The BROKEN TRAIL of a Mormon SKINWALKER

A Mormon SKINWALKER is different than the tradition Navajo SKINWALKER. In the dark world of Navajoland...SKINWALKERS abound--out of harmony in pursuit of evil deeds. These SHAPESHIFTERS "yee nadlooshii"cloak themselves in the SKIN of beasts and lurk in the night. These unNATURAL creatures cannot mimic the natural gait of the animal they cling under. Many a Mormon Missionary out on the Rez have experienced the lurking of these creatures on their nightly rounds. Navajo reluctantly talk of such things as to evoke an evilness their way. Navajo mythology or perhaps religious tradition has a dark side. The challenge to is to keep in harmony with the natural world. Shaman or medicine men chant healing rituals like the BLESSINGWAY[Hózhójí] to repair the evil of witches and darkness. Witches abound, humans gone to the dark side, appear as everyday people but secretly shoot poisens (bone fragments) into unsuspecting victims. Sickness or mental disunion results calling for healing and rituals. Local witches convene in an underground room littered with corpses. At these meetings they may make a sand-paintings of the new victim with colored ash and prepare corpse powder with a male victim's flesh. They filch something of the victims then chant and bury the object to induce distortion. Bad hair in the morning could be a sign (no jokes)..

A Mormon SKINWALKER is what I am. Something different. I have the appearance as the typical BYU stud. Inside the SKIN...however lurks a troubled soul...hidden secrets not spoken of in Mormon culture. Disharmony, dischord, disunion....finding my way in the shadows. Not accepted for who I am, not rejected because of Christ. My ONLY escape is NATURE. Here I find peace, harmony and non-judgement. Friends even follow. I have family. Activity and beauty overwhelm all superficialness. We swim naked in stone potholes in slot canyons...water falls off the red lips of cliffs and wash away the sins. The coldness or extreme heat keeps the SSA at bay. Naked boys dry off on sandstone with the piercing sun. Harmony, peace and non-judgment. Here I escape....my BLESSING WAY ritual and place of healing.


Culture and land and religion collide. One cannot hide in the rocks forever. The aged hard father hands worn and blistered rebukes all change. He did it the hard way...the only way....not unlike his father and his father who founded this place. They dug those first ditches.. They created a paradise in the wilderness knowing that the land does not give easily. Their dreams came to pass. My dream is different. My field to plow is different. It does not fit the cycle of time. I cannot tell him of this. I must follow his footsteps first. The soul remains empty and unsettled.... the place is good. Witches abound and shoot their poisen. Culture collides with religion. Religion collides with my soul. Red Rocks heal. Christ heals. The Cycle of life goes forward.I RIDE THE BROKEN TRAIL with messed up hair

Hayduke strikes again

I KNOW THIS IS NOT FUNNY TO SOME but MONKEYWRENCHING is a form of PROTEST. MY HATS off to DeChristopher for his courage....

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.....SAVE OUR LANDS

STUCK between a Rock and a soft SPOT

Some of you say the most profound things. Survival kind of things. Things that make a big difference for a Latter Day Saint struggling with SSA and his place in his world. (see thought below). I've been told "I should leave my place in the world" and go where one can blend into the cityscape. Furthermore..."Admit who I really am and live healthy"...."have a real life relationship" All this to avoid becoming an embittered old man. Can I have the best of both world's? Can I stay in my canyon of Red Rock huggers and be accepted? Can I ride the range with my homies and be accepted? Can I blend into a small Utah ward with a boy on my arm? Can I attend family reunions without a family? Can I be lonely and healthy?. Will the Bishop give me callings with the young men? I don't know where all this is going. I'm just asking?. Do I stay and inherit the ranch and do all those thing that make me who I am...Or do abandon it for that cement wasteland yet finding myself cuddled at night? Earth intersects with culture. This I can't escape.

This survival THOUGHT ......... was SHARED once by one of you>>>

"Maybe we’re not supposed to fix every broken thing in life. Maybe, we’re supposed to do the most possible good with what we have. Maybe, these broken things are the very same things that will enable us to achieve greater levels of service that would otherwise be impossible. Maybe, we’re not all supposed to have the “traditional” life here...or maybe it’ll just happen a little later on. And along with that, what can we hope to become without learning to deny or control our passions…ourselves?"

THIS SUSTAINS ME....FOR NOW

I recently helped my homies bring in the Summer Range cattle.... then off to the desert we went. Campfire language was not without bashing of that which I belong. Not intended as evil but made in light humor. Somewhat silent I sat...yet not angry. I should be! Since most here were in the marriage process....it would have been too obvious for the celibate one to counter an opinion,,, Fire Roasted lamb, dutch oven potatoes, and peach Cobbler, root beer and a little poker...I countered more with tolerance speech and some prop 8 discussion hoping to bring up doctrine. Most of these fella's are LDS and church goers but not all. Hard workers, ranchers, coal miners, hunters, and my buddies. Coyotes ranted in the distance. The desert breeze warned of coming Winter. Even here in the quiet of the desert.. Homophobia abounds. The church has made this worse. Compassion is absent. Misconceptions run rampant. Here I belong. WHY?....

BLESSINGS

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face
and are truly thankful...you are blessed because the
majority can, but most do not.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle,
the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture,
or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead
of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of
harassment, arrest, torture, or death...you are more
blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on
your back, a roof overhead and a place to
sleep...you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and
spare change in a dish someplace...you are among the
top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married...
you are very rare, even in the United States.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even
touch them on the shoulder...you are blessed because
you can offer healing touch.

If you can read this message,
you are more blessed than over two
billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and pass this
along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.

