God, Part III

It’s been more than a couple of days since my last installment - sorry. I’ve written and rewritten this about 73 times.

That said, let’s recap for just a moment, shall we! Using logic and reason - two things many people don’t generally associate with the topic of religion (but they should) - I made what I believe was a fairly compelling case for there being only one god, divine entity, mighty creator, etc. presiding over things here on earth. Following that same bulletproof line of logic and reason (if I do say so myself), I put forth the idea that a Methodist praying to their Creator and a Muslim petitioning Allah - it will turn out - are lifting their reverential voices to the same being, just with different names. 

While it’s my personal contention that Divinity did establish a particular religion, let’s consider the possibility that she/he/it/they didn’t at all; the Divine design was to have myriad religions and concepts of a god that fit with different parts of the world as seen through various cultural lenses so the human population had variety - each of us could walk up to a spiritual smorgasbord and choose what we felt would sate our hunger, and we could make additional trips either to double up on what we chose originally or get a clean plate and go in a completely different direction. 

Whether you want to consider this possibility of “no one religion is THE ONE” or your faith is such that your soul KNOWS the religion you have followed IS the one, the concluding part of my thesis is the same: live your religion . . . well, religiously, and encourage your colleagues, neighbors, family, and friends to do the same. Whoever you worship, that god wouldn’t want it any other way, right?

Imagine the state of the world if every single person who follows a religion were to live by the principles and doctrine to which they subscribe AND encourage others to embrace their respective churches! No matter how strongly we believe in the teachings of the religions with which we have aligned ourselves and the responsibility we feel to share them with others, if we looked at one another as fellow “religionists” or travelers simply on different paths to the same destination rather than askance and thinking of others as spiritually off at best or as potential spiritual foes at worst, just think how much more comfortable we would feel around one another, if we would allow it.  

Why did I tack that qualifier onto that last sentence? Let’s be honest and acknowledge that in our own churches/religions there’s an implied obligation not only to proclaim that ours is THE ONE but to be devout to the point that all others are lacking in some way or another. There are members of every religion - mine included - who translate that devotion to a charge to convert or condemn. Almost 1000 years ago, that took form in The Crusades, and that spirit of contention has continued. 

Many of the experiences in my life ranging from the subtle and mundane to “holy cow!” (a nod to the Hindus) have confirmed my faith. Those same experiences, though, have helped me come to respect the dedication, discipleship, and determination of friends, colleagues, family, and neighbors who are members of their chosen religions - and I have come to know, with a great deal of study of my own church’s teachings, that Peter won’t be “checking IDs” at the Pearly Gates and turning away anyone who doesn’t have an LDS membership card. 

As I wrap this up, allow me to remind you of this simple fact: not until we die will we DEFINITIVELY learn the answers to the BIG THREE QUESTIONS, agnostics and atheists included (I didn’t forget about you).  While we’re still breathing and walking around on this rock that makes an annual trip around the sun, let’s take religion off the table as one fewer thing to argue with one another - THAT will make for a far better existence, don’t you agree! By doing so, when we eventually pass on, we’ll see our neighbors and friends with whom we enjoyed our earthly journey and smile as we learn together how it was all meant to turn out - unlike the combatants in The Crusades who, perhaps, died within minutes of each other and then found themselves in the SAME “waiting room” - AWKWARD.

God, Part II

Show of hands: anyone believe at the end of the last installment, I was setting you up to be punked, that I was trying to convince you that there is only one religion that’s right with all the others wrong to one degree or another? Sorry. That wasn’t my intention.  In fact, my true hope for this entire thing is to encourage EVERYONE who reads this to stay strong to the religion/belief system in which you take strength, and let it make you a better person. 

Around the time humankind was weening themselves off of riding around on dinosaurs, I served a two-year mission in New York City for the church to which I have belonged my entire life and still belong (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).  My “job” during that time was to teach people about our religion and invite them to become a member of the LDS Church.  I didn’t win a set of steak knives with every tenth person I was able to bring into the fold – I wasn’t paid a dime to do any of that but actually paid to maintain myself on the mission out of personal funds. 

