What I've been reading #17

Trinity College Library

As things are changing int he world of books right now I can't help but wonder what a future library will look like.  Nowadays we have large buildings with shelves and shelves of books.  One day we may have our libraries totally on the internet.  There already are many books online that are so old that they cannot be safely loaned from libraries, so when a person wants one of these books they go to the online libraries.  It may come a time when we will have books that are on our e-readers entirely and not on shelves in our homes.  Maybe like DVDs when we purchase a book it will come in paper and an e-copy will come with it so we can reader it either way we like.  While it is true that this area of our lives is changing right now, we undoubtedly will still have our favorite books that we want to feel solid in our hands and that have our markings, thoughts and underlinings in the margins.  Will the beautiful libraries we have now become museums some day?
Alma by H.B. Moore

After Abinadi's death in the first book of the series, a surprising convert from the Priests of King Noah leaves the city and starts a colony of those wishing to follow the one true God.  Alma defies the king and ends up fleeing repeatedly as first King Noah and then the head Priest keep trying to punish him for following God instead of King Noah.  Through it all they learn the lessons that have been repeated through all cultures:  When you follow God you are blessed and when you don't you are left on your own which leads to all kinds of additional troubles. 

Heather Moore has done a great job in both increasing the understanding and connections of the scriptures involved as well as filling in the daily life and human drama of a time that is both very different and very similar to our own.  In my opinion this book was even better than the first one.

Ranger's Apprentice: Book 6: The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan

John Flanagan does it again by putting together a nice story that appeals to the young people who read it.  Will continues from the previous book to have his first major adventure as a full-fledged Ranger.  Horace joins him to save the realm from a treacherous knight who takes over a castle only to sell it to some enemies of the nation and give them a foothold in the Araluen nation--which naturally would lead to extreme difficulties for the security of the surrounding towns and counties.
Will learns a variety of lessons about trickery and treachery as well as making things looking different than they are.  It is interesting that John Flanagan has started including is some swear words in this volume.  Possibly he figures as Will grows older that is more appropriate.  Despite the fact that by today's standards they are mild they are still totally unnecessary.  The interplay between the two young men is still gentle and enjoyable.  They still prize honor and treating others kindly according to what they deserve, and they still are learning about making tough decisions that are required of defenders of the realm.  I enjoyed the book and still find it a great series with the one exception of a handful of swear words.  Since Will is growing and maturing as well there is the introduction of romance in this volume as well.  Click here to see a bit more information in a short review.

Consequences: A Retrieval Artist Novel by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Kristine Rusch has done it again with another enjoyable read.  I was trying to guess why I am finding it so interesting to read stories about a "retrieval artist" on the moon.  I think I enjoy reading about humans living on the moon but that is only the back drop to the story of a person who investigates and finds people who have taken on a new identity to escape something in their previous life.   Why is that interesting?--possibly because it is so foreign and possibly because it differs so much from my own life.

At any rate Miles Flint again finds himself taking a case and then wondering if he should have rejected it.  When his case coincides with other things happening on the moon in the Armstrong Dome that criss cross his case, he finds himself being blamed for a murder that he most certainly did not commit.  He escapes to earth so that he can investigate and find out what is really going on. 

Seeing earth from the future was enjoyable in this book.  Just when you thought the book would need another 200 pages to wrap things up it came to an enjoyably quick conclusion.  Interesting reading. 

How To Be A Sister: A Love Story With a Twist of Autism by Eileen Garvin

This is a very honest and open look at what it was like for Ms. Garvin as she grew up with five siblings one of which had autism.  Few holds were barred as she described the embarrasment and anxiety as well as the love and caring that took place in their home.  Possibly with a saint for a mother and a balancing father their home was very much defined by her autistic sister.

It goes back and forth from their childhood experiences to more recent times where Ms. Garvin has a desire to have a sisterly relationship but keeps finding that autism gets in the way. Despite her best efforts she and her sister cannot have the normal relationship Ms. Garvin desires because autism will not allow it.  However; due to her repeated attempts and persistance they are able to have a sometimes fulfilling relationship. 

