High Adventure

I've had an extremely eventful few weeks. I crossed one of the top items off my list of things I want to do before I die by throwing my fragile body out of a perfectly good airplane (along with some cousins and close friends) at an altitude of 13000 feet. I helped to cater a post-wedding dinner for my older brother and met my new (and first) sister-in-law. For the last five days I've been camping and hiking and building sand castles next to a mountain lake with my extended family - a party of about 30 or 40 people. Today or tomorrow some of my cousins and my family are headed out to Starvation Reservoir to do some boating, tubing, and water skiing. If I ever have to point out a two week period of my life that's been filled with adventure, I don't doubt that this one will be high on my list of times to consider.

My conclusion after all of this excitement is that I have the most enjoyment and satisfaction when I'm doing things with my immediate and extended family. I get a bigger thrill out of being with them than I do from plummeting to the ground at a rate of 120 miles an hour. I gain more satisfaction from them than I do from breathtaking views and serene landscapes. They are the highlights of my life. Our traditions (of which we have many and yet are forming more) approach sacredness within my heart - particularly the ones that call us all together. I am the richest of men because I am often blessed with the company of many people who I love deeply and who return that love. I am even more blessed to know and understand that these relations are eternal, and that not even death can permanently erase them because of the power provided through the love and heroic sacrifices of our Lord, Jesus Christ. To Him and to His Father - and our Father - goes my deepest gratitude and love. They ever have been and ever shall be the willing way to joy and peace within this life and throughout the next. Because the Godhead has all power, and all knowledge, and fullest love I have no fear that in the end all will be well for all who follow their perfect Plan of Salvation. I marvel that this is true, but I know that it is.

-Schlange

मिलाग्रो - AKA Milagros AKA Milagros

Post 25

मिलाग्रो is a Hindi word for "Milagros" which is an English word for the Spanish word Milagros literally meaning "miracle" or "surprise." According to Wikipedia (yes I know, "never cite Wikipedia as a source"... but I'm lazy and not in the mood for extra research - if you're really that interested in source correctness go follow the references Wikipedia lists) Milagros are offerings made of various materials carved into one of many shapes and sizes and offered at alters to help focus a prayer toward the reason for the prayer - healing of a body part, romance, travel, whatever you feel like, and is carved in a way that represents the focus... a leg for a broken leg or traveling or a heart for romance or... um... heart disease? मिलाग्रो is displayed here in the mangal typeface of Microsoft Word, and is how it was displayed to me when I looked up Milagros using some translative device from Google that also mentioned that Milagros appeared in other languages and listed samples... such as मिलाग्रो. I learned that mangal was the typeface when I was curious as to whether I could copy मिलाग्रो into my text editor. मिलाग्रो looks nice, and that's probably why I'm posting. Wikipedia lists the following in response to a search for mangal (I was looking because I figured Mangal was a language and I wanted to know who it belongs to):

Mangal may refer to:
Mangal, a Turkish way of
barbecuing
Mangrove swamp, woody
trees or shrubs that grow in coastal habitats
Mangal
(Мангал), a Bulgarian word meaning gypsy (but with a racist connotation)
Mangal Pandey, a sepoy (soldier) in the
34th Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry of the British East India Company
In an Indian context, mangal (मंगल) means "good auspicious"; it also refers
to a Mangal
Font for the devanāgarī script used for Indian languages [note that
mangle (मंगल) is typed in the Mangle typeface =D]
Mangal
is a typeface in Windows XP
Mangal, a Pashtun
tribe
Mangal,
an Afghan singer
Gulab Mangal, an Afghan
politician
Mangal,
Afghanistan

In short, mangal must mean anything and everything. Use it as a place holder the next time you can't think of the word you're looking for: "I was looking at that famous painting by... uh... Mangal...." or "I need an um... a mangle... " or "Oh... I left your priceless diamond ring over at... whatchaMangle's house" or "You are soooo.... *logical gap*... mangle..."

Oh... I ought to tell you where this whole research project came from: Some Mexican guys where my sister works started referring to her as Milagros or if not that, something else that sounded like it.

Now that I've figured all this out I'm turning in. By the way, if you are looking for some cool symbol to represent your name you can either do what Schmetterling and I did and super impose the letters of your name over each other, or you can be lazy and just type your name into word using the Mangle type face.

*a few moments later*

Doh! no you can't. I just tried to type Schlange in mangal and it came out in the English alphabet. Sad. Oh well. G'night.

-Schlange

Appendix for “Inviting Yet Fruitless”

(post 15.A)

I've linked this post to my last post. If you haven't read it yet this one won't make any sense. It's likely more enjoyable reading anyways, so go there now. I originally wrote what follows underneath the original post but then decided I'd prefer to keep them separate. This accounts for all the references to "this post." I was too lazy to fix the wording. If you want to, you can pretend that this post is at the end of the last post.

~

I've decided to append a little something to this post for the following reason: I have a good friend, Schmetterling, who told me he has linked this post to one of his posts. He told me a little about it, but I haven't read it yet. I don't intent to read it until this is written because I'd like to sum up the deeper feelings I was having when I wrote the above post BEFORE I read what someone else says that I was saying. "Get it? Got it. Good."

