The Creation of Things and Why That Matters

*Warning: You have just opened up a blog post written by a Mormon with something to prove… That he can write a blog post…

Stage 1 is already complete!

Hello, my name is Michael Cockrum; you killed my father... or not. I’m a twenty-two year old male living in Arkansas (of all places) who loves reading books, listening to music from before his decade, and attending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka The Mormons)! I also like long walks on the beach and thought-provoking blog posts (but mostly, long walks on the beach)! When I first started this blog, I was an LDS missionary (which is very different from an LDS mercenary, by the way). The mission was to share some of my beliefs with this crazy world I love. However, being a missionary is a very demanding lifestyle, so I eventually dropped the blog because it was too hard to fit in with everything else.

BUT NOT ANYMORE!!! I’m going to have my own blog and there’s nothing you can do to stop me! Nothing! …Unless you dropped an EMP on my house. Please don’t drop an EMP on my house!

EMP probably stands for "Extremely Massive Piano!"

 So, for this first new post, I’m going to go back to the beginning… The very creation of the universe itself (which makes this a callback, since my first post was also about the creation)! Most of us know about the Genesis account of God making the entire earth in six days and enjoying some R&R on the seventh, but did you know that according to Latter-day Saint belief God had resources to work with? Let me emphasize this real quick; God didn't create the earth out of nothing! He ORGANIZED it out of existing materials! Now, some think that in this belief, we're trying to limit God the Father's creative power... We are not. We simply believe that matter (including our spirits) has always existed. Now, why does this matter to us in the modern age?

1st, It changes our idea of what God does. He isn't a wizard (He doesn't make things go poof), He’s an architect! He brings order to chaotic situations! Any of you remember that old expression “cleanliness is nearest to godliness?” Well, whenever we organize and clean up our lives, we’re following in God’s footsteps when He created us! That’s not to say that our cleaning abilities are ever equal to God’s…

At that moment, the author glared at the dusty wreck of his old laptop and shed a single tear. He regrets nothing.

2nd, It allows us to recognize how much we have to be grateful for. Here’s a challenge for you guys, I want you to use your mind to design a brand new animal. The only catch is that you can’t imitate anything else you’ve seen; this includes other creatures, plants, or geological structures. Can you do it? Hold on; let me give you an easier one… I want you to imagine painting your wall a fresh new shade of any color you’ve never seen before… While you do that, I’ll solve a four dimensional hypercube…

On second thought, the three dimensional variety is bad enough.

Any luck? It turns out that designing something that we've never observed before in any form before is really difficult. Heck, there are colors out there that we literally cannot comprehend with our human brains that preying-mantises do. So, what can we design in this mortal coil? We can base our creations off of something we can observe and run from there. Notice how the most popular creations on earth always seem to involve fantastic versions of animals God has already created; giant reptiles with wings, blue hedgehogs, collectible yellow rodents, and others too all consuming to trust on this blog at any time.

*Do not want.

Did God know when He created these things that they would dominate our various cultures until the very end of time? Duh! This was a deliberate decision on His part! Why should He bother with making this earth so beautiful and meme worthy? …Because He loves us! A lot! He wants us to have everything we need to live a happy, sane life and then have some fun on the side! We have everything to be grateful for, whether it’s natural or we’ve made it ourselves! Hey, and wouldn’t you know, it’s the perfect holiday season to express it!

It’s like I’m topical or something!

3rd, It suggests that we can create our lives too. Yeah, you heard me. YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN LIFE!!! One of the coolest principles of the Restored Gospel is that we can learn to do what God can because He is our Heavenly Father and He sent us a role model, His son Jesus Christ! In fact, He’s even given us guidelines about how to organize the chaos in our lives; they’re called the Commandments! Wasn't that the whole point of Christianity; that if we follow Christ’s example and commandments, we can live in eternal happiness starting now?

So, there’s your new mission statement for this blog; I’m going to write more about creating and adding color to our lives. While I do this, I’m also going to be busy writing a book and sharing the insights I’ve received from creating alongside my Heavenly Father. It’s a very fun process and one I wish more people took part in.

Either way, I love you guys as my brothers and sisters in this life and fellow creators of hope in an increasingly destructive world. Keep strong and keep creating!

Michael Cockrum