Archive for February, 2008
Going on Hiatus
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on February 28, 2008
Everything is okay.
I got in the mail, yesterday Kim Harrison‘s latest book, The Outlaw Demon Wails. I believe, given a cryptic message Erin sent earlier that I might’ve received my copy of Neil Gaiman‘s Book Day released title Odd and the Frost Giant’s both of which get to sit in limbo until I finish the book I am reading and find time around school.
Really, though, the point of this post is to say that I think I am going on another hiatus from updating for a while. Will probably last about a week; may go longer. Regardless, Next Thursday I will post to let you all know whether or not I am continuing with the hiatus.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
House
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on February 26, 2008
Recently, Erin and I have started watching House on Fox. For those who are not familiar with the show, it follows the antics of one House M.D. as he diagnoses problems with patients. The problem, though, is that he has a tendency to never actually see the patients he is diagnosing, has three (or four – I really can’t tell this season) assistants, and is more crotchety and irritable than me.
You might assume that House is merely a medical procedural show along the lines of E.R.. And if you are one of those people, you would be wrong. Instead, House is probably more closely related to a crime procedural than a medical one. Yes, it is set in a hospital; and yes, it does deal with medical issues; but no, outside of setting and what the main issues are, the similarities between House and other medical shows take a quantum leap in opposite directions.
Rather, the main character, House, has the opinion that everyone lies. As a result, he has morally ambiguous assistants that are willing to (in some cases) break into patients houses to search the homes for things that don’t belong or could be the cause of whatever odd and out of place malady they are suffering from. As is true of most medical shows (that I’ve seen) the patients that House treats are actually have very rare and very strange diseases. The stranger the disease, the more abstract or obscure the symptoms, the better the program.
However, the draw to House is not that it is about medicine or that I can relate to the central protagonist, but the way in which medicine is practiced and the ethics that are followed/ignored as a result of the doctors. House, the doctor, employs people that will stand up for themselves, that will contradict him, and that will (also) challenge his assertions. Sometimes, though, he has to go to great lengths to get them to actually do the job he wants them to do. As a self-assured individual, it becomes easy for people to just assume that he is a) always right; or b) doesn’t give a hoot about what they think.
Regardless, the show ends up being an exploration not only into the characters that are a part of the cast, but also into whether or not the patients are actually telling the truth about their condition and what led to them ending up in the hospital. In most instances (all that I have seen so far) House has been able to determine the cause of the disease further solidifying his edict, “Everything happens for a reason.” This is not to be confused with the religious edict which begins (though unstated) “I don’t know why this happened, but everything happens for a reason.”
In the world of House, everything not only happens for a reason, but also that some reasons are intentionally left blank to seemingly protect the individual.
During recent episodes we saw:
A teenage boy who is a faith healer, brought low when it turns out he was infected with Herpes from a sexual encounter.
A woman who was unexplainably sick… until they took her socks off.
A mother who wouldn’t allow the doctors to test her daughter’s bone marrow as a transplant option because the daughter really wasn’t (biologically) hers… only to find out it was a treatable kind of cancer.
The show does an amazing job at delivering a mystery that needs to be solved. Setting up the state in which the problem took place (initially). Obfuscating the problem, often with tricky or complicated medical procedures. Determining the truth or legitimacy of the stated claims (of the patients) – as well as a moral argument over whether or not House should do what he is doing to establish fact and truth. And finally, toward the end, a solution to the problem, often after discovering enough (or all) of the information so that an education deduction can be made.
Sherlock Holmes, a creation of Arthur Conan Doyle, said, “…when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth….” House takes this to its conclusion and proves that once everything else has been eliminated, the improbably, even the impossible, often result in the cause and, as a result, the solution.
This show has proven to be very enjoyable and fun to watch. At times, like most medical-related shows (or current crime procedurals), there is a graphic level in what they show you, lots of blood, organs, and etc., but this is the exception rather than the rule in the show, with most of the episodes resulting in external factors and external stimuli to determine the problem rather than cutting into the body to explore and find the solution.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Voice
Posted by smokingpen in On Writing, Voice on February 25, 2008
One comment I’ve heard, in the past, about writing is the voice of the person doing the writing. For most people, when you sit down to write, the way in which you write something – especially what you choose to include in areas of description and dialogue – inform your voice. In short, your voice is developed as a result of what you choose to add into what you are writing.
