The Strength of Friendship

    Friendship. It is funny to me, because friendship has the same suffix as partnership, hardship, and a lot of other "ship" words. The suffix -ship is the quality, condition, or state of being of something. So the word friendship doesn't refer to any specific interaction or feeling between two people, it refers to a "state of being a friend." It implies that friendship is something we become, not something we do or have. 

   
    For isn't being a friend the way to get a friend? That's one of the reasons why some people are silent, or included. They don't try and participate. A true friendship is something that we work to become, and just doesn't fall into our laps overnight. Friendship requires commitment, trust, and selflessness. Often greedy and self-righteous people don't have friends, because they don't realize that Greed and friendship are opposites of each other. Although friendship takes effort, it is worth it.

    A happy man is never a lonely man. A lonely man is never a happy man. In almost every story of heroism in the world today, the hero or heroin has a companion, whether it be another person, or an animal, or an object. A thing they can talk to. Something they can interact with. We can draw strength from friends. Friends are always kind. Friends are the people you go to on a down day and say "I really need help." You can always count on friends. There is no coincidence in the statement: "The #1 way that people avoid suicide is through a good friend." 

    I have felt the good influence of good friends in my life. Each friend I have had has become part of myself, and has affected me. Friendship is a noble aspiration, an endeavor with more worth than grades and other distractions in life. Not that there can't be bad friends. Friends that have low standards, or who are interesting in immoral and bad things will only leave bad parts of themselves behind. We need to make sure we surround ourselves with friends who build us up, not friends that tear us down.

    Everybody can be a friend to someone else. Someone in need, someone who doesn't have anyone to turn to. Being a friend can lead to greater things, like conversion to church, business partners, and even marriage. Almost everyone who becomes spouses with each other befriends their partner before they are married. Friendship creates bonds and seals that are unbreakable. It creates a people who are indivisible. It gives spirit to the fire of humanity, and moves us forward. Nothing would ever get done without humans who are willing to stand together for all time.

    I would encourage all of you to find friends. It will bless you, no matter how many you have. You don't have to be popular, or have the newest cell phone, or wear the best clothes. All it takes is a little reaching and a little trying. And just remember, to get a friend, you have to be a friend.

Where Hitler Failed- Greed

   It is late in World War 2. Germany controlled much of Europe. London was in flames, France was crushed. Concentration camps could be found in more than a dozen different countries. The coasts were covered with defensive cannons. The Nazi army was immense. So what made Hitler fail? He had all of those things, yet why did he lose in the end.

   First, lets look at the forces opposing Germany. America, England, and the rest of the UN were trying to keep the Nazis from invading the rest of Europe. The Soviet Union was defending the area of Russia from Hitler. Some of the citizenry of various countries were rebelling. Even with all this opposition, Germany was still advancing on the rest of Europe.

   The place where Hitler went wrong was in his prioritizing. Instead of focusing on one area at a time, he had his forces spread. Part of his army was in Russia, part in southeastern Europe, and part defending the whole coast of France and other shore countries. Hitler wanted all of the land of Europe at the SAME TIME!!!! Kind of foolish when you think about it, right?

   So what drove Hitler to be so foolish in his actions? Simple, it was greed. He wanted it all really fast and without much effort. It made him rather miserable at times. We can relate this to ourselves. We all want things in life. That desire to have things is how humanity has survived in the past. But Greed is carrying that too far. The difference is that greed is the willingness to get things while hurting others.

   Such a heartless endeavor always ends in sadness, misery, or defeat. Humanity has to work together to accomplish things now that there are so many of us in the world today. We can't afford to be greedy. Unfortunately, a lot of people today are greedy. Companies and Politicians are excellent examples for the greediness of humanity. Because of the greed of many, the future looks bleak. In order for humanity to survive, we need to give and not get, and be willing to share necessities with others.

European Witch Hunts- Paranoia

    Paranoia is the unreasonable fear of something that possibly might happen. It can occur when you take a test, or when a family member takes a trip. It occurs a lot in parents and guardians of children. Paranoia is not a bad thing. It inspires us to do our best, and to defend and protect others. It helps us to love more dearly, and to make life better. But like a lot of other emotions, it can go to far and be unreasonable. A good example of that are the European Witch Hunts.

