4 Random Mini-Projects from the Past (and a Surge of Unexpected Nostalgic Gratitude)

What a rough year. So little free time, so much stress about finances, and so much hinging on my success in this coding certification. Luckily, the course is going good for the most part (I seem to learn by osmosis—even on days I don't pay attention I seem to soak in the knowledge and remember it later), we have WIC, and I just started a D&D group with my wife, my brother, and his wife. A weekly group! I couldn't be happier. Having something like that to look forward to each Wednesday night is a real buzz. Maybe I'll summarize their adventures on the blog every few weeks. It could be a fun thing to showcase, since I'm going to be doing a lot of worldbuilding for it.

Anyway, today I want to just dig up a few old projects from my past to showcase them for you. I found them while looking through old tablet boxes at my parents' house, and I gotta tell ya, those blasts from the past feel real nice. Honestly, one of the things that just keeps me going in life is seeing all the stuff I came up with as a kid. It gives me hope of having continual creativity in years to come.

Farewell

Today marks three weeks that my son, Carver, died. I had never had someone that close to me die before. I've lost both of my paternal grandparents, but I was a naïve teenager when my grandma passed away, and my grandpa had basically been gone due to Alzheimer's for years. A couple of classmates also died in high school, but I didn't know them that well. But this... not only was I present during his first and last minutes of his life, but he was my offspring—my very flesh and blood. I learned a lot from this ordeal. I would never wish the emotions of loss and sadness I experienced on April 21, 2014 on anyone, but since I was chosen to experience it, I figured you may as well benefit from hearing Carver's story, and the things I learned about life, family, and God.

Children of Gods

I've been a parent for a year and a half now, and I've noticed something about the way my daughter regards me. She treats my wife and me like gods.

Think about our stature, our power, our knowledge. Think of the way my year-and-a-half-old daughter perceives this.

Out and about, she finds a granola bar or a cheese single, or even a simple plastic snack bag with pretzels inside it. She knows by now that food brings happiness and fullness, so she does the only thing she can do in order to eat them: she gives it to one of us to open.

A nine-month project finished, an eighteen-year project begun!

Well, Pretzelheads---just kidding. Can you freaking imagine if I jumped on that bandwagon??--- I haven't posted anything this month out of sheer lack of free time. My wife just gave birth to the adorable daughter you see above, and we love being parents. She came on July 10th at about 6:00 in the morning, as the rising sun seemed to symbolize the dawn of a brand new life. Seeing her face appear out of nowhere after nine months was the most miraculous event I have ever experienced. I couldn't believe that such a perfectly beautiful little creature had somehow been constructed inside my wife's body. The moment of her birth was as if God Himself was unveiling a glorious painting and saying "Here it is! What do you think?"

The human body itself is a miracle. I have been listening quite frequently to WNYC's RadioLab lately, and though I agree with the scientific findings of evolution, genetics, biology and psychology, I also know that there is a God who organized it all. There are those who don't believe in Deity who would claim that, in an infinite universe with finite possibilities, anything is impossible within an infinite space of time. Logically, that may make sense, but it does not taint my firm belief that God is the true Architect of the universe, and the Father of our spiritual selves.

The feelings I experienced as my daughter was born confirmed this even further. As terrestrial life was created from nothing more than love, I thought of my own birth, an eternity ago for my finite brain to comprehend, and yet a small moment's time in history.

I am very grateful for my daughter, and try to savor every day with her on the earth. I can't imagine mistreating her even in the hardest of times. If Providence permits, may she remain on this earth healthy and happy, with friends and talents developing, and someday pass on her own seed to generations unborn.

Austin's View on Evolution

Many Latter-day Saints are hostile to some views of science, such as evolution. Having just finished my Foundations Science class at college, I have come to learn the answers to the following questions.

Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints hostile to real science?
Not at all. Sometimes we think that the prophets should be able to tell us anything we need to know. But this would eliminate our responsibility to "study it out in our minds" and to make our own educated choices. It would also make hard work and research obsolete, which is a sign of true dedication to the search of knowledge. The Church is not hostile towards science; in fact it promotes science and the search for truth by physical means. The Church's purpose, however, is not to divulge such knowledge, but to focus on spiritual matters that will save us in the end. Thus, leaving science to the scientists.

How can you distinguish between authentic science and "...vain philosophy, human theory, and mere speculations..."?
If some theory has no basis whatsoever, or if an idea has had no work put into it to try and prove its veracity, then there is no reason for us as God-fearing human beings to believe in it. However, if there is a study done with much debate, research, and evidence, we are invited to consider it for ourselves and to give it credit. We should approach all science with an open mind; just because the Bible says we were "created in the image of God," the theory of evolution, which was and is in fact very thoroughly researched, isn't automatically disproven. To be ignorant is to be as all atheists are, and also many Christians who discredit the hard work of intelligent scientists.

Do the scriptures tell how man was created? Explain.
The scriptures tell us many laws, including physical laws, and we know that God is a god of order and balance and covenants. They also tell us that God created the earth, the heavens, and all things that in them are. The scriptures do not, however, tell us exactly how God did these things. They were written millenia ago to peoples who did not understand science at all, and many who were illiterate. God knew we were curious about our origins, so He told us in simple words as words to children, which we are. Just because He said "Let there be light," and there "was light," does not signify that it was that simple. Creation was undoubtedly an intensely complicated process, and to explain it to the simple Hebrews of old would have had no effect. With the little that we comprehend today, they understood far less.

Summarize in your own words the position of the church on science.
The Church values science that is well thought out, debated, discussed, and evaluated; and overall, it values the search for knowledge. Therefore, the Church promotes science as long as it is not mere speculation or opinion. The theories that exist today can and do harmonize beautifully with Gospel doctrine, because God is not a god of deception. He did not create a world in one way and then lay a series of deceptive tricks and artificial evidences seeking to thwart his knowledge-seeking children. Moreover, a Creator so Supreme and intelligent did not create races of "mistakes" that died off as experiments and went extinct. We should always have an open mind. The Church values, above all else, progression. And we should progress towards the day when we will know all things.

A brief metaphor of love

Yes, this is cheesy, but when I come up with a striking metaphor, what can I say? I gotta write it down.

Love must be sought out firstly, which may take much time and effort. But when we find it, we will know it was grown just for us. It is necessary for Love to be planted in a firm, rich soil of morals and values. Without such a foundation, it will fall quickly to disrespect and indifference. Love must be watered with compassion and consideration. To neglect such a necessity would parch it of thirst for empathy and understanding. A part of Love is affection, which adds a growing warmth that helps sustain it. And yet there are those who neglect to water their affection with temperance and scorch their flower of Love to withering with burning lust. Such a delicate plant as Love must be nourished with great care and commitment, for only with time and patience will such a sprout of infatuation become a sprig of friendship, a sapling of respect, and finally an immense tree of the deepest love, firmly planted and strongly nourished, able to stand forever and ever reaching ever closer to the heavens.