This book does an excellent job in opening up a family from another child's perspective and letting us see what growing up in that home is like.  The author does express things in ways that I find bothersome or offensive with swear words at times, however they always are used as an expression of negative emotions and though I do not express my negative emotions that way I found it clearly understandable that someone with different standards might choose to do so, consequently they did not deter me from the rich exploration into her own feelings about her sister and her family that has resulted. 

I recommend this book to any who want to see a way to acceptance of a sibling that doesn't meet the family norm and to know that others may not have always been at their best inside their families.  The feelings expressed here are powerful and caused me to pause and consider things in my own home. 



lasdkjflasdkjf

What I've been reading #15

Reading is a great relaxation for me.  I enjoy both fiction and non fiction.  In both cases they allow you to see and "experience" things that you haven't dealt with in your life and allow the insight that can come with that added experience.  This time I read a couple of non-fiction books.  Sometimes I just get tired of reading something made up and want to read something real.  However, I must admit that the best fiction comes from authors who make their characters into real people, or rather people that I can connect with and understand.  When that happens I think that then I can empathize with what is going on and maybe even feel some of the feelings that go along with it.  when that occurs then it is more than writing on paper but indeed an experience felt and remembered.

Extremes: A Retrieval Artist Novel by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

 

Well as you can see I was enjoying the Retrieval Artist series so much I wanted to read the next one right away.  This one is probably the best of the ones I've read so far.  Flint plays a good part but almost becomes a supporting character in this one as his previous partner comes to the fore.  It is enjoyable with a few surprises as you learn to think like a moon resident who lives in a dome.  A death at a marathon race on the moon may be just a first step in a science experiment.  If you like science fiction and mysteries and police procedurals I think you will like this.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

This book has a story I enjoyed a lot about a boy and his father entwined with another story that I didn't enjoy too much.  As far as entertainment it wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped.  As far as a treatise on fatherhood however it did give some accounts of both good and bad fathers that could be valuable.  To see more about this book click here to read my previous blog about this book.

Who's at the Door?: A Memoir of Me and the Missionaries by Dan Harrington

This was a very enjoyable book written by a Catholic man and his experience being taught by and being a friend to several sets of missionaries.  Dan Harrington is a journalist for a local newspaper when he gets the idea to learn about the missionaries.  In the process he gets intrigued by the religion and investigates honestly what the missionaries teach.  He is respectful and curious and reminds me of the King who is nearly converted by Paul int he New Testament.  Although you wonder if he will be converted and many Mormons will find his reasons for not being converted...yet to be odd, he nonetheless appears to give it real thought.  In the meantime he is kind and caring to many sets of missionaries who I am sure appreciated his realness as they dealt with so much unkindness from many as they endeavor to find those who want to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This book was both enjoyable and instructive as to what an investigator notices in the doctrine and when attending church.  Click here for another review of this book by author Danyelle Ferguson.

I am In Here: The Journey of a Child with Autism Who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice by Elizabeth M. Bonker and Virginia G. Breen

I enjoy reading books written by people who have had different experiences than I have.  This book is written by a woman who has two of her three children who have autism.  She focuses on her daughter who cannot speak despite the mother's and the child's desire to do so.  Instead the young girl finds the talent of writing poetry.  The girl with autism is in her early teens as the book is written but the insight that shows through in her poetry is unique for one so young.  Possibly her autism has given her a focus to see what many of us miss.  This was an enjoyable book to read to see the world in a way that I have not seen it.  Click here if you would like to read a review by a mother who has a child with autism. 

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

- Confucius

So you wanted a unique book shelf?

What I've been reading #13

This picture is of The Book of Life sculpture by artist David Krakov.  It is a metal sculpture.  At first I thought it was a burning book but instead it is 2,547 butterflies coming out of the book.  The pages are words from children survivors of the Chernobyl Disaster on 25 April 1986.  the sculpture is made in honor of Rabbi Yossi Raichik who is credited with saving 2, 547 children in that disaster.

Without knowing that story it could also represent the vibrant ideas and thoughts that come from reading good books.  Books can not only take us places and help us feel things that we never have imagined in life, but can also stimulate our thoughts in such a way to create new things in our minds and lives never imagined by the authors.  Books can have a power almost magical to entertain but also to fuel new and wonderful creations in the minds of the readers.