Voice is not limited to the realm of fiction. There are many areas of life that require a person to write and to share, or not share, different pieces of information. Dropping into the realm of my past experience, one of those areas is professional communication. In professional communication you, as the writer, have to read, disseminate, and then write material based off of certain requirements. These requirements might include a specific audience, reading level, intended use, source material, and etc. As a result, having a greater understanding of the material in question results in a better product – even though only a small portion of you “understanding” actually goes into the finished work.
Writing fiction is not so far removed from writing other things. Considering that fiction requires a series of events that set up the story, and then a succession of longer bits of description to draw out the story. Each element of the overarching story has to be taken into account and what the author chooses to include at each stage of that storytelling is what makes up his/her voice.
When you, as a reader, decide to pick up a copy of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and you read it, enjoying his writing, and choosing to go out and read more of his work, what draws you back to the man (and his work) is not only the story being told, but also what Tolstoy chooses to include into his creative work.
A more contemporary example might be Dan Brown or John Grisham. In either case, the story behind what the writer is exploring (Mary Magdalene and a potential offspring of Jesus Christ or a lawyer is a part of corruption of seeks redemption) is only a part of what is being shared. Neither author has created an original story, both have borrowed from other authors and other ideas (and in some cases their own lives… though to what extent is up in the air), what draws the reader to the author is how the author shares the story and what elements the author chooses to include in his narrative.
Ultimately, voice is a result of writing, a lot. There is no short cut to developing it. You cannot sit down and decide to write a book and automatically have a conceptualized way of telling a story. That does not happen. Instead, like Neil Gaiman, you will need to go out into the word and write and write until what you are writing sounds like you and then you can start writing fiction.
No one was born with a clearly defined literary voice. Some people develop their earlier than others. However, regardless of when you develop yours the only way to develop voice is to sit down and write. Write a lot. Find a job that lets you write exclusively. Do what Gaiman did and write as a reporter. Do what Grisham did and become a lawyer (and yes, it is writing intensive). Do what others have done and write, write, write.
The only way you can develop you voice is to write as much and as often as you can.
Monday or Is It?
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on February 25, 2008
Today is Monday. I know this because yesterday I got up, showered, shaved (not a daily habit even though I despise facial hair), and went to church. I knot today is Monday because I woke up this morning and could still take a test (though intentionally late). I know it is Monday because it feels like the weight of the world is resettling on my shoulders.
This is what happens on Monday’s:
I wake up.
I dress.
I eat.
I go to school.
I try to remember what it was we were doing in classes.
I go to work.
I take tests.
I go home.
I guess I sometimes wonder if my attitude is the result of the time spent at BYU or the time spent in Provo or the time spent in Utah.
Lately, I’ve found myself very unhappy with life in Provo. I don’t like to drive around town. If the weekend comes, I am more happy to a) leave town, or b) not leave the house at all. When I can be convinced that I need to leave the house and go to the store, the mall, CostCo, or wherever, I generally find the impact of people all around me rather tedious and hard to deal with.
At Christmas-time, I intentionally ordered the majority of the gifts that were given (Erin and my parents in case anyone was curious) online. I didn’t have to leave the house or the office (old job at that point). I didn’t have to deal with the mass of people that seem to congregate all in the same places at exactly the same time. When Erin‘s parents showed up, I did have to ride around with her dad and show him where to buy presents, but that was an exception. I did not drive and I only made suggestions.
Most of the Christmas shopping was done by Erin and her parents, sans me.
Yes, I am a grumpy person when it comes to crowds. If you know me, you know, in advance, that I don’t like them. I get all weird in large groups of people. This is why it took marrying Erin to get me to go see a general session of the LDS Conference live even though I live about 40 minutes away. This is also why I don’t go to forums and assemblies on campus and why I won’t be attending my own graduation.
As a result of interacting with the students on campus, I have taken to wearing my iPod everywhere I walk and listening to music. Yes. I would rather listen to music than listen to people talk about inane topics. It grew to a head when I heard a couple of guys in a conversation. The conversation, essentially:
First guy, “We’ve been on several dates.”
