So, I was talking to a friend the other day, and she told me that there's this expensive restaurant (in LA?) where you eat in the dark. It's all finger foods so you don't have to try to use utensils in the dark. And you can't talk. And it's WAY expensive. ...why? You may ask. Because the food tastes amazing. Most especially so because it's in the dark. The thing is that when you close down one sense, the others become more acute. Thus, by shutting down sight (you can't even see your hand in front of your face there) and minimizing hearing, your sense of taste is magnified. (I think that's why people close their eyes when they kiss) Plus, there's nothing to distract you, so you concentrate on tasting your food, instead of the conversation or a zillion thoughts in your head.
And I realized that I hardly ever think about tasting my food. Really enjoying it. If I'm like eating breakfast alone, I'm usually reading at the same time. Lunch is on the run--not thinking about tasting my food, thinking about inhaling it so that I can do something else. Dinner is with the family--thinking about the conversation. So I never concentrate on tasting.
My friend also pointed out that when you are focused on something else while eating, your brain never receives the "I'm full" message. Which is why you can eat so many ______ while watching t.v. or doing your homework. You never feel full because you were never telling your brain that you were eating in the first place. So in addition to being a full flavor experience, tasting your food is also more healthy. Cool, huh?
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Born In the Covenant Syndrome (B.I.C.S.)
Toward the end of my mission, I came up with this theory that most kids who grow up in the church are in a similar state of sickness that I dubbed BICS.
It's like this: Although you may be showing forth the correct "works," you still have not developed "faith". Faith, for these purposes, is defined as a confidence in Jesus Christ that leads a person to obey him. People with BICS aren't obeying out of confidence/trust/love for Jesus Christ. They're obeying for a variety of other reasons...parental pressure, tradition, strict conscience, etc. But they never stop to question themselves as to if they really have faith. So when they find themselves in new circumstances (bad group of friends, leave for college, death in the family, etc.), they can't sit on the fence anymore, and either choose to draw closer to Christ or they drift away. Without opposition, they could potentially remain a luke-warm Mormon for their whole lives.
The reality is, I think very few teenagers have developed real faith. At least, I know I didn't. I remember going to EFY as a 15 year old, and my counselor had us write down our feelings about Jesus Christ. I was dumb-founded. Feelings? I didn't have any feelings toward him. He was an abstract figure that I knew was very important. If she had asked what I knew about Jesus Christ, I could write a whole essay. But feelings...no. The truth was, I liked being a member of the Church. I was "strong." I kept the standards. I liked learning about things like the Second Coming, emergency preparedness, patriarchal blessings, and so-called deep doctrine. I focused on the outermost branches instead of the actual roots of the gospel. And I actually didn't get to the roots until my mission. If I hadn't gone, I don't know if I would have ever gotten to them. I thought the basics were boring. When I got to the MTC I had a major reality check and had to start at the beginning, with faith in Jesus Christ. Nothing means anything without it. You can't just teach the standards and desired behaviors without the WHY. Jesus is why. It all begins with him and the Plan of Salvation.
I talked with an Elder about this, and he had his own little theory. He said that because we've been going to Sunday School for years and have been taught so much, we have a huge knowledge level. Our conscience grows according to our knowledge level. (The more you know you're supposed to do and not supposed to do, the more guilty you feel, the more you obey out of fear of guilt). But our faith level is very small, until trials and other things cause us to develop it.
And that just made sense to me. That's what I went through. Now I'm in the process of getting my faith level up to my knowledge level. And it's one principle at a time. Gain a testimony of fasting (I "know" it works, but do I actually have faith that my fasting will work?), of prayer, of repentance and the atonement, etc. etc. etc. Now I'm going brick by brick and gaining faith in the individual parts of the gospel, through personal experience. It's not just about knowing that the Church is true as a whole and then doing what I'm supposed to without further thought. It's about personal experiences with the Spirit that take your faith to the next level. And since there is no end to knowledge in the gospel, this process is eternal.
It's like this: Although you may be showing forth the correct "works," you still have not developed "faith". Faith, for these purposes, is defined as a confidence in Jesus Christ that leads a person to obey him. People with BICS aren't obeying out of confidence/trust/love for Jesus Christ. They're obeying for a variety of other reasons...parental pressure, tradition, strict conscience, etc. But they never stop to question themselves as to if they really have faith. So when they find themselves in new circumstances (bad group of friends, leave for college, death in the family, etc.), they can't sit on the fence anymore, and either choose to draw closer to Christ or they drift away. Without opposition, they could potentially remain a luke-warm Mormon for their whole lives.
The reality is, I think very few teenagers have developed real faith. At least, I know I didn't. I remember going to EFY as a 15 year old, and my counselor had us write down our feelings about Jesus Christ. I was dumb-founded. Feelings? I didn't have any feelings toward him. He was an abstract figure that I knew was very important. If she had asked what I knew about Jesus Christ, I could write a whole essay. But feelings...no. The truth was, I liked being a member of the Church. I was "strong." I kept the standards. I liked learning about things like the Second Coming, emergency preparedness, patriarchal blessings, and so-called deep doctrine. I focused on the outermost branches instead of the actual roots of the gospel. And I actually didn't get to the roots until my mission. If I hadn't gone, I don't know if I would have ever gotten to them. I thought the basics were boring. When I got to the MTC I had a major reality check and had to start at the beginning, with faith in Jesus Christ. Nothing means anything without it. You can't just teach the standards and desired behaviors without the WHY. Jesus is why. It all begins with him and the Plan of Salvation.
I talked with an Elder about this, and he had his own little theory. He said that because we've been going to Sunday School for years and have been taught so much, we have a huge knowledge level. Our conscience grows according to our knowledge level. (The more you know you're supposed to do and not supposed to do, the more guilty you feel, the more you obey out of fear of guilt). But our faith level is very small, until trials and other things cause us to develop it.
And that just made sense to me. That's what I went through. Now I'm in the process of getting my faith level up to my knowledge level. And it's one principle at a time. Gain a testimony of fasting (I "know" it works, but do I actually have faith that my fasting will work?), of prayer, of repentance and the atonement, etc. etc. etc. Now I'm going brick by brick and gaining faith in the individual parts of the gospel, through personal experience. It's not just about knowing that the Church is true as a whole and then doing what I'm supposed to without further thought. It's about personal experiences with the Spirit that take your faith to the next level. And since there is no end to knowledge in the gospel, this process is eternal.
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