Imagine a father trying to coax a scared little child to jump into a swimming pool where he waits with open arms to catch him. The father knows it will be okay, he knows that the child will be more confident and better off for having done it, and he knows that he will keep the child safe- but the crucial test lies in the fact that the child doesn't know any of this. The father can make many promises and can plead with the child, but ultimately, it's the child's trust in the power and willingness of the father to keep him safe that will overcome the doubt, fear, and worry. Besides 2 flimsy inflatable water wings on his tiny arms, in that moment of testing the only reason for the child to jump is his implicit trust in the love of his father that has been nurtured his entire life.

Likewise, part of having faith in the Savior is trusting Him even when it is scary or otherwise emotionally prohibitive to do so. It is our trust in the Savior's love that has to overcome fear, doubt, and temptation or desire. To gain this trust in the moment of testing, we must exercise our faith in him. Exercise, by definition, involves obstacles or resistance that need to be overcome or worked against to achieve the anticipated growth in our ability to trust the Savior. Often, this resistance is an emotional barrier. Intense fear, doubt, or insecurity are some common examples, but often, strong temptations or physical desires must also be tempered if we wish to follow Christ. This principle of faith is fundamental to many religions, but is especially so to Christianity. In Christianity, salvation, though available to all, never comes without sacrifice. He who gave all to cover our sins and to lift us to heaven likewise asks us to lay down our fears, doubts, and desires and, in such, demonstrate to him and to ourselves that we trust him more than these. As we do so, He promises His peace and comfort in this life, and eternal peace in the life to come (see Mark 10:17-30, John ch. 14). Like the loving father, He will coax and plead with us to trust him, to jump in with both feet, but ultimately it is our choice to do so. To recieve all his love we must try our faith. Like the young child, with every decision to trust in him we build the faith necessary to one day be able to jump in, completely and wholly confident in the love of God.

I never cease to be amazed at how illogical and irrational human behavior is, especially my own. For the most intelligent species on the planet, it's a miracle that we somehow we manage avoid doing the things that we know would be the best for us. Case in point; it's 9:45pm and I have been trolling around on the internet for the last hour when I should have been analyzing data that keeps piling up. I've been running experiments and adding new data to my data inbox but nothing is going out the outbox. I call it "self-induced work constipation." I know that I should go to work, the pressure keeps mounting and I feel the need to go, but in an ever repeating cycle I throw common sense and natural inclinations out the window and continue to gorge myself on news of the latest celebrity to be incarcerated without releasing any of the semi-digested contents in any sort of fashion. Perhaps my data colon needs to be cleansed or I need to take some sort of anti-procrastination emetic to purge myself of this horrible build-up of work and internet crap that has accumulated inside. You'd think that the answer would be simple; just close out the web browser, hide your wireless card in the women's bathroom and get to work. Yet, it's still just not clicking. Somebody please help!

Welcome! Thanks for reading my blog! If I had any web-based door prizes I would give you one as a token of my grand-opening appreciation. Granted, this isn't my first blog, I have another blog on myspace.com, but I wanted a new outlet, a place where I can explore my ideas and thoughts without the half-naked women from the Tru Love e-dating ad popping up everywhere. Some say that they are the best part of that site, I just find it distracting. Anyway, as an introduction, let me explain what I hope will come of this blog. This is the place where I plan to fan the flames of the burning questions of my mind, the smoldering trick birthday candles of the cerebrum that suddenly explode with only a crackling sound to warn you that something crazy is about to occur between your neurons. Sometimes this craziness with be admitidly mundane, such as musings on the effects of altitude on flatulence (coming soon). Other times it will be fairly spiritual as I try to unravel what my relationship to God and the world is. Finally, I sincerely hope that my life in west philadelphia will continue to provide me with really cool stories to tell. So here's to the internet and the endless possibilities for self-expression journies. Bon voyage!