0:00:00 - 0:00:31So those of us with Children have the blessing of embarrassing experiences where they say things in public that are typically innocent, but unfortunately loud. Um I wanted to give a few funny examples of that in order to teach an important lesson, an idea that the Lord has put on my heart and mind here
0:00:30 - 0:00:57as I write this morning. Um You know, it's funny because I'm pretty sure that all three of these comments came from the same kid. Although I cannot verify that it's, it's uh one or two of my sons who said all three of these things. So recently, one of them um who's 13 right now. He was on a little trip
0:00:56 - 0:01:25with a friend of mine. They were driving around in Spokane and um they had the windows down, it was nice outside and he goes, you know, across the street, there's, there's a homeless person and there in Spokane, there are a lot of homeless people these days. He goes look a hobo. OK. So we could talk
0:01:25 - 0:01:50about that. But um transitioning from that, the, the even funnier thing about that because that's a funny thing to say, right? For a kid, it's one of these things you take him aside and say this is why we don't say that this child, it has very low situational awareness right now. Or still, I should say
0:01:50 - 0:02:20and directly to his right, right outside the car windows down was a homeless guy with a sign. And so my friend who was driving was just immensely embarrassed and, uh, he doesn't have his own kids to date. Um, and so this was a nice experience for him to have. Um So years ago, uh when this child or his
0:02:20 - 0:02:47twin brother was one of them, I'm pretty sure uh was maybe five, maybe. Uh I had been trying to tell them about some things that were going to happen in the future to prepare them so that uh if something bad happened, they knew that it wasn't a surprise and that this is all sort of going to plan and
0:02:47 - 0:03:15with natural disasters and things and because they're little, we were just kind of using summary words to describe things. And a so we had kind of effectively codenamed everything about the end times. That's not that nice as the desolation. I'm not sure how that got spun up, but that's what it was. So
0:03:14 - 0:03:38, um you know, in scripture study and things, we would just use simplified terms to help them get awareness of things at their level. So we're cruising around Costco and I picked up two cans of spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce, tomato sauce, whatever, but two cans of something or whatever. And loudly this
0:03:38 - 0:04:10kid goes, daddy. Is this for the desolation? And there's this, this random, you know, almost sure to be ultra left typical mao in person lady cruising by with her cart and she just gave me like the craziest, what the cult kind of look. Um, and I was just like, uh, so I, I had to have to talk about, you
0:04:10 - 0:04:36know, we can't just blurt things out at random in public and you got to kind of learn what, what's OK to say in front of other people and what you kind of have to not say in front of other people. And then what was the third one? Oh Yeah, this one is really funny. So, uh I grew up in Baltimore and my
0:04:36 - 0:05:02wife's from South Africa. And so, uh we don't really feel comfortable if we're not around a lot of black people. And uh I can't say African Americans because my wife is actually from Africa. So, um I guess we could say people of African descent and um although that's not really clear either because she's
0:05:01 - 0:05:23from African descent, she's not black. So anyway, black people. And um I mean, I, I went to a middle school where I think me, my brother and a guy that lived a couple doors down like there were like four white people in the whole school, it seems like. So, um I, I, I'm very accustomed to that, but then
0:05:22 - 0:05:46I went to grad school in a place where there was like two, there were like two black people, right? And so this is, this is uh I was at BYU and I was living in Provo and we had a lot of Latino folks in our neighborhood, but we, I don't think we had a single black person in our neighborhood. So um so
0:05:46 - 0:06:10that was really weird. But my, my kids that were born there and lived there during those years and grew up in, in that period of time before moved, um they um you know, they hadn't really seen any black people. Now we took my, those that set of kids got uh a couple of opportunities actually to go visit
0:06:10 - 0:06:35South Africa. But um they were so little, they just didn't really, you know, know what was going on. And so at some point, I don't remember where we were, what we were doing. And I don't even remember if I was there if my wife told me this story. But one of the kids, um again, 56 years old, they saw
0:06:34 - 0:07:03a black man and said to my wife very loudly, mommy, why is he burned? So, um you know, and, and there are more stories but you know, you see people with some kind of physical handicap and kids don't understand that. And so they point it out because it's different and they usually do. So in socially unacceptable
0:07:02 - 0:07:23ways, even though they're innocent, they don't mean anything by it. You know, the, the, when, when my child noticed that a person's skin was a different color than what they were used to seeing, they didn't therefore assume it was a bad thing. They just mapped it to the closest thing they knew. And that's
0:07:23 - 0:07:50the thing about kids is that until they're old enough to become particularly devious, they're without guile. It's, it's a, it's a, it's a, it can be a factor of their personality, but, but even before that, it is a factor of their capability. And so there are certain things where kids can be downright
0:07:49 - 0:08:25evil, it seems, but even young kids, but their capability keeps them from most things that adults do on a more regular basis. And this is um this is a property of kids that I believe is included in the Lord's uh admonition for us to be like Children because it's one that is maintained by his servants
0:08:24 - 0:08:56. Um This is there's an interesting theme here of coming back to the same thing, but it's, it's completely different. So that's, that's a, a theme you'll find, for example, in the novel, The Alchemist, it's beautifully done um where the, the protagonist, he ends up literally back where he started in
