Moonday

12/16/24

Hello all,

I'd like to open with an explanation of where the word "Monday" comes from, because it's fairly interesting.

Apparently, Greco-Roman people decided that there ought to be seven days in a week somewhere between the 1st and 3rd centuries. They named the days after the observable celestial bodies at the time: the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. People fought about the order of the days for a long time, and we've found evidence for an official treatise asking what the order was, but we don't know what they decided was correct. Keep in mind that the sun and moon had different names and therefore resulted in different prefixes for the days (sol- and lun-).

Of course, the Romans lived a very long time ago. Their language evolved many times since they wandered the earth, but it did give rise to the Romance language family. These languages (with a couple exceptions) kept the Roman names. In French, these are dimanche, lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, and samedi. As you can see, they correspond with the names of the gods perfectly... except one. Luna, Mars, Mercury, J(e)upiter, Venus. But what about Sunday? Well, when Christianity/Judaism came along, they decided one day should be named after Judeo-Christian god, Dieu. Hence Dimanche. If you speak Spanish, you'll find similar connections.

English is self-decidedly special, so obviously couldn't keep the Roman gods. You know what makes way more sense? The Norse gods! We named our Germanic English names after the corresponding Norse gods: Tyr, (W)Odin, Thor, and Frigg. We thought that Zeus had something to do with thunder and lightning, so we picked Thor to replace him. As in Thursday. I bet you didn't know that. 

You can look up Saturday. It might have come from Saturn, but that one's more complicated.

I was talking to a friend today and realized that a fairly constant theme in my life has been learning by non-example. I've been surrounded by good people, but I've also been exposed to some people who were not good examples for the role they were in. Someone can be a great person in one context, but in the position you have to interact with them in, they are not good. I think that part of overcoming dislike for a person is to meet them in other environments.

Here is a brief, case-in-point example that we can all probably relate to: seeing someone from church, work, or school in public. You don't expect to see them that way, so at first you hardly recognize them. They're wearing clothes you're not used to, they are probably with someone you don't know, they're maybe more pleasant and seemingly normal. Just like the days of the week, you thought you knew them, but they're different. If you meet someone and think, "man, I really don't like this person as Wednesday", meet them as Mercredi and see what happens. Easier said than done.

Sometimes people make stupid choices that affect you, and you don't want to see the good side of them. They might not want you to see it either. Fortunately, you can still learn from them. I've seen examples of terrible leadership, so I know how to better lead. I've seen bad instances of friendship, so I can be a better friend.

Don't take this the wrong way. I don't know if I agree with the whole "noble suffering" ideology. Sometimes suffering and misfortune just happens, and there isn't anything else about it. I don't think that negative circumstances are earned, nor do I think people should constantly worry about being perfect to avoid the "infliction" of negative things. Neither should they place themselves in places of suffering or struggle just for the sake of doing it, especially when they begin to expect others to do the same.

If Jesus Christ really felt all of our pains, it seems like one of our first priorities would be to avoid unnecessary, self-inflicted suffering as a favor to him, so that he wouldn't feel it. I won't pretend to know how that works with agency if he already felt what he did, but I like to think he just felt infinity, which meant each individual experience was somewhere in there. I'd like to identify and relate more to his joy than his pain, personally. Maybe that's just me though.

Thinking about this in regards to my experience with a mission is interesting, and I've had some thought-provoking discussions about it. My mission felt like it had a culture where the suffering was embraced. Things were intentionally made more difficult, as if the struggle brought the results more value somehow. Hypothetically, you could get 10 numbers on 2 different days, one where you were friendly and went out for 1 hour, or one where you gave impersonal invitations for 6. Somehow, the one where you were out for 6 was seen as more impressive and more valuable. I thought that was silly. Someone I was talking to pointed this out: we seem to have a collective idea that if we can say "I told 5 people about the church", it is somehow better than if we helped 1 person with their groceries. It is as if our "efforts" are put into some kind of accounting sheet where things are worth more if they are inconvenient or difficult for either us or the person we are interacting with, as though saying "I told 10 people" is better than actually helping 1. I don't believe in doing things that way, and I see where the frustration of many less-orthodox church members comes from. There is a focus on results, but only results that come out of a certain process done in a certain way. 

I am going to repeat something that I found helpful this week. I might catch some shade for it, but I'm used to that by now. I cannot remember who said the original quote that got me thinking about this, so I can't attribute it to anyone, but the proto-idea came from a high ranking church leader.

Religions- specifically the LDS faith in this particular case- are good for setting up systems. They put lives on good tracks and can help those who are struggling to find direction and move out of dark places. They can help straighten out people who would otherwise negatively affect others, they can teach good morals, and they can teach a person how to feel a sense of community. They should be providing ways for people to practice being good people and teaching each other what they have learned. During youth, this isn't completely good or bad. It can have lasting effects, sometimes negative ones, but it can also make a positive impact by providing good life advice and shaping early decisions (sometimes through less than ideal means) that can benefit the individual later. In a young adult, it can provide a template for getting married, starting a family, and continuing to live within the dynamic they are a part of. 

When it comes to the individual, what should the goal of such a religion be? They should not be seeking to take control, money, or time from the individual. The role of religion is to shape the person to become better by teaching them good morals, a sense of right and wrong, an attitude of service, temperance, empathy for others, and a responsibility to seek beneficial change in the world. If the religion was successful, there should come a time in the person's life when they do not need the religion to tell them what to do anymore in order to be good. The religion should have taught them to do that on their own; it should be such a central part of them that it is no longer a separate identity, it is their central identity. Beyond that, their participation becomes more of a teaching role, helping the younger generation feel their support without taking a direct participatory position. This can come at any time.

One example of this comes to mind: Kung Fu Panda 4. If you've kept up with these films, you know that Po (Jack Black) is the fabled Dragon Warrior, chosen to save the country from the evil masters of kung fu. In the 4th installment, a disgruntled Po must relinquish his legendary status and move to a more mythical wisdom type leader, teaching a young fox (with the horrendous voice of Awkwafina) all he has learned in his time as the Dragon Warrior.

We each get a chance to be the Dragon Warrior; we are the center of the legend. We have birthday parties, we get married, we have kids. Part of being in the spotlight is stepping away. If you've learned what being a Dragon Warrior could teach you, then you should move on to the next step for you. For Po, that was the wisdom master. If I knew what it was for you, I'd be like Oogway as a wisdom master myself. All I know is that "when life gives you lemons, make pear juice and blow everybody's minds."

If you haven't seen the movies, then that made no sense to you. Go watch them. It is your homework, young ones.

I'd make a great wisdom master.

I think that's about it for me this week. Ask me what happened to the Honda Pilot if you're interested. In case you're wondering, the Cheesecake Factory doesn't have any vegan options for dessert, except a Cobb salad, and if you want to be entertained for 3 minutes, search YouTube for Snow Treasure Rap to see my sister's epic book report (majority of work done by yours truly). I'm continuing French at BYU, I have to take way too many math and physics classes, and I am in desperate search of a place to live. Praise the FAFSA.

I'll see you all next week!

Willard

ps. Sorry it's late. I was distracted today by other things.