The hilly and elevated character of Jerusalem is one of its most obvious features.  (The Latter-day Saint creator of the beloved Christmas carol “Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains” plainly never visited the Holy Land.)  One climbs up to the city, literally and physically.   However, because of its holiness and the longtime presence of the temple there, one also climbs up symbolically:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865627563/Going-up-to-Jerusalem.html   This is a point that I try to emphasize whenever I lead... Read more

    Over the weekend, many of us enjoyed (or, perhaps, didn’t enjoy) American Mother’s Day.   My eye was caught just now by a new short video from the Church about making a mother’s day beautiful.  See it in the upper left corner of the LDS Charities website:   https://www.ldscharities.org   And, while you’re on the site, look around a bit.  I think you’ll find it inspiring.  The Church and its members are doing wonderful work, around the globe.  (Or, in... Read more

    “It is not an overstatement to say that the destiny of the entire human race depends on what is going on in America today. This is a staggering reality to the rest of the world; they must feel like passengers in a supersonic jet liner who are forced to watch helplessly while a passel of drunks, hypes, freaks, and madmen fight for the controls and the pilot’s seat.” Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Ice (1968)   Posted from Terricciola,... Read more

    After we bade farewell to our Israel tour group, my wife and I spent an extra night in Tel Aviv.  We intended to do some sightseeing there — I’ve really never poked around Tel Aviv very much, and it has some very good museums — but . . . well, we relaxed, instead.  For one thing, we had to fly out the next afternoon, and we had a really nice room with a great view.   Then we flew... Read more

    A nice piece from Stephen Smoot:   http://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2016/05/why-book-of-mormons-battle-numbers-dont.html   Posted from Terricciola, Italy     Read more

    George Will offers an interesting analysis of the forthcoming debacle here:   “The Republican Party’s Coming Trumpian Disaster”   I’m concerned, however, not only because Mr. Trump will lose overwhelmingly, thus injuring both the conservative movement and the Republican Party for years to come and, along the way, delivering the Supreme Court into the hands of leftist activists for at least a generation.   I’m concerned because I don’t want Donald Trump to win.  He is a serious threat... Read more

    The English form of their name obscures the fact somewhat, but the region of Italy known as Tuscany — in Italian, Toscana — recalls the rather mysterious ancient people known as the Etruscans.  The Latin titles by which they were known among the ancient Romans were Etrusci and Tusci.  The former gives us the term Etruria for this region (typically used when referring to the ancient area of their dominance), but the latter gives us the Italian word and its... Read more

    The original Christian apostles were closely interrelated men from a tiny provincial area.  Were they appropriate leaders for a worldwide church?  The Lord plainly thought so:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865633092/Who-were-the-first-apostles-of-Jesus.html   Posted from Terricciola, Italy     Read more

    “The national anthem of hell is, ‘I Did It My Way.'”   “In an age that has thrown off all tradition, the only rebellion possible is orthodoxy.”   Posted from Terricciola, Italy     Read more

    As the saying goes, the mute stones speak:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865623977/Archaeology-and-the-boyhood-of-Jesus-in-Nazareth.html   Posted from Terricciola, Italy     Read more