I read the New York Times excellent collection of comments from experts on the question of how we can change the teaching profession.  Here are are some great points I gleaned:
“…factory-era policies… treat teachers like interchangeable parts…Most school districts can’t distinguish their highest-performing teachers from their lowest; wrongly, they act as though all teachers are the same.

[This] “widget effect” degrades the teaching profession. If you do a fantastic job in your classroom, you can’t expect a fast track up the career ladder or even a pat on the back. You’ll get the same formulaic, seniority-based raise each year as the lower-performing teacher down the hall. During these hard economic times, you might even get a pink slip, since it’s illegal in 14 states to consider job performance in layoff decisions.

If you’re struggling, you can’t expect any feedback to help you get better. You’ll most likely get a “satisfactory” evaluation rating like 99 percent of your colleagues. After a few years, you’ll probably earn tenure, regardless of whether you improve, as will nearly every other teacher…

It's odd that efforts to increase professionalism in education are often derided as “anti-teacher.” The hard truth is that as long as the widget effect persists, teaching will never be an elite profession…The solution is setting high expectations, evaluating teachers fairly and accurately, and making job performance really matter. That’s what we should all be fighting for.”
“Don't Treat Them Like Widgets” by Timothy Daly, president of the New Teacher Project.
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“college teacher education programs do not, on average, produce graduates who are any more effective than teachers who have had only a few weeks of pre-service training.”
“Improve Teacher Training” by Kati Haycock,  president of the Education Trust
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“teaching today is not among the most attractive careers open to talented young people…Today’s teacher compensation system is perfectly designed to repel ambitious individuals. We offer mediocre starting salaries, provide meager raises even after hard-earned skills have been gained on the job and backload the most generous benefits (in terms of pensions) toward the end of 30 years of service…Here’s the game plan: raise starting pay, accelerate salary bumps to keep up with a young teacher’s rapid improvement in effectiveness, offer ways for teachers to take on additional responsibilities and thus make more money (like mentoring younger peers or taking on more students), and offer portable retirement benefits that allow people to build retirement wealth without signing on for a lifetime of teaching. Finance this all by allowing class sizes to rise modestly, maximizing smart uses of technology, and trimming the number of aides and specialists our schools employ.”
“How to Reform Compensation” by Michael J. Petrilli, executive vice president at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and research fellow at the Hoover Institution.
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“What we, as teachers, need to do is take back our profession. Most teachers will take to the streets and protest over salaries, pensions and working conditions, but how many teachers would do the same if someone who has never taught their grade level or subject, imposed a new curriculum or demanded that certain pedagogy be followed? Until practicing classroom teachers are allowed to make real decisions regarding curriculum, assessment, textbooks and professional development, the status of teachers will remain low.

At the moment, our profession seems to be in the hands of politicians, researchers, special interest groups, school system bureaucracies, unions, technology companies and textbook publishers…Why should bright high school students decide to become teachers if they suspect that everyone will make decisions concerning their profession except them?”
“Let Us Teach!” by Vern Williams who teaches honors math at Longfellow Middle School in Fairfax County, Va. He was named to the National Mathematics Advisory Panel in 2006.
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“The National Council of Teacher Quality advises states to base teacher evaluations on objective indicators of student learning and to require stronger accountability for teacher preparation programs. Also, the organization recommends that the rigor of teacher certification exams be upgraded, especially given that almost all states set a low bar for passage. These sensible supply-side proposals, though, should be accompanied by demand-side reforms.

Parents and their children are the consumers of teaching services, and federal survey data shows that significantly lower percentages of parents of children with assigned public-school teachers are “very satisfied” with those teachers versus parents who can choosetheir public-school teachers or who decide to choose private school teachers. Choice improves satisfaction because if parents are dissatisfied with particular teachers they can choose better teachers at other schools.

Giving parents more school-choice tools would spur competition that would force states and school districts to change ineffective teacher policies, produce better teachers, raise student achievement, increase parental satisfaction, and lead to higher status for teachers.”
“Supply and Demand” Lance T. Izumi is the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute.
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“To improve the status of teachers in the U.S., the teaching profession needs be a desirable and sustainable long-term career option for our most talented college graduates. Here are three ways to help attract, develop and retain a deeper pool of great teachers:

Pay them accordingly. Radically increasing teacher pay can be accomplished largely by re-allocating the existing dollars spent on public education. Reducing the number of non-teaching personnel, including administrators, in the school-building has a significant impact on a school’s budget, allowing for drastically higher teacher salaries.

Give them autonomy. Let talented teachers make decisions about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, and then hold them accountable for those decisions by looking at the growth of their students. Teachers should not be micromanaged by school or district administrators; they should be given clear goals about what students are expected to learn and the freedom to achieve those goals in their classrooms.

