In spite of the title, this is not a universal truth. However, it was a recurring statement in Sunday school this week. The teacher asked a question that I was thinking about asking two weeks before, "Why are you here?" Apparently it was part of the Bishop's Youth Council (BYC) recently too. They collected the answers and told everybody they had great reasons for being there and that what really mattered was that they were where they were supposed to be.
I kept my mouth shut.
The answer I was thinking of the week before was that I was there to learn something, but it is more than that. The processes of learning and seeking truth cleans and focuses the lens through which we see the world. The collective effort means that I can get answers from others that have already found them and also ... hopefully ... be kept from excessive false doctrine while getting peer reinforcement.
The Lord works in mysterious ways. We all know of the people who have gone to church for "the wrong reasons" and been converted by the spirit while there. I know I have been touched by the spirit more than once when I was there just because I was supposed to be. This happens. However, when we are there for the right reasons, the Lord's ways need not be mysterious. They can be direct and powerful. We can get even more out of Sacrament meeting and all our other meetings if we know why we are there and are there for the right reasons.
Will we always be there for the right reasons? I know I am not. I can say that having two little girls mostly keeps me out of my meetings when I don't have the right reasons. It is such a struggle to get there, that I often don't make it if my heart is not already in the right place. So, sometimes I forget to appreciate the individuals who did not make it for "the right reasons".
It was a good lesson for me.
I would like to shift gears now and look at criminals. The reasons don't matter why one person decided to kill a bunch of people. Every so often we hear of some mass murder or serial killer. Politicos, reporters and various busy bodies get to talking about why they did it. The latest one was last Friday. Some people are using it to advertise gun control. Others want it to change women's rights or something... I really am not clear what they expect to get out of it but just that they are trying to take advantage of the tragedy.
The truth is that it doesn't really matter why one person decided to become a mass murderer. If your loved one got killed in the horrific event, I am certain that you would want to know why in order to gain some sort of closure. However, reasons like revenge don't relieve remorse nor wrongs done. To think otherwise is to lie to yourself.
When a car engine blows up, engineers ask why so that they can prevent future issues with more ... engineering. People aren't like that. A massive scientific and technological leap forward might require a deeper conversation, but I will leave that alone since we can't read minds or psychologically engineer people in spite of the efforts of various charismatic and military leaders.
God can sort out the reasons. For the rest of us it is left to deal with the results.
I am not saying that justice should be blind to circumstance. Self defense is far different than first degree murder, and mostly distinguished by the reasons. I do not envy any judge or jury that has to wade into that murky water.
However, no matter what this latest villan's reasons are ... it will not change the facts of what was done. And all the people who are using it to satisfy their own twisted curiosity or advance their own agenda will not succeed in hindering nor changing the mind of the next person who is inclined to do something similar.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Yeah, kiss it!
I was busy in the kitchen cleaning or cooking or something and not paying that much attention to my wonderful little girls. My littlest was trying to get my attention and I was trying to work around her when she slipped and knocked her head against the wall. She didn't knock it hard so I wasn't worried, but it was very upsetting to her to bump her head on top of being ignored. So, she softened my heart a little and I knelt down to ask her what happened. Now, Faith can't talk well yet so it was good I already knew what had happened. But I listened to her explanation and repeated back to her what I had seen. Then I asked her where she had bonked her head, and she pointed to the spot on the wall. And I kissed the wall. It took her about a half second to process what had happened before she said, "Yeah, kiss it!" And happily toddled off.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
The universe could be finite
There is an old bit of philosophy that argues that the universe is infinite. It goes something like this:
imagine that the universe if finite. There must be an edge to the universe, a cliff or perhaps a wall. Let's say it is a wall. If you go to the top of the wall and look out, there is something on the other side of the wall. The wall divides something. So you go to the other side of the wall and explore only to eventually find another wall marking the edge of the universe. You climb up that wall and see that it divides something ... ad infinitum
It occurs to me that this is bad logic. There need not be anything on the other side of the wall. It relies on our daily experience with land being divided by walls. This need not apply to a universe. Imagine that the matter and energy ratios are such that the universe will eventually collapse into a black hole. You would then find that you have a very finite universe. There need not be anything outside the event horizon. There need not be space, matter, energy, light ... nothing can get out. The universe would be a closed finite system.
