creation phase 2

In phase 1 (see below) I decided that creativity is beyond neccesity. It is a contingency. It is a choice.

Do you want to live forever? -- Valeria (from Conan the Barbarian)

In this post I decide that I will devote my life to something utterly unnecessary. I will become the first cause in a microcosm of the universe: my own little world. Taking things that are happy to continue along there own deterministic path and delicately negotiating with them, facilitating their change from one thing to another. Matter cannot be created or destroyed it can only be transformed. Alan Moore (of Watchman fame -- He wrote the comic, which is way better than the movie -- for fun check out this article comparing Dr. Manhattan to the Mormon conception of God) once said: attempt only the impossible. How does becoming a God sound? I'll start small and work my way up: write, draw, program, be amazing. It's all optional including Eternal life. Do I want to live forever? Yes please. The hero's journey begins now.

the curious case of 'reliance' in LDS theology

From the marriam webster online dictionary>>
re·ly
Pronunciation: \ri-ˈlī\
Function: intransitive verb

1 : to be dependent
2 : to have confidence based on experience

I rely on the merits of him who is mighty save. And when I say "rely" I mean so in a highly specialized way. After a number of pioneers had been rescued from the harsh winter conditions of the unforgiving American plains, Brigham young told the already established saints that all the prayers and faith in the world wouldn't help the suffering (much), they didn't need prayers they needed potatoes and other temporal necessities, or something to that effect. As the saying goes God helps those who help themselves and in select cases others intervene on God's behalf in the lives of those who try to live right by him. In this world most stuff is up to humans.

When we say we rely on God, it's not the same as saying that I'm relying on Joe Blogs to pay me today that 20 bucks he owes me from last week, I think what we're saying, when we're on top of our game anyway, is that I'm going to do what I think is right, and God gave me this sense of distinguishing between right and wrong, so hopefully this decision and action will help me on my way back to him. In other words reliance on God doesn't place the responsibility for our destiny on his shoulders, we're not the US Congress handing our powers all over to the Executive branch, in crisis we need to take responsibility for our own bailout. I have a feeling that God interferes in human affairs as little as possible, partly because so little has been seen of him lately or even ever. It is safe to say that we can expect few Deus Ex Machina moments. He put the wheels in motion, and now he's watching them turn making minor adjustments as needed, any major adjustments need to be handled by us. In the gospel rely=DIY.

note: this post is talking about life in a temporal sense, reliance obviously extends into the eternities with the effects of the atonement etc.

speak with a new tongue

With all the elections and sloganeering in recent times (yes, NZ had one this year too) "change" has been adopted as the key buzzword of a new zeitgeist. What's so good about change and why do we all want some? Economies are crumbling around us as we speak; Our current and projected future results aren't especially promising: possibly a new great depression, unnecessary wars, continued terrorism and the polar ice caps melting. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is one definition for insanity. All things considered righting the ship seems like a good idea.

Macro change begins with micro change. Global effects are generated by combinations of individual decisions. Anonymous as always has something to say about the matter: "When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world." And thus we see that fighting the ills of the world begins with self-mastery (that's what people tell me, theoretically it sounds right, when I get there I'll let you know).

A fair while back a woman named Sariah sat marooned in the middle of the desert in her old husband's tent and had a giant sized whinge. Lehi, her husband, led her and the family away from their well-to-do lifestyle in Jerusalem and set up camp in the inhospitable wilderness. After a three day trip out from the big city Lehi received inspiration to send his sons back to Jerusalem to track down some old family records. The assignment was a potentially risky one, as the item they sought didn't exactly belong to them.