This little pastry story really sums up my feelings about most things in life. There are a lot of things in this universe that look incredibly good. Some of them "taste" just like they look. Others are hollow. Some are filled with poison. Sadly it can often be difficult to differentiate between the three, especially when just looking on their outward appearances. (Note: in my original post I said that sin is like a hollow pastry - at this point I'm making a redefinition. "Hollow" means lacking in substance and "poisoned" means dangerous to the body, mind or spirit. I suppose that both of those conditions could exist in the same pastry at the same time.) Now, I'll be the first to admit that I eat copious amounts of hollow pastries - and half the time this blog may be fairly hollow, for which I am truly sorry - but I really do believe that we all need things of substance to survive in this world or to gain any semblance of joy. Hollow things -pastries that is - consume time and resources. Feasting on them and them alone leads to malnutrition.

Consider Isaiah 25:6

“And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.”

God wants us to have (infact, he wants to GIVE to us) things of substance: fat things, things full of marrow, and I told you before – His magnificently crafted grapes. (if you aren't yet sold on the grapes, just ask Schmetterling. He'll set you straight.)

Now consider Isaiah 24:16

"From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”

Besides the bolded bit there sounding like it could be an awesome start to a classic piece of poetry, it's got me thinking about the peddlers of the world selling us that which is without substance. We waste away for lack of nourishment, and we pay for the privilege! Enter Isaiah 55:2

“Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”

It's all about getting fat my friends. "Eat that which is good." Stop paying physical and spritual curency (including resources like time or talents; and "bread" we already have, like peace of mind or joy) for that which isn't meeting needs. In media, and activities, and everything else in life we ought to be seeking substance for ourselves and offering substance to others. Whatever we choose to do, we had better get substance out of it, and when we find that what we are investing our "money" or "labour" in isn't yielding substance or satisfaction, then maybe it's time to look for new stocks. At least, that's what I had better do, and if I don't then I may find myself going to the same tables over and over just to find that the proffered pastries still deliver absolutely nothing that I'm looking for.

-Schlange

Something that is a part of this topic, yet that is apart from it is the concept of Becoming Something. I really want discuss that at a later date and when I do I'll create a hyper link here.

If you're interested, here is a talk by Elder Oaks (an apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) that speaks about getting the best out of the good things in life:

Good, Better, Best (Ensign, Nov 2007, 104–8)

Gordon B. Hinkley

(Post 6)

Copied from my journal, 1/27/2008

"President Hinckley [of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints] died 2 hours ago at 7:00 PM in his home in Salt Lake City. I loved that man. More than that I know by the power of the Holy Ghost, and also know now, that he was and is a prophet of God. I know that the succession of the prophetic mantel will proceed in the way that the Lord has set. All will be well, though we grieve and morn for the loss of the man who has led us for the last decade."

Schmetterling said something worth reading about the passing of this prophet.

A New Beginning

(Post 1)

Ah ha! (as in Ah ha! You found my blog, and this is it's first entry, and that's really worth something... especially if you are well acquainted with A. A. Milne, the well renowned creator of the well loved Winnie The Pooh.)

So here I am, Schlange A. Taube, the well unknown creator of this blog: Wise Yet Harmless. "Why wise?" you may ask, "And when is wisdom harmful?" and better yet, "How can we know that S. A. Taube can be described by either adjective?" These are all excellent questions.

I refer you to Matthew 10:16 in the Holy Bible:

16 Behold, I send you forth as ^asheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore ^bwise as serpents, and ^charmless as doves.

And there you have it. An admonition from Christ to be both WISE and HARMLESS. I suppose that wisdom might be cleverness and carefulness, perhaps calculating. In the context of the verse and chapter wisdom might be a type of cunning which saves us from those who are out to get us. The admonition then, is to out maneuver you foes without having malicious intent or laying traps. Later in the chapter an example of true wisdom in both this and the conventional sense is given:

19 But when they deliver you up, ^atake no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall ^bspeak.

20 For it is not ye that speak, but the ^aSpirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

For the physically persecuted the challenge was to get along as best they could, and when they were delivered for judgment to say the things God placed in their hearts and to trust that He would take care of things in his own way and time. Really this was an admonition to trust the timing of God in making things right. He could take care of things immediately or in the far distant future; perhaps even after the suffering or death of the wronged. The trick was to trust that things would work out right in the end and then to give credit to God for the things He accomplished using individuals.

The idea is the same for us. Trust God. Do your best, be obedient, and when you are caught in a snare trust God. He'll take care of things.

So, I suppose what I want in my blog is this: I want to encourage peaceable wisdom. That doesn't necessarily mean I have any, I just want to encourage it.

Note, however, that this blog isn't going to be about religion or morals or tips for success - though some of those things may appear. If that's what you're looking for I suggest you go to the scriptures - the prophets know what they are talking about. This blog is really for me to babble about anything that's on my mind. It's a place to keep my soul, not the deepest or most sacred parts, but the fringes... the things that float to the conscious surface of my being. My goal in naming this soul keeper "Wise Yet Harmless" is really to keep that maxim in the forefront of my mind as I write, and as you read. Much of what you read may not really be wise at all. Some of what you read may be potentially hazardous. In the end though, I hope that what is accomplished is a drawing of both the writer and reader to searching for harmless wisdom.

Happy thinking,

-Schlange