“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” Martin Luther King, Jr. Posted from Atlanta, Georgia Read more
“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” Martin Luther King, Jr. Posted from Atlanta, Georgia Read more
One of things that I hate most, one of the things that I’ve hated most about the 2016 presidential election, is the ever-increasing tendency to turn political disagreement into a Manichaean battle between light and darkness, a struggle of Good (us) versus Bad (them). I despise and reject the urge to demonize those who differ politically, to “unfriend them,” to pronounce them traitors, to regard them as guilty of sin and worthy of excommunication or incarceration. I... Read more
A while back, I posted a link to an anti-cat essay here. I’m now going to even the score. Fair and balanced, that’s what I am: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=42290697&nid=148 I actually like cats. A lot. When I was a teenager, I had a cat named “Stupid.” He looked quite a bit like the cat in this story. Alas, though, Stupid died while I was on my mission. Read more
When a temple was announced for Los Angeles, President David O. McKay traveled to the area. A young student named Truman Madsen was in the audience: “President McKay asked for a million dollars from the local saints, and had pledge cards before the meeting was over for that amount, plus. Then he spoke about the temple. I’ll spare you the details except for the core statement that I have cherished, and which bent, as it were, the... Read more
Correcting the so-called “newspaper of record”: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/10/why-do-christians-revere-jerusalem Incidentally, just in case you’ve been dreaming of seeing Jerusalem for yourself, I’ll be accompanying a group there this coming May. Join us! Read more
There’s still so very, very much that we don’t understand (and may never understand) about the ancient world: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/stonehenge-prehistoric-religious-ceremonial-centre-discovered-archaeologists-a7425346.html This is a pretty dramatic discovery in a quite populated, heavily studied, and very familiar area. Read more
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. Oscar Wilde Read more
I’ve said that I won’t participate in political discussions today. And I won’t. But this is news, and I thought that some might be interested in it: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3954734/Mike-Pence-confirms-Mitt-Romney-active-consideration-Donald-Trump-s-secretary-state.html And that’s all that I’m going to say on the subject. Thanks to Cody Quirk for calling my attention to the article. Have a great Sabbath! Read more
I’ve run across a reference to an interesting letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Evidently, an article had been published that linked Mrs. Churchill (and perhaps Mr. Churchill himself) to a Mormon family line. President Roosevelt read the article and sent a letter about it to the Prime Minister: “Hitherto,” wrote Mr. Roosevelt, “I had not observed any outstanding Mormon characteristics in either of you — but I shall be... Read more
Nearly twenty-three years ago — I can’t believe that I’m this old! — I published an article about the Book of Abraham in the Ensign. I think that maybe it’s time to dust it off again: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1994/01/news-from-antiquity?lang=eng The article could be updated, of course. But, otherwise, there’s little if anything in it from which I would be inclined to back away. Read more