In the Rough - The Blog of Joel McDonald Jr.

The passing of Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, marks the end of an era.“President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died this evening. He was 97. Hinckley’s life spanned the 20th century, a time marked by LDS global outreach and technological advances. He saw his church evolve from a tiny sect in the Intermountain West to a respected religious movement with more than 13 million members worldwide. He embraced each new communication device, from radio to satellite to YouTube, as a chance to spread the Mormon word. He began his career in the 1930s as a missionary defending the faith on a soapbox in London’s Hyde Park and lived to see the country’s first viable Mormon candidate for president. Through it all, Hinckley worked tirelessly to gain acceptance for his church on the world’s stage.” - Salt Lake Tribune

I once had a man tell me, as he shook my hand, that is testimony of the truthfulness of the church was simple. He said, “If the church isn’t true, then why do I cry every time I hear the prophet speak?” This prophet that he spoke of was President Gordon B. Hinckley, world leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I too once believe that this man was the mouthpiece of God. I looked to him for guidance, and held onto his every word when he would address the church during the bi-annual General Conferences. In a very real, and very personal way, Hinckley was not just the prophet of the church; he was my prophet.

Looking through my journal, I found this entry I had written shortly after I was baptised into the LDS Church where I first write about Hinckley:

“Tonight I went to the priesthood session of General Conference. It was my first time. I am in awe of the men who spoke. The seemed to be speaking directly to me. I stared into the eyes of President Gordon B. Hinckley as he spoke, and I knew that man was a prophet. He is our prophet today…The leaders of this great church have been chosen by God to guide and direct the world. My heart was filled with joy as I looked and listened to these leaders, especially the prophet.” (April 27th, 2002)

And also,

“General Conference was amazing. The speakers talked to my heart and I was touched. The power in President Gordon B. Hinckley’s words astounded me. When he shared his testimony, I could feel the truthfulness of that great man’s words. I could feel his love for me, and I could not help but to love him also…What a wonderful man that the earth has as a prophet!” (April 28th, 2002)

The final Sunday I was at the Missionary Training Center:

“Today was fast Sunday. I fasted to feel the presence of the Spirit. I did feel the Spirit on multiple occasions. I felt it the strongest at the end of our departure devotional as we watched a video with President Gordon B. Hinckley testifying of the important of missionary work. I was so overwhelmed that I could hardly find the voice to sing the closing hymn…The Prophet affected me with his personal and heartfelt testimony of missionary work. It was like he was there speaking to us. I love President Hinckley. God grant him strength to press forward”. (August 1st, 2004)

Toward the end of my missionary service, as a desperately tried to salvage of testimony of the church, President Hinckley played a center role in the last boost of faith I would experience in connection with the truthfulness of the Church.

“The priesthood session was especially meaningful; not for the subjects that were spoken about, but for the feelings which I had. One moment in particular was altering for me…President Thomas S. Monson, President Hinckley’s First Counselor, announced that The Prophet would be the concluding speaker and instructed us to listen carefully to The Prophet. As almost a side note, a last minute thought, President Monson looked out and said, “He is a man of God”. At that brief statement, I felt a charge come over me as the Spirit bore witness that President Hinckley was a man of God, even the prophet for the world. My desire to reformulate my beliefs disappeared, my desire to find happiness in righteousness was increased, and my testimony was rekindled…I hope that I may never doubt again.” (March 30, 2006)

Of course, as time moved forward I could not retain my testimony of the truthfulness of the church no matter how hard I tried. Unfortunately, who I am and what I believe, in addition to the many questionable aspects of LDS doctrine and history, make it impossible for me to believe in the church that Hinckley led. Even though, as a part of my leaving the church, I stopped believing Hinckley to be the mouthpiece of God, I still feel a connection with this man and mourn his loss. Whether these feelings are right, or wrong, is of little concern to me. Perhaps I just mourn the additional loss of something I placed to much faith in, the end of an era. I mourn the loss of the only prophet I ever had, and ever will have.