Now with such a great lead in I'm not sure that the books I have read this time rise too far above the entertainment level but we'll see.

The Retrival Artist by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

I read from a favorite author of mine, Orson Scott Card, that these books were really good so I thought I would try one.  I thought this one was the first one written and it is a short novel so I thought it would be an ideal one to start with.  It is NOT the first one but has served me quite well in introducing an interesting character and setting.  The first thing is what is a retrieval artist?  Why naturally it is someone who can find people who don't want to be found.  People who have disappeared.  The unique thing in the story line however is why did they disappear?  In this futuristic setting it is about a time when our world is one of several with life on them.  Humans of that time live on and interact with aliens on several different planets.  Different cultures intermingle despite some different beliefs and often very different ideas of what crime is and appropriate punishments for those crimes.  Often when humans break alien laws it is inadvertent and carries a death penalty.  Consequently quite a business in disappearing has risen with companies helping people to disappear so the aliens can't find them and provide their justice.  Needless to say there are times when those people must be found by other humans and that is what a retrieval artist does.  In essence a detective who finds those who never wish to be found.  This is a very interesting idea that deals head on with the ethical and moral concerns that would exist in this type of setting.  You may enjoy it.  I did!
The Disappeared by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

I enjoyed the first one so much that I read this one which is in reality the beginning of the series.  This is a full size novel that reveals the impetus for Miles Flint to become The Retrieval Artist.  Miles is a detective on the moon working for the local police force.  He begins to see things that ethically he cannot support but yet in his duty as a police officer he must enforce.  I am enjoying this series a lot and like how the author is willing to deal with the ethics in a thoughtful way.  Miles wants to help people who find themselves in unfair situations, but he finds that is easier said then done.   

Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn

I decided to follow up those two science fiction novels with a novel of political intrigue.  This novel is Vince Flynn's first novel written several years ago.  And to be honest I hope his books have gotten better.  The book was meant to be an action story that got bogged down in politics.  It started well adn ended well but got lost before finding its way at the end.  Some of the politicians find themselves acting like the worst of their lot.  While the military seems to have most of the honorable people in the story.  Some terrorists are able to take over the White House and just miss nabbing the President who escapes to a vault in basement with his Secret Service staff, that is meant to keep him safe.  How the White House is eventually taken and the terrorists are twarted is the main part of the story.It was just an okay story, lagged in the middle, had stupid profanity in excess but hey, the good guys ended up winning.

Ranger's Apprentice Book 4: The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan

Of course I had to continue the series my youngest daughter recommended to me.  Every time I go back to it after reading some adult books I think it will not be able to keep my interest and carry on the good and honorable lives of Will, Halt, Horace and Evanlyn.  But it always grabs me pretty quickly and I am happy to return to their adventures.  Will and Evanlyn continue their escape from the Skandians while Halt and Horace are traveling a long distance to find them and save them.  They meet up to find themselves in the middle of an invading force coming to conquer the Skandians.  I really like how the author takes the idealistic training of the boys in their apprenticeships and shows how they learn that reality often doesn't conform to what they were taught and so they must learn to implement honor and other values into the real world in ways that they didn't expect.  This series continues to be great, not just for boys who are looking for some action and intrigue but girls who may get a glimpse into a boys heart and mind.  Still good for young and old alike.  Highly recommended.

Something to consider:  “The poor and the affluent are not communicating because they do not have the same words. When we talk of the millions who are culturally deprived, we refer not to those who do not have access to good libraries and bookstores, or to museums and centers for the performing arts, but those deprived of the words with which everything else is built, the words that open doors. Children without words are licked before they start. The legion of the young wordless in urban and rural slums, eight to ten years old, do not know the meaning of hundreds of words which most middle-class people assume to be familiar to much younger children. Most of them have never seen their parents read a book or a magazine, or heard words used in other than rudimentary ways related to physical needs and functions. Thus is cultural fallout caused, the vicious circle of ignorance and poverty reinforced and perpetuated. Children deprived of words become school dropouts; dropouts deprived of hope behave delinquently. Amateur censors blame delinquency on reading immoral books and magazines, when in fact, the inability to read anything is the basic trouble.” Peter S. Jennison

It occurs to me that a person who is able to read and chooses to read material that is harmful or desensitizing risks being not only equally uninformed and without hope as those who can't read.  Thus making many of the same mistakes in living their lives as those who can't read.   