Encourage and provide professional growth. Good teachers want to be in schools that allow them to continually develop themselves and their craft. Time should be built into each teacher’s weekly schedule to observe and learn from talented peers in other classrooms. Schools should have dedicated time and space for teachers to individually and collaboratively reflect on their teaching practices and on their students’ work. Teachers should have regular and specific feedback from their peers and from the school’s instructional leader. Great teachers are particularly hungry for meaningful (not superficial) feedback about their practices.”
“Money, Freedom and Growth” by Zeke Vanderhoek, the founder and principal of The Equity Project Charter School, a public Title 1 middle school in New York City that pays its teachers an annual salary of $125,000, relying solely on its public funding to do so.  ---"If we want to make teaching a more desirable career option for the best and the brightest, here’s what we need to do:

First, we must improve teacher preparation. Many of the highest performing education systems in the world are very selective about who gets into their teacher training programs. In the U.S., almost anyone can get into and complete a preparation program. Colleges should study the newer alternative training programs like Teach for America and the New Teacher Project, which have designed rigorous selection criteria and produce teachers ready for the classroom.

Second, we must strengthen teacher evaluations. Most evaluations of teacher performance are perfunctory at best…

 Third, we must reform teacher pay and tenure. Unlike other professions, teachers are paid with little regard to their performance or responsibilities. Most are paid based on years of service and graduate school credits, both of which correlate little with students’ academic success. We need career ladders for teachers that allow them to stay in the classroom and extra pay for taking on difficult assignments. Most important, we need to compensate all teachers based on their success with student learning and other related measures.

Finally, we must improve professional development. Teachers, like all of us, learn on the job, but despite billions of dollars in spending each year, research has shown that the quality of professional development is quite poor. Policymakers need to demand more of school and district administrators.

If we fundamentally redesign our teacher workforce system and pay teachers significantly more for their success and responsibilities, our nation can attract many of our most able workers to the teaching profession and raise its status."
“Redesign the System” by Cynthia G. Brown,  vice president for education policy at the Center for American Progress.

 

In my zealous pursuit of knowledge, I had the idea to (instead of keep them in Microsoft OneNote), share some of the nuggets that I find during my week when I don't have enough time or enough content to justify individual posts. So here are some things I came across this week.

Making Decisions
“Brainstorm every possible solution you can think of. Write down every idea — even the crazy ones. Sometimes the crazy ideas lead you to new solutions you hadn’t thought of. Trust that the solution is there, and you will find it.”
From Tips for making tough decisions, http://www.mormontimes.com/article/20178/5-tips-for-making-tough-decisions-with-confidence?s_cid=rss 

On the pressure to succeed:
“your value is not, and never will be, on the line. Your value is infinite and determined by God, so make sure to leave your value out of it.”

 After relating a story about feeling awkward at a karaoke party:
 “When you are experiencing fear… your focus is all on you!  You are worried about looking stupid, not being liked or being rejected.   You are totally insecure.  Insecurity, by nature,  is a very selfish place to be!   It’s all about you!
 As soon as I felt more secure (or less afraid) my fear level went down and in this place… LOVE could show up again.  Now that I wasn’t worried about myself, it became really easy to focus on others. After a couple minutes I was looking for other people who felt awkward who I could reach out to.
Why didn’t I do that in the beginning?
 I was too focused on me.
 So the moral of the story is… FEAR seriously messes up your life and robs the world of your love. When you are afraid for yourself – you aren’t capable of loving others.”

 “the voice of fear in your mind believes that if you can see bad in others, if you can make them “the bad guy” then you must, by default, be the “good guy”.
When you find mistakes, character flaws or badness in another person… there is a subconscious feeling of superiority that shows up...The problem is… in reality we are all exactly the same.
 We all have both good and bad in us.
 We all have good moments and bad moments.  We all make mistakes and are sometimes selfish or rude.  We all do it!  There are no good guys and bad guys… There is just all of us imperfect, stupid, struggling, scared, trying to do better but screwing up all the time human beings!  There is just all of us imperfect but amazing, gifted and innately good, same as everyone else human beings!
We are all the same.
 If we were to see people accurately, we would see them with compassion and forgiveness because we would see that they are the same as us.  They may have different weaknesses than ours but we both have weaknesses!  No one is better than another.
 We would see their infinite and absolute value along with our own!  We would realize that we don’t have anything to be afraid of… we are all good enough… and we could just start loving each other.”
From http://www.trunity.net/claritypoint/articles/view/149347/?topic=47173


Mark Zuckerberg visited BYU:
I also attended a question and answer session with the founder of Facebook when he visited my Alma Mater.  Most of the questions focused on technology and political policy related thereto (interesting, but not potentially life-changing, and therefore, do not belong on my website, but one of the last questions sparked a real gem. Mark was asked about how to get in to the higher levels at Facebook. It felt like he answered it as a general hiring question, but I take it as a mantra for the changing working world in general. He said something to the effect of "We want people with passion. You have an engineering degree. That's great. What initiative have you taken ON YOUR OWN? Or have you JUST gone to classes? What community involvement have you engaged in? In what way do you want to change the world? If you can't convince us that you have enough passion to change the world in some way, we don't want you. We want people who, in interviews, tell us that Facebook is SO FAR from what it could be that it is BROKEN and by sheer force of will, they want to fix it in big ways--to take it to the next level by their passion for what the world SHOULD be."  It was quite inspiring. And I COMPLETELY resonated with it. I was recently accepted to Teach for America, and I think what really set me apart was my enthusiasm. It really showed them that I want to change things. I wasn't content with just "doing" the job, I wanted to be a teacher that would transform kids' worlds--invite them to a higher level of viewing and living life (which is also how I view my own life--which is why I take the counsel of books and prophets so literally).
Families in Luke  
Today I attended a fireside with the director of the Jerusalem Center for dozens of years, Dr. S. Kent Brown. The man is a genius. He has studied the book of Luke for over 20 years, and shared with us some insights, all on the theme of families in the Book of Luke. Some insights were:

"Nor given in marriage." Not meant to be passive voice, but rather, is reflexive--as in "give herself". Showing that Jesus is teaching that women should have a say in their marriages (and not be treated as objects only--e.g., to be "given away" to the husband).

