Showing posts with label Light the World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Light the World. Show all posts
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Lighting the World 2020
In spite of covid being the all-too-real Grinch for everyone and everything this holiday season, the Light the World campaign is happening again this month. We've had numerous opportunities to serve others ... and a few to be served by others, to boot.
This past week, these messages and wishes of goodwill were left on our front door by some of Santa's very best helpers:
This was a wonderful surprise to come home to. I'm grateful for these simple but powerful expressions of kindness and love.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Lighting the World 2019
Unfortunately, JB and I were not able to make the annual trip down to the Conference Center for the First Presidency Christmas Devotional this year, as we have for the past three years, as one of us was recovering from unexpected emergency surgery. Fortunately, we're past all that now, and last night we made it downtown to see the lights at Temple Square together.
On our way, we passed through the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and actually had to wait in line (20 to 25 minutes or so) to use one of the Light the World giving machines. We purchased three chickens (internationally) and 100 meals for the Utah Food Bank (locally).
There are few sights more beautiful than Temple Square at Christmas time. It was a cold but lovely evening out and a great way to get into the Christmas spirit.
On our way, we passed through the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and actually had to wait in line (20 to 25 minutes or so) to use one of the Light the World giving machines. We purchased three chickens (internationally) and 100 meals for the Utah Food Bank (locally).
There are few sights more beautiful than Temple Square at Christmas time. It was a cold but lovely evening out and a great way to get into the Christmas spirit.
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Pay It Forward
For the second consecutive Christmas season, the Church is advertising its Light the World initiative and encouraging both Latter-day Saints and people in general to perform at least one kind deed every day in December.
Well, we went out to dinner Saturday night at one of our favorite local spots, the Nacho House, and enjoyed a good meal with JB's sister and her family; there were six of us in all. When our waiter dropped off our bill, this is what it looked like:
A couple sitting in the booth next to us, who did not say a word to us all evening, had paid for all six meals. We were floored.
I don't know if this gesture was this couple's daily Light the World act of service or it was just a nice thing they felt like doing, but either way we were grateful for it. JB and I also resolved to pay it forward soon, buying dinner for someone else anonymously at another local restaurant on our next night out for dinner.
Well, we went out to dinner Saturday night at one of our favorite local spots, the Nacho House, and enjoyed a good meal with JB's sister and her family; there were six of us in all. When our waiter dropped off our bill, this is what it looked like:
A couple sitting in the booth next to us, who did not say a word to us all evening, had paid for all six meals. We were floored.
I don't know if this gesture was this couple's daily Light the World act of service or it was just a nice thing they felt like doing, but either way we were grateful for it. JB and I also resolved to pay it forward soon, buying dinner for someone else anonymously at another local restaurant on our next night out for dinner.
The Tree of Life 2017
Among some of the best sights of the Christmas season is the "Tree of Life" in nearby Draper. A few years ago, the city of Draper and/or some of its wealthy citizens of that part of the Salt Lake valley, or something, dressed up a large tree in one of the city parks with a large number of lights so that it would closely resemble the Tree of Life in more than one artist's rendering of the Tree of Life in Lehi's dream, as recounted in the book of 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
Are you still with me here? If you're LDS and you're reading this, chances are you know what I am talking about; if you're not, it's still worth seeing.
At any rate, for Jew and Gentile alike, it is a view not to be missed up close (at least until the ACLU finds out it's on city property and sues Draper City to have it all shut down), and JB and I enjoyed spending part of our evening there last Friday night.
Are you still with me here? If you're LDS and you're reading this, chances are you know what I am talking about; if you're not, it's still worth seeing.
At any rate, for Jew and Gentile alike, it is a view not to be missed up close (at least until the ACLU finds out it's on city property and sues Draper City to have it all shut down), and JB and I enjoyed spending part of our evening there last Friday night.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
A Holly Jolly Christmas
The older I get, and the more Christmases I experience, the more I realize that the joy I felt growing up didn't go anywhere, and it didn't disappear; it is still there, albeit in a different way. It is reborn in the next generation. I see my nieces and nephews open their gifts with wide-eyed wonder and see the gratitude expressed both in those who give and receive, and this warms my heart and soul.
