clbent04

Can anyone else relate to how the format of life molds us into self-interested beings? How we dedicate ourselves to a job primarily for the benefit of our own little empires? And how this puts us in conflict of wanting to share and be loving and kind to one another? Part of my problem is I’m wondering how much God is to blame for the format of life. God created us to work by the sweat of our brow, and it was by His design we live in a resource-limited world. Did God knowingly place us in an environment where He knew we would be naturally inclined to be closed off from most of the world? A world where we get so caught up in our own affairs we are left with little time or concern or desire to interact with others?

I would like to have an aha moment like you did in your career. But when I look out at the rows of cubicles at my workplace I just see the machine at work, the rat race we are in the middle of, everyone being trained and groomed to collect that paycheck for our needs and wants. Before I started a full-time job, I was somewhat ignorant to the way the world works. I had no idea people were so selfish with their time and resources. Growing up as a kid and always on the run with friends I honestly didn't give much thought into what makes this world turn round. Maybe ignorance was bliss for me. Because now seeing how the world really works is disappointing to me. Everyone is so caught up in their own endeavors, no one cares about cultivating relationships outside of their very closed circles, we no longer are a social people

Hey ya ole Grunster. Thanks. Your outlook is how mine used to be. Regardless of how the world really is, I maintained a positive outlook. But then I realized I’m part of the very machine I despise, as we pretty much all are. The machine where we all work jobs mostly for our own benefit. The self interest of everyone became so apparent to me. But it’s not that we are all bad people who care nothing about anyone else. It’s that we are placed in this environment that forces us to survive. Our monthly bills mount up where we have to use the greater portions of our paychecks to address our own expenses, not our neighbor’s. We primarily go to work for our own benefit. And that in turn trains us to be self interested, to see how much money we can save, then think of how many things we want, ultimately playing a part in the social segregation we see today. People are not able to have the relationships they otherwise would have since most of our time is spent on ourselves. You have a regular 40 hour, 50 hour+ job, time you spend with your family, all amounting to us needing to spend the majority of our time sustaining and building our own little empires. I’m just a little burnt out on the format

Good points. I meant to say the title is misrepresentative, not misleading. If I’m abriging a book that has 30 chapters all written by different authors myself included, I would try naming it something that captures the central theme/message/idea. The public at large already struggles with grasping what Mormonism is, why compound the confusion with vague titles that could be more transparent?

Interesting you say that. I honestly feel really off right now. I think my cynical view of the world is an accurate depiction of how life really is, but maybe it’s something else driving it like you said. Why do you think having a cynical view of the world is exclusive to experiencing trauma or having a chemical imbalance? And why can’t the answer just be that this world sucks? I guess I know that’s not the answer since I seemed to be ticking along just fine before. I’m not sure if my view stems from trauma, a chemical imbalance, or both. Can it be both? I’ve never been diagnosed with any kind of chemical imbalance before. When I was 23 my dad murdered my mom by running her over in his car and then killing himself with a gunshot to the head. Maybe that is catching up with me causing an imbalance to how I see the world? I also had a dissolution of a relationship that weighed on me for many years (first gf/love, didn’t work out). So I don’t know. Maybe I just have a bad brain at this point. I used to being hopeful and optimistic about most things. I’ve attributed my new cynical perspective to me having more life experience and knowing how this world really works, but maybe it’s more than that? How can I tell if it’s trauma or chemically related? Or if it really is just the pulse of this world that has me down?

There’s a difference in seeing the world as we want to see it, and how the world really is

Would you be opposed to the idea of the Church dropping the Book of Mormon title and replacing it with American Testament of Jesus Christ? It would seem so much more fitting, don’t you think? I mean, I just don’t get why it was ever named the Book of Mormon to begin with. Very misleading to what it’s about

Hopefully this is true. Maybe I need an extended trip to Fiji to restore some of my confidence in mankind. Being in the middle of the US of A though, and observing the prevalence of the dog-eat-dog mentality, is despairing. It is so prevalent everywhere I look, not just at work but even at church I see so many of us solely focused on seeking personal gain in one form or another. I can't help but believe this is how human mentality is across the board, regardless of where we live

Does anyone know who decided to name the Book of Mormon as such? Was it revealed to Joseph Smith from God for it to be named the Book of Mormon? If not, I would like to suggest we simply call it the American Testament of Jesus Christ

