Snow Chairs

We’re having our typical Cache Valley spring weather. One day it’s spring and the next day we have a snow. A storm blew in yesterday and dropped a few inches of snow. Even though there’s snow all over the ground, it’s pretty warm outside.

Crystalynne and Marianne went outside to create things out of snow. The snow makes perfect packing material. Because of the warm weather, the snow is beginning to melt. It’s wet, heavy, and sticks together.

I looked out the window to see what they were building. What a good idea! Snow furniture. They had two chairs and ottomans. It looks like Crystalynne created a lounge chair for Marianne.

Ever Increasing Truth or Escalating Entropy?

God creates, builds, organizes, and overcomes entropy. He quickens, enlightens, and gives life. Satan opposes God’s order. He is evil, dark, and destructive. He encourages turmoil, confusion, and disorder. Satan promotes entropy; God conquers it.

“In thermodynamics, entropy is commonly associated with the amount of order, disorder, and/or chaos. . .

“Technically, entropy is defined as a thermodynamic property, which serves as a measure of how close a system is to equilibrium — that is, to perfect internal disorder. . .

“The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum. Thus, if entropy is associated with disorder and if the entropy of the universe is headed towards maximal entropy, then many are often puzzled as to the nature of the ‘ordering’ process and operation of evolution in relation to Clausius' most famous version of the second law, which states that the universe is headed towards maximal ‘disorder’. In the recent 2003 book SYNC – the Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz, for example, we find Scientists have often been baffled by the existence of spontaneous order in the universe. The laws of thermodynamics seem to dictate the opposite, that nature should inexorably degenerate toward a state of greater disorder, greater entropy. Yet all around us we see magnificent structures—galaxies, cells, ecosystems, human beings—that have all somehow managed to assemble themselves.’ The common argument used to explain this is that, locally, entropy can be lowered by external action. Energy of all kinds in our material world disperses or spreads out if it is not hindered from doing so by some external source.” Wikipedia

I do not claim to be a scientist and find myself very limited in the understanding of thermodynamics. However, I can see a connection here. This is another evidence of ALL things are created and made to bear record of God Moses 6:63. God is a God of order. “Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion" D&C 132:8. Entropy and God’s governing power are in constant opposition.

Most parents can understand the process of children turning a house of order into a house of disorder. Usually, if left to themselves without teaching and instruction, children will create chaos. We, as children, are constantly messing up God’s house.

He sits upon the throne and governs and executes all things D&C 88:40. He is more than an external action for “He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever” D&C 88:41. Without the presence of God’s governing power, influence, or light, a system is in equilibrium, or in other words, in perfect internal disorder.

God has a renewal effect upon all life. Through Him we may be sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of our bodies D&C 84:33. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” John 8:12. He can “create in me a clean heart” and “renew a right spirit within me” Psalms 51:10. Those who wait upon the Lord shall have their strength renewed Isaiah 40:31.

God constructs, puts all of creation in order, and opposes entropy. God is the power, light, and love that hinders and overcomes universal entropy. The light, which proceeds forth from the presence of God, enlightens eyes, quickens understanding, gives life to all things, and is the law by which all things are governed D&C 88:11-13.

It is through the power and love of God that new energy comes. It is because of charity, the pure love of Christ Moroni 7:46-47, that we see all around us magnificent structures—galaxies, cells, ecosystems, and human beings. I reject the notion that creations and perfect order “have all somehow managed to assemble themselves.” It is the power of God that causes all the planets to move in their regular form Alma 30:44. God is the creator of this earth, the universe, and a whole lot more Mosiah 3:8, Abraham 1:31, D&C 128:23.

Satan, on the other hand, is not a creator. He endorses contention, commotion, and turmoil 3 Nephi 11:29. The Devil is an evil being of disorder and confusion. He promotes chaos and entropy. He tears down, destroys, and hates mankind. Lucifer is insistent, unrelenting, and merciless to his victims. He makes everything within his circle of influence colder, slower, and darker.

Our common enemy wants us to esteem God as naught and hearken not to the voice of his counsels 1 Nephi 19:7. He tries to hide heaven and obscure the true light from man. Having his victims in a dark environment lacking heavenly light and knowledge, Satan can more easily make saving truths appear strange Acts 17:20, unpopular, and despised 2 Chronicles 36:16. The devil whispers in our ears saying, “The words of God are mysterious, dangerous, and worthless. They should be avoided and rejected at all cost.”

