I'm watching the news and a breaking story flashes on the screen. A team of reporters pop into view and tell about an "officer-involved shooting" that has taken place.
As both reporters go over the "facts" as they know them (most of which we now know were inaccurate), the picture changes to an on-scene, live feed where the shooter was captured by police.
While we are watching, the reporters continue to mull over information as they get it and fill in the gaps with their observations. Then one reporter said something priceless. He said, "It looks like people are starting to gather at the scene to try and see what's going on and that's the last thing we'd advise anyone to do. Let the police officers do their job and give them room to work."
Other than the fact that those gathering at the scene weren't watching the news so they couldn't benefit from this sage advice, the humorous part of this commentary was that as we are watching this panorama at an Arby's parking lot, you see a half-a-dozen people gathering way out at the far end of the yellow police tape, but all around the rest of the site you see these big TV news vans parking however and wherever they please; pulled in at all angles and diagnal clear out in the roadway, creating all sorts of traffic hazards and access problems in and out of the crime scene. But that wasn't the funny part.
All around the site you see these reporters with camera operators in tow running like packs of dogs with microphones in hand trying to get a story. Then as the condescending reporter back at the station is lecturing the public on giving the police room to work, you see several police coming out of Arby's with the prisoner cuffed, leading him to a police car. And all of the reporters at the site beeline directly to that spot at full sprint - kicking, pinching, and biting - and when they catch up with the police, they actual prevent them from getting to their vehicles to secure the prisoner as they are thrusting their microphones in their faces and badgering them with questions.
Now, who should back the freak off and let the officers do their job, I ask you? Nim whits is what they are. We live in a funny, selfish, self-righteous world folks. Be lee dat!
My Procrastination Endpoint: Between books, chapters, pages and words... Between projects, chores, goals, expectations and living ... I end up here.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
High Council Talk
What follows is the High Council talk I gave for the last time today. How our Stake works is two High Councilors are assigned as speaking companions and then once a month we go to each Ward in the Stake. Today we finished our circuit using this particular talk. This was a fun topic and quite practical in the advice given. I learned from it each time and it evolved as the six months rolled out. This is the evovled version called, "Learning the Things of God." The original tidal was, "Don't trifle with Sacred Things." It was a little edgier and as I matured, the talk became more positive and practical. It is a 16 minute talk though I could and did expand it from 10 minutes to 20 minutes depending on the time left in the meeting. Enjoy.
Our human nature and the world we live in gives us opportunities to retire someday from our work and look back on our accomplish and enjoy the fruits of our labors. Other things we do, hobby’s for example, allow us to also kick back at some point and enjoy what we’ve done, made, read or wrote.
But in the gospel, after a great spiritual accomplishment or just times when the Spirit is so strong in my life, I feel like I want to just bask in the glory of the Lord and just enjoy it. But unlike the world, the minute I do, the same Spirit compels me to get up and do some more. And then gospel leaders started – I was going to say pestering but the real word is encouraging us to – quicken our pace and do a little more to build up the kingdom of God. Why is this so?
Elder Holland tells us why. He also tells us why it is that it is even more so with those of us living today in our day and age.
Elder Holland:
Because ours is the last and greatest of all dispensations, because all things will eventually culminate and be fulfilled in our era, there is, therefore, one particular, very specific responsibility that falls to those of us in the Church now that did not rest quite the same way on the shoulders of Church members in any earlier time … we have a responsibility to prepare the Church of the Lamb of God to receive the Lamb of God—in person, in triumphant glory, in His millennial role as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. No other dispensation ever had that duty…
When Christ comes, the members of His Church must look and act like members of His Church are supposed to look and act if we are to be acceptable to Him. We must be doing His work and we must be living His teachings. (Bold added.)
Do you think about the gospel in these terms? We ought to because it’s what we are about. Having said this, the question begs itself, how to we get ready? What things must we be doing or what process can we follow to make sure we look and act like members of the Savior’s Church so that we are acceptable of Him when He comes?
Joseph Smith gives us the key, and though he doesn’t call it a process, it really is.
The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful nd ... solemn thoughts can only find them out ... None but fools will trifle … (D.H.C. Vol. 3, pp. 295-6.)