Late last night, probably during another bout of sleeplessness, I came up with the notion that it might be beneficial, if not only for myself, to write about the comings and goings of my life every week. The working title, and most likely continuing title, for this little project of narcissism is “Friday Debrief”. Welcome to the first report.

A long lost, and most gratefully recently discovered, friend mentioned that Banana Republic was having an amazing sale where I could get some good clothes for 70% off their usual prices. Now, for those who have ever walked through one of their stores, you know their stuff isn’t cheap. Of course, admittedly, I’m very cheap when it comes to clothes (a habit I should probably change). Dummy me, I thought the whole store was on sale, and picked up a jacket and a pair of jeans for what I thought was going to set me back about $60. Well, at the register, I realized that they must not have been on sale. However, bring the savvy shopper that I am, I decided to purchase the items in order to protect my pride. I went back the next day and returned the jeans. I really like the jacket, and have been wanting one like it for a while; so I kept it.

Earlier this week I came across some posts in the chapter leader’s forum at postmormon.org which contained a suggestion that the community have a podcast. I thought this was a wonderful idea, so I posted a comment supporting it. After posting, I realized that the discussion was months old. Still, I wondered what Post-Mormon podcast might be like and I whipped one together. If you want, you can listen to it here. Later that day, Jeff Ricks messaged me and said he liked the idea of a podcast and would discuss it with the Post-Mormon board to see if they wanted to establish and official podcast for the community. He asked if I would be willing to manage the podcast and become a staff member. Of course I accepted the offer, and now wait for the boards decision. Hopefully within a month or so, I’ll be hosting a bi-weekly podcast.

The possibility of hosting a podcast that could potentially be listened to by hundreds, even thousands, of people, is somewhat daunting. I’ve been downloading and listening to various Mormon/exMormon related podcasts to see what kind of content and style of being thrown out there. I actually dusted off my old 30GB video iPod that typically rests unused atop my alarm clock, and downloaded some shows onto it to see how iPods manage podcasts. I’m impressed with the setup, and can understand why podcasts can be an amazing tool for communication. I’m going to branch out an listen to show of various content to see how people set up their shows and hopefully get some ideas on how I want to structure the PoMo Podcast.

A couple weeks ago I submitted my resume to the Department of Technology for Virginia Beach City Public Schools in response to an open position in Data Operations. This position deals with the same systems that I current use on a school level, but on a district level. It would be pretty exciting to take a step up in responsibility and pay. Yesterday I got a call to schedule an interview. Just getting an interview is a big deal. I’m somewhat divided about the possibility of leaving Luxford. It would be a difficult transition. However, at the same time, I’ve known for a while that I would need to take a step forward, within the school system or somewhere else. Hopefully I can stay with the school system. My interview is next Friday. Wish me luck.

I’ve been running 1-3 miles once to three times a week for a while now. My mileage has varied, mostly due to my laziness. It seems that I sort of plateau out at 3 miles, and then become lazy again. It’s been said that the biggest deterrent against future success is current success. I think we all have the tendency to reach a certain point of satisfaction and then, instead of intensifying our efforts to improve, we back away feeling good about what we’ve already done. Unfortunately, this may mean that we have to start all over again. For me, if I don’t run for a week, I have a very difficult time getting myself back up to 3 miles.

Don’t get me wrong. Just the fact that I can run 3 miles as well as I do is a miracle in itself. Going from being someone who hated running, to someone who depends on it for his health, appearance, and emotional well being is quite the transition. I remember a time when running 1 mile seemed like an impossible feat.

Still I want must go further. I want to be running a good 6 miles by the time the Shamrock Half-Marathon comes up in March. I figure if I can run6 at a good pace, then I can complete 13.1 at a slower, yet strong pace. Last year, I had only run 3 miles a couple of times before tackling the Shamrock. This year, I want to be better prepared.