0:08:56 - 0:09:24the story. But everything is different because his perception and value has changed his valuation, how he sees value and measures it. It changes and that's how it is with the literally childlike qualities that God's servants redevelop because like everyone else as they become adults, they sin and they
0:09:24 - 0:09:52turn away from God, but they come back and they come back to this pseudo child like state in at least some ways, but it means something completely different than it does for actual Children. So, um, as parents, you know, I mentioned, it's quite embarrassing when your kids say funny things in public and
0:09:52 - 0:10:17loudly always. Um, but, and you know, they don't mean anything by it, but it's still not everyone understands. Um, in fact, few people do. It's like when babies scream on airplanes, a lot of folks get upset, it seems like increasingly this is the case, which is really sad. Uh Because just 14 years ago
0:10:16 - 0:10:35, 13 years ago, the common thing from experience when there's a screaming baby on the plane is a lot of people, um, particularly ladies would come and ask if there's anything they could do to help. And it wasn't one of these snotty. What I'm really trying to say is I want your baby to shut up kind of
0:10:35 - 0:10:58comments. Um, it was genuinely what can I do to help because I'd like to help. And some guys too, and nowadays you'd be really scared to even allow these people to do anything because there's so many creeps out there. But um mostly people, there's an increasing percentage of people who've never gone
0:10:58 - 0:11:32through the gauntlet of, um, becoming impervious to baby screams and, um, those who have had Children, um, either the number that they had or their attitude in raising them, prevented them from coming to that concluding development. Anyway, um, they just, they'd rather not be accosted by the realities
0:11:32 - 0:12:00of Children because they've chosen not to include that in their own lives. So, um, here's the, here's the big takeaway and, and why I bring this up, we have this idea and it's really, really silly that somehow we can hide who we really are and how we really feel from God. And this is nothing new. It
0:12:00 - 0:00:00started a long time ago in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve tried to hide from God after they sinned and it didn't work then and it doesn't work. Now, we have the facilities to know at least the beginnings of any misalignment we might have with God. We feel guilt when we're in a place like that.
0:00:00 - 0:12:50There are choices which include our, our choices of how to feel. It's not just your actions but, but how you choose to feel about things. And so people will have an idea that God wants them to do something good or not to do something bad. Even if they don't uh do the wrong thing, they could either do
0:12:50 - 0:13:14the right thing and feel bad about it. Uh because they, they do it with hesitation and they don't really want to do it or they avoid the bad thing. But then they're just constantly wishing they could do it right? Cause that's what they really want. And then they try to hide this from God. And it's really
0:13:13 - 0:13:44, really, really silly because he knows already he knows we read in the book of Mormon and the evil spirit teaches a man not to pray any influence that encourages us away from our contact with God is not good. He wants us to draw nearer to him. And this has to begin. Now, there's plenty of scriptural
0:13:43 - 0:14:30injunction to purify our hearts, prepare the sacrifice, forgive people that you feel negatively about before you come to God. All of that's legitimate, important, true. But the first and foremost step in that the very first step is come as you are any parent who's experienced the suffering of their Children
0:14:29 - 0:15:11. I would hope understands the beginnings of how God feels towards us in our imperfection, which always cours with suffering, suffering of the worst kind, not not meaningful, suffering, the other kind and all He wants to do is help. But if we don't go to Him, we create additional limitations in what
0:15:10 - 0:15:50he can do for us. Because so much of what he can do requires proximity, alignment of desire, closeness of contact, focus of our hearts and our minds. We have to go to him. And so James 15. In, in the King, James version, it says something like if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth
0:15:50 - 0:16:24to all men liberally and upbraids not. And I really don't like that translation because if you look into the Greek, there's much more to it, there's much more to it. I don't wanna get too much off topic, but the Lord has names and she will display these names as evidence of the qualities he has. And
0:16:24 - 0:17:04so if you are looking for strength or you're looking for, um if you're looking to be rescued from loneliness, he might display his name as the Lord of Hosts. It is on the one hand, an army, on the other hand, a very large quantity of people. So if you read in the scriptures and there's a passage that
0:17:03 - 0:17:36says, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, whatever follows is probably some promise or some instruction or some sort of support that is strengthened by the fact that he is, in fact the Lord of hosts. And so you can use this to unlock greater meaning or stronger reasons within the scriptures. In James 15, there's
0:17:35 - 0:18:07a, there's a name of God given that might be translated as the one who gives. And it's a very powerful idea. It doesn't say who giveth to all men liberally. What it, what it literally says is something like the one from whom all things that are given come. And in other words, he owns this. And if you
0:18:07 - 0:18:33lack something, anything and you seek it, whether you realize it or not, you're actually seeking it from God because all things that are given come from Him. Isn't that really nice? And you miss that completely in the King James version? Well, any version that any English translation I'm aware of, maybe
0:18:33 - 0:19:09there's one I missed with that. But so here's a, here's a refactoring of that that you may or may not find to be useful. If any of you lack wisdom, ask it from the God who gives to him, who gives oh, will all be given, ask sincerely with real desire prepared to receive whatever he says without criticizing
0:19:07 - 0:19:41or rebelling against it. And he will abundantly answer. And so parts of this are a literal translation and other parts are elements of the themes that are mentioned there more fully elaborated. And maybe I'll paste this into the description. We ought to be more like Children in our willingness to say
