Melva Gifford

Today’s blog is expounding upon an entry from Facebook.

After the owner of the fast food chain Chick-Fel-A said he believed in traditional marriage between a man and a woman being married once. Others said he was being anti-gay. From what I saw, he wasn’t referencing same sex relationships. But some felt shame on him for preferring traditional marriage and shame on him for daring to say it. On Thursday, a bunch of people showed up at this guy’s restaurants to provide support for his feelings on marriage.

There was a post on Facebook, I guess from a liberal web site, that made derogatory comment of “too bad Christians don’t show the same support toward food shelters and service as they do ending up in fast food joints.” There were some wonderful examples in the comments section of specific references to acts of compassion.

Putting in my 2 Cents worth I suggested that maybe those Christians are too busy following Matt. 6:6. In my rush to post, I had the wrong verse. The correct verse was Matt 6:4. Silly me.

I also mentioned that if he wanted a specific example of a BIG act of compassion all at once I reference this link: http://www.glennbeck.com/2012/07/27/updating-thousands-serve-in-dallas-tx-on-restoring-loves-day-of-service/.

We’ll have to see if that is a big enough example to serve his criticism.

When you don’t want to USE something anymore you refUSE it when they offer it to you.

Refuge means trash or waste RElatives see no Fun Getting Trash or ReFUGE.

Waist = part of the body between ribs and hips. I remember this in that I have a waIst and both have I.

Waste = means trash. I remember this because it doesn’t have the “I” and Everything can eventually be thrown away in the trash so we have WastE and both have E.

*I did this last week but I guess I didn’t post it. Sorry about that.

The last couple of weeks for the teaching emplacements blog I have been discussing bullying and its contributors. In honor of Jody Richard’s request, here is another one. This week I would like to provide some ideas on how to build empathy. I hope this topic will be of use of youth ministries, family devotionals and family home evenings.

There are numerous figures in history that are renowned for their compassion. The top of the list is Jesus Christ. One of the first examples in the scriptures that comes to mind for me that depicts his compassion are the Beatitudes:

Source: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/5?lang=eng

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Christ is the epitome of empathy and love as shown by his actions of the atonement in garden of Gethsemane and offering up his life on the cross. I feel an entire lesson should be devoted to Christ’s actions. For today I’m going to touch upon some ideas of empathy that might be of use in support to the scriptures.

Object Lesson One: Get a collection of fresh flowers that include roses. Put them in a vase. Then discuss with the family or class that some actions don’t show immediate results. Often the negative actions one does can take a long time to display their damage. Have the class presses their thumbs and fingers against the various petals of each flower. Press tight on the soft fabric of the flower without breaking the skin. Do this through the entire collection of flowers.

Each day after that, have the class look at the progress of deterioration of the health and beauty of the petals because of the mishandled of the flowers. The bruised surfaced looks worse and worse each day and causes the flower to lose its beauty and health. Just like a beautiful flowers can be damaged by mishandling so can other peoples self-esteem and confidence.

Object Lesson Two: Get access to a nice model airplane that is made of wood. Have your student build it and paint it a nice color. Discuss how each plane is unique like a person. Have the student play with it and practice so that they get good on flying it. Now discuss that even though we appreciate the ability for the airplane to fly, others don’t appreciate its potential. Now throw the airplane against the floor and maybe kick it. Break a wing. Now have the student try to fly the airplane and discuss how the airplane’s progress is hindered because of the damage done to it. Just as we can damage the potential of a plane being able to fly so a bully can damage the potential of someone else because of acts of violence.

Discuss that violence can be done by word and not just by physical contact. Give some example of famous people the child may admire and discuss why they like those people. If they are sports figures, maybe brain storm that if they had a bully that discourage their success they may not have become the type of success that is so admired.

Object Lesson Three: Bring up a famous criminal or show some pictures of convicts. Discuss how each conflict was once a nice person but then they made a decision to be mean or to break the law. They did it only once, but then again and again. Discuss how some actions can become habits and that cruelty can also become a habit. Ask the class what kind of friends each convict might have. Can their friends be trusted to not steal or lie. Do the criminals look like nice men or women? Study how hard they look. Discuss some possible ways how choices make criminals.

They are just some ideas on how to discuss empathy which might eventual help a bully from being cruel.

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1987/12/the-beatitudes-pattern-for-coming-unto-christ?lang=eng
http://www.jesuschristsavior.net/Beatitudes.html
http://www.antiochian.org/content/applying-christs-beatitudes-to-parenting
http://www.preachtheword.com/studies/ssbea.html

I came across a page of notes from a blogging panel I attended. This may have come from my visit of Story@HOme conference. These are very old notes so we’ll see how coherent they are.

– Web setup: Loggert, blog spot, word press
– Add stats counters to monitor hits on your web site. with stat counter and Google anemonics
– Can promote blogs through twitter and comment to other blogs and if they like what you say you will get visitors.
– Seek out blogs that cover the same stuff you present as that will be the people most likely to hop over to your blog.
– Seek out information about web site optimization
– Start a blog and tell your friends you have a site.
– Tag/label is technology that gives you a chance to put a label on each of your comments (I need to do this)
– When you look up terms on the web it will give you a list of common phrases.
– When use pictures ask permission and give source.
– Check out media fire.
– For used photos, use backlink to give credit
– Look up plateful and sign up.
– Google ad affiliation can set up a connection with Amazon.
– What to write? Keep a notebook with you when you come up with an idea.
– For each new visitor to your site, give a special hi.
– Akismet – is a free lug in is a spam filter.
– Commenting on other blogs is a way to promoting yourself on the web.
– Remember to pace yourself. If you try to post on 30 sties a day you can burn yourself out. An alternative might be to post to one site a day.

Waist = part of the body between ribs and hips. I remember this in that I have a waIst and both have I.

Waste = means trash. I remember this because it doesn’t have the “I” and Everything can eventually be thrown away in the trash so we have WastE and both have E.

Hugo Awards:
http://dpsinfo.com/awardweb/hugos/

Nebula Awards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award_for_Best_Novel