The Body and the Spirit are the Soul of Man

I was asked by the Bishop to give a ten minute talk in Sacrament Meeting on the importance of being Physically Prepared. The principle is based on a goal that we set as a bishopric 5 years ago and is summed up in this 'Mission Statement' that we created.

So here is the body of the talk that I gave...hope it's useful. I didn't write the whole thing out...but most of it is here.

Most Useful Skill? or The Value of Wood Shop

The other night my son, who is a senior in high school, and I were talking about going to college.  He was commenting that he felt like he wasn't really learning anything useful in high school...and that it seemed that all high school was good for was to get you admitted to college where you'd learn real skills.


We debated that back and forth and he finally asked me "Dad, tell me one skill  you learned in high school that you still use today."


I had to think for a while, but I finally came up with an answer...


You ready for it?

Being Offended

Men don’t get offended.  Angry maybe, irritated at times and when things get really bad we might knock some heads a bit to prove a point.  But we don’t get offended.

 

Why don’t true men get offended?

Simple.  Being offended is a choice.  It’s an excuse made by people to cover up for their failures and shortcomings.  It’s human nature…if I can blame my faults on somebody else offending me, then I don’t have to own that weakness or make effort to overcome it.

For example…somebody says something that hurts my feelings.  I can do one of two things: a) Fix it so that my feelings aren’t hurt by resolving the situation or I can b) allow those feelings to fester and rot my soul while I wallow and self pity and blame that other person for offending me to justify that feeling.

 

Which do you think is the manlier approach?  Isn’t it obvious?

 

My Smart Phone Is Making Me Stupid

Help! My smart phone is making me stupid!

I recently was upgraded at work to the Samsung Galaxy S5.  It’s a sweet phone.  I can access nearly everything.  I have both my work and personal email accounts accesable on there.  I have some great fitness apps to track my calories, workouts, mileage…it even takes my pulse!  I can get up to date, local weather forecasts and even animated weather maps for anywhere in the world.  I have instant access to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter…you name it!  Don’t even get me started on the camera!  I have a photo and video suite in my pocket.  I have the entire Gospel Library in there and have access to decdes of conference talks and church videos.

It’s truly the Tricorder from Star Trek come to life!

It’s a great device…and I hate it.

Fighting False Beliefs

In my area we are experiencing a phenomenon that I don’t think is isolated.  It is that young people find facts out about Church history and such that catch them off guard and they feel “betrayed” and start to question their beliefs and then delve into a lot of misinformation or incorrectly portrayed facts about the Church…mostly published by people opposed to the LDS Faith…and these kids slowly and quietly slip away from faith and fall into apostasy.

There are tons of examples…here are a few:

• Joseph Smith practiced polygamy, even with married women
• There never was a revelation that Black people could not hold the priesthood
• Women used to be able to pass the sacrament
• Joseph Smith used a seer stone to aid in translating a large portion of the Book of Mormon
• There are many, many others...

Kids hear about this stuff for the first time from sources other than Church and when they bring it up in a Church setting, they are shot down by adults who don’t know how to deal with the questions…and these kids feel lied too.

The "Low-Testosterone" Debate

We are hammered by it on a daily basis!  Testosterone therapy is the new miracle fountain of youth for middle aged men.  Feel fatigued, unhealthy, low sex-drive? Take a pill, use a gel, get a shot…and you will feel young again, heal faster and have more energy! It’s amazing! Right?!?

But should you really do it?  If you are like me, you are cautious about using a substance to fix something that may or may not be broken.  I don’t like to take medication that I really don’t know much about.  Well, never fear!  I did the work for you and am going to report on it here. (I mentioned this briefly in a previous post, but felt like it deserved a bit more room.)

Men's Fashion (snicker)

I saw a piece the other day about Men’s Fashion and fall trends.  It kind of made me laugh.  The ‘trends’ that they were showing caused me to say “What kind of man would wear that?”.

To be frank the term “men’s fashion” makes me sort of chuckle.  Not that I don’t think that a guy should care about how he dresses and looks, because I do. I think it is very important.  I also think that if you were to ask a guy what designer suit he is wearing, the correct answer should be “I don’t know”. Because that should not matter to a guy.

All decisions I make regarding the clothes I wear follow these basic five rules:

1. Dress Right for the occasion
2. Look your best for that occasion
3. Your clothes should fit
4. Clothes should match
5. Your attire should present the best possible YOU that it can.