A musician goes haywire. I can still enjoy his original albums as though he never did.

It’s much easier for me to enjoy the works (art, literature, technology) of dark people when I realize that all their goods are owned by Another. All their light is a reflection originating from elsewhere.

“To the pure, all things are pure…” (Titus 1:15)

Every book by King Solomon.

The epic performance of Hollywood Actors and Actresses.

The products of Steve Jobs (he had a dark side).

This weekend I heard a clear expression of “Mormon atheism”:

“I sometimes wonder if in the Sacred Grove Joseph Smith realized there was no God, and came up with a religion to help people deal with that.”

Mormonism and atheism are left with same existential dread. They both fail to satisfy the bottom of our hearts. Neither can make us truly happy.

A forever-family with all others can’t satisfy the eternity God has put in our hearts. Not even ever-increasing pleasure. Not even having a resurrected body. Not even being forever-married. Not even creating worlds without number. Not even “understand[ing] all mysteries and all knowledge.”

Even if we had all that there would still be something fundamentally missing. The dreadful hole would not be filled. People would still feel tempted to commit suicide. We would still cry,

“Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

Only a personal relationship with the Most High God can take resolve human existential dread. Anything else is just suppression, survival strategy, or coping mechanism. All other methods and religions underestimate what it takes for the human heart to be truly happy.

“You have formed us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you.” (Augustine)

Everything else is ultimately unsatisfying. In Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3)

Friends are like seasons: Some warm with happiness, others cold with depression. Each beautiful in their own way. Sometimes succeeding but never replacing the others.

Human death stings and enslaves. It is something to be screamed at and conquered. Not to be reduced to a cessation of pain.

It is always the result of tragedy. It always stops something that should have continued. Nothing makes it OK.

Nothing short of resurrection to joy makes it something to became at peace with or comfortable with.

• Meeting him and Valerie ten years ago in a little office in Provo. He was my first new friend after moving to Utah.
• For ten years after: many, many discussions.
• Going to OpenWest with him.
• Him joining Instructure with me. In the office I could hear him from across the way coming, flopping with his sandals… in Winter.
• Double dates. Restaurants. Card games. Civ 5. Speed typing!
• Lunch at the Porcupine. Just me and him. Catching up. Talking life.
• His relentless courtesy. He could have trained others to work in a queen’s palace.
• His patient listening. Always listening. Always ready to hear. Available. There. Willing to talk. Ready.
• Him politely enduring my endless litany of programming questions.
• I advertised a programming party to some friends. He is the only one that showed up.
• THESE are my sweetest memories with him: Running for 3-4 miles a few times a week and talking the ENTIRE time with him.
• But it wouldn’t end. Deep discussions ensued across the shower stall walls of Dimple Dell Recreation Center.

Braden, I thought our conversations would continue for decades to come. I loved YOU, economics-loving atheist friend. I enjoyed having those conversations WITH YOU. YOU were an amazing human being. I am crushed and devastated. I HATE death and I want you back. And you were WRONG about life not having any intrinsic value, because YOU had it.

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More memories of Braden:

• Him introducing me to BYU’s 100 Hour Board. Often the topic of our conversation at Proton Communications.
• Late-night speed typing contests with him and his wife.
• The dude loved Scrolls and Minecraft.
• Civ 5. Dude logged 209 hours on it.
• A vocabulary for exclamation: Indubitably! Excellent! Breathtaking! Outstanding! Fascinating!
• Double-date to an Ethiopian restaurant. And quaint little restaurants downtown.
• I accidentally asked his wife if she was pregnant once while in the act of telling the story of accidentally asking a cashier if she was pregnant.
• Really hard to offend.
• He loved to quote http://slatestarcodex.com.
• Him and his wife were quirky nerds and were made for each other.
• His kids are sweet and gentle, a reflection of Braden’s personality. 
• His haircut experiments. From full head, to monk, to bald.

God is a unique speech-actor. He can create what he commands in the very act of commanding: “Let there be light.”

But humans are hilariously and pitifully different: When we announce our intentions we are less likely to follow through.

