I know this is a silly abuse of your time and my blog, but please help me if you can.
There is a commercial running lately, which I haven't seen, that advertises a toy that my daughter (3) wants. My wife has seen the commercial but--in her own words--is sooo captivated by the little girl in it that she doesn't remember the name of the toy. She just remembers the song she is singing:
"At six o'clock in the morning I wake up..."
The toy is some kind of microphone/karoake/playback thingy. My wife is certain that it is made by Fisher Price. And no--I cannot find it on the Fisher Price web site, nor was their customer service at all helpful when I called them.
If you know the name of the toy, please tell me. Thanks!
(And if you must know, I am completely wrapped around my daughter's finger and I like it there very much.)
30 November 2006
Xmas Gift for My Daughter -- Please Help
28 November 2006
Husband, Santa, Business Partner, or John?
I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, but I haven’t had the time to refine it; however, a recent post by Jim F urged me to publish “as is.”
One of the themes I have been developing throughout the year as I study the Old Testament in preparation for teaching Sunday School is that God is not a vending machine. You can read some of my posts on the subject here:
Commandments as Rewards
Taking in Adultery
Prostituting Oneself Before God
A brief summary of my point: A relationship with God is developed through obedience and faith; the ultimate purpose is oneness with him; obedience out of a desire for blessings (health, wealth, etc.) rather than a desire for oneness ignores the greater reward and is an attempted abuse of God.
Jim F calls this believing in the Santa-God; I call it treating God like a vending machine, a business partner, or a john. This perspective reminds one to pray for forgiveness, guidance, and mercy, and not for "rewards."
The problem I have with this is embodied in Nephi’s emotional prayer: “O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy. O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever… Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee.” (2 Nephi 4:33-35)
Nephi is clearly asking for temporal blessings (and curses) and he implies that his own righteousness and trust in the Lord give him reason to expect to be accommodated. But wait! we're not supposed to ask God for anything—make a xmas list, feed quarters into the vending machine—because that is not what God wants our relationship to be.
What to do then, with Amulek’s teaching?“Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.” (Alma 34:20,25)
Is there a paradox? God wants us to focus on the eternal relationship we can have with him, thereby dispensing with the cares of the world—what’s a few missing sheep in the eternal scheme, right? But at the same time, he seems not only to want us to ask for temporal blessings, he also seems quite mindful of our worldly concerns (Matthew 10:29) and indeed wants us to be attentive as well (Gospel Principles, Ch 27).
Personally, I feel like God really wants me to care about my job and my health, my car and my Frisbee game, the loss of a loved-one, family vacation, and so on. And I believe that in some ways those blessings are contingent upon my righteousness. I can’t reason why I feel that way—just that when I pray I feel that I should pray for those things and when I sin I sometimes notice how I miss out. That’s “an ‘n’ of one,” as they say, but that’s my “n.” Still, I can’t resolve my two beliefs.
10 September 2006
Warning Label for The Lamb of God
I thought I'd share a little warning about one of the Church's videos, The Lamb of God.
The Background
My daughter A*, 5, loves this video. She watches it just about every Sunday and has for the last couple years. My 2-yr old often joins her.
The Setup
A* has a friend, S*, whose family is not religious, and as far as we know has had no exposure to Christianity. A* and S* play together often. S* came over to play last Sunday, and A* asked, "Do you want to watch Lamb of God?"
The Joy
Oh, what proud parents we were! "There's our little missionary," we thought, as we overheard an occasional word. A* was explaning all the various parts of the story: "...and after we die we will live with him and be happy and never be sick." My wife and I went about preparing dinner, half-listening the way parents do when nothing is the matter.
The Alarm
Something started to prick my attention. I thought, "What is it? No sounds of trouble—just the girls watching the video. The video...what was it about that video...?" It had been some time since I watched the video, but I remembered loving it. It was very emotional. "Yes," my brain warned, "it was very emotional."
The Tragedy
I went into the livingroom just as the story was depicting Jesus being raised on the cross. This is, as most readers will know, just after he has been flogged, slapped, spat upon, mocked, and nailed to the cross. S* was wide-eyed but expressionless on the couch, saying nothing. In other words, she looked petrified. (A*, of course, looked as content as ever.)
