CNN) -- This whole push to remove Christ from the Christmas season has gotten so ridiculous that it's pathetic.
Because of all the politically correct idiots, we are being encouraged to stop saying "Merry Christmas" for the more palatable "Happy Holidays." What the heck are "Seasons Greetings"? Can someone tell me what season we are greeting folks about? A Christmas tree? Oh, no! It's now a holiday tree. Any Christmas song that even remotely mentions Christ or has a religious undertone is being axed for being overtly religious. And I'm sorry, forget X-M-A-S. Malcolm X? Yes. X replacing Christ? No.
Don't get me wrong; I'm very respectful of other religions. I don't want anyone to be afraid of discussing the Jewish faith when we address Hanukkah. And we shouldn't dismiss Muslims when the annual pilgrimage to Mecca is held during December. In fact, Americans are so ignorant of other faiths that we can all learn from one another.
But this seeming backlash against Christianity is bordering on the absurd, and we should continue to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.
I know that may sound strident, but it's true. We spend an inordinate amount of time focused on shopping and buying gifts, but really, what does any of this have to do with the birth of Jesus? We have families all over the nation killing themselves to buy a tree they can't afford, running up their credit to buy toys and other gifts, all in an effort to make someone else happy.
What if families decided to forgo gifts, and instead, used their shopping days giving back to those in need? What if more of us went into our closets, grabbed old toys and clothes, repackaged them, and provided them as gifts to those without? Instead of gorging on food, what if we used some of the dough to feed those who are in need? What if we blew off those gift cards to electronic retailers and signed up with Networkforgood.org, and gave someone a gift card to their favorite charity
Sure, I know I sound like a reincarnation of a flower child, but really, do we have to be so crass during the Christmas season?
Its time that we return to traditional values, and end this ridiculous charade. It's important that we take a fuller account of WHY we celebrate Christmas, as opposed to falling for the barrage of ads that tell us what is most important.
Parents, don't be so consumed with the notion that your children will have a terrible Christmas because the tree isn't overflowing with gifts. The true love that you show them is more important than anything else.
America might be the king of capitalism, but secularism must never become so prevalent that our religious traditions are discarded.
(Roland S. Martin is a nationally award-winning journalist and CNN contributor. Martin is studying to receive his master's degree in Christian communications at Louisiana Baptist University, and he is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith." You can read more of his columns at www.rolandsmartin.com.)
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
A Christmas pageant done ... well prefectly
It was the biggest night of the year in a little town called Cornwall. It was the night of the annual Christmas pageant. It's an especially big deal for the children in town -- they get to try out for the roles in the Christmas story. Everybody wants a part Which leads us to the problem of Harold. Harold really wanted to be in the play, too, but he was - well, he was kind of a slow and simple kid.
The directors were ambivalent - I mean, they knew Harold would be crushed if he didn't have a part, but they were afraid he might mess up the town's magic moment. Finally, they decided to cast Harold as the innkeeper - the one who turns Mary and Joseph away the night Jesus is to be born. He had only one line - "I'm sorry, we have no room." Well, no one could imagine what that one line was going to do to everyone's Christmas…The night of the pageant the church was packed, as usual.
The Christmas story unfolded according to plan - angels singing, Joseph's dream, and the trip to Bethlehem. Finally, Joseph and Mary arrived at the door of the Bethlehem inn, looking appropriately tired. Joseph knocked on the inn door, and Harold was there to open the door. Joseph asked his question on cue - "Do you have a room for the night?" Harold froze.
After a long pause, Harold mumbled his line, "I'm sorry - we have no room." And, with a little coaching, he shut the door. The directors heaved a sigh of relief - prematurely.
As Mary and Joseph disappeared into the night, the set suddenly started shaking again - and the door opened. Harold was back! And then, in an unrehearsed moment that folks would not soon forget, Harold went running after the young couple, shouting as loud as he could -- "Wait! Don't go Joseph. Bring Mary back! You can have MY room!"
Merry Christmas!
The directors were ambivalent - I mean, they knew Harold would be crushed if he didn't have a part, but they were afraid he might mess up the town's magic moment. Finally, they decided to cast Harold as the innkeeper - the one who turns Mary and Joseph away the night Jesus is to be born. He had only one line - "I'm sorry, we have no room." Well, no one could imagine what that one line was going to do to everyone's Christmas…The night of the pageant the church was packed, as usual.
The Christmas story unfolded according to plan - angels singing, Joseph's dream, and the trip to Bethlehem. Finally, Joseph and Mary arrived at the door of the Bethlehem inn, looking appropriately tired. Joseph knocked on the inn door, and Harold was there to open the door. Joseph asked his question on cue - "Do you have a room for the night?" Harold froze.
After a long pause, Harold mumbled his line, "I'm sorry - we have no room." And, with a little coaching, he shut the door. The directors heaved a sigh of relief - prematurely.
As Mary and Joseph disappeared into the night, the set suddenly started shaking again - and the door opened. Harold was back! And then, in an unrehearsed moment that folks would not soon forget, Harold went running after the young couple, shouting as loud as he could -- "Wait! Don't go Joseph. Bring Mary back! You can have MY room!"
Merry Christmas!
Friday, June 22, 2007
June 21, 2007 – Miracles Still Happen!!
(Posted with permission from a dear friends Diary)
The past week has literally been miraculous, so I decided to write down the details while I remember them clearly. The background info is that I had my last round of maintenance chemo on Tuesday, May 15th, and PET/CT scans on Wednesday, June 6th, which was supposed to verify that I had no cancer cells and that I was in full remission.
On Thursday, June 14, my husband and I went to my doctor’s office to hear the results of my PET/CT scans. I had wondered why he had us come in instead of telling us the results on the phone. Let me just say that I was surprised and my husband was absolutely stunned when the doctor said the PET scan showed that I had a tennis ball size mass on my left side by my stomach.
My doctor said he was really surprised at the test results because my blood work hadn’t indicated anything unusual and he hadn’t been able to feel anything unusual. He told us that my options and left my husband and me alone for a few minutes and then came back. We told him that I would have surgery but we didn’t know yet when. He had me fill out the paperwork I would need for surgery at that time so that whenever I decided to have the surgery, I wouldn’t have to go back to do paperwork and he gave me the prescriptions I’d need to prepare for the surgery.
Out of curiosity as we were leaving, I asked the nurse if I decided to do the surgery ASAP when my doctor would have time in his surgery schedule. She checked and said that he’d just had a cancellation for the following Monday. That took my breath away. But after going home and talking about it with several people I felt like I should take that appointment so first thing Friday morning I called and the slot was still available so I took it. I was scheduled for exploratory surgery with removal of mass on Monday June 18.
Sunday was Father’s Day. I went to another ward’s sacrament meeting instead of mine because I needed to start the bowel-cleansing procedures at noon. When I arrived I walked in with a sister I knew. She said she had heard I was having surgery and asked if I’d had a blessing. I said not yet and she said her husband would be available later if I needed him to help. I had wanted a blessing but hadn’t gotten around to asking anyone yet. I went into the chapel and sat near the door. A Counselor in our Stake Presidency was visiting and stopped and asked how I was doing. I told him okay but that I was having surgery the next day because my cancer had returned. He asked me if I was going to have a blessing for that particular surgery. I gave him a non-committal answer but knew then that I needed to just ask someone to give me a blessing.
I saw a family from my ward sitting a few rows ahead of me and asked the father he said yes. So afterward, we went into a classroom and he and his son gave me a blessing. I don’t recall all of the words but I know I was blessed that I would live, and that my doctors would have the skills needed to perform the surgery, and that God loves me and knows my circumstances. Also, I was told something to the effect that the things we suffer help us become more like God. Anyway, it was very nice and really I felt very good the entire weekend. I had so many people praying for me that I felt at peace.
Sunday afternoon was spent drinking LOTS of liquids including the yucky pre-op stuff prescribed by the doctor and eating popsicles to get rid of the bad taste; enjoying my family members that live nearby; and running to the bathroom often. I wasn’t supposed to drink anything after midnight. I went to sleep before then but my phone beeped with a wrong number at 11:52 which was great because I woke up, saw the time, drank a pint of water and went back to sleep.
Monday we got up, got ready went to the hospital at 11 a.m. Eventually the anesthesiologists came to talk to me and gave me something to start me off in my IV. I kissed my family and they went to the waiting room and I went to surgery. I was “out” before getting to the surgery room door. I sort of woke up several hours later and felt awful. At about 7:30 p.m., I woke up for real, and my husband told me the good news that I hadn’t had a mass after all and things were good. A little later I felt well enough to eat two little cups of jello.
Wednesday morning my doctor came to see me and he was all smiles. He explained in more detail what had happened with my surgery. When he opened me up and didn’t find the mass where it had showed up on the PET scan and he couldn’t find it anywhere, he left the operating room and talked to the Radiologist. They both looked at the PET and CT scans on the computer trying to figure out what the scans meant. The Radiologist said he stood by his diagnosis that what was on the PET scan was cancer. My doctor told the Radiologist that there wasn’t any visible cancer in my belly. They were baffled. They said maybe the PET scan was a false positive. My doctor said perhaps my stomach, which has an extra curve in it, had folded over on itself to make it look abnormal, but he said that still didn’t account for the fact that on the scan, part of my stomach looked normal and the other part looked cancerous. He’d wondered if the cancer was inside my stomach but he’d flattened it out and there wasn’t anything there. So he scrubbed up and went back into surgery. He completed the exploratory surgery by looking through all my folds of tissue and examining my organs and lower abdomen and taking small biopsies here and there and doing three “washes” which meant he filled my abdomen three times with saline and then drained it off and sent everything to the pathology lab to be checked for cancer cells. I told him then that I had a lot of people praying for me and I felt like THAT is what made the difference and that it was a miracle.
All I know is that the cancer was there when the scan was done, and when my doctor operated on me it was gone. I’ve always believed in miracles and now I’ve experienced one myself.
I wanted to mention that besides the Priesthood blessing, my ward members fasted and prayed for me on Sunday, and many of my friends of other faiths and family members also prayed for me. And my name was placed in several LDS Temples. Plus, today I remembered the promise made by President Ezra Taft Benson that my daughter told me about when she was a missionary at the MTC. He promised if you read the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes a day, you would have miracles in your life. I’ve done that regularly since then so with all of that, all of the prayers, the Priesthood blessing and promises in my Patriarchal blessing, I believe the promises have been fulfilled and I experienced a true miracle.
The past week has literally been miraculous, so I decided to write down the details while I remember them clearly. The background info is that I had my last round of maintenance chemo on Tuesday, May 15th, and PET/CT scans on Wednesday, June 6th, which was supposed to verify that I had no cancer cells and that I was in full remission.
On Thursday, June 14, my husband and I went to my doctor’s office to hear the results of my PET/CT scans. I had wondered why he had us come in instead of telling us the results on the phone. Let me just say that I was surprised and my husband was absolutely stunned when the doctor said the PET scan showed that I had a tennis ball size mass on my left side by my stomach.
My doctor said he was really surprised at the test results because my blood work hadn’t indicated anything unusual and he hadn’t been able to feel anything unusual. He told us that my options and left my husband and me alone for a few minutes and then came back. We told him that I would have surgery but we didn’t know yet when. He had me fill out the paperwork I would need for surgery at that time so that whenever I decided to have the surgery, I wouldn’t have to go back to do paperwork and he gave me the prescriptions I’d need to prepare for the surgery.
Out of curiosity as we were leaving, I asked the nurse if I decided to do the surgery ASAP when my doctor would have time in his surgery schedule. She checked and said that he’d just had a cancellation for the following Monday. That took my breath away. But after going home and talking about it with several people I felt like I should take that appointment so first thing Friday morning I called and the slot was still available so I took it. I was scheduled for exploratory surgery with removal of mass on Monday June 18.
Sunday was Father’s Day. I went to another ward’s sacrament meeting instead of mine because I needed to start the bowel-cleansing procedures at noon. When I arrived I walked in with a sister I knew. She said she had heard I was having surgery and asked if I’d had a blessing. I said not yet and she said her husband would be available later if I needed him to help. I had wanted a blessing but hadn’t gotten around to asking anyone yet. I went into the chapel and sat near the door. A Counselor in our Stake Presidency was visiting and stopped and asked how I was doing. I told him okay but that I was having surgery the next day because my cancer had returned. He asked me if I was going to have a blessing for that particular surgery. I gave him a non-committal answer but knew then that I needed to just ask someone to give me a blessing.
I saw a family from my ward sitting a few rows ahead of me and asked the father he said yes. So afterward, we went into a classroom and he and his son gave me a blessing. I don’t recall all of the words but I know I was blessed that I would live, and that my doctors would have the skills needed to perform the surgery, and that God loves me and knows my circumstances. Also, I was told something to the effect that the things we suffer help us become more like God. Anyway, it was very nice and really I felt very good the entire weekend. I had so many people praying for me that I felt at peace.
Sunday afternoon was spent drinking LOTS of liquids including the yucky pre-op stuff prescribed by the doctor and eating popsicles to get rid of the bad taste; enjoying my family members that live nearby; and running to the bathroom often. I wasn’t supposed to drink anything after midnight. I went to sleep before then but my phone beeped with a wrong number at 11:52 which was great because I woke up, saw the time, drank a pint of water and went back to sleep.
Monday we got up, got ready went to the hospital at 11 a.m. Eventually the anesthesiologists came to talk to me and gave me something to start me off in my IV. I kissed my family and they went to the waiting room and I went to surgery. I was “out” before getting to the surgery room door. I sort of woke up several hours later and felt awful. At about 7:30 p.m., I woke up for real, and my husband told me the good news that I hadn’t had a mass after all and things were good. A little later I felt well enough to eat two little cups of jello.
Wednesday morning my doctor came to see me and he was all smiles. He explained in more detail what had happened with my surgery. When he opened me up and didn’t find the mass where it had showed up on the PET scan and he couldn’t find it anywhere, he left the operating room and talked to the Radiologist. They both looked at the PET and CT scans on the computer trying to figure out what the scans meant. The Radiologist said he stood by his diagnosis that what was on the PET scan was cancer. My doctor told the Radiologist that there wasn’t any visible cancer in my belly. They were baffled. They said maybe the PET scan was a false positive. My doctor said perhaps my stomach, which has an extra curve in it, had folded over on itself to make it look abnormal, but he said that still didn’t account for the fact that on the scan, part of my stomach looked normal and the other part looked cancerous. He’d wondered if the cancer was inside my stomach but he’d flattened it out and there wasn’t anything there. So he scrubbed up and went back into surgery. He completed the exploratory surgery by looking through all my folds of tissue and examining my organs and lower abdomen and taking small biopsies here and there and doing three “washes” which meant he filled my abdomen three times with saline and then drained it off and sent everything to the pathology lab to be checked for cancer cells. I told him then that I had a lot of people praying for me and I felt like THAT is what made the difference and that it was a miracle.
All I know is that the cancer was there when the scan was done, and when my doctor operated on me it was gone. I’ve always believed in miracles and now I’ve experienced one myself.
I wanted to mention that besides the Priesthood blessing, my ward members fasted and prayed for me on Sunday, and many of my friends of other faiths and family members also prayed for me. And my name was placed in several LDS Temples. Plus, today I remembered the promise made by President Ezra Taft Benson that my daughter told me about when she was a missionary at the MTC. He promised if you read the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes a day, you would have miracles in your life. I’ve done that regularly since then so with all of that, all of the prayers, the Priesthood blessing and promises in my Patriarchal blessing, I believe the promises have been fulfilled and I experienced a true miracle.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
This may be an urban legend, but if so it's a nice one wiht a VERY good point
Will you give this to my Daddy?
Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen. Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm notalone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.' The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney , bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.
Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen. Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm notalone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.' The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney , bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.
Mormons
oh no not Mormons! .. but maybe they aren't as bad as you've been told?...
http://www.pbs.org/mormons/view/2514.html?c=4wm I know I'll be watching it.. I hope that all or any of you with the spirit of open-mindedness would too. :D
http://www.pbs.org/mormons/view/2514.html?c=4wm I know I'll be watching it.. I hope that all or any of you with the spirit of open-mindedness would too. :D
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Civilization Watch
This First appeared in print in The Rhinoceros Times, Greensboro, NCBy Orson Scott Card March 18, 2007
Is Mitt Romney Serious?
