Skip to main content

The Standard of Truth

A few weeks ago a package arrived for us.  We had not ordered anything, but it had our address and Tom's name on it, so we opened it. (We're pretty sure there is only one Tom in our building!)  Inside was a small green tape measure.  Inches on one side, centimeters on the other.  How convenient.  It might come in handy.

Then one day I needed to know the dimensions of our bathtub.  I pulled out our tape measure and measured it.  I was very perplexed.  We have a very large bathtub, but the measurements seemed so small.  I looked up the standard sized bathtub dimensions on the Internet and was even more puzzled.  Our bathtub measured smaller than the standard tub.  How could this be? I re-measured.  No matter how I did it, it was smaller than the standard tub.  I found a notebook that said its dimensions were 5"x7".

When we first got the tape measure I had been suspicious that the inches looked a little bit bigger, but without something to check it against, I just assumed it was right and disregarded the suspicion.  I mean, how could it be wrong? It was a ruler!  

There is a life lesson here. Standards cannot be changed without end results changing. We need a standard to check our beliefs and experiences against. If only for one day people who work for Google maps changed north or south, the results would be disastrous.  And we would be forever frustrated with the "standard sized bathtub" if there were different sizes of 'inch'.   We are so dependent on those truths being fixed and unchangeable.  

This reminds me of a conversation we had with Wang Jian.  After seeing this sign:
Tom explained to him that it didn't make sense because the letters were not in the right order.  WJ's response?  "It doesn't matter.  It's the same thing."  He doesn't understand that English works very differently from Chinese and that it does matter.  Without the word 'hair' there, you have no way of deriving meaning from it. Just because he doesn't understand the truth, doesn't change the fact of how you spell 'salon'. The same is with life.  Just because we do not know or understand all of the truths and divine laws, does not make them any less true.  

While many in this world claim that we define our own truth, truth is something that cannot be changed. Our greatest success in life comes from learning and applying as many divine truths as we can.  I'm thankful for the unchanging Standard of Truth.  Jesus Christ. 

Thank you to whomever sent us a tape measure, having a visual of an imperative life lesson is a treasure! 

Two notes:  1) The centimeter side is accurate.  2) Tessa ordered a crochet kit for 10￥.  In it was another tape measure (different style and length). Guess what?  It measures just like the green one.  Now I'm on the search for an accurate inch measuring device here in China; I'm curious if I can find one. In the mean time when I want inches, I'll just have to convert. (Which is another fascinating related concept.)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

While We Are Waiting: Temples!

I love the temple.  When I first learned of the possibility of us moving to China in December 2019, one of my first questions was "How can I leave the temple?"  That question was answered in part during the closure of temples in 2020. However, when the joint venture was signed and Tom was officially offered the position in China in November 2020, I began fasting and praying that I would be able to attend the temple just once before we left.  Our original flights were for July 7, 2021 and just a few weeks before that, our temple opened up and miraculously we were able to get 2 appointments for baptisms and 4 other appointments for Tom and I before our departure date.  I can't express my deep gratitude for those 6 precious appointments.  Then when we didn't obtain a visa in time for those flights and access to nearby temples was given, I took up a new hobby.  Temple scheduling.  The girls teased me it was a bit of an obsessed hobby; but since we will go ...
2 comments
Read more

Final Service Project--you can help!

Our time in China is quickly coming to an end.  We will be moving back to the US at the end of June.  I have had several impressions to conclude our time here with a service project.  I have learned that the local children's hospital is building a library and is in need of books.  My original plan was to involve many Chinese people in this project so they could feel the joy of service.  However as I have experienced over and over again, service is a very difficult concept for the Chinese people.  Their culture requires them to keep tabs of who they owe and who owes them.  They will not give if they don't see a direct benefit for themselves.  In addition to this, they lack trust because scams are rampant.  Thus, my requests for them to help with my project haven't gone anywhere. I don't blame them and I feel deeply for them. So my goals for the project have changed.  While Tom and I can provide many books to the library because books are ...
1 comment
Read more

Christmas Wishes

Christmas is hard to find in China.  Most external things that signal to us that Christmastime coming is missing here.  We have to look hard to find Christmas trees and decorations.  The typical holiday events and gatherings are missing.  Snow or anticipation of snow is absent.  The music is almost non-existent.  Giving to others is not accepted (it causes extreme embarrassment because they feel like they owe you). This has caused me to look harder and be thankful for the Merry Christmas wishes I do find. I've also had to use my own initiative to fulfil my other Christmas wishes.  Here are some of my Christmas wishes for 2024 found and created: Generally, the government discourages the people from celebrating the 'Western' holiday.  But a few places do find a way to wish me a Merry Christmas! This year we had very vibrant Christmas colors in our complex.  They were stunning, Christmasy and very cheerful!  (pictures taken mid December) Th...
Post a Comment
Read more