Thanksgiving for Smallpox

3 Nephi 10: 10 … and the mourning, and the weeping, and the wailing of the people who were spared alive did cease; and their mourning was turned into joy, and their lamentations into the praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord Jesus Christ, their Redeemer.

This scripture from the Book of Mormon is a great description of how joyful it is to be saved from the hand of destruction, the terrible devastation that preceded the Savior’s visit to the New World. However, this description equally reminds me of the joy the European pilgrims must have felt in their delivery from the forces of destruction and their thanksgiving. The only problem is that they thought of the Indians as a potential source of their destruction.

Here's a Thanksgiving holiday editorial from the Anchorage Press that gives a rather untraditional bent on our traditional telling of the camaraderie and thanks of Thanksgiving.

"Historians who dig beneath the revisionist veneer of Thanksgiving legend report that the original three-day feast of 1621 featured as much guarded suspicion as camaraderie, and any crying and hugging that might have gone on seems to have spread more smallpox than love into the native population. In a sermon at Plymouth two years after the original Thanksgiving, a Pilgrim preacher named Mather the Elder thanked God for smallpox, which had by that point wiped out many of the Wampanoag. A few years later, the Pilgrims and what was left of the Wampanoag were fighting each other in King Philip's War, which by today's standards would be considered more a massacre than a war."

This is a fascinating take on events but it's a rather dark and depressing thought for this day of appreciation and thanksgiving. I mean thanksgiving that our potential enemies were wiped out by an unseen disease of God by some 95%. Wow!! I can see why we might shy away from looking at that aspect. Unfortunately, that temporary friendship probably sped up the spread of smallpox to Native Americans who had no resistance or immunity to it that the Europeans did. The sad thing is that the Wampanoag were doomed, whether they were friends or foe.

I now need to lighten the mood by eating a little more pumpkin pie and watching a football game to get back into the spirit of things, and thinking of more pleasant things like how at one point at least we were humbled enough by the wild forces of a hostile New World to get along with people who were so different.
Photo by Ariel Camilo via stock.xchng

Landing on the highway of life

Although it wasn't in his flight plan, a North Carolina pilot found it most prudent to land his airplane on a four-lane highway. My life is like that. Plan your flight and fly your plan is what flight instructors instruct their students. I have been told by others and have told myself exactly where the milestones in my life should be for a good pilot and what I should be doing. I try to stick to "my plan". Good pilots land at the airport. Yet, unexpected things happen.

Life throws us curves and sometimes very bad ones, such as an engine blowing up. I find it interesting that at that exact moment of crisis, it was not the air controller saving the pilot or even telling the pilot what to do but rather the pilot had to think fast for himself. He was the captain of his ship and no one else, despite all the advisors that were available on the other side of his radio. In the end, the pilot had to rely on his training, his instinct, his gut to tell him what to do.

The pilot searched for the best spot to land, an unbusy part of a four lane highway and then he landed that sucker. He put his plane down, coasted to the side of the highway, and walked away.

They say a successful landing is one that you can walk away from.

Web Cam Saves Mom Across Globe

The wonders of modern technology, particularly the web camera. I know I could have used this technology years ago when my grandfather kept passing out in his house and hitting the hard floor with his face.

A Web camera made it possible for two men to get help for their mother after she collapsed at her home, even though she was thousands of miles away. (AP)

What you do to others, you do to me

How do we treat our perceived enemies, the mysterious monster that threatens us? I know I struggle with this in my own life. "Ye are the light of the world" the scriptures say.

The problem is that the light is not always on me. Sometimes I'm left to my own prejudices.

My christianity tends to really disappear when I am faced with the great beast -- like my big friend in fifth grade who looked like he was going to pop me one. Taking bad advice about defending myself with utmost force when threatened, I hit him with a school chair. He was knocked out cold for seconds. As it turns out, he was coming over to help calm me down. How easily bad intelligence leads to bad results.

How one responds to perceived threats is a test of character. I get to see what I'm really made of under the veneer. Unfortunately, I didn't like what I found that day or the consequences. I was suspended for a week.

There are also times that you have to enforce reasonable rules. Anyone with kids knows that. One may be accused of being grossly unfair but it is the best solution that could be thought up given the circumstances.

I am fascinated by how Utahans as a whole have treated "the others" -- those who do not belong to the dominant religion of this state as well as ethnic minorities -- Polynesians, Japanese, Greeks and other immigrant settlements, to say nothing of Native Americans.

Here is one story about how some Utahans have treated its sizeable population of Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans before, during and after WWII. I've heard stories at church about how kindly Japanese were treated. Well, here's a few that were not.