Daughter of Jairus: put the noise outside, the static of the world. Was 6 months away from betrothal age. Saved a potential new family.

Miracle of casting the nets. Gave their families food and income.
Build his house : can be *household* on bedrock.
Two other thoughts, not really related to family, but nonetheless very interesting, are
1. The story of the quadriplegic: "sins forgiven?" How so? He can't move. Mean that he can't dig a pit or steal etc, rather his sin was that he resented his lot.

2. Christ Never performs a miracle for no reason. Look for the reason, find the principle.

He began his fireside quoting from Dickens, that we live in the best of times and the worst of times. We live in a time where "Evil is approaching a fullness." BUT we can have hope. We "have every reason to look forward with optimism and excitement." How is this possible? Bishop Edgely says that it all depends on our VALUE SYSTEM. He quotes Benjamin Franklin who said that :
    "We stand at the crossroads, each minute, each hour, each day, making choices. We choose the thoughts we allow ourselves     to think, the passions we allow ourselves to feel, and the actions we allow ourselves to perform. Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we have selected to govern our lives. In selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way, making the most important choice we will ever make.
     "Those who believe there is one God who made all things and who governs the world by this providence will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who hold in reverence that being who gave them life and worship Him through adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving will make choices different from those who do not. Those who believe that mankind are all of a family and that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe in a future state in which all that is wrong here will be made right will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many choices different from those who do not...
Since the foundation of all happiness is thinking rightly, and since correct action is dependent on correct opinion, we cannot be too careful in choosing the value system we allow to govern our thoughts and actions" (Benjamin Franklin,  "The Art of Virtue," 88-90)
If we are to have a true value system, Bishop Edgley said that our system should have its foundation on four points. 

First, if we understand our identity (he notes the vital difference between just hearing about it and actually believing it) as sons and daughters of God, we will approach life with a long-term confidence in what we can do, because we know what we have the potential to become. The question then changes from defeat "I could never do that" with hope "I can do that." 

Second, we need to understand the gospel plan. This was my favorite part. He told the story of a young man who began to slide in his living of the standards of the Church. He explained this to bishop Edgley by saying that "I am what I am." He said that this attitude is "inconsistent with the gospel plan, inconsistent with the Atonement. It is an affront to our very mortal existence." "You become what you will, we choose our ultimate destination." Wow. Powerful words. It made me think of my own experience with testing Ether 12:27 when I had considered myself "shy" before my mission. I have since come to believe that we can change almost any aspect of ourselves, if it is a righteous desire. Isn't that what life is for (Alma 12:24)? To change ourselves to become more like God? 

Third, we need to personalize the Atonement. Here, Bishop Edgley focused on the wondrous gift of the Atonement. What is it, really? It is an endowment of hope. We can never despair because there is always a way to come fully unto God. The road is repentance. He tells a story of a man who broke a serious commandment and called Bishop Edgley and said that "He would do anything to feel right with God again. If that requires excommunication, then I want to be excommunicated." He said that this man partook of the full power of the Atonement and eventually became fully "right with God," with a clear, confident conscience again. Bishop Edgley states that "confidence becomes our motivator when we partake of the Atonement."  We need to remember that Christ is continually calling to us, always inviting us to come unto Him--even in the seemingly obscure parts of our life.

Fourth, we need to continually develop faith in Christ. He quotes from Acts 5 and warns that trials will be our constant companion. However, with the proper perspective, we can, with the Apostles of old, rejoice in our trials because we seem them in their proper context. We know that we can learn and grow much in our trials, and God is ever aware of us and we can be assured of our eternal reward if we stay true to our value system. He again repeats that we have "ever reason to look forward with optimism and excitement."

     “Words matter. Names matter.”(1)

    This is how Therese Stewart and her team of lawyers began their oral arguments defending San Fransisco’s issuing of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Their argument was that applying any label other than “marriage” to same-sex couples sent a message, though an implicit one, that same-sex couples were different and inferior to opposite sex couples. The supreme court of California ultimately agreed and ruled that the California Constitution guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry, though that ruling was ultimately overturned by a majority of California voters via Proposition 8.  In the mind of many gay-rights advocates, however, it seems that their argument can’t possibly apply to other words and names.

     When the state department announced it would be removing the terms “mother” and “father” on passport forms to be replaced by “gender neutral” terminology, gay rights groups applauded the decision. (2)  I think I understand where they are coming from. From their point of view, “parent 1 and parent 2” more accurately describes their situation. However, it is a two-edged sword. Removing “mother” and “father” not only less accurately describes most families, it sends a message, though an implicit one, that there is nothing special about mothers and fathers—any combination of “parents” will do.