Let’s examine each of the things Joseph mentions here in more detail so we can digest what the Prophet is telling us about the things of God keeping in mind that he said these are the only ways we can find out the things of God.
Time
The first thing we need to do - to understanding the things of God - is to take the time. It was not an accident that Joseph mentioned this as the first thing we need to do because all other things hinge on this.
Everything we need to do in the Church requires a sacrifice of time. Teaching by the Spirit takes time; proclaiming the gospel takes time; redeeming the dead takes time; and perfecting the saints takes a lot of time.
Fortunately time is the great gospel equalizer because each of us has the same exact amount of it. I hear the expression 24/7 a lot. That’s what we all have 24 hours a day; 168 hours a week; and 8,760 hours a year.
How are you spending your time?
We are so fortunate to live in a day and age that has all the modern conveniences we have that have been given to us, I think, by inspiration from our Father in Heaven so that we have more time to work on the things of God. And never in all the history of mankind can we get more done in the time we have than in our day and age. It’s miraculous when you consider the time it used to take to cook and clean and travel places.
So I ask again, how are you spending your time?
Recently some research culled from Census Bureau surveys showed that Americans on average spend almost 10 hours a day watching television, surfing the Internet, listening to music, reading magazines and playing video games. Of that 4½ hours were just watching television. That is over 1.600 hours a year watching TV if you can imagine.
As with all averages some don’t spend their time this way which means, if you are saying you don’t spend near that amount of time of these things, someone else is spending a lot more of their time on them. Another study concluded that 65% of people “spend more time with a computer than with their spouse.” And our relationship with our computer isn’t one of just happiness and bliss because 52% of people in this study described their most recent computer experience as one of “anger, sadness or alienation.” So if that is how your experience with the computer makes you feel, and you choose to spend more time with it than your spouse, what does that say about your spouse?
Each of us needs to take a personal inventory of how we spend our time because if we don’t spend time on the things of God, Joseph Smith says we will not find them out.
At Ward Conference the Stake President challenged you all at this pulpit to turn off the Television one day a week, and go visit someone – a neighbor, a friend, some family – someone, somewhere in need. The only thing you need to do in order to accomplish this is to take some time from one thing that is meaningless and shift it to another that has eternal meaning.
If that isn’t enough for you, Elder Bednar gave an Apostolic challenge at the October 2006 General Conference:
Will you please prayerfully identify a person with whom you will visit and extend the invitation to once again worship with us?
Experience
Once you have decided to spend more time on the things of God, Joseph tells us we need to have some experiences. At another time he taught us that “faith is a principle of action.”
So we have to be out doing things. That’s how faith works.
What kind of and how often are you having profound religious experiences?
The Church published a great manual for missionaries that we all ought to read and adapt to our own personal use and circumstances. It’s called Preach My Gospel and Elder Richard G. Scott, in the 2005 annual conference encouraged all members to use it to “make it easier for each of us to share” the gospel “with loved ones and friends.” I would add that we can share it with ourselves also.
It’s a great publication. It may be the finest thing the Church has published outside of the scriptures. This morning as a returned missionary reported her mission to the High Council I asked her what she thought about Preach My Gospel. Without hesitation, she said she viewed it as another volume of scripture. I asked her if she
thought she’d use it in the future. Without hesitation, she said she’s use it daily to study and reflect and motivate herself about the gospel.
I tell you these things because in this manual is a profound observation about having experiences in the gospel. After reviewing the steps of the conversion process, we are told in Preach My Gospel:
These are not just steps that are experienced once in our lives; rather when repeated throughout life these principles become an increasingly rewarding pattern of living… Obedience to Jesus Christ is a lifetime commitment. Through exercising faith, repenting, being baptized and committing to serve Christ, and then receiving the Holy Ghost, we can experience healing, forgiveness of sins, and complete conversion to the Savior and His gospel.
Great thoughts about having gospel experiences throughout our lives. At another point in Preach My Gospel we are told:
As you feel the joy that comes from understanding the gospel, you will want to apply what you learn.
“Apply what we learn” means we go out and use what we learn to have spiritual experiences. “Use it or lose it” seems to be the appropriate summary of what we are being told.
President Kimball was the one who counseled:
Let us remember that it is not so much what we know that is important as what we do and what we are. The Master’s plan is a program of doing, of living, not merely knowing. It is how we righteously live and apply that knowledge in our own lives and how we apply it to help others that describes our character.