With that as background informing who I am today, you would think it’s weird to hear me say this: none of us KNOWS which combination of religion and Creator, if any, has it RIGHT.  That’s not me expressing doubts in the religion in which I’ve invested over a half century of my life – it’s a statement of practical fact.  I’ve not had a personal appearance from Deity telling me that I’m in the right place – like everyone else, I have faith in something that’s bigger than me and feel I’m on the right path for me.  And I’m reasonably certain most, if not all, of you haven’t had a heavenly visitation either. 

(Side note: there’s an inherent and unintended problem with postulating which church or religion or belief system is THE ONE because we, as human beings, reflexively infer that if one is correct, then that makes all others false, wrong, counterfeit, etc. Such an inference pits us against one another with nothing but negative results. That’s a big part of the reason for my writing this.)

Here in our earthly existence there are seemingly countless iterations, names, and concepts of a Supreme Being/Creator: Heavenly Father to the Christians, Jehovah to the Jews, Allah to the Muslims, Ahura Mazda to the Zoroastrians, Izanagi and Izanami to the practitioners of Shinto, Brahma to the Hindus, and Buddhism has a view of creators that is difficult for me to understand and even harder to try and describe in a few words - that’s not a slight or a negative comment but an admission that I haven’t invested myself and the respectful amount of time to learn more about their beliefs. The common thread that runs through all this, though, is a belief that some form(s) of Divinity, by whatever name(s), created us. My contention is that the most logical answer is that we humans were created by one Being – this Being is one in the same for each of us who lives, has lived, and will ever live on this earth. (For atheists and agnostics, you get a free pass in this exercise – I’m not going to try and convince you of God’s existence. You’ll find out with the rest of us whether there is or isn’t a God, by whatever name, after we die.)

Going back to the conclusion of my last installment: Death will be the great equalizer – the big reveal – when it comes to the BIG QUESTIONS. That will be the moment when we come to KNOW for practical fact who the Supreme Being/Creator is, whether she/he organized a specific religion, and which one (if she/he did).

Every single person who considers her/himself religious needs to buckle up for this next part. When we die, we’re eventually going to see the face of our Creator. (I’m not saying it’s going to happen the very moment we breathe our last and our souls leave our bodies; we may have to go through some type of admissions process that requires a lot of paperwork, but my money’s on the timing being relatively short.) It’s possible that the Creator will be Brahma . . . and those of us who have dedicated ourselves to a religion OTHER than Hinduism are now screaming at me right now to tell me how wrong I am in the strongest terms possible. Not wishing to leave the Hindus out of the chance to yell at me, I’ll posit this:  It’s equally possible it’s Allah or Ahura Mazda. Now I’m really digging myself into a hole with everyone who subscribes to one of the “Western” religions, right? However, following the logic I’ve outlined above that there can only be ONE Creator, anyone who has lived a life influenced and informed by any religion must accept the possibility that the name and identity we’ve attached to our Supreme Being is incorrect. I hope what I say next will get you to back away from the edge.

That same logic tells me this: the moment we see the face of our Creator, we will look at her/him as if we have known them since before we were born to earth – because we have. Whatever set of dogma, gospel, tenets, etc. we have faithfully followed in our sojourn here on the Big Blue Marble made us better parents, neighbors, co-workers, and fellow servants, and the Creator will know that. There won’t be even a scintilla of a moment of our thinking we messed up and chose the “wrong” religion. The Creator’s smile upon our reunion will override any thoughts in that direction, and we will instantly feel grateful that we DID follow our chosen religion; we’ll present ourselves to the Creator as a flawed but fervently purpose-driven child who tried to be better each day.

Before anyone decides to burn this article (or me) for heresy, sit down and take a few deep breaths. This is not meant to cast doubt on your life plan or your decisions to live by a particular moral code. As I said above, my intention is just the opposite: to encourage you to stand firm in your faith and live a life of good that your religion teaches. Now why would I put it that way when I just tossed out the possibility that billions of us are going to be “wrong”?

It’s quite simple, really: all adherents, acolytes, worshippers, and witnesses, in whatever religion we may be, are taught to be the best versions of ourselves. Every woman and man who truly lives the teachings and precepts of the church they attend is living a good life, one that is worthy to be emulated and looked upon as positively contributing to society.

Ironically, though, what constantly divides and causes us to believe we need to convince everyone else of the “correctness” of our chosen religion is our belief in who the Supreme Being is and what she/he/it expects of us. And if there were multiple “competing” deities governing our souls, we might be justified in this battle of wills. However, regardless of your religion at present, it only makes sense that we earthbound beings – ALL of us – have ONE common Creator. We ARE all brothers and sisters, children of that source. As the world is right now, we act like a highly dysfunctional family who is so off the rails that Joe Rogan would refuse to book us on a show because he couldn’t smoke enough weed to keep his cool.