     European Witch Hunts started in the early 14th century among common folk in Switzerland and Croatia. Women were accused of starting disease, cursing and enchanting people, and being in league with the devil. No one knew about disease or bacteria. There was no explanation for strange behavior (brain damage, illness, etc.). So, they blamed it on these women.

    The women were condemned by the law, and then lynched, burned, or hung. Very rarely were women saved from this fate once they were accused. Everyone was paranoid, and they watched all of the local women very carefully. It was a time of fear and unreasonable blame.

    They took this matter very seriously. So seriously, in fact, the French even burned the savior of their country, Joan of Arc, once she was accused of witchcraft. This behavior went on until the 1800's, when a law was passed banning accusing people of witchcraft. Even now, countries such as Saudi Arabia and Camaroon still allow women accused of witchcraft to be condemned.

    See, a few sick cattle get sick around a milk maid, and the farmer gets paranoid of witchcraft. Europe harmed them self a lot more than they helped, because they killed between 40,000 and 100,000 condemned women alone, not to mention those accused of sorcery and being possessed by devils.

    People get very Paranoid today. Some children are kept locked up in the house because they "might" do something, and become socially unaccepted. War after War has started because of suspicion of the other side. Paranoia is a good thing, but it is often over-used and abused.

The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships- Love

    Are you familiar with the start of the Trojan War according to Greek Mythology? The one about Paris and the Golden Apple? Well, I am going to tell you it to start out this post.

    It all begins at a party. A party that celebrated the marriage of the Sea Goddess Thetis, and the mortal Peleus. A party of the Gods is great thing, and every god was invited except Eris, the Goddess of Discord. She was obviously not happy. So, she crashed the party, and threw an apple of Gold into the goddesses that was inscribed with "For the Fairest." Obviously, there was some severe argument between the goddesses, especially Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.

   Zeus, annoyed at all of this bickering, told Hermes to take the women to Paris, a prince of Troy, who was supposedly the most handsome man in the world, to settle the argument. Each of the women promised something in return for his vote. Hera promised dominion over all of Europe (which was the entire world back then). Athena promised victory in every battle. Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world. Of course, Paris chose the girl.

    The girl was Helen, and she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The only problem was that she was already married to the king of Sparta. So Aphrodite helped Paris kidnap Helen (although she may have gone willingly) while the king was away. Upon returning, the king was infuriated. He decided to retaliate, and immediately joined forces with the other Greek kingdoms. They gathered forces, and launched over a thousand ships, thus the name often given to Helen: The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships.

    This whole thing resulted in the Trojan War, in which hundreds of thousands were killed. All of this because of one man and love.

    There are really two kinds of love: Infatuation and True Love. Infatuation is love of looks, or love of shallow personality. It is when, though the feelings feel deep, they truly aren't. That is the kind of love that Paris displayed, and what Aphrodite usually endorses. True love is commitment and willingness to be with that person forever. It is something that runs very, very deep. That is the love we should aspire to achieve so that we may be happy.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre- Hate

    This one act is probably the most horrendous act committed by the Church. It is also the one that the Church is most sorrowful about. Before I get into the anger that surrounds this event in history, I will tell you the story.


    The year was 1857. The Pioneers had arrived years before, and the state was full of small towns and cities. It was hard to get through Utah without running into some sort of settlement, making Utah a good way to travel to California, because there were several Mormons willing to trade with travelers. Many companies chose to head through Utah. One of them was the Francher-Baker company.

    The majority of the Francher-Baker company was made up of mostly families from Arkansas, a place not very friendly with Mormons in general. There are several recordings of protesting and antagonizing settlements (most of them while they were drunk), and even one circumstance where men rode on horses down the street, waving a gun, and saying "THIS IS THE GUN THAT KILLED JOSEPH SMITH." Not so nice actions, eh. It doesn't excuse what happened next.

    Several leaders of local militia in the area disliked the company, and once they heard of the antagonizings, they formulated a horrible plan to kill every single one of the Arkansasans.  The first step in the plan was that they poisoned (not fatally poisoned, just sick poisoned) several Piute Indian Wells, their main source of water. They then blamed it on the company, and promised the Indians that they would help them.

   So they next armed the Indians, and led them to Mountain Meadows, the place the Francher-Baker company had set up camp. The Indians sieged the camp for five days, while the Mormon militia leaders sat aside and watched. After five days, the Indians bailed on the Mormons, because they had lost too many braves. So, the Mormons pretended to have driven the Indians off. They separated the men from the women, put the children in a cart, and told them to follow them back to the settlement.