Such was the case Saturday night, as the Plowmans (and Woodsens) gathered to celebrate Christmas Eve together. Steve put together a very nice Christmas program for us all. We are especially grateful that Grandma was with us to bear her testimony of Christ and His divine mission, as it looked like something not necessarily guaranteed all that long ago.
It was eight-month-old Graham's first Christmas (seen here with his 11-year-old cousin Luke):
It wasn't a pink rabbit suit, but Kylee still loved her panda pajamas:
Jackson was over the moon with his Minecraft LEGO set:
And Kira was the same about her presents:
I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season (which, by the way, continues through January 5, the real twelfth day of Christmas). And if 2016 has been a rough year for you (it has been for me in the form of my own challenges), I hope that 2017 dawns all the brighter. I'm a big fan of new beginnings. If I can help make that happen for you, I'm here to do what I can. That, I feel, is one of the most important lessons the baby born in Bethlehem came here to teach us.
Friday, December 23, 2016
Blessed to Give . . . and to Receive
I am not a homeless person, though I've played one at the request of an old friend.
Not long ago, one of the men who served as a high councilor over my YSA ward (and also a trusted friend) contacted me with an unusual request: Would I be willing to play a vagrant begging for money to help illustrate an important principle for the Young Men he shepherds in his present calling?
This was an unusual request. For one thing, admittedly, I am not a person you'd take a look at and say *ahem* "He's not getting enough to eat." Anyhow, I accepted and told him I would do my best. His idea was that I would dress as grubbily and as poorly as I could and that I would approach his class (they were having a lesson out of doors on this particularly cool autumn day) to ask for money or food, and this brother would then tell me to go jump in the lake without a life preserver.
It wasn't my best acting (that usually comes when I play dead bodies at improv shows, which actually happens frequently), though we executed our plan the following Sunday afternoon over, and I gave the role my best effort. After being turned away, I waited around the corner for several minutes, then I reappeared, my friend revealed my true identity, and the class discussed how they had felt or reacted when I showed up begging. My friend used the moment to teach the young men a lesson about giving and the whole "Are we not all beggars?" message of King Benjamin.
As for myself, I resolved then and there that the next time I found myself in a similar situation (being asked to give something to a destitute person), that I would help that person out and go the extra mile in doing so.
It didn't take long for an opportunity to present itself. I was getting some work done on my laptop at the local McDonald's because my home ISP (which rhymes with "Mentury Mink") had decided to go on vacation for the week. A young man came up to me to ask for something to eat. I told him that I didn't have any cash on me (which was true and is true the vast majority of the time), but that I'd be happy to buy him anything he wanted to eat with my debit card. He requested only three cheeseburgers to go, and after I paid the cashier and the order was ready, the young man thanked me and went on his way outside.
I share these experiences not to toot my own horn but instead to illustrate a point (in my usual roundabout way), and I feel that it's this: If we ask Heavenly Father for opportunities to serve, He will send people our way. We don't have to look very far (nor to be asked) to see that there are needy everywhere. We don't have to do something big to make a difference. Some of the needy are in want of a meal, like my friend at McDonald's, but others are lonely, or depressed, or ill, or their hands hang low for any number of other reasons. They are in our wards, in our neighborhoods, in line at the store, at our places of work, and even in our homes and/or families.
As I have observed friends and acquaintances share their experiences following the Church's "Light the World" campaign this month, I've witnessed many wonderful things happening. Again, these simple acts of service and the kinds words aren't grandiose, but they add up to mean a lot.
"Christmas means giving," taught President Gordon B. Hinckley. "The Father gave his Son, and the Son gave his life. Without giving there is no true Christmas."
If people don't receive that great gift, then there's no true Christmas, either. Receiving, I think, is just as important as giving. Both giving and receiving are part of a cycle that will continue to bless the giver and the receiver.
In my own, imperfect way, I've tried to give throughout this season of "Light the World." But I have also been blessed to receive a great deal from others who have been lighting the world, too. A little over a week ago, I came home feeling less than wonderful about myself, and I found that one of Santa's elves had left me a care package that included 12 gifts to be opened over the next 12 days, culminating on Christmas Day.
