Witt's End

 I wrote these on Sunday March 29th 2026, a grey Palm Sunday.  --- there is only time life is the fleeting of spring until it's over ---- Pain can be constant Unrelentless reminders Of a Body's time ---- the Sun will come back Day after Day after Day Time after Time

 As I grow older I've become much less comfortable negatively addressing other people's theology and faith. There are different ways to worship. Different interpretations of the Bible. Different ways to follow Jesus. Shoot there are other deities that garner awe, respect, and devotion. I can't comment on conversion and conviction in a fair manner, especially if I want the same in return. Faith shouldn’t be a debate, it should be an experience. One we can share with others openly, freely, and without fear. I don't feel I can challenge the root of that faith itself.  What I do feel more confident in doing is confronting harmful policies and actions; even if those have been informed by faith. We can look at daily actions and weigh in on those.  I have come to find that what alarms me most are those actions that are coercive or cause harm to others.  That's the line. Two years ago I wrote , "We can't be surprised that humans who have diverse needs for mental a...

 I had a thought in sacrament meeting today. It's been a long time since I felt a sense of awe or wonder at church. I can think of multiple times I've been awed by the beauty and wonder of the natural world around me. The time I felt stirred by a piece of music or a work of art. Felt grace at the hands of another's care and service. But I haven't felt that at church. And I'd be lying if at times it hasn't made me wonder if I'm broken.  I see the emotion in talks, hear the people that are moved. It just isn't resonating with me the same way anymore. I want to connect with the people. I want my children to have a spiritual foundation. I want to have a place where I can discuss doctrine and scripture. And in our current ward we have, I have some of that.  Yet. I just don't feel the wonder. I don't feel moved. Here. But I'd like too. I think my calibration for what is emotional and what is spiritual may be part of it. It's different than I us...

I have to write on the current state of War. I feel a compulsion. It is my realization that I just have to be measured. So I will attempt to.  It is not my intention to here debate the political decisions behind the current conflict with Iran. I am also not here to debate the tactical decision making. There's a simple answer why, I'm still gathering information. I have to do that to develop my own opinion. This is a very dynamic scenario unfolding before our eyes. None of us have the whole picture yet. I hope I am taking the time to deliberate on something smaller in scope, and personally highly impactful in this scenario. Something closer to home. I'm looking at motivations and justifications, and a single one at that. There is something dangerous about the conflation of government actions with divine sanction. This becomes especially fraught when we conflate a military action with a scriptural mandate. When we combine faith with the state in a way to almost turn it into a...