     This highlights one of the most sweeping effects of accepting same-sex “marriage,” one that I do not believe a lot of people pay sufficient attention to. Namely, that holding up same-sex couples as equivalent to heterosexual couples means, again, perhaps only implicitly, that we believe as a nation that men and women are fungible.  Most supporters of same-sex “marriage” that I know base their opinion on what I believe to be absolutely noble reasons: they deplore the mistreatment or marginalization of any human being, no matter how different. What I wish they would recognize is that the way we view marriage and family affects more than one marginalized group. It affects a myriad of social questions, including the way we view men and women, and what we mean by “best interests” of children.  Are we really ready to insist, as a matter of policy, that when it comes to parenting, there aren’t any differences between men and women?

     Unfortunately, many that are truly serious about their advocacy for gay rights are prepared to say precisely that and more.  In one discussion I was involved in, I asked my friend if he truly believed that gender is completely irrelevant in parenting. He not only responded in the affirmative, but went on to say that both he and I were only attached to our biological parents at all because we had grown up with them. He stated flatly that if he had never known his biological mother or father, he would not have loved his adopted parents any differently nor would he suffer any psychological harm (as long as his arrangement had a stable income).  He said that my thinking that having a biological connection to a caregiver made a difference in our well being was merely a product of social construction and tradition.  Sadly, it seems our conversation was not entirely unique. (3)

     In a way, he has a very valid point. Single, step, and otherwise non-traditional family structures provide children with love and support for which those children, rightly, love and appreciate them.  They go on to lead to lead lives that positively contribute to society for which society, too, owes them.  What I do not think is valid, is the idea that these alternative arrangements are just as preferable as being raised by one’s biological parents.  All things being equal, I hope that most reasonable people still agree that, in an ideal world, every child would be raised by his or her biological parents in a committed, stable union.(4)  These alternative arrangements become necessary when the ideal doesn’t work out.  But what same-sex marriage means, directly this time, is that there is no ideal—alternative structures are equally desirable as any other family form.  There isn’t anything wrong with a child being introduced to these structures by default, in fact, they should be celebrated!

     I don’t know about you, but I can appreciate alternative family forms for what they often are: arrangements that are the best thing for the child, given that things couldn’t work out with his or her parents (which is why I can also appreciate adoption).  But what I cannot bring myself to do is celebrate upon seeing more and more of these arrangements.  What a step-family or single-parent, or any other household headed by anything other than one’s biological parents means, at least in part, is the disintegration of another family--which is associated with a whole host of problems.(5)

     Fortunately, the state department has retained some sense. Hilary Clinton stepped in and insisted that passport forms (at least for now) retain the words “mother” and “father,” except now it will ask for something akin to “mother or parent 1” and “father or parent 2” (6)—a conspicuous relegation that sends another strong implicit message about fathers.(7)  Then again, I suppose it is unreasonable to expect a compromise to be completely flawless.

     And that is my final point. I sympathize with what gay activists are trying to do. We all want dignity and to feel like we are being treated equally.  Interestingly, many of those who are uncompromising in their support of traditional marriage genuinely want the same thing for those who feel attraction to their same sex.(8)  But equality should mean treating all people fairly, not treating a gender-based and child-centered institution as a means to accommodate sexual preferences that are genuinely outside what the institution was designed for.(9)


(1)  Commonwealth Club of California, “Marriage Equality: Panel Discussion on Proposition 8,” “http://fora.tv/2008/09/02/Marriage_Equality_Panel_Discussion_on_Proposition_8”

(2)  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/07/passport-applications-soon-gender-neutral/

(3) “http://www.ruthinstitute.org/newsletters/June2010/noStraightMenAllowed.html”

(4) As David Popenoe states, summing up the scholarly consensus: “Social science research is almost never conclusive . . . yet in three decades of work as a social scientist, I know of few other bodies of data in which the weight of the evidence is decisively on one side of the issue: on the whole, for children, two-parent families are preferable to single parent families or stepfamilies.” (Life Without Father, New York, NY: Mark Kessler Books/The Free Press, 1996, 8).

(5) See “Why Marriage Matters, Second Edition: Twenty-Six Conclusions from the Social Sciences,” WB Wilcox, W Doherty, N Glenn, L Waite – New York: Institute for American Values, 2005. pp 8-10, 14,15,17.  See Also Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, “Dan Quayle Was Right,” The Atlantic, April 1993, at 47  The author also recognizes the difference in willful dissolution of marriages and situations that are genuinely outside anyone’s control, such as the death of a spouse.

(6) “http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/10/mother-and-father-to-remain-on-passport-forms-after-clinton/”

(7) Jennifer Roback Morse, “New Improved Disposable Father,” 8/21/2008, “http://www.ruthinstitute.org/articles/disposableFather.html”

(8) “[Mormon] Church Supports Nondiscrimination Ordinances,” November 10, 2009,  “http://beta-newsroom.lds.org/article/church-supports-nondiscrimination-ordinances”

(9) Jennifer Roback Morse, “The Institution Formerly Known As Marriage,” April 24, 2009. “http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2009/04/234“


This article was originally published at The Love and Fidelity Network Blog,http://www.loveandfidelity.org/blog/index.php/2011/01/18/words-matter-names-matter-by-kendel-christensen/

