Apostles rather than Influencers

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 they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/2-tim/4?lang=eng

When bringing knowledge into church settings such sacrament talks and second hour lessons, it is important to use the Lord's appointed authorities rather than popular personalities or favorite teachers.

Peaceable Christians on a Peaceable Walk

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 faces.

Perhaps such a situation was what the prophet Mormon was talking about:

3 Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven.

4 And now my brethren, I judge these things of you because of your peaceable walk with the children of men.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/moro/7?lang=eng&id=p3-p4#p3

This is an interesting situation for Mormon to speak this way.  His people and especially his fellow Christians are being annihilated, fighting a running retreat to nowhere. The record kept now by his son Moroni is written for people many centuries in the future, including those who will shortly slaughter his father and himself. Yet, here is this word "peaceable".

What does it mean to be peaceable? Walking the streets of Santiago, I think it might mean to wish and do no ill to others. No one here is getting in my face or in my way, and the language barriers here are handled with mutual shrugs and gestures, enough to get money, food and services exchanged.

More broadly, It could mean to "live and let live". To hold one's standards yet not force them on others. To promulgate the doctrine of Christ among Latter-day Saints and to invite others to do likewise without compulsion if they want to join in.

Christ is surrounded by the idea of peace. It is proclaimed at his birth and he displays it as he is escorted to his death. The resurrected Jesus leaves his peace with his disciples as he ascends to heaven, rarely to return. Outside of cleaning up the temple and clashes with those who attack him, the Savior walks city streets and country paths in relative peace with others. He is civil and even likable, which makes the actions of leaders who have him put to death most bizarre. They certainly were not very peaceable toward him.

Though we cannot pay for the sins of others or initiate the universal resurrection as Christ did, we can manage to walk more peaceably among others as Jesus did. That is powerful way to show that we are followers of Christ in our daily "walks". 

A Few New Lessons from Single Parenting

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, it begs the question of why a reasonable woman would put herself in the situation of raising children largely alone. Perhaps it has more to do with many women enjoy bathing in victim/hero status that society bestows on the single mom after her late (might as well call it what it is - the killing of a man) husband/bedmate/monster is legally crucified.  Society is perfectly happy to have men practically murdered to mint a new single mom/goddess who can never do wrong again.

Wouldn't it be better to keep marriages and families intact? Society might do family a favor by spending even a fraction of the resources applied to broken families to setting more realistic expectations with women and men, appreciating (even just a little) the contribution of fathers to families, eliminating silly no-fault divorces that often tear a family to shreds for no justifiable reason beyond selfishness. Women could put aside the cultural hatred and distrust of all men and be the main driver in building model men as protectors and providers.

Homeschooling Gospel Learning

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.

"...the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them,..."

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 redeem us. What an idiotic concept.

Any of us can go beyond the Lord's willingness to save you, irrelevant of his ability to do it. We would all do better to work to make our redemption worth Christ's while.

Accepting Suffering and Sacrifice in Service to a Better Future

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 voices. Trump and DOGE is working to fix the worst of the systemic problems that make life miserable, practically untenable, and offer little hope for more widespread personal success, all especially for those with lower capacity. Of course, this angers SJWs, for they do not authentically want a fix for these things, nor do they want the hated Trump to be a part of any fixes - it seems that their ten seconds of fame and their "righteous" hatred is all such people seek. It is a mark of corruption at the personal level, if you are marching in the streets and demanding that governments remain large and grasping so that you may profit off of this situation. I was once a professional "do-gooder" and I saw quickly that this wasn't a good thing, both for me as a government worker and for those I was supposed to be helping.

I, for one, am trying to prepare for the economic fallout of lower taxes and the provision of fewer government services upon which I have relied for a living most of my life. There are other jobs to do and service to others should be done outside of structures of force and inescapable government manipulation.

Standards vs. Exemptions

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.