Second guy, “So? Are you gonna, you know…”
First guy, “I don’t know. She’s started canceling our plans lately.”
Second guy, “Well, whatcha gonna do?”
First guy, “She does it again and I think I’m going to have to DTR her.”
Second guy, “Wow. I think you should.”
At that point I stopped walking at a speed I could hear them. However, DTR (Define The Relationship), church yesterday, class, how to take advantage of someone, your weekend, my weekend, the color of her outfit, and etc. are all topics I am not (at all) interested in hearing. People have a tendency to speak very loudly and so that everyone (including the dead) can hear the conversation.
It used to be that I was just disgruntled by Provo. This was years ago, before I moved back here to go to school and spend a large portion of my time on campus. I am still that way, but I knew that if I moved somewhere a little more sane, a lot less enthusiastic about being Mormon, I was generally okay. I like my religion, it just feels as though people in “Happy Valley” are a little more serious about the religion than in other places in the state.
I sense, though, that moving within this state is not going to fix me, this time. I need something more. I need to be somewhere else.
You see, there are bandaids that exist, the IKEA‘s of the world, the ability to hide in our little apartment (Erin and me), the draw to various attractions, natural wonders, and the beauty of the state; but all of that seems to pale in comparison to my actually being here. Yes. You heard that correctly. The things that might draw me to Utah, to this state, pale when you compare them against my actually being here.
This is not an indictment on Utah or on the people here. You can live your lives in any way you see fit. However, as my dislike and disenfranchisement with the state, the city, and even the school I am attending is reaching a rather interesting level, I can only say this:
When I am able to leave as a result of my graduating and finding work outside of the state of Utah, I will leave.
Yup. I am going to move. I am going to pack up Erin, the as-yet-unnamed and gendered child, and leave the state. Whether I go directly into the next stage of education OR we follow a different plan, I am leaving. Utah no longer supports what I am looking for or what I want to accomplish.
We may go to New England.
We may throw a dart at a world map and find a way to go to wherever it lands (excluding Idaho).
We may become Bedouins, roaming the developed plains of the United States (avoiding Utah and Idaho), but regardless of what we may do… we are leaving the state.
Now, for your reading pleasure and to further illustrate the temperament of the State of Utah, of Provo, and of BYU I copy, from The Daily Universe, a Letter to the Editor:
Chill Out
My name is Nathan. You have probably seen me standing outside wearing my cloak. Until recently it was my habit to stand around and sing in between classes to amuse myself. It struck me as a fairly harmless activity that, while a bit unusual, was nevertheless rather mundane. Furthermore, I had gotten only pleasant comments from the passers by.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I was stopped by a policeman who had gotten a call from someone about me. He told me it was well within my rights as a BYU student to stand outside in the cold and sing in between classes. I found the incident amusing and, though I thought the whole matter a little strange, continued my singing. What I found less amusing was the police officer stopping by approximately a week later to tell me that I had to stop, that I was disturbing the peace, and that I would be issued a citation if I continued. Needless to say, I no longer sing outside at BYU.
Why am I going to the trouble of writing this? Because I find the whole incident greatly troubling. First, it seems wrong for a student at BYU to be stopped from doing something D&C 25:12 calls a prayer. More than that, however, I am disturbed by the way in which my singing was handled. I am bothered by the fact that whoever had something against my singing called the police instead of heeding the advice in D&C 42:88 to talk to me by myself.
I am also bothered by the fact that BYU police seem to value the appeasement of a small but vocal minority over any actual laws or rules (which, I remind the reader, I was specifically told I was not breaking). And I am also somewhat bothered by the fact that this whole incident has worked to support the valuing of conformity over tolerance. In short, I think that some BYU students need to chill and I think that the BYU police need to grow a spine.
–name withheld
I have seen this guy and thought about telling him to shut up. I chose not to. Instead I use my iPod.
