I believe that I am a devout member of my faith - someone who has deep convictions that are based on faith and experiences. Having said this, I am not touting any level of spirituality on my part. I'm just trying to say that I am one who continues to strive to do those things that my faith requires of me because I believe as I succeed in being obedient I will obtain a higher level of long term happiness. Now, I am a bit unconventional by the standards of other people that would consider themselves devout in my faith. I don't have a set of traditions that I follow that were passed on to me. Any traditions that I pursue have been validated by my belief system - not to be confused with "what others think our belief system is". So here's my thought now that I explained that - what gives any majority the right to be arrogant? Feel free to discuss this point - my answer is "ignorance, insecurity, inferiority complex"; so, basically all of the things that do not exhibit meekness, faith, and hope. In any group that is a majority there is a feeling of superiority expressed by some. Naturally, being a majority, more people agree with you in effect making you "more right" than the others simply by population. This is good if you seek the approval of others and you enjoy the semblance that factually you are right. However, being arrogant automatically precludes anyone from being right. So, why is it then that we worry so much about the arrogant majority? Because if we are not in agreement with them, we are considered "wrong", ignorant, and incapable of gaining the higher light that others have received. I'm sure I'm missing a plethora of other reasons, feel free to enlighten me. Only one more point after this one - if you are a majority, please don't be arrogant about it because it automatically makes you wrong (even if you are right, no one is going to stick around to be convinced). If you are a minority, don't take offense to those that are arrogant (and happen to be the majority) as they are just ignorant and really have a baseless belief system that has caused them to be so arrogant - they don't know any better and their thoughts don't warrant any concern on your part. My final point is this - if you are right, regardless of whether you are a majority or a minority, don't be arrogant about it. Be meek. Be subtle. Share your wisdom humbly, not forcefully. Realize that there are other reasonable ideas to be had and you are fortunate enough to have the truth. I believe that one of the biggest setbacks in my faith is that we are arrogant. In small communities where we are a majority it is unbearable what we do as an arrogant majority. In circles of society where there are predominantly our members in attendance we are arrogant. All of this is against our teachings and yet we are so ignorant that often we continue to offend those that might otherwise give our faith a chance and learn for themselves what is true. One of my favorite scriptures is Jacob chapter 3 verses 1-2. It talks about being "pure in heart". I believe that as we strive to be pure in heart and share our faith (not arrogantly insisting we are right) and not get so concerned that others are convinced that we are right; to learn to work along side non-members as easily as we work along members that we will not be concerned if others agree or disagree with us. We will learn to "agree to disagree" and will learn to enjoy being with those that we disagree with and appreciate our differences. Avoid being arrogant as you strive to base your beliefs on truths and not on the traditions of men that just happen to be of the same faith. Pursue those ideals we know are true and be pure in heart doing the right things for the right reasons.
Andrew “hate’n on the arrogants” Brown
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Special Baptism
The Friday after Thanksgiving we had a double baptism in our ward. This was a special day, not just because of the events that brought us to this point but also for the miracles that manifested themselves that day. One of my friends in my ward had his wife and daughter baptized this day. I learned of him and his family through a PEC meeting as I was informed he had a non-member wife and daughter that were learning English but spoke Mandarin as their native language. The Elders and High Councilor over mission work found some amazing people to translate and help teach the discussions and soon this mother and daughter were ready to be baptized. They selected the Holiday weekend because the wife's sister would be in town from Washington State. Her sister was not a member though she married a member (she has another sister that is a member). The missionaries were able to order a lot of literature in Mandarin. As plans were set and we were in the week of the planned baptism my friend decided his life was dull and wrecked . . . a moped (ha ha). He injured his right shoulder so bad that he could not raise it to the square. Since ordinances need to be performed with exactness we were all concerned. He asked for a blessing in which the voice said "you will be able to perform the baptisms and lift your arm to a square". For this reason we had no "Plan B". The day of the baptism arrived and in he came still cradling his arm. Our preferred speaker for the baptismal talk was unable to arrive in time and so another stepped in - it wasn't in Mandarin as planned but it was simple. Off we went to the font to see a miracle take place. My friend raised his hand without a grimace and baptized his daughter. The ordinance is so simple and pure. Daughter traded places with mother and my friend baptized his wife. It actually required a 2nd attempt since the first wasn't done with exactness. Still his right hand was in a square and the ordinance was performed.
