Jet Mariano

Tag: Perspective

  • MIT8 – Once in a Blue Moon: Don’t Ever Let Them Win

    No matter how busy I was preparing for the IT cutover, I still made time for photography. This is one of my anchors. A moment to pause, to see light, and to remind myself to keep going.

    Excerpt

    Once in a blue moon, beneath quiet light,
    I learned not to yield, but to stand and to fight.

    Intro

    There are moments in life that don’t come often. Rare, quiet, and almost unnoticed. This was one of them. A full moon above the temple, stillness all around, and a reminder that even in darkness, light remains.

    Even in the middle of pressure, responsibility, and preparation, I found a moment to pause. To look up. To remember who I am.

    Notes from Jesus Christ

    “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
    —John 16:33

    Perspective

    Once in a blue moon, when the night closes in,
    When breath turns to fire and strength wears thin,
    When the body says stop and the mind wants to quit,
    That’s the moment you rise… you don’t yield, you don’t sit.

    Through rounds that don’t end, through sweat and through pain,
    Through strikes in the dark that you take and sustain,
    Conditioned to stand when there’s nothing within,
    That’s when you remember… don’t ever let them win.

    Slow is the rhythm where discipline begins,
    Each motion refined so no error slips in,
    For habits once formed will return in the fight,
    When pressure is highest and there’s no room for right.

    In battles of code, where the pressure runs dry,
    Where systems break down and solutions won’t comply,
    No space for mistakes when you’re pushed to the edge,
    At the point of no return, there’s no time for a hedge.

    No exit, no shortcut, no easy way through,
    Just grit in your soul and the will to stay true,
    When everything’s tested and all’s wearing thin,
    That’s where you are forged… don’t ever let them win.

    Practice (today, not someday)

    I move with intent, I refine and repeat,
    No rushed empty motion, no careless defeat.

    Slow to build right, so when pressure begins,
    I stand on my training… and that’s how I win.

    Final Reflection

    Once in a blue moon, everything slows down enough for you to see clearly.

    The struggle.
    The weight.
    The silence.

    And yet… you’re still here.

    No applause. No recognition. No visible finish line.

    But you endured.

    So I made a decision:

    Don’t ever let them win.

    Pocket I’m Keeping

    Don’t ever let them win.

    What I Hear Now

    “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God.”
    —Isaiah 41:10

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  • MIT-8 Silver pieces and the worth of a Soul

    The world assigns value.
    God never does.

    Excerpt

    Silver was counted. Souls were not. And yet, heaven never made that mistake.

    Intro

    When Joseph was sold by his brothers, the price they accepted revealed more about them than it did about him. They saw inconvenience. God saw a deliverer.

    Years later, that same pattern would repeat—this time, with the Savior Himself.

    Notes from Scripture

    When Joseph’s brothers cast him into the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver, they did not understand what they were doing. What looked like betrayal became the very path that would preserve their lives.

    Joseph later declared:
    “It was not you that sent me hither, but God” (Genesis 45:8).

    The prophet Zechariah later described a people who misjudged the worth of a shepherd, offering thirty pieces of silver—an amount that exposed how little they understood.

    That same number would be used again when Judas betrayed Christ.

    Perspective (Direct Quotes)

    “It was not you that sent me hither, but God” (Genesis 45:8)

    “A goodly price that I was prised at of them.” (Zechariah 11:13)

    “The worth of souls is great in the sight of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10)

    Practice (Today, Not Someday)

    Today, I will remember that people are not measured by convenience, appearance, or past mistakes.

    I will choose to:

    • See beyond what is visible
    • Speak with respect, even when it’s not returned
    • Treat every person as someone God has never discounted

    Final Reflection

    Joseph was sold for silver—but he was never defined by it.

    The Savior was betrayed for silver—but He chose to redeem, not condemn.

    The world will always try to assign value based on what it understands.

    But heaven does not negotiate the worth of a soul.

    Pocket I’m Keeping

    No one I meet today is “cheap” in the eyes of God.