Elder Robert D. Hales said in an article in the February Ensign (Ten Axioms to Guide Your Life):
… your greatest success and influence won’t come solely from the knowledge you’ve gained. It will come from what you do with that knowledge – the wise use of agency to make sound decisions.
I ask again: What kind of and how often are you having profound religious experiences by living the gospel and applying its teachings in your life and thereby finding out the things of God?
On a lighter note, Ian Fleming who is known for writing the James Bond books also wrote the children’s book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In there is where you find his great line that summarized his philosophy of life: “Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes’ otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.” A life of Church service, I promise you, is never dull if you are putting yourselves out there doing the Lord’s work - and you can start by turning off your TV one night a week and visiting someone in need.
Joseph Smith said there was no other way to know the things of God.
Careful & Solemn Thought
There’s a story about President Kimball setting apart a man to be a Temple President. After the setting apart and some niceties President Kimball put on his coat and began to leave. The newly sustained temple president said, aren’t you going to give me some training or some guidance; “I could really use some.” President Kimball told him “he’d do fine. He’d been around the Church a long time and he didn’t anticipate he’d run across any problems he couldn’t solve.” Then he left. The man was a little overwhelmed as we all are with new callings and actually followed after President Kimball and was asking about some specific things about the building or other temple functions and President Kimball told him, “You have some phone numbers of support folks that know all about those things. When problems arise, just get hold of them, and they will help you out just fine.” Exasperated the Temple President said, “I beg of you President Kimball, please just give me some words of insight and guidance; how about just one suggestion. I’d honor and value it with my life.” President Kimball thought for a minute and said, “You could stand to lose about 30 lbs.”
The point of the story is as Joseph Smith told us, that once you have organized your life so that you are spending your time on the things of God and you are out doing things to ensure you are having spiritual experiences, we need to mix in with that: careful and solemn thought. Many times insights about the Savior, the gospel, and eternity, aren’t just handed to us. We have to follow a process that requires effort.
Careful means to be thorough and even painstaking in doing something. It also means that we show close attention to detail and accuracy.
Solemn means we have a sincerity and seriousness about doing a thing. It also means sacred or inspiring awe and reverence.
Together you get the picture Joseph Smith was trying to paint about “thought” that is meticulous and specific coupled with a reverence and a spiritual attitude. The picture you don’t get is thoughts about the gospel that are scattered or random or just during the commercials or in “our spare time.”
Careful and solemn thought means we make time to think about the gospel and put everything else on hold – no matter how inconvenient – while we ponder and wonder about the gospel.
A great way to get the type of careful and solemn thought Joseph Smith is talking about is also taught in the Preach My Gospel manual under the “personal study” section.
It suggests the creation of and regular use of a study journal “to help you understand, clarify, and remember what you are learning.”
Elder Richard G. Scott said it this way: Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a scared place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. This practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light.” (Ensign, Nov. 1993)
Isn’t the “further light” Elder Scott is referring to another way of saying, “the things of God.”
I keep a regular and consistent study journal about the things I read in the scriptures, the Ensign, and general conferences. I bear you my testimony it is the greatest way that anyone can “treasure up” the things of God and pass on that testimony to your posterity. If you do it you will never want for the right thing to say or do in situations where you are needed in the gospel. I prize my study journals as some of my greatest possessions.
President Kimball assured us if we make a journal “that will last through all time … maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.” (Kimball, Spencer W. "The Angels May Quote from It." New Era 5 (Oct. 1975):4-5.)
Too often we ignore the “doctrine of writing things down.” Remember that maxim: the dullest pencil can remember more than the sharpest mind. I personally like: if you think it, ink it.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell put an exclamation point on this thought by saying:
If we desire to have the promptings of the Spirit become almost habitual in our lives, then we must develop the habits that lend themselves to the flow of such inspiration. We should learn, too, that the prompting that goes unresponded to may not be repeated. Writing down what we have been prompted with is vital. A special thought can also be lost later in the day in the rough and tumble of life. God should not, and may not, choose to repeat the prompting if we assign what was given such a low priority as to put it aside. (Wherefore Ye Must Press Forward, p. 122)
As we keep a spiritual study journal, we take the time to record our experiences and are clearly making careful and solemn thought. The only ways Joseph Smith said we could ever find out the things of God.
