Aikido, the path of harmonious energy

I have an interest in martial arts. Morihei Ueshiba, born Dec. 14, 1883 in Wakayama, Japan, was the founder of an unusual form of modern marshal art, Aikido. I know of Morihei and his teachings because my daughters attend a local aikido dojo. I am quite impressed with its teachings. It is a marshal art that stresses harmony and love over aggression. It is a form in which size doesn’t matter because the force of the opponent’s aggressions is used against them, sort of like the bigger they are the harder they’ll fall. I’ve seen with my own eyes a little old lady from Pasadena look-alike using minimal movement to neutralize four strong young men who were running at her with full force, one with a knife (plastic). In a micro-second these men were on their butts, incapacitated. Had this been real instead of a test, they would've had broken bones. Standing resolutely and calmly in the center of the storm, the little old lady wasn't even out of breath.

Much of aikido is under the skin – philosophical. My wife recently read a book by Morihei and sent me these quotes that resonate well with my LDS perspective.

“As the last aspect of creation, human beings came into existence as an actualization of all higher powers. Human beings represent all of creation and we must bring the divine plan to fruition.”

“The ancient wise ones taught: ‘Drinking liquor may make you feel spring in your heart, but it shuts off the path to enlightenment.’”

“The divine spirit is always present within me—and you too, if you delve deeply inside – so I am just obeying its commands and letting the awesome power of nature flow through me.”

"Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your inner enlightenment."

"Be grateful even for hardship, setbacks, and bad people. Dealing with such obstacles is an essential part of training in the Art of Peace."

Autum leaves

As you can see from the photo I took during the weekend, there are trees everywhere in my community. I live on the foot of a mountain that could just as well be a national park. We have elk, deer and I’ve even seen moose while hiking through the aspen forests. Oh yeah. Trees are everywhere here in the Rockies. And where there are trees, there are leaves -- lots and lots of leaves. My yard has more than its fair share of trees and this time of year all those trees are shedding their abundance of leaves. The yard is becoming knee deep in falling leaves -- shrub oak, cherry, apple and maple leaves. The good thing is that our autumn wind is blowing a good bunch of our leaves to our neighbor’s yard.

My wife would like me to rake up those leaves. The timing is a guessing game. If I rake the leaves too early, new leaves just drown the yard and replace the old as if I never were there. If I wait too late, the snow and slush make the leaves rake like frozen shingles. It’s all about timing -- in waiting to the very last moment.

USS Salt Lake City nuclear sub sailing to junkyard

In addition to a first story about the USS Salt Lake City, there's one more from the Deseret News. It seems the ship with numbers 716 is now in the act of sailing off into the big junk yard in the sky -- er, water. Salt Lake City will no longer have a namesake on the high seas.

Such a secret nuclear sub stalking countries and ships around the world called the USS Salt Lake City, a ship loaded to the gills with weapons of massive destruction, is incongruent with the image of our fair city. The name and the weapon just does not fit. About the only thing suitable would be for a private group to buy it, rename it the Church Ship Salt Lake City (USS will have to come off) and equip it to shoot Bibles, Book of Mormons, missionaries and pamphlets that say "Peace on earth, good will to men" out her tubes. Or, if it has to stay in the hands of the government, have the municipality of Salt Lake City buy it and shoot pamphlets promoting world unity and cooperation through another Winter Olympics here. Now that would make our pioneer fathers smile in their graves.

To brave Rosa Parks: died Oct 25, 2005

Galatians 3:28. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Equality by Maya Angelou

You declare you see me dimly
through a glass which will not shine,
though I stand before you boldly,
trim in rank and making time.
You do own to hear me faintly
as a whisper out of range,
while my drums beat out the message
and the rhythms never change.
Equality, and I will be free.
Equality, and I will be free.

You announce my ways are wanton,
that I fly from man to man,
but if I'm just a shadow to you,
could you ever understand?
We have lived a painful history,
we know the shameful past,
but I keep on marching forward,
and you keep on coming last.
Equality, and I will be free.
Equality, and I will be free.

Take the blinders from your vision,
take the padding from your ears,
and confess you've heard me crying,
and admit you've seen my tears.
Hear the tempo so compelling,
hear the blood throb through my veins.
Yes, my drums are beating nightly,
and the rhythms never change.
Equality, and I will be free.
Equality, and I will be free."

Photo by Olivia Castells via stock.xchng

We Real Cool

I was such a pain in the rear as a teenager, but with the help of great adults guiding me at church and good friends, I became... er, actually, I am still an idiot but I'd like to think I am less so because of their influence.

To Dad, thanks! For telling me ad nauseum when being cool wasn't in my best interest. You knew that one bad step leads to another, just like the poem below hints at. And thank you Mother for never having it in you to back down from a fight when my best interests were at stake. You were the champion of brow beating logic that I hated so much but as an adult I love you the more for it. (One note. I am all grown up with teens of my own so you can lay off now.)

We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks
The Pool Players
Seven at the Golden Shovel

We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.