My point in all this is that I am tired of what is happening around me and I have the right to make a change (when my task is complete). I am telling the world, you all, that I plan to make that change.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Late Nights and the Following Mornings
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on February 22, 2008
Last night, late Erin and I drove to the Salt Lake City Airport to pick up her brother. That costs, outside of gas (none of which matters, in case anyone was wondering) about $1.00 to park and then go inside to wait for him to walk out along the hall that dumps people into the baggage claim area. We got there early, saw that his flight had landed, I noticed that the gate was TBD and the baggage claim was 1 and so we found a place to sit down. Almost as soon as we sat down, he walked out. His flight was still marked TBD.
As we left the airport, a powerful-bad smell permeated the car (outside heated air) that caused both Erin and I to scrunch our noses. Erin said the smell was of heavy brine. Her brother wanted to know what that was. I turned off the heater until we were farther along and was too tired to try to pay attention to the series of (seemingly) non-sequitur conversations that passed between the other two occupants of the car.
The result, since we woke up around 6 a.m. yesterday morning to go to the doctor for the ultrasound which can be seen here. I didn’t go back to bed as I had to go to work, go to a meeting, class, then back to work and home. I did expect to take a nap at some point but a new notebook was screaming my name and I decided to cozy up to the notebook rather than sleep… while I watched BoyzIIMen sing on Don’t Forget the Lyrics.
It’s amazing the shows you fall into watching at night when you are no longer working. Weird. I was actually flipping back and forth between Don’t Forget the Lyrics and the new season of LOST, even though Charlie appears to be dead and only six members of the Oceanic Flight actually make it off the island (the stories are being told in present time (island) with flash-forwards to a period when they survivors are no longer on the island). This is an interesting conceit, from a different direction from what the producers were using in the first three seasons; and I am still trying to decide whether or not I am enjoying this new season. Sure, they drag me into story lines (e.g. spending an entire season killing this character by not killing him… thanks Desmond) and then frustrate me by not moving those same storylines forward either quickly enough or in a way that I feel like I should be back next week to see what happens.
24, my current guilty pleasure for seasonal TV watching, has been delayed until January 2009. This is disappointing, but given the fact that Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) spent some of the production months in one of the L.A. County prisons for drunk driving and probation violation, it is probably one of the best things to happen to the series. What caught me off guard, though, in the pre-season run-up and rumor mills has been that Tony Almeida was making a comeback after being killed at the beginning of Season 4. I was curious as to how they were going to pull that off – oh, and instead of being a possible successor to the Jack Bauer crown, he is a bad guy.
Anyway, TV watching aside, we got home (after picking up and then dropping off Erin‘s brother) after midnight and went to bed. Sleep does not feel very good (to me) as I felt like I was up and down all night long. I do know that at one point Erin said, “John, you’re snoring on me,” which caused me to have to roll over and snore in the opposite direction.
The outcome was that I did not get up when my alarm went off this morning. I did move from the bed to the sofa after Erin got up and got ready for work. I won’t share why the move, but the movement caused me to pull one of the blankets over me and to go back to sleep. At one point between when Erin left and when I finally got up, I thought I heard my phone “ping” with a new message sound… but it didn’t. And the phone was next to my head and I’d gotten bedroom pillows to lay against rather than the front room sofa pillows. Nice.
Getting up was hard. I still don’t (exactly) feel like I got much (if any) sleep. I did go back to being cozy with the new notebook this morning, checked my email, and tried to call my webhost for the majority of the websites in response to an email I got yesterday from the company. When I spoke with the designated CSR to help and resolve the issue (I am transitioning from employee to customer and there are hoops that I still get to leap through) the person was so inept I ended up hanging up on her and emailing the person I’d emailed back and forth with yesterday. It was interesting.
Actually, I wrote a rather long email about the ineptitude of the employee and how, as a customer, I didn’t appreciate the tone and nature of the call only to delete everything that was not immediately germane to what needed to happen. I am still waiting, hours later, for the individual to email me back with what needs to happen.
Truth told, I can see why some people get frustrated enough with that company to walk away with a bad taste in their mouths. In this case, I am more than a bit frustrated. But, it will get resolved and I can move on.
When I couldn’t immediately take care of the issue from yesterday (which suddenly reminds me of other things that need taking care of that I have not done yet… dang), I decided that the best solution was to get dressed and go to class and then work. Even though I wanted to sit around home and do nothing… well, not nothing I did have some plans, I do need to bring in some money to help pay the bills and I do need to do well in my classes… anyway, I packed up my stuff and went to school.