Testimony
I bear you my testimony that if we want to be recognized as members of the Saviors Church at that great day, we should spend our time on the things of God – turn off our TV’s and going out and do the Lord’s work – have spiritual experiences. And then carefully and solemnly reflect and record the thoughts and feelings and
experiences you have had.
Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is the Redeemer of the world. He is the Only Begotten of the Father and atoned for our sins so that we may repent and return back to Heavenly Father and live eternally with Him in our eternal family unit.
As we read the New Testament in Sunday School and learn more of our Savior, know that He isn’t just a good story we learn about in class or by the words on the pages of scripture. His teachings aren’t just good and ethical thoughts about things. They are truth.
He’s the bread of life; the water that quenches our thirst. He’s the Lamb of God; and the light that gives life to everything. He is everything. And He lives and guides this Church in a time of great uncertainty and turmoil. But His guidance and only His guidance will give us the things we need and will lead us to find our way to the things of God.
May we all give due diligence to what the Prophet Joseph has told us about finding out the things of God is my prayer in the name …
Today I want to talk to you about why it is that we seem to feel an urgency to do and accomplish more as time passes rather than at some point, just sitting back and enjoying the blessings of the gospel and all that it has for us.
Our human nature and the world we live in gives us opportunities to retire someday from our work and look back on our accomplish and enjoy the fruits of our labors. Other things we do, hobby’s for example, allow us to also kick back at some point and enjoy what we’ve done, made, read or wrote.
But in the gospel, after a great spiritual accomplishment or just times when the Spirit is so strong in my life, I feel like I want to just bask in the glory of the Lord and just enjoy it. But unlike the world, the minute I do, the same Spirit compels me to get up and do some more. And then gospel leaders started – I was going to say pestering but the real word is encouraging us to – quicken our pace and do a little more to build up the kingdom of God. Why is this so?
Elder Holland tells us why. He also tells us why it is that it is even more so with those of us living today in our day and age.
Elder Holland:
Because ours is the last and greatest of all dispensations, because all things will eventually culminate and be fulfilled in our era, there is, therefore, one particular, very specific responsibility that falls to those of us in the Church now that did not rest quite the same way on the shoulders of Church members in any earlier time … we have a responsibility to prepare the Church of the Lamb of God to receive the Lamb of God—in person, in triumphant glory, in His millennial role as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. No other dispensation ever had that duty…
When Christ comes, the members of His Church must look and act like members of His Church are supposed to look and act if we are to be acceptable to Him. We must be doing His work and we must be living His teachings. (Bold added.)
Do you think about the gospel in these terms? We ought to because it’s what we are about. Having said this, the question begs itself, how to we get ready? What things must we be doing or what process can we follow to make sure we look and act like members of the Savior’s Church so that we are acceptable of Him when He comes?
Joseph Smith gives us the key, and though he doesn’t call it a process, it really is.
The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful nd ... solemn thoughts can only find them out ... None but fools will trifle … (D.H.C. Vol. 3, pp. 295-6.)
Let’s examine each of the things Joseph mentions here in more detail so we can digest what the Prophet is telling us about the things of God keeping in mind that he said these are the only ways we can find out the things of God.
Time
The first thing we need to do - to understanding the things of God - is to take the time. It was not an accident that Joseph mentioned this as the first thing we need to do because all other things hinge on this.
Everything we need to do in the Church requires a sacrifice of time. Teaching by the Spirit takes time; proclaiming the gospel takes time; redeeming the dead takes time; and perfecting the saints takes a lot of time.
Fortunately time is the great gospel equalizer because each of us has the same exact amount of it. I hear the expression 24/7 a lot. That’s what we all have 24 hours a day; 168 hours a week; and 8,760 hours a year.
How are you spending your time?
We are so fortunate to live in a day and age that has all the modern conveniences we have that have been given to us, I think, by inspiration from our Father in Heaven so that we have more time to work on the things of God. And never in all the history of mankind can we get more done in the time we have than in our day and age. It’s miraculous when you consider the time it used to take to cook and clean and travel places.
So I ask again, how are you spending your time?