To whom it may concern,

            I cannot prove to you or anyone, undeniably, the existence of God.  If that were possible, everyone would not only believe in God already, but it would deny the possibility of having true faith in God.  This is not to say, however, that I do not believe God hasn't left any proof of His existence.  The intention of this post is to present some evidences that, I hope, will provide you with a reasonable foundation for a belief in God.  I would still mention that I believe there to be a path to undeniable evidence of God's existence if one allows for spiritual evidence, but that will not be my main focus today.  For now, I will center the discussion on “logical” reasons for a belief in God.  And, of course, you are free to deny any points I bring up.  After all, just because something is true or reasonable does not mean one will accept it.  The possibility to deny something will always exist to anyone with free will.  Indeed, part of the conditions upon which true faith is possible is the existence of reasonable doubts.  At the end of the day, I believe it is who *we* are that makes the difference (i.e., if we are in a state of rebellion towards God, we will gravitate to and hold on to—at the exclusion of other facts—those evidences that reinforce our belief that God cannot exist, but if our fundamental state of being is humble and honestly desiring Truth, we will find more than sufficient evidence for God’s existence). 

The Proof From Existence and Meaning

            First, I ask you to consider the phenomenon of existence itself.  The world around us is home to expansive landscapes, beautiful horizons, vast oceans, and vibrant jungles and forests--all teeming with a complex variety of animal, human, and wild life.  The outside universe is similarly impressive and complex, filled with extraordinary splendors.  These magnificent  miracles scream for explanation: “How does this grand universe exist?  And why?”  I submit that God holds the simplest and best answer.  Science, I'll admit, has come up with some impressive answers to the “how” question.  Indeed, between the Big Bang and Darwin, science offers arguably satisfactory explanations as to how life and even the universe have developed—though, I would add that, none of them prove that God couldn't have had a part in those processes.  But even still, the best of scientific thought does not offer a satiating explanation as to why a universe exists at all.  Allowing for an intelligent, loving designer fills this void, gives meaning to life, and provides possibilities as to an ultimate purpose for why life exists at all. 

The Problem of Evil

            Stating that God is the architect behind creation brings up an important and valid concern.  One may understandably ask, “If our intelligent existence wasn't the result of a random process, but of a loving, all-powerful God, then why does He allow so much hate and evil in the world?”  This was the most common objection I received as a missionary in Argentina.  It is a timeless question and one that similarly cries out for explanation.  Indeed, I believe it to be a strong argument against an intelligent designer, and sufficient for many people to hold on to and conclude that God does not exist.  As one prominent philosopher asked, “Why is there any misery at all in the world? Not by chance surely. From some cause then. Is it from the intention of the Deity? But he is perfectly benevolent. Is it contrary to his intention?  But he is almighty. Nothing can shake the solidity of this reasoning, so short, so clear, so decisive.”[i]  Allow me to share some of the reasons I have come to account for this seeming inconsistency. 

            As I alluded to in the first part of this letter, I believe we exist on this Earth, in part, to develop faith.  The ability to choose is a requirement for development itself to be possible.  None could truly grow unless each could not think and act for his or herself.  Thus, God gives to all men the unfettered ability to choose for themselves.  As C.S. Lewis responds to the above-posed question:
“. . . how can anything happen contrary to the will of a being with absolute power?
“. . . anyone who has been in authority knows how a thing can be in accordance with your will in one way and not in another.  It may be quite sensible for a mother to say to the children, 'I'm not going to go and make you tidy the schoolroom every night.  You've got to learn to keep it tidy on your own.'  Then she goes up one night and finds the Teddy bear and the ink and the French Grammar all lying in the grate.  That is against her will.  She would prefer the children to be tidy.  But on the other hand, it is her will which has left the children free to be untidy.  The same thing arises in any regiment, or trade union, or school.  You make a thing voluntary and then half the people do not do it.  That is not what you willed, but your will has made it possible.[ii]  

          The ability to choose, therefore, carries with it the immutable implication that men and women can choose wrongly. This is the principal explanation for the existence of evil: People use their God-given agency to act contrary to God's preference.  More important than mere explanation, however, the existence of evil serves many purposes.  First, happiness is not possible without challenges to it.  How much would we enjoy a meal without knowing the feelings of hunger?  If we were ignorant of what it felt like to feel miserable, would we even have the capacity to recognize and appreciate joy?  I submit that we could not.[iii]  I have come to think of it as God valuing our higher or ultimate happiness over our immediate happiness at any given moment.  In other words, there could be no supreme sweetness without biting bitterness.  Second, character development is not possible without evil.  Adversity can increase the amount of empathy one has toward one's fellowmen, foster humility toward and unity with loved ones, and lends itself to the tendency to remember and turn to God more often and with more heart.  But beyond tempering temperament, I believe God wants to mold us into a people of a certain overall character.  He wants people who not only do good things (an admirable, but ultimately insufficient, end), but eternally more important, to do good because they are good: their internal will and desire is to do good because it is good.  This type of character development is only possible in an environment where we not only have an imperfect knowledge of God and the hereafter, but also where evil can entice us, even appeal to us.  Each time we resist such enticements and choose righteously, we become morally stronger—our inner character becomes better, more holy.  This is the central purpose for life.  If evil did not exist choice would not be truly viable, and thus, no real development of inner goodness.  This is what our Intelligent Designer intended for each of us.[iv]  

