A Curious Instrument

When it comes down to it, the prayers and presence of righteous people are the only thing standing between many of our neighbors and total destruction. It is yet another discomforting warning to us all; we must choose what side are we on and how God feels about us. God definitely rewards those that turn to him and do his will, which will always lead us to our happiness, betterment, fulfillment, and glory. If we disobey him and turn away from him, our actions will lead us toward misery and pain, often by our own hand and the evil actions of our wicked friends. There is a natural incentive toward righteousness that comes from the promise of punishment for our evil doings. Although it is very popular to say that there should never be punishments for people acting as they choose, we already see the terrible influence, heartache, and suffering caused by wicked people who behave without restraint among us. Let's review a good summary of what we can expect from an unrepentant future. The ...

I find myself barraged by reasons that others wear a mask during this CoVid-19 hysteria. I will tell you why I can be seen wearing a mask. It is probably for different reasons than justify those around me. Unlike so many others, I don't do wear the mask to protect the health of someone else or the health of myself. I firmly trust that as this virus moves throughout the population (sooner better than later), individuals will either build up an immunity to it or die. I believe that mask use, "social distancing", and curbs on commerce designed to "flatten the curve" only serve to destroy an otherwise healthy economy and empower evil people with copious amounts of time to devise nefarious ways to dominate others and destroy our sacred American liberties. I firmly hold that  everyone  will eventually be exposed and either survive their exposure or not and we should not allow any time for terrible people to find ways to capitalize on people's fears. I see the ...

I have been a religious leader for thirty years, both ecclesiastical and administrative. I have worked with all sorts of people in all kinds of capacities and have enjoyed both sides of religious work. Of course, you already know that I am a Mormon  and we are increasingly known for our "Home Teaching" program, where our priesthood holders visit Latter-Day Saint (LDS) families in their homes with spiritual messages and encouragement to live better lives and attend to their religious duties. A good friend of mine of another faith, who doesn't think much of Mormon doctrine otherwise, did say that Home Teaching was inspiring to him and he wished his own church had the resolve to do something similar. Pretty good program, yes? As an LDS priesthood leader, I collect statistics on family visits made and report them to regional (stake) and the general leadership.  The question often comes up of what can be "counted" as a proper visit, as many attempts just simply d...

In my continuation of verse-by-verse scripture study, I have been reading about the rise of Amalickiah and Captain Moroni's response to it. If these names or things don't mean anything to you, I would suggest that you read a bit of a tome called " The Book of Mormon " (forget the trashy, tawdry, and cynical play by the same name - the book is better) which I have dubbed "the Field-book for Our Times".  Hopefully, after reading this, you will see one reason why I call it so. Amalickiah wanted to be king of the Nephite nation. The Nephites were founded on this kooky idea that God had granted people their liberty and their government was formed to support this. The Book of Mormon's editor, a man named Mormon (it's his book), goes so far as to reveal Amalickiah's methods.  He promised lower government officials positions of expanded power under his kingship in return for their support. In a word, Amalickiah employed "flattery" to win suppo...

Every now and again, I write fiction.  Then for some unfathomable reason, I give it away.  Today, you can read my first published short story right here .  If you like it, please pass the link around to others by commenting and "liking" it on Facebook.  If you want to support my writing, you can purchase the Kindle version of "The Miracle of the Quilt" which is the first story in The Joys of Autism and Christian Ethos e-book. If you like "The Miracle of the Quilt", you will absolutely love my best story ever, Rachel and her Knight in Shining Armor , also available as an e-book. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy " The Miracle of the Quilt "!

Everyone wants advice about how to live their lives, right? What better source than Alma the Younger, former bad boy, Chief  Judge, mega-missionary, and a recipient of the "hey, he got translated" prize? After clarifying that resurrection is an incorruptible restoration of ourselves, good or bad, Alma give some advice to his wayward son, Coriantion, in Alma 41:14. be merciful to others; deal justly; judge righteously; and do good continually.  He says that if we do these things, we will get them in return in the resurrection.  In his words, they will be "restored unto you again, and you will have good rewarded unto you again." So, you want a nice afterlife? Alma's advice is to learn to spread niceness around during life and it will come back to you in the hereafter!  

The "one-a-day" study plods on and I am to the chapter where Alma is telling his son Corianton about how the resurrection works from his perspective. Of course, I am now interjecting my thoughts on the subject from my perspective as well, so as Alma did, "...I give it as my opinion..." ( Alma 40:20 ). One has to recall that Alma lived before the coming of Jesus Christ, so his perspective on it is different than those of us that live after Jesus himself was resurrected. Alma uses the phrase "first resurrection" in this context to mean the resurrection of the people that happens somewhat immediately after Christ's resurrection and involved those who lived before Christ, like Alma himself. Often, we, from our perspective, talk of the "first resurrection" as the one that is next in coming on the time-line, the resurrection of the repentant previous to judgement, which has not yet begun. I suppose we call it "first" because others wi...

Alma 39:14 Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you. A few days back, I read one of those "riches" scriptures as part of my "one-a-day" study. At one time in the past, I did a rather in-depth study of the whole idea of money and the Lord's feelings on the subject. I can't say that I found any amazing insight into the subject, but I did learn that the manner in which one becomes rich and how it is used are of more vital interest to the Lord than the wealth itself. For most of us, it is better not to have or pursue riches in the first place. The whole endeavor can cause spiritual problems that are just as well avoided. But one must also understand that wealth can be the consequence of obedience to the Lord and his desire to increase your stewardship. Helaman 13:21 Behold ye, the people of this great city, and hearken unto my words; yea, hearken unto the words which the Lord sait...