It appears that this is not the case in reality. I am just saying that the logic was flawed. My argument is flawed as well. I was just trying to get the reader to the point where they could start to imagine an enclosed finite universe without creating a monstrous treatise.
In reality, in the case of a big crunch, I believe that a vast amount of energy in the form of light from the initial bang would continue to expand out into space, or the void if I may. I also think that void, due to quantum uncertainty is actually filled with virtual particles and that these must already exist in the regions into which our universe expands. And that the void exists. But as physics progresses, I suppose we may find that void is finite. There is a lot that could be said on this topic. But this is enough for now.
imagine that the universe if finite. There must be an edge to the universe, a cliff or perhaps a wall. Let's say it is a wall. If you go to the top of the wall and look out, there is something on the other side of the wall. The wall divides something. So you go to the other side of the wall and explore only to eventually find another wall marking the edge of the universe. You climb up that wall and see that it divides something ... ad infinitum
It occurs to me that this is bad logic. There need not be anything on the other side of the wall. It relies on our daily experience with land being divided by walls. This need not apply to a universe. Imagine that the matter and energy ratios are such that the universe will eventually collapse into a black hole. You would then find that you have a very finite universe. There need not be anything outside the event horizon. There need not be space, matter, energy, light ... nothing can get out. The universe would be a closed finite system.
It appears that this is not the case in reality. I am just saying that the logic was flawed. My argument is flawed as well. I was just trying to get the reader to the point where they could start to imagine an enclosed finite universe without creating a monstrous treatise.
In reality, in the case of a big crunch, I believe that a vast amount of energy in the form of light from the initial bang would continue to expand out into space, or the void if I may. I also think that void, due to quantum uncertainty is actually filled with virtual particles and that these must already exist in the regions into which our universe expands. And that the void exists. But as physics progresses, I suppose we may find that void is finite. There is a lot that could be said on this topic. But this is enough for now.
insight from a conversation with Dad / more evidence of photons
Last night I was driving home from a long field job. I was exhausted and it was showing in my driving quality. I needed help staying awake, so I called my Dad. I had nothing to talk about, but just needed to keep talking to help me stay awake. My Dad was kind enough to go over some things he had been thinking about. And in the midst of this groggy conversation I had a new insight into light. It may not seem like much, but here it is:
If light were a wave like sound waves or water waves that traveled on some medium (water or air), we wouldn't be able to see the stars. The energy would diffuse over so much distance. But because light is made up of discrete packets of energy, photons, that exist independent of everything else around them we get to see the stars at night. There is an underlying assumption here that the medium is fundamentally granular. Air and water are both made up of lots of little atoms. Even sound traveling through a more rigid material like steel is made up of lots of little atoms. This granular nature is what causes the wave energy to disperse over a distance. But light being made up of its own little particles can only disperse down to single photons. After that it cannot get more dispersed.
If light were a wave like sound waves or water waves that traveled on some medium (water or air), we wouldn't be able to see the stars. The energy would diffuse over so much distance. But because light is made up of discrete packets of energy, photons, that exist independent of everything else around them we get to see the stars at night. There is an underlying assumption here that the medium is fundamentally granular. Air and water are both made up of lots of little atoms. Even sound traveling through a more rigid material like steel is made up of lots of little atoms. This granular nature is what causes the wave energy to disperse over a distance. But light being made up of its own little particles can only disperse down to single photons. After that it cannot get more dispersed.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
children's story: Goldy Locks and the 3 Bears
( I know this is over done, but I like my version even though I didn't change much.)