What I've been reading #9

This is a pro reading zone. 

Out of the Black by Lee Doty

This is truly a unique book in my experience.  To even decide which genre it is is a little dicey.  To look at the picture on the book you might think that it was definitely Science Fiction, which is a contributing genre, however; it probably is the biggest part Fantasy.  In addition to the Science Fiction, Horror, Martial Arts and Detective genre's it has a little bit of chaste romance in it and action throughout.  The story includes humans a few years in the future as well as a race of people whose lives are lengthened because of their participation in something that maybe we can only call magic.  The story teams up some humans and wizards to fight against evil that is attacking our world through drugs that in essence change humans into demons.  There is lots of blood and guts in this story, but through it all a group tries to do the right things for the right reasons.  Lee Doty is an LDS author and this is his first book.  I would say if you want a mind numbing action fantasy book that makes you feel good in the end, that this is the book for you. 

Escape From the World Trade Center by Leslie Haskin

Leslie Haskin started out as a very successful financial play maker on the 35th floor and ended up a minister due to her ordeal at the World Trade Center.  An ordeal it was.  She intersperses her renewed religious insights along the way with some scripture (some of which is very well chosen) which emphasizes her points.  From the initial shock to the confusion and initial inaction after escaping the building to the total disbelief when the buildings collapsed.  It helps you get a feel for what the experience is like.  And although the reading of it will not cause PTSD the living through it clearly did for her and many hundreds of others.  A brief but enlightening read. 

Long After Dark by Todd Robert Petersen

I read about this book, a variety of short stories about the Mormon experience, on another blog and it was available for a nice price for Kindle so I thought I would give it a try.  I wasn't very far into it before I was reading from it to my wife and it brought tears to my eyes.  Sometimes unexpected, other times hoped for, it is a very thought provoking book that attempts to include Mormon experience from various parts of the world.  The stories range in length from very short, a page or so, to the last story that is a novella and takes up about 40% of the book or so.  Many of the stories are very insightful and a couple others didn't do a lot for me--but that is often the nature of books of short stories.  At any rate I highly recommend this book.  But you must be warned about the novella at the end of the book.  I started reading it and was amazed how different than the other stories it was.  I wondered if I should stop reading, how could this same author write this.  I didn't think that the author who had written the other one's, some spiritually uplifting, could write this, but he sure did.  I persevered having trusted him from the short stories and let me just say that the cognitive doubting is part of the point of the story and you will be happily surprised at how it leads to a very satisfying and thought provoking story.  This book was a really great read, I enjoyed it so much that I bought a novel he had available as well and will be reading it next. 

The Rift by Todd Robert Petersen

About half way through reading Long After Dark, I wanted to get something else by this author and went right into this book after completing the last.  This was a very interesting book.  At first I thought it was going to be a book about an elderly man and his wife living in a small largely Mormon town, but then his wife died.  The main character is a very interesting fellow.  He had a small part in one of the short stories in the previous book I read.  He is retired and lives his life doing things around his property that need doing, but he also makes it a point almost daily to help some of the people in town that he recognizes need helping.  He is LDS and his help isn't limited only to those that are members of the church.  He is an excellent example of charity as he sees what needs done and does it.  This includes physical outside labor and support and encouragement as well.  One thing though, is that he has a feud with the current Bishop.  That leads to some interesting moments, especially after the Bishop's daughter returns to town after running off.  A very enjoyable look at a man's life who seems to be determined to do what is right by his reckoning no matter who gets in the way, even the Bishop. 

Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.John Locke

What I've been reading #5

Elisha's Bones by Don Hoesel:

Elisha's bones is like reading a lost story of Indiana Jones.  Archeology is the path to some excitement and in this case into gaining some unexpected faith in God along the way.  A fun story to read and one that moves along at a fair clip to keep you engaged.  In Indiana Jones fashion it has you visiting several countries and going down several dank and dusty corridors before you find what you are looking for.  It is a fun entertaining book to read. 