The last couple of days has been interesting and exciting.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Transition and Change
Posted by smokingpen in Uncategorized on February 21, 2008
NOTE: Inherently religiously oriented material!!!
Recently The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints underwent a change in the hierarchical leadership. Essentially, the former President and presiding authority over the Church, Gordon Bitner Hinckley passed away due to complications brought on by old age, and his First Counselor and President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles took the place as President of the Church, President of the First Presidency, and presiding authority. The only wait in the change was a courtesy to the Hinckley family until after President Hinckley was buried – which took place approximately six days after President Hinckley passed away.
The process of succession within the Church is that the senior most apostle, determined by time served within the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, becomes the presiding authority. After Joseph Smith, the founder and first President of the Church passed away, the Church fell into an interregnum where Brigham Young, the senior member of the Quorum (or Council) of the Twelve took over leadership of the Church. Records indicate that he had two councilors, but the presiding body, the first presidency, was not re-established for three nearly three years after the passing of Joseph Smith.
This pattern, an interregnum of leadership, was followed by John Taylor who, after a period of time, also re-organized the First Presidency. Upon John Taylor’s passing Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints received revelation that there would be no period of interregnum and the First Presidency of the Church was established immediately upon burial of John Taylor.
As a result of this, the pattern of succession has been very well established and guessing who the next leader of the Church will be is not necessary. In order for anyone but President Thomas S. Monson to be the presiding authority over the Church one of two things would have to happen:
First: President Monson would have to pass away;
Second: President Monson would have to suggest another member of the Quorum to take his place as presiding authority.
As a result of this, the longest surviving member of the Quorum of the Twelve becomes the presiding authority over the Church.
However, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints one of the tenets of our religion is that Joseph Smith (founder/first prophet) restored the gospel of Jesus Christ as Christ taught it when he was on the Earth. Essentially, we believe that there was a falling away, or apostasy, and as a result not only was the authority to lead God’s ordained church lost to the world, but the Priesthood authority, and many basic principles of the gospel were lost to the world.
After Christ was crucified on the Cross, died, was resurrected, and then ministered unto the 11 Apostles of the time, the presiding authority being Peter, he left the Apostles to determine who would be the next member of that governing body. At that time Peter created a list of requirements for the new member of the body:
- Had to be at Christ’s baptism by John
- Had to be present at the death of Christ
- Had to be a disciple of Christ during his lifetime
The outcome to these requirements was an eventual termination of authority, or an eventual termination of who could be a member of the presiding body of the Church at that time. Since Luke, one of the writer’s of the Gospels (also bears his name) is also the writer of Acts, and it is in Acts that we discover Peter’s rules for a new apostle, it is also important to note that at no time (in the New Testament) does he offer any further evidence of a presiding authority having changed the requirements for becoming one of the Twelve.
Since the Twelve were the recognized presiding body of the Church, and since you had to know Christ to be a member of this body, it then becomes necessary to determine whether or not it was intentional, on Peter’s part, to create a body that cannot survive past the first generation. Essentially, was Peter intentionally destroying the Quorum of Twelve or was this an oversight on his part?
Regardless, the membership of this body is important enough to note that Luke takes the time (joining the Church after Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and being an historian and someone who had to gather information to write the books he writes) to tell us how members of the governing body were selected; but at no time does he rescind this and explain that a successor to Peter, or Peter himself, made a change to the hierarchy and membership into the Twelve.
What Luke does do is lay out a narrative concerning the transition from a Jewish preaching missionary effort to a Gentile preaching missionary effort. More specifically, he outlines how Peter was requested, and went, to a Roman town and met with a God Fearer (someone who practices Judaism but does not fully convert due to significant physical requirements). At the same time he introduces Paul, who was a persecutor of the Church and someone who may (or may not) have been a murderer of early Christians.
Throughout the early Christian narrative, and at no time, does anyone take the time to indicate a change in how the authority to lead the Church changes from those who personally knew Christ and worshipped with him to people who were Gentile converts of the Gospel or Jewish converts. Rather, this is omitted – even though a change like this would be very significant to the Church at that time.
