One More Day

      If you could spend one day with anyone living or dead who would it be?  Would you choose an amazing historical figure? Or a precious loved one lost too soon?  Before March 2012 I probably would have chosen a great person from history, maybe Joan of Arc or one of the biblical prophets like Isaiah.  What happened in March 2012 to change my mind?  My father died from pancreatic cancer.  He was the rock of our family, the one person everyone could go to for a listening ear, helping hand, or understanding heart.  Family was everything to him and anyone marrying in was immediately included.
     He would listen to me babble on, sometimes for over an hour, about anything and everything from current events and political issues to what my children were doing that day.  If he was watching the television, he wouldn't say, "I'll call you back later," but would mute it and listen to whatever was the problem.
     If something was going wonky with one of our vehicles I would always phone him, tell him what was happening, and hear his suggestions before heading off to the mechanic.  If we needed a new vehicle he would find it for us.  In February we traded in the last minivan he found for us.  It was a bittersweet moment as we really needed a newer van but there was another connection to my father that had to be given up.  It may seem strange to someone else, especially if they aren't the sentimental type but it meant a little something to me.  I didn't cry or anything like that but I did think of my dad as I got out of that van for the last time.
     Seeing my dad's lawn and garden being carefully tended by others was a little strange.  Sitting in my sister's house last summer, which is next-door to my parents' house, I would often expect to see my dad walk out the back door and head across the lawn to move a sprinkler or do some gardening.
      I miss him most when I really need advice on something.  He could always calm me down when I was getting too upset and he always had some advice even if it was simply to search out the answer myself because he didn't have a clue.   So if I was magically given one day with anyone, I would choose my dad.  I would tell him what we were all up to and give him a huge hug.  But most of all I would tell him goodbye because in the end I never really got that chance.  Why not I love you?  Because I told him that every time I talked to him after his diagnosis was determined to be terminal.  I will never have to regret that my final words to him were something stupid or angry.   My father always knew I loved him and I always knew he loved me.
     I know that when I leave this life I will see my father again so wishing for one more day with him in this life seems a little stupid but I don't care.  I would give anything to see him one last time for a hug and goodbyes.  I love you, Dad!

Morality

     I think too many people in the world today are confusing legal with moral.  What is the difference?  Legal means allowed by law.  Moral refers to what is right and good.  Aren't all things allowed by law moral?  Not in the eyes of God.  Yes, I am a religious person and as my blog states, "I Just Want to be Me."  I will not hide the fact that I am religious.  Nor will I hide the fact that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

      I wiser person than me recently stated, "Man's laws cannot make moral what God has declared immoral." (Dallin H. Oaks Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  October 5, 2013)  In other words, something that is legal isn't necessarily right or good.  Take abortion for example.

     Many people think abortion is okay since it's a woman's body it should be her choice whether to allow a pregnancy to continue.  In fact, abortion is far too common in some places where boys are favored over girls.  Morally, abortion in all but a few extraordinary circumstances is wrong.  As for the argument that it is the woman's choice she made her choice when she had sex, knowing that sex can often result in pregnancy.       What about rape/incest victims?  Well, that falls into the extraordinary circumstances category that I mentioned earlier. Gordon B. Hinckley in an October 1998 General Conference address stated: Abortion is an ugly thing, a debasing thing, a thing which inevitably brings remorse and sorrow and regret. While we denounce it, we make allowance in such circumstances as when pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, when the life or health of the mother is judged by competent medical authority to be in serious jeopardy, or when the fetus is known by competent medical authority to have serious defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. (Nov.1998 Ensign)

   He goes on to state that such circumstances are rare. I found a website that listed some stats on rape pregnancies. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8765248 I was surprised to see that only 50% of the women studied chose to abort the baby. Some had spontaneous abortions which I believe means miscarriage but many chose to allow the pregnancy to continue. These women chose to either keep the baby or place it for adoption. I was surprised at how many chose to keep the baby.
     So if a woman who was forced to have sex can decide to let her baby live, why can't a woman who willingly had sex? Legal does not mean moral. I think it's time people stopped confusing the two.

Mountains Out of Molehills

     Why are people so determined to make mountains out of molehills?  I don't know if we are all guilty of it but I know I have been on occasion.  Looking back, I feel like such an idiot for worrying about a minor detail that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.  What I don't understand is why some people look at something that has been around for ages and say to themselves, "I think that's offensive.  I'm going to lobby the government to do something about it."
     What I am referring to is a group of women in Canada who want to change the lyrics to O Canada from "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command" thereby making it more gender neutral.  I have read comments on this subject through social media and while I understand that O Canada has had some minor lyric changes in the past why should this be changed just because a group of women decided to complain about it.  Do these women represent the majority of Canadian women?  I have serious doubts about it since there has never been a huge public outcry or protests over it.
     I feel that there are much larger issues facing women than the lyrics to O Canada.  There are women who are struggling to feed and house themselves and their families.  There are women who have suffered horrible abuse from those who should have loved them.  There are women in this world denied an education simply because they are women.  And there are those who are not even given the chance to draw breath let alone grow to become women because they are aborted in favor of male children.
      Why can't the women who are so concerned with something so minor focus their energy and influence towards these issues?  I am so disappointed to find that in a world full of bigger issues they have chosen something so petty and are trying to get the Canadian government to focus on it too when there are far more pressing matters that need to be addressed.  To these women I say: Quit wasting your time and find a real issue to worry about.
     I am tired of petty little molehills being turned into insurmountable mountains.  There are enough mountains in this world that we must conquer.  Leave the molehills to the moles and try to make the world a better place, especially for those women who have been given an Everest to climb.