Once again I am reading one of Orson Scott Cards Intergalactic Medicine Show on line magazines.  Not all of them are available on Kindle but this was the next one available.  Like I did last time i will write about each short story contained in the kindle addition. 

Vanishing by Peter S. Beagle

This is a story about a man who had a traumatic experience when he served in the military when the wall existed separating East and West Germany.  He inexplicably finds himself back there with only three other people, a Russian soldier, a German woman and her now adult son.  What ties them together is the woman and how all three had a part in her life.  Interesting healing story of men who carried around guilt and fear for most of their lives.  

The Sin Hypothesis by E.A. Lustig

This was an interesting story about a young woman who wonders what happens to the sins when a person is baptized.  She concludes that the sins are released into the water.  So she decides to test the hypothesis and how she tests that hypothesis is a unique story which could lead to some interesting thinking.  

Tekkai Exhales His Avatar by Tony Pi

In a world where people can connect to the web through avatars and live in it, a group of immortals have become the enemy of the government.  The government has one in prison and offers him release if he will help to catch another.  In the attempt the imprisoned immortal chooses 20 more years of imprisonment rather than to allow the government to kill AIs which have developed from the web.  

The Urn of Revalos by Rebecca Day

A young man was taken and is now a very low ranking sailor on a pirate ship.  When their ship is hired to transport the Urn and two mages his mage past becomes apparent and what results forces him to choose between being a sailor or a mage.  A fun little read that could make an interesting book.

The Man in the Tree by Orson Scott Card

A disappointing story about a family that goes for vacation to the same place under a tree that has bark on it in the shape of a man.  That night the oldest daughter and father see a man/boy come out of the tree.  Not too exciting and I seem to have missed the point but as usual it was well written by Orson Scott Card.  

Free Seas by David Lubar

A very short story about two teens who sneak on what they think is a cruise ship to find out they need to look twice before boarding. 

InterGalactic Interview with Tanith Lee

A so-so interview with a fantasy writer or many books.  I've never read anything by he,r although I've seen her books around, so I guess I wasn't too interested

The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

This is an interesting book about a 13 year old boy that grows up in a society of Mages but is thought to be without any powers of his own.  This Mage society is in our world of the present time but they have minimal interactions with humans.  The boy learns that he does indeed have unique powers and as he learns to use them and matures as a person and begins to choose his behaviors instead of doing what he has seen around him he starts to develop into something great.  The book was enjoyable for the most part but does have the occasional swear word that OSC uses to delineate the character of the person or to show the immaturity of the person.  As usual OSC pulls you into the various characters life until you begin to care about them.  There are the occasional 13 year old bodily function humor as well.  This could easily have been a YA novel with a few minor changes. 

Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton

I really enjoyed the book and found it to be inspiring.  Honestly I enjoyed the movie better but found the book to be a great companion for the movie.  for one thing you can see which things actually happened and how they happened and which things were changed or put into the movie to make it more cinematically pleasing.  The story comes out even stronger about how her faith has helped her through a very difficult time in her life.  Her family is clearly a great support to her as well.  Finally surfing is really her preferred activity over almost everything else.  One part I enjoyed especially was a section at the end about how she wanted the movie to represent them very well and especially to represent her Christian beliefs well.  She expressed some concerns about modest in the movie as well as being as accurate as possible.  Bethany Hamilton comes across as a reluctant celebrity.  She is willing to do it to represent her Savior but not for herself.  I recommend this book. 

Reading is a great way to get relaxation and to learn and be inspired.  Movies and T.V. are more hit and miss, mostly miss so don't put all your eggs into the visual entertainment, let a book create a world in you mind so that you can see it more clearly. 

What I've been reading.

I have been doing a good bit of reading lately.  Over the last few years I have had some responsibilities that kept me from doing much pleasure reading and consequently it is very enjoyable now to have the time to read for enjoyment.  I will comment on the following books so you can get an idea what I have been reading and maybe you will see something that would be interest top you. 

If you click on the books below it will take you to the Amazon.com page that gives more details about them.



