I have taken advantage of my Sunday by doing nothing of consequence and just sitting and watching some t v.  We got home from church and Sheila fixed a couple of hamburgers and since then: nothing.  I do feel like there was something better that I could have been doing, but it feels so good to have nothing pressing that needs doing.  I have had seasons and years in my life where my Sundays were totally different and so very, very busy.  I let myself get away with now.  Who knows, it could change again, but for now this day of rest means just that for me.  

Oh yes, that mystery, it isn't completely solved, but as far as I'm concerned it is resolved.  Someone seems to have taken one of the orders that we served and copied and altered them and 'served' them on some other folks.  Don't know why yet, or if it was just random or calculated.  But it wasn't something that we did or did  not do.  

Spent part of my afternoon yesterday watching Cortney play basketball in this coaches invitational one day tournament.  It was fun for me to be there.  I look forward to much more in future.

I was already here before, but either I or the computer fouled up and I lost the entry I had completed before it was saved and printed.  I will try to remember what it was that I wrote.

 

Sunday, my day of rest,  maybe too much rest, but then I have had days and seasons of really, really busy Sundays.  It is so nice to take it easy now.  Maybe it will change again, but for today doing nothing after getting home from the block feels real good to me.

 

My mystery from last night hasn't exactly been solved, but I do know that someone copied one of my orders and altered it and 'served' it on some other folks.  Friend or foes I do not know yet, but as least I know we didn't do anything wrong.  

 

Spent part of yesterday afternoon watching Cortney play basketball in a coaches invitational.  I told her that she 'impressed'.  She did, and does.  I look forward to many more opportunities for her and for me in the future.  After all, she is just into her Junior year.

I have a mystery on my hands.  Last night I had 'finished' my day and I was sitting in my green chair in our bedroom pondering.  The phone rang around 10 and I ended up with 3 calls + (some called a 2nd time) from folks claiming some service of an order of restitution that didn't seem proper to them.  Obviously my name and phone number were on the paper but as I asked question some other stuff just didn't match up.  I called Richard a few times because he had been out doing orders of restitution that night, but his names and addresses didn't match either.  I have thought about it a lot throughout the night, especially after the phone rang again at 2:55 am.  I looked at the caller id and it read 'private'. I was even more curious as I wondered about it being a police call, but I did not answer it.  How productive of a conversation can you have at 3 a m?  So I got up early (6:30) and I am here in the office ready to face my day.  I have plenty to do otherwise, but I hope that as they call back (which we agreed that they would do) I can figure out just what is going on.  I have some ideas from a practical joke to a mean scheme, but so far I am unable to make any real conclusions.  I need to gather information and, of course, be charming as the callers were upset about the possible evictions that they are faced with, and seemingly without cause.  I want to resolve this for them as well as for me. 

Without going to a dictionary I will proceed with my thought about 'context'.  That word or what the word means has been on my mind (and on my finger) all of yesterday and until now.  I was reminded how limited we are in our thinking without knowing our context.  What I mean specifically is what we know about who we are, where we come from and where we can go depending upon our choices.  Knowing that our mortal situation was made, dependent upon our choices in a pre-mortal state, makes everything different.  It makes complaining about what 'God' did to us an excuse.  It changes the way that we look at ourselves and this journey that with that context has specific purpose and meaning.  And I was taught another thing that knowing context does to me.  It makes me responsible, along with all of my 'enlightened' brothers and sisters responsible to let the other know who they are and why they are here.  When I see the 'marvelous work' that we are a small part of that is designed for just that purpose it causes me to examine the very small role that I play, and how I am playing it.  I connect to my 'star fish' theme and take some solace that I have 'made a difference' albeit a very small one.  I am thrilled that there are so many who share this work and do it so much better then I do.  Thank Heaver for wonderful and faithful brothers and sisters!

I know that I don't know everything.  Can I get an amen?  And in my older age I am finding great satisfaction in being taught stuff that falls into my already learned stuff and expands and fits and generally makes more sense because of what is already there.  I hope that you have found my discourse of the last several days to be interesting and perhaps valuable.  It was something on my mind and a subject that our Bishop briefly touched on as he closed out church 2 weeks ago.  I happened to run into him a wee ago Tuesday when I went to close up the church.  Our brief conversation ended with him asking me to share with him my conclusions about 'faith, hope, charity and love.' so that's what I did.  I need to finalize those pages and then give him a copy, but I feel pretty good about that result of my study of several weeks.  I know that Shelli read some of it, and I interested to see what she thinks of the lot when it is finalized.  I am still continuing my study and this morning I was given a new 'word' or perspective.  Seems that I need to ponder the idea of 'context'.  Any ideas? 

I got up just after Sheila left for work.  She had put on her new work uniform that finally got to her yesterday.  She complained that it wasn't fitted very well and commented on the competence of the person or process, but hey, it was only a month late, too.  When I got into my office I thought about my office light that did not work before our trip to Bear Lake but has been on ever since.  I had had Jim Murphy tinker with the fixture a few days before we left and when we got back home it was working.  I haven't turned it off since because I fear I won't get it to work again.  But I did turn the heat back on yesterday, and this morning I over rode the thermostat so it would come on and heat up the office.  The season has changed and all I can do is accept it and try to deal with it.  It is down right frosty now in the mornings and at night.  Time is going by so fast that before I know it I'll be writing about our trip to Disneyland with the Rosbach's in the past tense.  I do complain, but I think that I actually like the pace.  Getting used to the idea that I can't ever get everything done in a day, or week is hard, but at least it is the same for all of us.  Seems like I have transitioned into a new state of being:  being older, maybe being wiser, being more focused. being more aware of goodness, and what is ahead for us.

So, is this possible?  Can each of us start out as mortal, flawed, fallen human beings and finish 'as he is'?  Apparently so, because that is the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  Everything about the gospel teaches us that we can become like our Heavenly Parents, but never on our own!  The role of our Savior facilitates that process according to our cooperation with Him.  He is the source of that change.  So it is understandable that one of the ways this goal is described is as 'the pure love of Christ', denoting our journey to 'come unto' him and allow him to change us to be like him with him in us, and us in him.  So D & C 4 heralds the restoration of this marvelous work and in just seven verses describes how it can work for us.  Sure it is a great missionary section, but also invaluable for personal guidance.  And note the last verse:  "Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."  Why is the "seek and ye shall find" from the Sermon on the Mount in both the New Testament and 3 Nephi missing.  Perhaps it is because with the restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith we have already found 'Him' and now work to establish communion with him that culminates in a perfect union described as "Charity".