I KNOW WE CAN'T CLAIM TO HAVE ALL THE BLESSINGS ABOVE
YET A FEW ARE LIKELY TO BE ON OUR LIST
AND
I FOR CAN ADD A NEW BLESSING TO MY LIST
A BLESSING UNTIL RECENTLY I NEVER KNEW WAS OUT THERE
YOU MY FRIENDS......

ALAN AND BRAVEONE AND CADENCE AND ROBERT AND ANDY AND MICHAEL AND DUCK AND CHASE AND OCTOBER RISING AND ABELARD AND D, AND SEAN AND JAKE AND ROMULUS AND SCOTT AND LOVE AND RYAN AND BROR AND MIKE AND HIDDEN AND MARK AND DANISH BOY AND CROW AND ALL THE OTHERS

...WHO FACE EACH NEW DAY WITH COURAGE AND CONVICTION ....WHO WILLINGLY SHARE THEIR LIVES AND WISDOW....WHO GIVE US SUPPORT AND NEW COURAGE
MERRY CHRISTMAS

SCATTERBRAIN STUFF

I COULDN'T RESIST....CLICK on SCATTERBRAIN STUFF for BIGOTRY.... LDS style
http://beetlebabee.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/ho⋅mo⋅phobe-n/#comment-1592

YOU ALL remind me of FRIENDS from days gone by ...

THOSE were the days.......I'm a sentimental slob, thats why I like HISTORY. YOU ALL remind me of those CAMPFIRE friendships

RETHINKING OUR WAY

ESCAPE needed

WHY is it that when DEPRESSION...discouragement...DISAPPOINTMENT hit...my blood sugar goes wacky? I am DRAINED!!


"What is it that awakens in my soul when I walk in the desert, when I catch the scent of rain, when I see the sun and moon rise and set on all the colors of the earth, when I approach the heart of wilderness? What is it that stirs within me when I enter upon sacred grounds? For indeed something does move and enliven me in my spirit, something that defines my very being in the world. I realize my humanity in proportion as I perceive my reflection in the landscape that enfolds me. It has always been so."
Momaday, N. Scott

Will the real JOE SMITH stand -up?

Towle a visionary herself, an itinerant preacher who helped satisfy the young nation's hunger for preaching came to see the New Prophet for herself. She quipped, "Are you not ashamed of such pretensions?...You who are no more than an ignorant plough-boy... Joseph calmly noted, "the gift has returned again, as in former times to ILLITERATE FISHERMEN."

Some questioned the capacity of the uneducated prophet to do justice with God's revelations. Some questioned their authenticity when errors were made. The nature of the Revealed word, according to Joseph, was from God but not God's diction or dialect or native language ...recognizing the limitations of language and the weaknesses of himself...Joseph could freely edit his works and did so. Joseph encouraged the Saints to have this same kind of personal experience for themselves, for their families and as part of their stewardship.

Joseph gave up the Urim & Thummim..he no longer needed it ....was content with the spirit of Prophesy & Revelation.



According to some, Joseph's demeanor fell short of a prophet's character. He lacked "sobriety, prudence and stability" frequently showing "a spirit of lightness and levity, a temper easily irritated and a habitual proneness to jesting and joking"

Emma moved from house to house...no more settled than when she married Joseph 5 years previous


this tough guy said to be the strongest man on the Western Preserve said he could take Joseph Smith out alone...he had a hold of Joseph's leg as the mob carried Joseph from his home. Joseph gave a kick and tough guy went sprawling out into the street....later admitted the Prophet to the strongest man he had ever got a hold of.


Members came and went... leaders rose and fell...but Joseph persisted.

At 26 years of age, he led an organization of thousands, had huge building projects, always on the run, had his own family, was surrounded by more experienced, talented and polished men, was moving masses of people, tried to implement the idea of consecration, of cooperativism, claimed the miracle of translating a monumental scripture from ancient times, introduced long lost theological principles that grated against Christian tradition, structured a church after the order of the ancient church, restored priesthood and authority to the earth when priesthood was a bad word among protestants, published revelations of God speaking today...yet maintained unmatched resolve and conviction among tyranny and desertion and attack....yet maintained his sanity with calm and dignity even as his ultimate destiny loomed.

MORMONS are supposed to be better than this.....

I am disappointed in MY PEOPLE. Burning the flag of a black family just because the nation spoke against racism and spoke for diversity & hope. Instead of celebrating this history moment in the cause of liberty MY PEOPLE sent to each other hateful awful text messages full of intolerance and shame. This confuses me. Doesn't the gospel of Christ have meaning to MY PEOPLE. Is his message not one of LOVE and forgiveness and compassion and non judgement. I see fear and scare tactics and people believing the most ridiculous fairy tales. Instead of pulling together as a people...we show who we really are deep down. Protesters surround our temples and declare us to be bigots. WE ARE!!! We worked so hard to show the world that we had overcome our prejudices of colored people. That is all UNDONE. Since the election...My father will not talk to me. I shed tears in the still of the night.

FIGHTING FOR OBAMA IN UTAH ...or will the real OBAMA stand-up

But it is disappointing that in a Church whose theology is founded on individual responsibility to seek wisdom and learning by study and also by faith (note that it's both, not just the latter), so many Church members seem to accept instantly without question anything they hear as long as it aligns with their previous beliefs and (sadly) prejudices. That is a natural human tendency, I know. But in the LDS Church we at least profess to aspire to something ....... Utah is ground zero of scare tactics. A visiting teacher of a friend of mine told her that she had heard that Obama was the anti-Christ. My own father says he's moving to Canada.