Wednesday, August 19, 2009

death to morning glories...

i believe they have another name, but they are definitely cursed around our house. mallory picked these. and wanted me to put in water. dandlelions fine, morning glories are another story. (but i thought they were pretty grouped up like this...i am a confused soul.)

another note, my mom sent this thought by email.

from GM Jerrard:

There are things that all men know are true on their face, things that require no explanation and no justification....We know, for example, that kindness is good and that cruelty is bad. There are other things that we learn from our own experience, from trial and error, truths that affect how we treat others. Moral truths.

There are scientific truths, tried and tested formulas that are true--at least for the moment--but which may be replaced with something else tomorrow. Researchers go to great length using the scientific method to eliminate error and to prove their hypotheses in an attempt to get at the truth. Through experimentation and trial and error, they try to discover truth. These are operational truths--assumptions and conclusions that are true to a 95% level of confidence with some possibility of error, give or take 5 percent. We use them as long as they are useful or until they are replaced by "newer"--and more accurate--truths.

Finally, there are revealed truths, specific knowledge given to man from a higher source. Sometimes they come as "the dew from heaven distilling," or as a still, small, even inaudible voice. Often, they come in a flash as an instant understanding of a concept inarticulated. On rare occasions, truth comes as a booming voice from heaven or in a vision brighter than the noonday sun. "The spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spsirit."

Revealed truth dawns upon us when we are obedient...As we are obedient, God confirms to us that our actions are correct, and we are blessed with greater understanding. We call this testimony...

In other words, faith is essential to learning and recognizing truth. It is the essential first step.

Obedience brings more light and knowledge as a blessing to the obedient. Conversely, sin chases away the Spirit and our minds are darkened.

One of the reasons we came to this world is to learn to distinguish between the various shades of gray.

"When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good; a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, and not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly. While you are making them, you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil. Bad people know about neither." CS Lewis

"Evil may not be referred to God for its origin. He is not its creator; it is one of those independent existences that is uncreate and stands in the catagory of qualities of eternal things...evil exists in the balance of natural forces...It is also the background of good, the incentive to good, and the trial of good, without which good could not be...No virtue could exist without its corresponding evil...In a world without evil-if such a world be really conceivable-all men would have perfect health, perfect intelligence and perfect morale. No one could gain or impart information, each one's cup of knowledge being full. The temperature would forever stand at 70 degrees, both heat and cold being evil. A world without evil would be as toil without exertion, as light without darkness, as a battle with no antagonist. It would be a world without meaning." BH Roberts.
Posted by Picasa

No comments: