Finding Santa in March

I worked so hard Saturday that I forgot to write my blog. Sorry about that, but I have a fun story to tell because of it.

We moved into our home almost fourteen years ago. The week we moved in, BYU called and asked me to teach a class the next semester which began that same week. Needless to say I was a bit frazzled trying to pack up, move, unpack AND get a syllabus ready and lesson plans done so I could  teach. Somehow everything got done, but I'm not sure how. Unpacking went slowly (It took months!) and I only managed to stay one lesson ahead of the students. But I loved it.

However, in the course of that hectic move several things were lost. About six years later I found a box that had some paintings in it that I was very happy to reclaim. Well, part of the busy this last Saturday included cleaning the garage which was long over due for a cleaning. We took a hugh load to DI and filled a garbage can to overflowing and still haven't finished the job. But in going through everything to decide what to keep and what to toss, I opened a garbage sack that had been stuffed high on a shelf behind our old sleeping bags (which we haven't used in fourteen years!) and found a three foot high Santa Claus that D8 had made for me just before we moved. I was so excited I started to cry!

Every Christmas for the last fourteen years I've wished for that cute Santa. I figured that since I had packed it in a black garbage bag someone who was helping us move must have thought it was garbage and had thrown it out. I've felt awful about it, but now I'm rejoicing because I have it back.

I can't believe how happy it has made me and it also made me realize that it isn't just the big things in life that make us happy.  Sometimes very small things can give us a big dose of joy!

Scatter Sunshine

This morning I passed a student going down the stairs, a young man I have never met or seen before, and he greeted me with, "Have a great morning!" The tone of his voice carried as much cheer as his words and I found myself walking away from that simple encounter feeling empowered enough that I could fly--I could do anything!

Too often we vastly underestimate the power we have to lift and encourage others. Simple words spoken with sincerity to complete strangers or friends and family can change their day--maybe even their lives.

Lines from the hymn "Scatter Sunshine" come to mind: "How much joy and comfort you can all bestow, If you scatter sunshine everywhere you go."

So make this a day of scattering and watch the world glow!

Enjoy!

Saturday is a special day! Especially today. The sun is bright. The mountains are ablaze with red and orange splotches that during the night have taken over a bit more of the green. The crisp air holds just a tinge of fresh rain smell even though there is no sign of rain. Everywhere you look kids are in soccer clothes and parents wear a smile of contentment because school is now in session for the season.

I love autumn! Today is a wonderful day to Live in Truth. Enjoy every minute of it.

Seeing Through Truth

If you've read Good News! for very long you know I love how C. S. Lewis explains Christianity. One of my favorite quotes of his is: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

This applies to Christianity and it also applies to Living in Truth. When I am Living in Truth and am safely out of the Pit of Illusion I see Truth--the verity of life--very clearly, but I also see everything else through Truth.

 It is amazing what viewing life through Truth does for my peace and confidence and joy.

The Supernatural Power of Family

This has been a summer of travel and family and I'm loving every minute of it. Last week I had five of my daughters here and we went to lunch together. And the last few days I've been in Tennessee to see my grandson who just returned from a mission and to attend the temple with his brother who is just  leaving on a mission. Talk about happy days! There is nothing like being with family especially when those family members are making such good life choices.

As we finished the temple session and stood together talking it was all I could do to keep my heart in my chest! I had my daughter and three grandsons with me in the temple. Since most of my children live far away I haven't had the opportunity to do a lot of things with them and so being with them at that special time was very especially wonderful.

Sometimes the stress and work a family involves makes us forget how very wonderful family is. Living together in such a close relationship also presents opportunities for hurt feelings and problems that can keep us from enjoying family ties. But when we learn to let those negative things go and concentrate on the love and happiness part of family, the joy that comes from those relationships is extraordinary and amazing (something beyond this world!). I don't have words to explain it, but I can feel it. It is real and wonderful.

Keep the House Occupied!

There is a beautiful parable in the writings of Luke (11:24-26) that tells of an unclean spirit that is cast out of a man (the unclean spirit's home) by repentance and seeks a new place to reside. The unclean spirit wanders through desert places and finding no new home decides to return to his original home. When he arrives he finds that the house has indeed been swept clean, but it is empty and so the evil spirit invites seven other unclean spirits to join him and they all enter in and dwell there so that the man ends up worse off than he was in the beginning.

The moral of the parable is that even though the man repented and swept his house clean, he didn’t fill himself with something new and good so the old, evil spirit easily returned.

The interesting thing about this is that modern psychological research has shown that in the pursuit of happiness it doesn’t work to just stop doing what is making you unhappy. To become a happy person a major break with the status quo needs to happen. You need to not only stop doing the negative things, you need to replace them with positive things.