Every religion has aspects that run the gamut of appearing mildly weird to wildly bizarre to persons who are not members of that religion. I can think of a number of examples with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that I believe and accept with my whole soul that may cause others to think I’m delusional. I accept that and don’t lose ANY sleep over it – I don’t need to prove the veracity and/or reality of those things. My reason for mentioning this is to encourage everyone to let people believe what they believe – as long as they aren’t taking away your right to believe and live as your conscience dictates, what does it matter?

Even with my upbringing in the LDS Church – our doctrine holds that we ALL come from the same God – admittedly it’s sometimes difficult to wrap my brain around the fact a police officer in Japan, an import/export executive in Uganda, a voodoo priestess in the Caribbean, and I (a sales rep in the US) are related to one another in sharing a common Creator – if for no other reason than our looking SO UNLIKE one another and living in such disparate cultures. And when you tune into a news channel, you see wars being fought and unrest constantly aboil because one religious group contends with another – that makes it hard to think that we all come from the same premortal place. That may be viewed by many as one of those wildly bizarre beliefs I mentioned above, but it is a belief to which I hold strong despite my difficulty to comprehend it fully.

Let me wrap up this second installment with a bit of a recap, if you will: logic dictates that there can really only be one Supreme Being, which means that when an Episcopalian prays to Heavenly Father and a Hindu offers a prayer to Brahma, those requests for aid, comfort, solace, guidance, etc. are being heard and answered by the same deity, whatever the true name may be.  Further, for all of us who live our lives according to a particular set of commandments, principles, ethics, or fundamentals as outlined by our respective religions/belief systems, none of us is wrong in doing so – our obedience and discipline please that Supreme Being.  Let that percolate in your brain box for a little while and see if it has you looking at the people around you a little differently in a good way.  The next installment will come out soon. 

God, Part I

Never discuss politics or religion in mixed company, wisdom suggests. Obviously, politics present a minefield. Religion, similarly dangerous, deals with souls and questions that extend beyond whether it’s acceptable to wear white after Labor Day.

How many different religions and sects are there on the earth right now? Not sure but probably more than ten. Whatever that number is, though, it’s the same number of different answers to the BIG THREE QUESTIONS OF LIFE:

1. Where did we come from?

2. What’s the purpose of life?

3. Where do we go after we die?

In many cases, not only do religions differ in their answers to these questions, they (meaning: we as the persons who populate them) make great efforts to “prove” that the others are wrong – which is a really weird part of the human condition, one which really shouldn’t be present when religion is the topic because of its attempts to elevate us to a higher plane and get us to think more like the deity we worship in our chosen religion.  That said, though, our humanness has a hold on us, so we have to deal with it head on like the relative who always comes drunk to the family party and says things that are hurtful but spot-on true, if we’re being honest. 

For the next little while, humor me, please: let’s say every single religion/sect’s explanations of the BIG THREE are flawlessly correct – there’s no inherent human need to call them into question. Accepting this as my premise, the only way to reconcile that possibility would be to acknowledge that this earth is watched over by innumerable and wholly individual gods, spirits, intelligences, and/or amorphous beings – and we, by our proclamation of faith through a religious rite like baptism, are only subject to the will and oversight of the god, spirit, intelligence, and/or amorphous being to whom we pledge our worship. Sort of like summer camp where each cabin is its own individual group who only has to listen to the counselor assigned to them – and, quite often, some of the cabin members go out of their way to rebel against the counselor or even seek to align themselves with another group. 

On the question of our origins, assuming each religion is correct, I can think of two conditions that would HAVE TO BE accepted as fact: (1) the earth began as a cosmic melting pot of extraterrestrial immigrants, an Ellis Island of the universe, if you will – and possibly points beyond; (2) these supreme beings had a meeting before the world began and came to an agreement on how “humans” would generally appear and function: two eyes that see, a nose that smells, a heart that pumps blood, etc. Obviously, there was a great deal of latitude given as to how people would actually look, which explains different races and attendees at county fairs.