When I heard that Mitt Romney was actually running for President, myfirst thought was, "Is he serious?"Doesn't he know that there is zero chance of a Mormon ever being in theWhite House?
Everyone knows that Christian evangelicals hate Mormons so badly thatif they had to choose between a bribe-taking, FBI-file-stealing,relentless-lie-telling, mud-slinging former first lady, and a Mormonex-governor who doesn't lie, who's still married to his first wife, andwho supports the entire Christian evangelical agenda, they'd stillrather die than vote for a Mormon.
Being Mormon just makes Romney too easy a target. And because he'srunning, it gets all the rest of the Mormon Church smeared with thesame mud they're slinging at Mitt.It's started already.
For instance, in the issue of The Week of 17 March 2007, we get a sneer and a hatchet job disguised as journalism.While pretending to give an impartial look at Mormon beliefs and culture, they're really doing a smackdown, trying to kill Mitt Romney's candidacy with ridicule. But, being journalists, they have to pretend they're just reporting the facts. They try to leave the impression that the Mormon Church is racist, wacko, breeding like flies, and obscenely rich.
"This tithing has helped the church amass an estimated $30 billion in wealth," says TheWeek. "Mormon holdings include the biggest beef ranch in the world andthe largest producer of nuts in the U.S."
What they neglect to mention is that we have no paid clergy -- whatever
money the Mormon Church "amasses" is spent on buildings, education, and charity.
Besides, just who made that "estimate" of $30 billion? Basedon what? The value of the real estate under our meetinghouses? As to those nuts and cattle, the profits from those companies are used exclusively to help the poor, both Mormon and non-Mormon. Any mention that whenever disaster strikes anywhere in the world, the Mormon Church is one of the first ones there with food, water, and other assistance? No, I didn't think so.
The mainstream media have taken a look at Mitt Romney and, just like George W. Bush in 2000, he's the nightmare candidate for them -- the one they have to kill. Why? Because he's exactly what they most fear: A conservative who can appeal to moderates. After all, this guy won an election for governorin Massachusetts. As a Republican. He balanced an out-of-control budget -- without raising taxes. His record on civil rights -- including for homosexuals -- is unimpeachable, except for opposing judges who redefine marriage without the slightest attempt at democratic process; and yet his stances on moral issues should make him completely acceptable to the religious right. Unlike any of the leading Democratic candidates, he has actually governed something. He also saved the scandal-ridden, heading-for-bankruptcy Salt Lake Olympics.
If he won, he'd be the richest man ever to win the Presidency -- his wealth is between 500 million and a billion bucks. But he earned it all himself -- by heading a company that assembled risk capital to buy failing companies and turn them around, saving countless jobs and making his investors rich, too.
Plus, he's good-looking, and all of his kids are married, church-going people who aren't likely to cause any scandals. This is the worst nightmare the Left (which includes the mainstreammedia) can conceive of. But ... they were able to demonize George W. Bush, the last moderate Republican they had to destroy, so that by the time he won the Presidency, he had been tarred with so many lies (dumb guy; drunk; drug-taker; National Guard-slacker; hates blacks; hates the poor; wacko religious theocrat) that it's a wonder he could even recognize himself in the mirror. And if they could do that to the son of a former President, just think what they can do to a guy who's a ... a ... Mormon.
So I ask again: Is Mitt Romney serious? Doesn't he understand what the media will do to him? What they're already doing? Then along comes conservative political analyst Hugh Hewitt, writing abook called A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, and he makes it almost seem possible. Hugh Hewitt is not a Mormon. But he believes that in this political season, Mitt Romney may turn out to represent conservatives' best shot at winning the presidency. Hewitt gives us a short but interesting look at Mitt Romney's life and accomplishments. His account of Romney's role as saver of dying companies -- including his belt-tightening rescue of the very company that gave him the method of business that he always used -- makes me wish Romney were running our local government. And our state government. And the federal government. Because if anybody could figure out how to balance the budget, save Social Security, and win a war, all at the same time, he could do it.
He also tells a little bit of Romney's life as the son of former Michigan governor George Romney, who was briefly the front-runner for the Republican nomination back in 1968. What emerges is a far cry from the kind of rich-kid life that the Kennedys and Rockefellers had. George Romney started from zero, and while George had enough money to make sure Mitt got every educational opportunity, Mitt's fortune was his own accomplishment.
Mitt grew up in a real family, and he and his wife have made sure that their kids also grew up in a real family. A Mormon family. Which means that the kids went to church. They didn't smoke or drink. They did things together as a family. Took vacation trips packed into an ordinary station wagon. Each of their five sons served a mission for the Mormon Church -- two years as a volunteer, unpaid minister in a place far from home.
Mitt freely admits that when he was starting out in the consulting business, he traveled a lot, and the burden of child-rearing fell most heavily on his wife. But once he ran his own investment company, he was home a lot more, the way a Mormon father is supposed to be, if he possibly can.
Because, if you want to quote Mormon prophets, here's a quote that most Mormons try to live by: "No other success can compensate for failure inthe home."
We know from the scandal magazines how often rich families create totally messed-up kids. But it certainly seems that MittRomney's family is, by any measure, a success. But then we come to the tough part. How can a Mormon possibly be elected?
There are several basic fears about any Mormon candidate:
1. Will Salt Lake City Tell Him What To Do As President?
As Hewitt points out, that one is a no-brainer. Even if they tried, it wouldn't work, because Presidents aren't kings. They have to get the cooperation of Congress and the whole bureaucracy. If anybody ever came to believe he was a puppet controlled by religious leaders in Utah, his authority would evaporate instantly. Besides, Mitt Romney doesn't need the Mormon Church telling him how to do stuff. (As a Mormon, I kind of wish it would go the other way. I wish they'd turn the Salt Lake bureaucracy over to him for a couple of years to clear out the careerist paper-pushers who make it almost impossible for the Church to get anything done in a rational way.)
Let me go farther than that. I'm a Mormon public figure, of sorts, and I know a few others. And I'm aware of exactly how the Church hierarchy deals with public figures. A writer like me is a constant target of meddling middle-level bureaucrats who seem to think that their job in life is to afflict me for anything I write that wouldn't be appropriate to put in a Sunday school lesson. But in all the years of low-level harassment, the actual Church authorities, in Salt Lake and locally, have always stood by my right to do my job as I see fit. Government figures are more like sports figures in the way they get treated: Mid-level Mormons suck up to them mercilessly. But, once again, the higher-level authorities leave them alone to do their jobs.
Do you want proof? Look at the career of Reed Smoot. He was as reactionary a Republican Senator as you could hope to find back in theearly 1900s -- a tariff-loving protectionist. He was also not just aMormon, but a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second-highest governing body in the Church. At the time, the President of the Church, Heber J. Grant, was a Democrat. Other leading Church authorities were Democrats. Nobody told Smoot how to vote in Congress. Or a more recent example: Ezra Taft Benson, who served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Eisenhower. Benson was also one of theTwelve, but if anybody thinks he paid the slightest attention to anything the other Church leaders said to him, you don't know anything.
Even today, when the Church seems to have adopted the Republican Party as their favorite stepchild, there have been prominent Mormons who are obviously not being told how to vote or govern. My proof: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a Mormon and a Democrat, and some of the stuff he's done just makes Mormon Republicans insane. Frankly, folks, I'd be a lot more worried about George Soros telling a Democratic President how to govern than the Mormon Church trying to control a Mitt Romney presidency.
But let's suppose that the Mormon Prophet did tell Mitt Romney what to do. What would their instructions be? What do Mormons want the United States to do? Well, the most important political goal of the Mormon Church is for every nation on earth to have freedom of religion, so people can freely learn about, teach, and choose to join or leave any church. And since Mormon missionaries don't go into war zones, the Church would also appreciate it if we could avoid war when ever possible. Beyond that, the Mormon Church would like the tax exemption for religious buildings and enterprises to remain in place.The Mormon Church believes that abortion should be far less available than it is, and that marriage, as recognized by government, should be exclusively between a man and a woman.
Think about that. If Mitt Romney is elected President, and he does what the Mormon Church tells him to do, we'll have peace and freedom around the world, religions will continue to have a tax exemption, marriage will continue to mean what it has always meant unless the people vote otherwise, and the federal government wouldn't be in the business of protecting a woman's right to kill unborn babies right up to the momentof birth.There are millions of people who want that exact list of things! And they didn't even need the Mormon prophet to tell them so.
The Mormon Church doesn't tell its members whom to vote for, and doesn't tell elected officials how to do their jobs. Except that they should be honest. So I guess Bill Clinton would have had a problem. Good thing he wasn't Mormon.
2. Will Mitt Romney As President Make Mormonism Seem More Legitimate?
Well, yeah, probably. Though Mormonism is one of the fastest-growing religious denominations in the United States without Mitt's help.Will that make a difference in the number of converts to Mormonism?
Nowhere near as much difference as Donny Osmond made back in the 1970s, but sure, maybe a few more people will say to the Mormon missionaries,"Come on in, I voted for Mitt, I'll listen to you."
But it comes down to this: Mormon missionaries teach our doctrines. If people come to believe them, and manage to give up tobacco and alcohol and coffee and tea and illegal drugs, and are willing to pay a full tithe and keep all the other commandments, then they join the Mormon Church.
Mitt Romney isn't going to be giving out coupons -- "5% tithing and two smokes a day if you vote for Mitt." Mormonism is a demanding faith.Most people have to change their lives in order to live as Latter-day Saints, and some people make great sacrifices. Whatever difference having a Mormon as President of the United States might make, I can't see anybody actually becoming a Mormon because of it. And what happens when the mainstream media crucify him the way they've crucified President Bush? Won't that also work to hurt the Mormon missionary effort?
"If that clown in the White House is a Mormon, I don't want anything to do with you!" And the door slams in the missionary's face.
Or in foreign countries -- having a Mormon be President of the U.S. might make it harder for Mormon missionaries to find people willing to talk to them.
In the real world, though, it really won't make any difference to Mormon missionary work.What American Mormons want is what every other American wants: The best person available as President of the United States. If that "bestperson" happens to be a Mormon, we'd like him not to be disqualified because of his religion.
3. Mormons Aren't Christians, Are They? Aren't They a Cult?
Let me save everybody a lot of time. If by "Christian" you mean"believes in the version of God and Christ taught in the Nicene Creed,"then absolutely not.
Right from the start, the founding prophet of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, rejected that view of God as a fantasy. Of course, by our definition of "Christian theology," we're the only Christians. That's why we send out missionaries to preach to Baptists and Methodists right along with the heathens.
And let's remember that Catholics have historically had a pretty low opinion of the doctrines of Lutherans and Quakers and Presbyterians --and vice versa.
But in America, we all agree to get along. In fact, it says it right there in Article 6 of the Constitution: "No religious test shall everbe required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
We've had plenty of Presidents who weren't Christians, most prominently Thomas Jefferson. But most of them hadn't served as missionaries fortheir atheistic or deistic beliefs, either. So let's pretend that it matters. Theologically, Mormons are way outside the mainstream of Christianity. But how do Mormons actually live?
Despite the efforts of our opponents to paint us as a "cult," we don't live in communes in Guyana. We hold regular jobs. Most Mormon kids goto regular schools.We wear regular clothes. (OK, maybe a little more modest than most, butthat's a good thing, isn't it?) We don't smoke or drink or do drugs -- but that makes us safer driversand more reliable employees and better company in small closed rooms, doesn't it?
Let's forget about doctrinal religion and look at practical religion. Mormons are people who take their worship of God seriously. We really try to live by the commandments of God, as we understand them -- and they're not a bad list of commandments.
In fact, they sound kind of like what most American Christians would aspire to. Get married, be faithful to your spouse, have babies and raise them right. Don't let your life be taken over by drugs or alcohol. Hold down a job and support a family. Go to Church. Contribute to charity. Help your neighbor when he needs a hand. Be honest in your business dealings.If you think we're not Christians, fine. But we make decent neighbors and co-workers, most of the time. And since we all agree there should be no religious test to be President, then what difference can our doctrines possibly make?
In fact, when you come right down to it, can you think of any significant point on which Mormons would disagree with an ordinary conservative Christian's view of what a President ought to do? We may have different opinions about the nature of God, but we still pray to the God of the New Testament and recognize Jesus Christ as theSavior of the world, and try to obey his commandments, like any other practical Christians.
We Mormons treat President Bush's religious faith with respect and regard him as a Christian even though we think his theology is wrong; I think Methodists and Baptists and Catholics are mature and generous enough to treat a Mormon President the same way.
3a. What About Polygamy? If you're one of the unfortunate people who read Under the Banner of Heaven, you might have the impression that Mormons still practice or condone polygamy.
The opposite is true. The Mormon Church repudiated the practice of polygamy in 1890, and right now the surest, fastest way to get kickedout of the Mormon Church is to advocate polygamy. We are the mostanti-polygamous religion in the world right now.
So yes, it's in our history -- I have a lot of polygamists in myancestry. My grandmother was born into a family that practiced polygamy-- but she was born in the 1880s.
Mitt Romney has exactly one wife and he seems on track to stay married to her for his whole life. Nobody's going to catch him having affairs or flings because he doesn't do that. So, 117 years later, let's give the polygamy thing a rest, OK?
4. Only Dumb and Crazy People Believe Those Doctrines!
Ah. Here's where we come to the ugly part. This is what that article about Mormon beliefs in The Week was really about -- making Mitt Romney seem like an idiot for believing in Mormon doctrine. In his book, Hugh Hewitt recounts some really offensive, outrageous attempts by opponents of Mitt Romney to try to force him, in pressconferences, to answer questions about Mormon belief.
"Do you, personally, really believe in [insert wacko-sounding doctrinehere]?"
Sometimes the people asking that question will be evangelical Christians out to "expose" how false and ridiculous Mormon doctrines are. But when the press picks it up, it'll be anti-religious people using a man's religious faith as a reason to ridicule him so he can't beelected President. Do you think Mormons are the only people who can be treated that way?
If you're a Catholic, would you appreciate some reporter asking a Catholic presidential candidate, "Do you really believe that when you take the communion wafer, it literally turns into human flesh in yourmouth? Isn't that cannibalism?"
If you're a Baptist, would you think it was legitimate for a heckler at a press conference to ask a Baptist presidential candidate, "So you think that when Jesus comes again, you're going to just rise right up into the air, no airplane, no jet pack, you'll just fly? Or aren't youa good enough Baptist to be in the Rapture?"
Everybody's religious beliefs sound crazy when you talk about them scornfully.And that's the thing that religious Americans ought to remember. The secular, mostly atheistic power elite in our country already has control of the universities and the mainstream media. You can't send your kids to a nonreligious college without knowing that some professoris going to treat their faith with scorn and try to convert them to atheism.
Anybody with religious faith is on the same side in that little war. And if they can keep Mitt Romney from being President by making fun of his religious faith, they can keep candidates from your religion from the presidency in exactly the same way. If you let the ridicule of Mormon beliefs be a reason not to vote forMitt Romney, then you're saying that religious people who believe in God as the foundation of their morality are no longer eligible for the Presidency. By the way, it's just as easy to make fun of some of the insane, self-contradictory beliefs of politically correct atheists; but if you tried it, the mainstream media would treat atheists as victims of religious persecution. It's a sword that will only be allowed to cut one way -- once you unsheathe it, all religious people will bleed.
Article 6 is a protection for all religious people, and for non-religious people, too. A person's religious beliefs are not a subject for discussion. Is Mitt Romney the Best Candidate? I have no idea. I don't know enough about the other candidates -- or about Mitt Romney, for that matter.
Just as I hope no one will rejecthim because he's a Mormon, I am not going to support him just becausehe's a Mormon. I'm a Democrat. I would be really grateful if my party would nominate somebody who doesn't make my skin crawl just thinking of them in theWhite House (i.e., someone who isn't Hillary Clinton). I'm still looking long and hard at Barack Obama.
If there were a chance that Joe Lieberman could get the Democratic nomination, he'd be my candidate this year no matter whom the Republicans nominated. On the Republican side, I'm looking long and hard at Giuliani. McCain, on the other hand, is so volatile, so unreliable, so self-serving that despite his noble war record and his iron clad stance on the need to win the War on Terror, I would have a hard time choosing him over anybody but Hillary.
