Gratitude is Happiness Doubled by Wonder

  I lifted over a ton today. I was working as a volunteer at a meat packing plant, and they clearly needed my superpower ability to perform astonishing feats of human strength and stamina. Bonnie went with me and lifted just as much. Yes, she also has the amazing superpower of performing feats of strength. OK, so we lifted that ton exactly 1 pound at time - so I guess that's a little less impressive. But it's all about "reps" right? We were helping to process and package ground beef, and we calculated that we each lifted about 2100 packages (one pound each, in plastic tubes) over the course of the afternoon. Amazing how the numbers add up! They told us this meat packing plant, located in Spanish Fork, Utah, is the only one owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the USA. It processes meat that is distributed throughout the country through the welfare system of the Church. It's an impressive facility, staffed largely by volunteers, but carefull...

I've always loved daffodils. They are usually the first flowers we see in our gardens in the spring. They appear "almost like magic" pushing up through the warming soil, green sprouts that grow rapidly from the hidden bulbs and then burst into bloom. I love the deep, dark yellow variety - such a vibrant and hopeful color. Daffodils are considered by many to be a symbol of hope. They remind us that the winter didn't last forever; that good things are ahead. They show great resilience: though the bulbs go dormant, they don't die or give up - they wait until the time is right, and then once again demonstrate to the world that they have overcome the obstacles to produce something beautiful. It was during the springtime, half a lifetime ago, that I was undergoing treatment for cancer. That was when I learned about the American Cancer Society using the daffodil as its symbol of hope - as an organization, hope for cures for cancer to be developed; but as individuals, hop...

I find it fascinating to watch a dog run up and down stairs, or up and down mountain trails. They do it effortlessly, naturally. It seems to me their task is quite a bit harder than humans. We just have to shift our weight and balance from one foot to the next. But dogs have to coordinate four feet - front and back, left and right, in a way that keeps their balance and avoids trips and slips. They do it rapidly and with agility. When I'm on an uneven mountain trail, I have to watch carefully where I am going to put my foot on the next step, each step, one at a time. How do dogs manage to coordinate all four feet?? But even human locomotion is a wonder. We watched a movie recently about a soldier in Norway during WWII who had frostbitten feet and had to have all his toes amputated. He had to learn how to walk again. Though we are not conscious of it, even our toes play a critical part in very subtle ways in maintaining our balance. In fact, many tendons and muscles throughout the bo...

I first visited Jerusalem in the summer of 1979, during the time I was spending several months with a BYU group on an archaeological expedition. At that time, the BYU semester abroad program in Jerusalem had been going strong for over a decade but in rented space in hotels and a kibbutz. As interest grew, the program was difficult to sustain in those facilities. When we were there, we visited a new garden that was being developed by the Church on the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley from the Old City. The Orson Hyde Memorial Garden would cover 5 1/2 acres, with a beautiful amphitheater, benches for meditation, and wonderful native landscaping. Originally there was a plaque in Hebrew and English with the text of the prayer offered by Orson Hyde in 1841 dedicating the land of Israel for the return of the Jews (later removed due to vandalism). The park was dedicated by Spencer W. Kimball in October 1979, shortly after I had left. I remember hearing some conversations from the loc...

When I go hiking, I often have a destination in mind, and often it is a mountain summit. The summits vary in how difficult they are to reach; some require multiple days and exhausting effort, and others can be reached in an hour or two. But there is always a joy and sense of accomplishment, often euphoria, to stand atop a summit, to look down and see how far you climbed, and to look around at the marvelous vista that a highpoint provides. However, there's another feeling that often hits me on top of a mountain. Looking around and seeing the dozens of other mountain peaks, you realize how much more there is still to be done in your hiking life! You're not "done" because you reached a summit; you're able to see the rest of what there is to experience in the area. Other times, I have failed to reach the goal because of a variety of conditions - personal, environmental, related to others in my group, etc. It's sometimes hard to "give up" short of the goa...

Oceans are remarkable and continually astonishing to me. When you have a chance to be in the midst of one, perhaps on a small boat away from shore a few miles, you can't help but be overwhelmed by the vastness and immensity that surrounds you. There is "water, water everywhere" and you feel like such a tiny speck. It is estimated that 71% of the earth's surface is water, so there us a LOT of ocean on our planet! The vastness is constant, but the ocean is a throbbing, moving entity. I have rarely seen a flat, still ocean; there seem to be constant waves and swells, tides that ebb and flow, surf and breakers, and currents flowing between continents. Sometimes the ocean is gentle and soothing in its quiet rocking; sometimes it rages in terrifying and threatening power. I pondered two aspects of oceans today. First is perhaps expressed in a quote by Mahatma Gandhi: "Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty....

