Disclaimer: this is long and could be potentially boring.
Every morning I read the newspaper. I read at the table while Sterling eats breakfast and before the children are up, if I’m lucky. I scan the headlines and read anything that catches my fancy: who Obama is picking to fill leadership roles in D.C.; starving, misplaced children in Congo; praise for a local professor. After I hand the sports section over to Sterling, I leaf through every page of every section. I really enjoy it. On Thursdays, the “Mormon Times” is inserted as section M, where I religiously read Orson Scott Card’s weekly column. Today’s article,
"Avoiding the syndrome of shaken faith," was particularly interesting to me.
I guess my interest was peaked when he began questioning things like shaken-baby syndrome, recovered memories (the idea that the human mind represses horrible experiences), post-traumatic stress disorder, and even global warming. As far as I know, these have all been proven, believed and supported by the scientific community for quite sometime, right? I mean, that’s the understanding that I had. Card, however, claims
that science to be outdated and false. Other, more current, scientists have since proved the afore-mentioned conditions to be invalid, apparently. Card insists that real science “examines possibilities, tries to disprove its own guesses, and regards no answer as final.” Those who still believe in some of these “out-dated” issues are stepping out of the true scientific system, meaning they have not continued to question, disprove and prove and move forward with other scientific minds.
“Well, that’s interesting,” I think to myself. Life is ever changing. Science is ever changing. One study says one thing, another study says something different. I guess you can find a study to prove almost anything you want. And there certainly is no immediate need or merit to believe what Orson Scott Card writes in the Mormon Times.
But there are so many different theories to believe. What is true, valid, real? What is not? How do you know which side of the fence to sit on? And once you pledge your allegiance to a certain theory or belief, you have to wonder, Will this too change? Will science or culture eventually find a different answer? This question may be especially difficult when you hold religious beliefs against cultural beliefs, freedoms, rights and privileges. Do you see where this is going?
Card then brings his argument home and makes it personal by suggesting that, especially members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we might often be “tossed to and fro”
(Ephesians 4:14) by the doctrines and beliefs of the world. We sympathize with cultural beliefs that may even be contrary to our religious beliefs. He laments how many LDS men and women, “…leap like kites into these winds and then cut the thread of faith that would have left them with some connection to truth. Untethered, they blow wherever the wind takes them.”
Have you ever been that kite? Do you know anyone who is holding on to the truth, only by a thin string? How easy it is to be caught up in the wind currents of the world. There are so many wonderful resources, answers, supports, philosophies, in this world that are good. They are good and truthful and uplifting but they are not
THE truth. The everlasting and eternal truth of Jesus Christ, which
does not change. If we are not anchored to that, we have cut our string and are “tossed to and fro.” Of course, if we cut our string, we do not see ourselves in any way disadvantaged. In fact, we may think we have reached a new understanding, a heightened awareness, or as Card says, “graduated from the gospel.”
Well, this whole line of thought really got me thinking. How strong is my kite-string? What kind of wind currents am I flying in? How anchored am I? More specifically, to what am I anchored?
Of that I am certain, by my own knowledge, testing and testimony. I am not tethered to something unknown or mysterious. Nor is it unapproachable. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ and therein, I find my answers. Card clarifies, “I don’t mean that faithful Saints never question anything. In fact, the gospel of Jesus Christ, just like good science, demands that believers find out the truth of old and new revelations for ourselves.”
We live in a world that is ever changing; science, culture, medicine, global relations, financial markets. I guess a lesson I learned through this article was to stay tied to the things I know are true and as for the rest of the information that I am bombarded with daily, to not be afraid to question, doubt and seek out answers,. Card's final words suggest we be “open-minded enough o keep questioning. To doubt our own doubts. To be skeptical of our skepticism.” Our lives are always in motion. But some truths are just
true and they don’t change. It’s nice to have that confidence and stability as we face the daily whirlwind we call life.
SECOND: Birthday Activity. This is a relatively new tradition which has now survived one year and is starting on its second. Instead of giving gifts for birthdays, we embark on a family activity of the birthday person's choosing. We wanted the focus to be on family togetherness and shared memories and experiences. So far, so good. We'll see how it goes as the children get older.