What does happen is that the Church narrative moves from Peter to Paul. In this context Paul is rightfully referred to as an “apostle” but not necessarily as one of the Twelve Apostles. The term apostle, very broadly, refers to anyone who is engaged in the missionary work of the Church. So, any disciple of Christ who was sent out to preach Christ’s gospel was also an Apostle of Christ. Granted, we restrict the meaning of the word, probably as a result of various changes in English lexicon since the 16th century when the New Testament was translated for King James (e.g. what gives us the King James version of the Bible) what this does not mean is how we look at Paul.
We can draw similarities between various religions and leadership roles, as well as business and leadership roles, and historical leadership roles to indicate that Paul was (most likely) a leader of some kind within the Church. That is not in contention. What is in contention was whether or not he held the authority necessary to lead the Church if all of the other Apostles (in this case membership in the Quorum of the Twelve) passed on.
Keeping in mind that the method of leadership and that membership in the presiding body of the Church at that time required you to know Christ and that a period of no greater than 70 years could’ve passed before that leadership was extinguished, the question of Paul having that authority is a significant question that can be explored.
However, right of authority and succession of authority become two separate arguments in this instance. Where in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we have a clearly defined succession of authority and where any worthy male member of the Church can become a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, right of authority is less of an issue than succession of authority.
During Peter’s presiding over the Church, there was a period of extreme expansion. The new Christian theology was spread not only to Jews but also to God-fearers and from them to the Gentile nations as a whole. Historical methodology of the Roman Catholic church had allowed for Priests to go among the heathen in the Old and New Worlds thereby converting large numbers of people. These conversion, however, were not always without some cost to the principles of Christ’s Gospel. Specifically, over time, various traditions of the people being converted, those who worshiped idols or other gods, crept into the burgeoning Christian faith.
This is what Paul is best known for. Paul’s letters to the various peoples he converted or helped convert was an effect to try and stifle the influx of non-orthodox ideas to the new religion. He was both verbose and opinionated. He may have also had the power (as a Roman citizen) to travel how and where he wanted without recourse. As a missionary, and a convert, this is a powerful tool to have in Peter’s arsenal. This, however, does not denote that Paul was one of the leading Apostles. It does mean he was a leader of some influence.
Consider that Paul, as a missionary or as a regional leader of the growing faith is tasked with trying to keep that faith as pure as possible. In order to do that he had a couple of options: first, he could spend all of his time traveling from region to region trying to correct the errors in practice and worship that were creeping up; or second, he could write letters (to the literate) in the hopes that his letters would hold some sway over how the religion was to be practiced.
The first option is actually a given. Even today the leadership (this includes the 12, the 70, and the auxiliary leadership) not only writes talks, writes, letters, but they travel extensively to keep the Church in check. Corporations write memos and travel to regional centers and operations to make sure the corporate ethos is being followed. In organizing a body of people, it makes sense that Paul, like Peter and others, would be called upon to travel and write and censure when they could not be in person.
Paul, however, was doomed to failure. Christianity, as a new faith, was not popular and there were a lot of people, not the least of which were the Jews of the time, who wanted to see it destroyed. Moreover, it flew in the face of the pagan religions; and regardless of Paul’s ability (as a Roman) to travel, he was subject to Roman law. This law would eventually lead him to petition a death sentence with the Caesar of the time.
Still, Paul has not been established as a) a member of the governing body; or b) the successor to Peter. Rather what he was, was someone who was assigned to keep people in line, preach the Gospel, and to write letters helping new converts remain true to the faith he was preaching. He was a man of some authority, though how much authority, is in question. And, since he was not a disciple of Christ during his life, and no other evidence of succession exists, he was not likely to have been allowed into the governing body of the Church at that time.
Moreover, the Church at the time of Peter was growing rapidly with a lot of coverts. As people would discuss the new teachings, they would (in effect) become missionaries, though not ordained, and would spread that word to friends and family. This would then spread to others who would discuss the ideas (Greeks) and how it affected their current faith (Jews). The outcome was a conversion process that required a wider base of leadership.