Next week’s goal is to reach 4 miles. I’m going to leave that plateau behind.

Recently, I viewed an online presentation recorded by John P. Dehlin entitled, “Why People Leave the LDS Church, and What Family/Friends/Community can do about it“. Dehlin very honestly approaches the reasons why people leave the church; however, he totally misses the pivotal reason why these things cause people to leave, and why leaving can be so difficult.In “Truth Restored?”, I hope to clearly illustrate the basics of church history, doctrine, and practices and then discuss the often painful process of leaving the church behind. Currently, this is the skeleton of the presentation:

• Mormonism 101: Brief overview of key historical events that shaped the church, touching upon the inconsistencies of the accepted historical record.
• Conversion Process: Exploration of the missionary program of the LDS church and the circular logic used in conversion, as well as the emotional variables associated with this process.
• Methods of Control: Details of the function of the church and its attempts to control members via social and economic factors.
• Causes of Collapse: Valid reasons which, if honestly considered, can diminish a member’s faith in the church.
• Aftermath of Mormonism: The effects of the collapse of faith and how former members must rebuild their lives and identities.

I hope to get a good bit of the presentation done this weekend, if not all of it, and it will be posted online. I welcome any feedback about the concept and outline. Feel free to comment or e-mail me.

Yeah, it’s impressive; the world’s thinnest laptop. The MacBook Air was the finale from Steve Jobs at the 2008 MacWorld Expo, and a lot of being written about it. Here’s a few:Forbes - ”Jobs Fails to WOW at MacWorld”
PC World - “MacBook Air: How Complete is it?”
BusinessWeek - “When Apple’s Keynote Bounce is a Thump”

Apple is known for innovation. They’ve conquered the Ipod digital music player market, and they are carving out a very nice slice of the smart-phone market as well with the amazing iPhone. The MacBook Air is innovative as well, taking mobile computing to new levels and showing a complete rethinking of what a notebook is.

In all honesty, the MacBook Air is not designed to be your only computer. It’s meant to a secondary, mobile device, that will allow you to do most of your computing. They don’t say this, but without an optical drive, multiple USB ports, and built in Ethernet, I think this point is made. If you want ultra-mobility, the MacBook Air is for you. If you are a heavy computer user, focusing all your cash and expectations on this device is probably not the best route to take.

I expect to see other members of the MacBook line revamped to include some of the features of the MacBook Air. The multi-touch pad, allowing you to pinch, swipe, and rotate, is a great idea. I could see myself using these gestures often. The only downside of having these features is the major disappointment of having to use a computer without them.

Yesterday afternoon, I sat down with a movie that I had been wanting to see for quite a while, “An Inconvenient Truth”. This film captures Al Gore as he travels the world presenting “the slide show” in an attempt to educate the world on the real and present danger of global warming and the possibilities of reversing our accelerating path to a global climate crises.If you haven’t seen this movie, see it soon, today if possible. There is a reason this man, and researchers on the topic, won the Nobel Prize last year. The evidence, undeniably stunning correlated data, that our actions are having a huge impact on the climate is impossible to ignore. This is not theory, it’s not political. Global warming will change our world as we know it if we do not take the necessary steps to reverse our impact.

See the movie, make whatever changes you can, and tell people about it. Write your elected officials and demand that we unite in a War Against Climate Change. I am convinced that we must change, immediately.

Another activity I finally got around to is checking out World of WarCraft, and seeing if it really is as good people claim it is. I spent a good chuck of hours playing last night, and as far as I can remember, my character is a priestly Night Elf. If you want to look me up, his name is Abelzier. World of WarCraft is a subscription based game, but they are offering a 10 day trial. I was up and running very quickly, and game-play has been very smooth, even though I didn’t download the full (4GB) program. Who knows how I’ll feel about the game after my trial period is over. For now, I can admit that it is mildly addicting, as there is always something to do!