Cell Phones and the Panic of Loss

In the cellular industry it is easy to spot many simple follies that people fail to avoid.  It is the same with most any industry that you work in.  Each respectively reflects a "service" to the population in whatever need they perceive.  In cellular phones and connected devices the problems are centralized physically but affects most every aspect of a person's life in these modern tumultuous times.

I'll make this post short yet to the point.  Just one little point but probably the most important.  Your phone is your lifeline to your circle of civilization.  It is your connection to contacts, photos, notes and even all those dirty little secrets you may have.  Impact on business affairs may be the most devastating if vital information is lost.  Protecting and backing up that information can be a God-send.... or an albatross of epic proportion if neglected.

Whether in Apple, Samsung, Motorola or other there is an option to save your information via backup to the iCloud.  When activated it usually defaults to backup your information nightly.  It also gives you the vital apps to choose which you want backed up.  Many have an iCloud account if they possess a cellular phone.  However, with the popular Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Live, Me and other public and private emails most do not use their iCloud account.

When I see an individual come into one of my U.S. Cellular stores with a broken phone the first thing I think is "I hope they are backed up to the Cloud."  Yet, when a customer is asked most will say they do not know.

All of their (your) information, their life, now at the whim of "I don't know."

Do yourself a favor and back up your information.  It's quite simple.  It is located in most systems under Settings (that little gear icon).  Usually at the top is your personal information and tether to the Cloud.  In the next screen is your iCloud option in which to switch on or off your backup option.  It is also where you choose what apps to back up.  If I've really made you apprehensive you can either opt to "Back Up Now."  That is usually located at the bottom of that screen.

Backing up your information makes it very simple to migrate to a new device when you upgrade and replace your phone due to loss, stolen or damaged.  Once your new phone is set up on the network just log in to your Cloud and the information should download automatically.  If you do switch to a new device always ALWAYS remember your iCloud email (username) and password.  That's they keystone to everything! 😎

Do yourself a favor.  In order to save your friends from thinking you hate them because you've lost your contact information - back up that info.  In order to sway having your business go into default because you can't monitor transactions on-the-go - back up that info.

Happy back ups and may your thumbs do the walking. :)))))

  

Easter to Humble Modern Civilization

There are two highly emotional holidays among Christians and non-Christians alike.  Those are Christmas and Easter.  It is good that they are emotional.  Emotions are the means by which man expresses and marks his life moment by moment.  How can it not?  Jesus Christ according to doctrine is the author of our salvation.  Of course its highly emotional.  However, is it possible we miss vast amounts of knowledge and insight by strictly observing the emotional application of the holidays?

I just want to focus on Easter since that is the holiday for today.  The main picture people recall in their head of Easter (aside from bunnies and eggs) is the cross and Jesus affixed upon it in agony and death.  Yes, this is factually and historically correct.  He gave up his own spirit in order to save mankind from their sins.  This, in order to erect that bridge, once again from our feet back to the Father.  Yet, is there anything else we can glean from this scene?

There is a Christian hymn called "How Sweet the Joy That Easter Morn."  In it is the phrase,

"All nature groaned in deep distress, The sun and moon grew dim."

If Jesus Christ was and is a God then is it possible that the very elements of all nature became distressed at such a profound climax as the physical death of that God?  I dare say yes!  Now, look at the picture again of Him upon the cross.  Imagine the epic shock of his very body cells at the absence of His spirit.  Here we have flesh, from the beginning conceived only by the Spirit, in distress.  Flesh out of their element for thirty years housing the Spirit of God.  Now, like a lamb without her mother or a parent at the loss of their child the elements are surely in a state of "groan." 

This thought kind of magnifies the depth and humility of the significance the Atonement of Jesus Christ truly has on each of our individual spirit salvation.  If his elements hang helpless without its God upon the cross then surely it is real for all of us.  If the skies and the moon darkened in repose of the state of man then surely it is real for all of us.  If tombs cracked at that moment and many dead truly rose then surely it is real for all of us. 

Imagine kneeling at his lifeless feet upon the cross.  You know He is dead and you reach down and gently raise a handful of sand.  Slowly if flows from the hand back to the ground.  Would there have been a different emotional response than before his death?  Would the elements in shock fail to produce joy in the simple pleasures of dropping sand from the hand?

The soldiers and guards who hold dear their spears and swords.  Did their weapons suddenly grow cold at the absence of the One literally holding all creation in their form?  Other records prove out that great world tumults occurred even upon the Americas at the moment of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.  Even though they must have had sheer fear of the physical events taking place do you think those people had that cold loss in their hearts?  Perhaps they did and were utterly bewildered at the loss of all hope in that moment that we were all born with.  Hope is the product of God within each of us.