Hilary contacted me this last year and ask if I had heard of these books: The Hunger Games and the two sequels which are written to the YA (Young Adult) audience (I must point out here that what the YA books seem to do is have young characters in their teens who are dealing with or at least thinking and reacting beyond their years in some aspects--similar to the Harry Potter books).  She said that they were a big deal at BYU and she had heard what great reads they were.  I was getting the first one for her younger sister and was glad to hear that they were enjoyable.  I had heard from Mallory in our ward that these books were great and her mother had read them as well and agreed they were very enjoyable.  I had seen them around and read some reviews on them.

They are about a dystopian (the opposite of Utopian) society where the central government has a yearly contest to the death where each province provides 2 youths each to be involved in a 'to the death' fight with only one victor surviving.  The reason for the yearly contest (mandatory viewing on T.V. for all the citizens by the way) is to remind them of their subservience to the government.  Needless to say one young woman, Katniss, ends up in the games who has a conscience and begins to see that things in the government aren't as they appeared to her when she was just a simple peasant. Combine that with a mild romance (a la the Twilight Saga in that it is chaste) it appeals to many people.   The writing though is what really makes this great. 

Before I read the book I was concerned about the idea of a game where people had to kill each other with only one victor.  That story line is handled as well as I can imagine and from Katniss' view (the main character) she has some unique views of what is going around her as well as unique (for her society) ways of responding.  Suzanne Collins is able to write about various things that come up in the story in a way that avoids the disturbing traps that other writers fall into that turn away those who want a great story and not a bunch of sex and/or perversion. She does an excellent job of developing the characters such that you can see parts of yourself in them as well as parts of what you wish you were in them.  I've enjoyed the first two books and look forward to the last one in the trilogy. 



Orson Scott Card must be my favorite author.  That being said this book, Space Boy, is not one of his better books in my opinion.  This is more of a novelette.  It seems it might be written to teach a particular thing--something like a fairy tale.  The lesson from it might be that we should do the thing in our life that we were born to do, and that children can save adults even though they are young.  I didn't enjoy it particularly and don't really recommend it.  Instead I suggest you read some of his other books.



Clear as the Moon is the final book in a the 6 book "Great and Terrible" series.  It is a Christian book in that the many of the main characters are believers in Christ and sometimes that becomes a main point.  It is not exactly an end of the world series but might be described as a Satanic attempt to control the world series that is averted by good people including Christians.

Chris Stewart writes books of military fighting and wars for a general audience and has had a lot of success in that realm.  This series is his first to be put out by Shadow Mountain a part of Deseret Book and is a very enjoyably inspiring and realistic view of a possible future. 

This series starts prior to the creation of the world in a place called "the pre-existance" and carries the battle's between Satan and his followers versus Christ and his followers of that time into our present day and a couple years into the future.  It has scenes of military operations but centers more on one particular family and how their efforts to do what is right help to save the United Stated from the evil that threatens to take it over.  It is an excellent end to that series and was worth the wait I had so I could spend the time and effort to read it.  If you read it be prepared to feel excitement, come to tears and a variety of emotions in between. 


The Second Ship is what I call an "Area 51" novel of alien ships found on the earth. That is to say it is a novel about an alien ship that has come to the earth and of course it is in New Mexico (for some reason that is the preferred landing place of aliens small and large).  It seems to be a YA book for the first half as we follow teenagers who accidentally find an alien ship and explore it only to find that the technology is enhancing their natural abilities.  The writing is not that great, nor is anything about it but it was adequate...until in the middle it brought in some adults who take it out of the realm of YA into the realm of creepy horror gross perverted stuff that I didn't want to read so I stopped reading it and deleted it from my Kindle. 


 
Harvest: Memoir of a Mormon Missionary is an interesting and odd book.  It does not fit the expected genre.  I picked it up to read about a missionaries experiences in Russia.  It fulfilled that well but included an unexpected confessional of the missionary who struggled with various personal weaknesses.  In polite company we would just simply call these 'struggles' but in reality this missionary laid bare some disturbing thoughts and behaviors.  The response of the mission president is sometimes curious while the parents respond as one would expect.  After going through his struggles in extreme detail it rushes to the end showing the victory of the young man over his weaknesses.

This is not an inspirational book, at least not in the traditional sense.  I was expecting it to be more traditional in that regard.  It is however a good book that deals with the nitty gritty of a mission and the temptations that a young man may deal with while serving if he isn't careful about obeying the rules.