   They didn't make it far. When they had only gone a short way, the Mormon soldiers turned, and fired upon the men and women. Some of the braves also returned to help. They killed every single one of them. They also fired upon all of the children who might remember the incident. The only survivors were 17 small children.

   Do you know what is ironic about the whole thing. It happened on September 11. 9/11. The same day of the Terrorist Attack. Both of them came down to the same things: Hate.

   Obviously, Terrorists hate us and want to kill us, but why would Mormons go so far as to murder a few hundred people in cold blood? I suppose we will never know the motivations behind it, but a lot of it was hate. Hate of Mormons, hate of non-mormons, hate of the killers of Joseph Smith, hate of the people of Arkansas. Hate leads to very rash and violent actions, even ones as extreme as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

   I think we need to avoid hate at all costs. Contention is never the answer. Forgiveness should be a major part of our life, and being forgiving is opposite of being hateful.

The Fall of an Republic- Pride

    The Roman Republic, based on the Greek idea of Democracy. It is the same style of government that we in the United States use. The Roman Republic had a leader (Caesar), and a Senate. It operated just like ours did. Unfortunately, the Senate was small, and knew each other very well.

    Often did Caesar meet with his Senate to discuss the state of the empire, and its finances. Caesar was very popular among the people, and was favored by them over all of the rest of the government. The senate, predictably, was jealous. They wanted to gain control, so they formulated a plan to murder Caesar and to gain complete control of the country.

    They planned to kill Caesar at the senate meeting on March 15, three days before he left to survey part of his empire. They intended to each stab him once, so that if they were ever caught they could share the blame. They were sure that their plan would succeed.

    Their plan almost failed when Caesar stayed home to comfort his nightmare-stricken wife. He sent a message that the meeting was to be canceled. When the Senate received his message, they were concerned, because Caesar was soon leaving. So, they sent Caesar's personal friend, Decimus Brutus, to convince him to come anyways.

   Brutus was very deceiving. He questioned Caesar's judgment, and his ability to rule. He called Caesar weak, and someone who is cowardly in the face of insignificant things like the nightmares of his wife. Caesar had great pride, and was very offended by the remarks. He grudgingly agreed, and went against his better judgment. And so Caesar ended up dead.

   Pride can often end in misery, pain, and even death. Every single person is guilty of this at times in their lives. People with many things (like money, possessions, friends, etc.) are often more susceptible to this principle and common sin. To help the world become a better place, we need to stop pride from entering into our lives.

The Enslavement of African Americans- Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

By: Emily Dickinson


    I have always thought that that is an amazing poems. It tells us that hope is eternal and can be found anywhere, not matter what the situation or location. You might even say that it gives us hope about hope. I think that the thought that hope is eternal is true. It is always present, we just need to realize it and recognize it.
    Every generation and civilization has recognized this, because it is simply human. What was the only thing caught in Pandora's box? HOPE! What does the bible say? He will bring HOPE unto the world. I think that this idea of hope can be described well when put into the context of the enslavement of African Americans.
    Have you ever heard the song Free At Last? It was an inspirational soul song created by African cotton farmers during when they were not being watched.

Free at last, free at last
I thank God I'm free at last
Free at last, free at last 

I thank God I'm free at last

Way down yonder in the graveyard walk
I thank God I'm free at last
Me and my Jesus going to meet and talk
I thank God I'm free at last

On my knees when the light pass'd by
I thank God I'm free at last
Tho't my soul would rise and fly
I thank God I'm free at last

Some of these mornings, bright and fair
I thank God I'm free at last
Goin' meet King Jesus in the air
I thank God I'm free at last

   I love that song. It reflects the hope that African Americans had for a better future. A future where they could. The lyrics are a little wrong though. The chorus is "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I'm free at last"! Also, the lines between every different line should be "Thank God Almighty I'm free at last"!, and it is actually a background song for the rest of the song.

   African Americans never gave up the hope that some day, they may be able to walk free, talk free, and live free. And they achieved that and more.

   Martin Luther King Junior Quoted this song in his "I have a Dream" speech. The speech was a huge victory, and definitely helped the civil rights movement to happen. 

   All of these examples could never have happened without hope. Hope for a better tomorrow. I think that hope being eternal is a good thing. It can lead to the saving of the self, and those around you.