0:19:40 - 0:20:14what we're really thinking when we're speaking with the Lord. And that is a key to receiving more from Him as we communicate with him. On many, many many occasions, I've prayed things that I think most people would say. That's how could you question God like that or how could you challenge God like that
0:20:14 - 0:20:46? So for example, once, once I asked the Lord, why female aging works the way it does? Because I said, isn't this cruel? I don't think this is a very nice thing. And so why is it that women have to suffer like this uh in this way? And men don't. And he answered me fancy that right. I wasn't accusing
0:20:45 - 0:21:17him of anything. In fact, if anything the opposite, I know very deeply that God is love. And so when I see things that seem to contradict that principle, I take them to him because I know he's not that way. And I fully expect that what he's about to explain to me is going to clear up a mistake I've made
0:21:16 - 0:21:42in my perception. And sure enough, in that case, he had a really good answer. And that's always the case. I it's usually not a very long interaction because his reasoning is so strong that I'm immediately satisfied and I go on my way. But I, I think that most people would hesitate to take an apparent
0:21:41 - 0:22:12contradiction to God. And that's a real shame because apparent contradictions are fruitful occasions for revelation. It's a wonderful thing to see those because um that's, that's when your model is about to get improved is when you see a limitation in it. But you need to be sincere and you need to really
0:22:12 - 0:22:43want to know one thing that I find myself saying often to others when they ask me a question about the gospel that I don't happen to have an answer for. It's almost always the case that I say, I don't know. And I can't know, because I don't care. I, um, the things that I find reasons to care about, I've
0:22:43 - 0:23:07already asked about and I've already been told the answer to. And so odds are because they spend so much time in this. Uh, and I have poured my whole soul into it if someone else comes along who has spent less time and has poured less soul into it. And they have a question that I don't already know the
0:23:07 - 0:23:39answer to odds are, it's because I don't care. And so the, the necessary limitation that needs to be resolved before I can ask is I need a reason to care. And often when they're, when a reason materializes, it's because of my desire to benefit this person who does care. And uh this is a theme that you'll
0:23:39 - 0:23:59see powerfully demonstrated by the Lord in the New Testament when he, for the most part, when he's doing miracles, uh That's the context you'll see it in when there's someone who cares very much about something that the Lord doesn't necessarily care about, but he cares about them. So this is a powerful
0:23:59 - 0:24:23thing. So you need to have real intent, but you also have to be ready to do what he says and to assume it's right. And to, it's almost like bracing yourself against a wall that you know, is going to be hit with something heavy, you're trying to brace it up like like a gate, a castle gate in the movies
0:24:22 - 0:24:49that's getting attacked. Um You brace it up because you know that he's going to say things that are going to jar your pre-existing notions and you have to train your body and your mind and your heart. You have to train yourself and expect that to happen so that you can do this judo move to transfer what
0:24:49 - 0:25:26would otherwise be a rebellious reaction, involuntary reaction into Lord. Help me see my fault, right? So you can expect him to hit you hard in your preconceived notions. But you have to do this Judo move to transform your the normal involuntary reaction to that into further momentum for him to teach
0:25:26 - 0:25:52you more. And uh that's, that's, that's sort of a converting it from a single interaction to a flow. It's weird and I hope you're getting the imagery. There's like some Tai chi kind of go with the flow imagery here and it's very, it's vivid and appropriate because that's what you're doing in judo uh
0:25:52 - 0:26:20in judo. When someone attacks you instead of trying to block it or directly fight it, you try to transform that energy, that momentum into an attack on them. And so in this case, when the Lord hits you with a surprise instead of taking it in the natural man, you just, you just rip your heart right open
0:26:19 - 0:26:45, you say, all right, let me have it. I know it's coming, just let me have it. And as soon as like anything, it hits that it, it uh it opposes anything about your feelings or beliefs that it opposes you just immediately throw that on the altar too and say, Lord teach me about this too because I don't
0:26:45 - 0:27:17like it like this doesn't feel good. It's not what I want. Teach me what I lack. Help me see what I don't see because I want to do whatever you want. And I recognize this. I identify this as something that's in the way of that. So help me address it and he will abundantly answer. Now all of that is a
0:27:17 - 0:27:44lot of detail, but we can squish it down to just be more like Children and Children will say what they really think. Even they, they don't have the social mores of um hiding things. They'll, they will hide some things and steal cookies and things. But when they say what they're thinking, they just say
0:27:44 - 0:28:07what they're thinking. It's beautiful, right? That kind of terminates my original chain of thought. But since we're here, I'm gonna continue with a little, we know that people in the public by and large, they don't appreciate that. Some people will think that's cute and a or laugh. A lot of people get
0:28:07 - 0:28:40offended at these little kids which the Lord spoke about those who are offended by the little ones. Um speaking about his servants, not Children, but there's some nice overlap there because Godly people have such value on sincerity that they will find it immensely refreshing. Um There's a short list
0:28:39 - 0:29:07of people I know who will always say, I can't even say always. But I know people who are more likely to say what they're thinking and I'll tell you a story. I don't have any other um mortal example to use so I will use myself. Um But there was a time I was at this networking thing for a chamber of commerce