The Proof of Uniformity in Nature

            I next invite you to consider the phenomenon of order.  When one reflects on the world around us and the advancements of chemistry, biology, physics, and other forms of scientific knowledge, one fact stands out with striking conspicuousness: the world obeys certain laws with almost tiresome predictability.  These laws can be described in often surprisingly simple formulas (e.g., Newton's laws of motion).  The universe might have been naturally chaotic.  But it is not.  It is amazingly orderly.  This is beyond the scope of science to explain.  Science can describe, even predict phenomenon.  It does so by applying formulas in accordance with scientific laws.  When an aberration in the formula exists, a higher law of science is evoked to explain it.  For example, at very high speeds, Newton's laws seem to break down, and so are explained in terms of Einstein's higher law of field equations and relativity.  But the nature of science cannot explain why or how the law itself exists. 

Additionally, “natural” laws heavily favor the existence of life.  This is hardly random.  Consider that, in the Big Bang theory, the initial explosion was exactly the right amount of force when, if the strength differed by as little as one part in 1060, the universe would have either experienced a quick recollapse or an expansion too fast for stars to form?[v]  Why is the neutron 1.001 times the mass of a proton, when if it differed, would cause all protons to decay into neutrons, making life impossible?[vi]  Why was water given the property to become less dense when solid (when, if it acted like most substances and became denser, the heat of the sun could never have melted the oceans from the ice age)?  Why are gravity, the electromagnetic, and strong nuclear forces exactly as they are when any difference of 5% or less would make life impossible (in the case of gravity, all that would be needed is a difference as little as one part in 1040)?  Why is precisely .007 percent of a hydrogen’s mass converted to energy when it transforms into helium when any difference would either make the transformation impossible (making the universe consist entirely of hydrogen) or so inefficient such that all of the universe’s hydrogen would have been depleted by now?  Science has no sufficient answer.  For science, laws simply “are” with no implications.  

            God, however, provides—quite rationally—most satisfying answers.  Laws don't simply exist.  They exist because they were calculated by a being with infinite ability to calculate.  The colossal amount of uniformity in nature is not likely due to coincidence, but to intelligence.  Just as we naturally explain similarities of quality in a series of paintings by their being made by the same artist, or commonality of design in clothes by a common designer, so too is it rational to attribute the common laws of the universe to a common Lawgiver. 

            I know many think that they trust wholly in rationality, forgoing the need to invoke a Divine Creator.  If one takes these reasons together, however, I believe they provide more than a sufficient rational basis for belief in His existence.  Of course, I know many will reject these reasons.  At the very least, though, I believe, it compels one to consider the possibility. 

 
[i]     David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext03/dlgnr10.txt
[ii]     C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 52.
[iii]     See 2 Nephi Chapter 2
[iv]    See The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball (1982), 77
[v]     See Paul Davies, The Accidental Universe (Cambridge University Press, 1982), 90-91.
[vi]    See John Leslie, Universes (New York: Routledge, 1989), 39-40.

Education week this year was AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING.  Everyone should read Steven E. Snow's devotional that he gave during it:
http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=13149&x=76&y=5


But, as we all have not time and life's challenges will come at us regardless of our opportunity to read life-changing talks or attend life-changing events like education week, I will give you my favorite points from his talk and the entire week!


Thoughts from the devotional:

• 1. "Such individuals [Nelson Mandela and Lorenzo Snow] teach us that even in impossible circumstances we have a responsibility to educate ourselves and to teach others."(Steven E. Snow, “Seekers of Truth” 17 August 2010 address during Campus Education Week)
• 2. “Sometimes life’s greatest lessons come to us at the most dreadful times of our lives. How we respond at such times of crisis determines if such challenges will be times for progression or merely times of suffering."(Steven E. Snow, “Seekers of Truth” 17 August 2010 address during Campus Education Week)
• 3. “the “school of hard knocks,” or life’s experiences, will not teach us all we need to know to return to the presence of the Father. The Lord does not desire we simply be acted upon in order to learn. We are taught to seek wisdom from the scriptures, to build our faith through study and prayer, to seek and rely upon the Holy Spirit, to serve others, and to endure to the end.”(Steven E. Snow, “Seekers of Truth” 17 August 2010 address during Campus Education Week)
• 4. "...the Lord does not want us to only study the scriptures. In section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord seems to be telling us to study history, science, foreign lands, current events, even political science, among other things. He also tells us to study these things out of the best books. The Lord does not want the members of His Church to be ignorant and uninformed. We have a responsibility to know what is going on in our world. We cannot be experts in all things, but an expanded general knowledge will help us to be better parents, citizens, teachers, and members of the Church. Develop habits that will help you seek wisdom from the best books or from your Kindle, iPad, or laptop. Be aware of current events and seek to understand what is happening in our world. Seek to understand all points of view and do not let your opinions be influenced by those talking heads in the media whose shrill rhetoric reinforces divisiveness and fear. Rise above such things, be a bit more objective in your thinking and your judgments, and, above all, move forward with faith, for as the Lord told the Prophet Joseph in Liberty Jail: “Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever” (D&C 122:9).”(Steven E. Snow, “Seekers of Truth” 17 August 2010 address during Campus Education Week)