In short, I'm still making up my mind. Hugh Hewitt takes the same position. He remembers too well how candidates can self-destruct, or how strong candidates can come out of nowhere.He also knows how effective the anti-Mormon thing can be. Ted Kennedy ran an anti-Mormon campaign against Mitt Romney when Romney opposed him for the Senate a decade ago. And it worked ... that time. So Hewitt isn't saying Mitt Romney should be the Republican nominee. What he is saying is that Republicans would be six kinds of stupid if they ruled him out solely because of his religious faith.
Let me ask you Republicans who would consider yourselves moral conservatives: Would you really let a person's religious beliefs absolutely disqualify him from the Presidency? And if you're leaning that way, think about this: If it was a choicebetween a moral conservative and decent person like Mitt Romney, who happens to be a Mormon, and Hillary Clinton, would you really sit out the election rather than cast your vote for a Mormon?
Read Hugh Hewitt's book -- he does a great job of treating Mitt Romney's candidacy fairly and objectively. Since he's not a Mormon, he doesn't have any agenda for or against my church. He just wants a good conservative to win the 2008 election, and he thinks Mitt Romney should be given a fair shot to persuade voters that he's the President for ourtime.
And you might also check out a website called "Article VI Blog." Run by two guys, one a Mormon, one an evangelical, the site deals head-on withissues concerning Mitt Romney's candidacy. You can find it at:http://www.article6blog.com/
Meanwhile, I have only one bit of advice for Mitt Romney -- advice I would have given George W. Bush (and any other moral conservative), if he'd only bothered to ask me. Don't go on the Letterman show. It's enemy territory. It just gives Letterman footage to use against you for the rest of your life.
Is Mitt Romney Serious?
When I heard that Mitt Romney was actually running for President, myfirst thought was, "Is he serious?"Doesn't he know that there is zero chance of a Mormon ever being in theWhite House?
Everyone knows that Christian evangelicals hate Mormons so badly thatif they had to choose between a bribe-taking, FBI-file-stealing,relentless-lie-telling, mud-slinging former first lady, and a Mormonex-governor who doesn't lie, who's still married to his first wife, andwho supports the entire Christian evangelical agenda, they'd stillrather die than vote for a Mormon.
Being Mormon just makes Romney too easy a target. And because he'srunning, it gets all the rest of the Mormon Church smeared with thesame mud they're slinging at Mitt.It's started already.
For instance, in the issue of The Week of 17 March 2007, we get a sneer and a hatchet job disguised as journalism.While pretending to give an impartial look at Mormon beliefs and culture, they're really doing a smackdown, trying to kill Mitt Romney's candidacy with ridicule. But, being journalists, they have to pretend they're just reporting the facts. They try to leave the impression that the Mormon Church is racist, wacko, breeding like flies, and obscenely rich.
"This tithing has helped the church amass an estimated $30 billion in wealth," says TheWeek. "Mormon holdings include the biggest beef ranch in the world andthe largest producer of nuts in the U.S."
What they neglect to mention is that we have no paid clergy -- whatever
money the Mormon Church "amasses" is spent on buildings, education, and charity.
Besides, just who made that "estimate" of $30 billion? Basedon what? The value of the real estate under our meetinghouses? As to those nuts and cattle, the profits from those companies are used exclusively to help the poor, both Mormon and non-Mormon. Any mention that whenever disaster strikes anywhere in the world, the Mormon Church is one of the first ones there with food, water, and other assistance? No, I didn't think so.
The mainstream media have taken a look at Mitt Romney and, just like George W. Bush in 2000, he's the nightmare candidate for them -- the one they have to kill. Why? Because he's exactly what they most fear: A conservative who can appeal to moderates. After all, this guy won an election for governorin Massachusetts. As a Republican. He balanced an out-of-control budget -- without raising taxes. His record on civil rights -- including for homosexuals -- is unimpeachable, except for opposing judges who redefine marriage without the slightest attempt at democratic process; and yet his stances on moral issues should make him completely acceptable to the religious right. Unlike any of the leading Democratic candidates, he has actually governed something. He also saved the scandal-ridden, heading-for-bankruptcy Salt Lake Olympics.
If he won, he'd be the richest man ever to win the Presidency -- his wealth is between 500 million and a billion bucks. But he earned it all himself -- by heading a company that assembled risk capital to buy failing companies and turn them around, saving countless jobs and making his investors rich, too.
Plus, he's good-looking, and all of his kids are married, church-going people who aren't likely to cause any scandals. This is the worst nightmare the Left (which includes the mainstreammedia) can conceive of. But ... they were able to demonize George W. Bush, the last moderate Republican they had to destroy, so that by the time he won the Presidency, he had been tarred with so many lies (dumb guy; drunk; drug-taker; National Guard-slacker; hates blacks; hates the poor; wacko religious theocrat) that it's a wonder he could even recognize himself in the mirror. And if they could do that to the son of a former President, just think what they can do to a guy who's a ... a ... Mormon.
So I ask again: Is Mitt Romney serious? Doesn't he understand what the media will do to him? What they're already doing? Then along comes conservative political analyst Hugh Hewitt, writing abook called A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, and he makes it almost seem possible. Hugh Hewitt is not a Mormon. But he believes that in this political season, Mitt Romney may turn out to represent conservatives' best shot at winning the presidency. Hewitt gives us a short but interesting look at Mitt Romney's life and accomplishments. His account of Romney's role as saver of dying companies -- including his belt-tightening rescue of the very company that gave him the method of business that he always used -- makes me wish Romney were running our local government. And our state government. And the federal government. Because if anybody could figure out how to balance the budget, save Social Security, and win a war, all at the same time, he could do it.
He also tells a little bit of Romney's life as the son of former Michigan governor George Romney, who was briefly the front-runner for the Republican nomination back in 1968. What emerges is a far cry from the kind of rich-kid life that the Kennedys and Rockefellers had. George Romney started from zero, and while George had enough money to make sure Mitt got every educational opportunity, Mitt's fortune was his own accomplishment.
Mitt grew up in a real family, and he and his wife have made sure that their kids also grew up in a real family. A Mormon family. Which means that the kids went to church. They didn't smoke or drink. They did things together as a family. Took vacation trips packed into an ordinary station wagon. Each of their five sons served a mission for the Mormon Church -- two years as a volunteer, unpaid minister in a place far from home.
Mitt freely admits that when he was starting out in the consulting business, he traveled a lot, and the burden of child-rearing fell most heavily on his wife. But once he ran his own investment company, he was home a lot more, the way a Mormon father is supposed to be, if he possibly can.
Because, if you want to quote Mormon prophets, here's a quote that most Mormons try to live by: "No other success can compensate for failure inthe home."
We know from the scandal magazines how often rich families create totally messed-up kids. But it certainly seems that MittRomney's family is, by any measure, a success. But then we come to the tough part. How can a Mormon possibly be elected?
There are several basic fears about any Mormon candidate:
1. Will Salt Lake City Tell Him What To Do As President?
As Hewitt points out, that one is a no-brainer. Even if they tried, it wouldn't work, because Presidents aren't kings. They have to get the cooperation of Congress and the whole bureaucracy. If anybody ever came to believe he was a puppet controlled by religious leaders in Utah, his authority would evaporate instantly. Besides, Mitt Romney doesn't need the Mormon Church telling him how to do stuff. (As a Mormon, I kind of wish it would go the other way. I wish they'd turn the Salt Lake bureaucracy over to him for a couple of years to clear out the careerist paper-pushers who make it almost impossible for the Church to get anything done in a rational way.)
Let me go farther than that. I'm a Mormon public figure, of sorts, and I know a few others. And I'm aware of exactly how the Church hierarchy deals with public figures. A writer like me is a constant target of meddling middle-level bureaucrats who seem to think that their job in life is to afflict me for anything I write that wouldn't be appropriate to put in a Sunday school lesson. But in all the years of low-level harassment, the actual Church authorities, in Salt Lake and locally, have always stood by my right to do my job as I see fit. Government figures are more like sports figures in the way they get treated: Mid-level Mormons suck up to them mercilessly. But, once again, the higher-level authorities leave them alone to do their jobs.
Do you want proof? Look at the career of Reed Smoot. He was as reactionary a Republican Senator as you could hope to find back in theearly 1900s -- a tariff-loving protectionist. He was also not just aMormon, but a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second-highest governing body in the Church. At the time, the President of the Church, Heber J. Grant, was a Democrat. Other leading Church authorities were Democrats. Nobody told Smoot how to vote in Congress. Or a more recent example: Ezra Taft Benson, who served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Eisenhower. Benson was also one of theTwelve, but if anybody thinks he paid the slightest attention to anything the other Church leaders said to him, you don't know anything.
Even today, when the Church seems to have adopted the Republican Party as their favorite stepchild, there have been prominent Mormons who are obviously not being told how to vote or govern. My proof: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a Mormon and a Democrat, and some of the stuff he's done just makes Mormon Republicans insane. Frankly, folks, I'd be a lot more worried about George Soros telling a Democratic President how to govern than the Mormon Church trying to control a Mitt Romney presidency.
But let's suppose that the Mormon Prophet did tell Mitt Romney what to do. What would their instructions be? What do Mormons want the United States to do? Well, the most important political goal of the Mormon Church is for every nation on earth to have freedom of religion, so people can freely learn about, teach, and choose to join or leave any church. And since Mormon missionaries don't go into war zones, the Church would also appreciate it if we could avoid war when ever possible. Beyond that, the Mormon Church would like the tax exemption for religious buildings and enterprises to remain in place.The Mormon Church believes that abortion should be far less available than it is, and that marriage, as recognized by government, should be exclusively between a man and a woman.
Think about that. If Mitt Romney is elected President, and he does what the Mormon Church tells him to do, we'll have peace and freedom around the world, religions will continue to have a tax exemption, marriage will continue to mean what it has always meant unless the people vote otherwise, and the federal government wouldn't be in the business of protecting a woman's right to kill unborn babies right up to the momentof birth.There are millions of people who want that exact list of things! And they didn't even need the Mormon prophet to tell them so.
The Mormon Church doesn't tell its members whom to vote for, and doesn't tell elected officials how to do their jobs. Except that they should be honest. So I guess Bill Clinton would have had a problem. Good thing he wasn't Mormon.
2. Will Mitt Romney As President Make Mormonism Seem More Legitimate?
Well, yeah, probably. Though Mormonism is one of the fastest-growing religious denominations in the United States without Mitt's help.Will that make a difference in the number of converts to Mormonism?
Nowhere near as much difference as Donny Osmond made back in the 1970s, but sure, maybe a few more people will say to the Mormon missionaries,"Come on in, I voted for Mitt, I'll listen to you."
But it comes down to this: Mormon missionaries teach our doctrines. If people come to believe them, and manage to give up tobacco and alcohol and coffee and tea and illegal drugs, and are willing to pay a full tithe and keep all the other commandments, then they join the Mormon Church.
Mitt Romney isn't going to be giving out coupons -- "5% tithing and two smokes a day if you vote for Mitt." Mormonism is a demanding faith.Most people have to change their lives in order to live as Latter-day Saints, and some people make great sacrifices. Whatever difference having a Mormon as President of the United States might make, I can't see anybody actually becoming a Mormon because of it. And what happens when the mainstream media crucify him the way they've crucified President Bush? Won't that also work to hurt the Mormon missionary effort?
"If that clown in the White House is a Mormon, I don't want anything to do with you!" And the door slams in the missionary's face.
Or in foreign countries -- having a Mormon be President of the U.S. might make it harder for Mormon missionaries to find people willing to talk to them.
In the real world, though, it really won't make any difference to Mormon missionary work.What American Mormons want is what every other American wants: The best person available as President of the United States. If that "bestperson" happens to be a Mormon, we'd like him not to be disqualified because of his religion.
3. Mormons Aren't Christians, Are They? Aren't They a Cult?
Let me save everybody a lot of time. If by "Christian" you mean"believes in the version of God and Christ taught in the Nicene Creed,"then absolutely not.
Right from the start, the founding prophet of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, rejected that view of God as a fantasy. Of course, by our definition of "Christian theology," we're the only Christians. That's why we send out missionaries to preach to Baptists and Methodists right along with the heathens.
And let's remember that Catholics have historically had a pretty low opinion of the doctrines of Lutherans and Quakers and Presbyterians --and vice versa.
But in America, we all agree to get along. In fact, it says it right there in Article 6 of the Constitution: "No religious test shall everbe required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
We've had plenty of Presidents who weren't Christians, most prominently Thomas Jefferson. But most of them hadn't served as missionaries fortheir atheistic or deistic beliefs, either. So let's pretend that it matters. Theologically, Mormons are way outside the mainstream of Christianity. But how do Mormons actually live?
Despite the efforts of our opponents to paint us as a "cult," we don't live in communes in Guyana. We hold regular jobs. Most Mormon kids goto regular schools.We wear regular clothes. (OK, maybe a little more modest than most, butthat's a good thing, isn't it?) We don't smoke or drink or do drugs -- but that makes us safer driversand more reliable employees and better company in small closed rooms, doesn't it?
Let's forget about doctrinal religion and look at practical religion. Mormons are people who take their worship of God seriously. We really try to live by the commandments of God, as we understand them -- and they're not a bad list of commandments.
In fact, they sound kind of like what most American Christians would aspire to. Get married, be faithful to your spouse, have babies and raise them right. Don't let your life be taken over by drugs or alcohol. Hold down a job and support a family. Go to Church. Contribute to charity. Help your neighbor when he needs a hand. Be honest in your business dealings.If you think we're not Christians, fine. But we make decent neighbors and co-workers, most of the time. And since we all agree there should be no religious test to be President, then what difference can our doctrines possibly make?
In fact, when you come right down to it, can you think of any significant point on which Mormons would disagree with an ordinary conservative Christian's view of what a President ought to do? We may have different opinions about the nature of God, but we still pray to the God of the New Testament and recognize Jesus Christ as theSavior of the world, and try to obey his commandments, like any other practical Christians.
We Mormons treat President Bush's religious faith with respect and regard him as a Christian even though we think his theology is wrong; I think Methodists and Baptists and Catholics are mature and generous enough to treat a Mormon President the same way.
3a. What About Polygamy? If you're one of the unfortunate people who read Under the Banner of Heaven, you might have the impression that Mormons still practice or condone polygamy.
The opposite is true. The Mormon Church repudiated the practice of polygamy in 1890, and right now the surest, fastest way to get kickedout of the Mormon Church is to advocate polygamy. We are the mostanti-polygamous religion in the world right now.
So yes, it's in our history -- I have a lot of polygamists in myancestry. My grandmother was born into a family that practiced polygamy-- but she was born in the 1880s.
Mitt Romney has exactly one wife and he seems on track to stay married to her for his whole life. Nobody's going to catch him having affairs or flings because he doesn't do that. So, 117 years later, let's give the polygamy thing a rest, OK?
4. Only Dumb and Crazy People Believe Those Doctrines!
Ah. Here's where we come to the ugly part. This is what that article about Mormon beliefs in The Week was really about -- making Mitt Romney seem like an idiot for believing in Mormon doctrine. In his book, Hugh Hewitt recounts some really offensive, outrageous attempts by opponents of Mitt Romney to try to force him, in pressconferences, to answer questions about Mormon belief.
"Do you, personally, really believe in [insert wacko-sounding doctrinehere]?"
Sometimes the people asking that question will be evangelical Christians out to "expose" how false and ridiculous Mormon doctrines are. But when the press picks it up, it'll be anti-religious people using a man's religious faith as a reason to ridicule him so he can't beelected President. Do you think Mormons are the only people who can be treated that way?
If you're a Catholic, would you appreciate some reporter asking a Catholic presidential candidate, "Do you really believe that when you take the communion wafer, it literally turns into human flesh in yourmouth? Isn't that cannibalism?"
If you're a Baptist, would you think it was legitimate for a heckler at a press conference to ask a Baptist presidential candidate, "So you think that when Jesus comes again, you're going to just rise right up into the air, no airplane, no jet pack, you'll just fly? Or aren't youa good enough Baptist to be in the Rapture?"