0:29:06 - 0:29:32and the lady who ran the thing, uh, who I happened to know reasonably well. We had worked together on a few initiatives. She came up to me and she said, Rob, what do you think about this one guy? And I said, I'm glad you asked. I have a simple rule with that guy if I have a chance to work with them on
0:29:32 - 0:30:01anything. My answer is yes, it doesn't matter how busy I am or what it's about because everything he does is worth doing. And that was my, it wasn't canned. That was my in the moment. That's really how I feel. And she just smiled. I said, why do you ask? Because it didn't even cross my mind. She asked
0:30:00 - 0:30:23the question, I answered it and she said, well, I know you're the kind of person, um, who will always say what they really think. And that's really rare and I have an opportunity to work with him on something. And I was trying to assess whether it be a good idea or not. And I thought of all the people
0:30:23 - 0:30:47I know to get a real sense of what this guy is all about. You'd be the one I should ask. And, uh, I was like, I don't know if that's a compliment, but as far as what I'm all about, I'm certainly taking it that way because that's, that's how I want to be. And it was nice because I, I got, you know, it
0:30:47 - 0:31:21was just a random interaction. It wasn't something I could prepare for, but I did the right thing. So um I've thought a lot about dogs and why it is that they are um regarded by many as such hi value companions to humans. And it's interesting cause I've, I've spent a lot of time with dogs. I think, you
0:31:21 - 0:31:46know, if you ranked my experience with dogs versus the general population, I'm probably at the top of the distribution there. But also because of the, the awareness that the Lord has, has blessed me with, I have insights into this that probably exceed what others do. And it's really interesting because
0:31:46 - 0:32:23dogs, dogs are not aware of very much compared to the potential humans have for awareness. It's very far from the actuality in many cases, which is unfortunate, but the potential anyway and, and yet they are, they are valued very highly by people as companions. And so I've, I've thought about this a
0:32:23 - 0:32:44lot. I, I had a, um, a colleague who was very connected to her dog. And I worried, I worried, I think at one point the dog got sick. I was very worried for her because she was so connected that I just kind of dreaded the pain she was gonna have to go through if she lost that dog. And luckily the dog
0:32:43 - 0:33:10pulled through. But, um, it gave me an opportunity to think through some things I wouldn't have thought about otherwise. And I concluded that whatever feelings this dog had for this lady, which I had met the dog, um, that dog would have felt for anyone who was its owner as long as the owner didn't beat
0:33:10 - 0:33:39it or something crazy. No abuse, which is a pretty low bar if you think about it. And I got into some interesting thoughts about love and how, um, what opportunities are there based on the specific conditions of the people in the relationship, the people, I guess, entities beings because we're talking
0:33:39 - 0:34:07about a dog and a person. So, um, that was really interesting. And anyway, not to get too much into that. But my conclusion there is that it's not that dogs are capable of some singular kind of love because it turns out that you need, um, awareness for this and preference. You have to be able to prefer
0:34:06 - 0:34:31certain qualities over others. Um, we're probably getting bogged down into the weeds here. I think all of these thoughts are important. But anyway, my, my conclusion is that what people appreciate about dogs more than anything else is that they're without guile. Now, I say this as a husky owner and the
0:34:31 - 0:34:58more wolf like a dog is, I think the more capable it is of being with guile. Um, huskies can be devious little creatures but because they're very intelligent, um, and intelligence provides the opportunity for greater evil and good. Um, but anyway, what you see is what you get even when dogs are being
0:34:58 - 0:35:20naughty. Um, what you see is what you get, they can't hide things very well. And when they try to, it's funny because it's so transparent. So, um when they're happy, it's obvious that they're happy when they're sad, it's obvious that they're sad. They don't have hidden motives. They just are what they
0:35:20 - 0:35:51are. And what's fascinating about this is that, that provides tremendous attractive value to humans because we're surrounded by phony ness all the time. And that's, that's probably the chief thing that, that people use their, the resources on in life and in interpersonal connections is a deception, tidy
0:35:50 - 0:36:17and faking and lying. So uh from themselves and others. So even though dogs can be really mean and they can bite you and they can fight each other and they can steal things that they know aren't theirs and they can break rules that they know they're not supposed to break. We still want to be around them
0:36:17 - 0:36:52most people do. Most people like dogs, not all people, we still want to be around them because what you see is what you get. So that long winded thought with several sub thoughts is all to say that don't, don't undervalue what you have the ability to give God in your willingness to come to Him as you
0:36:52 - 0:37:31really are. You're not fooling him. Otherwise, just like when your dog tries to hide things from you, it's not gonna work. But if a dog can provide that much joy to its owner, how much more joy can you provide to your father when you go to him for help, no matter how badly you believe you've messed up
0:37:31 - 0:38:13or how far from him, your heart has waned. It'd be good to remember the parable of the prodigal son. And to see that the joy of that father was so great when his son returned that he had a party to exceed the intensity of any party he had ever had. And all that so did was come back. Now, he he regretted
0:38:13 - 0:38:40his decisions, but he wasn't really a different person per se that he had not yet had the opportunity to show he had changed in anything but his thinking process. And the father was so glad that he threw a party bigger than any party he had ever thrown significantly so much. So the other son complained
0:38:39 - 0:39:23. So go to your father, go as you are hiding nothing and just be honest with him about what you want and what you don't want and who you are and who you could be, who you want to be and see what he can do for you because he is absolutely the one who gives and if you go to him, you will be able to testify