Is it OK to drop your "dignity" now and then? My grandchildren certainly think it's OK, and time I spend with them tends to produce photos like the one attached. So in support of the silliness, I was pleased to come across this quote: "Looking foolish does the spirit good. The need not to look foolish is one of youth's many burdens; as we get older we are exempted from more and more, and float upward in our heedlessness, singing Gratia Dei sum quod sum." - John Updike I #GiveThanks for the great blessing in getting older and forgetting some of the needless inhibitions of "youth" - though to be accurate, I would suggest that most of what I describe as youth are much less inhibited, and that quality develops in early adulthood. As Updike suggested, we should all love to sing, "By God's grace, I am what I am." And some of what we are is, or should be, spontaneous, light-hearted, and joyful. And yes, even a little foolish. "To every...

One of the joys of our service in Argentina was the chance to become acquainted with some remarkable people, who worked with organizations such as NGOs (non-government organizations), community groups, or other churches. Many of our projects included partners from these groups, and we loved interacting with the people who were volunteers or employees. The woman in this photo, being greeted in fall 2019 by President Nelson, is a great example. Her name is Silvia Carranza. She was afflicted with polio and meningitis as an infant, barely surviving after 90 days in a lung machine. After facing the challenges of disabilites through her youth, she joined an organization supporting those with disabilities, and has now served as the president of the organization ( CILSA ) since 2012. She is going strong at age 65, continuing to serve and coordinate efforts throughout Argentina. Her organization is our chief partner in wheelchair donations in Argentina, and also collaborates with us in educatio...

The picture of my foot that accompanies this post was taken a few years ago, just after I finished a hike along the Uintah Highline Trail in northern Utah. The hike with my nephew Richard DeLong covered almost 70 miles in 4 days, with thousands of feet of vertical up and down through the High Uintah wilderness. It is spectacular, breathtaking country; but carrying a 30-pound pack through that kind of terrain is not as easy for a man in his 60s as it was when I was in my teens or 20s. And to boot, I had a case of esophagitis the second half that drained me. But the sentiment attached to the photo is real and sincere. There is a wholesomeness, a refreshing that comes in strenuous activity that is a special reward. Maybe it's a "hiker's high" or a "Rocky Mountain High" - but it's very real to me. Sometimes it's in the times of great duress that we feel the greatest peace, the greatest progress, the greatest growth. When we've been pushed to our lim...

You know when you're in an airport and you step on one of those "moving sidewalks" - you keep walking, but there's that little jolt as you feel yourself suddenly accelerate? Without any additional effort, you speed up and move faster towards your destination. I have sometimes felt that in my life. There have been times when the pace, the progress seemed rapid and relatively effortless. Suddenly I looked around and realized I was much further along than I expected to be! Sometimes you even feel the "jolt" of it starting and think, wow, I am really feeling things improve and speed up. But then there are other times when you think you might have gotten on the wrong side of the walkway; you fight and struggle, but it takes almost all of your effort just to not lose ground. I #GiveThanks for the times of rapid progress in my life; but also for the times of slow progress and greater struggle. In retrospect, some of the greatest learning and growth came when I was...

    Eighteen months ago, Bonnie and I were set apart as full-time missionaries, to serve in the welfare department in the South America South Area office. This morning, we met with our stake president in Orem and were officially released from that assignment. We loved our time as missionaries, and particularly the chance to serve in humanitarian services, helping to coordinate donations from the Church to groups and individuals in need. The first six months that we spent in Argentina and Paraguay, before the pandemic, were particularly wonderful and rewarding. We came to love the people, the country, the culture, even the language! Of course, the mission did not work out as we anticipated. Even when we left Argentina a year ago, we were fairly sure we would be going back again, so we continued serving from home. The pandemic threw us all for a loop. But gratefully we were able to stay very involved with the work, connecting through email, text messaging, and video chats. And t...

  Spring has sprung! The Vernal Equinox marks the day when the sun is directly over the equator and the length of day and night are equal. It's the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. The days will continue to get longer and warmer for the next three months. That means growth and rebirth. All around are signs of the potential in plants. (My friends in the southern hemisphere are seeing a transition in the other direction... they have fall and winter to look forward to!) I love to watch my peach tree develop. Utah peaches in the fall are one of the great divine gifts of mortality! Those tiny buds will develop into flowers, leaves, and fruit. The miracle happens again every year. Meanwhile, bulbs that have laid dormant underground feel the change in warmth and light, and perform their annual miracle of regenerating life, pushing shoots up towards the sunshine. Soon beautiful flowers will appear. It's a great reminder that the miraculous happens all the time - not jus...

