Something New From Something Neglected

You’ve grown a lot since the last time we met, readers:

                I am ashamed. I started the Open Mic last year with so many good ideas popping in my head, I was sure hardly a day would go by without me saying something profound to the world here. Hundreds, no, thousands of people would be blown away by the blog and schedule their mornings around my posts. I would become powerful and famous, get flown around the world, sit in on talk shows, basically be a one man boy band. None of that has happened, of course; I haven’t posted anything in seventeen months, struggling through work and school trying to hold my own, especially now with the prospect of a baby boy on my horizon. My mind has clearly and firmly been elsewhere for a long, long time.

                That being said, the Open Mic never completely left my mind in all that time; always there was a little nagging thought to go back and continue. Naturally though, there always seemed to be something more important to do. Only two things should have been more important, work and school, but instead everything else became so. I had plenty of free time to work with, really I did, but I wanted to sleep in some more, play another game, waste time here or there, anything other than what could have actually been helpful to me in the future.  The worst of it was that this was something I really wanted to do, but just never made time for. The only difference between the Open Mic and anything else I did with my free time was that anything else was easier. It’s demanding to come up with something to say, figure out how to say it, then hope and pray that it makes the right impact and has the right effect and doesn’t attract the internet trolls.

                I confess that I chose easy over rewarding, something simple over something stretching. Then came the experience I had last night, washing dishes in the back room alone, looking good in Subway green. Rolling my writing plans around in my head became rolling a snowball down a mountain; soon I was feeling the same way about writing as I did when the Open Mic began. Now I have a three-pronged approach to what I want to write and how I want to write it; with any luck and diligence this plan can carry me through right to the bitter end.

                The Open Mic was still there when I logged on today, just as I left it. Interestingly, seeing it again was a confidence booster, not the obstacle I was expecting it to be. It waited patiently all those months for me to get back around to writing. My renewed excitement really came from seeing that my ambitions did not have to die just because I put them on the back burner for too long; it would never be too late for me to pick up where I left off and start work on the Open Mic again. Unless I die.

                If you read the Open Mic before my hiatus, thank you so much. If you have come back with me, thank you again. If you’re new to the Open Mic (and there are going to be thousands of you, right?) I can’t welcome you happily enough. I think this time I’m here to stay.

Super Sunday Scripture Commentary #7: April 20th, 2014, Easter Sunday!

He is Risen Readers!



Tell it out with joyful voice. Another year come and gone since Jesus Christ overcame death. I have a lot on my plate this year, a lot on my plate coming tomorrow, and yet today I am peaceful. I have the world's best ally pulling for me. Every standard work in the church has something brilliant to say about this man and his breaking the bands of death, take a look:

Job 19: 23-25

 23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!

 24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!

 25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

Luke 24: 1-7

1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

 3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

 4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

 5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

 7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

Mosiah 3: 6-10

6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.

 7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

 8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

 9 And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.

 10 And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men.

D&C 76: 22-24

22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

 23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

 24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

Articles of Faith #3

 3 We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

Jesus Christ is all that he claims to be, the only one who had the power and the willingness to give us all a life worth living. Without Him we have no chance of making it to our eternal home; with Him nothing is impossible. I love Him very much and treasure knowing that He thought you and I were personally worth the trouble to save. I know He lives even now, ready and waiting for the day He will come again. On this Easter Sunday, give some serious thought to the Atonement and Resurrection, and everything you have that can last forever; its all because of Him.

Cold and Honest Thoughts on Taxes

Start Every Morning with a Smile Readers,

I hate filing taxes. There was a time that I had no idea what a tax return was. When I was fifteen I just worked, and somehow ended up with more money from the tax fairy every spring. I knew the tax fairy was grandpa (a CPA for almost all his professional career), but didn't have to worry about how the magic worked.

This time around has been a nightmare, even with Turbotax. It never ceases to amaze me how many hoops the government can come up with for people to jump through. At the beginning of this tax journey to Mordor, I saw, realized, and told people that the only reason for so many hoops is just another play for the government to take as much as they can from us. The system discourages refunding us simply because of its complexity.

"Of course you can have a tax refund Mr. Rudd, all you need to do is sign here, here, here, one more here, give a drop of blood here, swear your firstborn to us here, take the ring back to Mount Doom here, and finish with a backside 360 superman seat grab through the last flaming hoop right..... here."

"But... but I don't know how to do a backside 360 superman seat grab."

"Oh, you don't ? Please take a number, we'll be with you shortly."

I have never felt the government was my ally, and have never met anyone who does feel that way. The government does not seem to be aiding me, just opposing me. Aside from securing our freedom (which is being compromised further every day in the name of security), the government has done little for me except instill a fear and hatred of what they do. At least when the taxes are filed correctly I'll get my money back, right?

Super Sunday Scripture Commentary #6: April 13th, 2014

Go To Family Reunions Readers,

Sunday is a beautiful day, mostly because I don't have to be anywhere else but church, and I don't have to think about anything but God and family. As for the scripture today, I've got a double dose of the New Testament for you.