0:00:00 - 0:00:31So those of us with Children have the blessing of embarrassing experiences where they say things in public that are typically innocent, but unfortunately loud. Um I wanted to give a few funny examples of that in order to teach an important lesson, an idea that the Lord has put on my heart and mind here
0:00:30 - 0:00:57as I write this morning. Um You know, it's funny because I'm pretty sure that all three of these comments came from the same kid. Although I cannot verify that it's, it's uh one or two of my sons who said all three of these things. So recently, one of them um who's 13 right now. He was on a little trip
0:00:56 - 0:01:25with a friend of mine. They were driving around in Spokane and um they had the windows down, it was nice outside and he goes, you know, across the street, there's, there's a homeless person and there in Spokane, there are a lot of homeless people these days. He goes look a hobo. OK. So we could talk
0:01:25 - 0:01:50about that. But um transitioning from that, the, the even funnier thing about that because that's a funny thing to say, right? For a kid, it's one of these things you take him aside and say this is why we don't say that this child, it has very low situational awareness right now. Or still, I should say
0:01:50 - 0:02:20and directly to his right, right outside the car windows down was a homeless guy with a sign. And so my friend who was driving was just immensely embarrassed and, uh, he doesn't have his own kids to date. Um, and so this was a nice experience for him to have. Um So years ago, uh when this child or his
0:02:20 - 0:02:47twin brother was one of them, I'm pretty sure uh was maybe five, maybe. Uh I had been trying to tell them about some things that were going to happen in the future to prepare them so that uh if something bad happened, they knew that it wasn't a surprise and that this is all sort of going to plan and
0:02:47 - 0:03:15with natural disasters and things and because they're little, we were just kind of using summary words to describe things. And a so we had kind of effectively codenamed everything about the end times. That's not that nice as the desolation. I'm not sure how that got spun up, but that's what it was. So
0:03:14 - 0:03:38, um you know, in scripture study and things, we would just use simplified terms to help them get awareness of things at their level. So we're cruising around Costco and I picked up two cans of spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce, tomato sauce, whatever, but two cans of something or whatever. And loudly this
0:03:38 - 0:04:10kid goes, daddy. Is this for the desolation? And there's this, this random, you know, almost sure to be ultra left typical mao in person lady cruising by with her cart and she just gave me like the craziest, what the cult kind of look. Um, and I was just like, uh, so I, I had to have to talk about, you
0:04:10 - 0:04:36know, we can't just blurt things out at random in public and you got to kind of learn what, what's OK to say in front of other people and what you kind of have to not say in front of other people. And then what was the third one? Oh Yeah, this one is really funny. So, uh I grew up in Baltimore and my
0:04:36 - 0:05:02wife's from South Africa. And so, uh we don't really feel comfortable if we're not around a lot of black people. And uh I can't say African Americans because my wife is actually from Africa. So, um I guess we could say people of African descent and um although that's not really clear either because she's
0:05:01 - 0:05:23from African descent, she's not black. So anyway, black people. And um I mean, I, I went to a middle school where I think me, my brother and a guy that lived a couple doors down like there were like four white people in the whole school, it seems like. So, um I, I, I'm very accustomed to that, but then
0:05:22 - 0:05:46I went to grad school in a place where there was like two, there were like two black people, right? And so this is, this is uh I was at BYU and I was living in Provo and we had a lot of Latino folks in our neighborhood, but we, I don't think we had a single black person in our neighborhood. So um so
0:05:46 - 0:06:10that was really weird. But my, my kids that were born there and lived there during those years and grew up in, in that period of time before moved, um they um you know, they hadn't really seen any black people. Now we took my, those that set of kids got uh a couple of opportunities actually to go visit
0:06:10 - 0:06:35South Africa. But um they were so little, they just didn't really, you know, know what was going on. And so at some point, I don't remember where we were, what we were doing. And I don't even remember if I was there if my wife told me this story. But one of the kids, um again, 56 years old, they saw
0:06:34 - 0:07:03a black man and said to my wife very loudly, mommy, why is he burned? So, um you know, and, and there are more stories but you know, you see people with some kind of physical handicap and kids don't understand that. And so they point it out because it's different and they usually do. So in socially unacceptable
0:07:02 - 0:07:23ways, even though they're innocent, they don't mean anything by it. You know, the, the, when, when my child noticed that a person's skin was a different color than what they were used to seeing, they didn't therefore assume it was a bad thing. They just mapped it to the closest thing they knew. And that's
0:07:23 - 0:07:50the thing about kids is that until they're old enough to become particularly devious, they're without guile. It's, it's a, it's a, it's a, it can be a factor of their personality, but, but even before that, it is a factor of their capability. And so there are certain things where kids can be downright
0:07:49 - 0:08:25evil, it seems, but even young kids, but their capability keeps them from most things that adults do on a more regular basis. And this is um this is a property of kids that I believe is included in the Lord's uh admonition for us to be like Children because it's one that is maintained by his servants
0:08:24 - 0:08:56. Um This is there's an interesting theme here of coming back to the same thing, but it's, it's completely different. So that's, that's a, a theme you'll find, for example, in the novel, The Alchemist, it's beautifully done um where the, the protagonist, he ends up literally back where he started in
