Enjoying the urban wilderness.

Working now in Orlando for the prison system puts me in the woods far less than my previous job as a 4-H Agent involved with youth shooting sports, but I'm hanging in there.  Do you know the saying, "You can take the boy out of the woods, but not the woods out of the boy."?  Well that's me, even if that saying goes completely different.

I started enjoying nature as a six year kid in old Fort Worth, Texas catching craw-dads in Mary's Creek by my house.  As a teen I worked and went to Scout camp for six summers in a row, and as a young man attended the BYU 30 day outdoor survival class now owned by B.O.S.S.  The woods, everything about the outdoors, and even the color camo brings me peace and comfort.  Can anyone who reads this relate?

Every day I look forward to going to work, not only for the challenges with my students but for the ride alone.  Driving to and from work along the Beachline Expressway, down four lanes of concrete I constantly spot wildlife and it makes my day.  Yesterday a raccoon blocked my walk way as I left the compound, driving home I spotted about 30 turkey, with one tough young Jake (young wild turkey) strutting his stuff, five miles later I saw a mama eagle sharing a fish with her two babies along the Saint John's River.  What a day!

I hope you have opportunity to enjoy nature and "the woods" in your area where ever you live, and if you're lucky enough to live in the country, count your luck stars and know that your envied by some, but have some kindred spirits among the rest of us.

Got a story to tell?  I'd love to hear them and see your pictures!  Comment below or send them to Mr. Gus via this email roundball@ymail.com.  I'll post them below in the comment section.

Finding Youself, Finding Balance

More and more often I am having these magical days, such as today where I meet inspiring people and learn inspiring thoughts through sound and imagery.  This is completely because I am learning to let go of fear and preconceived thoughts of how I should act and what I should say and do.  I am learning to follow my heart and emulate others who do the same.

In my transition class today I taught about wellness, and what it takes to be of healthy mind and body.  We spoke of balance and how sometimes our lives get out of kilter, which literally means out of good health or condition1. We spoke of keeping things in perspective and not putting too much time or energy into any one thing, or keeping family, love and other important values higher on the priority list than things that just won't matter in the long term.  As a matter of fact, I was going to write more about this but my ideas took a turn when I met Nelson.

Nelson Guda, who's images I've use here, is a photographer, artist and author from Ohio who travels the globe in pursuit of his art.  As PhD Biologist he could be doing many different things, but if you see some of his work such as the Sensual Rainforest you may see the influence of living systems and how they have impacted his artistry.  I am looking forward to his newest work, The Enemies Project and how he captures conflict and examines the many sides of this issue.

May God bless us all to truly discover the gifts within, our true selves and use them to the benefit of our brothers and sisters.

My Spiritual Journey - My Children, Part 7

To all my children, step-children and grandchildren - As I stated in the introduction, one of the primary reasons I wrote this story and declaration is to let you have something tangible of where I stand in my faith. As you were growing up I sent mixed and most likely confusing messages, with my actions not following my beliefs. At times I have been confused in priorities and a hypocrite, and now in some ways feel like a Prodigal Son. Please forgive me.  Become familiar with that story in Luke chapter 15, because we all fall at times. Some things I would do different if I could go back, but on the other hand I feel God has a purpose in everything. He works with the humanness within us to make our lives rich and unique.

I urge you to get to know God and build a relationship with Jesus Christ. In spite of what people do, realize that God is in control and all things work together for the good, no matter what. Use your life lessons and challenges as stepping stones on a path to wisdom. Most of all, I pray you will "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself." Be accepting of others, but do the next right thing. Ask for help when you need it, especially from your Heavenly Father. Be grateful for things large and small, even when you don’t want to. I want you to know that I believe in God, and Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I pray that my actions may follow my words, and we may lift each other up when one of us stumbles.

My Spiritual Journey - My Declaration of Faith, Part 6

I wish to declare my faith in terms that others may relate with. With my LDS family members, I will use the Articles of Faith as published by the Mormon church as a reference point. I also use the Apostles Creed as a basis for my own. Neither of these statements below are verbatim to the originals. I used them only as a guide.

My Articles of Faith

• I believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. I believe that the first principles of the Gospel are found in Luke 10:27, where He answered: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself."
• I believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved. Obedience to the commandments is our way of showing gratitude to our Father for the sacrifice of His Son, and in doing so we shall be blessed beyond measure.
• I claim the privilege of worshiping God according to the dictates of my own conscience, and allow all people the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
• I believe that men will be punished for their own sins, but those sins may be forgiven through the process of repentance and washed away by baptism and the blood of Christ.
• I believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and other miracles God may use to further His kingdom.
• I believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; I also believe the word of God may be found in other sources, but must be compared with the teachings of the Bible.
• I believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
• It is my belief and prayer to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, I pray I may seek after these things.
• I believe that we have a great obligation to serve, give and teach others about Christ and His principles, especially young people and those who may not be able to normally have access to His teachings.
• I believe the key to happiness is gratitude for the blessings we’ve been given, great and small.