Thoughts from the Speakers:

1. Kevin R. Miller: A central purpose of teaching is to promote individual worth and take away the fear of change.
2. Ronald E. Bartholomew: 

--"The best way to get people to come to the tree of life: eat the fruit yourself and beckon with patient love.  If you yell, or get angry, or use guilt, all people will see is an angry, manipulative person.  Why would they want to eat of that fruit?"
--"Heavenly Father's plan is not to stick the fruit from the tree of life in our mouths and keep it there "until we like it""
--what is the key to revelation? Have a relationship with God. e.g., Why did Jesus pray in 3 Nephi when He knows everything?  Reveals incorrect thinking about prayer. It isn't just for times of need.  IT IS BECAUSE HE LOVES HIS FATHER AND IS ALWAYS REMEMBERING HIM!  That is the purpose of prayer.  That is communion.  THAT IS A RELATIONSHIP
--If you can think of something you are not willing to do for the Lord, then your heart isn't broken yet.
  3.    Brent L. Top
--Why is the sin of not forgiving a "greater sin"? We are denying the atonement in the lives of others... it is like saying that we don't want the atonement to apply to another.
--No one is happy when they are unforgiving of something or someone.  
   4.    S. Michael Wilcox:
--Sometimes we get the sword (James), sometimes get an angel (Peter).  
--God can turn all negatives into positives
   5. Rick D. Hawks
--One of Satan's tools is to have us forget our divine potential.  This is the cruelest form of identity theft.  You are giving into to how Satan when you accept how the world teaches you to view yourself ($, body image, etc.).
   6. Hank R. Smith (Favorite Overall Presenter this year):
--"It is not right to judge yesterday's mistakes with today's knowledge.  It's just NOT FAIR!" - Hank R. Smith's wise wife
--"It is not right to open up an ancient wound that the Son of God died trying to heal." -Jeffery R. Holland
--Key to trust: interaction that is 1. Frequent, 2. Personal, 3. Positive, 4. Low-risk
--Blame never works in relationships. Everything is two ways.  It's like saying, "Excuse me, but your half of the boat is sinking."
--Without trust, you're not really leading, you are just... strategizing.
--Is your goal always to get [said task] done?  What about building [this relationship]?
--Unconditional trust: complete empathy with the other party's desires and intentions--there is mutual understanding such that each can effectively act in each other's stead.
    7. Mark E. Beecher
--Our motive can't be to make someone better because they burden us. Ask yourself, am I worried about the person or just my image?
   8. Marie C. Ricks
--The condition of your bedroom is a direct indicator of the relationship you have with your spouse
--Sometimes, tell people no, with no explanation.
   9. Dean E. Barley
--Traits most correlated with life satisfaction:
Curious, gratitude, hope and optimism, love and being loved, zest and enthusiasm
--Those that tell someone else about their goals are 10x more likely to complete that goal.

Misc Thoughts:

• “He who seeks God has already found Him.” [Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye, 358; see also Blaise Pascal, Pensées (1670), no. 553]
  
• "Some parents become so expert at filling every physical desire for their children that they begin to suppose that all is well in this life and that their eternal stewardship is progressing right on schedule. I have noticed that some children living in too much luxury can lose their sense of spiritual values and misplace their eternal priorities. I believe that we must pause and take a careful inventory to determine how well our families are doing spiritually. We could ask how well are we feeding, nurturing, training, and exercising the spirits of our children; or how well have we taught, trained, loved, and inspired our children to build their spiritual muscles and strength? We are given many teaching moments, and the Church has given us the special family home evening to help us accomplish this purpose. Remember, eternity is now, not a vague, distant future. We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something else, perhaps something far less." 
  (M. Russell Ballard, “Spiritual Development,” Ensign, Nov 1978, 65)
  
• One of the lessons of the parable of the soils Jacob 5: some's situations are genuinely better or worse than others.  Soils are POORER than others.
• Why do you do what you do?  What is your inner motive?
• "Real love for the sinner may compel courageous confrontation--not acquiescence!  Real love does not support self-destructing behavior.  "
  (Russell M. Nelson, Teach us Tolerance and Love, Ensign, May 1994)
  

Things Learned Whilst Adventuring in the Holy Land Spring/Summer 2010.  In no particular order.  Continually updated.

1.       I know absolutely little about the scriptures.  But I do know something, and to know anything is a great treasure (OT).

2.       I don’t believe in a God that “lies in wait” for a chance to be punitive.  He won’t “get us” by small technicalities.  We’re not instantly on His ‘bad list’ the moment we make a mistake when our lives have been spent wearing ourselves out in His service.  He cares about our long-term character than our short-term failings.  His mercy is more deep than we can fully understand.  Why not try to be more like Him in that way?

3.       Don’t be too quick to assume understanding.  You can always find something more to take from an idea or scripture, especially if you try to understand it from someone else’s perspective (JC).

4.       It is better to have friends, than to have things.  Even things like GPS-enabled digital cameras while in Egypt (Egypt).

5.       Forgive, even when the other side is ‘undeserving’.  There are few things I hate worse than genuine injustice, but in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, each side’s unwillingness to forgive and forget the willful maliciousness of the other has created a far greater tragedy than the sum of those injustices.