I hope the person who did this, whom I hope is reading this, knows what an enormously needed, timely, and appreciated gesture this has been for me. It alone has made Christmas for me this year. It has also inspired me to do the same for others as I go forward from the Christmas season that will be a thing of the past all-too soon. (Well . . . have a merry little Christmas now, as the song says.)
Who knows? I may even have chances to "Light the World" in January, or even in February. This thing could catch on. Giving and receiving are contagious.
God bless us every one, my friends. And speaking of receiving: Let Earth receive her King.
Not long ago, one of the men who served as a high councilor over my YSA ward (and also a trusted friend) contacted me with an unusual request: Would I be willing to play a vagrant begging for money to help illustrate an important principle for the Young Men he shepherds in his present calling?
This was an unusual request. For one thing, admittedly, I am not a person you'd take a look at and say *ahem* "He's not getting enough to eat." Anyhow, I accepted and told him I would do my best. His idea was that I would dress as grubbily and as poorly as I could and that I would approach his class (they were having a lesson out of doors on this particularly cool autumn day) to ask for money or food, and this brother would then tell me to go jump in the lake without a life preserver.
It wasn't my best acting (that usually comes when I play dead bodies at improv shows, which actually happens frequently), though we executed our plan the following Sunday afternoon over, and I gave the role my best effort. After being turned away, I waited around the corner for several minutes, then I reappeared, my friend revealed my true identity, and the class discussed how they had felt or reacted when I showed up begging. My friend used the moment to teach the young men a lesson about giving and the whole "Are we not all beggars?" message of King Benjamin.
As for myself, I resolved then and there that the next time I found myself in a similar situation (being asked to give something to a destitute person), that I would help that person out and go the extra mile in doing so.
It didn't take long for an opportunity to present itself. I was getting some work done on my laptop at the local McDonald's because my home ISP (which rhymes with "Mentury Mink") had decided to go on vacation for the week. A young man came up to me to ask for something to eat. I told him that I didn't have any cash on me (which was true and is true the vast majority of the time), but that I'd be happy to buy him anything he wanted to eat with my debit card. He requested only three cheeseburgers to go, and after I paid the cashier and the order was ready, the young man thanked me and went on his way outside.
I share these experiences not to toot my own horn but instead to illustrate a point (in my usual roundabout way), and I feel that it's this: If we ask Heavenly Father for opportunities to serve, He will send people our way. We don't have to look very far (nor to be asked) to see that there are needy everywhere. We don't have to do something big to make a difference. Some of the needy are in want of a meal, like my friend at McDonald's, but others are lonely, or depressed, or ill, or their hands hang low for any number of other reasons. They are in our wards, in our neighborhoods, in line at the store, at our places of work, and even in our homes and/or families.As I have observed friends and acquaintances share their experiences following the Church's "Light the World" campaign this month, I've witnessed many wonderful things happening. Again, these simple acts of service and the kinds words aren't grandiose, but they add up to mean a lot.
"Christmas means giving," taught President Gordon B. Hinckley. "The Father gave his Son, and the Son gave his life. Without giving there is no true Christmas."
If people don't receive that great gift, then there's no true Christmas, either. Receiving, I think, is just as important as giving. Both giving and receiving are part of a cycle that will continue to bless the giver and the receiver.
In my own, imperfect way, I've tried to give throughout this season of "Light the World." But I have also been blessed to receive a great deal from others who have been lighting the world, too. A little over a week ago, I came home feeling less than wonderful about myself, and I found that one of Santa's elves had left me a care package that included 12 gifts to be opened over the next 12 days, culminating on Christmas Day.
I hope the person who did this, whom I hope is reading this, knows what an enormously needed, timely, and appreciated gesture this has been for me. It alone has made Christmas for me this year. It has also inspired me to do the same for others as I go forward from the Christmas season that will be a thing of the past all-too soon. (Well . . . have a merry little Christmas now, as the song says.)
Who knows? I may even have chances to "Light the World" in January, or even in February. This thing could catch on. Giving and receiving are contagious.
God bless us every one, my friends. And speaking of receiving: Let Earth receive her King.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Light It Up
Previously on Paco Nation, I've written some of my thoughts on the mid-singles fireside message delivered by Elder Dallin H. and Sister Kristen Oaks back in August. Though this was four months ago, I am still reflecting on both things I learned and things I've pondered about from time to time.
