Finding Your Voice

Our current leadership has decided to bribe the public with the public's money. They promise aid using other peoples money. If the government insists on spending more than it takes in (notice I didn't say earn), then it has only a handful of choices. Either it can borrow money from foreign sources, or it can print more money. A third way it can raise additional funds without raising the taxes on the majority of the population is to leverage the tax structure so that a productive minority pays the lion's share of the taxes.

Ever since the progressive income tax was introduced by FDR, we have had leaders push to increase the burden on the few. There is now an extraordinary burden placed on those that are the most productive. Why? Because they can afford it.

But all this is old news. Tonight I want to talk a bit about finding your voice. You see, I don't know what I'm supposed to say in these blogs. I'm not sure why I'm writing, but I do know that it is important to be writing. I spent a lot of time thinking over the weekend about my life and the purpose behind my endeavors. I'd like to share with you a few of the preliminary conclusions I came to.

I believe that my life has a purpose. I believe that God has a vested interest in my endeavors. I believe that while life may be confusing, painful, and sometimes dull, it is always worth it. As long as human beings breathe, they retain the power to act and be acted upon. While I do not always make the best choices, I believe in choosing strongly. By that, I mean that I believe that however we live, we should throw ourselves into it.

The last couple of years have been a tremendous time in my life. I've moved several times, graduated from college, gotten married, learned to love a wonderful woman, and learned to love a wonderful God. That's a lot of living in a short amount of time. Sometimes I feel wrung dry. One of my most recent lessons is that while the gospel tends to wear us out, it also provides the means to recharge the batteries. So many LDS people try and live all the obligations of the gospel while holding the joy at arm's length. Don't do this. "Men are that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25)

Something that my wife said to me the other day has tickled under the surface of my brain for the past few days. All the best ideas do that. She mentioned that I had shown her to find joy in life. That made me feel good. It also made me think. You see, sometimes writing is hard. It is often frustrating. But it has some redeeming qualities. First, it helps me order my thoughts. It refines my thinking and helps me to reinforce the why of what I'm thinking. Second, when I succeed in writing something worthwhile, it endures. Nephi lamented that his writing was weak, and could not convey the same power as the spoken word of a man moved by the Holy Ghost. I think that perhaps he overlooked a strength of his writing. It has power to reach the hearts of men long after the speaker has moved beyond this life: "And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men." (2 Nephi 33:1)

I will do my best to find my voice. I will continue to write. I do not yet know the purpose of this, but believe that God can find a way to turn my meager efforts to the good. Will you seek your own voice? Will you join me in living both the joy and the obligations the gospel?