Everybody's religious beliefs sound crazy when you talk about them scornfully.And that's the thing that religious Americans ought to remember. The secular, mostly atheistic power elite in our country already has control of the universities and the mainstream media. You can't send your kids to a nonreligious college without knowing that some professoris going to treat their faith with scorn and try to convert them to atheism.
Anybody with religious faith is on the same side in that little war. And if they can keep Mitt Romney from being President by making fun of his religious faith, they can keep candidates from your religion from the presidency in exactly the same way. If you let the ridicule of Mormon beliefs be a reason not to vote forMitt Romney, then you're saying that religious people who believe in God as the foundation of their morality are no longer eligible for the Presidency. By the way, it's just as easy to make fun of some of the insane, self-contradictory beliefs of politically correct atheists; but if you tried it, the mainstream media would treat atheists as victims of religious persecution. It's a sword that will only be allowed to cut one way -- once you unsheathe it, all religious people will bleed.
Article 6 is a protection for all religious people, and for non-religious people, too. A person's religious beliefs are not a subject for discussion. Is Mitt Romney the Best Candidate? I have no idea. I don't know enough about the other candidates -- or about Mitt Romney, for that matter.
Just as I hope no one will rejecthim because he's a Mormon, I am not going to support him just becausehe's a Mormon. I'm a Democrat. I would be really grateful if my party would nominate somebody who doesn't make my skin crawl just thinking of them in theWhite House (i.e., someone who isn't Hillary Clinton). I'm still looking long and hard at Barack Obama.
If there were a chance that Joe Lieberman could get the Democratic nomination, he'd be my candidate this year no matter whom the Republicans nominated. On the Republican side, I'm looking long and hard at Giuliani. McCain, on the other hand, is so volatile, so unreliable, so self-serving that despite his noble war record and his iron clad stance on the need to win the War on Terror, I would have a hard time choosing him over anybody but Hillary.
In short, I'm still making up my mind. Hugh Hewitt takes the same position. He remembers too well how candidates can self-destruct, or how strong candidates can come out of nowhere.He also knows how effective the anti-Mormon thing can be. Ted Kennedy ran an anti-Mormon campaign against Mitt Romney when Romney opposed him for the Senate a decade ago. And it worked ... that time. So Hewitt isn't saying Mitt Romney should be the Republican nominee. What he is saying is that Republicans would be six kinds of stupid if they ruled him out solely because of his religious faith.
Let me ask you Republicans who would consider yourselves moral conservatives: Would you really let a person's religious beliefs absolutely disqualify him from the Presidency? And if you're leaning that way, think about this: If it was a choicebetween a moral conservative and decent person like Mitt Romney, who happens to be a Mormon, and Hillary Clinton, would you really sit out the election rather than cast your vote for a Mormon?
Read Hugh Hewitt's book -- he does a great job of treating Mitt Romney's candidacy fairly and objectively. Since he's not a Mormon, he doesn't have any agenda for or against my church. He just wants a good conservative to win the 2008 election, and he thinks Mitt Romney should be given a fair shot to persuade voters that he's the President for ourtime.
And you might also check out a website called "Article VI Blog." Run by two guys, one a Mormon, one an evangelical, the site deals head-on withissues concerning Mitt Romney's candidacy. You can find it at:http://www.article6blog.com/
Meanwhile, I have only one bit of advice for Mitt Romney -- advice I would have given George W. Bush (and any other moral conservative), if he'd only bothered to ask me. Don't go on the Letterman show. It's enemy territory. It just gives Letterman footage to use against you for the rest of your life.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Let go of the rope
I recall a ficticious story of a Climber who in his pride went alone to climb a 'claimed' impassable peak. He did reach the top and rejoiced to himself of his accomplishment, but on the way down the mountain in the fading light he slipped and fell a far way in the dark. The rope caught, stopped his fall, and I would think broke his back in the process. When the Climber came again to his sense he realized that it was freezing and pitch black. All he knew was the rope was still around him, his body was freezing, and he was going to die. In his perdicament he cried out to God saying "How can you do this to me, God, after I accomplished this wonderful personal triumph only to now put me in a situation where I'll not be able to tell anyone about it?!"
All the sudden a voice cried out "I didn't put you in this situation you should have brought with you a partner to climb. None the less I can save you, but you need to cut the rope."
The climber was startled that there was an answer but in thinking over the answer 'cut the rope' he rationalized 'No I'd rather hold onto my rope as I can't see the ground from here in this darkness' and so he held on.
The story ends with some hikers going along the bottom trail of the 'impassible' mountain and finding the frozen corpse of a man hanging from a rope 20 feet above the ground.
cool story huh? ok now for the actual let go of the rope link.... it's a different story and it's actually for people who are addicted to Pornagraphy or someone that knows of someone that is, but in all truth you can put ANY mortal problem in place of the word "pornagraphy" here... IE smoking (yes smoking in truth), over eating, afraid to go on dates because of the way you perceive others think about you, etc... http://byubroadcasting.org/secrets/transcript/moody_transcript_2003.htm
All the sudden a voice cried out "I didn't put you in this situation you should have brought with you a partner to climb. None the less I can save you, but you need to cut the rope."
The climber was startled that there was an answer but in thinking over the answer 'cut the rope' he rationalized 'No I'd rather hold onto my rope as I can't see the ground from here in this darkness' and so he held on.
The story ends with some hikers going along the bottom trail of the 'impassible' mountain and finding the frozen corpse of a man hanging from a rope 20 feet above the ground.
cool story huh? ok now for the actual let go of the rope link.... it's a different story and it's actually for people who are addicted to Pornagraphy or someone that knows of someone that is, but in all truth you can put ANY mortal problem in place of the word "pornagraphy" here... IE smoking (yes smoking in truth), over eating, afraid to go on dates because of the way you perceive others think about you, etc... http://byubroadcasting.org/secrets/transcript/moody_transcript_2003.htm
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Tell me it isn't true!
(This is copywrited so I guess I'll let the owners sue me over it if they want to ... ;)
Anthony Atkins, “Tell Me It Isn’t True,” Ensign, Feb 2007, 9–11
Some life-changing days take you by surprise. April 19, 2003, was one such day for me. I was working as a chaplain for the Church of England in South Yorkshire and was happy in my work. I had been a priest for nearly 14 years and imagined I would remain so until I died.
It was the day before Easter Sunday, and since we did not have special services in the chapel of the hospital where I worked, I went to the local parish church. During the service, two Latter-day Saint missionaries entered the building. It was obvious that they were missionaries because of their haircuts, suits, and badges. I knew no one would speak to them after the service, as many Christians in England view Latter-day Saints with a great deal of suspicion. But I wondered why they had come to the service, and I wanted to let them know what true Christianity was like.
I chatted with them for a while, and they told me a little about their beliefs. As the conversation came to an end, Elder Spencer said they would like to visit with me again and teach me more. I agreed, thinking that an hour spent with me was one less hour they could spend with some unfortunate person who might be taken in by their misguided ideas.
“By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them”
The following Thursday, the elders met with me as planned. They taught me about the Savior, and I knew it was the same Jesus I had loved all my life. The phrase “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20) went round in my head. I could not find fault with anything they said.
They gave me a Book of Mormon and asked me to pray about Moroni’s promise (see Moroni 10:4). I agreed. To my surprise, I also agreed to a return appointment, even though that was not part of my plan.
From that day forward I began to read the Book of Mormon. I felt guilty doing so. For every page I read, I also read a page from the Bible to offset it. As promised, I did pray about the book, but I asked Heavenly Father to reveal to me that it wasn’t true. I did not receive that answer. I found the Book of Mormon to be a deeply spiritual book that testified of the Savior. Yet I struggled with many of the book’s teachings, as well as the belief that there are prophets today and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
Elder Spencer and Elder Stefan continued to teach me. I asked them many questions, and I felt the Spirit as they taught, although I did not recognize it at the time. I enjoyed their visits but thought it was because they were nice people. It was humbling to be taught eternal truths by two 20-year-olds. They had spent three weeks in the Missionary Training Center, and I had spent three years in theological college. But Heavenly Father had prepared Elder Spencer to love the Bible and to use it, along with the Book of Mormon, to teach me. Still, I was resistant to the message of the restored gospel. If it was true, I would lose my job, my house, and many friends.
What also made it difficult was that the Savior was already part of my life. It is hard to see the light when one is already in the light. I needed to be sure. I had good days, and I had bad days when I wished I had never met the elders. But even though I did not yet have a testimony of the Restoration, I could not stop reading the Book of Mormon.
As I continued to read the Bible, it supported all the elders had taught me. What they taught challenged many of my beliefs but also confirmed many others and clarified some of my beliefs that I had not fully understood.
“The Lord Is on Thy Side”
This was a challenging time for me. Facing such huge changes was not easy, but I knew Heavenly Father had taken care of me before and would continue to do so. The words of the hymn “Be Still, My Soul” became special to me:
Be still, my soul:
The Lord is on thy side; With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide; In ev’ry change he faithful will remain. …
Be still, my soul:
Thy God doth undertake To guide the future as he has the past.1
I had planned to spend some time at a monastery in France, but due to a train strike I was unable to go.
I was disappointed, as I thought that was where I would get the answer to my searching. I decided to have a spiritual day in one of my favorite places in the countryside. After lunch I was driving and listening to a general conference talk by President Gordon B. Hinckley called “The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith.” It ends with an invitation to those willing to listen to the message of the Church: “To these we say in a spirit of love, bring with you all that you have of good and truth which you have received from whatever source, and come and let us see if we may add to it.”2 At this point my heart began to pound, and I felt ill.
I parked the car and stood outside till the feelings subsided. I felt impelled to walk down a country lane. There was nowhere to sit other than on a gatepost, but I knew that was where I should stay. I opened my Bible and there saw the account of the Apostasy in Thessalonians (see 2 Thessalonians 2). I tried again and got Peter’s account (see 2 Peter 2). This was not what I wanted, so I read from the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon.
As I read, I noticed a small, algae-covered pond across the road. A cow came and began to drink from it. It seemed as though an inner voice were telling me that the pond was like my present beliefs, which gave me sustenance, but they were not the springs of living water the Savior was now offering me. I looked up and saw hang gliders soaring in the sky above me, and I sensed that the Lord was offering to take me to a higher place.
I began to suspect that the Church was indeed true. Two days after this experience in the country, I attended my first baptism. The Spirit was so strong that it was the greatest spiritual experience I had ever had. My tears flowed. I was so overwhelmed that I wanted to leave, but I had given a ride to the elders, so I had to stay.
Even after all this, the thought of leaving my job and my home was almost too much to contemplate. I visited a ward where I was introduced to a friend who helped me explore possible careers. After much prayer and reflection I eventually settled on seeking training as a social worker, and I obtained a place at a university.
A New Life
Finally I ended my service as a priest and went off into the unknown. I moved into a new flat and started at the university. I entered the waters of baptism and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the greatest day of my life. Words can never describe what an amazing occasion it was.
I have since been ordained to the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods and have received my endowment in the temple.
I know the Lord’s Church has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that it has the true priesthood authority. I love the missionaries of the Church for the work they do. I am eternally grateful for all those who taught me and who did not give up on me, knowing what was in my heart even when I did not know myself.
HERE
Anthony Atkins, “Tell Me It Isn’t True,” Ensign, Feb 2007, 9–11
Some life-changing days take you by surprise. April 19, 2003, was one such day for me. I was working as a chaplain for the Church of England in South Yorkshire and was happy in my work. I had been a priest for nearly 14 years and imagined I would remain so until I died.
It was the day before Easter Sunday, and since we did not have special services in the chapel of the hospital where I worked, I went to the local parish church. During the service, two Latter-day Saint missionaries entered the building. It was obvious that they were missionaries because of their haircuts, suits, and badges. I knew no one would speak to them after the service, as many Christians in England view Latter-day Saints with a great deal of suspicion. But I wondered why they had come to the service, and I wanted to let them know what true Christianity was like.
I chatted with them for a while, and they told me a little about their beliefs. As the conversation came to an end, Elder Spencer said they would like to visit with me again and teach me more. I agreed, thinking that an hour spent with me was one less hour they could spend with some unfortunate person who might be taken in by their misguided ideas.
“By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them”
The following Thursday, the elders met with me as planned. They taught me about the Savior, and I knew it was the same Jesus I had loved all my life. The phrase “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20) went round in my head. I could not find fault with anything they said.
They gave me a Book of Mormon and asked me to pray about Moroni’s promise (see Moroni 10:4). I agreed. To my surprise, I also agreed to a return appointment, even though that was not part of my plan.
From that day forward I began to read the Book of Mormon. I felt guilty doing so. For every page I read, I also read a page from the Bible to offset it. As promised, I did pray about the book, but I asked Heavenly Father to reveal to me that it wasn’t true. I did not receive that answer. I found the Book of Mormon to be a deeply spiritual book that testified of the Savior. Yet I struggled with many of the book’s teachings, as well as the belief that there are prophets today and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
Elder Spencer and Elder Stefan continued to teach me. I asked them many questions, and I felt the Spirit as they taught, although I did not recognize it at the time. I enjoyed their visits but thought it was because they were nice people. It was humbling to be taught eternal truths by two 20-year-olds. They had spent three weeks in the Missionary Training Center, and I had spent three years in theological college. But Heavenly Father had prepared Elder Spencer to love the Bible and to use it, along with the Book of Mormon, to teach me. Still, I was resistant to the message of the restored gospel. If it was true, I would lose my job, my house, and many friends.
What also made it difficult was that the Savior was already part of my life. It is hard to see the light when one is already in the light. I needed to be sure. I had good days, and I had bad days when I wished I had never met the elders. But even though I did not yet have a testimony of the Restoration, I could not stop reading the Book of Mormon.
As I continued to read the Bible, it supported all the elders had taught me. What they taught challenged many of my beliefs but also confirmed many others and clarified some of my beliefs that I had not fully understood.
“The Lord Is on Thy Side”
This was a challenging time for me. Facing such huge changes was not easy, but I knew Heavenly Father had taken care of me before and would continue to do so. The words of the hymn “Be Still, My Soul” became special to me:
Be still, my soul:
The Lord is on thy side; With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide; In ev’ry change he faithful will remain. …
Be still, my soul:
Thy God doth undertake To guide the future as he has the past.1
I had planned to spend some time at a monastery in France, but due to a train strike I was unable to go.
I was disappointed, as I thought that was where I would get the answer to my searching. I decided to have a spiritual day in one of my favorite places in the countryside. After lunch I was driving and listening to a general conference talk by President Gordon B. Hinckley called “The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith.” It ends with an invitation to those willing to listen to the message of the Church: “To these we say in a spirit of love, bring with you all that you have of good and truth which you have received from whatever source, and come and let us see if we may add to it.”2 At this point my heart began to pound, and I felt ill.
I parked the car and stood outside till the feelings subsided. I felt impelled to walk down a country lane. There was nowhere to sit other than on a gatepost, but I knew that was where I should stay. I opened my Bible and there saw the account of the Apostasy in Thessalonians (see 2 Thessalonians 2). I tried again and got Peter’s account (see 2 Peter 2). This was not what I wanted, so I read from the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon.
As I read, I noticed a small, algae-covered pond across the road. A cow came and began to drink from it. It seemed as though an inner voice were telling me that the pond was like my present beliefs, which gave me sustenance, but they were not the springs of living water the Savior was now offering me. I looked up and saw hang gliders soaring in the sky above me, and I sensed that the Lord was offering to take me to a higher place.
I began to suspect that the Church was indeed true. Two days after this experience in the country, I attended my first baptism. The Spirit was so strong that it was the greatest spiritual experience I had ever had. My tears flowed. I was so overwhelmed that I wanted to leave, but I had given a ride to the elders, so I had to stay.
Even after all this, the thought of leaving my job and my home was almost too much to contemplate. I visited a ward where I was introduced to a friend who helped me explore possible careers. After much prayer and reflection I eventually settled on seeking training as a social worker, and I obtained a place at a university.
A New Life
Finally I ended my service as a priest and went off into the unknown. I moved into a new flat and started at the university. I entered the waters of baptism and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the greatest day of my life. Words can never describe what an amazing occasion it was.