Further, the after-life destination for the different religions: Nirvana, Paradise, Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Reincarnation, etc. – one such destination awaits each of us depending on how we followed or didn’t follow the tenets of our particular religion. Assuming that as a given, we HAVE TO accept that there exists some type of a “trading floor” somewhere out in the cosmos for the simple but fundamental reason that while we’re here, many of us change religions from the one in which we were raised to another that addresses our spiritual needs at some later time in life, and possibly a third and fourth time.

John Davidson is born in Detroit, MI, to a Catholic family, and as he grows up, he undergoes the rites and ceremonies associated with his family’s religion – he’s a member in good standing. Fifty years later, he goes through something that causes him to reassess his religious views and decides to join Islam, and he’s all in. Catholic or Muslim, he’s a good man, a good husband, a good father, a good citizen, etc. While not making light of his decision or choices, I promise, I must point out the obvious: he’s traded the Catholic God for Islam’s Allah AND his after-life destination. And from what I’ve learned about those two destinations, they’re not just slightly different like Dallas and Ft. Worth.

Back to my point: this would require that somewhere out at the back of the beyond in space is a trading floor, perhaps tucked behind Pluto. Catholic God’s agent, Trevor, walks over to his equal under the auspices of Allah while pushing along a dolly loaded up with a couple of Bankers Boxes filled with paperwork and says, “John Davidson has decided to align himself with you lot, so here are all of his records and files. From the looks of things, he’s a good egg. Never gave his guardian angel or any of the saints any trouble. The incident involving Saran Wrap on the toilet seat shouldn’t be counted against him; that nun had it coming to her. At any rate, you’ll like him. If you have any questions, I’m available via email, text, or phone. Good to see you, Ahmed. Let’s do lunch soon.”

I’m not being sacrilegious, I’m confident of that; a bit glib, perhaps, but only to underscore this point: accepting ALL religious concepts as correct – that they got it spot on – requires looking at the universe in a VASTLY different and wholistic way. If you’re good with that, you don’t need (or want) to read on.

If you don’t (or won’t) accept that all religions and sects are flawlessly correct in their doctrine, the ONLY alternative is that there is ONLY ONE. There can’t even be two – as we’ve cross-examined the possibility above, more than one would present us with numerous existential and logistical challenges that are insurmountable and frankly impossible. Thus, there can be only ONE divine entity who created EVERY one of us here on earth from the dawn of time through today and up until the end of the earth’s existence.

If you’re not readily inclined to agree with that assertion, that’s okay, but think about this: no matter how SURE any of us is in our belief of where we came from, what is the purpose of this life, and where we go when we die, we’re ALL going to learn the ACTUAL answers AFTER WE DIE: we’ll find out who is the Creator, her/his name, and whether or not this Supreme Being had, in fact, directed that a certain specific religion be established here on earth at her/his behest.

Let that sink in and rattle around in your noggin for a few days – I promise to publish Part II soon, and I'm confident you'll be intrigued . . . or, at least, entertained.  

The Greene Flu: it Hits Once a Year

Let me start with a piece of invaluable information for men everywhere – especially those who are married: you can safely and effectively sleep on a mattress – wait for it – WITHOUT a mattress pad! How, you ask, was I able to convince Erin to spit in the face of generations of slumber-related tradition? Was I smoking something that gave me such courage? Even if I were higher than the combined buzz the crowd feels at a Lollapalooza concert, I would never take that walk on the wild side. Our washing machine broke down in the middle of a cycle with all our bed clothes completely soaked; we had to sleep on our mattress for the night without a pad. That said, you can look at this annual missive in the same way I’ve presented this phenomenon concerning a mattress pad: it’s certainly not necessary, but my wife believes it is.

In the early part of September, when the rest of the country was welcoming the cooler days of the coming fall, we here in Arizona were still sweating like a fat guy on weigh-in day. However, we found cool respite in a hospital room where we got to meet the newest member of the family: Beau Taylor Greene. I believe more photos were taken of Beau in a 20-minute period than we have of both Jack and Sam combined from birth to age 18. He was nonplussed by the whole affair: in almost all of the photos, his eyes are closed, and he’s snoozing. If Beau were keeping a journal, it would probably read: “Day 1: Tired from the move.” (Credit to Steven Wright.) In the three months since he was born, I don’t believe he’s worn the same outfit twice – sort of like Vanna White – and he certainly hasn’t worn the same diaper for more than a few hours, tops. His two furry brothers, Hank and Bruce, went from sleeping in Jack and Kali’s bedroom and having run of the house to being banished to their kennels faster than Bruce can chew and fully digest Hank’s leather collar (and certainly faster than the time it took him to pass it).  Kali continues to influence and mold young minds in the classroom (not to worry, she washes her hands), and Jack has recently gone from a 90-minute commute each way to 20 minutes, as he’s been pulled into the office to become an estimator.  How hard can that job be?  It’s fairly easy to estimate that 100% of buildings humans occupy are going to want/need electricity. 