After a period of waiting, Sariah made her feelings about the matter known in no uncertain terms. Nephi records: "For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness. And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father" (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 5:2 - 3, emphasis added). It's easy to dismiss Sariah's questioning as a lack of faith, this was a factor, but not the only one. Lest we judge her too harshly, it's important to remember a mother's love for her children, there are few things that can compete in intensity with the maternal instinct. Add to her imagined loss of her sons the thought of dying alone in the desert and we can in some measure appreciate her concerns. Why this excursion away from home only to have the youngest of the family return to Jerusalem? There were a number of valid questions just like there are today. Perhaps the Lord was getting the oldies out of harms way, before the quest for the brass plates began. God is not a fan of collateral damage. I'm not sure if giving these auxiliary issues more then cursory consideration robs these stories of their mythic resonance, what I do know is that patience is a virtue. Anecdotally speaking when I'm still on the inside and working on the outside good things happen.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Coming back to faith, Sariah's was strengthened upon the return of her sons, who were successful in their errand and a powerful change took place. A little success can go a long way "And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak" (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 5:8, emphasis added). It took a miraculous act of deliverance, but Sariah's relationship with God fundamentally changed. And it was first manifested through the way she spoke, complaining gave way to praising. "Through small and simple things, are great things brought to pass." When we change, we change the way we speak, the way we carry ourselves the way we treat each other (wow, I think I'm chanelling Tupac) and I believe that true change comes when we let go over our egos and acknowledge that something bigger than ourselves exists out there, and then act upon it. Words are powerful things they allow us to make sense of the world and today the last ones go to two esteemed gentlemen, John Wooden, and Gandhi. "Failure may not be fatal, but failure to change might be." So,"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

on gyming it up 4

heres part 3

A further residual trace of the Enlightenment, which has accompanied human cultures domination of nature at sundry times throughout history, is the elevation of the human subject to the ultimate apotheosis of existence. With God dead, according to Nietzsche[1], someone or something needed to step up and fill the meaning void that this cosmic event left in its wake. Humanism, for better or worse, attempted to do exactly that. As the brainchild of the Enlightenment, Humanism collected all the principles that we have already discussed (rationality, human worth, equality etc.) and in the process an ideology was born. There is a direct connection between health promoting pursuits and humans beings seeing themselves as the new gold standard of creation (or of the big bang/accident). Working out at a gym can be a symptom of these two complimentary aspects: the new value of human status and the perceived power of humanity to reshape nature[2].

We now begin to move closer to what this all means in terms of visual culture, for men who interest themselves in gymnastic endeavours. Healthy living encompasses many aspects: food intake, proper medical care, and physical activity. There are certain behaviours that can signal that we practice a healthy lifestyle. When it comes down to it there are certain results that reveal unequivocally upon inspection that we are in fact healthy. Our behaviours do not accompany us where ever we go but our bodies do. If a society were to favour certain sense modalities above others certain bits of our sensations would be privileged above others. It is reasonable to assert that our visual experience takes precedence over other sensory data that we take in[3]. Intuitively this makes sense, an examination of present day culture (not to mention the past) shows us that visual markers are pre-eminent[4]. In such a culture it would be easy for appearance to become more important than substance. How we look may say more than what we do.

box squat (29cm) 60*5,80*5,100*5,120*5,130*3
power C&J 100 (missed jerk)
power snatch 60/2*3
power C&j 100 (missed jerk again)

volume: 2750kgs
[1] Nietzsche: The gay science, p 125
[2] Baldwin: Introducing Cultural Studies, p 365.
[3] Baldwin: Introducing Cultural Studies, p 365.
[4] Think about branding, video games, TV, billboards, art, architecture etc.

Why is God a Fractal 3.

As we venture further into the unknown speculative recesses of my internal imaginative flux, we will first look at the decision making process for all sentient creation from a bottom-up perspective before we take a god's-eye-view (mainly because I find it difficult to conceptualise what the latter would entail). When we last left this topic we spoke of monkeys. I just can't help myself.

It's been said that a million monkeys typing for a million years would at some point reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. An astute commentator observed that with the advent of the internet this notion has been proven false, but just imagine if they did, would it mean anything?
I think it was Camus who used a similar example to tease out how we go about creating meaning for ourselves in life. Some dude lives forever and reproduces the Iliad or the Odyssey, can we say that this event has any merit, given that on an infinite timeline it's inevitable that someone would produce an identical work (I guess it depends on how much you like Homer). Looking at things on a mortal scale, because we're working with a literal deadline -- whether we like to acknowledge it or not -- we face the prospect of being limited in what we can do for purely practical reasons. This makes our choices (like writing an epic poem) a lot more meaningful, because they are now subjected to some form of prioritization, which in all likely hood isn't arbitrarily driven. Our discriminating tastes come into play using the time we have in whatever way we see fit. Like the old saying goes "time is what stops everything from happening at once." We may want it all and want it now, but conditions don't favour the disciples of instant gratification here. We're left to make our way in the world slowly but surely one decision at a time. How we go about choosing is a whole 'nother can of worms that I'll deal with later, the why (as in why our choices matter) will have to do for now.

