Root Beer Taste Test

I thought this was a fascinating article. The New York Times wine critics did a Root Beer taste test! One of my favorite parts was their tasting report: "Plays well with ice cream." The only one on their list that I'd ever heard of was IBC, which came in at number 2 (they tried 25 different brands total and ranked their top ten). Apparently these brands are "generally available in good retail shops and on the Internet." Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

In Training

Dad and I thought this article about the importance of hard work, preparation, and goal-setting was pretty good, so we're sharing it with you all. Make sure to read the title closely!

What do you think, should we apply this message to the Sea Gull Century Bike Ride that Dad wants to do for his birthday?

Update: fixed the link, though the erroneous link goes to an interesting article too! (good catch, Dad)

Looking at Eternity through an Escherian Lens

Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God.

--Joseph Smith, from The Teachings of Jospeh Smith, ed. Joseph Fielding Smith, pg. 137


I was looking at all the pictures that Helen's mom took of the Escher prints and it reminded me of some random gospel connections in some of his work. For example, this first one, called "Circle Limit III" is how I've always envisioned God's omniscience. We are like the little fish things in the print: it looks like our universe extends infinitely in every direction--and it does!--but God is outside of it and looking down on it, so he can see everything in it all at once. And at the same time, he doesn't know everything, but he does know every possible thing going on in our universe. Just like we can see everything in the fish things' universe all at once but if we look up off the page we can't see everything at once in our universe.


This next one is what I think of as hell: always going in circles, perhaps with a false sense of getting somewhere and surrounded by people who think the same, but never progressing at all. The weird hoods that hide the climbers' faces just makes it better. I think Satan is one of the guys just sitting there beneath, watching or moping.

What do you think? Are my theological musings pointless or inspired? How do you try to comprehend the infinite? Have you ever used art or any other medium for trying to understand the eternities?

Immigration

Hey guys, this is an old article that I'd heard about but just stumbled across. Interesting view on immigration.

Dad

Debate resumes over illegal immigrants' status in LDS Church
By Dennis RomboyDeseret NewsPublished: Friday, Feb. 15,

2008Comments made by an LDS Church leader this week again stirred debate in Mormon circles about whether the church should baptize illegal immigrants or allow them to enter its temples.
"The church's view of someone in undocumented status is akin, in a way, to a civil trespass," said Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy, relating it to coming onto someone's property uninvited. "There is nothing inherent or wrong about that status."
Elder Jensen's comment came Wednesday during an interfaith forum on immigration at Westminster College in response to an audience question.
The LDS Church has no official policy on illegal immigration nor does it ask local clergy to question prospective converts or members seeking temple privileges about their citizenship status.
"The church does not see itself as an enforcement agency," Mark Tuttle, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Thursday, repeating earlier church statements.
That doesn't sit well with some Latter-day Saints who wonder why the church baptizes people and issues temple recommends to members who live in the country illegally. To qualify for a recommend, they must avow to a bishop and a stake president that they are honest in their dealings with others.
Some members can't reconcile church membership and illegal status, particularly in light of one of the church's Articles of Faith that states, "We believe ... in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law."
"I wonder how they'd feel about the second great commandment, to love thy neighbor as thyself. It's not an answer to your question, but it's another question. Sometimes it's hard to do them all," Tuttle said.
Discussion about how local church leaders deal with undocumented immigrants arose on the heels of remarks Elder Jensen made earlier this week.
Speaking on behalf of the First Presidency at the interfaith forum, Elder Jensen asked Utah lawmakers to consider proposed immigration legislation with a "spirit of compassion." He called for a more "thoughtful and factual, not to mention humane, approach" to the issues.
The Legislature is debating a string of get-tough-on-illegal-immigration bills including measures to revoke driver privilege cards and repeal in-state tuition options at state colleges and universities.
While reiterating the LDS Church is politically neutral, Elder Jensen noted that immigration is not only a political issue but a moral and ethical one.
Addressing the matter of baptism and temple rights for undocumented immigrants, Elder John C. Pingree, an Area Seventy, told the Deseret Morning News in 2005, "It's not a problem for me."
Questions about citizenship are not part of the formal interview local leaders conduct with people before they join the church or attend the temple, which is open only to members deemed worthy. Bishops and stake presidents look for commitment to live the tenets of the religion, he said.
Enforcing immigration law is not the role of the church, said Elder Pingree, who served as a mission president in Mexico City.
"This isn't the church's issue," he said. "This is the government's issue."
The October 2005 interview with Elder Pingree came in response to a Morning News request to the LDS Church to speak with a leader about the church's stance on illegal immigration.
His comments were included in a story headlined, "Church chooses to stay out of questions of status," which was part of a Morning News series on illegal immigration.
The church, Elder Pingree said, does everything it can to encourage its members to stay in their home countries to strengthen local stakes and wards. "But once they're here, we want to make them feel like part of the community, a valued part of the community," he said.
Tuttle said Thursday that statements Elder Pingree made then remain accurate.

Mormon Bikers Unite!

I liked this post about Mormons biking to work a lot. It's presented in a Q&A format. A little taste:

Q: Dan, what does bike commuting have to do with Mormonism?
A: Well, bike commuting is a way for Mormons to show their willingness to take responsibility for their quality of life. In an age where SUV owners are actually setting fire to their cars to get out of ownership arrangements they can no longer afford, and where the news is characterized by mawkish profiles of “pain at the pump” and politicians either going to Saudi Arabia to grovel for more oil or calling silly Congressional hearings to whine at oil executives who manage no more than 12% of the world’s oil prodution, bike commuting is a way for us to reject the world’s flailing, pathetic response to financial adversity that results from our own consumption decisions. Besides, I read somewhere that if you go to heaven and mention that you lived in the time of $5/gallon gas and drove to work every day, a hush will fall over heaven and the pioneers will fall at your feet, rolling on the floor laughing at you.
Parenthetically, during the 1974 oil crisis, President Kimball responded to the crisis by asking members of the Church to start walking to church where possible, and he and Camilla led by example, walking to their meetings. Just one more reason he’s my favorite…

I'm so proud of our family, half of us ride bikes and/or walk to work often. Feels great, doesn't it? Let's keep it up!

The Essential Man's(Or Woman's) Library

I think I found this list on Digg a while back and bookmarked it for fun, although I looked back into since I have to pick a book to read over the summer. The requirement says I have to 'Read a novel or memoir by an author from a country other than the United States of America.' I was thinking something by Dostoevsky, because I've never read anything by him, although I'm open to other suggestions. What do you guys think? Also, I think the guy that made this list seems to have an abnormal admiration for Teddy Roosevelt. Maybe he's his favorite president or something.