 

As the clock ticks down to the last days of 2024, Sam finds himself finishing up his second to last semester for his undergrad work.  For those of you who haven’t seen him in a while, let me assure you that he’s still tall – in case you were wondering.  This summer, he came back to Phoenix to complete an internship with a company called Microchip Technology, and I believe the record-breaking temperatures served only to melt any shred of a desire he had left of moving back to Arizona when he graduates.  He’s currently networking with folks to get himself ahead of the hiring curve before next semester ends, so if you hear of anyone who is looking for a tall Computer Engineer who lives on pizza and drives a Honda Odyssey, hit him up – I would imagine he’d be pretty flexible on the Honda Odyssey and even his height if the right opportunity came along, but giving up pizza is probably a deal breaker, just so you know.  

 

Just a few days ago, we were able to get a collar for Phoebe that emits a less-than-dulcet tone and then vibrates when she barks.  So far, it’s worked very well with the barking almost nonexistent, and she’s far less of a crackhead psycho than usual – since she is a Chihuahua/Dachshund (yes, a Chiweinie), she still has her manic episodes of chasing flying insects and birds and running laps around our backyard.  In the northeast corner of our yard is a spot of pea gravel, so it’s fun to watch her make that turn at speed and fishtail like she’s in one of the Fast & Furious movies.  

Both Erin and I have jumped into grandparenthood with both feet and find it quite enjoyable.  I’m curious what names we’ll get when Beau starts talking.  When Jack was a wee one, he called Erin’s mom Framma and Erin’s dad Papa.  Honestly, I’ll take whatever Beau decides to dish out in the name department just as long as he doesn’t follow in Jack’s footsteps and kick my mom in the shins (just as Jack had done to my dad’s mom when she told him he couldn’t get a treat at the grocery store).  That about raps up 2024 for the Greenes.  I hope this year’s ramblings were seen more as an unnecessary thing like a mattress pad and less like a kick in the shins.

God is Not Angry

When Christ appeared to the people living here on the American continent after his death and resurrection, knowing that He would be spending a relatively short period of time with them, He likely chose with meticulous care what He would share with them. During His visits, He chose to repeat the words contained in Isaiah 54 (found in 3 Nephi 22), and whatever His specific reasons were (I will never pretend to think with the mind of God), I am grateful He did. In the seventh and eighth verses, we read:

For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

Having been born into a family who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I attended Sacrament meeting, Sunday School, Primary, Seminary, and Young Men’s activities regularly - you might even say religiously. Whenever I applied myself and didn’t give in to my adolescent, prepubescent, and teenage tendencies to do anything and everything within my power to divert myself and others around me, I was fortunate to have some wonderful teachers who presented lessons I can still remember these many years later. Among those teachers, of course, were both of my parents who set an unwavering example of dedication to their covenants as disciples of Christ. It would be fair to say I was raised in a home and an environment that seemed like it came right out of a Norman Rockwell painting (or whatever the “Mormon” equivalent of that would be). Before I go on, let me assure you I’m not setting you up for a twist a la “appearances can be deceiving” and lay out a life of criminality and dark shadows. 

While I had more than my fair share of teachers over the years who taught the gospel rather than their personal interpretations of the stories and doctrines we were studying, I developed my own perception of my Heavenly Father through those lessons: a God who saw things in a very black-and-white manner who was just waiting for me to step out of line one too many times so He could smite me. My perception of how I would obtain admittance into “heaven” was equally skewed: everything I did was being written down in a book out of which I would one day be judged in the hopes that I had enough “good” marks to put me over the edge. While I had these views, I did feel that I was loved by my Heavenly Father but in a rather stern manner . . . that I would one day learn to enjoy and respect. 