I have since been ordained to the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods and have received my endowment in the temple.
I know the Lord’s Church has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that it has the true priesthood authority. I love the missionaries of the Church for the work they do. I am eternally grateful for all those who taught me and who did not give up on me, knowing what was in my heart even when I did not know myself.
HERE
Sunday, December 31, 2006
For women and guys that are interested in respecting and loving them
It's a BYU 1989 devotional talk, but it has reference still today. HERE
Friday, December 15, 2006
Just thoughts
An online web-log is a fine way to just put your thoughts out... this isn't new to people who do blog, it's an online diary per se... I've been thinking and noticing a few things in my life of late and especially about the world I live in and the deceptions of evil in it. For instance the other day it really hit me that in order to find a woman that I'm compatible with she would need to be willing to HAVE more children and a family, AND REAL "TRUE" girls like that aren't at all like the ones shown on TV and in most magazines. The world is so busy attempting to make a profit and get a raise and get business to the "company", whatever that company might be, that the lines of truth and realismn are blurred so bad that most everything we see in this life is a lie. What a horrible way for our kids to grow up! For instance the women who are on TV and are the "moms" of the "family" probably don't have any kids of their own, and if they did they'd look nothing like the person we now see on TV. That said I won't even start on the magazines!.. but will give a VERY strong portrayal of "women" per ads in magazines or on billboards... as follows: (PS I love this whole point given) http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/flat4.asp ... you know that says it all really, and I'm happy that I'm finally starting to see the lie that I grew up with for what it is...... So the question is how do we get away from it and teach our kids swhat is correct?
Broken Things to Mend
http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/2006.htm/ensign%20may%202006.htm/broken%20things%20to%20mend.htm
A Great talk on HOPE and our individual salvation. (linking to it so as not to infringe on any copywrite)
A Great talk on HOPE and our individual salvation. (linking to it so as not to infringe on any copywrite)
Monday, December 04, 2006
Truth so strong you cannot deny!
without fooling yourself, but that's your choice as outlined below :D
"Free to Choose"?(2 Nephi 2:27)
NEAL A. MAXWELL
Neal A. Maxwell was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintswhen this devotional address was delivered on 16 March 2004.
© Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Complete volumes of Speeches are available wherever LDS books are sold.
For further information contact:Speeches, 218 University Press Building, Provo, Utah 84602.(801) 422-2299 / E-mail: speeches@byu.edu / Speeches Home Page
Thank you so much, President Samuelson. You're blessed to have this wonderful man as your president. But I miss him at Church headquarters--greatly and personally! It's always easy to praise Sharon because she represents, as does my wife--as do so many others--the faithful women of this dispensation, without whom this work simply could not be done. They are the kind of souls who are high yield and low maintenance.
I appreciate the special rendering of Merrill Bradshaw's composition, having had the privilege of spending a little time with him just a couple of hours before he died. I appreciate, likewise, Steve Cleveland's prayer. This is a man who cares about what happens on the basketball court, but first he's a disciple. For that I love him the more.
Unsurprisingly, I have become more keenly conscious of the passage of time. Several evenings ago a 13-year-old granddaughter was on her way, all made up, to be in a school play, and I found myself saying, "Kansas, this isn't Dorothy anymore!" I am unresentful of the passage of time and am still well within the sound range of the kettle drums representing the cacophony of mortality. Yet I sometimes seem to hear, ever so faintly, the distant sounds of beckoning trumpets as these waft in upon me.
I plead for the Spirit to help me. But you must help, too, because of the format of this presentation, which will feature a conversational style and which assumes you will be active, though inward, responders. I hope the Spirit will arc between us so that there is a rapid and shared understanding (see D&C 50:10). In any case, I hope you feel my love and openness and forgive in advance my falling short.
The vital revelations about the agency of man--the freedom to choose--inevitably and simultaneously portray the perfect generosity and perfect justice of God. In the key words that soon follow, we see how deeply serious God is about human joy. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves" (Teachings, 343). In no respect, brothers and sisters, is this more true than with regard to comprehending God's mercy and justice and His commitment to our freedom to choose.
The doctrine of our freedom to choose is set forth sparsely and is not fully presented in the precious Holy Bible. But we have key phrases that have been given to us in the Restoration scriptures:
1. "I [have given] unto man his agency" (Moses 7:32; emphasis added; see also D&C 101:78; Moses 4:3; JST, Genesis 3:4).
2. "Thou mayest choose for thyself" (Moses 3:17; emphasis added).
The gift sounds reassuring and really good, doesn't it? I am free to choose--just as things ought to be! Certainly you and I can handle it--almost effortlessly!
3. "That ye may live and move and do according to your own will" (Mosiah 2:21; emphasis added).
The granting of agency is so complete and personal, isn't it? So breathtaking! Thus there is initial exhilaration. But a disquieting and accompanying realization also emerges:
Satan "sought to destroy the agency of man," bringing on the war so vigorously fought in the premortal world (Moses 4:3; see also Revelation 12:7).
But never mind, you and I are still free, though admittedly we're on a path requiring daily decisions as we
4. "act according to [our] wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good" (Alma 12:31; emphasis added).
Do my viscera feel a catch coming? Otherwise, why does the divine candor seem so stern? Including in these next words:
5. "Whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free" (Helaman 14:30; emphasis added).
Evaporated by now is the earlier "no-hands" naïveté about how "I am free to choose." Still, I am free to choose, even if I can neither be immune from the consequences of my wrong choices nor avoid accountability (see Romans 14:12; D&C 101:78).
At this point you and I may feel a little nudging. Yes, our freedom to choose is truly a shining and shimmering gift, but it is also one that can cause some shivering at times. Is this why we are sometimes almost afraid to decide certain things? Are we afraid we might make a mistake? But "no decision" is a decision! Hence this soul sigh: Choosing is no picnic after all.
But we are not alone!
The chilly wind one sometimes feels is more than offset by the warming reality that each of us has within us: the guiding light of Christ. We can actually distinguish between good and evil (see 2 Nephi 2:5; Moroni 7:16, 19). We can repent! Further, the gifts of the Holy Ghost can guide us and reassure us. And those gifts include peace and joy and love--of which there is such a terrible shortage in the world! Such is the precious and pervading sunshine of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22; James 1:17; Moroni 10:8, 17).
Mercifully we are therefore not left alone! Nevertheless, we are at risk!
Back now to the more crisp and revealed words about choosing!
6. "[You will receive] according to [your] desire" (Alma 29:4; emphasis added).
7. "[And you will receive] according to [your] wills" (Alma 29:4; emphasis added).
I'm not sure we grasp how the final judgment will reflect our choices! But my desires and choices really will be honored! How manifestly just of God! How trembling for me! There is the anxiety protruding once again. Are my desires sufficiently educated to choose wisely (see Alma 13:3, 10)? Could the further education of my desires be the most important form of continuing education?
So it is that the chilly dawn of realization is further felt: Real choosing bristles with alternatives, enticements, defining moments, accountability, counterfeits, and consequences!
8. Why then do some actually choose to remain "willingly . . . ignorant," such as of impending Messianic events (2 Peter 3:5; emphasis added)? Yes, some seem to say, "My mind is made up, so don't confuse me with cosmic facts. Instead, let me compartmentalize my life and my choices."
One cannot stay, however, on that naïve plane of understanding very long when he or she reads these next sobering words. They are so ripe with implications. They inform us that some rebels are simply
9. "not willing to enjoy that which they might have received" (D&C 88:32; emphasis added).
That cold wind is really blowing at the edges of my mind now. Foregoing enjoyment? But why? Knowingly turning down something vastly better? Why?
So this is a real war--with real casualties--in which there can be no real pacifists. No wonder, brothers and sisters, there's been such a long shelf life of the wry quip we've all heard about "free agency and how to enforce it." In effect, some seem almost to ask, "Is this gift returnable?"
10. "For, behold, the devil . . . rebelled against me . . . ; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency" (D&C 29:36; emphasis added).
Lucifer was very angry then, and he is very angry still--choosing to strive to make "all men [to] be miserable like unto himself" (2 Nephi 2:27).
Wait a minute!
One-third deliberately chose not to undergo the mortal experience by choosing not to go on choosing? It seems so. It all began such a very long time ago, since
11. "it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves" (D&C 29:39; emphasis added).
Thus his very temptations become vexing verifications that we're free to choose.
12. "Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:16; emphasis added).
Hmmm! So it's worse still. The choices are not to be made among passive alternatives but among vibrant, alluring choices! Why can't we just glide through life and cherry-pick what we want? Why must there be "an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11)? It seems so relentless at times!
13. "That every man may act in doctrine . . . according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment" (D&C 101:78; emphasis added).
Well, by now any earlier and superficial exhilaration has fully departed. And we see instead unsmiling accountability standing astride every path, every choice.
Time now to let go of this format with my informal and conversational insertions and to review!
Again, what are the ground rules?
Well, the revealed record shows that Lucifer clearly chose to seek his personal preeminence, chose to be angry when he was rejected, chose to lead others astray, and chose misery, not joy. His followers in turn chose to rebel, chose to respond to his false allures, and turned their collective backs on the second estate!
But there's this ground rule: The Prophet Joseph assured us, "The devil could not compel mankind to do evil; all was voluntary. . . . God would not exert any compulsory means, and the devil could not" (Teachings, 187; emphasis added). Such is our situation.
Professor C. Terry Warner has written that individuals
cannot avoid being both free and responsible for their choices. Individuals capable of acting for themselves cannot remain on neutral ground, abstaining from both receiving and rejecting light from God. [In Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), s.v. "agency," 1:26; see also 2 Nephi 2:27–29; 10:23]
If we even just glance at spiritual history, no wonder there is this touching lamentation from long-suffering Jesus, or Jehovah. When speaking of ancient Israel, He said, "How oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not" (3 Nephi 10:5). "How oft"? The "how-oft question" is one of the most haunting in all of eternity (see also Luke 13:34).
It is matched by what the Lord of the vineyard can justifiably say at the end of the salvational day. Reading these words often makes me weep. As He surveyed all that He had tried to do--leaving us free--and all the yield that might have been, and having given us our freedom to choose, He, the Lord of the vineyard, tenderly asked: "What could I have done more?" (Jacob 5:47).
Oh, the special character of God! Oh, His perfect love and patience! Captured eloquently, I think, by President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., who said:
I believe that in his justice and mercy [God] will give us the maximum reward for our acts, give us all that he can give, and in the reverse, I believe that he will impose upon us the minimum penalty which it is possible for him to impose. [CR, October 1953, 84]
So here we are: comprehending the character of God and comprehending that there could be no joy without agency.
I wonder what it means--and perhaps you do, too--when I read the related verse about how Lucifer does not understand about "the mind of God" (Moses 4:6). The details have not been revealed to us. But could it possibly involve Lucifer's catastrophic failure to comprehend the inviolate interplay of agency and joy?
Once more, therefore, the act of choosing is more than nodding assent or passive shoulder shrugging. It reflects real choices made over time that form definite patterns. Even our prayers are much affected by our choices. If we have made good choices, we are much less likely to ask "amiss" (2 Nephi 4:35) in our prayers but instead can ask according to that "which is right" (3 Nephi 18:20). And then the promise is there for us to begin to claim more and more. The choices and prayers can be such that we can ask, and what we ask for can be "done even as [we] asketh" (D&C 46:30).
Again, there can be no agency avoidance. No decision is a decision. Delay is a delusion, and that delay always discards the holy present. It simply throws it away.
Again, choosing to be obedient is a choice. Jesus chose to let His will be "swallowed up in the will of the Father" (Mosiah 15:7). It was a deliberate choice--a choice, of course, that blessed all mortals mightily and everlastingly. Being obedient is a way of life, but it is also the way to eternal life.
With you I have reflected over that spiritually intriguing phrase "compound in one" and about our freedom to choose. It tells us that without being able to choose among alternatives, life would be no life at all. Things would "remain as dead" with no "sense nor insensibility" (2 Nephi 2:11). And we are told God's creation would have served "no purpose" (2 Nephi 2:12). Very strong language! Thus for a few moments today we have been discussing a very strong doctrine indeed!
Do I mean of God's creation there would be no beautiful Grand Canyon to behold? Who would have the sensibility to appreciate it? No mother's glow over her baby's first smile? Who would have the capacity for such joy? Do I mean there would never be individuals of holiness to admire? Who could have been free to choose holiness or to admire it? Oh, the annihilating "compound in one"!
I marvel, as many of you know, at the extent of the cosmos--this encompassing vastness and personalness. It is incredible to even contemplate. But it is not as grand as God's gift to us of the freedom to choose. There are literally now, science says, more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand in every beach, every desert, and every ocean floor on this planet (see Allison M. Heinrichs, "The Stellar Census: 70 Sextillion," Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2003, A19; see also Carl Sagan, Cosmos [New York: Random House, 1980], 196). Scriptural words are not just elegant, extravagant language. Besides, souls matter more than stars. And He wants us to have joy. We cannot do that unless we are free to choose. But neither can we have that joy unless we are willing to be spiritually submissive day in, day out, and unless we exercise that grand and glorious freedom to choose in which people truly matter more than stars.
I testify to you that though the grandness of this doctrine is beyond our comprehension, it is not beyond our attention and exploration. We are, in fact, in the position of having been given revelations that were then far beyond the Prophet Joseph Smith, bright as he was. Yet he was their enunciator and their declarer. We worship a God whose character is so stunning and who wants us to come home. But He will not force us. He will not force us.
God bless you, my young friends, in your daily choices, in the inflections of your decisions, and in the thoughts that traverse your minds. May there be for all of us, including myself, an alignment with Him that brings us home. Home where, as He says, He will give us "all that he hath" (Luke 12:44). There isn't any more--of which I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
"Free to Choose"?(2 Nephi 2:27)
NEAL A. MAXWELL
Neal A. Maxwell was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintswhen this devotional address was delivered on 16 March 2004.
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Thank you so much, President Samuelson. You're blessed to have this wonderful man as your president. But I miss him at Church headquarters--greatly and personally! It's always easy to praise Sharon because she represents, as does my wife--as do so many others--the faithful women of this dispensation, without whom this work simply could not be done. They are the kind of souls who are high yield and low maintenance.
I appreciate the special rendering of Merrill Bradshaw's composition, having had the privilege of spending a little time with him just a couple of hours before he died. I appreciate, likewise, Steve Cleveland's prayer. This is a man who cares about what happens on the basketball court, but first he's a disciple. For that I love him the more.
Unsurprisingly, I have become more keenly conscious of the passage of time. Several evenings ago a 13-year-old granddaughter was on her way, all made up, to be in a school play, and I found myself saying, "Kansas, this isn't Dorothy anymore!" I am unresentful of the passage of time and am still well within the sound range of the kettle drums representing the cacophony of mortality. Yet I sometimes seem to hear, ever so faintly, the distant sounds of beckoning trumpets as these waft in upon me.
I plead for the Spirit to help me. But you must help, too, because of the format of this presentation, which will feature a conversational style and which assumes you will be active, though inward, responders. I hope the Spirit will arc between us so that there is a rapid and shared understanding (see D&C 50:10). In any case, I hope you feel my love and openness and forgive in advance my falling short.
The vital revelations about the agency of man--the freedom to choose--inevitably and simultaneously portray the perfect generosity and perfect justice of God. In the key words that soon follow, we see how deeply serious God is about human joy. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves" (Teachings, 343). In no respect, brothers and sisters, is this more true than with regard to comprehending God's mercy and justice and His commitment to our freedom to choose.
The doctrine of our freedom to choose is set forth sparsely and is not fully presented in the precious Holy Bible. But we have key phrases that have been given to us in the Restoration scriptures:
1. "I [have given] unto man his agency" (Moses 7:32; emphasis added; see also D&C 101:78; Moses 4:3; JST, Genesis 3:4).
2. "Thou mayest choose for thyself" (Moses 3:17; emphasis added).
The gift sounds reassuring and really good, doesn't it? I am free to choose--just as things ought to be! Certainly you and I can handle it--almost effortlessly!
3. "That ye may live and move and do according to your own will" (Mosiah 2:21; emphasis added).