    What I Hear Now (Direct Quotes)

    “The things which some men esteem to be of great worth… others set at naught.” (1 Nephi 19:7)

    “For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh… that all men might repent and come unto him” (D&C 18:11)

    © 2012–2026 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

  • Marked in Time — Sep 15, 2025 “Grounded, Rooted, Established, and Settled”

    Sun crowns the Angel Moroni and echoes in the red-car reflection—heaven above, witness below. Today I’m choosing to be “grounded, rooted, established, and settled.” Elder Neal A. Maxwell’s devotional was given 44 years ago today (Sept 15, 1981); I’ve listened to and reread it more than forty times since last night, and it still steadies me.
    Behind the shot (BTS)
    iPhone only. I walked the grounds, lining up angles until the sun sat directly behind Moroni. I waited for the clouds to thin, then chose the red car as my foreground to mirror the spire and add a second “sun.” Composing a photograph isn’t easy—it takes patience, timing, and a little inspiration.

    Excerpt
    When life feels hot and hurried, deep roots matter. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught us to become “grounded, rooted, established, and settled.” Today I’m practicing that—quietly, covenant by covenant—so the sun doesn’t scorch my faith.

    Intro
    What a coincidence—September 15. On this date in 1981, Elder Neal A. Maxwell delivered a devotional that feels tailor-made for our moment. He urged a discipleship with depth, the kind that survives heat and headlines: grounded, rooted, established, and settled. He reminded us that God’s curriculum is deliberate—patience, meekness, love, self-discipline—and that routine isn’t pedestrian; it’s providential. Real growth happens “in process of time” and “according to the flesh”—ordinary days doing eternal work. If the world’s scaffolding falls away, what stands? Holy ground and holy habits. I want those roots.

    Straight line
    • Deep roots > fast leaves (Colossians 2:6–7).
    • After we’ve “suffered a while,” grace “stablish[es], strengthen[s], settle[s]” (1 Peter 5:10).
    • The seed survives the sun when nourished “with great diligence, and with patience” (Alma 32).
    • Ordinary days are eternal classrooms; portable skills—meekness, charity, self-discipline—rise with us.

    Notes from Elder Maxwell (Sep 15, 1981)
    • Growth without roots scorches. Disciples withstand heat because they are grounded—not trending.
    • Scaffolding and applause fall away; covenant habits remain.
    • God’s curriculum forms eternal, portable skills we’ll need forever.
    • Routine can be resplendent: quiet covenant keeping outlasts headlines.
    • Keep gospel perspective: our basic circumstances are strikingly similar—we are God’s children, accountable, loved, and capable of steady growth.

    Perspective (directly from the devotional)
    “A hundred years from now, today’s seeming deprivations and tribulations will not matter then unless we let them matter too much now. A hundred years from now, today’s serious physical ailment will be but a fleeting memory.”

    “A thousand years from now, those who now worry and are anguished because they are unmarried will, if they are faithful, have smiles of satisfaction on their faces in the midst of a vast convocation of their posterity. The seeming deprivation which occurs in the life of a single woman who feels she has no prospects of marriage and motherhood properly endured is but a delayed blessing, the readying of a reservoir into which a generous God will pour all that he hath. Indeed, it will be the Malachi measure: ‘there shall not be room enough to receive it’ (Malachi 3:10).”

    Practice (today, not someday)
    • Choose one root to deepen: scripture before screens; prayer with listening; sacrament with intent.
    • Trade hurry for holy: slow the reply, soften the tone, serve someone nearby.
    • Write one “settled” choice: the commandment I will keep even when the sun is hot.
    • Plant a small habit that outlasts headlines: five minutes of gratitude, one quiet act of mercy, one bridge-building conversation.

    Final reflection
    I can’t cool the world’s weather, but I can deepen my roots. If I will be grounded in Christ, the same sun that scorches shallow soil will ripen real fruit. Ordinary days, kept with covenants, become the very ground where God “stablishes, strengthens, and settles” the soul.

    Pocket I’m keeping
    • Deep roots before bright leaves.
    • Perspective over panic.
    • Ordinary days are eternal classrooms.
    • Meekness travels well—now and forever.

    What I hear now
    “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith” (Colossians 2:7).
    “After that ye have suffered a while… stablish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).
    “Nourished by your faith with great diligence, and with patience” (Alma 32:41).

    Link to the talk
    BYU Devotional, Elder Neal A. Maxwell, September 15, 1981 (searchable on speeches.byu.edu).

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

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