At the risk of losing some friends, but to the benefit of those vulnerable, let me describe what makes for a good MLM (multi-level marketing business). It:

• Dignifies hard work. It does not mock daily hard work.
• Avoids sensational health claims.
• Doesn’t tap into a dieting fad.
• Doesn’t exploit the placebo effect.
• Doesn’t depend on conspiracy theories about the competition.
• Doesn’t encourage you to sever relationships with dissenters. I have seen this in the body of Christ and it is tragic.
• Won’t burn bridges with friends and family.
• Doesn’t sell the idea of being rich.
• Doesn’t have drama with the FTC.
• Don’t distract people, especially those in a season of life most common for starting a career, from responsibly developing a marketable skill set or getting a vocational/college education.
• Doesn’t financially depend on long nested chain of signups / resellers. There is nothing wrong with the manufacturer/distributor/retailer model. But MLMs blow this up and exploit people at the bottom of bigger pyramids.
• Doesn’t require buying products with a short shelf-life.
• Doesn’t prey on the struggling or the spiritually empty.
• Doesn’t over-spiritualize involvement.
• Doesn’t soil one’s social circles.
• Isn’t something you would be ashamed to have your children do.
• Doesn’t depend on people feeling sorry for you.
• Competes well with getting a “normal” job. A paycheck from an MLM isn’t “success” if you could have earned more responsibly and sustainably elsewhere.
• Has a good success rate of its participants.
• Capitalizes on reduced shipping costs.
• Has synergy with existing needs and social activity. People already need and buy it, and seller becomes distributor of said product. Perhaps it is a fun catalyst for social events that people benefit from regardless of purchase.

I have a seen a few good examples of direct sales (cleaning products, bags, scrapbooking, craft supplies, candles). But the vast majority of MLMs do not pass muster. Most people think their MLM is the exception. Maybe yours is, but the bar is high.

I am not trying to judge you. Good, intelligent people have soiled relationships and wasted thousands of dollars on MLMs. I am trying to help you. Your best friends may feel reluctant to critique your MLM. They love you. They don’t want to lose their relationship with you.

If you need to provide for a family, then responsibly develop a career, cultivate a skill set, get an education, look for an internship, or start an entry-level position. If your family needs supplemental income, then look for part-time or contract work. You probably should not waste your time on MLMs. If you want residual income, then develop a residual skill set lucrative to the marketplace of dignified, daily work. Your family and friends and children and church and local community are cheering you on!

Further reading:

• The Case (for and) against Multi-level Marketing (PDF), Jon Taylor

Paul’s 2000-year-old description of the worst of Facebook:

• “passing our days in malice and envy”
• “hated by others and hating one another”
• “foolish”
• “slaves to various passions and pleasures”

Paul’s manual for Christian Facebook behavior:

• “speak evil of no one”
• “avoid quarreling”
• “be gentle”
• “show perfect courtesy”
• “be ready for every good work” (in other words, SIGN OFF FACEBOOK)

This is from Titus 3:1-5. Incredible!

Surgeons methodically operate on a half-dozen patients and then tell jokes at dinner.

Parents throw children high up into the air that are more valuable than all the money in the world.

Astronauts in space play with floating water on web camera to students in a classroom.

Hikers fall asleep on mountains under the stars.

Royal kings and queens in the image of God eat chili dogs and watch baseball.

We experience the epic so casually! The human experience is breathtaking! The angels must shout at us from their perch!

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Part of what makes humanity humanity… to be finite… to be small and created… and to live in wonder of God and life and creation and drama and beauty around us… is to use dramatic hyperbole, myth, exaggerations… We ironically need overstatements because life really is more wonderful than the language we have for it. Epic indeed.

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“Sometimes you never realize the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” – Dr. Seuss

It seems like we should respect people by assuming they don’t actionably believe many alarming things they say they do. To respect them is to charitably assume that their common humanity is more fundamental than some of what they say they believe.

Consider heated arguments. Someone you love says something alarming and dramatic. But you dismiss it as “breath in the wind”, something that he didn’t think over, that hasn’t percolated through his life and worldview. You love and respect him by charitably assuming he is incoherent. He is not fully consistent with the implications of his words.

This follows a positive ethic of, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, and a ‘negative’ ethic of, “Do not judge lest you be judged.” You want people to give you the benefit of doubt. To be gracious.

This gives us breathing room to talk out loud, to say tentative things and have them bandied about and put under scrutiny. To engage what someone says seriously, but with patient courtesy. This is what keeps us from being reactionary or hyper-vigilant or hyper-sensitive to offense, or overly worried about what someone will actually do.

It doesn’t make words any less irresponsible (especially reckless accusation or slander), or worldview any less a driving force for life, but it is a reason to slow down and be at peace. It also makes friendships and conversations with people very different than you (even ideological and religious enemies) much more fruitful and satisfying.

“To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” (Titus 3:2)