Today's Scripture - Alma 39:15 "And now, my son, I would say somewhat unto you concerning the coming of Christ. Behold, I say unto you, that it is he that surely shall come to take away the sins of the world; yea, he cometh to declare glad tidings of salvation unto his people." Some years ago, President Henry B. Eyring gave a talk that included his earlier reading of the Book of Mormon where he did it at the pace of about one scripture per day. [I was looking for the conference talk where he referred to this, but I can't find it!  I hope I didn't manufacture the memory!] That sounded like a good idea to me and I have been doing this for several years.  As you can see from the scripture reference above, the progress takes a while. The whole point is to read that scripture and to think about it that day. I am finding that little nuggets of insight are found in such a study where our usual "hot-rod" reading of a page or a chapter of scripture a d...

In 1999, I had just left my off-shore job and I was able to find work at a prison about 60 miles from our home as a computer technician. I only worked there for a few months, but I met some inmates that were Mormons like I am. One of them hooked me up with the prison chaplain and asked that I start a "sunday school" class for the Latter-Day Saint inmates. I decided to do it and a friend of mine, who had spare time and income on his hands, got involved with it as well.  Many Saturdays, we would make the drive to the prison in my friend truck, spend some time with a handful of inmates, and drive back, which took up the bulk of the day. It was a marvelous experience and I can say that some of my most enduring spiritual experiences happened in a tiny, cinder-block room in the bowels of the Guadalupe County Correctional Facility (GCCF) ! Sadly, as the years passed, I guess my friend got burned out and dispirited as our favorite prison chaplain died of cancer and the cost of t...

A few years back, President Henry B. Eyring  gave a talk about a scripture study method he had used in the past. It was basically to read one verse (or two) a day and ponder it.  He said that he gained so many new insights from taking his study very, very  slowly. I decided that day that I would try that out. It has been years now and I decided to pick up where I had been reading in the Book of Mormon with chapters at a time (and inconsistently).  I can't say when I started (perhaps three or four years ago), but I began at 2nd Nephi chapter 10 and I am just now at approaching Alma chapter 27.  As you can see, it is slow going! As predicted, there have been many insights and there is one today.   I don't know if I will blog about this every day, but perhaps this will contribute to more regular posts.   It is from Alma 26:29 (a rather long verse) which talks about two subjects: How to spread the gospel and what reception you can expect to receive. ...

I am happy to note that Lisa and I have been married for 25 years this coming Tuesday!  We will be off somewhere and sleeping in and having the sort of fun we tend to have, which is probably terribly low-key compared to most... I also calculated something else and it has been fifteen years since "The Great Writing Year", where I penned many of my short stories, the awesome novella Rachel and Her Knight in Shining Armor , and wrote the first complete draft of a book from The Navigiary Series .  That was 1998, while I was bobbing about on the waters off the US Gulf Coast and the west coast of Africa as a seismic navigator. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of my big writing push, I am giving everyone  A Free Copy of "The Joys of Autism and Christian Ethos" , which is a collection of many of these stories that is available from my Amazon store .  The book will only be free for a few days, so don't hesitate to get it right now! Of course, I welcome your kind rev...

UPDATE! The Psychic Proximity Principle is all grown up now, rendered as a Kindle booklet, and even fools around on the altar of Steve Jobs! Check out Feeding the Soul of Steve Jobs today! From Fiddler on the Roof : Tevye :  [ to Cha va ]   As the good book says 'Each shall seek his own kind'. In other words a bird may love a fish but where would they build a home together?  The Psychic Proximity Principle: You will gravitate toward a place and circumstance that actually fit you and your nature. So, if you are unhappy: You might be in the wrong place. You might be in the wrong circumstance. You might be ignoring your true nature. You might like fighting gravity or inertia a little too much. Hey, I believe in God and I believe that God wants us to reach our potential and find happiness. I also believe that God knows how to accomplish these goals better than we do. Therefore, we have a really secular-sounding thing called "The Psychic Proximit...

It is my thought that this world and circumstance must be among the lowest in the domain of our Heavenly Father.  There has always been stories of how this world was the only one in which the Christ would be crucified, but as I read scripture and view the expanse of history, I can come to the conclusion that righteousness is a very rare commodity here on Earth and often taken away from this place to find its promised thriving elsewhere. I think of the people of the city of Enoch, who built a Zion Society that lasted for perhaps 400 years and then "fled", literally taken off of the Earth.  We also have a little reference to a group that was assembled at Salem, led by the great high priest Melchizedek, who are mentioned once and never heard of in scripture again, perhaps also removed from this sphere. We also have the case of the "lost" ten tribes of Israel, who legend says repented whole-heartedly of the behavior that led to their capture by the Assyrians and were ...

After years of effort and trying to walk away from the thing, the first book of the Navigiary series: Escape , is finally out and available on the Kindle store. There is also another blog that I have just for Navigiary . Surprisingly, I also allow commenting on that blog as well! See what I have been working on all these years but know that Escape is but an introduction - the meat of the story is yet to come!

My fathers of old were Jewish.  Of course, because those Jewish fathers ended up marrying women who were not Jews, I suppose that means that I am not a Jew in the traditional way.  I certainly have a Jewish heritage and I have been told it comes out to play occasionally.  One can feel all one wants about parents and grandparents as far as honor and gratitude, but that heritage will always be there, buried somewhere in the genes, ready to pop out at an often inconvenient time. As a Latter-Day Saint by choice , I have made covenants with God.  In my studies, the covenants are the same as the ones that Abraham, Issac, and Jacob made, so though any number of Jews would point out my loss of Jewishness some generations ago, I and my family continue to be children of Abraham (can't take away your genealogy) and continue to make covenants with God just like our fathers of old. That is why the offer of my Christian friends seems like a bi...