Beach Haven

A short team paper on development issues with Windows Vista. I think our son Nate got stuck with this operating system when we got him a laptop for college. At the time that was the only OS pre-loaded on Windows machines, and we could't afford to pay for the licenses to replace it with something more reliable. Enjoy this trip down memory lane.

My wife and I have been working on a question. To keep up our Spanish-speaking skills we have been reading scriptures in that language together for many years. Over the past month or so we wrapped up the part of the Old Testament that covers the period of King David, King Solomon, and those that followed immediately after them when the kingdoms of Judah and Israel were divided. We were struck by the profound negative affect David had through his poor choices concerning Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. Despite these deeply sinful acts many of the later scriptures reprimand his descendants saying something along the lines of their heart was not right before God as His servant David all the days of his life. Of course, we were puzzled by this expression knowing his choice of adultery followed by deceit in trying to have Uriah spend time with Bathsheba so the resulting child would be thought to be Uriah’s. When that approach failed he had Uriah sent to the front lines where the battle was the hottest. The desired result was achieved. Uriah was killed, and David took the widow as another of his long line of wives.

These acts don’t sit well with the idea of David’s heart being 'right' before God. Then over the past few weeks in Come Follow Me we have been studying the life of the apostle Paul (originally Saul). Here again is another example of one who assisted in the stoning of Christians only to repent through miraculous means to become a great missionary to the gentiles. This leads to other examples such as Alma the elder and Alma the younger, as well as the sons of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. In a few future posts I’ll attempt to share just a few of the small insights conversations between my wife and I have brought about. Do good deeds and a repentant heart somehow counteract former grievous acts and attitudes? How does the Atonement apply under such stark circumstances? I doubt I have many answers, but maybe a simple thought or two.

While at church a few weeks ago I listened to the sacrament talks. They were about freedom and agency. It so happens that I have also been reading some sociological theory. In particular I read some writings of Herbert Marcuse. He argues society is ‘higher’ with more freedom, but his notion of freedom is troubling. He says choice between limited options (socially constructed options) is really not freedom. He also says evidence of ‘higher’ culture is when more diverse forms of sexuality are public, and publicly accepted.

It seems to me like Satan always argues down this path. He cries ‘No boundaries’ and suggests when boundaries are in place they are motivated by power (slave/master) relationships. Yet as I have written in the past, good and evil can be best understood (maybe only understood) by comparison with each other. To understand right from wrong a boundary is necessary.

Book of Mormon apostates inevitably refer to the gospel as a ‘foolish tradition’ or a tool for leaders to exercise power over others (see Alma 30 for example). Unfortunately there have been examples of power hungry religious and civic leaders throughout history willing to compromise ethics, but painting all leaders with this sort of brush is disingenuous at best. It’s another way Satan fights dirty. He inspires such action by some leaders then points to it as an excuse for other, just as bad, behavior.

One of the arguments Marcuse uses is that total freedom to choose any option is a must. If options are somehow limited than one is not really free to choose, only to choose from limited options filtered, or narrowed, by someone with power. The options, goes his position, are intended to control behavior to keep or increase power for those in charge of the options. For example capitalists narrow options to increase profits under the guise of efficiency. Yet if there were an infinite number of purchasing options from any company then the business of providing a commodity is not sustainable. The result would likely be business collapse causing even the limited number of options to be lost. A friend of mine recently read a paper about ketchup. Some stores offered a large number of ketchup options assuming it would cause an increase in ketchup purchases. Instead the study found overall purchases decreased. Once the ketchup options were limited sales increased. The understanding was lowering options helped people to make selections.

​Religion, Marcuse argues, inhibits sexual choice in order to repress people through feelings of guilt. I think straying from Heavenly Father’s description of the law of chastity is less about who or how people love, and more about the effect on family and, by extension, society. 