Matt. 12: 16-19

"16 And charged them that they should not make him known:

 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

 18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

 19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets."

 Jesus did not teach as teachers of the world did. He did not seek attention or go to great lengths to be heard. He didn't need to. He gave only as much as the people needed to feel the Spirit, allowing their following Him to be based on their desire and agency instead of His charisma or great speaking ability.

Matt. 12: 33-34

" 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."


Natural man is always trying to blur the line between right and wrong, wanting there to really be no right or wrong. This doctrine is so obviously ignored today in insisting so many “evil trees” are bringing forth “good fruit” in just about every facet of society. Even when men understand the truth, often they won’t agree with it or want to live by it. The easy fix is to re-label trees and fruit to fit their sinful ways.

Cold and Honest Thoughts on Eating

Go To Bed an Hour Earlier Tonight Readers,

Never have I loved so deeply something that hated me so emphatically: food. Mercifully, thankfully, I need it every day to survive, but this becomes more mockery than blessing whenever anything tastes good. You see, food that tastes good wants nothing more than to destroy me. Far be it from me to make sweeping blanket statements that wrongly criticize foods like the apple, the banana, the grape, foods that miraculously taste good and are good for you (A.KA. fruits) but you and I both know when given the choice between another piece of chocolate cake and an orange, the orange will rot before anyone gives it a second glance.

Foods that are just good for you are like the last kid picked for teams on the play ground; you know you can't play without the last man, but there is no way he'll be much more than the water boy. These kind of foods are almost better served if they were treated like medicine. We take medicine not because we enjoy the experience, but because we might die if we don't. Seriously, make the consumption of raw celery a doctor prescribed necessity. We could save thousands of dollars by NOT buying celery we're NOT going to eat.

Every once in a while though, foods that are good for you fight their way to center stage, almost exclusively when walking, breathing, and seeing your own feet become an issue. I have made valiant efforts in that direction many times, often as long as one week. The mocking is worst at these times; butter drenched, chocolate covered foods just laugh at me, and so I eat them to shut them up. Its a vicious cycle. Once the cycle is broken, it takes at least another two weeks to two years to be motivated enough for another healthy week of torture.

Case in point: for the last week and a half (new record), I have tried to lose weight with my wife so we don't cry out in anguish over what we see in the mirror anymore. After a giant day of eatery on Sunday, a pizza for dinner yesterday, and gorging ourselves at Winger's today, we're pretty much shot. When I say gorge ourselves, I mean gorge ourselves. The friends we went with today bought entree's bigger than my head, and I got endless fries and wings with an endless strawberry lemonade. None of us could stand up straight when we limped out of there.

Why do we do this? I've never learned that I should try staying within the threshold of pain when I eat. I asked this at the table today at lunch after we cleared out another bowl of popcorn in less than a minute.

The other side of the table came up with, "Well, there is thanksgiving..."

My response: "The way we eat, we have thanksgiving three times a week!"

Long story short, I know I'm not a bad guy, but I'm having the hardest time convincing food that I'm not. I don't see an end to this love hate relationship, either. Pray for me.

Poetry Monday #5

Check Your To-Do Lists Readers,

I have a gloomier poem for the Open Mic today. I wrote it back in high school when I walked into the auditorium to see the stage bare of anything but a single baby grand piano.

 Lonely Pianist

I am a lonely pianist
Playing to rows of empty pews.
I pound the keys but hear only silence,
I cause chords to hum and see only dark.
There’s harmony, but I know no balance;
I make beauty, but no one will hark.

Time, persistence mature my skill,
 But what is skill without passion?
I weave crescendos, but no one will care;
The notes burst from me to die on the wall.
My song is as insubstantial as air,
With no one to love it, its not there at all.

The last piece echoes its refrain;
The only applause is my own.
A small tear I cry, I’m not overjoyed;
These tears come from a deep sorrow.
  My precious art is fading to the void,
The world may have murdered it by tomorrow.

- Burkley Rudd

Super Sunday Scripture Commentary #5: April 6th, 2014

I Hope Everyone Took the Time to Watch General Conference Readers,

 I am privileged as a Latter- Day Saint to listen to General Conference every six months. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meets twice a year to hear from the leadership of the church, specific revealed guidance God has for us now. All the world can and should tune in to this broadcast; there is so much there that is good and right that everyone needs to hear.  In the spirit of a special spiritual event, today's Super Sunday Commentary will also be out of the ordinary.

D&C 100: 17 - And all that call upon the name of the Lord, and keep his commandments, shall be saved. Even so. Amen.

Acts 2:21 - And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Matt 2:13 - But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

3 Nephi 11:33 -  And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

In just these four examples, we see four different things we must do to be saved in three different books of scripture. Two differing requirements are in the New Testament alone. How could anyone believe that the entire mortal requirement for salvation could be conveyed in a single verse, when there are literally hundreds of pages of scripture given to us to live by? How could anyone ignore all but one scripture on any given topic and think that they've captured all they need to do? Being so shortsighted is very dangerous to our understanding.