On top of that, the members of the governing body of would be required, to keep order within the Church, to travel rather extensively. This would keep them separated for long periods of time. As men died, replacing them would require that the presiding officer (Peter) find out about the death and then locate a worthy disciple who met his requirements. The outcome from this, though not impossible, would mean that succession of leadership would be limited by time, distance, and association.
Whether or not Christ, who prophesied that the Church would have a “falling away” before his death knew about these restriction on the leadership, on preaching his Gospel, and on succession is not known. What we can infer, however, is that rapid growth, difficulty in choosing a successive leadership, intentionally limiting who can be a member of the governing body, and geography as well as the political atmosphere and government and persecution from established religious practices all led to an eventual disintegration of the Church and a floundering for a period of time.
After the death of the Apostles (who knew Christ) Christianity did not die. Instead, the leadership and responsibility of the faith went into receivership with lower-level leaders (those that did not know Christ, converts, Gentiles, Jews, and etc.) taking charge of the Church as a whole and spreading the word. At the same time, these leaders, having to rely upon their own wisdom, understanding, and learning, could not keep in check the encroachment of pagan ideas into the religion. Also, having to interpret the gospel, they made changes to help support their interpretations.
All of this led to a period of apostasy where the Church was without keys, authority, or ordained leadership. It also led to an apostasy where decisions were made without the influence of the Holy Spirit and as a result changes were made to the basic tenets of the pure Gospel. The apostles died. the Church fell into ruins. And ultimately, other faiths (based off of Christian ethics) rose to fill the void. These faiths furthered the expansion of Christianity.
Ultimately, today, we have a clear succession of leadership. There is no infighting. There are no contests to be one. We don’t appoint elders to decide who is the best one to lead the body of Saints. In the time of Peter, I would imagine this was true as well; though the succession, after Peter, becomes somewhat ambiguous and as far as the historical record indicates, does not show who would succeed him, who did succeed him (other than a member of the 12), or how that succession took place – it does show how succession was meant to happen and a couple of examples of how it happened.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
The Salamander
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on February 21, 2008
This morning started way to bright and way to early for my tastes. This seems to be (more and more) a habit with me. Last week it was (two days in a row) getting up and driving to Salt Lake City, to the airport. At least today was spent going to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (the hospital close to campus) so Erin could meet with a doctor about a study he is a part of where they are trying to determine the level of antioxidant vitamins that will help stave off… I don’t remember what.
The outcome was that we got a pretty intricate ultrasound (he even dropped into 3D) so we could see the salamander in Erin‘s belly. There is one (count that… one) in there. No more, no less. That is always pleasant to experience. Seeing that Erin really is pregnant. Sure, the tests indicated she was; and the pee-sticks reacted so fast that it made your head spin; but to see is something else entirely.
Our experience was interesting. We drove around the hospital once before going into the main entrance; riding the elevator to the top; and then picking up a phone and telling the person on the other end we were there for the study. It was a really cool experience, to say the least.
After Erin signed all of the paperwork, read through things, and had the scope and breath of the study explained to her (of which we learned that they are only admitting people for another two weeks AND that the study has been going on since 2002); we were put into the exam room with a machine on the far side of the table Erin was put on… the doctor applied warm gel to her belly, and then proceeded to show us the various internal bits.
There is a baby.
I think the coolest thing about the experience, other than seeing the salamander kick about, was to have him focus in on a little white spot, press a button, and let the heartbeat play across the speakers in the room. At 9 weeks 2 days (age based off of the size of the fetus), we got to hear the heartbeat.
The altered due date is now: September 23, 2008.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Odd and the Frost Giants
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on February 20, 2008
Well, Neil Gaiman wrote a book for some reading drive in England. The title: Odd and the Frost Giants. I pre-ordered it through Amazon.co.uk and expected to see it… sometime in the future. No set dates. You know. I have an account in the U.K. entirely because I occasionally can’t find a book I really want, because it’s not published here, and so I order it from over yonder, pay the extra scratch, and have it shipped this way.
Anyway, got an email indicating the book is being shipped. The shipping, by the by, is costing more than the book. Think the cover price on the book is something like 10 pence (which means nothing to me); and is a price that is designed to encourage people who might not read to find some books that will enter them into the literate world.
I am excited.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly