A Curious Instrument

It's disconcerting when I hear the wisdom of Youtube, Tiktok, and other "outside" sources used in Sacrament talks and lessons in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints . With the sacrifice and effort put out to safeguard and translate the Bible and Book of Mormon records for our use, coupled with the inspiration and wisdom of Christ-appointed prophets and apostles , the use of such lesser sources as references in Church meetings smacks of ingratitude for the authorities that Christ has already established to give us spiritual guidance. Modern social media provides compelling voices and personalities the opportunity to reach broad audiences that only accomplished and recognized leaders and theologians could muster in the past. Although more people have the chance to be seen and heard more widely via the internet, the messages presented have a greater tendency to be tailored toward "itching ears" rather than inspired truth.  For the time will come when t...

I have been spending time in very foreign places lately and the difference in culture are stark. Although I feel this way in most situations every day, the contrast to the stranger feeling is far more stark some four thousand miles away from my wife! Santiago in Chile has no particular enemies as far as I can see, unlike the United States. Border control is a simple matter in this part of South America compared to the grilling I will get when I re-enter the USA. I suppose more terrorists are interested in attacking "the land of the free and home of the brave" as they say, rather than the longest and skinniest country around. It is interesting to see the people on the streets of Santiago, stopping often, shaking hands, pairing off and often kissing each other. if you can get past the frustrated drivers that regularly toot their horns, it is all very (in a word) peaceful . It isn't very noisy for a congested city center and I don't see a lot of anxiety in anyone's f...

Women become the most vaunted victim/heroes when they are anointed single mothers. And it is a bequeath, complete with a judge that raps a gavel to make it happen.  I was just watching a video where a single mom was talking about how hard it was to parent alone. They are beautiful and endurant and sacrificing, which means the cast-away husband/father must have been blind, abusive, and self-centered, right? That was why this most wonderous and beatified mother could ever divorce or so it seems .  It is an accepted sociological fact that men are monsters and if a woman hasn't divorced random man yet, it is only a matter of time before the monster reveals itself and a new saintly single mother is born. If single parenting is such a hard task and requires so much above and beyond mere human ability, that should speak volumes about the absolute benefit of keeping husbands around. Women shine up both mother and father badges when they say they wear them both with crushing heaviness,...

The essence of home-based church-supported gospel learning is what I call homeschooling. Parents guiding the discussion and teaching Christ and his gospel to their children. The Sunday church second hour is content review - sharing with your peers what you learned in your home study. The quarterly Teacher councils is a style review, for parent and teachers,  sharing How we teach. Again, home is for study and gospel doctrine style teaching, the What we teach.

I have heard many authorities say something like - It is never too late to repent. True, but... This is one of those scriptures that let you know that a person can divorce themselves so completely from the Lord that: But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed; wherefore they went again to battle.  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/ether/15?lang=eng&id=p19#p19 We can go so far away from the Lord that the Spirit will stop working to save us.  I tie this to my axiom of "don't count on it", that someone tests Christ's ability to overcome a pretty slimy and unrepentant personal nature.  We all need to do our best to come to Jesus humbly and fully repentant, not to challenge him like some sumo wrestler for how hard we can make it for him to rede...

I looked back at my working life and I saw that for the most part, I have always worked for either a government entity or a government contractor.  I am currently yet again a government contractor so the Donald Trump-pushed DOGE efforts have every chance of affecting me and my income directly. I am going to suffer a bit if efforts at "government efficiency" eliminate my employment. Regardless, the work of DOGE is absolutely essential to the government downsizing that needs to happen and that politicians have never brought themselves to do.  As long as government is ruled by the puerile desires of those who want to profit of the labors of others, it will continue to lead in the destruction of societies, families, and individuals.  Everyone accuses the adults of today for continuing the ruination which children will have to live with as they grow older.  Young social justice warriors love to scream this at their elders. I say this is the way to silence such obnoxious...

Standards: a level of quality or attainment. Exemption: the process of freeing or state of being free from an obligation or liability imposed on others. There are two basic sorts of people, those who measure themselves against standards and those who work to exempt themselves from standards, usually by eliminating measurement. These sorts tend to gravitate to the brightest light or the grossest darkness. James 4 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. It is far better to find the best standard by which you can live your life, especially one patterned after the life and teachings of Jesus Christ , rather than the fruitless search for exemptions from responsibility for those around you.