The granting of agency is so complete and personal, isn't it? So breathtaking! Thus there is initial exhilaration. But a disquieting and accompanying realization also emerges:
Satan "sought to destroy the agency of man," bringing on the war so vigorously fought in the premortal world (Moses 4:3; see also Revelation 12:7).
But never mind, you and I are still free, though admittedly we're on a path requiring daily decisions as we
4. "act according to [our] wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good" (Alma 12:31; emphasis added).
Do my viscera feel a catch coming? Otherwise, why does the divine candor seem so stern? Including in these next words:
5. "Whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free" (Helaman 14:30; emphasis added).
Evaporated by now is the earlier "no-hands" naïveté about how "I am free to choose." Still, I am free to choose, even if I can neither be immune from the consequences of my wrong choices nor avoid accountability (see Romans 14:12; D&C 101:78).
At this point you and I may feel a little nudging. Yes, our freedom to choose is truly a shining and shimmering gift, but it is also one that can cause some shivering at times. Is this why we are sometimes almost afraid to decide certain things? Are we afraid we might make a mistake? But "no decision" is a decision! Hence this soul sigh: Choosing is no picnic after all.
But we are not alone!
The chilly wind one sometimes feels is more than offset by the warming reality that each of us has within us: the guiding light of Christ. We can actually distinguish between good and evil (see 2 Nephi 2:5; Moroni 7:16, 19). We can repent! Further, the gifts of the Holy Ghost can guide us and reassure us. And those gifts include peace and joy and love--of which there is such a terrible shortage in the world! Such is the precious and pervading sunshine of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22; James 1:17; Moroni 10:8, 17).
Mercifully we are therefore not left alone! Nevertheless, we are at risk!
Back now to the more crisp and revealed words about choosing!
6. "[You will receive] according to [your] desire" (Alma 29:4; emphasis added).
7. "[And you will receive] according to [your] wills" (Alma 29:4; emphasis added).
I'm not sure we grasp how the final judgment will reflect our choices! But my desires and choices really will be honored! How manifestly just of God! How trembling for me! There is the anxiety protruding once again. Are my desires sufficiently educated to choose wisely (see Alma 13:3, 10)? Could the further education of my desires be the most important form of continuing education?
So it is that the chilly dawn of realization is further felt: Real choosing bristles with alternatives, enticements, defining moments, accountability, counterfeits, and consequences!
8. Why then do some actually choose to remain "willingly . . . ignorant," such as of impending Messianic events (2 Peter 3:5; emphasis added)? Yes, some seem to say, "My mind is made up, so don't confuse me with cosmic facts. Instead, let me compartmentalize my life and my choices."
One cannot stay, however, on that naïve plane of understanding very long when he or she reads these next sobering words. They are so ripe with implications. They inform us that some rebels are simply
9. "not willing to enjoy that which they might have received" (D&C 88:32; emphasis added).
That cold wind is really blowing at the edges of my mind now. Foregoing enjoyment? But why? Knowingly turning down something vastly better? Why?
So this is a real war--with real casualties--in which there can be no real pacifists. No wonder, brothers and sisters, there's been such a long shelf life of the wry quip we've all heard about "free agency and how to enforce it." In effect, some seem almost to ask, "Is this gift returnable?"
10. "For, behold, the devil . . . rebelled against me . . . ; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency" (D&C 29:36; emphasis added).
Lucifer was very angry then, and he is very angry still--choosing to strive to make "all men [to] be miserable like unto himself" (2 Nephi 2:27).
Wait a minute!
One-third deliberately chose not to undergo the mortal experience by choosing not to go on choosing? It seems so. It all began such a very long time ago, since
11. "it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves" (D&C 29:39; emphasis added).
Thus his very temptations become vexing verifications that we're free to choose.
12. "Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:16; emphasis added).
Hmmm! So it's worse still. The choices are not to be made among passive alternatives but among vibrant, alluring choices! Why can't we just glide through life and cherry-pick what we want? Why must there be "an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11)? It seems so relentless at times!
13. "That every man may act in doctrine . . . according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment" (D&C 101:78; emphasis added).
Well, by now any earlier and superficial exhilaration has fully departed. And we see instead unsmiling accountability standing astride every path, every choice.
Time now to let go of this format with my informal and conversational insertions and to review!
Again, what are the ground rules?
Well, the revealed record shows that Lucifer clearly chose to seek his personal preeminence, chose to be angry when he was rejected, chose to lead others astray, and chose misery, not joy. His followers in turn chose to rebel, chose to respond to his false allures, and turned their collective backs on the second estate!
But there's this ground rule: The Prophet Joseph assured us, "The devil could not compel mankind to do evil; all was voluntary. . . . God would not exert any compulsory means, and the devil could not" (Teachings, 187; emphasis added). Such is our situation.
Professor C. Terry Warner has written that individuals
cannot avoid being both free and responsible for their choices. Individuals capable of acting for themselves cannot remain on neutral ground, abstaining from both receiving and rejecting light from God. [In Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), s.v. "agency," 1:26; see also 2 Nephi 2:27–29; 10:23]
If we even just glance at spiritual history, no wonder there is this touching lamentation from long-suffering Jesus, or Jehovah. When speaking of ancient Israel, He said, "How oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not" (3 Nephi 10:5). "How oft"? The "how-oft question" is one of the most haunting in all of eternity (see also Luke 13:34).
It is matched by what the Lord of the vineyard can justifiably say at the end of the salvational day. Reading these words often makes me weep. As He surveyed all that He had tried to do--leaving us free--and all the yield that might have been, and having given us our freedom to choose, He, the Lord of the vineyard, tenderly asked: "What could I have done more?" (Jacob 5:47).
Oh, the special character of God! Oh, His perfect love and patience! Captured eloquently, I think, by President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., who said:
I believe that in his justice and mercy [God] will give us the maximum reward for our acts, give us all that he can give, and in the reverse, I believe that he will impose upon us the minimum penalty which it is possible for him to impose. [CR, October 1953, 84]
So here we are: comprehending the character of God and comprehending that there could be no joy without agency.
I wonder what it means--and perhaps you do, too--when I read the related verse about how Lucifer does not understand about "the mind of God" (Moses 4:6). The details have not been revealed to us. But could it possibly involve Lucifer's catastrophic failure to comprehend the inviolate interplay of agency and joy?
Once more, therefore, the act of choosing is more than nodding assent or passive shoulder shrugging. It reflects real choices made over time that form definite patterns. Even our prayers are much affected by our choices. If we have made good choices, we are much less likely to ask "amiss" (2 Nephi 4:35) in our prayers but instead can ask according to that "which is right" (3 Nephi 18:20). And then the promise is there for us to begin to claim more and more. The choices and prayers can be such that we can ask, and what we ask for can be "done even as [we] asketh" (D&C 46:30).
Again, there can be no agency avoidance. No decision is a decision. Delay is a delusion, and that delay always discards the holy present. It simply throws it away.
Again, choosing to be obedient is a choice. Jesus chose to let His will be "swallowed up in the will of the Father" (Mosiah 15:7). It was a deliberate choice--a choice, of course, that blessed all mortals mightily and everlastingly. Being obedient is a way of life, but it is also the way to eternal life.
With you I have reflected over that spiritually intriguing phrase "compound in one" and about our freedom to choose. It tells us that without being able to choose among alternatives, life would be no life at all. Things would "remain as dead" with no "sense nor insensibility" (2 Nephi 2:11). And we are told God's creation would have served "no purpose" (2 Nephi 2:12). Very strong language! Thus for a few moments today we have been discussing a very strong doctrine indeed!
Do I mean of God's creation there would be no beautiful Grand Canyon to behold? Who would have the sensibility to appreciate it? No mother's glow over her baby's first smile? Who would have the capacity for such joy? Do I mean there would never be individuals of holiness to admire? Who could have been free to choose holiness or to admire it? Oh, the annihilating "compound in one"!
I marvel, as many of you know, at the extent of the cosmos--this encompassing vastness and personalness. It is incredible to even contemplate. But it is not as grand as God's gift to us of the freedom to choose. There are literally now, science says, more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand in every beach, every desert, and every ocean floor on this planet (see Allison M. Heinrichs, "The Stellar Census: 70 Sextillion," Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2003, A19; see also Carl Sagan, Cosmos [New York: Random House, 1980], 196). Scriptural words are not just elegant, extravagant language. Besides, souls matter more than stars. And He wants us to have joy. We cannot do that unless we are free to choose. But neither can we have that joy unless we are willing to be spiritually submissive day in, day out, and unless we exercise that grand and glorious freedom to choose in which people truly matter more than stars.
I testify to you that though the grandness of this doctrine is beyond our comprehension, it is not beyond our attention and exploration. We are, in fact, in the position of having been given revelations that were then far beyond the Prophet Joseph Smith, bright as he was. Yet he was their enunciator and their declarer. We worship a God whose character is so stunning and who wants us to come home. But He will not force us. He will not force us.
God bless you, my young friends, in your daily choices, in the inflections of your decisions, and in the thoughts that traverse your minds. May there be for all of us, including myself, an alignment with Him that brings us home. Home where, as He says, He will give us "all that he hath" (Luke 12:44). There isn't any more--of which I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Marriage Quotes -
compiled by Shannon L. Alder in her book “300 Questions: LDS couples should ask before marriage” (Horizon Publishers) -- seems like a good book, need to read it more.. if you'd like your own copy I recomend clicking HERE
to purchase one (at least check the reviews) or search any of the other fine online book stores, or a local book store as well. .. That said I would like some day to ask the author if she in fact went through all 300 Q's before marrying her husband? In either case here are the marriatial quotes spoken of in the "title" . enjoy
“Courtship is a wonderful period. It should be a sacred one. That is the time in which you choose your mate.” – President David O. McKay (True to the Faith, Bookcraft, 1966, 318.)
“Don’t let this choice [of a marriage partner] ever be made except with earnest, searching, prayerful consideration, confiding in parents, [and] in faithful, mature, trustworthy friends.” – Elder Richard L. Evans of the quorum of the Twelve (This you can count on,” Improvement Era, Dec. 1969,73.)
“You use every facility, you get all the judgment that you can centered on the problem, you make up your own mind, and then, to be sure that you don’t err, you counsel with the Lord. You talk it over. You say, ‘This is what I think; what do you think?’ And if you get the calm, sweet surety that comes only form the Holy Spirit, you know you’ve reached the right conclusion, but if there’s anxiety and uncertainty in your heart, then you’d better start over, because the Lord’s hand is not in it, and you’re not getting the ratifying seal that, as a member of the church who has the gift of the Holy Ghost, you are entitled to receive.” – Elder Bruce R. McConkie (“Agency or Inspiration – Which?” Speeches of the year, BYU Devotional Addresses, 1972-73, 115-116.)
“The successful marriage depends in large measure upon the preparation made in approaching it … One cannot pick the ripe, rich, luscious fruit from a tree that was never planted, nurtured, nor pruned.” – President Spencer W. Kimball (The Miracle of Forgiveness, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969, 242.)
I suggest that you not ignore many possible candidates who are still developing these attributes, seeking the one who is perfect in them. You will likely not find that perfect person, and if you did, there would certainly be no interest in you. These attributes are best polished together as husband and wife” – Elder Richard G. Scott of the quorum of the twelve (Ensign, May 1999, 26.)
“Choose a companion of your own faith. You are much more likely to be happy. Choose a companion you can always honor, you can always respect, one who will compliment you in your own life, one to whom you can give your entire heart, your entire love, your entire allegiance, your entire loyalty.” – President Gordon B. Hinckley (Ensign, Feb. 1999, 2.)
“… soul mates” are a fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek with all diligence and prayerfulness to find a mate with whom life can be beautiful, it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price.” - President Spencer w. Kimball (Marriage and Divorce, 1976, 16.)
“If the choice is between reforming other church members [including fiancés, spouses, and children] or ourselves, is there really any question about where we should begin? The key is to have our eyes wide open to our own faults and partially closed to the faults of others – not the other way around! The imperfections of others never release us from the need to work on our own shortcomings.” - Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve (“A Brother Offended,” Ensign, May 1982, 39.)
“If we would know true love and understanding one for another, we must realize that communication is more then a sharing of words. It is wise sharing of emotions, feelings, and concerns. It is the sharing of oneself totally.” – Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the quorum of the Twelve (“Family Communications,” Ensign, May 1976,52.)
“Your success in marriage will depend largely on your ability to focus on improving yourself, rather that trying to reshape your spouse. It will depend more on being the right one than finding the right one. There is greater power in giving than in getting.” – Elder Lynn G. Robinson of the Seventy (“Finding Your Sweetheart,” New Era, Sept. 2003, 45.)
“May I say that almost all marriages could be beautiful, harmonious, happy, and eternal ones, if the two people primarily involved would determine that it should be, that it must be, that it will be.” – President Spencer W. Kimball (“Marriage Is Honorable,” Speeches of the Year, Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1973, 257.)
“[Divine love] is not like that association of the world which is misnamed love, but whish is mostly physical attraction. … The love of which the Lord speaks is not only physical attraction, but also faith, confidence, understanding, and partnership. It is devotion and companionship, parenthood, common ideals, and standards. It is cleanliness of life and sacrifice and unselfishness. This kind of love never tires nor wanes. It lives on through sickness and sorrow, through prosperity and privation, through accomplishment and disappointment, through time and eternity.” – President Spencer W. Kimball (“The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 1982, 248.)
to purchase one (at least check the reviews) or search any of the other fine online book stores, or a local book store as well. .. That said I would like some day to ask the author if she in fact went through all 300 Q's before marrying her husband? In either case here are the marriatial quotes spoken of in the "title" . enjoy
“Courtship is a wonderful period. It should be a sacred one. That is the time in which you choose your mate.” – President David O. McKay (True to the Faith, Bookcraft, 1966, 318.)
“Don’t let this choice [of a marriage partner] ever be made except with earnest, searching, prayerful consideration, confiding in parents, [and] in faithful, mature, trustworthy friends.” – Elder Richard L. Evans of the quorum of the Twelve (This you can count on,” Improvement Era, Dec. 1969,73.)
“You use every facility, you get all the judgment that you can centered on the problem, you make up your own mind, and then, to be sure that you don’t err, you counsel with the Lord. You talk it over. You say, ‘This is what I think; what do you think?’ And if you get the calm, sweet surety that comes only form the Holy Spirit, you know you’ve reached the right conclusion, but if there’s anxiety and uncertainty in your heart, then you’d better start over, because the Lord’s hand is not in it, and you’re not getting the ratifying seal that, as a member of the church who has the gift of the Holy Ghost, you are entitled to receive.” – Elder Bruce R. McConkie (“Agency or Inspiration – Which?” Speeches of the year, BYU Devotional Addresses, 1972-73, 115-116.)
“The successful marriage depends in large measure upon the preparation made in approaching it … One cannot pick the ripe, rich, luscious fruit from a tree that was never planted, nurtured, nor pruned.” – President Spencer W. Kimball (The Miracle of Forgiveness, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969, 242.)
I suggest that you not ignore many possible candidates who are still developing these attributes, seeking the one who is perfect in them. You will likely not find that perfect person, and if you did, there would certainly be no interest in you. These attributes are best polished together as husband and wife” – Elder Richard G. Scott of the quorum of the twelve (Ensign, May 1999, 26.)
“Choose a companion of your own faith. You are much more likely to be happy. Choose a companion you can always honor, you can always respect, one who will compliment you in your own life, one to whom you can give your entire heart, your entire love, your entire allegiance, your entire loyalty.” – President Gordon B. Hinckley (Ensign, Feb. 1999, 2.)
“… soul mates” are a fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek with all diligence and prayerfulness to find a mate with whom life can be beautiful, it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price.” - President Spencer w. Kimball (Marriage and Divorce, 1976, 16.)
“If the choice is between reforming other church members [including fiancés, spouses, and children] or ourselves, is there really any question about where we should begin? The key is to have our eyes wide open to our own faults and partially closed to the faults of others – not the other way around! The imperfections of others never release us from the need to work on our own shortcomings.” - Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve (“A Brother Offended,” Ensign, May 1982, 39.)