One item I do not I believe I addressed fully at the time of my initial blog post on this talk was the topic of fear. At that time, Elder Oaks spoke of a conversation he had with someone who had fulfilled a Church calling to minister to the inmates at one of the LDS branches at a local correctional facility (AKA "jail"). The lesson that he taught us from this experience, as I recall, was: "There are more shackles on singles in the Church than there are on these prisoners, all because of fear." (Those were my notes from that night, so I may be paraphrasing the exact quote.)
The question that I am then led to, and which I put to my fellow mid-singles is: What, exactly, are you afraid of?
Certainly, many of us fear being vulnerable and putting ourselves "out there" in pursuit of a relationship only to fall flat on our faces yet again. For some of us mid-singles, this might feel like it has happened not only hundreds but instead thousands of times by this point. This feeling of frustration creates a term I call Rejection Burnout. (Don't worry, single friends in your teens and/or early twenties; you still have plenty of chances for heartbreak ahead of you.)
I'm only kidding about that last comment. Partly.
Others, I believe, fear not rejection but actually fear being successful. In other words, they've become used to being independent rather than what would be a better option: becoming "interdependent" with another.
"Interdependence is the kind of life the Lord desires for us," Elder Oaks taught.
Further, he added: "We have to be careful when we are single and we don't have a spouse to steady us, that we are not unduly influenced by worldly messages. For example, the world seeks and honors the accumulation of money, property, car, home travel, graduation before marriage, etc."
If I understood the message correctly, being successful, then, might put a damper on some of these pursuits.
In my own brainstorming, I've come up with a few other possible fears, and they include: social anxiety; self-esteem challenges; and health or financial difficulties.
If there are other fears I've failed to include here, well, please include them in the comments. I'd love to hear your point-of-view. Or talk to me about them in person over a froyo (your treat, of course!).
In addition, we singles, at this time of year, are bombarded with messages about how wonderful and great it is to be in love, and it comes in many forms. It's the songs about riding in one-horse open sleighs, letting it snow outside while staying indoors to cuddle, or going outdoors in the cold and getting married by snowmen acting as wedding officiators (which is, apparently, a thing). It's the countless Hallmark movies (which, admittedly, are one of my guilty pleasures) about people finding that special someone at long last under the mistletoe or in some other filmed-in-Canada location made to look like a setting somewhere in the United States. It's also possibly in the form of seeing others who have already been granted the blessing we desire to have, who get to enjoy it with their spouses, children, pets, etc. All of these can lead to some sort of envy.
In the movie Roxanne (which is not a Christmas movie, though I think the sentiment is applicable), C.D. Bales, he of the big nose, portrayed by Steve Martin, laments:
"Sometimes I take a walk at night, and I see couples walking, holding hands, and I look at them, and I think: 'Why not me?' Then I catch my shadow on the wall."
Maybe it's not a "shadow on the wall" that causes you and me this grief but (X) worry or concern, (Y) health or financial challenge, or (Z) other issue entirely out of our control.
What I'm getting at with this, and why I bring it up during the Christmas season, to boot, is that the angels who visited the shepherds and other witnesses of the birth of the Christ child began their proclamations with two simple but powerful words:
"Fear not."
"I don't have the answers," types a single guy wondering about these very things in his own life. But, as for myself, I've committed this holiday season to focusing on controlling some of the things I do have control over, and one of them is to do my level best to follow the Church's "Light the World" campaign, which is a wonderful initiative. It encourages us to perform one act of service or kindness every day in December. (But, if you can, why limit it to just one?) I've already tried a few things that were out of my comfort zone, and I'm looking to try a few others in the days ahead, including anonymously done deeds for family, friends, and neighbors.
If you're feeling down and out this Christmas season, whatever the reason(s), I invite you to join in on the fun and to see what miracles, small or large, occur in your life as a result.
I don't understand many of the reasons behind my own challenges right now, and I surely don't understand yours (although I'm willing to try), but I join with the prophet Nephi in proclaiming that "I know (Heavenly Father) loveth his children" (1 Nephi 11:17). And as Tiny Tim observed, I believe He does and will "bless us, every one" in ways we may not now expect as we strive to serve His children in whichever way His Spirit prompts us to do so.
