A Curious Instrument

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...

You may have seen this string of characters before: 03IXI8E0OC This is the Mariner's Log , or God's Plan of Happiness in Ten Simple Symbols . It has been available to the public for several years, but its home on the Internet, which explains all about what it means, has recently moved. If you would like to learn more about the Mariner's Log and share it with others, you can find it at: http://jason.quix.us/the-mariners-log The Mariners Log is a major feature of Escape , the first book of  The Navigiary Allegory , available at Amazon.com.

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...

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I am the tortoise and I don't know if there is any virtue in it... I am realizing that I am a slow person and that, when it comes to life's accomplishments, I am typically running a bit late.  As the years pass, I notice my colleagues and my supervisors are getting younger and younger in comparison to myself. They seem certainly to have accomplished far more and moved up the "ladder of success" earlier in life than I did and it is a little depressing.  In this break-neck-paced world, I can't even begin to keep up! I take consolation in the fact that, in the eternal scheme of things, it really doesn't matter how long your personal development takes as long as you are on  the right road , you are faced in the right direction , and you are moving forward . To be early about things is an advantage surely, but the reward it still the same - if you continue on, you will reach the destination of God's exaltation .

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...