Recently some research culled from Census Bureau surveys showed that Americans on average spend almost 10 hours a day watching television, surfing the Internet, listening to music, reading magazines and playing video games. Of that 4½ hours were just watching television. That is over 1.600 hours a year watching TV if you can imagine.
As with all averages some don’t spend their time this way which means, if you are saying you don’t spend near that amount of time of these things, someone else is spending a lot more of their time on them. Another study concluded that 65% of people “spend more time with a computer than with their spouse.” And our relationship with our computer isn’t one of just happiness and bliss because 52% of people in this study described their most recent computer experience as one of “anger, sadness or alienation.” So if that is how your experience with the computer makes you feel, and you choose to spend more time with it than your spouse, what does that say about your spouse?
Each of us needs to take a personal inventory of how we spend our time because if we don’t spend time on the things of God, Joseph Smith says we will not find them out.
At Ward Conference the Stake President challenged you all at this pulpit to turn off the Television one day a week, and go visit someone – a neighbor, a friend, some family – someone, somewhere in need. The only thing you need to do in order to accomplish this is to take some time from one thing that is meaningless and shift it to another that has eternal meaning.
If that isn’t enough for you, Elder Bednar gave an Apostolic challenge at the October 2006 General Conference:
Will you please prayerfully identify a person with whom you will visit and extend the invitation to once again worship with us?
Experience
Once you have decided to spend more time on the things of God, Joseph tells us we need to have some experiences. At another time he taught us that “faith is a principle of action.”
So we have to be out doing things. That’s how faith works.
What kind of and how often are you having profound religious experiences?
The Church published a great manual for missionaries that we all ought to read and adapt to our own personal use and circumstances. It’s called Preach My Gospel and Elder Richard G. Scott, in the 2005 annual conference encouraged all members to use it to “make it easier for each of us to share” the gospel “with loved ones and friends.” I would add that we can share it with ourselves also.
It’s a great publication. It may be the finest thing the Church has published outside of the scriptures. This morning as a returned missionary reported her mission to the High Council I asked her what she thought about Preach My Gospel. Without hesitation, she said she viewed it as another volume of scripture. I asked her if she
thought she’d use it in the future. Without hesitation, she said she’s use it daily to study and reflect and motivate herself about the gospel.
I tell you these things because in this manual is a profound observation about having experiences in the gospel. After reviewing the steps of the conversion process, we are told in Preach My Gospel:
These are not just steps that are experienced once in our lives; rather when repeated throughout life these principles become an increasingly rewarding pattern of living… Obedience to Jesus Christ is a lifetime commitment. Through exercising faith, repenting, being baptized and committing to serve Christ, and then receiving the Holy Ghost, we can experience healing, forgiveness of sins, and complete conversion to the Savior and His gospel.
Great thoughts about having gospel experiences throughout our lives. At another point in Preach My Gospel we are told:
As you feel the joy that comes from understanding the gospel, you will want to apply what you learn.
“Apply what we learn” means we go out and use what we learn to have spiritual experiences. “Use it or lose it” seems to be the appropriate summary of what we are being told.
President Kimball was the one who counseled:
Let us remember that it is not so much what we know that is important as what we do and what we are. The Master’s plan is a program of doing, of living, not merely knowing. It is how we righteously live and apply that knowledge in our own lives and how we apply it to help others that describes our character.
Elder Robert D. Hales said in an article in the February Ensign (Ten Axioms to Guide Your Life):
… your greatest success and influence won’t come solely from the knowledge you’ve gained. It will come from what you do with that knowledge – the wise use of agency to make sound decisions.
I ask again: What kind of and how often are you having profound religious experiences by living the gospel and applying its teachings in your life and thereby finding out the things of God?
On a lighter note, Ian Fleming who is known for writing the James Bond books also wrote the children’s book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In there is where you find his great line that summarized his philosophy of life: “Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes’ otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.” A life of Church service, I promise you, is never dull if you are putting yourselves out there doing the Lord’s work - and you can start by turning off your TV one night a week and visiting someone in need.
Joseph Smith said there was no other way to know the things of God.