Once upon a time there was a bear family with a Papa Bear, a Mama Bear, and a Baby Bear. They lived in a beautiful house deep in the forest. Just outside the forest there was another house where another family lived. In that family there was a little girl named Goldy Locks because of her beautiful golden hair.
One day, Goldy Locks went for a long walk all by herself deep into the forest and she found the Bear home. She walked all around the Bear home, looked in all the windows, and saw that nobody was home. So Goldy Locks decided to go inside even though it was not her home and she did not have permission.
Inside the Bear home Goldy Locks saw three bowls of porridge on the kitchen table: a big bowl, a medium bowl, and a small bowl. She tasted the porridge in the big bowl and said, "Humph, this porridge is toooo hot!" Then she tasted the porridge in the small bowl and said, "This porridge is toooo cold!" Then she tasted the porridge in the medium bowl and said, "Ummmm, this porridge is juust right!" And she ate the whole bowl even though it was not her porridge and she did not have permission.
Then Goldy Locks decided to explore the rest of the house and she made a big mess while she did so. She knocked over a lamp in the living room. She unrolled a bunch of toilet paper in the bathroom and splashed a bunch of water on the floor. Then she went upstairs and found a room with a reallly big bed. She jumped all over the really big bed and threw the pillows around.
Then Goldy Locks realized she was very tired from her long walk and all her exploring. So she laid down on the bed and said, "This bed is toooo hard!". Goldy Locks got up and went to the next room where she found a little bed. She laid down on the little bed and said, "This bed is juuust right!" And she went to sleep even though it was not her bed and she did not have permission.
While Goldy Locks was asleep, the Bear family came home and Papa Bear said, "Somebody has been in the house and somebody has tasted my porridge." Baby Bear said, "Somebody tasted my porridge too!" And Mama Bear said, "Somebody ate all of my porridge." Then Papa Bear said, "Mama Bear, Baby Bear wait here. I am going to go through the rest of the house and make sure it is safe."
Papa Bear saw the lamp that Goldy Locks knocked over in the living room. He saw the toilet paper she unrolled and the water she splashed around in the bathroom. When Papa Bear went into his room he saw that Goldy Locks had jumped all over his bed and threw his pillows around.
Then Papa Bear went into Baby Bear's room and saw Goldy Locks asleep in Baby Bear's bed. This made Papa Bear very angry because Papa Bear loves Baby Bear very much and seeing Goldy Locks asleep in Baby Bear's bed without permission made him feel like Baby Bear wasn't safe. So he roared very loudly and woke Goldy Locks up. She went, "Ahhhh!" Then Papa Bear swatted Goldy Locks, and because Papa Bear is very big this hurt Goldy Locks and she began to cry. "Whaaaah!"
Then Papa Bear realized that Goldy Locks wasn't going to hurt Baby Bear, but he still couldn't be very nice to her because of all the bad decisions she made. So he sent Goldy Locks away and she had to make the long walk home through the forest all alone even though she was hurt and crying. Meanwhile, Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear gave each other big hugs and cleaned up the house together.
******
1) I did the order of the bowls of porridge to match natural cooling rates for food dished up from the same pot at the same time. The biggest bowl is the hottest and the little bowl the coolest. This is not the way I have heard it told.
2) Lists. Little kids love the lists, but the list of messes that Goldy Locks made are common messes that little kids to make. It helps later when I ask them not to make the messes. Occasionally, I will roar instead of using my words.
3) Emphasis on permission.
4) Explanation of motivation for Papa Bear, who isn't arbitrarily angry, mean, or bad like the other versions of the story I have heard.
5) I don't put the whole Bear family in one bedroom nor in three like the other versions of the story I have heard. I made the sleeping arrangements like home.
6) This is Caroline's favorite story (she is starting to transition to Daniel and the Lion's Den) and even though I get tired of telling it every night, I love it at the end when she wants her hug and she asks if I am her Papa Bear or alternately if she is my Baby Bear. That is definitely the best part.