“If we would know true love and understanding one for another, we must realize that communication is more then a sharing of words. It is wise sharing of emotions, feelings, and concerns. It is the sharing of oneself totally.” – Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the quorum of the Twelve (“Family Communications,” Ensign, May 1976,52.)
“Your success in marriage will depend largely on your ability to focus on improving yourself, rather that trying to reshape your spouse. It will depend more on being the right one than finding the right one. There is greater power in giving than in getting.” – Elder Lynn G. Robinson of the Seventy (“Finding Your Sweetheart,” New Era, Sept. 2003, 45.)
“May I say that almost all marriages could be beautiful, harmonious, happy, and eternal ones, if the two people primarily involved would determine that it should be, that it must be, that it will be.” – President Spencer W. Kimball (“Marriage Is Honorable,” Speeches of the Year, Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1973, 257.)
“[Divine love] is not like that association of the world which is misnamed love, but whish is mostly physical attraction. … The love of which the Lord speaks is not only physical attraction, but also faith, confidence, understanding, and partnership. It is devotion and companionship, parenthood, common ideals, and standards. It is cleanliness of life and sacrifice and unselfishness. This kind of love never tires nor wanes. It lives on through sickness and sorrow, through prosperity and privation, through accomplishment and disappointment, through time and eternity.” – President Spencer W. Kimball (“The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 1982, 248.)
Monday, November 27, 2006
God weeping
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103424/
A small clipping from the above "Michael Newdow seeks to remove "In God We Trust" from U.S. coins and dollar bills, claiming in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that the motto is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion."
Doesn't this guy realize that HE seems to be his own god, and it seems that in fact IT IS HE that he trusts? Why not allow others to have their Gods too, and leave the money as it is? Does he not also know that all his works will returned to him because that's what he seems to be after?
God is perfect, everlasting, and will always BE. God doesn't need Michael to be more glorified, and He will gladly give all His children (including Michael) exactly what they're working for as displayed by the desires of their hearts and their actions. God doesn't weep for Himself, but for His children that choose and act in ways for their own damnation.
(Alma 41:2 - 6)
2 I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. ...
3 And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.
4 And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame; mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other
5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.
6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.
(Moses 7:28 - 37)
28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?
29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?
30 And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;
...32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;
33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood;
....37 But behold, ... Satan shall be their father, and misery shall be their doom; and the whole heavens shall weep over them, even all the workmanship of mine hands; wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?
I feel sorry for Michael and that he is an atheisthiest in that he seems to be denying his own creation, but as I always say God will be perfect, justly and mercifully, and as man chooses to act so shall he get his reward when it's all said and done. I wonder if this man at any time was affiliated with the True and living God ? .......
(Alma 47:36)
Now these dissenters, having the same instruction and the same information of the (people of God), yea, having been instructed in the same knowledge of the Lord, nevertheless, it is strange to relate, not long after their dissensions they became more hardened and impenitent, and more wild, wicked and ferocious than the (people without God)drinking in with the traditions of the (pwithoutihtout God); giving way to indolence, and all manner of lasciviousness; yea, entirely forgetting the Lord their God.
A small clipping from the above "Michael Newdow seeks to remove "In God We Trust" from U.S. coins and dollar bills, claiming in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that the motto is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion."
Doesn't this guy realize that HE seems to be his own god, and it seems that in fact IT IS HE that he trusts? Why not allow others to have their Gods too, and leave the money as it is? Does he not also know that all his works will returned to him because that's what he seems to be after?
God is perfect, everlasting, and will always BE. God doesn't need Michael to be more glorified, and He will gladly give all His children (including Michael) exactly what they're working for as displayed by the desires of their hearts and their actions. God doesn't weep for Himself, but for His children that choose and act in ways for their own damnation.
(Alma 41:2 - 6)
2 I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. ...
3 And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.
4 And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame; mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other
5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.
6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.
(Moses 7:28 - 37)
28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?
29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?
30 And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;
...32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;
33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood;
....37 But behold, ... Satan shall be their father, and misery shall be their doom; and the whole heavens shall weep over them, even all the workmanship of mine hands; wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?
I feel sorry for Michael and that he is an atheisthiest in that he seems to be denying his own creation, but as I always say God will be perfect, justly and mercifully, and as man chooses to act so shall he get his reward when it's all said and done. I wonder if this man at any time was affiliated with the True and living God ? .......
(Alma 47:36)
Now these dissenters, having the same instruction and the same information of the (people of God), yea, having been instructed in the same knowledge of the Lord, nevertheless, it is strange to relate, not long after their dissensions they became more hardened and impenitent, and more wild, wicked and ferocious than the (people without God)drinking in with the traditions of the (pwithoutihtout God); giving way to indolence, and all manner of lasciviousness; yea, entirely forgetting the Lord their God.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
It's no fun being poor
Original link is: http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1982.htm/ensign%20september%201982%20.htm/its%20no%20fun%20being%20poor.htm
Address delivered at a Brigham Young University devotional, 30 March 1982
Marvin J. Ashton, "It's No Fun Being Poor," Ensign, Sept. 1982, 72
I think when I announce the title of my remarks it is reasonable to assume many of you will nudge the one next to you and say, "So what else is new?" or "Where does the line form for those who want to bear witness to the fact?"
My topic is: "It's No Fun Being Poor."
Now the truth is, not one of us needs to be poor. However, we can become victims of real poverty if we are not wise in our daily conduct. The main question for every person to resolve is not what he would do if he had vast money, time, influence, or educational advantages, but how he will best use the means and assets he has and will yet have. The next related question is, what is meant by the terms poor and rich? Does it have to do with material goods? And if so, how much does it have to do with material goods?
It's no fun being poor. It is much more fun to be rich. I hope we will see that we can be rich if life's ledger is filled with daily entries that show bottom line totals including sound moral conduct, uprightness, and incorruptibility.
The purpose of my remarks is to try to help all of us avoid being poor. Hopefully, if we are already poor, we will be able to overcome it with corrective actions. For your consideration, I am going to identify "ten commandments" we should follow if we would avoid being poor. Doubtless, there may be ten, twenty, or thirty more, but for our purposes, the following may be a good start.
I. Thou shalt not lose a friend or cease being one.
A person is poor when his friendship inventory is depreciating. A person is poor when he is friendless. When friends, those closest to us, have cause to desert, to disbelieve, to lose confidence in us, we are poor. When we lose friends, our strength as well as our desire is ofttimes totally drained. In our personal balance sheets, "minus friends" indicates a loss position.
No man is useless while he has a friend. No man can declare personal bankruptcy if he has one friend.
Very often friends are lost because we are unwilling to pay the price it takes to maintain them. It was Emerson who said, "The only way to have a friend is to be one." (The Home Book of Quotations, sel. Burton Stevenson, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1935, p. 727.)
A friend is a person who will not only take the time to know us, but also take the time to be with us and never desert us regardless of the circumstances. One of the finest presents each of us can give someone else is our best self.
Joseph Smith gave us a glimpse of his measure of friends when he said, "If my life is of no value to my friends it is of none to myself." (History of the Church, 6:549.) The Savior said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13).
When Robert Louis Stevenson was asked the secret of his radiant, useful life, he responded simply, "I had a friend."
A friend in the true sense is not a person who passively nods approval of our conduct or ignores improper behavior. A friend is a person who cares. When we lose someone who cares about us, we lose one of our most valuable assets. An Arabian proverb says, "A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of on's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away."
A friend is a priceless possession because a true friend is one who not only is willing to love us the way we are, but is able to leave us better than he found us. We are poor when we lose friends because generally they are willing to reprove, admonish, love, encourage, and guide us for our best good. A friend lifts the heavy heart, says the encouraging word, and assists in supplying our daily needs. As friends, we will make ourselves available without delay to those who need us.
I hope that in the days ahead more and more of us will free ourselves from expressions of, "If you need me, let me know," or, "If I can be of help, call me," and replace them with the development of a sixth sense that will let us know when and where our friendship is needed.
When Joseph Smith was in the Liberty Jail, he poured out his heart and soul with, "O God, where art thou?" Part of God's great declaration of love and encouragement to him at that time was:
"My son, peace be unto thy soul ,…
"Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.
"Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job." (D&C 121:1, 7, 9,10; )
Joseph Smith was enduring much, for God's own purposes, but he was rich because his friends were standing by him.
A person is poor when he is friendless, but even poorer when he ceases being a friend. No matter what the conduct or negligence of others may be, we cannot afford to yield in our sincere efforts to be a friend. Very often our family members and friends need our friendship most when they least deserve it.
II. Thou shalt honor thy character and protect it from self destruction.
A person is poor when his character is honeycombed with greed and warped by dishonesty. When we yield to misconduct under pressure, we are poor. A person who has to beg for bread is not poor if he has not bent to expediency. An individual is headed for personal bankruptcy when he sells his character and reputation for cash, honor, or convenience. We are poor in character when we think getting by is a substitute for doing our best. Virtue, action, and truth properly blended in life make a person rich.
Our character is determined by how we perform in meeting life's challenges. Thank God for individuals who have the courage to stand up and be counted on the side of truth and integrity. What a compliment it is to have someone say of you, "She will not yield her principles under pressure or distress."
III. Thou shalt not deceive.
Sir Walter Scott said, "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" (Familiar Quotations, comp. John Bartlett, 14th ed., Boston: Little, Brown, and Co:, 1968, p. 519.) A man of deceit considers, "What will partial truths bring me when I crowd the line of truth?" A man of character considers what is right: "And again, verily I say unto you, blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord." (D&C 124:15.)
A favorite tool of the devil is deception. satan's skills win him the title of "The father of deceit." He would have us all become poor by living and promoting the lie. Whenever deception is encouraged, the promoter is the greatest loser. He must bear the responsibility for those he injures.
IV. Thou shalt not compromise thy principles.
All of us should constantly remind ourselves that character is education properly applied. The sharing and encouraging of truth on a continuing basis shelters one from poverty. Nobility in character is one asset that will bring dividends regardless of the business climate. A quality person will not compromise his principles regardless of the size or intensity of the foe or situation.
A person who compromises in a sense advertises in the marketplace that a certain price or consideration will cause him to sell out. People of uncompromising principles are never poor. How rich are those who can live by worthy principles and manage the results!
V. Thou shalt love thyself.
Through an appropriate blend of self-pride and self-dignity, self-respect will surface. A person is poor when he personally labels himself as a "marked-down" or a "close-out" article.
How sad, how long the day when we become low on ourselves! The worst form of defeat is to be conquered by self. Defeat is not pleasant, but nothing is so painful and devastating as self-defeat. Losing our self-dignity and self-respect is the worst form of poverty. When trust in friends and self are both lost, there is not much trust left in life.
We should teach, particularly ourselves, that nobody is a nobody. We are someone, and with God's help we can accomplish all things. It is a sad day when a person finds it easier to be true to friends than to himself. How unwise, how unfair to sell ourselves short when God is our partner.
Personal bankruptcy is impossible for a person of self-pride. A person is poor when he places despair over hope. A person is poor when he fails to remember who he really is and forgets his relationship to God, family, and self.
Many years ago, on a hot summer day, I was walking through the medium security division of the Utah State Prison. Most inmates were out of their cells. I mingled among them and visited with some. Most were dressed without shirts. I remember as though it were yesterday my talking to one who had tattooed across his chest in rather large letters, "A Born Loser." He had labelled himself poor, and his present environment indicated he was doing quite well with his personal image.
VI. Thou shalt be honest.
A person is poor when he thinks honesty is a policy instead of a proper way of life. Thomas Carlyle said, "Over the time thou hast no power; to redeem a world sunk in dishonesty has not been given thee; solely over one man therein thou hast a quite absolute ... power; him redeem, him make honest." (In Forty Thousand Quotations, comp. Charles Noel Douglas (New York: Nelson Doubleday, 1917), p. 1557.) An honest conscience is worth more than it costs. Greatness is truly measured by honest self-appraisal.
"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36.)
How many times over the years have you heard the declaration that it is greater to be trusted than loved? Let me remind you that regardless of the number of times, you havenÂ’t heard it enough. Without honesty there is no foundation upon which to build. How can a person be helped when he insists on living the lie? Lying and living the lie keep us poor.
VII. Thou shalt not wrongfully exploit others for personal advantage.
A person is poor when he drops or uses the name of an individual or an institution to promote or sell his questionable wares. How unfair, unwise, and poor are those who would have us believe a "get rich" investment opportunity is desirable because of the political or ecclesiastical office the one holds who is making the proposition. Any person who allows his good name or image to be used to promote or encourage schemes of the unscrupulous is embracing dishonesty. Dishonesty is any communication given to another with the intent to deceive. An improper entry in one's personal ledger, flattery, failure to defend a truth or principle, failure to discipline, and the endorsement of a fallacy are a few of the other forms of exploiting for personal gain.
In today's marketplace- yes, in our own neighborhoods, towns, and cities- scheming, deceiving promoters are making available to gullible purchasers all kinds of enticing offers. We are sorry to report thousands within our ranks are being duped by the glib tongues of those who offer and solicit in whispers "once in a lifetime opportunities" and "just for you" approaches.
Those of us who knowingly give ear to dishonesty in any form are moving in the direction of poverty.
VIII. Thou shalt not believe repentance is an announcement.
A person is poor when he lives by comparison rather than by principle. A person is poor when he fails to realize repentance is a process and not just a declaration. Every person has the challenge of recognizing and carrying his personal cross. Repentance is an action principle, not a self-declared holding pattern.
A person who is willing to repent will never have more liabilities than assets. Repentance makes it possible for the sinner to get back up when he falls. A person is poor only when he is unwilling to use and understand repentance. Repentance is not an announcement. It is improved conduct.
IX. Thou shalt not stay poor.
It's not fun being poor, but no one has to be. With friends, virtue, character, truth, integrity, repentance, and other God-given gifts and rights available, pearls of great price are ours for the seeking. Through prayer and action God helps us avoid being poor. He that has eternal life is rich.
X. Thou shalt not allow thyself to be managed by money.
A person who allows his money to manage him instead of him managing his money is poor. No matter how much or how little we have to live on each week or month, it needs to be used wisely. We need to decide on a budget and live within it.
Some claim living within a budget takes the fun out of life and is too restrictive. But those who avoid the inconvenience of a budget must suffer the pains of living outside of it. The Church operates within a budget. Successful business functions within a budget. Families free of crushing debt have a budget. Budget guidelines encourage better performance and management.
It seems there will always be emergencies and crises in all of our lives that cause financial drain, but even these developments need not make us poor. Things generally turn up for those who keep digging. Financial disaster can be avoided if we learn with others how to help ourselves. Anyone with friends, family, neighbors, bishops, and stake presidents who care, is rich.
Through work, education, and commitment, personal satisfaction can be realized as we make appropriate use of the accumulation of this world's goods. No one needs to apologize for his success in financial achievement if the means of attainment have been honorable and he knows how to wisely use what he has. Conversely, when money and wealth become our goal and our god, we are poor.
I personally applaud those who are honorably successful in achieving an abundance of this world's goods, but only if it is convincingly evident their money is being wisely used. No man should be respected just for his riches fairly acquired, but rather for his philanthropy. We do not judge the value of the sun by its height, but for its use.
It is a worthy prayer to ask our Heavenly Father to bless us with this world's goods, but not with more than we can bear. Too much money can make us poor. One of life's great lessons is to teach us that what we do with what we have is more important than what we have. Limited budgets can teach us sacrifice, self-reliance, restraint, and personal management. And proper incentive and attitudes prevent us from ever classifying ourselves as poor.
I leave you these thoughts, my love, and my testimony. It's no fun being poor. Fortunately, none of us has to be.
I didn't get them all, but I was attempting to highlight the words that state how much of happiness and being 'un-poor' require us to do something about it. Something I'm still struggling with as per my brain and body ... but working on it :) And I have great help in my God. 0:-)
Address delivered at a Brigham Young University devotional, 30 March 1982
Marvin J. Ashton, "It's No Fun Being Poor," Ensign, Sept. 1982, 72
I think when I announce the title of my remarks it is reasonable to assume many of you will nudge the one next to you and say, "So what else is new?" or "Where does the line form for those who want to bear witness to the fact?"
My topic is: "It's No Fun Being Poor."
