It's all Greek to me...

When I was in elementary school we didn't learn, Spanish,  Chinese, Or French; We learned Greek.

You see at the time each parent ( set of parents) in the class was required to contribute to the class in one way or another throughout the year. Some parents did parties, some did mini career days, but many taught us what they were learning, or what they knew.

This made for some very cool/ albeit different exposures as a kid. We learned music history (thanks mom), logic (I still adore logic puzzles), and Greek. In the course of 1st-3rd grade my small class learned basic Greek.  One of my friends was the Greek Orthodox minister's son, and his mom was taking Greek lessons to enrich herself--what a great example of you are never past the state of seeking an education.

Each week she faithfully came into the class and taught us everything from alpha to omega. She even secured pen-pals for us in Greece, awesome mom, for us to write to in greek. Mostly these were form letters, but we learned.

On Easter she through a Greek style celebration with foods that at the time were so foreign, and some were even off putting. Nick's mom never made us try anything, but she worked so hard, and loved us in a way that I think we always tried to enjoy everything presented to us.

If you don't know me personally, let me explain that I lived in a very sheltered bubble. One where one culture seemed to pervade almost everything else, but because of this style of classroom we each were introduced to new cultures, traditions, and ways of doing things. That didn't mean that we had to adopt these ways of doing things, but it made cultures that weren't our own more familiar, less scary, and approachable.

Since moving to Dallas (among the 10 married moves plus those before I married), we have been blessed to be surrounded by friends and neighbors from completely different backgrounds. New cultures, heritages, beliefs, and educations, yet I have found that individually I have more in common with these strangers than I do with people from back home. We don't have to agree on everything to enjoy each others' company and perspective.

What a delightful discovery, that people who have so little in common, can have enlightening conversations, and good times. These are the people that I know have my back, listen to my worries and concerns, and lift me when I am losing hope. They are blessings to me in so many ways. So a fun challenge today, recognize someone who is not in your circle.

If your well is empty, then give away a smile, or a kind word. If you are blessed with a full well, give away the talent or time, that is your endowment. We all have something amazing to contribute to the conversation, to the fabric, and to the community that is unlike any other. We are Americans. Each with a beautiful heritage which could separate us, make us fear, or even hate the other, but what makes this place a refuge from the storm is that every individual can be ________American.  Honor your heritage, in honoring each other.  Smile and savor.


In honor of a culture that I got a small taste of years ago here are my two favorite recipes to make your normal foods taste a little more Greek.  These recipes are simple, and require a minimal prep. The hummus recipe requires a good blender or food processor.

Tsatziki Sauce

Servings: 3 cups

• 1/2 English cucumber peeled
• 1 tub Cold plain Greek yogurt (either full fat or fat free will work)
• 4 cloves garlic pressed
• 1/3 cup chopped dill fresh or frozen- 1Tbs dried
• 1 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice Juice of 1/2 lemon; please squeeze a real lemon
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

Grate and drain cucumber. Combine everything together. Stir, taste, add more salt or lemon or pepper according to taste.

Hummus

2 cups canned garbanzo beans or 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans, drained

• 2 tbs natural creamy peanut butter/ tahini
• 1⁄4cup lemon juice (about one lemon)- You can also zest the lemon for more flavor.
• 1teaspoon salt
• 2garlic cloves, halved
• 1tablespoon olive oil- you may need to add more to get the smoothest consistency
• 1pinch paprika
• 1teaspoon minced fresh parsley

Blend until silky smooth. THis may be more than you think. Blend one more time past what you think is adequate.

The purpose of salt.

So, my last grandparent is slowly passing away.  I have watched my dear mom try and walk through the trenches of hurt, pain, grief and loneliness from which it seems there is no escape.  These feelings are real, and valid, especially in a situation where a loved one is moving on without therest of us. President Dieter F Uchtdorf said:

In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.

Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless13and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.  ‘Grateful in any Circumstance’, April 6, 2014, general conference.

This made me think that the endings to dreams, hopes, loss of connection, loneliness, abuse, loss of trust, and the missing of loved ones who have passed on; all can contribute to the sense of disheartening, deficiency in anyone not just those with obvious reasons to greive. Yet these hurts can be consuming to the point of destroying any remaining magic that life holds. How can each of us catch the glimmer of light from the depths of pain? These aren’t wounds that can be mended in an ER, nor can they be worked away through hours of hard labor or devoted service (though I fully endorse giving service to help get through rough points in life). Friends may reach out in the most sincere gestures possible, yet the reality of being broken is the only truth that is tangible in life at times.

In Luke 4:18 Christ reads to the masses a passage from Isaiah and states:

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Aren’t we all captives of something in our lives? No individual can escape this life without bruising. Thankfully, Jesus was not born to perform a limited Atonement. It was not one that would just forgive, or conquer death. This was indeed to be an “infinite atonement” (2 Ne 9:7). One that would enable Him to succor each of us when we feel lost, and broken before our ennobled, glorious brother.  Kuntsugi is a Japanese art of fixing broken china with gold. This repair brings to light the beauty of being broken. What a beautiful thought this is that we can all be more beautiful in our brokenness before the Lord. Those things we see as deep flaws, can be the essence of our true beauty, and our determined strength. This gives me courage to be broken before the Lord. To be raw in His presence and to trust that in this state, HE can recreate the pieces I drop at His feet.