Once upon a time there was a bear family with a Papa Bear, a Mama Bear, and a Baby Bear. They lived in a beautiful house deep in the forest. Just outside the forest there was another house where another family lived. In that family there was a little girl named Goldy Locks because of her beautiful golden hair.
One day, Goldy Locks went for a long walk all by herself deep into the forest and she found the Bear home. She walked all around the Bear home, looked in all the windows, and saw that nobody was home. So Goldy Locks decided to go inside even though it was not her home and she did not have permission.
Inside the Bear home Goldy Locks saw three bowls of porridge on the kitchen table: a big bowl, a medium bowl, and a small bowl. She tasted the porridge in the big bowl and said, "Humph, this porridge is toooo hot!" Then she tasted the porridge in the small bowl and said, "This porridge is toooo cold!" Then she tasted the porridge in the medium bowl and said, "Ummmm, this porridge is juust right!" And she ate the whole bowl even though it was not her porridge and she did not have permission.
Then Goldy Locks decided to explore the rest of the house and she made a big mess while she did so. She knocked over a lamp in the living room. She unrolled a bunch of toilet paper in the bathroom and splashed a bunch of water on the floor. Then she went upstairs and found a room with a reallly big bed. She jumped all over the really big bed and threw the pillows around.
Then Goldy Locks realized she was very tired from her long walk and all her exploring. So she laid down on the bed and said, "This bed is toooo hard!". Goldy Locks got up and went to the next room where she found a little bed. She laid down on the little bed and said, "This bed is juuust right!" And she went to sleep even though it was not her bed and she did not have permission.
While Goldy Locks was asleep, the Bear family came home and Papa Bear said, "Somebody has been in the house and somebody has tasted my porridge." Baby Bear said, "Somebody tasted my porridge too!" And Mama Bear said, "Somebody ate all of my porridge." Then Papa Bear said, "Mama Bear, Baby Bear wait here. I am going to go through the rest of the house and make sure it is safe."
Papa Bear saw the lamp that Goldy Locks knocked over in the living room. He saw the toilet paper she unrolled and the water she splashed around in the bathroom. When Papa Bear went into his room he saw that Goldy Locks had jumped all over his bed and threw his pillows around.
Then Papa Bear went into Baby Bear's room and saw Goldy Locks asleep in Baby Bear's bed. This made Papa Bear very angry because Papa Bear loves Baby Bear very much and seeing Goldy Locks asleep in Baby Bear's bed without permission made him feel like Baby Bear wasn't safe. So he roared very loudly and woke Goldy Locks up. She went, "Ahhhh!" Then Papa Bear swatted Goldy Locks, and because Papa Bear is very big this hurt Goldy Locks and she began to cry. "Whaaaah!"
Then Papa Bear realized that Goldy Locks wasn't going to hurt Baby Bear, but he still couldn't be very nice to her because of all the bad decisions she made. So he sent Goldy Locks away and she had to make the long walk home through the forest all alone even though she was hurt and crying. Meanwhile, Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear gave each other big hugs and cleaned up the house together.
******
1) I did the order of the bowls of porridge to match natural cooling rates for food dished up from the same pot at the same time. The biggest bowl is the hottest and the little bowl the coolest. This is not the way I have heard it told.
2) Lists. Little kids love the lists, but the list of messes that Goldy Locks made are common messes that little kids to make. It helps later when I ask them not to make the messes. Occasionally, I will roar instead of using my words.
3) Emphasis on permission.
4) Explanation of motivation for Papa Bear, who isn't arbitrarily angry, mean, or bad like the other versions of the story I have heard.
5) I don't put the whole Bear family in one bedroom nor in three like the other versions of the story I have heard. I made the sleeping arrangements like home.
