Lovely soul

Please read this incredible essay! So beautiful!

Pick me!

I want to a revolution!

Read about the revolutions going on today! Egypt. Yemen. Pictures.

The times they are a changin

"The barrier of fear is broken"
Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt

I am so excited I can barely stand it: Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, even protests in Algeria! Where next?

Revolution baby! This is what I want to see. CHANGE!!

Check out what's happening:
Tunisia
BBC on Egypt
Pictures in Egypt
CNN on Egypt
Al Jazeera on Egypt
NYTimes on Yemen
BBC on Yemen
News about Algeria

And just for kicks, check out this awesome "In Pictures" about the secession of Southern Sudan!

I am praying so hard for things to go well in all of these places. The people who are willing to stand up to their corrupt and oppressive leaders are so brave! I don't know what the outcome will be, but how inspiring to see these everyday people taking to the streets to demand justice!! They need all of our thoughts and prayers!

Any ideas on what else we can do to help?

Rise Up!

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Al Jazeera put up a great time-line on the uprising in Tunisia.

I am so inspired by the way Tunisians have come together to overthrow the oppressive regime that has been in power for 30 years. I pray that they will be able to establish a peaceful and stable government soon. I know it will be a long road, but I hope that with the efforts of everyday citizens, there will be progress in Tunisia and conditions will improve for their people.

God bless the Tunisian people as they fight for their rights!

some people are a lot smarter than i am....

okay, a lot of people. but specifically, the girl who said the following at Church on Sunday sure knows something i don't. or that maybe i had just kind of forgotten....

If we knew we couldn't fail, what would we do?

well, darn! i don't know about you, but if if knew i couldn't fail i think i'd try a lot more things. and i would work a lot harder. i think i would take a lot more risks. and her point was... that's faith. not knowing that we can't fail, but trying anyway. believing that we can do things, even when they're hard or scary. i need to remember that, because i get scared a lot. i mean, yeah, i'm scared of the dark and stuff, but mostly i'm really afraid of failing at things that are important. things that mean a lot to me. and because of that fear sometimes i talk myself out of things. and i guess that's just as bad as failing, really.

interestingly enough, as i have been thinking about this the past couple of days, i ran across this blog post by a lovely woman i respect very much who has something to say about confidence and overcoming our fears (with the help of Maria from The Sound of Music). it's funny how once you start thinking about something it seems to turn up everywhere. i think Heaven Father knows that i need a lot of repetition before things really sink into this brain of mine. and hopefully i will start to get it.

whether it is something as simple as trying to learn to play the guitar or to show interest in someone new or if it's trying to stand up to the injustices i see in the world, i hope i will start to live in such a way that i don't make decisions based on the fear of what might happen i fail, but what if i succeed. because faith allows me to believe that i will always succeed when i am doing the right things, in the right way, at the right time. and even when i fail, because of the atonement, i will be okay. even better than okay. and i will probably learn a lot!

and i know i am slow and i won't become brave and faithful all at once.
but it is something to work towards.

"Fear not to do good my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward."
Doctrine and Covenants 6:33

Simple Pleasures

Cultural/inspirational/emotional movie night with Jess.

Playing the guitar in my room as though no one care hear me.

Going to Sam's Club for the first time solo. yeah, i'm pretty grown up.

Enjoying a hearty discussion about education. also the jargon of religion and how theists and atheists can communicate.

Having a good hair day, two days in a row. a miracle by all accounts.

Also, it's Friday. Hallelujah.

Peace.

Faithful

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sometimes I'm afraid that darkness and sorrow are growing more powerful every day. Sometimes I feel so utterly helpless that I want to give up hope. Sometimes I look at myself in the grand scheme of things and I am nothing but a speck--insignificant and unimportant; useless and small up against the terrors of the world. I am afraid that my weaknesses will make me incapable of being who I should be. I am afraid that even in my best moments I cannot begin to diminish the myriad of woes that beset humankind, that we inflict upon each other and the earth and other creatures. There are moments when I curse the world and can do nothing but cry and lament the dismal conditions I see around me. And there are reasons for lamentation: the old man on the corner in the cold, holding out his humble hands for anything a stranger might decide he is worthy to receive; the deaths of six people in a shooting down the street from my house in Tucson; the continual oppression of people in countries across the world, from Myanmar to Afghanistan to Zimbabwe; war and conflict abound in countless places; political rivalries are taken to extremes; and even those of us who are blessed with so much have personal struggles and pains and doubts.

But I know it is only weakness that makes me dwell on these things. It is not strength or love or hope or charity, but fear and pessimism--things that will never be noble; things that will never make the world a better place.

Listening to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speach," reading his words, and turning to the same inspiration he followed, the Savior, Jesus Christ, I know that there is hope. I know that even in those darkest moments--the "starless midnight[s]"--love and faith can prevail. Joy can be found in the most desolate corners of the earth and in the humblest homes. We are strong. Man is able to overcome so much. And in the end, it will not be the suffering and the sins of the world that will matter, but the moments of charity and unity and peace that shine forth in its midst. I know that if I am to keep hope, I must choose faith, and believe that "unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word." And that even the small difference that I can make matters.