"In Utah, police searched Japanese homes for shortwave radios, cameras, guns. They opened drawers, cupboards, scattering everything to the floor..."

"In dead of winter, warm wastewater was diverted onto cold railroad tracks in Garfield and suspicion fell to the Japanese. Jinzaburo was fired and ordered to leave "town" within three days. Accused with no recourse, the Matsumiyas, like so many of their countrymen, bowed to silence."

"...they went next to Payson looking at places to rent. "Even a barn would do," Chiyo said, "but we were told it wasn't for rent to 'Japs.' "

That last bit about no place for rent not even a barn sounds like the Christmas story, but worse. At least they had a manger.

I see that I'm not the only one with blind spots. Humans will be humans. And before one gets angry at Mormons, these stories could easily be about Utahans who haven't stepped inside a church for generations. And who says there Mormon? Still, there is one thing that I do know -- we humans have a knack for cruelty to people outside our group while thinking we're the epitome of fairness and kindness.

D&C 121:39. We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.

Driving to California

Shakespeare wrote, “"Better three hours too soon than one minute too late." I am not a minute late in my web log writings, but rather a week. This entry is now far from timely. I’ve been busy with business and traveling. It is a lame excuse in the modern connected world since the Internet is available just about anywhere but that is my excuse and I’m sticking with it.

I drove down to the Southland this week, passing from Salt Lake City through Las Vegas to Los Angeles. It’s a long drive but there are many things to see along the way -- places such as the Mohave Desert, Calico Man, Las Vegas, or Zion's National Park. Travelling on a crisp Fall day is particularly breath taking. One of my favorite scenic areas on I-15 is the Virgin River Gorge just below Saint George, Utah on the Arizona side.

We have a home in both Utah and California, so my heart is in both places. Still, California does stands apart. Of course, Utah has the spectacular rocky mountain range that is the geographical backbone of the state. California has its own backbone, the equally spectacular Sierra Nevada mountain range that seperates it from the deserts of Nevada. But that frame is garnished with the front profile of a buff gymnast, an eye-quenching waterfront view that runs from top to bottom. The beach communities and coastal areas particularly feel like what the Brits nickname “LaLa Land”. It looks like a piece of the mediterranean, plentiful with milk, honey and oh yes, let's not forget silicon implants.

If there were a Republic of California, a separate country from the United States, its 30 million people would have the fifth largest economy in the world, while probably ranking first in the length of its traffic jams. People come in all shades in California. It is a place of diversity. With a per capita income of $33,000, it ranks only as the twelfth richest in the union so it shouldn’t feel that rich. But California is a place of diversity. Migrant workers, immigrants and the disadvantaged lower its per capita income but it also has some of the richest communities in the country. The palm trees of the Southland accentuate these affluent neighborhoods from the rest of the country and its seperateness -- at least to my eyes.

When I am in the Southland, if time permits I try to drive to a favorite place. The photo above (taken by me) is of that quiet, private and deeply enrichening spot. You know, one of those places that one can look out to the abyss and feel invigorated by nature and yet feel so insignificant. On an overlook, I like watching the sea lions on a close by rock that sticks out of the Pacific. These pinapeds are far enough away that I'm not deafened by their calls or physically threatened by their bulls. I mean, ever have a thousand pound bull sit on you? The cool salt air is carried up the cliffs by a brisk coastal wind. The salt air quickens me.

LDS Church Highlighted on Today Show

The TODAY Show began a week-long series on "mysterious faiths". The first on the list is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which I guess is still a mystery for those in New York, the birth place of the church. Here's the video of the interview with the Stake President from New York about the church. Here's a couple quotes from the NY Stake President, followed by my take.

[NY Stake President] "Currently, the LDS faith is the fastest growing religion in the United States with more than 5 of its 12 million members here in the U.S."
[Cliff] The Stake President is pretty close to the mark. There was a story in the Deseret News a few weeks ago showing that the church is certainly ONE of the fastest growing MAJOR faiths in the United States, but it isn't necessarily THE fastest growing of this group. I would imagine that some small religion, say 2 people just had another 2 join last year. That would give them 100% growth rate per annum, something we definitely do not have. There's a lot of room for people to challenge that broad statement. Nonetheless, the point is that the church is growing very fast.

[NY Stake President] "We worship God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ with Christ being the head of the Church. Christ restored his original church through Joseph Smith who we revere, but don't worship him...we look at Joseph as a prophet that existed in ancient times...Moses, Abraham, Isaiah
[Cliff] The editing is not doing the Stake President justice. I didn't catch anything in the videoed interview that made Joseph Smith sound like a reincarnated prophet that existed in ancient times. That, of course, is plain false.