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The Christmas season is upon us, the pines filled with their suggestive fragrance, the holly berries still red and plump. There is yet time to think, before we become hopelessly sucked into the frenzy, what we want Christmas, this year, to be. “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son,”1 […]
Recently a mother taught her daughter about the world, spinning a small globe and pointing to the countries and continents, talking about the peoples and the geographies of our planet. As the little girl looked at the sphere of the earth, the question occurred to her that is so often asked by children: “If the […]
“A man stood before one of J.M.W. Turner’s unrivaled paintings and said, “I can see nothing in it.” Then the great artist replied, “Don’t you wish you could?”1 It is now a season of Thanksgiving, a time—in theory—when we should swell with appreciation. But too many of us eat our turkey with tired taste buds […]
We often discuss the role of faith in the affairs of men and women. Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”1 It necessarily permeates every aspect of our lives. For instance, the state of world affairs—with wars and rumors of war—can be disheartening. But we overcome our despair […]
The unforgiving ticking of the clock moves us on—dispassionately, uncontrollably carrying us towards maturity and old age. There is nothing we can do to alter time or impede its progress. We will never be as young again as we are this moment. Despite our best efforts, time soon has its way, revealing the years which […]
The most important task imposed by religion has always been to “love thy neighbor” and that includes love thy family. It is a charge to all mankind to be concerned about the business of human relationships. It includes developing friendships with people we feel comfortable around, those with whom we share mutual honesty and trust. Being […]
World events of recent months—including civilian bombings, political assassinations, and other acts of premeditated violence and loss of life—have reminded us once again that man’s inalienable right to life is only a principle and not a realized fact of human existence. Daily, individuals are robbed of this inherent right—murdered without cause, without due process—deprived of […]
A problem, like a child’s exercise in mathematics, seems something to be solved according to an easy formula, set aside and then forgotten. Certainly, that’s what we hope for in life. Sometimes under our breath, we pray, “Let it not be too hard today.” We look forward to a time when the difficulties will level […]
The most basic commandment in Christianity is that we love one another. Jesus said on this and on our love for God hang all the laws and the prophets. But if love is such a desired virtue, why is it so difficult to attain? Part of the difficulty may lie in our definition of love. […]
We live in a beautiful world, a world of not only beautiful objects, but of beautiful moments, beautiful experiences. Each season is glorious in its time, and each has its lesson. Presently, the harvested fields are being turned under and the rich aroma of earth and decaying stubble forewarns the snows of winter. And winter […]
Autumn is returning to the Northern Hemisphere with its brilliant colors and bountiful harvests. It is the fullness of all seasons, a time when we are keenly aware of parallels between nature and our own later years. When the autumn equinox occurs in our own lives, it would be well to remember that old age […]
Why is it that some people seem to roll pleasantly down the highways of life while others of us trudge a weary road from one problem to the next? The difference is often mostly a matter of viewpoint. Miguel De Unamuno wrote, “It is not usually our ideas that make us optimists or pessimists, but […]
Every morning is one of God’s best mornings for someone. But too often we don’t recognize it because we’re too busy counting our material possessions. The mark of the successful man or woman is the car driven, the cut of the suit, the size of the house. We hope to make our children successful by […]
In America’s rural past, farmers used scarecrows in their fields. Timid birds, seeing the cross-sticks attired with an old coat and perhaps a hat was frightened from an easy meal. To be sure, the inanimate mannequins were lifeless, crude and harmless—except to the birds, whose fears brought the scarecrows to life, endowed them with malicious intentions […]
The Lord will lead us to fertile fields and soft flowing rivers because we are His children, and He loves us. But because He knows our potential better than we ourselves do, He will also allow us to be tried and tested in this world. He will let us struggle to develop strength and to […]
We look to the night skies and see the summer stars. These heavenly lights have looked upon us from their whirling orbs since the dawn of civilization, seemingly unchanged as they meet their appointed revolutions of days and years, seemingly unaltered while the empires of man rise and fall. The ancients saw them, gave them […]
Rudyard Kipling, in a poem titled simply, “If,” investigates the many attributes of maturity. Among the attributes he discovers, one recurs in several forms: the courage to take risks—not the risks of the gambling hall, but of the life lived faithfully and well. Perhaps “risk” is not a proper description of the faithful life, because […]
People arriving in the New York harbor by sea are greeted by the majestic Statue of Liberty, her torch raised high in a symbolic salute to freedom. Millions more have visited that national monument to be reminded of the freedom of these United States and the love we have for it. When Americans say we […]
One of the great lessons of the scriptures is that of God’s faith and hope in all His children. He believes in us. He counts on us to do the right thing, and He trusts that ultimately, we will. It is because of His trust in us to choose the right—to do the right thing—that […]
The past months have been hard for many of us. Economic recessions, harsh weather conditions and the usual struggles to keep up with the demands of a demanding world can sometimes leave us struggling for strength to go on. None of us would choose to endure discomfort and sometimes suffering, but there are great lessons […]
None of us has a complete, objective view of the world. We see things through the prism of our own personalities. Ask any three witnesses about an event and they’ll give three different accounts, colored by their own character and experience. It is those differences that make us interesting to one another and provide style […]
Personal worth can be measured by the happiness one generates in the lives of others. And the lives over which we have the most influence are those of our own family members. No joy can equal the joy which comes from being part of a successful family, from building strong relationships and a concept of togetherness, from the feeling that family members belong to each other.
Misinformation is often the cause of ignorance. With little effort on our part we become victims of, and even pass on, untruths that we assume to be accurate. It would probably amaze us if we knew how many things, we believe to be true that, in fact, are not true.
Boys come in assorted shapes and sizes. They grow at separate rates and develop contrasting interests. They mature at different ages and demonstrate distinct aptitudes for learning.
The forces of nature have been much in the news lately; volcanic eruptions, floods, earthquakes, and unusual weather patterns have made the headlines throughout the world. Some areas of the world have experienced drought in what is normally a rainy season. Here, in the usually arid west, we've had more water than the ground can hold.
There is a great deal of satisfaction to be had from independence, and we all seek to be self-sustaining: to use our God-given talents for the purpose of earning our way in the world. But in our efforts to become independent, we must remind ourselves that we depend upon what we are given as much as upon what we earn. Life itself is a gift, and the sweetness of a gift is not that it is deserved, but that it is joyfully given and gratefully received.
The first flowers of spring have already wilted. Like fragile flags against the snow, they came, had their brief day and wilted into memory. It is a typical pattern; it is the pattern of all living things. Artificial flowers may stand in petrified splendor, but nothing live can stay.
When we think of the Savior's importance in our lives, we realize that His teachings are as relevant today as they were nearly 2,000 years ago.
Life is so basically good, and we so expect it to be good, that occasionally we are frustrated and confused by the adversities that may appear to stand in the way of our happiness. There may even be those who ask, "If God loves us, why does He not protect us? Why does He not keep trouble from afflicting us?"
We turn again to thoughts of mother with memories of home and infancy. We have learned the heavenly lesson which has waited patiently for us, biding its time, until we could understand that a mother's love is the most constant and the most unconditional human affection that this life has to offer.