Times and Season

Well, my girlfriend has been on my case to post again, and I have a few minutes right now to do so.

The most significant event in my life right now is the advent of Katies' return. The apostrophe goes where it does because both of them are coming back. (Speaking of Apostrophe, Hook was on last night. DANG I forgot how much I love that movie!!!)

That's right. The Katies are returning to Utah Valley and attending UVU for the spring semester. I'm turning in Kate's application today, in fact. We've signed up for a bunch of classes together and hope that she gets into them all. They've found an appartment they really want and have their eyes on a few more if they can't get that one (they REALLY want that one! It's a stone's throw away from Hannah's dorm and is incredibly cheap). They plan on working on campus and I'll get to see them all the time and life will be wonderful. I'm really looking forward to that!

Let's see...what else...oh yeah. HR came after Darel again, and he's basically told me that I am going to be fired at the end of April. He says that he doesn't like it but he can't fight it any more. He's already been VERY merciful and I know that his guaranteeing my job this long has been better than I should expect. So, that sucks, but at least I have plenty of heads up. I can't tell you how grateful I am that Darel has fought this long to keep me.

I'm going to take time out of this post to comment on the times. Retrospective readers will look at this post and note that it comes in the weeks following the passing of Proposition 8 in California. The Church has been the biggest and most vocal supporter of the proposition, donating millions of dollars to aid its passing. The persecution that ensued has been monstrous. If there was ever any relevance to the pro-homosexuality movement as the modern civil rights movement, all credibility for that status has been lost with the desecration of the holy temple. Activists flood the gates every day and spread their "pro-tollerance" rhetoric all over the gates. People climb the gates and graffiti the temple walls. They turn violent whenever anybody tries to remove the signs. This is not the reawakened unity and non-violence we saw come out of the fifties under Martin Luther King (a reverend). No. This is new Missouri.

I bring this up because anybody watching is seeing it finally begin to happen. The signs of the times have been imminent for a hundred years, but never TOO imminent because we've always expected a mass polarization, when the forces of evil from all ends of the socio-political spectrum unite in one mass stand against the church. Obviously that's still a long ways off, but it's definitely beginning. Suddenly, taking a firm stance requires a little courage. Faith is being tested like never before in my lifetime. I'm sure this is only a tiny shadow the real end of times, but one would have to blind not to see this as a step in that direction. As terrifying as it all is, it's also very exciting.

Hang on. I've gotta lab hop.
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Okay. Half a day later, let's try and get back to the point.

It's weird that a constitutional amendment in California is affecting the tentative truce of religious opinion all the way in Utah.  Days after the election results were posted, my institute building had an entire wall full of anti-mormon graffiti, weak sauce though it was. Persecution again. We must be doing something right. And we see the hand of God working everywhere against our oppressors.

Areas very near the LA temple, which has caught the brunt of the anti-8 reverberation, are now completely engulfed in flame. Those mountains see a lot of fires, but this one has the whole community in a panic because of its proximity to the residences. It has already consumed achres and achres of residential land. As a result, the community cannot focus on political rallies; they're worried about their homes. Thank heavens nobody has yet been seriously injured, as far as I know. I am, of course, in no position to state God's purposes or their role in events such as this. Yet, it gives one pause to recollect the cleansing of the Jerusalem Temple by Christ himself in the New Testament. Is this not the same God that took a bullwhip to the moneychangers?

Yet, much of the anti-8 community feels very threatened. Alisa sought me early this morning. She felt frightened. Her delicate coexistance of faith and sexuality had been again thrown out of balance, and she sought comfort. I don't expect she liked what I had to say. Though I tried to be sensitive, loving, and comforting to my life-long friend, I did not bite when she called the actions of the church into question. I stood in a room with President Monson, the councilors and the twelve and raised my hand. Though the ferocity of the church's involvement in this issue surprised me, I stand by the decisions of my leaders because I believe they speak for Christ on earth. I was sympathetic to her plight, supportive and caring, but I was also honest. Those that pass judgement on homosexuals or anybody else for that matter are not at all within their rights. And yet principles, unlike people and all their circumstances, are absolute.

The point that I'm failing to get to is that this whole experience has revitalized the practical element of a latent testimony. Though I have always believed, it has been a long time since my actions have reflected my faith. Lines are beginning to be drawn, and people are being forced to take sides. Well I know what side I'm on. I just needed a little wake-up call and this was it.

I'm probably going to tag this post. The moment I do, anti-mormon rhetoric will flood my inbox. But I don't care. I've heard it all before and it doesn't bother me. I know where I stand and I know why, and not even the most ingenuous blogger can change that.