Fast forward to when I first became a father: over the next almost 30 years, my perceptions and views of Heavenly Father and the life hereafter have significantly changed and have been a profound source of joy and peace for me. To wit, I have come to see God truly as a Father; and being a father myself, I have been fortunate to see life akin to seeing it through His eyes to a degree. Just as I would never be happy being at odds with my sons or considering the prospect that if they don’t do as I say, they won’t be able to live with me for eternity, I have come to believe - and rejoice in doing so - that Our Father does not find satisfaction in distancing Himself from us. 

Jesus’ inclusion of those particular words of Isaiah, to me, are comforting. As He says, “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee,” I am reminded that this is part of God’s Plan of Salvation - His Plan of Happiness for us - that we are to be apart from Him for a relatively short period of time, but we will be showered with mercies while we are alone. Those words DEFINITELY describe a Father who is actively watching over us, not to smite us when we’ve stepped out of line one too many times, but to bless us by providing what we need to face our trials and tribulations here on earth. 

Further, He reads, “In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment.”  With my perception of God altered for the better over the last three decades, I now have trouble picturing Our Father being “mad” at us for being human.  Instead, I see the beauty of this passage: no matter how upsetting our behavior may be, He won’t show us an “angry” face - He doesn’t want to discourage us from repenting - and will shower us with mercies as we try to improve. 

Though I’ve had some reversals in my life, and I’ve experienced my share of challenges, leaving me bruised and perhaps a little scarred, I readily acknowledge that I have not had to face and live what so many others are forced to manage, ranging from wars, famine, drugs, abuse, etc. That said, though, I know what I say is true, not just for me in my relatively soft life but for every single person on this earth - for we are ALL the children of Our Heavenly Father. May each of us seek to know Him and feel His unconditional love that He has for one and all!

 HOLIDAY HASSLE 2023

In January, I started a new job (more on that later), and one of my colleagues asked me how old I was.  Before I could answer, he ventured a guess: 60?  For many of you, this Greene Family holiday missive may feel like it’s been inflicted upon you for that long, and for that I wholeheartedly apologize.

The beginning of this year found Sam starting his Junior year in college.  Fully committed to his major of computer engineering with most of his GE and prereqs out of the way, he continues to work for one of the school’s IT departments.  If that alone doesn’t make him the most attractive and eligible bachelor in the greater Provo/Orem area, he’s ratcheting up his sexiness by employing the family minivan as his mode of transportation.  It’s a 2008 Honda Odyssey that never properly got named when we had it here at home.  We threw around the name Homer, but it didn’t really stick.  So, for all of you single ladies out there, I would imagine Sam would be open to your suggestions. 

Kali and Jack moved into their first house in Mesa in the spring of this year and quickly added to their fold: they got another dog, Bruce, a Blue Healer mix whose energy is matched only by his desire to eat whatever’s on offer, even if it’s his brother Hank’s leather collar.  Kali was asked to be one of the advisors for student government at the school where she teaches (it would be weird if she were asked to advise at a different school), which gives her a little more variety while still teaching Chemistry and Mandarin.  Jack went to work for a different electrical contractor as a project engineer soon after they moved into their new house.  While the new job is giving him a lot of great growth opportunities, he’s being given increased opportunities to tune up his road rage as the project site at which he’s working is on the opposite side of the valley.  When that project wraps up, he’ll be able to move on to another project . . . next door to his current project site. 

On President’s Day, we gave leave to our senses and decided to get another dog: a mix between a Chihuahua and a Dachshund – some call it a ChiWeenie; we call ours a Psycho.  Her name is Phoebe, and among her many talents are peeing on the family room floor while looking you straight in the eye (as if she’s daring you to say something) and barking.  With the latter, whenever given the chance, she makes a beeline to the back fence and starts up a yak fest with the two pugs living behind us.  If I thought she and the pugs were doing something to solve world peace or harness the energy of splitting an atom, I’d give her a free pass, but I suspect it’s just a canine equivalent of gossip and dirty jokes.  (And I’d be okay with the latter if I could understand her.) 

A few months back, Erin switched from one real estate brokerage to another where she’s on a team headed up by the mother of one of the students at the high school where Erin worked in the library.  Funny how life makes connections for you.  When she’s not busy trying to convince a home seller that Barney Purple is NOT a color that MOST people would want to see on their kitchen walls, Erin still teaches a lesson at church with the women’s organization. 