I don't think this book would be a good one for young men planning on a mission to read.  However it might be good for parents and probably most definitely for Mission Presidents to read to see what some of their missionaries may be dealing with. 

Don't read this if you are looking for inspiration, but do read it if you want to read the nitty gritty of a mission that you might not read any where else.

So that is the good and the bad and the ugly of what I have been reading lately.  Enjoy.  If you have any books that you think I should consider reading let me know.

Why don't they leave out the side-effects?

I was talking with a young man in my office.  He is in his twenties and on medication.  He was complaining about the side-effects of the medication.  He wanted to know why didn't they leave the side-effects out of the medication.  "Why did they put those in?"  He wondered if they were putting the side-effects in the medicine so they could control him or maybe so that they could make him die sooner.  In this case "they" was the government who was giving him money on a monthly basis due to disability.  He figured if he died sooner then the government wouldn't have to pay him so long.  "Why don't they help me find a job I can do instead of put side-effects in my medicine so that I won't draw social security so long?  Then I could work and not have to draw money from the government." 

I tried to explain that medications were made in this case to compensate for a deficiency in certain chemical levels that he had.  The symptoms of the low chemical levels were what brought him to us and the medicine was trying to compensate for that.  If the medicine is successful then the symptoms will lesson or possibly dissipate. 

He was unimpressed and wanted to know why they put in the side-effects.

I explained they made the medication to combat the symptoms and the side-effects were unintentional results that they didn't know would happen or they didn't know yet how to make the medicine so it would work without having those unintentional results. 

Still he was unimpressed.  He seemed not to understand what side-effects meant or maybe he was purposely being a pain in the goiter. 

I was starting to get irritated and that is very rare for me in this setting.  Then it dawned on me what he was really saying.  Sure he doesn't like the side-effects but even more he doesn't like to have to take the medication.  He knows, however; that if he stops taking the medication he will have consequences he likes even less. 

So I started talking about the disappointment he felt in having to take medications.  How it made him feel different than others his age and why it was worth it for him to take the medicine anyway.  Now we were talking about the same thing and we had a good meaningful conversation that may have been helpful to him.

It occurs to me that in life we have a variety of side-effects to things.  Mostly we use the term side-effects to refer to something we didn't expect.  Sometimes we use the phrase to refer to consequences that were going to happen but we didn't know it.  Either way we are often surprised in life by what happens.  Even when our intentions are the best we can be deeply surprised at what results.   

Once I went to the doctor with some ailment.  He prescribed medication.  I had side-effects that I didn't like and would find it very hard to function with.  So he gave me another medicine to cure the side-effect.  Ultimately when all was said and done I decided that I could manage the original ailment better than the risk of side-effects. 

And that is the thing we must weigh in life.  If I do this for the purpose of having this result will I be happy with the consequences or the side-effects?  I may well get the desired result but I may not be too pleased with other side-effects.  We like to know what is going to happen so we can make an informed choice but most often we only know in part and sometimes even that "knowledge" is based on faulty reasoning and we find all kinds of things happening that we didn't expect.

Sometimes in Science Fiction or fantasy stories they approach the question what would happen if we could go back in time and we purposely or inadvertently changed something.  What would happen.  There are lots of good stories about that idea, one of my favorites is Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card.  You might want to try it if you like thought provoking Science Fiction.

Each day we are creating history in our daily lives.  We are determining some of the future now.  And that future will eventually become history.  We need to carefully choose now so that we can stand by what we do regardless of the results or the side-effects and then once again we must take responsibility when things go awry. 

As in the case of medications the side-effects can sometimes be good.  I am aware of a medication that is prescribed at least as often due to the side-effect as it is due to it's initially created intended effect.

Will we live our life and do the best we can and then recognize the good that will come and then correctly evaluate the side-effects or do we think that life should be totally predictable--no side effects added?  I enjoy the opportunities and challenges that come by the unexpected (uh... much of the time).  I hope I can be as positive when things don't turn out in a way that appears desirable. 

What about you?  Do you need to have things work your way to find the joy in life or are you able to find the joy and challenge of the unexpected "side-effects"?