One item I do not I believe I addressed fully at the time of my initial blog post on this talk was the topic of fear. At that time, Elder Oaks spoke of a conversation he had with someone who had fulfilled a Church calling to minister to the inmates at one of the LDS branches at a local correctional facility (AKA "jail"). The lesson that he taught us from this experience, as I recall, was: "There are more shackles on singles in the Church than there are on these prisoners, all because of fear." (Those were my notes from that night, so I may be paraphrasing the exact quote.)
The question that I am then led to, and which I put to my fellow mid-singles is: What, exactly, are you afraid of?
Certainly, many of us fear being vulnerable and putting ourselves "out there" in pursuit of a relationship only to fall flat on our faces yet again. For some of us mid-singles, this might feel like it has happened not only hundreds but instead thousands of times by this point. This feeling of frustration creates a term I call Rejection Burnout. (Don't worry, single friends in your teens and/or early twenties; you still have plenty of chances for heartbreak ahead of you.)
I'm only kidding about that last comment. Partly.
Others, I believe, fear not rejection but actually fear being successful. In other words, they've become used to being independent rather than what would be a better option: becoming "interdependent" with another.
"Interdependence is the kind of life the Lord desires for us," Elder Oaks taught.
Further, he added: "We have to be careful when we are single and we don't have a spouse to steady us, that we are not unduly influenced by worldly messages. For example, the world seeks and honors the accumulation of money, property, car, home travel, graduation before marriage, etc."
If I understood the message correctly, being successful, then, might put a damper on some of these pursuits.
In my own brainstorming, I've come up with a few other possible fears, and they include: social anxiety; self-esteem challenges; and health or financial difficulties.
If there are other fears I've failed to include here, well, please include them in the comments. I'd love to hear your point-of-view. Or talk to me about them in person over a froyo (your treat, of course!).In addition, we singles, at this time of year, are bombarded with messages about how wonderful and great it is to be in love, and it comes in many forms. It's the songs about riding in one-horse open sleighs, letting it snow outside while staying indoors to cuddle, or going outdoors in the cold and getting married by snowmen acting as wedding officiators (which is, apparently, a thing). It's the countless Hallmark movies (which, admittedly, are one of my guilty pleasures) about people finding that special someone at long last under the mistletoe or in some other filmed-in-Canada location made to look like a setting somewhere in the United States. It's also possibly in the form of seeing others who have already been granted the blessing we desire to have, who get to enjoy it with their spouses, children, pets, etc. All of these can lead to some sort of envy.
In the movie Roxanne (which is not a Christmas movie, though I think the sentiment is applicable), C.D. Bales, he of the big nose, portrayed by Steve Martin, laments:
"Sometimes I take a walk at night, and I see couples walking, holding hands, and I look at them, and I think: 'Why not me?' Then I catch my shadow on the wall."
Maybe it's not a "shadow on the wall" that causes you and me this grief but (X) worry or concern, (Y) health or financial challenge, or (Z) other issue entirely out of our control.
What I'm getting at with this, and why I bring it up during the Christmas season, to boot, is that the angels who visited the shepherds and other witnesses of the birth of the Christ child began their proclamations with two simple but powerful words:
"Fear not."
"I don't have the answers," types a single guy wondering about these very things in his own life. But, as for myself, I've committed this holiday season to focusing on controlling some of the things I do have control over, and one of them is to do my level best to follow the Church's "Light the World" campaign, which is a wonderful initiative. It encourages us to perform one act of service or kindness every day in December. (But, if you can, why limit it to just one?) I've already tried a few things that were out of my comfort zone, and I'm looking to try a few others in the days ahead, including anonymously done deeds for family, friends, and neighbors.
If you're feeling down and out this Christmas season, whatever the reason(s), I invite you to join in on the fun and to see what miracles, small or large, occur in your life as a result.
I don't understand many of the reasons behind my own challenges right now, and I surely don't understand yours (although I'm willing to try), but I join with the prophet Nephi in proclaiming that "I know (Heavenly Father) loveth his children" (1 Nephi 11:17). And as Tiny Tim observed, I believe He does and will "bless us, every one" in ways we may not now expect as we strive to serve His children in whichever way His Spirit prompts us to do so.
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