Sorry eternal monkeys your efforts seen through this paradigm don't amount to much. The limitations of mortality open the way for meaning to mean something. However, when we open our scope and include God in the domain, unfortunately this model doesn't fit. God is an infinite being who does far more then write about heroes with tragic flaws, he makes them. Which doesn't bring us any closer to the celestial selection system. Perhaps I've been asking the wrong question, Why is God a fractal isn't big enough, it's just a less general version of why is there something instead of nothing?

next: extrapolations that could lead to a resolution of the mysteries of the universe, but probably not.

it's all good

I was sitting in Sunday School and our teacher offered this profound insight: whether you're suffering through life (experiencing trials) or enjoying it (receiving blessings), in the end it's all good. I'd never really looked at it like that before, sure challenges are useful, they help us to grow, but stating that 2 diametrically opposed conditions lead to equivalent outcomes. Wow. And I agree with him. Double wow.

It's all there in the scriptures, a few of my favourites...

And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.
(Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things
(Pearl of Great Price, Articles of Faith 1:13)

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
(Doctrine and Covenants Section 123:17)

One day a long time ago I read about a quantum theory where someone postulated that every time the universe or one of its constituents makes a decision a new universe pops into existence (actually I may have been watching star trek). So there's a multiversal exponentially expanding animal out there tracking all of the different possibilities that could have happened ever. One of the problems with this theory aside from universes being created out of nowhere, was that different causes could lead to the same results. My memory's a little hazy but this affect may have been called "True Chance."(it was probably something else, but this will have to do for now).

The question is, with respect to blessings and cursings (or just plain hurtings), do we have a True Chance scenario operating here? Maybe, it could also be one of the many marvelous paradoxes which we face in life, even if it is True Chance with a slight rejig, purely to satisfy my own philosophical inclinations, this can be made workable in the real world. If we are to be grateful in all things, good and bad than a redefinition of the word blessing may be in order, the 'blessing' that I carry around in my personal lexicon states: instances where God dispenses good things in my direction and I'm ready and wise enough to catch them. It may need to expand to encapsulate anything that happens depending upon your response. It's possible that this generalisation has become so vague now as to encompass everything, but I don't think that diminishes it potency, mainly because we humans are strange creatures and operate differently from almost everything else in the universe. Intention is a powerful thing and I'm afraid I'll have to invoke the great Stephen R. Covey, peace be upon him: for normal matter there's action and reaction, for us there is a stimulus, a space, then a response. What we choose to do with that space is entirely up to us, the next time I stub my toe or someone pulls out in front of me in traffic (yep most of my 'trials" are pretty prosaic), I'll remember that we're here to learn from our experience and choose well. Instead of cursing I may be inclined to thank God for the blessing of this slight irritation which helped me to understand existence a little more and point me in his direction. It ain't much, but it's a start.

coming soon: an attitude of gratitude.

Why is God a fractal? The Aesthetic of God, Agency and a mishmash of many other things 1

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes."

Add to that list the gods and demons, in between all that there's a large spectrum of possibility. With this ample wiggle room to operate we can theortically touch on all aspects of the human experience. As I go about my business I sometimes wonder with all the variantions available why are certain options privelaged above others. I'm not advocating relativism just examining how and why the universe picks its favourites.