Moroni cautions, “Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil” Moroni 7:14, Isaiah 5:20, D&C 121:16.

The devil needs this clever deception because most people don’t want to consciously reject God. Satan has his followers, but all of us mortals chose God and His plan in our first estate Abraham 3:24-28.

Satan needs something to lure victims into his choking trap Luke 8:14. He entices the children of men by offering them the things of this world. He does not disclose that these treasures are temporary 2 Nephi 28:21. Jesus provides the antidote, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” Matthew 6:19-20.

Our worldly treasures that we have hid up unto ourselves will slide between our fingers and simply slip away Helaman 13:35. The shelf life of Satan’s merchandise is very short. It only provides temporary pleasure, and death must surely follow Hebrews 11:25, 2 Nephi 9:39.

But God in his goodness “prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell” 2 Nephi 9:10. Without the infinite atonement of Christ, "corruption could not put on incorruption. . . flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more" 2 Nephi 9:7-8.

Life and salvation doesn’t just somehow happen all by itself. Alone, I cannot save myself or anyone else. It is beyond the boundaries and ability of men. Salvation is the mission of Jesus Christ, and “there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved” Alma 38:9. Without His intercessory and loving power, mankind would fade away, die, and rise no more.

Everything the devil offers to mankind will certainly deteriorate, decay, decompose, rot, crumble, and perish. Satan does not possess the power to offset entropy and decay. I am not aware of any value Satan has to offer us except perhaps opposition itself, which is needed to obtain knowledge of good and evil 2 Nephi 2:11.

The Devil is an enemy to God and seeks to control mankind Moroni 7:12. He is in direct opposition to God. Satan and his angels hide truth, extinguish light, and promote anything that causes disorder and chaos. The adversary oversees the digging of a dry pit that is void of “living water, springing up unto everlasting life” D&C 63:23, Luke 16:24. He does this that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell 1 Nephi 14:3.

That great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, does not teach the doctrine of Christ. It covers, conceals, and veils eternal truths of salvation 2 Nephi 28:8-11, 2 Nephi 32:1-6. Satan lures and convinces men to chase after false gods and forsake “the Lord, the fountain of living waters” Jeremiah 17:13.

On the other hand, God sends true messengers to restore truths, establish order, and bring back that which was lost. Prophets converse with God, restore law and order, and bring back eternal certainty. They also restore God given ordinances, which previously have been changed, modified, diminished, or discarded by men who have trusted in the arm of flesh. Messengers from the presence of God are continually at war with entropy, decay, and loss. They fight against evil and denounce Satan. Having firsthand experience with God, they are not deceived and worship the God of glory Moses 1:2, 11-22.

Satan uses the philosophies of men mingled with scripture to fool and mislead. “And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers” D&C 93:39. The natural man, who is an enemy to God Mosiah 3:19, continues losing everlasting truths and the true order of God. Prophets keep restoring truth.

There is a continual contest between good and evil. Satan entices and wins the hearts of mankind. He manages to extinguish light and truth and the prophets bring it back. In this telestial world, the level and intensity of light and truth is not stagnant. The presence and observance of heavenly truths among men continually ebb and flow. Truths from above are either increasing or decreasing here on earth.

One of the key undertakings of the prophet Joseph Smith (and all prophets of God throughout the history of the world) was to restore, re-establish, and teach timeless truths that were previously lost or abandoned. Great light and understanding was revealed from heaven through Joseph and much restoration occurred during his day.

But, has it been fully preserved? Or has it only been partially maintained and carelessly treated? Have we treated lightly the things we have received and through vanity and unbelief brought the whole church under condemnation? D&C 84:54-58 What have we lost?

Have any eternal truths of the restoration been forgotten? Did the prophet Joseph Smith teach any doctrines that have been discarded or forsaken? Have any of these restored truths been overlooked, unnoticed, unobserved, neglected, disregarded, deserted, misused, changed, altered, tainted, distorted, misrepresented, correlated, misplaced, lost, abandoned, ignored, cast off, or rejected?

Is the reservoir of revelation brimming, spilling over, and increasing in flow? Or is it quickly decreasing and nearly empty from the leakage of neglect? Is there a threat of having a bone-dry reservoir of revelation in the near future? Have we been living and observing the teachings of the restoration? Has any additional truth, light, or knowledge been restored from heaven since Joseph? If so, what is it? If not, why?

So, today, are we gaining or losing light and truth? Do we possess and live more or less of it? Are we closer to obtaining Zion? Or have we embraced Babylon? Is entropy taking its toll?