He is best invited to come to our aid when we live our covenants and act as His people- the salt of the earth.  But what does salt and covenant keeping have to do with REAL pain, and brokenness?

Have you ever smelled the stench of burnt hair or flesh? It churns the stomach, and makes the mind reel. Yet one of my favorite smells on a walk is that of people cooking meat on grills. What is the difference between tragedy and barbeque? It is one thing SALT. This very stable compound in your cabinet can change the worst most repugnant things in life, to something so desirable that our mouths water at the very thought.

The sacrifices in the temples of old were always salted because the savour- smell- was the result of the offering to the Lord. When we allow the Savior into our lives, even the most devastating circumstances, can become ones that we savour. The pain, and sacrifices are not changed, yet under the perspective of keeping our covenants, obeying the commandments and drawing closer to our Master, the experience becomes sweet in the proximity it brings us to Him and the Father. In Doctrine and Covenants 88 the Lord asks us as His friends to come closer;

62 And again, verily I say unto you, my friends, I leave these sayings with you to ponder in your hearts, with this commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall call upon me while I am near—

63 Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

64 Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you;

When we are striving to do our Father’s will, and consequently come closer to the Lord we are better able to communicate with the Lord. I am not just talking about praying at Heavenly Father, but dialogue that takes place when we are grasping for the Light of Christ from our darkness and pain. As we continue in faith,  the conversation becomes more intelligible, more fluent, and the process of healing commences. He has promised us to give us rest when we take His yoke upon us.(Matt. 11:28-30)

I have known the remorse, guilt and pain of many years, filled with longing for what would not be.

When I was 18 I was told by a young doctor that I should not expect to have children. The world closed in, my whole plan for my life, my dreams, and future, were burned to ashes in that one sentence. My childhood had been full of teachings of the plan of salvation, yet for me, it might just have to be a hypothesized state. Would any man even marry a barren woman?

A few years later love did come, to my even more broken soul as I divorce had dismantled  my family. Despite my love I felt that with our vows, I had sentenced him to never having children of his own, at least in this life. My heart ached, my arms reached, and spirit yearned to sing those sweet melodies to my own miracle. Yet, year after year my arms were empty, and my heart was cankered by envy, for every new mother. No matter my attempts to keep my covenants I felt that the Lord deemed me unworthy of the gift of motherhood because of my actions. Through all those years as my pride disintegrated I was slow to learn to trust my Heavenly Father’s timing.

In 2 Cor 12:7-10 we read of a vision of the great apostle Paul in heaven. It states:

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

I was truly feeling the buffeting of Satan. The thorns seemed to pierce my very core. The prayers offered that the spiritual, physical and emotional pain would stop at some point seemed in vain...until I submitted. He knew that once I learned to trust Him-- His judgment, His timing, and His strength-- that He might be able to show me what He could do with my life. Even in my weakness, my pain, my lack of forgiving, He found a way to make every little effort I made a more savoury.  Finally, I received the peace of forgiveness. Through finally accepting the reality of Atonement of my Savior, I was able to understand that the lack of timing was not the ultimate issue, but keeping my covenants with faith and hope certainly was. His promises are sure and true, I could trust Him. So 6 years into my marriage, I was finally free to love, to forgive myself, and to become a mother to the kids who He had already put in my life.

He didn’t want to take away the thorns because they allowed me to seek Him. They allowed me to pray for help more often, to come to know Him as a Father, and learn how to be a friend to Him. That didn’t mean the thorns weren’t still there. I was still in pain more than I like to admit. The childhood family I longed for still was a mess. I had not born children to my sweetheart.  But on a cold winter’s day in the temple, I made the decision that I actually did believe in the ideals of the Plan of Happiness.

Healing for me in that moment came by degrees, some monumental ( I now and the mother to two amazing kids of my own), and some so subtle that I only saw them upon getting together with some of the women who helped bare my burdens through my dark nights.

Even with all this, the longing for what is not, can still dim and diminish the magic; and joy of celebrating the birth of the Messiah. It is not that I am not grateful for the miracles which have abounded in my life, but because of the hope that all things can be made right through Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.

Pray that those thorns you brave now will remind you of the thorns He bore then.  That they will enable you to come to know Him as your Savior. The raw feelings that threaten to burst at any moment are contrite (conterere in Anglo-french means bruised or raw). Allow our Lord and Master into the wounds of your heart, for that is what He asks for, those broken pieces. From those fragments He has promised in Ether 12 :27 that His grace is enough to make US strong. It reads:

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

If you are having a hard time, I am sorry. You are not alone. It is my prayer that the light of Christ will allow you to see them as holy days in which the Savior of the world came to earth, through which briars we each are able to come to know our Lord and Master.