0:08:56 - 0:09:24the story. But everything is different because his perception and value has changed his valuation, how he sees value and measures it. It changes and that's how it is with the literally childlike qualities that God's servants redevelop because like everyone else as they become adults, they sin and they
0:09:24 - 0:09:52turn away from God, but they come back and they come back to this pseudo child like state in at least some ways, but it means something completely different than it does for actual Children. So, um, as parents, you know, I mentioned, it's quite embarrassing when your kids say funny things in public and
0:09:52 - 0:10:17loudly always. Um, but, and you know, they don't mean anything by it, but it's still not everyone understands. Um, in fact, few people do. It's like when babies scream on airplanes, a lot of folks get upset, it seems like increasingly this is the case, which is really sad. Uh Because just 14 years ago
0:10:16 - 0:10:35, 13 years ago, the common thing from experience when there's a screaming baby on the plane is a lot of people, um, particularly ladies would come and ask if there's anything they could do to help. And it wasn't one of these snotty. What I'm really trying to say is I want your baby to shut up kind of
0:10:35 - 0:10:58comments. Um, it was genuinely what can I do to help because I'd like to help. And some guys too, and nowadays you'd be really scared to even allow these people to do anything because there's so many creeps out there. But um mostly people, there's an increasing percentage of people who've never gone
0:10:58 - 0:11:32through the gauntlet of, um, becoming impervious to baby screams and, um, those who have had Children, um, either the number that they had or their attitude in raising them, prevented them from coming to that concluding development. Anyway, um, they just, they'd rather not be accosted by the realities
0:11:32 - 0:12:00of Children because they've chosen not to include that in their own lives. So, um, here's the, here's the big takeaway and, and why I bring this up, we have this idea and it's really, really silly that somehow we can hide who we really are and how we really feel from God. And this is nothing new. It
0:12:00 - 0:00:00started a long time ago in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve tried to hide from God after they sinned and it didn't work then and it doesn't work. Now, we have the facilities to know at least the beginnings of any misalignment we might have with God. We feel guilt when we're in a place like that.
0:00:00 - 0:12:50There are choices which include our, our choices of how to feel. It's not just your actions but, but how you choose to feel about things. And so people will have an idea that God wants them to do something good or not to do something bad. Even if they don't uh do the wrong thing, they could either do
0:12:50 - 0:13:14the right thing and feel bad about it. Uh because they, they do it with hesitation and they don't really want to do it or they avoid the bad thing. But then they're just constantly wishing they could do it right? Cause that's what they really want. And then they try to hide this from God. And it's really
0:13:13 - 0:13:44, really, really silly because he knows already he knows we read in the book of Mormon and the evil spirit teaches a man not to pray any influence that encourages us away from our contact with God is not good. He wants us to draw nearer to him. And this has to begin. Now, there's plenty of scriptural
0:13:43 - 0:14:30injunction to purify our hearts, prepare the sacrifice, forgive people that you feel negatively about before you come to God. All of that's legitimate, important, true. But the first and foremost step in that the very first step is come as you are any parent who's experienced the suffering of their Children
0:14:29 - 0:15:11. I would hope understands the beginnings of how God feels towards us in our imperfection, which always cours with suffering, suffering of the worst kind, not not meaningful, suffering, the other kind and all He wants to do is help. But if we don't go to Him, we create additional limitations in what
0:15:10 - 0:15:50he can do for us. Because so much of what he can do requires proximity, alignment of desire, closeness of contact, focus of our hearts and our minds. We have to go to him. And so James 15. In, in the King, James version, it says something like if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth
0:15:50 - 0:16:24to all men liberally and upbraids not. And I really don't like that translation because if you look into the Greek, there's much more to it, there's much more to it. I don't wanna get too much off topic, but the Lord has names and she will display these names as evidence of the qualities he has. And
0:16:24 - 0:17:04so if you are looking for strength or you're looking for, um if you're looking to be rescued from loneliness, he might display his name as the Lord of Hosts. It is on the one hand, an army, on the other hand, a very large quantity of people. So if you read in the scriptures and there's a passage that
0:17:03 - 0:17:36says, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, whatever follows is probably some promise or some instruction or some sort of support that is strengthened by the fact that he is, in fact the Lord of hosts. And so you can use this to unlock greater meaning or stronger reasons within the scriptures. In James 15, there's
0:17:35 - 0:18:07a, there's a name of God given that might be translated as the one who gives. And it's a very powerful idea. It doesn't say who giveth to all men liberally. What it, what it literally says is something like the one from whom all things that are given come. And in other words, he owns this. And if you
0:18:07 - 0:18:33lack something, anything and you seek it, whether you realize it or not, you're actually seeking it from God because all things that are given come from Him. Isn't that really nice? And you miss that completely in the King James version? Well, any version that any English translation I'm aware of, maybe
0:18:33 - 0:19:09there's one I missed with that. But so here's a, here's a refactoring of that that you may or may not find to be useful. If any of you lack wisdom, ask it from the God who gives to him, who gives oh, will all be given, ask sincerely with real desire prepared to receive whatever he says without criticizing
0:19:07 - 0:19:41or rebelling against it. And he will abundantly answer. And so parts of this are a literal translation and other parts are elements of the themes that are mentioned there more fully elaborated. And maybe I'll paste this into the description. We ought to be more like Children in our willingness to say