Happiness is a choice! It takes work and effort, but everyone who wants happiness can have it. The promise of the Good News! is that man was created to experience joy! (See 2 Nephi 2:25.) and by choosing to occupy ourselves with good, positive things we crowd out the bad.

My Delight

I was just sitting here thinking, “I need chocolate.” Mind you, I stay away from sugar because sugar doesn’t like me—it makes me sick. The other strange thing about this thought is that I’ve never liked chocolate. All my life if given a choice I’ve gone with caramel, never chocolate. But the last year I’ve fallen in love with dark chocolate which I seldom get to eat because as I told you, sugar doesn’t like me. But now I find myself wanting it every once in awhile and today when the wanting came I realize it isn’t the eating of the chocolate as much as it is the comfort of the chocolate that is so appealing. There is something very consoling about the rich flavor of the dark chocolate melting over the tongue, bringing the taste buds to life, tantalizing the nose with the found-nowhere-else rich scent that chocolate possesses, and teasing me with the bitter yet sweet dilemma that dark chocolate causes.

So I am about to give in and have one square of my very favorite, Amano, dark chocolate (I’ll try Dos Rios today!) and while it melts in my mouth I’m going to savor the flavor and the feelings and the gratitude it fills me with.

God put some wonderful things on this earth. Which of his creations is filling you with delight today?

To Life!

If you’ve ever watch the movie, Fiddler on the Roof, you’ve heard the song “L’Chaim.” L’chaim literally means “to life” and it is often used on special occasions as a Jewish toast. But the phrase has deeper meaning than the words capture. Rachel Naomi Remen in her book My Grandfather’s Blessings explains that the phrase means that “No matter what difficulty life brings, no matter how hard or painful or unfair life is, life is holy and worthy of celebration.”


I love that thought. Living life is a sacred experience and when we remember that thought it changes how we experience life. And when we remember that life is holy we know that each moment is worth celebrating no matter what the moments bring.

So celebrate this moment by giving thanks or shouting hurray or dancing or singing or whatever you do to celebrate!

L’chaim! To life!

Authenticity

God made each of us to be something special. He put us in the best situation we could be in so that we could grow and excell in our own brand of specialness. He put us in the places where our special talents and abilities could most influence those close to us. He knows what He is doing, but too often we are our own worst enemies because we are trying to be something or someone that we aren't, and while doing that we fail to be what we are supposed to be.

Authenticity is an important part of Living in Truth. If we are to influence the people God has placed us to help and if we are to grow to our full potential we need to recognize and accept who and what we are and build on those strengths and characteristics instead of spending our time and efforts trying to be someone or something we aren't. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others and instead ask God what it is we are to be and then spend our efforts becoming that.

Being perfect means being completed and there is no way we can be completed (or perfected) if we are trying to be something other than what it was intended we should be.

Authenticity is a virtue that brings peace, joy, and meaning into our lives.

Numbing Doesn't Work

One of the strange things we humans do when we are living in the Pit of Illusion is find ways to numb ourselves against the pain of life. As we’ve talked about before, the Pit of Illusion is filled with Unnecessary Pain—pain that hurts. But rather than get out of the Pit and rid ourselves from the pain, when wallowing in the Pit we turn to things that will divert us and help us not think about the pain. Some of us seek escape through pleasures such as shopping, or Internet surfing, or watching television, or keeping so busy we can’t think, or any number of things that we hope will provide an escape and keep us from feeling the pain.


While diversions such as these do keep us from feeling the pain for awhile, as soon as the diversion stops the pain comes back in full force. Numbing ourselves through diversions is never a solution. But there is a greater problem that comes when we try to numb ourselves instead of getting rid of the cause of the pain. When we numb ourselves to pain, we also numb ourselves to joy. When we numb darkness we also numb light.

The best solution, then, is to get out of the Pit of Illusion which places us in the realm of Truth. When Living in Truth we rid ourselves of Unnecessary Pain. It also means that we walk confidently through the Necessary Pain of life without numbing ourselves knowing that our Savior will help us every step of the way and that despite the pain, we will feel the joy.

Life is meant to be a time of joy, but if we numb ourselves we won’t experience what is intended for us—the joy.

Service Is A Pain Killer

One of the best Truth Tools of the gospel that is important in helping us jettison unnecessary pain in our lives is service. It can also help us through the necessary pain. Many years ago an article appeared in the Church News about a woman in a nursing home who was suffering from cancer. Her story illustrates how service even helped her deal wit necessary pain. The woman, in her 80s, lived in constant debilitating pain despite the medication she was on. A ward Relief Society leader brought her two dolls to fix up so they could be given to needy children for Christmas. When the Relief Society leader returned the dolls were ready and, in addition, the woman had made 11 baby quilts to be given to the poor. Subsequently seven more dolls were taken to the woman who made beautiful bonnets, dresses and coats for six of them before she died.