Careful & Solemn Thought
There’s a story about President Kimball setting apart a man to be a Temple President. After the setting apart and some niceties President Kimball put on his coat and began to leave. The newly sustained temple president said, aren’t you going to give me some training or some guidance; “I could really use some.” President Kimball told him “he’d do fine. He’d been around the Church a long time and he didn’t anticipate he’d run across any problems he couldn’t solve.” Then he left. The man was a little overwhelmed as we all are with new callings and actually followed after President Kimball and was asking about some specific things about the building or other temple functions and President Kimball told him, “You have some phone numbers of support folks that know all about those things. When problems arise, just get hold of them, and they will help you out just fine.” Exasperated the Temple President said, “I beg of you President Kimball, please just give me some words of insight and guidance; how about just one suggestion. I’d honor and value it with my life.” President Kimball thought for a minute and said, “You could stand to lose about 30 lbs.”
The point of the story is as Joseph Smith told us, that once you have organized your life so that you are spending your time on the things of God and you are out doing things to ensure you are having spiritual experiences, we need to mix in with that: careful and solemn thought. Many times insights about the Savior, the gospel, and eternity, aren’t just handed to us. We have to follow a process that requires effort.
Careful means to be thorough and even painstaking in doing something. It also means that we show close attention to detail and accuracy.
Solemn means we have a sincerity and seriousness about doing a thing. It also means sacred or inspiring awe and reverence.
Together you get the picture Joseph Smith was trying to paint about “thought” that is meticulous and specific coupled with a reverence and a spiritual attitude. The picture you don’t get is thoughts about the gospel that are scattered or random or just during the commercials or in “our spare time.”
Careful and solemn thought means we make time to think about the gospel and put everything else on hold – no matter how inconvenient – while we ponder and wonder about the gospel.
A great way to get the type of careful and solemn thought Joseph Smith is talking about is also taught in the Preach My Gospel manual under the “personal study” section.
It suggests the creation of and regular use of a study journal “to help you understand, clarify, and remember what you are learning.”
Elder Richard G. Scott said it this way: Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a scared place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. This practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light.” (Ensign, Nov. 1993)
Isn’t the “further light” Elder Scott is referring to another way of saying, “the things of God.”
I keep a regular and consistent study journal about the things I read in the scriptures, the Ensign, and general conferences. I bear you my testimony it is the greatest way that anyone can “treasure up” the things of God and pass on that testimony to your posterity. If you do it you will never want for the right thing to say or do in situations where you are needed in the gospel. I prize my study journals as some of my greatest possessions.
President Kimball assured us if we make a journal “that will last through all time … maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.” (Kimball, Spencer W. "The Angels May Quote from It." New Era 5 (Oct. 1975):4-5.)
Too often we ignore the “doctrine of writing things down.” Remember that maxim: the dullest pencil can remember more than the sharpest mind. I personally like: if you think it, ink it.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell put an exclamation point on this thought by saying:
If we desire to have the promptings of the Spirit become almost habitual in our lives, then we must develop the habits that lend themselves to the flow of such inspiration. We should learn, too, that the prompting that goes unresponded to may not be repeated. Writing down what we have been prompted with is vital. A special thought can also be lost later in the day in the rough and tumble of life. God should not, and may not, choose to repeat the prompting if we assign what was given such a low priority as to put it aside. (Wherefore Ye Must Press Forward, p. 122)
As we keep a spiritual study journal, we take the time to record our experiences and are clearly making careful and solemn thought. The only ways Joseph Smith said we could ever find out the things of God.
Testimony
I bear you my testimony that if we want to be recognized as members of the Saviors Church at that great day, we should spend our time on the things of God – turn off our TV’s and going out and do the Lord’s work – have spiritual experiences. And then carefully and solemnly reflect and record the thoughts and feelings and
experiences you have had.
Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is the Redeemer of the world. He is the Only Begotten of the Father and atoned for our sins so that we may repent and return back to Heavenly Father and live eternally with Him in our eternal family unit.
As we read the New Testament in Sunday School and learn more of our Savior, know that He isn’t just a good story we learn about in class or by the words on the pages of scripture. His teachings aren’t just good and ethical thoughts about things. They are truth.
He’s the bread of life; the water that quenches our thirst. He’s the Lamb of God; and the light that gives life to everything. He is everything. And He lives and guides this Church in a time of great uncertainty and turmoil. But His guidance and only His guidance will give us the things we need and will lead us to find our way to the things of God.
