Witt's End

I love that the Bible isn’t perfect. And I love that I can’t read the Bible literally. I can’t view it as a history book. It’s literary not literal to me. I don’t think that I’m off on that.  In the Bible Christ himself uses many diverse literary devices to teach. One of his primary methods of gospel teaching is parables. They are inherently just a literary device with layers of meaning. But Christ didn’t start it. If we turn to the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament we see a variety of literary styles and devices used by various prophets and writers.  And I love that. I know some people need the Bible to be absolutely true and literal and inerrant for their faith. I get that. I do. And so what I’m about to launch into isn’t to confront them. But to talk about why my faith is improved by the inconsistencies of our canonical scripture. First. I love imperfection in my art. It just reminds me of our humanity. It’s why I love jazz to classical. Street art and Impressionism to bar...

  I can’t bring myself to worry about the end of times. Two main reasons. First no man knoweth means no man knoweth. We can’t know. We won’t know. And anyone who says otherwise is contradicting scripture. Second we are making so much progress for humanity in general and we can’t deny that. And it leaves us so much more to do . Deaths have declined. Suffering. Poverty. Health is improving. Disease is confronted some even eradicated. Civil rights have improved. Even crime has decreased. So I look at these and I just see both the motivation and desire to put in the work. To do good. I heard statement this weekend that struck me. I’m going to be paraphrasing badly. But the essence is this. It’s no the afterlife that motivates me in my faith in Christ, but in building the world now. That’s how I’ve always felt and it’s amazing to have that sentiment articulated somehow. I think a lot of this is motivated by how I view justice and mercy. How I’m more motivated by what to than I am by wha...

I spoke in church today. About feeling the spirit and the hand of God in our lives. I included below links the source talk I was asked to reference and to a performance the hymn I quoted. It’s a pretty Sunday. Here’s my talk.  Good morning, my name is Witter Case and I was asked to speak about experiencing the spirit and hand of God in our lives. I'll be using Elder Bednar's most recent conference talk.  This was a subject I found I could use some reflection upon. I think that is part of why this portion of Elder Bednar’s recent talk really spoke to me.  “I asked our guests if they had any observations they wanted to share. One of the journalists said with great emotion, “I have never experienced anything like that in my entire life. I did not know quiet like that existed in the world; I simply did not believe such stillness was possible.” I was struck by both the sincerity and the starkness of this person’s statement. And the journalist’s reaction highlighted one impo...

  Some of my favorite people are now on the opposite side of the political aisle from me. Hell I’d argue we’re on opposite sides of the spectrum itself at this point. But I love them. And I’m trying to figure out how to navigate this time without alienating them (any more than what has already occurred). How do I stand for what I believe in? How do I be a perceived light without burning it all down? I think I found my path through this.  I am striving for things instead of just opposing things. And that mindset shift has been incredible. I didn’t do what I’ve done in my life to feel lost. It’s time to stand for things again. I believe in things. That should be the priority and take my time more than things I don’t believe in.  It's been an enlightening and emboldening. And it’s lead to three or so realizations.  First discussions and debates can only be had with people who are willing to participate in good faith who agree on essential facts. And personally I’m only ...

Make America great again. Make men great again. Catchy phrases. Easy to remember. They work well as slogans and rallying cries.  I understand the desire for nostalgia and aspiration. I do. But I don’t know if this is it: I remember when the make America great again started to get some steam. I asked what time period was America great. I was told repeatedly the 1950s. A time where there was no civil rights amendment. A time of economic prosperity, but women couldn’t open a bank account on their own.  That’s the problem with looking backward. We can get tunnel vision. We can focus on what benefitted us and who we are (or would be) and we miss how others would be affected.  I personally feel that America has always been great due to its potential, people, and perpetual progression. So I struggle with looking backward when we have so much ahead of us.  The same portions of society that truly believe that America needs redemption to a state of greatness also thing that we...

We as human’s ain’t logical. We just aren’t. And when it comes to picking equipment it becomes even more apparent. You might think cost, ergonomics, and efficiency would be the primary things we evaluate objects on. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes we’re illogical and that’s ok. We can pick objects for their aesthetics, familiarity, historicity, and nostalgia; all with good reason. I know I fall prey to illogical connections all the time.  For me I can see this in a few of the things I gravitate toward.  One, I like Telecasters  the most when it comes to electric guitar. Now that may not mean much to people who aren't gear heads but but a tele is literally a slab of wood with a cut out to reach the upper frets and some routing for pickups and controls. No contouring for ergonomics. It's all flat, with edges. It only has two pickups with a master tone and master volume control. The bridge only has three saddles that limit intonation.  But it's my favorite gui...