Of course, as Christians we know that hope and salvation soon rang through the earth as the Atonement had been completed.  Man, no longer subject to the Fall, can now worthily enjoy rest and renewed work with loved ones and family in the presence of God.

The purpose of this post was not to bring a "lull" to anyone's spirits or a sense of dismay or shame.  It was meant to inspire and bring a sense of awe to the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Look at the picture of the Savior upon the cross again.  After these thoughts to ponder does it magnify your part in all of this.  This great design is exquisite in nature, brilliant in order and epic in binding all elements and all of us as one.....in Him.

Yes, Mary mourned.  Yes, the disciples mourned, Yes, the thousands touched by Jesus mourned.  YET, all elements on earth and all in the vastness of space groaned at the transformation to a more exalted state of a God.

We are so small yet so big.  We bicker over petty things.  We even kill each other over petty and ill-guided things.  We puff ourselves up and claim our knowledge over our brother.  We lament when we cannot pay the rent.  We rightfully grieve at the loss of a child or a parent.  Especially in modern times we find offense over the smallest insignificant things and demand recompense for it.

All this mud has been paid for 2,000 years ago.  Even your physical makeup, the dust that forms you, existed at the time and groaned.  All matter is connected through all generations of time.  His appearance to thousands three days after and many days beyond bear testament of his divinity.  The Alpha and Omega has bridged the gap between us and the Eternal Father. 

Yes, there is much more to ponder than the mere emotional observance of Easter.  Let us ponder with curiosity.  Let us be humbled by it and let us finally treat one another with common civility.

Nebraska and Iowa Flood 2019 and the Electoral College

Those living in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa tend to be at the mercy of the Missouri River basin and points north.  The potential of flooding often degrees according to the outflow of the albatross Gavin's Point Dam in Yankton, South Dakota.  This year of 2019 has seen epic flooding for us living in this area.  This post of thought extends beyond the scope of a flood.  This post extends clear to Washington D.C.  Every geographic location of the United States has risks for its inhabitants.  Given that, equally considered for assistance are those living near the Missouri River. 

First, the current political rhetoric attempted to take hold.  With more and more states passing laws which clearly violate or go against laws enacted by Congress there is a frenzied "fad" going on.  This fad has taken on the image of striking the Electoral College as a sacred edict of the Constitution of the United States.  In spite (and TO spite) the 2016 Election many want to observe the Popular Vote as the only litmus of who the next President of the United States should be.  To not understand why this function was included in the Constitution is a shame for every American.  For an elected official to lobby against it is downright an act against the United States.

The Electoral College is put in place to ensure that every vote carries an "equal weight."  That being an objective viable vote regardless of political affiliation and agenda.  This "equal weight" shrined in the Electoral College carries infinitely more validity to every vote than the Popular Vote ever could.  To plunder the College would be to silence the voices of millions living in states where the populations are less than that of others.  Especially others with exceptionally high populations.  The College gathers the concerns of all Americans via the vote and feeds the People the will of said people. 

This makes every state important.  This makes personal interaction between the people and a candidate important.  Relinquishing that blanket protection and assurance would render the governance of the people at the blessing of the few states benefiting most from a Popular Vote.

Case in point the 2016 Presidential Election.  In the final days of the campaign season Hillary Clinton exerted all her efforts appeasing to the mega cities.  True this gained her overwhelming votes.  However, by ignoring all other states she had lost all those electoral votes.  If she had won the Presidency by way of the Popular Vote it would have been won according to the sole concerns and desires of the mega city populations.  This disfranchises the farmer in Nebraska.  This silences the proud citizens of dying small communities in North Dakota.  The best common good of the people is what the Electoral College strives for.

Now, what does this have to do with the 2019 Nebraska and Iowa flood?  In politics it is infinitely less about serving the will of the people as it is about strategy and holding on to power at all costs.  In a Popular Vote the power would converge with those states who have such population.  This often also carries common political affiliation.  Every election campaign year would be centered on those states.  That is where the voting power is.  In extension, those states would see the personal attendance of candidates.  Be damned the other states with little voting power.

Take Nebraska for instance.  If Nebraska was deemed of little political influence in the wake of a Popular Vote how do you think assistance would unveil in a natural disaster....say a flood??  New York, Virginia and California would gain a fuller and swifter assistance than an unimportant state.  This is where the flood ties in to Washington.  This is living proof of why the Electoral College was instituted into the Constitution of the United States.  This is why to vanquish the College would be to erase America as it was and should be.

No longer would the United States be of, by and for the people.