Ten fingers and ten toes help make up the mormon conception of the form of God. This is an astonishing doctrine. Because of this heritage we reverence our bodies out of respect for deity and treat them as temples. Why not twelve fingers and twelve toes? Why is God a fractal? The Mormons have a large healthy blogging community where (probably )this and many topics which I'm interested in have already been examined, I want to explore all these well tread "difficult issues" in the church. Well tread by others maybe, but I've never really explored the teritory myself, now is as good a time to start as any.


to be continued...next: evolution

Today's spiritual thought

we don't need to earn God's love
but if we want we can qualify for some of his privelages

cause for optimism, the God connection part 2

(for part 1 see the previous post)

"I walked with God once" -- A misquote (of a mistranslation, ahem just kidding) of Abraham

When ever the thought of my value as a human being is called in to question it is usually in situations like this, where no query has been raised by anyone other than myself. Elaborate fantasies often take hold of my mind and will multiply explosively if left unchecked. I took a deep breath and didn't feel any better. I tried to remember that although in a deeply cynical way concocting scenarios to elevate myself over others by demeaning their value was entertaining, it was ultimately counter productive.

As a wise man once wrote (and our current Prophet practically deemed this story scripture): "[We are] all fellow passengers to the grave and not another race bound on other journeys." I paused. Yes, it appeared that I was still human. Given that I had ample time to process this evolving train of thought, and as I found myself though bound together with my fellow beings in principle, still I was temporarily separated from them by my malaise on my metaphorical island, I dug deep into my spiritual pockets and dusted off an old key.

In another time and another place I (and everyone else) lived with God and for reasons that I can't fathom we all thought it was a good idea that we should - if the thought wasn't too presumptuous - try and become like him. This means that I am a being of limitless potential. This means that my value is innate and not determined by what I do. This means that when I do my best and stumble it's OK, because God's promises are sure. I am God's son. God is love. His love is in me. This doesn't mean that I am a grinning idiot. Optimists are wonderful people, but hyper optimists scare me. Yes, we should be thankful in all things, yes we desire to endure all things, but there is a time to laugh and a time mourn, that doesn't mean we should laugh our way through cancer... I was getting ahead of myself, I managed to stultify the oncoming rant, perhaps for tonight at least, the time for mourning was at an end.

I had the key all I needed now was the ignition. The late Gordon B. Hinckley would provide the necessary machinery. At his funeral service, one of the apostles mentioned two behaviours that determined our beloved prophet's success in life. They were simply that he did his best, and he believed that everything would work out in the end. This is a sure fire formula for success. To be sure we will not always produce the results we desire, but if we can answer honestly at the end of each day that we've lived these two simple principles then we will succeed in the grand scheme of things, because in the end we will be with and be like God. Perhaps God can make an optimist of me yet. A group of wandering YSA were making their way toward the car. I managed to crack a miniature smile. I am Loren Hopkins. I am God waiting to happen. So is everyone.

To Be Continued...

Plan(s) of Salvation

Before the foundations of this world a plan was proposed and each of us who is born to the earth "shouted for joy". After the ancillary celebrations (and the notable expulsion of a farely large group of dissident party poopers), we left heaven with the promise that one day we could return if we were obedient to God's law. Sometimes I wonder what we were thinking.

In life we have many different challenges, this I suppose is built into our purpose for being here. Sometimes we even share the same challenges as others around us. Case in point: One day the Lamanites decided that they were going to wipe out the Nephites (again) and also the recently established People of Ammon, both of the non-aggressive groups had a different way of responding to the threat. The Nephites fought "for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church." The People of Ammon on the other hand buried their swords "deep in the earth" and refused to retaliate.

Which reaction was correct? They both were. "If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever;" Captain Moroni lead the Nephites in the defence of their nation. Consider the other side: "And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away." "And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace."

One problem, two very different solutions, now what's the point of all this? The Plan of Salvation is an all encompassing thing that effects each of us. In saying this, the Lord understands each of our unique situations; so there is the Plan of Salvation and then there are my acts of salvation (the actual salvation part being made possible through Jesus of course). We each come from different backgrounds and contexts just as the People of Ammon were different from Captain Moroni, so we will be schooled according what best serves our needs. The path is straight and narrow, but even on a finite straight line there are an infinite number of points. There are common points we all need to pass through (baptism's probably a good place to start), but in the end we need to choose our own way back to heaven. When we make peace with this fact, that's when the fun begins and maybe that's what we got so excited about in the first place.