6.       Self respect is doing something and genuinly not caring what others think.  In fact, almost everyone I know who does this also tend to have my respect, even—and sometimes especially—when what they’re doing is rather silly (BW/D)

7.       Whenever you say ‘yes’ to something, you are saying ‘no’ to many other things.  Choose what is most important to you. 

8.       The BYU-Jerusalem program helped me attach principles to places.

9.       A testimony is gained—or strengthened—in the bearing of it (Caeseria Philipi)

10.    Your soul is worth… the price Christ is willing to pay for it (JK, Gethsemane).

11.    The Jews didn’t completely reject Jesus, whole crowded populations accepted Him as the Messiah.  It was the aristocracy of the Jews that rejected Him (C).

12.    To wax cold means not moving, hard hearted, no light (of Christ) to make you soft and malleable (Dominus Flevit).

13.    Capitalize on timeliness.

14.    Be humble enough to sometimes just take someone else’s advice (MA/E).

15.    Witholding information is one of the quickest ways to be excluded from a group (R).

16.    Anything can be a once in a lifetime opportunity (JY).

17.    The act of your choosing it makes it the “place you need to be” (JY).

18.    Knowledge is not remembrance.

19.    The wise learn from the mistakes of others, but sometimes you lose more wisdom by spending too much time trying to collect it.  Sometimes you have to go forward the best you are and learn by making mistakes (SJ).

20.    Hold to the good (SJ).

21.    Trust in God, and have confidence in whom you have trusted (Elah).

22.    Impetuous words, spoken with confidence, often has a much greater effect than calculated words spoken unconcernedly (JB, LW, NO).

23.    The way I regard my imperfect leaders, is a great indicator of my spiritual maturity (L).

24.    Being liked doesn’t have so much to do with what you do, as it does with what you do for others (JB).

25.    Lying makes you feel like trash and is never worth it (JB).

26.    It is worth it to toil through the night to make someone else’s day (Nain).

27.    The best gifts are often bought the most easily: by simple thoughtfulness.

28.    For me, the single most attractive characteristic in a spiritually mature, intelligent woman is thoughtfulness.

29.    Don’t be overly concerned about the logicality of everything in life.  Everything in life isn’t meant to be calculated.  Don’t distrust feelings.  Believe in the magic (LW).

30.    Places matter, but they don’t matter.  They matter because they are an excuse to reflect on events or principles to an extent that we otherwise probably wouldn’t, but places really don’t matter because anyone can have the spiritual experiences anywhere they are… if they focus on those events and principles (Jerusalem).

31.    Don’t waste too much energy presenting yourself as something you are not.  That energy is much better spent being the best you can be.
 
32.    Reading is the difference, in man and in nations, between ascendancy and stagnation (Yad)

33.    Labeling others as having nothing but malicious intent is the first step to Nazism (Yad).

34.    Making fun of something you don’t understand, or only understand from your point of view, is the height of intolerance (Yad).

35.    Education is no guarantee of wisdom (Yad).

36.    Don’t ignore genuine tragedies, but don’t let them consume your whole world (Yad).

37.    God makes exceptions, even to the most important rules (Ruth).

38.    Everyone naturally tends to view the world to the exclusion of others’ points of view (B.U.)

39.    Stand up for what you believe, but beware the soapbox.  Ask yourself: am I driving a wedge? Wanting to be known that I believe this way? Trying to build myself up by putting others down?

40.    Living in paralyzing shame of one’s past—even if genuinely dispiteful—can be much worse than whatever happened in that past (Yad).

41.    Status quo is just another way of saying “I’m too stubborn to work things out” (C.H.S.)

42.    I gained a renewed appreciation for centralized spiritual authority and guidance.
44.   [IANBUBEIPT]  45.   [IWAMTBPA] 46.   [GKMH]

Today was... our last out of Jerusalem Field Trip! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! It was way boss, though. Seriously, great way to wind it all down. We went to Masada, a huge fortress/village on top of a huuuuuuuuuge mountain. It was the site of the last vestiges of Israeli power after the Romans destroyed the second temple. The story is quite chilling: the Roman commander went to great lengths to build a siege ramp up to the city (using Jewish slave labor, knowing that Jews would not fire on their own comrades!). Then, at the last day when they knew the end would be the next day, the Jews stockpiled all of their food so that it would be easily found, and committed suicide because “My loyal followers, long ago we resolved to serve neither the Romans nor anyone else but only God... hitherto we have never submitted to slavery...we must not choose slavery now... it will be a bitter blow to the Romans, that I know, to find our persons beyond their reach and nothing left for them to loot. One thing only let us spare -- our store of food: it will bear witness when we are dead to the fact that we perished, not through want but because, as we resolved at the beginning, we chose death rather than slavery." (Josephus Flavius, Jewish Wars Book 7, 8:6)” Next was the dead sea! It stung sooooooooo bad! Any open... erm... crevice... felt like it was on fire! I had a small sore on the back of my neck and it felt like I had a 3rd degree sunburn on it the entire time! But it was totally worth it. The water pushes you up and … it just a cool experience! I mean, check out the pictures! Our next stop was Ein Gedi, and then to Qumran, the now-famous desert hotspot where the dead sea scrolls were discovered.