He did mention later that while he was promised that he'd be able to perform the ordinance that he wasn't told he'd be free of pain. His expression indicated that he felt the pain.
His wife's sister was touched by the experience and the spirit. The talk on the Holy Ghost was given in Mandarin and while I couldn't understand the words, I too felt the spirit and watched as the sister listened intently. We got word back that the sister wants to meet with the missionaries when she gets back to Washington.
The Young Women’s organization sang "Steadfast in You". A very beautiful performance. The RS and YW sisters both gave amazing welcomes - very moving.
The RS had some sisters volunteer to host the refreshments and did a stellar job where people mingled until nearly 9pm. It was a great environment where many people were able to express their happiness in their new covenant and be part of this wonderful memory and ordinance. I was happy for my friend and his beautiful family - this is how baptisms should be.
Andrew "I wish I could speak Mandarin" Brown
He did mention later that while he was promised that he'd be able to perform the ordinance that he wasn't told he'd be free of pain. His expression indicated that he felt the pain.
His wife's sister was touched by the experience and the spirit. The talk on the Holy Ghost was given in Mandarin and while I couldn't understand the words, I too felt the spirit and watched as the sister listened intently. We got word back that the sister wants to meet with the missionaries when she gets back to Washington.
The Young Women’s organization sang "Steadfast in You". A very beautiful performance. The RS and YW sisters both gave amazing welcomes - very moving.
The RS had some sisters volunteer to host the refreshments and did a stellar job where people mingled until nearly 9pm. It was a great environment where many people were able to express their happiness in their new covenant and be part of this wonderful memory and ordinance. I was happy for my friend and his beautiful family - this is how baptisms should be.
Andrew "I wish I could speak Mandarin" Brown
Thanksgiving Reverse Triathlon - fans and participants
This Thanksgiving I participated in a reverse Triathlon. This means that the event order was run, bike, and swim. Before you think that I did anything amazing know that I placed 196th out of 446 participants and it only took 1 hour and 3 minutes of my life (and 34 seconds). Our run was reduced to a mile and a half due to wet and muddy conditions (12:20 minutes) while the bike route was 12 miles (3 loops of a 4 mile course that was wet enough to constantly have water spraying off my front tire right into my face - 39:54), and a 1/4 mile swim (that's 8 laps in a 50 yd pool - 11:21). I must say that the swimming was the adventurous part. Up to that point it was my own efforts that got me to where I was. In the pool I had people swimming into me, on top of me and then when that wasn't happening there was three slow swimmers swimming shoulder to shoulder in front of me in the lane limiting my progress . . . so I did a lot of back strokes (easier to breathe and very relaxing in a swimming "traffic jam" type situation). When the race was done I thought that passing out would be ideal until the Thanksgiving meal but instead I just rudely cut off a nice little family on my way up the bleachers to catch my breath. I didn't dry heave (my logon name for the beginnertriathlete.com site) or pass out - I'm really proud of myself. I did end up going home and sleeping until the last possible moment before waking up and cooking some ham (after my wife did everything else) before heading over to my parents for a great Turkey day celebration. So this is the first part of this blog . . .
