Sunrise Tantalize

FYI for anyone who wants to read LDS materials on their Amazon Kindle. First I tried adding PDF files to the kindle by emailing them to [mykindle'semailaddress]@kindle.com. This converts them and emails them to your kindle so you can receive them wirelessly. The problem with that is that the converter has difficulty reformatting the PDF file to the .azn files. Then I found that the Church offers files for PocketPCs and that the Kindle can read the MobiPocket (.prc) file without conversion. So I emailed the files to myself and they read perfectly (mostly because they don’t have any pictures). And yes, it costs you $0.10 to email the files to yourself but you get the book for free. If you want to convert the files for free, you need to email them to @free.kindle.com and that will convert the file to the Kindle format. Then you can transfer the converted file to the Kindle using the cable.

The convenience of putting LDS literature is that you don’t need to carry around a stack of books. You can put about 200 books on a kindle. It’s nice to have my Joseph Smith manual, the Gospel Principles manual and the Ensign on one small item. For what it’s worth, I prefer this version of the scriptures over this other version of the scriptures. The first version is easier to navigate. When I’m reading the scriptures at home, I tend to use the Kindle, but I use hard copies of the scriptures in church because I can flip to passages more quickly.

Right now I am surrounded by all of my worldly goods. Everything that belongs to me. I spent today and yesterday packing packing and moving all of my stuff out of my apartment. This is my fourth move within a year. Every time I pack I think to myself, “Ugh! I have so much crap!” I’ve been making efforts to cut down on the amount of stuff I have, but I still have so much. It makes me think about how I lucky I am to have to make decisions about what to keep and what to donate and what to throw out. I tossed most of what was open in my refrigerator and cupboard.

In The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne talks a lot about the poverty and how wrong it is for someone to be sleeping on the street while another person has a spare bed in their house. He argues that Jesus would not be happy with the way most of us are living. We are so far removed from the poor that we don’t know what they are like. Most people will donate canned food, old clothes, and money but few of us actually go into the streets and talk to these people. We don’t know who they really are or why they’re there or what they’re doing. They’re invisible to us most of the time.

Would Jesus be happy with how I’m living? I think he would say that I could do much more to help others than I am now. I don’t think he’d be happy with my collection of stuff. My $400 kindle, my laptop, my extra clothes and shoes. Sure, I donate everything I don’t need to the PTO thrift shop. I donate my old books to the library so they can sell them to raise money. I work with the local charity that provides food for the hungry. We stand in lines and package the food up. I never actually go and visit the people I donate to. Shane’s right; there is a huge disconnect.

According to the Gospels, Jesus was poor. Likewise he loved the poor. He had no home and worn tattered clothes. He relied on others for food and shelter. Still, he welcomed the poor, sick, and neglected. (I’m sure it didn’t hurt that he was the son of God.)

I don’t feel too terrible about the fact that someone is sleeping on the ground while I’m sleeping in my bed. That makes me sound like a terrible person. But truly, who thinks about that on a day-to-day basis? Maybe Shane is onto something. It is awful that our society ignores the poor. But our society ignores a lot of people. I try to do what I can. I comfort myself with my goal of opening or working in a clinic for low-income/ disadvantaged patients. And I pray and thank God and feel lucky for the things I have. But I still feel guilty sometimes.

So I got my new baby today after waiting for over six weeks. It’s my Kindle!

Currently reading: Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery), The Irresistible Revolution (Shane Claiborne), The Book of Mormon, Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters (Krista Tippett)