I shut off the television, at which point S* looked up at me and began to cry. Then wail. Then cry out with fear.‡
The Catastrophe
I tried to comfort S*, letting her know that she would not be hurt and Jesus was okay in the end and—! A* tried to explain more to her friend, only to get things mixed up in her excitement and—! I tried to get A* to leave S* and me alone, so I could explain things slowly, calmy, but—! A* felt like she had done something wrong and also started to cry.
The Clean-up
I took S* home, still sobbing, and tried to explain to her mother what had happened. Her mother was familiar enough with the story of Jesus to understand what her daughter had seen. "Was it animated?" she asked, then added reluctantly, "or was it...?"
"Not animated," I replied, disheartened. "Film." Her mother's face went a little pale.
The Aftermath
Her mother was very understanding, S* and A* still play together each day, and S*'s family has not brought it up. A* watched The Lamb of God today and didn't even mention last week.
The Lesson
No harm no foul, right? Maybe, but I worry that there was some harm. For one, how will S* respond emotionally the next time she hears the "good news" of the Christian message?
I also learned to think about our stories a little differently. A* grew up hearing about the cross. She saw paintings and cartoons and talked and sang songs about it before she ever saw the movie version. But what a terrifying, brutal, awful story it is if you don't know what to expect!
‡minor edits since first published
29 August 2006
"I'm Quitting the Bloggernacle!"
That's what I said to myself last night as I read this post and the comments on this post. Frankly, I wanted to cry.
Anyone reading, and especially anyone posting, blogs quickly gets an opportunity to be offended. The opportunites to give offense come just as often. Worse still, the opportunity to unintentionally offend comes all the time. So you have to develop some kind of strategy on how you will deal with it.
My strategy has two parts. First, I try to imagine that all of the comments I read are computer-generated. That's right: I think all of you are robots. It reminds me to look past the poster and the whatever rudeness I think there may be and try to understand what is being said. The "robot" who wrote it may be mean, nasty, and arrogant, but there might still be some truth to what's there; what do I gain by ignoring it? And what do I gain by firing back my worst insult? How would I insult a computer, anyway? (insert PC/Mac joke here)
Second, I try to imagine that all of my comments are written to my family. That's right: you are my brothers, my sisters, my mom, my dad. It reminds me to reread, rewrite, double-check, hit delete, hit delete some more, then anxiously hit "Publish Comment."
There are some problems with my strategy, the main one being that I am the one implementing it. There are some "robots" that I just can't read without focusing on the anger inside me; I have to just avoid their comments altogether. It makes me sad that I have to do that--that I can't be more like Jim F--but such is my state. I also fear that I often publish comments that are still rude, arrogant, obnoxious, or simply unwanted.
I haven't been visiting the Bloggernacle for too long, though my blogging days started a little before I discovered the Bloggernacle. Nevertheless, I am no newbie to online "dialogue": I've been doing that since "The Globe" in the early 90's, when it seemed that the only people online were Wiccas, Mormons, and teenagers.
So why should I suddenly feel so let down by my blogging experience? Maybe there's a flaw in my strategy, or a flaw in me. And why should something that doesn't directly affect me, affect me so deeply?
Despite those very depressing reads, I'm obviously still here. A major reason is this post. Another is this one. (In fact, take that whole blog.) And this blog. And this conversation. And the always edifying discussions with Robert C, Jim F, and many others. I'm amazed by this blog. There's also lots of "little" blogs I stumble upon from time to time that make my day.
As a final note, I wasn't even going to post this rant, but tonight's song choice before putting the kids to bed put this right in the front of my mind.
I'm trying to be like Jesus; I'm following in his ways.
I'm trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,
"Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught."
09 August 2006
Rebecca is Enchantingly Beautiful
- The name "Rebecca" in Hebrew means "enchantingly beautiful."
You can judge for yourself.
Vitals:
Born 07 August 2006
7 lbs 4 oz
21 inches
less than 30 min labor & delivery!