The part I found most interesting was the fans/spectators. First off, distant running or biking events are not fan friendly. You get to see someone for a brief moment and then you are bored until you see them again as they start their next event or their next loop of the same activity. So this then leads to “people watching”, of which I am a pro. In fact I'm so good at people watching that watching me watch people can be quite entertaining. I pass judgment with my expressions as I watch everyone doing the most inane things. So bear with me as I set the scene . . . This is a race where even the most untalented athlete is in a competitive mode (just ask this untalented athlete) and when push comes to shove, well we will push and shove you out of the way if you don't belong there. The course has 4 areas, the 3 event areas and a transition area to store your bike and gear as you change events. There is a clear path from each event to the transition area and to the next event. For the last event, when your competitive juices are flowing athletes jump off their bike, ditch all of their clothes but what they are swimming in and run barefoot across the parking lot, to the pool entrance and to the first lap of the pool. This area was clearly marked with a green carpet to help minimize foot injuries and slipping and to make fans and waiting participants realize this was the course and to stay out of the way. My wife and daughter Allie and I set up camp by the chip reader (every athlete wears a chip so that they can be tracked and no individual has to try and write down which numbers are going by and their correlating time etc). Again and again we'd watch participants walk over the chip reader before they even started the race. We watched people walk down the green carpet talking on the phone while athletes were trying to scurry around them. There were event volunteers constantly screaming (yes screaming . . . constantly!) to keep the course clear and still there'd be some moron casually walking down the carpet wondering why no one else was as smart as they to use this nice wide walking area. Surely everyone else must be a moron for trying to walk in the cramped quarters on either side of the magnanimous carpet they have here. People were screaming at them and just before athletes were upon them some people would give the clue less folks a nice shove to get them out of the participants’ way. Now keep in mind I'm not contributing to the cause as I continue to judgmentally scowl at these mindless fools. I did get great joy out of the shoves especially since the kid race was first and there were some really young participants that had far more heart than I did. Since they were so small they could easily dash around the clue less fools and amazingly the fools would continue to stay on the course as athletes slipped by on either side of them as they continued their phone calls with blank stares on their face. I kept thinking "try that while I'm competing, I dare you". I'm what they classify as a "Clydesdale" - that means I’m a big fatty since most triathletes are bird framed people with grace and athleticism. They have a name for the female fatty's too - "Athena". You know, actually now that I think about it, it was a Clydesdale guy that kept walking on the course with his phone - back and forth continually in the way, constantly getting screamed at, shoved and pushed.
I think I'll do this event again next year, not just for the exercise but I'll be doing it for the people watching too.
Andrew "tri-people watching" Brown
The part I found most interesting was the fans/spectators. First off, distant running or biking events are not fan friendly. You get to see someone for a brief moment and then you are bored until you see them again as they start their next event or their next loop of the same activity. So this then leads to “people watching”, of which I am a pro. In fact I'm so good at people watching that watching me watch people can be quite entertaining. I pass judgment with my expressions as I watch everyone doing the most inane things. So bear with me as I set the scene . . . This is a race where even the most untalented athlete is in a competitive mode (just ask this untalented athlete) and when push comes to shove, well we will push and shove you out of the way if you don't belong there. The course has 4 areas, the 3 event areas and a transition area to store your bike and gear as you change events. There is a clear path from each event to the transition area and to the next event. For the last event, when your competitive juices are flowing athletes jump off their bike, ditch all of their clothes but what they are swimming in and run barefoot across the parking lot, to the pool entrance and to the first lap of the pool. This area was clearly marked with a green carpet to help minimize foot injuries and slipping and to make fans and waiting participants realize this was the course and to stay out of the way. My wife and daughter Allie and I set up camp by the chip reader (every athlete wears a chip so that they can be tracked and no individual has to try and write down which numbers are going by and their correlating time etc). Again and again we'd watch participants walk over the chip reader before they even started the race. We watched people walk down the green carpet talking on the phone while athletes were trying to scurry around them. There were event volunteers constantly screaming (yes screaming . . . constantly!) to keep the course clear and still there'd be some moron casually walking down the carpet wondering why no one else was as smart as they to use this nice wide walking area. Surely everyone else must be a moron for trying to walk in the cramped quarters on either side of the magnanimous carpet they have here. People were screaming at them and just before athletes were upon them some people would give the clue less folks a nice shove to get them out of the participants’ way. Now keep in mind I'm not contributing to the cause as I continue to judgmentally scowl at these mindless fools. I did get great joy out of the shoves especially since the kid race was first and there were some really young participants that had far more heart than I did. Since they were so small they could easily dash around the clue less fools and amazingly the fools would continue to stay on the course as athletes slipped by on either side of them as they continued their phone calls with blank stares on their face. I kept thinking "try that while I'm competing, I dare you". I'm what they classify as a "Clydesdale" - that means I’m a big fatty since most triathletes are bird framed people with grace and athleticism. They have a name for the female fatty's too - "Athena". You know, actually now that I think about it, it was a Clydesdale guy that kept walking on the course with his phone - back and forth continually in the way, constantly getting screamed at, shoved and pushed.
I think I'll do this event again next year, not just for the exercise but I'll be doing it for the people watching too.
Andrew "tri-people watching" Brown
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