Entropy and the Eternities

Have you ever asked yourself how time works? Why do we keep time on earth but God does not? I ask myself these questions quite frequently and I ponder them often. So why am I telling you this? Well today I was at the mall exchanging a pair of jeans that I bought yesterday for a pair a bit larger. (Marriage is starting to take it's toll) While I was walking out of the mall I noticed a book signing just outside the bookstore and the book they were selling just happened to catch my eye. I wasn't that interested though so I moved on but as fate would have it I was walking the wrong way so I had to turn around and walk past the book again. I was feeling a bit sorry for the guy doing the book signing because there was no one there and he was sitting alone just waiting for someone to want his book. So being the softy that I am I stopped to ask him about his book. I can't remember what the title was but the topic struck something inside me. It had something to do with traveling to other places in the universe through light. The young Prince in the book inherits a space ship made of gold that allows him to travel to different places as long as he is a "faithful knight". Sounds like a good fantasy book so I prod him on a bit and ask him if he does scientific research before he writes or if it is pure fantasy. Of course he does lots of research before he writes and so he shares an idea with me. He rhetorically asks me, what is time? As I'm thinking he responds that he believes time does not exist with out entropy. That became the center of my considerings for the next hour or so until I arrived at somewhat of a concrete conclusion.

For those of you who it's been a while since your last science course, entropy is this: Randomness and disorganization. The second law of thermodynamic states that as you move "forward" in time the entropy of  the universe is always increasing. In other words things become more disorganized as you move forward in time. Even when you organize something your self (such as baking a cake assembling a computer) you are putting in more energy than what is given out and so the net effect is negative. So time does not exist without entropy. Let that sink in for a minute. If things do not become more disorganized (they remain in the same perfected state) then time does not exist. Time for humans is a simply a sequence of events IE the sun comes up and the sun goes down and we have one day. But from an eternal perspective time is measured in terms of entropy. The older your body gets the more it decays and experiences entropy and thus time passes. The three nephites for example don't experience time in this sense. Their body's do not decay and so the only time they experience is in sequences of events. They see decay and entropy around them and so they can measure those events as a sequence in time. 

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden there was no decay and no entropy in their isolated system and so there was no time. There were only sequences, one thing obviously happens after another but because nothing changes there is no time. This would lead one to believe that the closer man (or the earth) gets to perfection the less you would experience time. A perfect celestial body and earth would, like God, not experience entropy and therefore would not experience time. 

We also learn from Abraham that Kolob is the closest planet to God. On Kolob one day is 1000 years on our earth. According to the above theory, Kolob would be in a more perfect state then our world and that would explain why time moves slower on that planet. Another explanation could be that our earth is decaying at a rate 365,000 times that of Kolob. It would a appear once again that the closer you get to God and perfection that "time" or entropy seems to slow down. 

This is all interesting and I hope it leaves you pondering but it's all really useless if there is not practical application. Maybe you will find your own and thus better you life. Here is my application and you can use it if you want.

Sin and death decay the body. They are spiritual entropy. Christ suffered and died to overcome these two obstacles that we obviously could not overcome on our own. We will all experience death but because of the resurrection we will all live again with an immortal body. In order to overcome sin we need to come unto Christ and let him guide us to perfection. Every time we sin our spirits decay. They move farther away from our Heavenly Father. But because of the atonement we can actually overcome entropy! Sin does not have to move us away from our Father. If we come unto Christ he will help us turn our weaknesses and sin into strength and righteousness. We will move closer to God, perfection and Eternal life. I know this because I can read it in the scriptures and I can see it in my own life. I know this may not make perfect sense but I hope I did a descent enough job that at least you may take something from it.

The Story of the First Foolish Tradition.

As the sole write and creator of The Book of Laman, I am posed with the almost impossible task of choosing the first foolish tradition that shall be eradicated. In future posts I will rely on my readers keen ability to spot foolish traditions and report them. Today, however I will be forced to rely on my own dry whit and wisdom.
The first tradition had to be good. Like the picture in my title it had to be monumental, funny and touching (but in a different way). And so the tradition was chosen: The Monthly Histomony.
Definition: This tradition actually has nothing to do with your allergy medication. (If you do hear of a monthly histomony for allergy I would be in the market though) Histomony is a combination of couple of words. History and Testimony. Hence a monthly histomony is the recitation of the history of a certain month given during fast and testimony meeting.
History: The histomony actually has it's origins in the "thanktemony". Thanketmony is the combination of thank yous and testimonies that we learn in primary. The thanktemony is not inherently wrong and should not be discouraged in younger children. It did however develop into the histomony that we know today.
Why is this a foolish tradition: Well there is nothing wrong with a histomony if it were given during fast and histomony meeting. Unfortunately for the histomony givers there is not such meeting in the LDS church. Histomonies should be discouraged during fast and TESTIMONY meeting because they are not TESTIMONIES. Giving a true testimony in front fellow worshipers strengthens ones testimony of the gospel. Giving a monthly update of your personal history does not strengthen your testimony but does few a negative things. First off it detracts from the overall spirit of the meeting. Second it takes the opportunity from someone else to give a meaningful testimony. Lastly it is as a wise person once said, "putting icing on crap". The giver of the histomony believes he or she is giving a testimony and that they are consequently growing in the gospel. When in reality there is either a lack of knowledge about what a testimony is or the actual lack of testimony and so no growth is occurring.
Possible solutions:
1. Call out the histomony givers during Sunday School.
2. Set an example by cultivating your own testimony and setting the example on fast Sundays by sharing your own testimony with your ward or branch
3. Shout down thanktemonies and testimonies during your own "lecturemony".
4. Befriend the histomony giver and find out if he/she either lacks a testimony or lacks the understanding of what a testimony is. Try and lovingly help that person gain a testimony of the gospel.
Lastly if you are a histimony giver and are covering your own crap with icing or if you know someone with that tendency then I've got some serious advice. Ask yourself if you really desire to have a testimony strong enough that it will give rise to a new desire: to share your testimony. If the answer is yes (or if you were one of the group who simply "knows" someone who's covering the crap) then grab the nearest copy of the Book of Mormon. Go to your room/study/grove or equivalent. Turn to 3 Nephi Chapter 11. Before reading say a prayer in your heart and let your Heavenly Father know your desires. Read Chapter 11. Read Moroni 10:3-5. Follow the instruction given in those verses. Now go share your testimony. It doesn't have to be in sacrament meeting but it does need to be shared. If you don't see immediate results then repeat the process and choose different chapters in the Book of Mormon each time.
And thus ended the First chapter of The Book of Laman.

Quote of the day: "A testimony is what we know to be true in our minds and in our hearts by the witness of the Holy Ghost (see D&C 8:2). As we profess truth rather than admonish, exhort, or simply share interesting experiences, we invite the Holy Ghost to confirm the verity of our words. The power of pure testimony (see Alma 4:19) does not come from sophisticated language or effective presentation; rather, it is the result of revelation conveyed by the third member of the Godhead, even the Holy Ghost." -Elder David A. Bednar