As I mentioned, I started a new job at the first of the year – I returned to work for the company that moved us to Arizona almost 20 years ago: Ranpak.  When I left Ranpak in 2008, I felt like I was still a kid; upon returning in 2023, I’m DEFINITELY not a kid (I refer you to the opening of this message).  Older, grayer, and fatter but still the same guy selling paper-based packaging. 

We hope all is well in your corner of the world, wherever that may be!  When you find yourself (whether it’s because you lost a bet or you’re being punished) coming out to Arizona, drop us a line so we can get together and have you stay with us.  We have an empty nest with only a small dog – we’ve trained her not to pee ON anyone, but you might want to keep your suitcases on a shelf.  God bless!

Greene Family Christmas (An Annual Affliction)

We’re not even halfway through the month of December, and we’ve already been the recipient of enough family Christmas cards to wallpaper a gymnasium.  Obviously, Erin is the one so universally beloved and deserving of these glad tidings and the reason we receive as many as we do.  As I take a gander at these perfectly posed, carefully coiffed, blissfully beatific photos, these questions leap to mind: How many hours and attempts were made to get this one photo?  How much medication was involved and/or needed afterward? Did PhotoShop stock spike a few weeks back?  Rest assured, no PhotoShop will be required for this year’s missive from The Greenes, but I can’t promise that medication won’t be needed after you read it. 

With the world slowly coming out of hiding as 2022 dawned, Sam started his second year at BYU.  In his major, there’s a class that many put off until the last possible minute but is required in order to climb into the upper levels of the program and get serious – Sam decided to bite the bullet early and subject himself to the inevitable torture.  While Sam happily came through alive and kicking, and able to move on to bigger and better things, there were times in that semester I believe he would have preferred undergoing waterboarding to some of the tests and assignments he had to endure.  He’s thrown himself headlong into his major and has joined a club/group (I’m not quire sure what the kids are calling these little organizations these days) with the goal of building an electric car to compete with other groups from other schools.  Sounds to me like he’s on a career path to buy and run a social media giant someday. 

In June of this year – in fact, on the same date as Erin’s parent’s anniversary – we welcomed a new member into the clan: please allow me to introduce you to Kali Stoker Greene, Jack’s better half.  They were married in Las Vegas, but Elvis didn’t officiate at the wedding.  Leading up to the nuptials, whenever I would tell people that Kali and Jack were getting married in Vegas, I would either get a slightly raised eyebrow or a knowing “been there, done that” nod, which would require a brief explanation that Kali is from Las Vegas where most of her family lives.  They were married in the temple for our church and not on the Strip, in case I still hadn’t painted enough of a picture for you.  As of the writing of last year’s Christmas letter, Kali was someone we had met only once, and this meeting was a memorable one: Jack had come home from work that day and made a beeline to his bedroom in the basement.  That wasn’t TOO unusual, but what ensued was two hours of furious cleaning of his bedroom, a thorough scrubbing of the basement bathroom, and the hauling out of at least three bags of garbage.  While we didn’t quite know at the moment what inspired such anomalous behavior, it soon became clear when he announced a “friend” of his named Kali was coming over to visit.  Kali is a Chemistry and Mandarin teacher at one of the local high schools, and Jack has moved from the field as an electrician and into the position of an estimator.  They currently live in a guest house on some rural property surrounded by livestock and other farm animals.  Their dog, Hank, spends his day hanging out with the jackasses – and by that, I mean, the donkeys, while Jack and Kali are off at work. 

On the day after Christmas last year, we had to say goodbye to Lola.  I’m not quite sure where religious doctrine ends and fantasy begins, but I hope we get to see her again someday.  Yes, I’ve become one of those crazy dog people.

With the wackiness of the housing market in full wack, Erin has maneuvered the real estate landscape extremely well and continues to kick butts and take names – and sometimes it’s to sell a house.  She continues to teach at church, and no one has gone to Hell because of it – win win.  As for myself, I was asked to work in an outreach program where we serve the folks in a local detention center who are awaiting trial, awaiting sentencing, or have been detained by ICE and awaiting deportation.  I’m pleased to say that my activities this past year have kept me free to come and go at this detention center 

Enjoy your holiday season with family and friends – whether you need medication or not to do it.  Our doors are always open to you.  Peace on earth and in every life!