If we come to Christ, He overcomes entropy, reverses the process, and will bring again Zion 3 Nephi 16:18, D&C 84:100. It may be worth considering.

Tree House Under Construction

One afternoon this last week, I got bombarded with questions from the boys. One shouted with excitement, “Dad, can I use a hammer?” Another cried, “I need a saw.” “By the way, do you have some nails?” “Oh, we need some boards too.” “Can you help us?” As others heard about the adventure, they joined in. Of course to be an official contractor, they each needed their own hammer, saw, tape measure, and a tool bag full of nails. That’s just how it has to be, ya know?

I soon discovered they were planning to build a tree house. They had the perfect tree all picked out and were so excited to get me involved and illicit my help. Showing me the tree, they described their dream. It really did sound great.

Over the next few days we talked, made some plans, and gathered the tools we would need for the project. Some of them used their savings to purchase a few new tools. Of course, there are usually plenty of nails and screws available in dad’s collection of stuff. We went up to our pile of scrap lumber and picked out some boards.

They were thrilled to have some supplies to work with. Joshua and Jonathan were the ones that came up with the idea. When Jared saw what they were doing, he was very eager to join in and take over. We had a little discussion about this, and peace was restored. Jared, Joshua, and Jonathan are very capable and things moved forward. They quickly finished their schoolwork, so they could spend the rest of the day working on the tree house. Even though Joseph wasn’t a big help, he still liked being with the boys.

After the project was well under way, Rachel and April asked for tools so they could help. Crystalynne and Marianne enjoyed just playing around the construction site. The children worked well together most of the time, but once in a while there was a disagreement between the boss and the foreman because nobody really knew who the boss was. They each had their own ideas about how it should work.

This has been their project. They were the designers and creators. Dad was just there to help. He reassured and complemented them on their good work. They called Dad the “saw man”. Children who were up in the tree would call down measurements. Dad would saw the boards according to their instructions and hand them up. They did the assembling and nailing. Once in a while they made an error and had to revise.

What a great team. At this point, their tree house has three levels, and there are steps connecting the different floors. Railings have been added in some places. The dream is coming together and everyone is having a blast!

Dreaming and Creating

Last week some of our children were doodling on paper and began drawing houses. Soon a group gathered around the kitchen table to see what was going on and a conversation began. Each child piped in, shared their ideas, grabbed a pencil and paper of their own, and started drawing their individual dream homes.

Excitement was in the air, and their dreams were being expressed on paper. They started drawing bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, kitchens, and playrooms. Soon sketches of furniture, appliances, and decorations appeared.

As things began to unfold, it was obvious that they had little working understanding of what “to scale” means. Their toilets were nearly as large as their three-car garage and the oversized chairs appeared about five times larger than the doorways.

Earlier this week, I recognized that they needed a little help and guidance on the project. I spent a morning with the children teaching and demonstrating the meaning of “to scale”. I took a minute to sketch a simple 5’x 8’ bathroom “to scale” (1/8” = 1’) and proceeded to explain what I was doing.

Just a few moments later, after seeing the sketch, little eyes began to light up. Understanding started to materialize, and they got the idea. They could see that a standard tub/shower size is 2’6” x 5’0” in real life, and it is possible to draw a smaller scale of it on paper. They realized that a toilet, sink, and tub all nicely fit in a 5’x 8’ bathroom, and it’s “to scale”. It even looks proportionate on paper. They were excited and impressed with this new understanding.

I gave them about ten homework problems scaling down different lengths (1/8”=1’). They did a great job and qualified to receive their 1/8” square graph paper and become an apprentice architect. They were so excited to start putting their dreams on paper. As their homes began to take shape, the children were delighted to see how professional their drawings appeared when they were drawn “to scale”.

During their free time, they have carefully designed, re-designed, changed, and added to their dream homes. They seem to be very satisfied with their creations in progress.

Along the way, I have been giving helps and tips but have insisted that they find answers that they’re capable of finding on their own. The most common type of question raised is “How wide is a dishwasher?” or “How deep is a closet?” I simply gave them a tape measure and replied, “Go find out.”

Over the last few days, they have measured almost every part of our home and have discovered the sizes of appliances, rooms, hallways, doorways, etc. The children have enjoyed this activity and are excelling. With significant effort and time, they have drawn some pretty nice floor plans, learned a lot in the process, and have had a bunch of fun. They are still in full swing and excited as they continue dreaming and creating. I am proud of them all.