0:19:40 - 0:20:14what we're really thinking when we're speaking with the Lord. And that is a key to receiving more from Him as we communicate with him. On many, many many occasions, I've prayed things that I think most people would say. That's how could you question God like that or how could you challenge God like that
0:20:14 - 0:20:46? So for example, once, once I asked the Lord, why female aging works the way it does? Because I said, isn't this cruel? I don't think this is a very nice thing. And so why is it that women have to suffer like this uh in this way? And men don't. And he answered me fancy that right. I wasn't accusing
0:20:45 - 0:21:17him of anything. In fact, if anything the opposite, I know very deeply that God is love. And so when I see things that seem to contradict that principle, I take them to him because I know he's not that way. And I fully expect that what he's about to explain to me is going to clear up a mistake I've made
0:21:16 - 0:21:42in my perception. And sure enough, in that case, he had a really good answer. And that's always the case. I it's usually not a very long interaction because his reasoning is so strong that I'm immediately satisfied and I go on my way. But I, I think that most people would hesitate to take an apparent
0:21:41 - 0:22:12contradiction to God. And that's a real shame because apparent contradictions are fruitful occasions for revelation. It's a wonderful thing to see those because um that's, that's when your model is about to get improved is when you see a limitation in it. But you need to be sincere and you need to really
0:22:12 - 0:22:43want to know one thing that I find myself saying often to others when they ask me a question about the gospel that I don't happen to have an answer for. It's almost always the case that I say, I don't know. And I can't know, because I don't care. I, um, the things that I find reasons to care about, I've
0:22:43 - 0:23:07already asked about and I've already been told the answer to. And so odds are because they spend so much time in this. Uh, and I have poured my whole soul into it if someone else comes along who has spent less time and has poured less soul into it. And they have a question that I don't already know the
0:23:07 - 0:23:39answer to odds are, it's because I don't care. And so the, the necessary limitation that needs to be resolved before I can ask is I need a reason to care. And often when they're, when a reason materializes, it's because of my desire to benefit this person who does care. And uh this is a theme that you'll
0:23:39 - 0:23:59see powerfully demonstrated by the Lord in the New Testament when he, for the most part, when he's doing miracles, uh That's the context you'll see it in when there's someone who cares very much about something that the Lord doesn't necessarily care about, but he cares about them. So this is a powerful
0:23:59 - 0:24:23thing. So you need to have real intent, but you also have to be ready to do what he says and to assume it's right. And to, it's almost like bracing yourself against a wall that you know, is going to be hit with something heavy, you're trying to brace it up like like a gate, a castle gate in the movies
0:24:22 - 0:24:49that's getting attacked. Um You brace it up because you know that he's going to say things that are going to jar your pre-existing notions and you have to train your body and your mind and your heart. You have to train yourself and expect that to happen so that you can do this judo move to transfer what
0:24:49 - 0:25:26would otherwise be a rebellious reaction, involuntary reaction into Lord. Help me see my fault, right? So you can expect him to hit you hard in your preconceived notions. But you have to do this Judo move to transform your the normal involuntary reaction to that into further momentum for him to teach
0:25:26 - 0:25:52you more. And uh that's, that's, that's sort of a converting it from a single interaction to a flow. It's weird and I hope you're getting the imagery. There's like some Tai chi kind of go with the flow imagery here and it's very, it's vivid and appropriate because that's what you're doing in judo uh
0:25:52 - 0:26:20in judo. When someone attacks you instead of trying to block it or directly fight it, you try to transform that energy, that momentum into an attack on them. And so in this case, when the Lord hits you with a surprise instead of taking it in the natural man, you just, you just rip your heart right open
0:26:19 - 0:26:45, you say, all right, let me have it. I know it's coming, just let me have it. And as soon as like anything, it hits that it, it uh it opposes anything about your feelings or beliefs that it opposes you just immediately throw that on the altar too and say, Lord teach me about this too because I don't
0:26:45 - 0:27:17like it like this doesn't feel good. It's not what I want. Teach me what I lack. Help me see what I don't see because I want to do whatever you want. And I recognize this. I identify this as something that's in the way of that. So help me address it and he will abundantly answer. Now all of that is a
0:27:17 - 0:27:44lot of detail, but we can squish it down to just be more like Children and Children will say what they really think. Even they, they don't have the social mores of um hiding things. They'll, they will hide some things and steal cookies and things. But when they say what they're thinking, they just say
0:27:44 - 0:28:07what they're thinking. It's beautiful, right? That kind of terminates my original chain of thought. But since we're here, I'm gonna continue with a little, we know that people in the public by and large, they don't appreciate that. Some people will think that's cute and a or laugh. A lot of people get
0:28:07 - 0:28:40offended at these little kids which the Lord spoke about those who are offended by the little ones. Um speaking about his servants, not Children, but there's some nice overlap there because Godly people have such value on sincerity that they will find it immensely refreshing. Um There's a short list
0:28:39 - 0:29:07of people I know who will always say, I can't even say always. But I know people who are more likely to say what they're thinking and I'll tell you a story. I don't have any other um mortal example to use so I will use myself. Um But there was a time I was at this networking thing for a chamber of commerce