My Creed of Faith

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from when he shall come to judge all people. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holiness of the church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Reaffirmation of this Project

Yesterday I fasted, contemplating and praying about what role God wanted me to play in this world and in His ministry. What became clear to me is that I need to keep doing what I am doing but more so, including this blog. Whatever role I happen to be in at the moment, I need to do it to my best ability, seeking His guidance, giving Him praise, and repenting when I err. As a man, I need to seek to be a Godly man, as a father - a Godly father, as a husband - a Godly husband. Even though I have a job and activities that do not often allow direct mention of Jesus Christ, I can still represent Him in a way where others find Hope, Joy, Peace and Encouragement in their lives.

I had an unexpected opportunity to share the Lord today. It was in no way planned. During the baptism at the East Unit prison, I felt called during a time lull to stand and share my conversion and testimony to about one-hundred fifty men in blue. I asked permission from the visiting pastor, but he was kind of obligated to say yes. I hope I didn’t offend him. I just couldn’t stay quiet. Since I am the Transition teacher, I couched my message of transitioning from a man of the world to a man of God, such as Saul to Paul (Galatians 1:11-16). It was an honor and a blessing to share my story.  For security purposes, the image included is not from my event.

On my way into work this morning I heard this:

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me, Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed...

But the voice of truth tells me a different story, And the voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!", And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory" - - From Song, Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns"

My Spiritual Journey - My Missionary Years, Part 5

At the age of 19, March 1979-1981, I went on a two year mission for the Latter-Day Saint church. My dad encouraged me too, but I think it was more for the adventure and life experience. My siblings were very supportive of course, but my Christian friends back home gave me the cold shoulder, expressing feelings that Mormons were a cult, and I should stay away from them. The only people who did not were the Perkins family. I knew them from Ridglea Presbyterian Church, and the daughter Marianne and I were friends from Young Life. They told me they loved me, no matter what. To this day, I am grateful for that. I never asked my mom why she wanted me to go, but I think it was a source of pride for her, in "that's what nice, young Mormon men do". Did they pressure me to go? Not directly. The overall encouragement of the LDS church for all young men is to serve a mission when they're nineteen; so in that sense I did feel pressured. On the other hand, I wanted to go, or I wouldn't have. When I applied to go, my choices were to go to Germany, Sweden or anywhere in Europe. I was called to Denmark. When I left, I reported to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, which is like a boot camp for missionaries. There we were taught and coached in the core beliefs of the LDS church, how to interact with the public, and intense training in the language and culture of our final destination. From Day One we spoke Danish for all but a few minutes of each day the entire two months. My primary instructor was Sister Sonja DeSpain, a middle age Danish-American. The language came fairly easy; the memorization of the lessons did not. I was having fun, and learned a lot, but the "fire in the belly" of converting people to the Mormon church never came to me the entire two years. I did at this point however have a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

When we arrived in Denmark, it was just as they told us, and I had a great first companion (partner) who was a veteran missionary trainer, Elder Raule I think was his name. Missionaries call each other Elder or Sister. He trained me well to work hard, read my scriptures daily, pray all the time and be kind to everyone we met. I enjoyed the work and flourished. I was able to travel and work in about ten different Danish cities including Copenhagen for a year, as well as Vejle, Fredercia and others I cannot remember. After my first companion of six months, I then became a trainer, which was very early for the typical missionary. Most of the time missionaries had a year or so under their belt before they trained others. I include this not to boast, but to point out that from an early age, God blessed me with the gift of being able to teach others, that I would continue to do in my career. I went on to train six missionaries, brand new from the states. Later on I served as a District and Zone Leader. I fit in very well to the mission mostly because I was friendly and loved speaking with people, the language went very well, and the culture fit me to a tee. I guess my Nordic ancestry came out in me. My daily goal was to meet people, become their friend and tell them about the blessings we receive from knowing Jesus Christ. That's what I did. Yes, I always told them about the revelations Joseph Smith received, and always (as instructed) told them not to take my word for it, but pray about it for confirmation. My logic as a nineteen year old figured if God wanted them to be Mormon, He’d tell them so and it wasn’t my job to convince them.

Question: Is it remotely possible, that God wants thousands of different religions? There’s something to think about.

Later I am going to include exactly what I believe in my Declaration of Faith, but let me say this now: I believe that God, through his Holy Spirit can reveal Himself to all people - period. Did he to Joseph Smith? I feel he did, but at some point in what LDS people call the Restoration, something went amiss. I need to say this to my friends and loved ones who think they know Mormons and the LDS faith - I was taught from an early age about the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for all of us on the cross. He was and is the cornerstone of my family faith, so in most aspects I consider the LDS people to be as "Christian" as the main stream population by how I was raised. On the other hand they are very different in their fundamental beliefs, some of which I cannot hold as my own. It is my opinion that when any religion or person goes much deeper than the saving grace of Christ, and the two most important calls of Christianity, i.e. loving God and neighbor, that they tend to easily get wrapped around dogma that will quickly conflict with another and bring discord.