Not seeing the more important picture

There are times that we get so focused on the task at hand that we just don't see the bigger picture. (Like noticing in the photo a large Sasquatch walking behind the blade of grass -- just kidding.)

One such instance happened in which an Australian policeman gave a parking ticket while a 72 year-old man inside the car lay slumped over dead. Granted, seniors can be a quiet lot but one tip off should have been when the driver refused to pull out his driver's license and just sat there staring at the scratches on the steering wheel.

Stretching the scriptures to suit our national perceptions

We stretch the scriptures to suit our own national perceptions and don’t even give it a second thought. In other words, we put stuff in there that isn't there. Case in point. I heard the following scripture used from a teacher who wanted to show that the United States of America is the greatest land in the world and the ONLY covenanted and promised country as decreed by God. As American saints, it is easy for us to only see America in the scriptures and it is obvious to us that the brethren do not speak of ANY OTHER nation as being a Covenanted and Promised Land. But it is there.

2 Nephi 1: 5 But, said he, notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed.

We have a hard time placing ourselves in the shoes (er, sandles) of those we read about. They are not, white middle-class Utahans. The description of a “land of promise”, a land “choice above all others”, is germane to places that the children of Lehi lived. The scriptures are speaking of a geography larger than the United States of America. After all, we don't have a lot of children of Lehi living here. Elder Orson Pratt makes this point nicely:

“According to the Book of Mormon, all of the great western continent, with all the valleys, hills and mountains, riches and resources pertaining thereunto, was given to the remnant of Joseph, as their land of promise. The Almighty sealed this covenant and promise by an oath, saying, that the land should be given unto them forever. The western world, including both North and South America, is the land of promise, to the remnant of Joseph, in the same sense that the land of Palestine is a promised land unto the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Pratt, Orson, Divine Authority or the Question, Was Joseph Smith Sent of God?) 11.)

Let's also not forget our Old Testament in which Israel is a promised and covenanted land. So, we know that there is more than just one country. I have also read blessings given to certain foreign lands by our apostles that have covenants and promises, which I think technically makes them a Covenanted and Promised Land.

Ah, but we are choice above all other lands. The question is choice to whom? If Japanese saints should gather in Japan, doesn't that make Japan a choice country for their saints above all other countries? At the very least, it certainly is "choice above all other lands".. "for the inheritence of their seed."

I like this land. I was born in it and my ancestors fought for its freedoms. But let's give others their due because our scriptures and general authorities do. There are a lot more countries out there that are covenanted and promised lands than we American LDS rank and file acknowledge.

Germans have biggest corpse plant ever

Here's another of those names in which the Latin sounds better than the English. The world's tallest -- and smelliest -- flower, a giant "corpse flower" has bloomed, reaching a height of over 9 feet more than the previous record for the species, the Stuttgart botanical garden said on Friday. My family and I have seen these in the wild hiking in the rain forests of Borneo. It looks like its from another planet and man does it stinks to high heaven of putrid meat, attracting flies and beetles for miles around. We need one of these in Utah but we don't have a tropical arboretum, only a desert one.

Legislators full of gas

There are some things that never change. Legislative lawmakers seem set up to favor business. It's a certainty like the sun will come up tomorrow. When fuel prices have been straining family budgets, some Utah legislators want to extend the Utah Motor Fuels Marketing Act, a law that they have already enacted to prohibit anyone from selling gasoline below cost.

The problem with such a bill is the ease of abuse. The Assistant Attorney General Tony Patterson mentioned that over the years all investigations into "dumping" proved fruitless, while accused gas retailers spent considerable time and money accomodating the AG office to investigate that the station was selling below cost. If a gas retailer was upset at a big chain station undercutting their high prices, all they would have to do is call the AG office and shout, "He's a dumper, nanananananah." Er, better not say the last part but I bet they think it.

"This law wasn't designed to protect consumers, it was written to protect retailers," Patterson said. The Ass't AG got that right. I'm glad he's looking out for me, the consumer, especially when it comes to today's gas prices because my legislators are not. They prefer to be full of gas at high prices.
Photo by John Schwartz via stock.xchng

Saddam dart board needed

You have to admit that this photo would make a fantastic dart board. I mean, look at that look. He's virtually challenging me to throw a dart. Has anyone tried to market this? The businessman in me says this will be a big hit. I'd be motivated to hit him right in the bull's eye. Up the nose would be good too.

"Bone-eating snot-flower" worm named

I'm crazy about the ocean so I couldn't resist this piece of news. A new species of marine worm found off the Swedish coast has been named "bone-eating snot-flower" or Osedax mucofloris. This is one rare case in which the Latin name trumps the English. Can't the Swedes come up with a better name? Say like pink-palm-tree-of-the-north-sea? Some scientist must have really been plastered one cold winter night, proof of the benefits of not drinking. Anyhow, this tube worm uses specialised bacteria inside its roots to break down the oil stored in the dead whale bone to release energy. Amazing!

Camp Floyd photo

No. This is not my home. My home, for one thing, has more windows. The wood looks like the same vintage though.