May we all give due diligence to what the Prophet Joseph has told us about finding out the things of God is my prayer in the name …
Friday, June 22, 2007
Preamble
I have been blogging for a long time but only for myself. That is very selfish. My daughter's public blog has inspired me to go online and share my musings with the world (or at least those who can find this address.)
My site name might seem odd at first blush but it is on purpose and is meaningful for the following reasons:
1. "Crotcheted" I made up from "crotchet." Not the french word "crochet" in which the "t" is silent and is some sort of needlepoint. And not a form of "crotch" (though that is a good guess) which is a "fork or bifurcation" even though "bifurcation" is one of my favorite words. I put the "ed" at the end of "crotchet to change it from a noun to an adverb to partially describe my blogging style. It means "a highly individual and usually eccentric opinion or preference." If you know me and have been privy to my work, you'll know this to be true. If not, you'll soon find out.
2. "Vagarious" means "erratic, unpredictable or an extravagant manifestation of action, or notion." Well said if I may say so myself.
3. "Musings" you all know to be ideas "meditative and thoughfully abstracted."
4. Put them all together and that is what you are going to be treated to. Other terms that whiff of what I do are also descriptive: "whimsical" ("an eccentric and often sudden idea or turn of mind" is accurate though overused so I avoided it) and "caprice" ("a sudden, impulsive and seemingly unmotivated notion or action.")
5. One posting might be about my current projects (right now it's studying the lives of the Presidents of the United States. I am on Andy Johnson. He's cooler than most give credit.) The next post might be my observations on dirt. There will probably be stuff from my work, church, and family. Some stuff will be funny and some will be dead serious. Many times you'll never know which is which. How vagarious is that? There will be quotes, thoughts, incomplete thoughts, sentences I've been working on, words I've discovered, irritations thrust in my path, and the simple and complicated joys of life on planet earth. Oh, also, I am pretty sure every now and again I will rant. Maybe more often; I can't predict it. Sometime I will muse about "the rant" and if you get it, you'll get it, and if not, you won't.
6. Lastly, the KRiB is to protect my anonymity. It's an acronym so those who know me, know what it means and those that don't can't track me down and kill me. I'm far too unconfrontational to want that. To know me is to love me but I don't want to make eye contact with strangers ... unless I choose to: my time, my place - my blog, my choice.
My site name might seem odd at first blush but it is on purpose and is meaningful for the following reasons:
1. "Crotcheted" I made up from "crotchet." Not the french word "crochet" in which the "t" is silent and is some sort of needlepoint. And not a form of "crotch" (though that is a good guess) which is a "fork or bifurcation" even though "bifurcation" is one of my favorite words. I put the "ed" at the end of "crotchet to change it from a noun to an adverb to partially describe my blogging style. It means "a highly individual and usually eccentric opinion or preference." If you know me and have been privy to my work, you'll know this to be true. If not, you'll soon find out.
2. "Vagarious" means "erratic, unpredictable or an extravagant manifestation of action, or notion." Well said if I may say so myself.
3. "Musings" you all know to be ideas "meditative and thoughfully abstracted."
4. Put them all together and that is what you are going to be treated to. Other terms that whiff of what I do are also descriptive: "whimsical" ("an eccentric and often sudden idea or turn of mind" is accurate though overused so I avoided it) and "caprice" ("a sudden, impulsive and seemingly unmotivated notion or action.")
5. One posting might be about my current projects (right now it's studying the lives of the Presidents of the United States. I am on Andy Johnson. He's cooler than most give credit.) The next post might be my observations on dirt. There will probably be stuff from my work, church, and family. Some stuff will be funny and some will be dead serious. Many times you'll never know which is which. How vagarious is that? There will be quotes, thoughts, incomplete thoughts, sentences I've been working on, words I've discovered, irritations thrust in my path, and the simple and complicated joys of life on planet earth. Oh, also, I am pretty sure every now and again I will rant. Maybe more often; I can't predict it. Sometime I will muse about "the rant" and if you get it, you'll get it, and if not, you won't.
6. Lastly, the KRiB is to protect my anonymity. It's an acronym so those who know me, know what it means and those that don't can't track me down and kill me. I'm far too unconfrontational to want that. To know me is to love me but I don't want to make eye contact with strangers ... unless I choose to: my time, my place - my blog, my choice.
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