Memorial Day is when we remember those who died in the service of our country. This year, Michelle and I decided to use the three-day weekend to go sailing. We sailed on our boat from Solomons Island, MD to St. Michaels, MD, a distance of around 50 miles or so each way.

On the way there we had heavier than expected wind and swells. To make it more challenging we had to sail straight down wind. Contrary to what the uninitiated might think, straight down wind (referred to as running) is actually the most difficult point of sail. We got to the anchorage after a long day of sailing, dropped the hook, and had a nice dinner. About dark the winds picked up again and the water was choppy, even in the protected anchorage. About the time we were thinking of going to bed we noticed the anchor was not holding against the wind and waves. We were drifting out into the open waters of Eastern Bay. Michelle took over the helm and motor. I pulled up the anchor. In the dark we went through the process of anchoring all over again. By the time the work was done, and we sat at anchor long enough to have confidence in the hold, it was into the early hours of the morning. Thankfully the rest of that night was uneventful.

The next day was relaxing. We rode the water taxi into town for an enjoyable time together visiting the museum and food venues St. Michaels has to offer. Another water taxi ride back out to our boat finished the visit. Next, we pulled up anchor again. This time to motor into the harbor marina in order to refill our fuel tank in case the wind would not cooperate back to Solomons. Once again we went back out of the harbor and anchored for the third time in two days.

Unfortunately the peace did not last. Around 11pm that evening as we were comfortably dozing I was awoken to a noise I didn’t recognize. Looking everything over inside and out there seemed to be nothing wrong. I laid back down. Michelle was now awake too. Suddenly the calmness of the night changed to very blustery winds. A storm front had clearly arrived. We got up, looked at our relative position to the houses on the shore and other boats. We also watched our position on the GPS system. Thankfully the anchor was holding this time. We never did figure out what the original noise was that woke me up, but because we were awake when the storm blew in we were able to watch over our position. We didn’t hear that sound after the storm was over.

Despite our anchor holding we noticed another boat that was anchored up wind of us was slowly getting closer to us in the dark. The slowness of the movement meant the anchor was not loose, but was dragging. The boat showed only its anchor light, and it seemed like everyone on board was asleep. When it moved to a position alongside us it was close enough that I could have thrown a rock at it and hit it. Worried, we blew our horn several times until someone onboard stumbled to the open and asked if we were honking at them. We pointed out they were dragging anchor. For the next half-hour we watched them moving around in the dark, but ultimately they took no action to change the situation. They eventually drifted a little behind us. It seemed less likely they might bump into us, but we worried our respective anchors might entangle. The winds calmed and the night grew late again so we left them to their decision to take no action. We went to sleep.

We got up early the next morning to get a good start back. The dragging boat had continued to drag and was now further behind us. Luckily for them they were not grounded or close to another boat. Our trip home had the opposite weather than the first leg. The wind calmed a few short hours into the sail and we had to motor much of the trip home.

The experience caused me to think about the idea of watchfulness. On that first night, had we just gone to sleep we would likely have been woken up to the sounds of our boat grounding on the other side of the bay, or worse. On the second night, we were diligent in case a change was needed. Our neighbors were not. Even when it was clear they had moved more than 100 yards in the dark, they chose to take no action. I ask myself, do I take diligent action to ensure I stay anchored in truth? Do I warn others when I see them adrift and moving away from safety? If I drift, am I willing to do the work to reset my gospel anchor, or like those temporary neighbors we had in the anchorage, am I more likely to doze and hope for the best?

One other learning point. I have been a long time afloat before, but Michelle had never been more than on a day sail. She was worried when we wrestled with bad weather and with a loose anchorage. On our way home after mooring back at our home marina, she mentioned to me that having the difficulty instead of an easy sailing day was a good thing for her. She was able to see how we could actually handle the difficult situation even in bad weather and the dark of night. She said she feels more confident for potential future trips. Similarly, when we face life trials and learn to lean on Heavenly Father, we gain confidence (faith) in Him and our assurances from Him.
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