combine words.  I was talking about getting some fun magnets for work to put up on a wall we have that is magnetized.  Without thinking I combined the word fun and the word magnets.  Fagments, came out of my mouth. The sad part is a gay friend was present when I said fagments.  His head whipped around and I realized that he had been called that word and was attuned to it and what it means.  You know the one. The other sad part is I don't think to use that word ever. I am kind of strange that way.  If I don't like you or want to insult you then I find something in your character or behavior to insult.  I don't think in terms of racial slurs or who you are slurs, unless you are a jerk.  But if you are a jerk I have never and I mean never thought, "Oh, that asinine (insert racial or other slur)."  I will admit as a teen trying to add stuff like that in but it just never felt right.  I will identify your sex like that "asinine man or woman".  Political correctness has nothing to do with this.  If I don't like you I have reasons that have nothing to do with your skin color or sexual orientation etc.  You can try to blame it on something like that.  Wouldn't that be nice for all of us and be a huge out.  Oh, she doesn't like me cause I am what ever.  You wish. 

Recently, I word combined with a better result.  I posted this on FB but will relive the moment in my blog.  My sister and I were discussing Bambi.  She talked about how he starts off this kind of wimpy kid who grows up to be something of a bad a**.  He takes a bullet and keeps going, that is awesome.  But she lamented that his name was still Bambi.  I suggested it should be Bambo.  Clever?  I know. 

We often hear the pen is mightier than the sword.  This is from a play titled Richelieu; The Conspiracy, by Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (yes that is his name).  I would have attributed this to Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Payne or some such.  But thanks to the Internet I know to whom the credit goes.  We are also told actions speak louder than words. This little homily is attributed in different but similar forms to several but was used in a speech by Abraham Lincoln and so I am going to give him some credit.  Again, thank you Internet.  So, here we have two opposing views, the pen is mightier than the sword and actions speak louder than words.  I find both to be true. 

The written word has toppled governments, look Watergate.  There was no civil war, no blood shed to speak of.  Yet the rippling effect is still there.  There have been many "gates" since the infamous Watergate but none really like the first.

Then you have all the people we are surrounded by that tell us how we should live, what we should do but there actions don't quite match their rhetoric.  They seem to know what is best for all of us but feel they are exempt.  I could wax profound with political examples of this from either side of the aisle for hours.  But, I won't.  This isn't about politicians.  I will give a true example from my own life.  Not a personal one, Holy Cow, I don't want to be that introspective right now!  I was on the road and saw a Suburban, you know the biggest SUV you can buy with a bumper sticker reading "Vote Environmental ".  Now, part of my believes the owner had a sense of humor, but another part of me has seen  hypocrisy so often I kind of think it was serious.  I didn't speak with them so will never really know. 

I will continue on in my love of words, I will never be a true logophile but will do my version of it as long as I can think.  Which, honestly, as I get older is less and less. Bummer.