Now the truth is, not one of us needs to be poor. However, we can become victims of real poverty if we are not wise in our daily conduct. The main question for every person to resolve is not what he would do if he had vast money, time, influence, or educational advantages, but how he will best use the means and assets he has and will yet have. The next related question is, what is meant by the terms poor and rich? Does it have to do with material goods? And if so, how much does it have to do with material goods?
It's no fun being poor. It is much more fun to be rich. I hope we will see that we can be rich if life's ledger is filled with daily entries that show bottom line totals including sound moral conduct, uprightness, and incorruptibility.
The purpose of my remarks is to try to help all of us avoid being poor. Hopefully, if we are already poor, we will be able to overcome it with corrective actions. For your consideration, I am going to identify "ten commandments" we should follow if we would avoid being poor. Doubtless, there may be ten, twenty, or thirty more, but for our purposes, the following may be a good start.
I. Thou shalt not lose a friend or cease being one.
A person is poor when his friendship inventory is depreciating. A person is poor when he is friendless. When friends, those closest to us, have cause to desert, to disbelieve, to lose confidence in us, we are poor. When we lose friends, our strength as well as our desire is ofttimes totally drained. In our personal balance sheets, "minus friends" indicates a loss position.
No man is useless while he has a friend. No man can declare personal bankruptcy if he has one friend.
Very often friends are lost because we are unwilling to pay the price it takes to maintain them. It was Emerson who said, "The only way to have a friend is to be one." (The Home Book of Quotations, sel. Burton Stevenson, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1935, p. 727.)
A friend is a person who will not only take the time to know us, but also take the time to be with us and never desert us regardless of the circumstances. One of the finest presents each of us can give someone else is our best self.
Joseph Smith gave us a glimpse of his measure of friends when he said, "If my life is of no value to my friends it is of none to myself." (History of the Church, 6:549.) The Savior said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13).
When Robert Louis Stevenson was asked the secret of his radiant, useful life, he responded simply, "I had a friend."
A friend in the true sense is not a person who passively nods approval of our conduct or ignores improper behavior. A friend is a person who cares. When we lose someone who cares about us, we lose one of our most valuable assets. An Arabian proverb says, "A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of on's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away."
A friend is a priceless possession because a true friend is one who not only is willing to love us the way we are, but is able to leave us better than he found us. We are poor when we lose friends because generally they are willing to reprove, admonish, love, encourage, and guide us for our best good. A friend lifts the heavy heart, says the encouraging word, and assists in supplying our daily needs. As friends, we will make ourselves available without delay to those who need us.
I hope that in the days ahead more and more of us will free ourselves from expressions of, "If you need me, let me know," or, "If I can be of help, call me," and replace them with the development of a sixth sense that will let us know when and where our friendship is needed.
When Joseph Smith was in the Liberty Jail, he poured out his heart and soul with, "O God, where art thou?" Part of God's great declaration of love and encouragement to him at that time was:
"My son, peace be unto thy soul ,…
"Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.
"Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job." (D&C 121:1, 7, 9,10; )
Joseph Smith was enduring much, for God's own purposes, but he was rich because his friends were standing by him.
A person is poor when he is friendless, but even poorer when he ceases being a friend. No matter what the conduct or negligence of others may be, we cannot afford to yield in our sincere efforts to be a friend. Very often our family members and friends need our friendship most when they least deserve it.
II. Thou shalt honor thy character and protect it from self destruction.
A person is poor when his character is honeycombed with greed and warped by dishonesty. When we yield to misconduct under pressure, we are poor. A person who has to beg for bread is not poor if he has not bent to expediency. An individual is headed for personal bankruptcy when he sells his character and reputation for cash, honor, or convenience. We are poor in character when we think getting by is a substitute for doing our best. Virtue, action, and truth properly blended in life make a person rich.
Our character is determined by how we perform in meeting life's challenges. Thank God for individuals who have the courage to stand up and be counted on the side of truth and integrity. What a compliment it is to have someone say of you, "She will not yield her principles under pressure or distress."
III. Thou shalt not deceive.
Sir Walter Scott said, "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" (Familiar Quotations, comp. John Bartlett, 14th ed., Boston: Little, Brown, and Co:, 1968, p. 519.) A man of deceit considers, "What will partial truths bring me when I crowd the line of truth?" A man of character considers what is right: "And again, verily I say unto you, blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord." (D&C 124:15.)
A favorite tool of the devil is deception. satan's skills win him the title of "The father of deceit." He would have us all become poor by living and promoting the lie. Whenever deception is encouraged, the promoter is the greatest loser. He must bear the responsibility for those he injures.
IV. Thou shalt not compromise thy principles.
All of us should constantly remind ourselves that character is education properly applied. The sharing and encouraging of truth on a continuing basis shelters one from poverty. Nobility in character is one asset that will bring dividends regardless of the business climate. A quality person will not compromise his principles regardless of the size or intensity of the foe or situation.
A person who compromises in a sense advertises in the marketplace that a certain price or consideration will cause him to sell out. People of uncompromising principles are never poor. How rich are those who can live by worthy principles and manage the results!
V. Thou shalt love thyself.
Through an appropriate blend of self-pride and self-dignity, self-respect will surface. A person is poor when he personally labels himself as a "marked-down" or a "close-out" article.
How sad, how long the day when we become low on ourselves! The worst form of defeat is to be conquered by self. Defeat is not pleasant, but nothing is so painful and devastating as self-defeat. Losing our self-dignity and self-respect is the worst form of poverty. When trust in friends and self are both lost, there is not much trust left in life.
We should teach, particularly ourselves, that nobody is a nobody. We are someone, and with God's help we can accomplish all things. It is a sad day when a person finds it easier to be true to friends than to himself. How unwise, how unfair to sell ourselves short when God is our partner.
Personal bankruptcy is impossible for a person of self-pride. A person is poor when he places despair over hope. A person is poor when he fails to remember who he really is and forgets his relationship to God, family, and self.
Many years ago, on a hot summer day, I was walking through the medium security division of the Utah State Prison. Most inmates were out of their cells. I mingled among them and visited with some. Most were dressed without shirts. I remember as though it were yesterday my talking to one who had tattooed across his chest in rather large letters, "A Born Loser." He had labelled himself poor, and his present environment indicated he was doing quite well with his personal image.
VI. Thou shalt be honest.
A person is poor when he thinks honesty is a policy instead of a proper way of life. Thomas Carlyle said, "Over the time thou hast no power; to redeem a world sunk in dishonesty has not been given thee; solely over one man therein thou hast a quite absolute ... power; him redeem, him make honest." (In Forty Thousand Quotations, comp. Charles Noel Douglas (New York: Nelson Doubleday, 1917), p. 1557.) An honest conscience is worth more than it costs. Greatness is truly measured by honest self-appraisal.
"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36.)
How many times over the years have you heard the declaration that it is greater to be trusted than loved? Let me remind you that regardless of the number of times, you havenÂ’t heard it enough. Without honesty there is no foundation upon which to build. How can a person be helped when he insists on living the lie? Lying and living the lie keep us poor.
VII. Thou shalt not wrongfully exploit others for personal advantage.
A person is poor when he drops or uses the name of an individual or an institution to promote or sell his questionable wares. How unfair, unwise, and poor are those who would have us believe a "get rich" investment opportunity is desirable because of the political or ecclesiastical office the one holds who is making the proposition. Any person who allows his good name or image to be used to promote or encourage schemes of the unscrupulous is embracing dishonesty. Dishonesty is any communication given to another with the intent to deceive. An improper entry in one's personal ledger, flattery, failure to defend a truth or principle, failure to discipline, and the endorsement of a fallacy are a few of the other forms of exploiting for personal gain.
In today's marketplace- yes, in our own neighborhoods, towns, and cities- scheming, deceiving promoters are making available to gullible purchasers all kinds of enticing offers. We are sorry to report thousands within our ranks are being duped by the glib tongues of those who offer and solicit in whispers "once in a lifetime opportunities" and "just for you" approaches.
Those of us who knowingly give ear to dishonesty in any form are moving in the direction of poverty.
VIII. Thou shalt not believe repentance is an announcement.
A person is poor when he lives by comparison rather than by principle. A person is poor when he fails to realize repentance is a process and not just a declaration. Every person has the challenge of recognizing and carrying his personal cross. Repentance is an action principle, not a self-declared holding pattern.
A person who is willing to repent will never have more liabilities than assets. Repentance makes it possible for the sinner to get back up when he falls. A person is poor only when he is unwilling to use and understand repentance. Repentance is not an announcement. It is improved conduct.
IX. Thou shalt not stay poor.
It's not fun being poor, but no one has to be. With friends, virtue, character, truth, integrity, repentance, and other God-given gifts and rights available, pearls of great price are ours for the seeking. Through prayer and action God helps us avoid being poor. He that has eternal life is rich.
X. Thou shalt not allow thyself to be managed by money.
A person who allows his money to manage him instead of him managing his money is poor. No matter how much or how little we have to live on each week or month, it needs to be used wisely. We need to decide on a budget and live within it.
Some claim living within a budget takes the fun out of life and is too restrictive. But those who avoid the inconvenience of a budget must suffer the pains of living outside of it. The Church operates within a budget. Successful business functions within a budget. Families free of crushing debt have a budget. Budget guidelines encourage better performance and management.
It seems there will always be emergencies and crises in all of our lives that cause financial drain, but even these developments need not make us poor. Things generally turn up for those who keep digging. Financial disaster can be avoided if we learn with others how to help ourselves. Anyone with friends, family, neighbors, bishops, and stake presidents who care, is rich.
Through work, education, and commitment, personal satisfaction can be realized as we make appropriate use of the accumulation of this world's goods. No one needs to apologize for his success in financial achievement if the means of attainment have been honorable and he knows how to wisely use what he has. Conversely, when money and wealth become our goal and our god, we are poor.
I personally applaud those who are honorably successful in achieving an abundance of this world's goods, but only if it is convincingly evident their money is being wisely used. No man should be respected just for his riches fairly acquired, but rather for his philanthropy. We do not judge the value of the sun by its height, but for its use.
It is a worthy prayer to ask our Heavenly Father to bless us with this world's goods, but not with more than we can bear. Too much money can make us poor. One of life's great lessons is to teach us that what we do with what we have is more important than what we have. Limited budgets can teach us sacrifice, self-reliance, restraint, and personal management. And proper incentive and attitudes prevent us from ever classifying ourselves as poor.
I leave you these thoughts, my love, and my testimony. It's no fun being poor. Fortunately, none of us has to be.
I didn't get them all, but I was attempting to highlight the words that state how much of happiness and being 'un-poor' require us to do something about it. Something I'm still struggling with as per my brain and body ... but working on it :) And I have great help in my God. 0:-)
Friday, November 17, 2006
Life
So I've been thinking a lot about this life as well as where we were before we got here. I know that many on this earth don't believe this, but as sure as you're alive today and breathing it is true. We came from Heaven, and to heaven we will return again, but not till after we have finished out 'test' or 'trial' here in mortality. That's the whole reason for the creation of this earth is to give God a place to see what His children will do on their own with Him not around. (the old adage 'while the cat's away the mice will play' comes to mind all the sudden) But that is the whole test! What will we do now that God has given us our free agency, and allowed us this earth to live, discover, grow, and choose.... Then look back to see if the choice we made was a good one (gave us JOY) or a poor one (caused remorse of conscience) ... It's interesting how there are many "false joys" in this life. The word "Joy" as I understand it, is a forever Happiness or peace, not just fleeting moments of happiness that go away, and to receive the 'happiness again' the 'act that gave you the happiness' needs to be repeated in order to receive it again. That is false joy, because joy STAYS with you even when the act is over and done. If you're new to my Blog and you've just stumbled across it, think on that above statement and feel free to comment whether you feel it's correct or not...
Next in line, and the actual reason I came online to post was this thought - Again I'll state how I believe that we are spirit sons and daughters of God, and we used to live with Him before this earth. These bodies we now posses are gifts to us (on loan mind you) for us to receive an experience here on earth. In heaven we couldn't "grow" because in heaven we were all innocent, we knew no good because we knew no evil, we had no joy because we knew no misery. We were as children are when they first get here. If you have had children, or even nieces or nephews, or taken care of friend's children you should know what I'm talking about. Children are perfect! They love everyone all the time and know no danger or evil unless informed by a parent, sibling, or as they get older, friends, and such. In heaven with our Father in heaven we were told about this earth and about our chance to come here , receive bodies like God has (flesh and bone), and to 'give this thing called life a shot for ourselves' (that's my own quoting not God's in any way) ... Anyway I've read in the scriptures how when we were told we would have this chance to come here we all be like God we 'shouted for joy' (Job 38:7-When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons (and daughters) of God shouted for joy) (check that whole chapter if you want :) )... But I've thought on this statement and this is what I've come up with thought wise (disclaimer : this is not scripture but my personal opinion) -we were innocent ,as a child is innocent, in heaven and when we heard this and shouted for joy, did we actually understand it? If you were to teach something like this to a child would they understand it, or would they just trust it to be good or evil depending on the person that said it? Given that God is the person who said it, I feel that we weren't shouting for joy out of the knowledge of not 'what it will be like once we got down here', but we were shouting for joy because God said it was good and we trusted God, so it was good to us. .... On top of that I've further thought and discovered how much trust God must have for each and every one of us who are now down here. He sent us down here, knowing full well what we would go through on this earth, the pains, sorrows, joys, happiness, and all, but He trusted us that we would find Him again, and if not find imagine then to as least to do as good as we knew how to those other spirits sent from His presence given a body of flesh and blood as we have. (other people on this earth)
How much more importance comes to the world with the words that Christ uttered in answer to a questioning lawyer ?
(New Testament Luke 10:25 - 28)
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law?How readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt alive.
I pray that everyone or anyone what stumbled across this post will have The Spirit with them so that they may feel the depth of that message from our God (and appreciate my thought on it as well) I guess I'll end with another scripture and get back to attempting to live better. .. ;)
( Jacob 6:12)
12 O be wise; what can I say more?
Next in line, and the actual reason I came online to post was this thought - Again I'll state how I believe that we are spirit sons and daughters of God, and we used to live with Him before this earth. These bodies we now posses are gifts to us (on loan mind you) for us to receive an experience here on earth. In heaven we couldn't "grow" because in heaven we were all innocent, we knew no good because we knew no evil, we had no joy because we knew no misery. We were as children are when they first get here. If you have had children, or even nieces or nephews, or taken care of friend's children you should know what I'm talking about. Children are perfect! They love everyone all the time and know no danger or evil unless informed by a parent, sibling, or as they get older, friends, and such. In heaven with our Father in heaven we were told about this earth and about our chance to come here , receive bodies like God has (flesh and bone), and to 'give this thing called life a shot for ourselves' (that's my own quoting not God's in any way) ... Anyway I've read in the scriptures how when we were told we would have this chance to come here we all be like God we 'shouted for joy' (Job 38:7-When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons (and daughters) of God shouted for joy) (check that whole chapter if you want :) )... But I've thought on this statement and this is what I've come up with thought wise (disclaimer : this is not scripture but my personal opinion) -we were innocent ,as a child is innocent, in heaven and when we heard this and shouted for joy, did we actually understand it? If you were to teach something like this to a child would they understand it, or would they just trust it to be good or evil depending on the person that said it? Given that God is the person who said it, I feel that we weren't shouting for joy out of the knowledge of not 'what it will be like once we got down here', but we were shouting for joy because God said it was good and we trusted God, so it was good to us. .... On top of that I've further thought and discovered how much trust God must have for each and every one of us who are now down here. He sent us down here, knowing full well what we would go through on this earth, the pains, sorrows, joys, happiness, and all, but He trusted us that we would find Him again, and if not find imagine then to as least to do as good as we knew how to those other spirits sent from His presence given a body of flesh and blood as we have. (other people on this earth)
How much more importance comes to the world with the words that Christ uttered in answer to a questioning lawyer ?
(New Testament Luke 10:25 - 28)
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law?How readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt alive.
I pray that everyone or anyone what stumbled across this post will have The Spirit with them so that they may feel the depth of that message from our God (and appreciate my thought on it as well) I guess I'll end with another scripture and get back to attempting to live better. .. ;)
( Jacob 6:12)
12 O be wise; what can I say more?
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