As I sit in my desk chair and look across the room, there is nothing between me and the bookshelf (and the cluttered ping pong table) I am looking at. Or is there? It's interesting to ponder what really is in the "space" around us. Of course, we know the space is filled with air; the earth's atmosphere is pervasive, and though we can't see the air, we are grateful that it surrounds us. We feel its effect more directly when the wind blows. Light fills my room. The light coming from a light bulb reflects off the objects and to my eyes, where it enables me to perceive the things around me, to see their size, texture, color, shape, position, etc. Music is playing in a nearby speaker, and so sound waves bounce around that empty space and into my ears. Odors somehow travel through the space and arrive in my nose - tiny molecules of food - and I can smell what is cooking in the kitchen upstairs. But that's just the start! What else is in that empty space, not vis...

Not many people know what Dolbear's law is, but many are aware of the principle. Hint: see photo. It was first formally documented by an American physicist named Amos Dolbear and published in 1897. On a summer evening, if you count the chirps of a cricket during 14 seconds and add 40, you will get a number close to the temperature in Fahrenheit. (This is a simplified version; Dolbear's proposed formula was more complicated but more accurate.) Crickets chirp by rubbing their wings together. But how do they know what the temperature is? Scientists have speculated that the temperature affects how well the crickets are able to move their wing muscles; in warmer weather, they can move faster. But it's remarkable to me that crickets of various sizes and species around the world, and over the course of many decades of time, all exhibit this very consistent and predictable behavior. Sometimes things like the chirp of a cricket that we find annoying, can also become a thing of fasci...

A number of the days we celebrate as holidays started as religious observances, but have been largely "paganized" in modern times. Today's celebration of St. Patrick's Day is a good example. Roman Catholics in Ireland began celebrating the feast day in honor of their patron saint in the 9th or 10th century; the official "feast day" was proclaimed in the early 17th century. Like most Catholic feast days, the commemoration is held on the day of death of the person being honored (March 17, 461 for Patrick), and includes special mention in liturgical readings and prayers. These religious commemorations are still held in Ireland and among Irish Catholics in the USA. In addition to the religious events, public celebrations by Irish immigrants in the USA recognizing the Irish culture and heritage (parades, etc.) grew in popularity in the 19th century. It wasn't until the 1960s that many of the current, non-religious traditions began. But looking back, Patrick w...

It's all about pressure. I've learned more about eyeballs in recent years than I thought I needed to know. The eyeball remains a "ball" partly because it is filled with fluid. The body is constantly generating fresh fluid, which flows into the eye; and in order to maintain the pressure, a corresponding amount of fluid must flow out through tiny drainage areas. If too much fluid accumulates, the pressure rises, which can cause damage to the optic nerve and contribute to the condition known as glaucoma. This damage, and the resulting loss of vision, is permanent and irreparable; so for those who have this condition, the pressure *must* be controlled through medication and/or surgery. Normal eye pressure varies between 10 and 22 mmHg, but normal is different for each individual. I typically try to have pressure (controlled with the doctor's help) between 8 and 13. I go regularly to the Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah to have my eye pressure checked. It...

  TRANSITIONS. We all have lots of small transitions as we grow and change in life, moving from one situation to another, developing relationships, etc. We also have more major transition times when we pass a threshold that changes life in significant ways so that we will never be the same again. I've often pondered the concept I call "crossroads and crises" - the idea that in life, we have two different major kinds of transitional events: the known, expected, predictable ones (crossroads), and the sudden, unforeseen, unplanned ones (crises). Ten years ago today, we witnessed a crossroad transition in the life of our son, as he returned from his 2-year missionary service in Chile. About 11 1/2 years ago, our daughter went through another one of the big ones as she was married. Those were both joyful crossroads - for them and for us. We have also passed through our share of crises in life, including major illnesses, accidents, financial challenges, etc. If we are wise, we ...

My mother was born in Germany 95 years ago today - March 14, 1926. She lived through World War II, emigrated to the United States, married my father, had five children, lost her husband to a farm accident after 12 years of marriage, then bravely raised those children on her own. She lived a remarkable life of 83 years until heart problems and strokes wore her out. As I reminisce on her life today, there are so many things to #GiveThanks for. She sacrificed so much to raise me, and there were times when I didn't make it easy for her. She was at times strict and harsh; but she loved her children and grandchildren, and would have done anything for us. Mom was always friendly and outgoing in public, talking to everyone around her. The story of her white rose in one of the attached images is a sacred memory in our family. The day after she sent an email to the family with the story, I went to her home and asked to take a photo of her with her rose. A great lesson: don't ever hesita...