Abraham’s great grandfathers went less active. I’ve been studying Abraham, related to several questions I have, and kept coming back to the verse that says, “My fathers, having turned from their righteousness, and from the holy commandments which the Lord their God had given unto them, unto the worshiping of the gods of the heathen, utterly refused to hearken to my voice.” I wanted to know more. Abraham descended through the patriarchal line from Adam to Noah and through Shem >... Read more
I became a huge fan of a man I’d never met before. He came into our lives as a counselor in the Lubbock Temple presidency. He exuded Christlike love. I enjoyed being around him. But even more than that, I loved his mind. One Sunday, our bishopric asked him to come talk to us during Sunday School. It seemed like the topic was whatever he wanted to cover. He covered a wide basis of teaching from Joseph Smith and the... Read more
After leaving Jerusalem and traversing into and out of the Mountains of Darkness, Alexander of Macedon found himself in a new, unpopulated, gorgeous land. His soldiers caught fish in a crystal clear river. After cutting up the fish, soldiers took their fish to the river to clean it. Miraculously, in the water, the fish reassembled itself and swam away. Initially skeptical, Alexander experienced the regenerated fish and determined the river was one of Paradise’s River of Life. He commanded all of... Read more
“God makes himself known to the world. He fills up the whole circle of the universe, but makes his particular abode in the center, which is the soul of the just.” -Lucian The circle is a curved perpetual line without beginning or ending. As such, it conveys a completeness encompassing space and time—eternity. Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday,... Read more
“Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as... Read more
As a teenager, I competed in piano competitions based on proficiency level. Playing piano became a cherished therapy for me. I unwound my stress and anxieties on the ivories. My teacher was not only an extremely gifted pianist, but an excellent gauge of character. She knew I loved to play, but unless challenged with specific types of music, I grew apathetic towards the piece. I didn’t even realize this until later. One idiosyncratic flaw she couldn’t strategize away was my... Read more
I recently completed a transcription editing job for a videoed interview of a female sexual predator. The female interviewer met the prisoner alone in what appeared to be a low security prison’s common area. The interviewer asked the prisoner if she felt like she deserved to be in prison. “Absolutely,” the prisoner responded. Interviewer asked the prisoner about her charges. The prisoner said she’d been imprisoned on 15 counts of first-degree rape of a child. But, actually, her offenses included... Read more
I’ve been pondering the phrase “easy to be entreated,” as in I must be easy to be entreated to fully fulfill my covenant and be filled with charity. Easy to Be Entreated I have a friend who is so easy to be entreated. I’ve been with her when people asked for her time, talents, and money. She stopped the car at an ATM to give the requested funds. She rescheduled another commitment to help the requestee. She jumped in with... Read more
Have you ever wondered about stories that include a pillar of light in the scriptures? I used to think pillar of light experiences were reserved for chosen and specific individuals. As I’ve read the scriptures, I realized that pillars of light impacted a wide variety of people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Here are six canonical stories where a pillar of divine light descended from heaven. What’s the pattern in these manifestations? Moses and the Children of Israel Circumstance... Read more
A tessera (plural tesserae) is a small block of stone, tile, glass, or other material used in the construction of a mosaic. (in ancient Greece and Rome) a small tablet of wood or bone used as a token. The word comes via Latin from Greek, neuter of tesseres, variant of tessares ‘four.’ This image of pieces of material used to create a complete picture perfectly describes how I imagine gathering truth and knowledge impacts my faith. When a “true” truth... Read more
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