After her death her family found her diary and read the following entry, “3 a.m., couldn’t sleep, the pain was intense. Decided to work on the dolls, and the pain went away.” The following pages were filled with the same report, “Decided to work on the dolls and the pain went away.” (Church News, April 21, 1985, p. 16.)

As King Benjamin so aptly put it, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17). And when you are serving God and your fellowman, you forget about yourself--even the pain you are in--and open yourself up to the gifts and joys He is trying to give you.

Visitor or Proprietor?

Living in Truth can be summed up in several ways. Elder Wirthlin said, “Come what may, and love it.” I like, “Take what comes and love it.” Both sayings capture the feeling of accepting what life hands you without simply enduring. There is something more. Living in Truth is about accepting and at the same time enjoying.


Before I knew about Living in Truth I was accepting out of some sense that accepting was what was expected of a Christian. But I was enduring with gritted teeth and squinty tight eyes. I hadn’t caught on to the enjoying part. I was accepting and bravely, stoically enduring. But Living in Truth is about accepting and embracing with delight what comes. It is about truly living!

I don’t know how much time I have left on this earth-a day or several decades-but I now know that when I am called to move on I want to be able to say that I lived on earth not that I merely paid a visit.

The Benefits

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to Live in Truth and I find myself making a long list as I go through my day. When you Live in Truth you live in gratitude which brings a love for and appreciation of all the things around you. Living in Truth brings a contentment and peace. It brings a joy that comes from the Spirit because when you Live in Truth, you live where the Spirit is. 

These are just a few of the many things that come from Living in Truth that I’ve thought of today, but each day brings new discoveries about the blessings that come from Living in Truth. What things have you discovered about Living in Truth?

Giving Thanks

As we get closer to my favorite holiday,

Thanksgiving,

my heart is full of thanks.

Perhaps that's why I love the holiday so much.

Other holidays are stressful and draining, but for me

Thanksgiving is invigorating and uplifting.

It makes me think about how 

thankful I am to be alive.

I'm thankful that Grizelda,

even though she refuses to leave,

is being a good visitor and not causing me problems.

I'm thankful for family and friends.

I'm thankful for all of the big things like the gospel and my beautiful home.

But I'm also thankful for raindrops,

sunshine on my cheeks,

a warm shower, a soft bed,

a fluffy down comforter given to me by a dear friend,

the scriptures,

crisp autumn mornings to walk through piles of crackling leaves.

I'm thankful for so many things

 and the more I list the more it feels like gratitude

 is lifting me like helium lifts a balloon.

I can tell already that today

is going to be a high flying day!!!!

Happy thanks giving week to you all.

Tradition!

Those of us here in Utah Valley woke up to a white world. It snowed last night covering trees, bushes, dirt, roads, cars, and rooftops with beautiful white snow. I love the first snow. I love it so much that years ago I started a tradition in the family that when the first snow that sticks to the ground falls I make cinnamon rolls. So guess what I'll be doing today? I can't wait.

Traditions are wonderful. Look at these definitions of the word tradition. (1) The handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction. (2) cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions. Traditions are powerful ways to teach and to instill joy in your family. They give children (and me!) things to look forward to and anticipate. In short, traditions are wonderful.

We are coming into the holiday season when everyone has holiday traditions, but I'm curious. What traditions do you have that aren't part of a holiday? Leave a comment and share with us.

The Atonement

Years ago when my Church calling was to write lesson manuals for the Church, I wrote several lessons on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and I thought I knew what the Atonement was all about. But since I’ve been teaching religion at BYU I’ve come to realize that I didn't know much at all and that I’m only now beginning to  understand it. It is much broader and grander than I ever realized before.

For example, yesterday I found out that one of my students had lost his mother to a heart attack last year while he was on his mission. As he told me about what had happened my heart ached for him, and as I left him I couldn’t get his image out of my mind. But it wasn’t the image of him telling me what had happened. It wasn't an image of sadness. Instead it was the picture of him sitting in my class happy and at peace and listening as we discussed the gospel—the picture of what I knew about him before I knew of the sorrow he had passed through.

As I was seeing this image of him, the thought came to me that without the Atonement he would never be able to recover from his mother’s death. Without the Atonement every sin would sink us deeper into darkness and despair with no hope of escape. Without the Atonement any tragedy or adversity such as death would be doom and gloom with no chance of recovery. Without the Atonement life would be a constant state of entropy with no possibility of growth or change--a state of constant regression into outer darkness. Without the Atonement happiness would be an unreachable, unattainable fiction.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is not just about paying for our sins. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is about making happiness, joy, growth, learning, love, and everything good possible. In short, the Atonement is our only hope. 

