God mend thine ev'ry flaw!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.

America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!
 
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine!

A Concern on 'Diversity' in the Workplace

The dictionary describes the word ‘diversity’ as "political entities (neighborhoods, cities, nations, student bodies, etc.) with members who have identifiable differences in their backgrounds or lifestyles". So basically – the end goal of diversity is unity, right? However - I'm not so sure the public and private sector endorse this definition.

When we encourage diversity, are we defining relationships by our differences? It seems to me that we focus on what makes us different, more than what makes us the same. Take for example, the recent supreme court ruling about the discrimination of white fire fighters seeking promotion. The fear of a law suit claiming non-compliance with federal diversity laws only encouraged discrimination. I can’t imagine this is doing much for the unification of the New Haven, Connecticut.

President Obama (or 'POTUS', depending on your usage level of government acronyms) recently delivered a phenomenal speech in Cairo, Egypt where he called for a 'new beginning' between the U.S. and Muslims around the world: "So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace..."

I agree Mr. President. Well said. But we can’t seem to move beyond our differences. Even POTUS declared June “LGBT Pride Month”. I highly doubt he would also endorse a “Heterosexual Pride Month”—that would offend too many people.

I recently read a fabulous talk by one of my favorite lawyers, entitled, "Weightier Matters". In it, Dallin H. Oaks explains diversity:

"Diversity for its own sake is meaningless and can clearly be shown to lead to unacceptable results. For example, if diversity is the underlying goal for a neighborhood, does this mean we should take affirmative action to assure that the neighborhood includes thieves and pedophiles, slaughterhouses and water hazards? Diversity can be a good method to achieve some long-term goal, but public policy discussions need to get beyond the slogan to identify the goal, to specify the proposed diversity, and to explain how this kind of diversity will help to achieve the agreed goal."

He also quoted a BYU professor as saying that diversity has been used "as a euphemism for moral relativism". That's a whole different subject.

Thoughts?

Happy Day Pops!

Don't you just love this picture of my Dad? I feel like it captures him perfectly in his happiness. So... on Mother's day I was in Ghana and we went around the table talking about what qualities we had inherited from our Mothers. On Father's day I was in New York City and repeated the process. Here is what I came up with:

1. My love of current (and past) events-- My dad will stop what he is doing to follow a police chase or ambulance. He loves the news and collects front page headlines and has since he was little. He loves american history trivia and quizzing other people on what they know.

2. My dad loves weather-- well, at least I think he does. He's the one I call when I get really excited about a thunderstorm or downpour or a blizzard. He gets just as excited as I do!

3. My dad loves his family and those that are close to him know the deep feelings that are there. Nothing comes in between my Dad and our family. This is one of my favorite things about my dad.

4. My dad is constantly writing things down and planning and making lists. This is the story of my life. He never stops learning and always has a list of things to talk about, to do, to work on, to be, etc.

5. My dad loves people. He remembers people-- whether he met you yesterday or 30 years ago. He loves asking people questions and learning from them and making connections with them. If I have any talent for this whatsoever - it comes from my pops.

I love you dad! Happy Father's Day!

NY local, Liz Hansen and I celebrating Father's day in front of the temple.

Are you serious?

* Due to events of September 11, 2001, we are experiencing a significant delay receiving mail. Please fax your letters or requests so that we receive and may reply to your correspondence in a timely manner.

I recently saw this disclaimer at the bottom of a government webpage. Really? An 8-year delay? I think I might put that at the bottom of my email just so people don't expect a quick response.

Also, I've come to love seeing websites like this: http://www.plainlanguage.gov/whyPL/index.cfm. I can only imagine the amount of work that went into this initiative. Not to mention the disclaimer at the end of every government form that talks about the "Paperwork Reduction Act" and the "Public Burden" or time estimate of how many minutes it will take to fill out the form. Do they really watch people fill it out and time them with stopwatches?

Highlight of the week: Carl and I were greeted by a trumpet player Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. as we walked off the metro at Federal Triangle. The tune he was blasting? "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation"

Brilliant.

a montage of recent events, people, and places.

Duck Beach (Corolla, North Carolina)

Shenandoah Valley (Culpepper, Virginia)

Lincoln Memorial Rededication (Washington, D.C.)

My house (Arlington, Virginia)

I love the summer time on the east coast!

It's Been a Year!

This is kind of personal but... one year ago I went to the temple for the first time. I was really excited when I remembered that. From Salt Lake and San Diego to Accra and D.C. --- It's amazing to see how my life has changed since June 13, 2008!

Wise Words about Choices

The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar, from which he daily tears a sheet, grows thinner with each passing day. On the other hand, the person who attacks the problems of life actively is the like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away with its predecessors, after having first jotted down a few diary notes on the back. He can reflect with pride and joy on all the richness set down I these notes, on all the life he has already lived to the fullest. What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees, or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reasons has he to envy a young person? For the possibilities that young person has, the future which is in store for him? “No, thank you,” he will think. “Instead of possibilities I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of suffering bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, though these are things which cannot inspire envy.”

-Victor Frankl

To add to Mr. Frankl's profound words -- a member of my stake presidency last sunday talked about life's choices and he framed it in a way I love: 

"Anything is possible, Some things are probable, then it comes down to decisions of ourselves and others."

So....  Possibilities become Probabilities and Probabilities become Actions. How do our decisions affect what is possible in our lives? How do they effect what becomes a reality? How do our decisions in attitude affect our lives?

Final thought: How do these two scriptures relate?

Mosiah 24:15

D&C 123:17