Mowing the Lawn

It's interesting to note that the first half of the Book of Mormon ends with a story of pacifism while the second half of the book is dominated by stories of soldier-saints going to war in the name of God. Would a latter-day saint be praised or condemned for choosing pacifism in present circumstances? What if there was a draft? During family home evening last night, each of us took a turn reciting an article of faith of our choice.  For no particular reason, I chose the twelfth article of faith : 12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. For our lesson, Emma had written a play reenacting Daniel's consignment to the lions' den for not obeying the magisterial decree against praying to God.   Was Daniel right or wrong to do what he did? Clearly, he wasn't subjecting himself to the king.  I shouldn't judge Daniel against the standards of a latter-day pronouncement.  Instead, what if I f...

I was struck by the wording of Alma 23:7 while we were reading it in Sunday school a few weeks back. 6 ...as many of the Lamanites as believed in [the preaching of Ammon and his brethren], and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away. 7 For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren. 13 And these are the names of the cities of the Lamanites which were converted unto the Lord; and these are they that laid down the weapons of their rebellion, yea, all their weapons of war; and they were all Lamanites. What struck me was the description of their weapons. They laid down the "weapons of their rebellion." Rebellion. When you rebel, you act out against an established authority. Against whom were the Lamanites rebelling? They were rebelling against God. The label is both an acknowledgment of God's authority and an acknowledgment that they und...

It's 6:30 in the morning as I write this. I'm overlooking a quiet field of fathers and 11-year-old scouts tucked in their tents and occasional camp trailer. No one else is awake. An empty flag pole is the only thing rising above the blanket of mist covering the field. What can subdue a crowd of energetic young boys? Last night it was the flag pole. More accurately, I suppose it was the flag flying from it. It had previously flown over the USS Arizona on Memorial Day, 2006. Braeden was part of the color guard that retrieved the flag during the campfire to close three days of scout camp. It was quite a site to see a field full of scouts—most in their best uniform—stand reverently as the flag was lowered and folded. All six patrols were then given the opportunity to retire a worn or weather-beaten flag that was no longer fit for flying. One at a time, each patrol unfolded a flag and carried it to the roaring fire around which all of the scouts and other onlookers were gathe...

I announced at dinner this evening that I had created a blog. In near unison, everyone asked me what it was named. "Mowing grass, with a hyphen. All the other names were taken." Thelma started to laugh. She was imagining a scenario where Blogger had run out of names and I had somehow been saddled with "mowing grass" (with a hyphen) as the only available option. (I've since changed the name from "mowing-grass" to "mowing the lawn".) Why "mowing the lawn"? I'm not entirely sure. It has something to do with my strange obsession with having a nice lawn and my fondness for mowing. I love to mow the lawn. I like to mow other people's lawn. I like lawn mowers. I like trying to figure out the most efficient path or pattern by which to mow the yard. I like the uniform lines. I like the evenly trimmed blades of grass. I mow over each section of lawn two or three times before I'm done. I like to sit on lawn mowers at the hardware...