I’ve been down lately. I don’t really have much to be down about. But sometimes life just wears you down I guess. I have an amazing wife, the cutest baby girl, 3 fun-loving dogs, and a good job. So what’s missing? Life has become bleak. I don’t know when or exactly why my perspective changed. Maybe a year ago? I started seeing life for the rat race that it is and it has really affected me. Everyone building their own little empires, going to work to collect their paychecks, to buy a bigger house, nicer cars, status, ego… What does it all amount to? Why is life set in this format where we are prone to be greedy, self-interested, and segregated from one another? Maybe this is part of where the argument evolves from of capitalism vs. socialism. Socialism obviously doesn’t work very well in this world, but why must the world we live in thrive off competition and not harmony? Was God’s design for this world intended to make us compete rather than be unified? While God’s desire for us is to be unified, what of His design? We live in a world where we only get to have meaningful relationships with very few people. Think of how many more friends we would have if we didn’t live in a dog-eat-dog world, if we didn’t care about status, if we didn’t just live for ourselves to build our own little empires. Why does the format of this life limit us to having so few meaningful relationships? I heard a quote once saying something like you’re lucky if when you die you have 2-3 good friends in this world. Why does it have to be that way? Think of how many like-minded individuals must be out there that you would connect with given the opportunity. But instead, we are systematically geared to exist in confined circles. I would like to live in a world where we are more inclined to be integrated with each other. Instead, we spend most of our time at a job to make money for ourselves and our families. Maybe you do a little charity on the side, but for the most part you dedicate yourself to your job for your benefit, to pay your bills, for the purpose that you can live and prosper, not for someone else’s benefit. How much of our selfish attitudes are attributable to the world we were placed in? A world where resources are often hard to come by? Would mankind be more unified if resources were easier to obtain, if no one had to worry about food and shelter? If we are made in the image of God, and this life is a test in preparation for life hereafter, what does systematic segregation in this life teach us? The segregation that naturally arises in one’s pursuit to survive in a resource-limited world. Are we to overcome it? Or is it just a reflection of the eternal nature of things? How will our relationships with one another be in the next life? Is being sealed to your family for eternity a way we will continue to segregate ourselves from others not sealed to us? We are only able to be sealed to a handful of individuals in this life. Do temple sealings prevent us in the life hereafter from having equally meaningful relationships with others not sealed to us in this life? I for one long for the many meaningful relationships we had in the preexistence. To be reunited with the like-minded and true friends we’ve been disconnected from. The thousands, millions, billions? If one relationship in this life can bring us so much joy, how much more joy would we have. Maybe that reunion itself is one of the underlying reasons that Joseph Smith reportedly said if man could see beyond the veil, he would be tempted to leave this life.

A couple points everyone should realize: Professional athletes who don't stand for the National Anthem are bringing politics into the workplace. They rightfully can be terminated from their employment by crossing that line. The media platform that has been built around their employment is not for them to use for their personal political agendas. If you want to protest an issue, do so outside of work. Kneeling during the National Anthem sends a stronger message that you don't support this country rather than you taking issue with racial discrimination. Your message is confused by your actions. Choose a more appropriate way to protest.

I was gonna say the Civil War

What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night?

Introduce yourself with a riddle....? I meant to post in the General Discussion, but here it is in this section

Employee: Welcome to McDaniel's Den may I take your order Customer: Yes, I'll take the 12-piece Lion McNuggets Employee: Would you like any sauce with that? Customer: Just a couple packets of honey please

I think @jewels8 is more positive and less cynical than me!

How 'bout a little lion dipped in honey? Mmmm mmmm

Nice call. That's it

Riddle me this. Who am I? Your sphere of influence, an extension of you, dead at night but in the sun it blooms

Yeah I have. Thanks. @Jojo Bags shared it with me the other week. Definitely a great resource

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Even if we already have an answer to the truthfulness of the gospel, we should study it out in our minds how it makes sense to us. We might not receive answers to every question, and I'm not suggesting I need any of my questions answered to have a testimony. I already do

My wife and I still have separate bank accounts, both work full time jobs. And we sleep with separate blankets. Our household is not by the Law of Consecration

Met with the bishop today to have the blessing performed to cast out any unclean spirits within me. I fasted and prayed for this blessing. We talked for a little bit beforehand. He asked if I had any concerns before he did the blessing. I wanted to make sure that if I did have an unclean spirit, that it be commanded to not return. I asked if it would be okay if I read Mark 9:25, and we did. I also told him I wasn't placing too much emphasis on the blessing regardless what happened. He said he knew and understood why I was doing it. He thought it was a good idea. He said he didn't sense that I had an unclean spirit within me, but that he would rely on the Holy Spirit to direct the blessing so that it could be a blessing from God and not from him personally. He said he spoke to the stake president earlier in the week asking if he should do the blessing. The stake president responded, "Absolutely." The stake president advised him to make sure the spirits don't come back like we were discussing earlier. The bishop said requesting the blessing was a righteous desire. He cautioned that casting out an unclean spirit or evil influence has the potential to invite another spirit more powerful than the first. I told him I understood and he proceeded to do the blessing. It was just the bishop and me present in his office. The bishop began by blessing me that all evil influences in my life be removed. He blessed me with the power to resist temptation. He blessed me with the capacity to command evil influences be cast out on my accord. The blessing acknowledged my struggle with pornography, and also blessed me to be a good husband and steward of my home. He blessed me that I may have financial security. And that was pretty much it. He did not specifically say "In the name of Jesus Christ I command any unclean spirits to leave this body and to not return." He did not feel inspired to say those words or something similar, and as he said earlier, he did not feel impressed that I had an unclean spirit residing within me. So no, nothing cinematic happened during the blessing, but I am happy with the outcome nonetheless and grateful for the bishop and his service. It is nice to know I am in complete control of my own destiny, and that there is just one set of hands on the wheel! I came home to my wife telling her, "The demons have been exorcised!", to which she laughed and asked for more details on how it went.

Did you know Christmas trees are abominable to the Lord? Jeremiah 10:2-4 2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

I thought the numbers were lower than 50%. I didn't want to understate how low they were, so I went with a conversative percentage from what I was able to recall in my own wards. Why do you think the numbers are low? Are members not seeing the value? I remember back in my family ward growing up, whenever the EQ President tried to get the numbers up, he would share experiences from visiting his assigned families and how it made a difference in their lives. Sharing personal experiences is probably the best way to help others see the value. But instead of having that effect on my at the time, I remember just thinking the EQ Pres was just some kind of exceptional guy who wasn't like the rest of us average members. So instead of his stories inspiring me to do my hometeaching like I'm sure he meant to, I just ended up viewing him as an exceptional member that was in another league than the rest of us