I am so grateful for it.

Joy in the Morning

Statue by Karl Jensen. click here

It’s Monday morning; time to begin a new work week.

Just think—a six whole days waiting to be lived.

Take a deep breath.

Anchor yourself in the now. 

Experience the love, hope, and joy

that are in the present moment,

and decide what you are going to do with today.

 It is yours to spend! Obviously there are many

 “have-to-dos” waiting for you.

But there are also many moments to be lived

 that aren’t scripted for you.

So use those moments to feel the joy,

 fill your faith,

do some good,

and drink in the wisdom of the Spirit.

Like anything else in life, you get what you pay for.

So use your time to buy the best!

Buy joy.

Out of the Dark Pit and Into the Sun

I had an adventure in Truth the other day. With teaching five classes this semester my days are full with lots to be done—more than there is time for. But in the midst of the normal duties the other day I had an interruption that should have taken only a few minutes and ended up taking almost an hour. A few years ago that would have ruined my day, but Wednesday it made my day.

Every year I buy a hundred pounds of raw almonds from my cousin in California. She picks them up right at the almonds orchard and drives them out to me so they are fresh. Well, she came the other morning to deliver them while I was at work. Her daughter called to get directions so they could give me the almonds. She told me they were on University Avenue and so I told her how to get to the parking lot where my car was parked from there.

From what she told me they were close, so I hung up the phone and walked down to the parking lot and waited and waited and waited. Finally she called again. They were at UVU and, of course, they couldn’t find where I was. As I questioned her I realized that when they first called they weren’t on University Avenue at all. They were on University Parkway so that the directions I had given took them farther away instead of to me. This also meant they were a good twenty minutes from where I was.

I gave her new directions and hung up the phone. I had several options at this point and years ago I know the option I would have taken would have landed me deep in the Pit of Illusion where I would have been stuck for the rest of the day. But the Truth was they weren’t there yet. I could get upset, but it wouldn’t make them come any faster. There wasn’t enough time to go back to my office and get anything done, but instead of spending the time fretting over all I needed to do and thinking of this as wasted time, I took a deep breath, said thanks for the fact that I was waiting in a beautiful area of campus, and took a short walk. I walked down a paved path to the duck pond. The quacking greeted me before I could see the ducks and once I was near enough to see the pond, I laughed as two of the ducks raced across the pond. By half flying and half paddling their webbed feet in the water they skimmed across the pond spraying water on all the other ducks and quacking louding as if arguing over who had won the race.

Sun warmed everything to the perfect temperature and the brook gently flowed beside me as if to reassure me that all is right with the world. By the time my cousin arrived, I’d spent the most delightful twenty minutes of my day and was actually invigorated when I got back to my work. That wouldn’t have been the case if I’d slipped into the Pit of Illusion.

I love Living in Truth. All this peace is good for my soul.

Dance!

I have some really Good News! this morning. If you woke up stressed about all you have to do today. If you are worried about making it through the day, or if you are discouraged about the routine of the day then stop right now and remember that “man are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25).


In other words, life isn’t meant to be a race that you are stressing to win. Life isn’t a battle that you have to worry about losing. Life isn’t about maintaining a routine. Life is a dance.

So today live in the now. Don’t push your vacuum, dance behind it. Don’t bathe the kids, play in the water. Don’t drive to work, sing yourself to work. Don’t worry about tomorrow, but listen for the music of your life and dance to that music. Perhaps you’ll hear it in a child’s laughter or a friend’s sigh or a verse of scripture that jumps off the page and wraps around your heart. Perhaps you’ll feel the motion of the dance as a gentle breeze invites you to join in. Enjoy every breath. Look for the color. Listen for the rhythm. Drink in the joy and let your body DANCE. Now!

No matter what your circumstances there is joy in the now. You CAN dance. It may be a waltzing day or a polka or jitter-bug day, or perhaps it’s a modern dance free form day. Whatever music you hear, there is a dance waiting for you—IF YOU WILL LISTEN TO THE NOW AND JOIN IN.

The Question

Last week in Church a teacher asked a question that has really made me ponder. She asked, “What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?”

All this week I’ve thought about the things in my life that I love and how many of them I’ve never thanked my Heavenly Father for. It has made me so appreciative and since my word of the year is gratitude, it has helped me in my pursuit of gratitude.

So I’m passing the question on to you. I hope it enriches your life like it has mine.

What if you woke up today

with only the things

you thanked God for yesterday?