0:29:06 - 0:29:32and the lady who ran the thing, uh, who I happened to know reasonably well. We had worked together on a few initiatives. She came up to me and she said, Rob, what do you think about this one guy? And I said, I'm glad you asked. I have a simple rule with that guy if I have a chance to work with them on
0:29:32 - 0:30:01anything. My answer is yes, it doesn't matter how busy I am or what it's about because everything he does is worth doing. And that was my, it wasn't canned. That was my in the moment. That's really how I feel. And she just smiled. I said, why do you ask? Because it didn't even cross my mind. She asked
0:30:00 - 0:30:23the question, I answered it and she said, well, I know you're the kind of person, um, who will always say what they really think. And that's really rare and I have an opportunity to work with him on something. And I was trying to assess whether it be a good idea or not. And I thought of all the people
0:30:23 - 0:30:47I know to get a real sense of what this guy is all about. You'd be the one I should ask. And, uh, I was like, I don't know if that's a compliment, but as far as what I'm all about, I'm certainly taking it that way because that's, that's how I want to be. And it was nice because I, I got, you know, it
0:30:47 - 0:31:21was just a random interaction. It wasn't something I could prepare for, but I did the right thing. So um I've thought a lot about dogs and why it is that they are um regarded by many as such hi value companions to humans. And it's interesting cause I've, I've spent a lot of time with dogs. I think, you
0:31:21 - 0:31:46know, if you ranked my experience with dogs versus the general population, I'm probably at the top of the distribution there. But also because of the, the awareness that the Lord has, has blessed me with, I have insights into this that probably exceed what others do. And it's really interesting because
0:31:46 - 0:32:23dogs, dogs are not aware of very much compared to the potential humans have for awareness. It's very far from the actuality in many cases, which is unfortunate, but the potential anyway and, and yet they are, they are valued very highly by people as companions. And so I've, I've thought about this a
0:32:23 - 0:32:44lot. I, I had a, um, a colleague who was very connected to her dog. And I worried, I worried, I think at one point the dog got sick. I was very worried for her because she was so connected that I just kind of dreaded the pain she was gonna have to go through if she lost that dog. And luckily the dog
0:32:43 - 0:33:10pulled through. But, um, it gave me an opportunity to think through some things I wouldn't have thought about otherwise. And I concluded that whatever feelings this dog had for this lady, which I had met the dog, um, that dog would have felt for anyone who was its owner as long as the owner didn't beat
0:33:10 - 0:33:39it or something crazy. No abuse, which is a pretty low bar if you think about it. And I got into some interesting thoughts about love and how, um, what opportunities are there based on the specific conditions of the people in the relationship, the people, I guess, entities beings because we're talking
0:33:39 - 0:34:07about a dog and a person. So, um, that was really interesting. And anyway, not to get too much into that. But my conclusion there is that it's not that dogs are capable of some singular kind of love because it turns out that you need, um, awareness for this and preference. You have to be able to prefer
0:34:06 - 0:34:31certain qualities over others. Um, we're probably getting bogged down into the weeds here. I think all of these thoughts are important. But anyway, my, my conclusion is that what people appreciate about dogs more than anything else is that they're without guile. Now, I say this as a husky owner and the
0:34:31 - 0:34:58more wolf like a dog is, I think the more capable it is of being with guile. Um, huskies can be devious little creatures but because they're very intelligent, um, and intelligence provides the opportunity for greater evil and good. Um, but anyway, what you see is what you get even when dogs are being
0:34:58 - 0:35:20naughty. Um, what you see is what you get, they can't hide things very well. And when they try to, it's funny because it's so transparent. So, um when they're happy, it's obvious that they're happy when they're sad, it's obvious that they're sad. They don't have hidden motives. They just are what they
0:35:20 - 0:35:51are. And what's fascinating about this is that, that provides tremendous attractive value to humans because we're surrounded by phony ness all the time. And that's, that's probably the chief thing that, that people use their, the resources on in life and in interpersonal connections is a deception, tidy
0:35:50 - 0:36:17and faking and lying. So uh from themselves and others. So even though dogs can be really mean and they can bite you and they can fight each other and they can steal things that they know aren't theirs and they can break rules that they know they're not supposed to break. We still want to be around them
0:36:17 - 0:36:52most people do. Most people like dogs, not all people, we still want to be around them because what you see is what you get. So that long winded thought with several sub thoughts is all to say that don't, don't undervalue what you have the ability to give God in your willingness to come to Him as you
0:36:52 - 0:37:31really are. You're not fooling him. Otherwise, just like when your dog tries to hide things from you, it's not gonna work. But if a dog can provide that much joy to its owner, how much more joy can you provide to your father when you go to him for help, no matter how badly you believe you've messed up
0:37:31 - 0:38:13or how far from him, your heart has waned. It'd be good to remember the parable of the prodigal son. And to see that the joy of that father was so great when his son returned that he had a party to exceed the intensity of any party he had ever had. And all that so did was come back. Now, he he regretted
0:38:13 - 0:38:40his decisions, but he wasn't really a different person per se that he had not yet had the opportunity to show he had changed in anything but his thinking process. And the father was so glad that he threw a party bigger than any party he had ever thrown significantly so much. So the other son complained
0:38:39 - 0:39:23. So go to your father, go as you are hiding nothing and just be honest with him about what you want and what you don't want and who you are and who you could be, who you want to be and see what he can do for you because he is absolutely the one who gives and if you go to him, you will be able to testify