6) This is Caroline's favorite story (she is starting to transition to Daniel and the Lion's Den) and even though I get tired of telling it every night, I love it at the end when she wants her hug and she asks if I am her Papa Bear or alternately if she is my Baby Bear. That is definitely the best part.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Save 74% on dish soap
A few years ago I got frustrated enough with dish soap prices that I did some experimentation, I have stuck with the blue Dawn dishsoap and not experimented with other varieties.
I found that I could use the suds pump (direct foam) with the ultra concentrate soap if I dilute it. The soap comes in 24 oz and 56 oz bottles. After going through a 56 oz bottle, I pour the 24 oz of ultra concentrate soap into the empty 56 oz bottle, fill the rest of it with water (32 oz of water) and shake it up to mix it. (Without a lot of air, you can't make a lot of suds. I use that diluted ultra concentrate to refill the suds pump. And there you go, cheaper dish soap!
The process of going through the initial 56 oz bottle is a bit of a pain, especially if somebody throws out the empty bottle on you. If you use a graduated 1 cup measure, fill it to the 1/3 cup mark with ultra concentrate soap and then to the 3/4 cup mark with water. This is NOT 1/3 cup soap and 3/4 cup water. It is 1/3 cup soap and (3/4 - 1/3) cups water. Then stir it gently with a fork to get it mixed but not foamed. This makes 6 oz of soap for the pump, which takes 10 oz at a time. So as you slooooowly go through the gigantic 54 oz bottle, you have to refill the pump about halfway at a time. At least that is how I did it. You could always just use an alternate container and mix a bunch up at once.
So, how cheap is it?
at walmart.com the 30.9 oz refill bottle is $5.64 or $0.1825 per oz.
The 24 oz ultra concentrate is $2.63, but we dilute it to 56 oz, for $0.0469 per oz.
That is a savings of 74% on the refills which Dawn claims already saves a bunch of money!
Update: I have tried the purple Dawn ultra concentrate and maybe I messed up the ratios some how but it is not pumping right. Even if it was a mistake on my part, I will not be doing more purple just in case. I got it because it is my daughter's favorite color, but she was unhappy when I diluted it and put it in a blue container making it not purple any more.
I found that I could use the suds pump (direct foam) with the ultra concentrate soap if I dilute it. The soap comes in 24 oz and 56 oz bottles. After going through a 56 oz bottle, I pour the 24 oz of ultra concentrate soap into the empty 56 oz bottle, fill the rest of it with water (32 oz of water) and shake it up to mix it. (Without a lot of air, you can't make a lot of suds. I use that diluted ultra concentrate to refill the suds pump. And there you go, cheaper dish soap!
The process of going through the initial 56 oz bottle is a bit of a pain, especially if somebody throws out the empty bottle on you. If you use a graduated 1 cup measure, fill it to the 1/3 cup mark with ultra concentrate soap and then to the 3/4 cup mark with water. This is NOT 1/3 cup soap and 3/4 cup water. It is 1/3 cup soap and (3/4 - 1/3) cups water. Then stir it gently with a fork to get it mixed but not foamed. This makes 6 oz of soap for the pump, which takes 10 oz at a time. So as you slooooowly go through the gigantic 54 oz bottle, you have to refill the pump about halfway at a time. At least that is how I did it. You could always just use an alternate container and mix a bunch up at once.
So, how cheap is it?
at walmart.com the 30.9 oz refill bottle is $5.64 or $0.1825 per oz.
The 24 oz ultra concentrate is $2.63, but we dilute it to 56 oz, for $0.0469 per oz.
That is a savings of 74% on the refills which Dawn claims already saves a bunch of money!
Update: I have tried the purple Dawn ultra concentrate and maybe I messed up the ratios some how but it is not pumping right. Even if it was a mistake on my part, I will not be doing more purple just in case. I got it because it is my daughter's favorite color, but she was unhappy when I diluted it and put it in a blue container making it not purple any more.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Children's Story: Jesus and the storm
A long time ago, Jesus was traveling by boat with the apostles from one city to another. And Jesus was very tired so he went downstairs, what they call below deck on a boat, and he went to sleep.
