Introductions: "I Believe"

Hello.  Welcome.

 

I decided to finally take the plunge.  For the past couple of years, I have been toying off and on in my mind with the idea of maintaining a blog in which I discuss topics about my faith.  And now I have finally decided to claim a digital plot of land and broadcast my thoughts about faith and religion into cyberspace.  I don’t know who, if anybody, will listen, but at a minimum I anticipate that I will experience personal spiritual growth from this endeavor.  But before I publish a more substantive blog entry (coming soon), let me introduce myself and set the stage.

 

Who am I?  

 

I am 32 years old, raised in Utah, but I currently live in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, with stops in New Jersey, North Carolina, California, and Virginia in between.  I am married to my best friend—an incredible woman!—who has enriched my life greatly over the last eight (plus) years.  We have an energetic, bright, and lovable three-year-old, who has increased my joy in magnitudes I never before imagined possible.  While at times challenging (I’m certainly not perfect!), I love being a husband and a father.  

 

I graduated law school in Virginia in 2012 and have been working as a corporate attorney since the fall of 2012.  Entering law school, I had no interest in litigation, and my chosen path in the practice of law will fortunately keep me far, far away from the courtroom.

 

I like to watch and play sports, watch movies, play board games, spend time with friends and family, and in November of 2011, I ran a marathon (though I’m now lucky if I get out to run once a week for three miles).  Other than the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, I have never been outside of the United States, but I hope to travel more in the near future.

 

And, I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I anticipate that future entries will delve more deeply into my personal religious beliefs and experiences, but for a relatively quick summary of what I believe as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please see my profile on mormon.org, here.  (An important side note: at all times I am expressing my own personal views, garnered from my own personal experiences.  Neither on my profile on mormon.org nor at any time on this blog am I speaking for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or for anybody else.)  

 

Who is my audience?  

 

Believers and non-believers, Christians and non-Christians, Latter-day Saints and non-Latter-day Saints.  Culturally, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a lot of unique jargon, and I will undoubtedly use it.  For any non-Latter-day Saint readers, I will try to explain or provide links that explain unique terms, if necessary.  Please comment or contact me with any questions if I fail to adequately explain something.  Life is busy, but I will try to respond where appropriate.  (And, because life is busy, I don’t know how often I will publish.  It will likely be somewhat sporadic.)  Some of my posts may be more targeted to a Latter-day Saint audience and some may be more targeted to a non-Latter-day Saint audience, but I give you permission to eavesdrop on a conversation not targeted to you.  I may bounce back and forth between current hot topics (e.g., women and Priesthood ordinations, excommunications of prominent members, etc.) and basic principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ (e.g., faith, repentance, etc.).  The topics I address will be a matter of prayer, and I will strive to have the Spirit be my guide.[i]

 

What are the ground rules?

 

At this time, I have just two ground rules, for myself and for readers/commenters:

 

1. Please keep in mind that I am learning as I go.  Further light and knowledge may come my way (maybe even in the form of your comment) that will help me refine and clarify something that I express on this blog.  I believe in continuing growth and revelation, and I imagine that I will one day read an entry or two some day and say, “I would have said that in another way if I were to re-write that entry today,” or “I understand that principle in a different way today.”  In fact, I’m 100% sure that this will occur because it happens a lot when I read entries from my personal journal.

 

2. No cynicism, sarcasm, snark allowed.  We have enough of that in cyberspace, from both believers and non-believers.  This rule is a reminder to me as I write entries for this blog, but I also reserve the right to filter any comments.  Religion can be a sensitive topic, and I appreciate constructive feedback, but disrespect to me or to other commenters will not be tolerated.    

 

Why a blog?

 

This blog will provide a place for me to express and share thoughts on religious topics that I have from time to time.  I hope to learn as I prepare and publish content for this blog.  In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is no paid clergy, so the members of the congregation take turns giving the sermons and preparing and presenting Sunday School lessons and other lessons.  I have prepared and given countless talks and lessons at church over the course of my lifetime, and each time I have been blessed with greater understanding and an added measure of peace and the Spirit of God in my life.  Similarly, I anticipate that preparing and publishing entries on this blog will have a comparable effect and will enrich my understanding, probably more for me than for anybody that happens to read this blog.  Laboring over the topics of the gospel of Jesus Christ will, I believe, help me in a small part to more fully keep the promises I make each week as I partake of the sacrament to “take upon [me] the name of [Jesus Christ]” and to “always remember Him.”

 

Another reason for this blog is that in my experience, there are a lot of loud and persistent voices that decry religion and religious thought and that sharply criticize my faith and beliefs.  (I see them pop up in my Facebook newsfeed fairly regularly.)  I simply want to add my voice as a counterpoint to those voices, to proclaim to cyberspace and to anyone who will listen, “I believe.”

 

Elder Russell M. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “There are conversations going on [online] about the Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time.”[ii]

 

My audience will undoubtedly be of the “much, much smaller” variety.  But I thank you for joining this conversation.  And I hope you’ll return often.  

 

---

[i] To borrow from the Book of Mormon prophet, Nephi, “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.”  (1 Nephi 4:6)

[ii] See https://www.lds.org/ensign/2008/07/sharing-the-gospel-using-the-internet?lang=eng