I had not realized until a couple of years ago that the “Carol of the Bells” stems from Ukraine. If I did ever know it before, I had forgotten: “The Ukrainian Choir Bringing New Meaning To A Classic Holiday Song” Shchedryk (from the Ukrainian Щедрий вечiр [Shchedry Vechir], meaning “Bountiful Evening”) is a Ukrainian shchedrivka or New Year’s carol. In its original form, which has no connection to Christmas, the song is known in English as “The Little Swallow.” ... Read more
On Thursday evening, my wife and I were privileged to participate in a dinner at the Relief Society Building in Salt Lake City. It was an interesting group to be with. Elder Matthew Holland of the Seventy conducted the event. Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary General Presidency of the Church, spoke briefly, as did Sister Lesa Stevenson and her husband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Several officials of the... Read more
The Interpreter Foundation’s annual Christmas message for 2024 appeared today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Ring in the Christ that Is to Be: Fulfilling the Pattern of His Life,” written by Don Bradley Abstract: The story of Christ, and of Christmas, is the story of Christ “the Lord God Omnipotent” incarnating in “a tabernacle of clay” (Mosiah 3:5). Christ took upon himself flesh so that he might also take upon himself burdens that he... Read more
For me, one of the most important principles in writing about the religious beliefs of others is this one: Those about whose religious beliefs one is writing should be able to recognize their religious beliefs in what has been written. They may say that the author has expressed one or more elements of their belief in a somewhat unaccustomed way. That happens sometimes. But they should be able to recognize it as their own. One of the best compliments... Read more
I love California. I grew up there. I earned my doctorate there. I typically go back to California several times annually. I’ve missed only one year, I think, of going to California. That was during my mission to Switzerland. Once, several years ago, I realized that I hadn’t gone back at all — with my parents and my brother gone, I don’t have quite the same pressing need to return that I once did — so I began thinking,... Read more
I was delighted to learn this morning that The Hat has expanded beyond its cradle in the San Gabriel Valley. The Hat was founded in 1951, with its first location at the corner of Garfield Avenue and Valley Boulevard in Alhambra. That was the very place that I grew up going to — it’s still there and its appearance hasn’t changed much — and old photos of the original location are, as far as I can tell, displayed in... Read more
Even among those who love his writing — and I am definitely among them — C. S. Lewis is little known as a poet. Here, though, I share a poem of his (“The Turn of the Tide”) that was written for Christmas. It’s worth a slow and thoughtful reading, I think: Breathless was the air over Bethlehem; black and bare The fields; hard as granite were the clods; Hedges stiff with ice; the sedge, in the vice Of the... Read more
For the better part of the past week, several places in social media have been enflamed with controversy regarding a photograph showing a group of Muslims praying in what is obviously a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse. On the wall in the background, what appears to be a painting (perhaps a painting of Jesus, but perhaps not) has been covered over (perhaps by the Muslims or perhaps by their Latter-day Saint hosts). Frankly, I’ve been discouraged and disheartened by some of... Read more
Last night, at the Islamic Center of Southern California, I participated in a dinner that was followed by a discussion and a Q&A that involved me and Salam al-Marayati, the president and co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Our conversation and our responses to questions went well, I think, and they were recorded for eventual future posting. (I noticed three cameras.) The audience was made up of both Muslim and Latter-day Saint young people, in what seemed to... Read more
Vital Signs 43/4 (2024), the current issue of the newsletter of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), includes the text of a letter (dated 30 October 2024) that was sent by Dr. Janice Miner Holden, who currently serves as the president of IANDS, to the actor Al Pacino. Mr. Pacino recently experienced an acute health crisis, and Dr. Holden is responding to a public comment that he made about it. She expresses gratitude that he is still around,... Read more
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