The photo above is another that I shot of structures at Camp Floyd, Utah. Whatever happened to Camp Floyd? The Secretary of War in whom it was named, John B. Floyd, stepped down after accusations of graft. Besides, he soon followed the Confederacy (so a job in the Lincoln cabinet was out of the question.) The camp changed its name, and the troops were called back to east to fight in the Civil War.

Utah's Camp Floyd, a sign of miscommunication

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." -- George Washington

How can such a profound place look so plain? Camp Floyd consists of a few markers, a grass lawn, a couple old chuck wagons, a renovated inn (photo above) and commissary. Small, and off the beaten path of Hwy 73, it is physical evidence of the Utah War of 1857 - 1858. I visited the camp late Sunday afternoon. Frankly, I don’t quite know what to make of it.

I wish there was a telegraph in place at the time that could have connected President Buchanan with Governor Brigham Young, appointed territorial governor by President Franklin Pierce, because misunderstandings compounded. Just one term earlier than the the Civil War, President Buchanan thought the territory was about to split from the nation. The nation was filled with rumors about Utah. These polygamists and their strange religion were a mystery to most. Certain doctrines were distorted, circulated and publicized. At any rate, the rumor of the day was not only that they had a shadow government but also that they were burning the papers of the territorial Supreme Court and coordinating Indian attacks on federally appointed officials. Not only barbarism but now also Mormon treason!

The new Republican Party's bold platform of eradicating the “twin barbarisms” of polygamy and slavery was taking great hold on the political debate and direction of the country. Democrats were under pressure to be tough on polygamy and slavery, an accusation that the new Republican Party said Democrats were soft on. Buchanan [D] keenly felt those pressures. Utah was an opportunity to demonstrate to the South the resolve of the federal government in matters of secession.

So, it was easy for a president to use force when it came to Utah. An army of 2500 troops was sent to squash a rebellion that didn't exist. Utah was up in arms too. Still fresh with the memories of murder and destruction by mobs in Illinois, and before that Missouri, the pioneers set up to fight the federal army. (That's another tale.)

How did we get ourselves into such a position of misunderstanding, and how easy is it for a president to go to war? I don't know but the evidence of the ease in which our highest civil authority can use military power to resolve such issues and in having faulty intelligence of the world lies in an isolated field in Utah Valley.

And what of these rebellious Mormons who were about to secede? An old friend of the saints, Thomas Kane was appointed by the president to help smooth things over. He arrived in Salt Lake City early in 1858 and found that the pioneers after giving initial resistance, had decided to not fight. They were talking of moving yet again to freedom in Mexico, or perhaps this time to an isolated island in the South Pacific, where they could build their Zion unmolested. The new governor to replace Brigham Young promised to let them practice their religion in freedom, which persuaded the pioneers to stay. Despite such assurances, there was big trouble on the horizon for the church that would start as early as a year into the Civil War, 1862.

100% LDS. How'd they guess?

I came across a quiz on Beliefnet called Belief-O-Matic. It guesses a person's religion by asking 20 questions. It rated me as 100% LDS. How'd they do that without asking about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, coffee or how to say American Fork? Amazing.

Rumor travels faster, but truth wins out

This is an interesting article from the Salt Lake Tribune about Utah's fascination with anthropology and our own folk tales surrounding real and unreal anthropological sites.

In 1906, the Deseret Farmer and several local newspapers printed a letter by Amasa Potter that said that in 1870 he dug into a mound on his Payson farm and found a large building with five rooms, one containing a six-foot-tall skeleton.

"At the head of those skeletons I found many articles of ancient work and among other things was a stone box containing a small quantity of wheat." He took them home, planted them, and grew "a new kind of wheat."

OK, let's have a reality check. During the 1870s, Edward Palmer, a collector hired by the Smithsonian Institution, investigated the skeletons-and-wheat story but could not confirm it. Yes, Potter could have found a Fremont structure that had been covered with earth, and possibly a six-foot skeleton [a Nephite warrior??]. And maybe he could have found some viable seeds. But wheat? There is no archaeological evidence of wheat in the prehistoric Americas. However Potter got the wheat, he "sent samples all over Utah County, and it proved to be the best dry land wheat that they had ever tried." The 1906 newspaper articles noted that this "Kofod" wheat, as it was called, was a superior wheat, a good resister of drought and frost. In 1911, the Utah Experiment Station reported that farmers around Nephi "greatly favor" Kofod. Was it popular because of its supposed extraordinary origin? Very possibly because the Experiment Station tests at Nephi showed that Turkey Red wheat actually gave much greater yields of a much higher grade of flour.

A few years later Kofod wheat could not be found. I suspect the ploy worked nicely at selling "Kofod" wheat for a certain Payson, Utah farmer for a time. The fad died out just a few seasons later. I cannot resist putting a moral to the story. And the moral is...

"Rumor travels faster, but it don't stay put as long as truth." -- Will Rogers

[via Salt Lake Tribune:Utah. Photo from Leslie Cutts via stock.xchng.]