While Jesus was asleep a big storm came. There was a lot of wind, and a lot of rain. There was a lot of lightening and a lot of thunder. And there were big waves. The waves were bigger than the boat. And everybody on the boat thought that they were going to die. Except for Jesus because he was asleep.
Then one of the apostles, I think it was Peter, went and woke Jesus up saying, "Jesus, How can you sleep we are going to die!" And Jesus got up, went upstairs, and told the storm to stop. And the wind stopped. And the rain stopped. And the lightening stopped. And the thunder stopped. And waves stopped crashing over the side of the boat. And everybody on the boat knew it was going to be okay. They knew that they were going to live. And Jesus went back downstairs and went back to sleep because he was still very tired.
*************
I want to make a few comments about this. I know there are a few discrepancies from the Biblical account. Namely,
1) In the Bible Christ in the "hinder part of the ship" (Mark 4), which I take to mean aft of the boat not below deck.
2) There is no mention of rain, thunder, or lightening in the Bible, only wind and waves.
3) The biblical account says disciples, which I think is generally understood to mean Apostles in this context, but it definitely names no names about who woke Jesus up.
There are a few features about this that I really like.
1) It focuses a lot on sleep and how people need it. Good bedtime story. It is usually my finale.
2) It has two features in particular that indicate it is a real and not make believe story.
a) It starts out with the chronological reference, "A long time ago"
b) The phrase, "I think it was Peter" indicates there are real facts you could get wrong.
3) The list of elements of the storm get repeated twice. Most of the time we hear songs and stories that use quantities (Three bears, three pigs, five monkeys, ...) but seldom the list and less seldom does it repeat (think Old McDonald). My girls love hearing the list. They count on it. If I change the order either time it comes up, Caroline will complain about it. The list is something that helps their memory skills and enthralls them.
4) It gives the idea that they can ask Jesus for help, and hopefully their parents too.
While Jesus was asleep a big storm came. There was a lot of wind, and a lot of rain. There was a lot of lightening and a lot of thunder. And there were big waves. The waves were bigger than the boat. And everybody on the boat thought that they were going to die. Except for Jesus because he was asleep.
Then one of the apostles, I think it was Peter, went and woke Jesus up saying, "Jesus, How can you sleep we are going to die!" And Jesus got up, went upstairs, and told the storm to stop. And the wind stopped. And the rain stopped. And the lightening stopped. And the thunder stopped. And waves stopped crashing over the side of the boat. And everybody on the boat knew it was going to be okay. They knew that they were going to live. And Jesus went back downstairs and went back to sleep because he was still very tired.
*************
I want to make a few comments about this. I know there are a few discrepancies from the Biblical account. Namely,
1) In the Bible Christ in the "hinder part of the ship" (Mark 4), which I take to mean aft of the boat not below deck.
2) There is no mention of rain, thunder, or lightening in the Bible, only wind and waves.
3) The biblical account says disciples, which I think is generally understood to mean Apostles in this context, but it definitely names no names about who woke Jesus up.
There are a few features about this that I really like.
1) It focuses a lot on sleep and how people need it. Good bedtime story. It is usually my finale.
2) It has two features in particular that indicate it is a real and not make believe story.
a) It starts out with the chronological reference, "A long time ago"
b) The phrase, "I think it was Peter" indicates there are real facts you could get wrong.
3) The list of elements of the storm get repeated twice. Most of the time we hear songs and stories that use quantities (Three bears, three pigs, five monkeys, ...) but seldom the list and less seldom does it repeat (think Old McDonald). My girls love hearing the list. They count on it. If I change the order either time it comes up, Caroline will complain about it. The list is something that helps their memory skills and enthralls them.
4) It gives the idea that they can ask Jesus for help, and hopefully their parents too.
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