Reflections on My Morning Walk

 At 2:00 this morning D4 arrived from California to spend Thanksgiving in Utah. It is always a treat to have my daughters come, and I am loving it. I waited until she woke up to go walking so that I could walk with her. That made my walk later than usual, and so I noticed things I don’t usually notice. It is surprising how every hour the world looks a little different.

It is overcast here, but warm for a November day. Golden leaves carpet the ground which makes percussion music as we walk. Everywhere I look the world lovingly whispers secrets of God. It makes me think of the scripture, “He will make himself manifest unto all” (Mosiah 27:30).

God wants us to know Him and to know that He cares. This morning I felt that manifestation as I walked, but He reaches out to us in so many ways—not just through nature.  He is always trying to communicate His love to us, but we get so busy we fail to notice all the many ways He is manifesting Himself. Once in a while we need to slow down and pay close attention to the things around us so that we receive the manifestations He is sending. 

And that makes me think of some other scriptures; “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift” (D&C 88:33). So “be still and know that(he is) God” (D&C 101:16).

It's Fair

A friend once told me that when the daily tribulations cause him to be vexed he laughs. He and his wife noticed that weeks, or months down the road the stories of these events were usually comical and were retold in order to give everyone a good laugh. So, he decided, why not laugh at them at the moment. “If you are going to laugh later,” he said, “you might as well laugh now.”

I like that philosophy, and recently decided it can be used in other areas also. The scriptures tell us that eventually “every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess” (Mosiah 27:31) that the judgments of God are just and fair. And in Mosiah 16:1 we are told that “The time shall come when all shall see the salvation of the Lord; when every nation, kindred, tongue, and people shall see eye to eye and shall confess before God that his judgments are just.” 

Therefore, if at one point we are all going to realize that everything that happens to us is just and fair, why not acknowledge that now? Why fight against it and cause ourselves pain?  It makes it so much easier to endure well when we realize that there is a plan and that we have to pass through trials, but that the justice of God will recompense us for every unfair thing that happens and that we need to endure the other things because they are fair.

Life may not at times seem fair, but the promise of Jesus Christ is that it will be. Trust in that. After all, "If you are going to trust later, you might as well trust now."

Hallelujah! I LOVE It!

A friend sent me this and I just had to share it! I love it!

click here

It restores your faith in mankind.

Letting Go

When a seed is planted in the ground it can stay dormant and remain a seed that never grows or produces anything. Or it can take in the nutrients around it, split open, send out roots and stem and grow into a flower or vegetable or fruit. The important thing here is that in order to become something better, the seed has to give up being a seed.

Like the seed, we need to give up what we are in order to become something better. People who cling to the old ways, their old habits, their old likes and dislikes, and remain forever in the boundaries of their comfort zone never grow into something better.

So, let go. Let go of the past. Let go of the old you, and let God do His work in you. Let the old you die and the new you come forth bearing wonderful fruit!

Truth or Paradox

The other day I read something from the Tao de Ching that startled me. It said, “The words of truth are always paradoxical.” Before we analyze that lets look at the definition of paradox: “A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is true.”

Truth is what is (D&C 93:23) not what should be. So paradox enters the picture when we think the truth shouldn’t be. The truth is (the fact, the verity, the reality) what happens, but very often we think (or are taught or believe) that is should be different. So when something happens instead of accepting it as truth, we make it into a paradox. The event is contradictory or opposed to what we think should be truth.

An example will work better here. Let’s say your child’s teacher calls up and tells you he was caught stealing candy from another child’s desk. Immediately you start thinking things like, “He shouldn’t have done that. He should not steal. I’ve taught him to be honest. He should listen to me,”etc. Those statements are all truth in the gospel sense and will be truth in a celestial world, but we are in a telestial world and the truth is that in a telestial world people make wrong choices and do things that go contrary to the laws of God. 

Even worse is thinking thoughts such as; “I’m such a terrible mother. Where did I go wrong? I am worthless!” That is a paradox. The adversary may be trying to make you believe it is true, but it is contradictory or opposed to common sense. Unless you never taught him to be honest or you taught him to steal, it isn’t true. HE took the candy—not you. 

So when Living in Truth, instead of creating a paradox, we simply accept the truth, “My son took candy that did not belong to him,” and either fix it or live with it. There is no need to create a paradox that is filled with unnecessary pain!

Rejoice!

Blessed be the name of the Lord!

I'm in Merry Land!

Union soldiers still fighting the battles!

Hello from Maryland! I have had am amazing time here learning from wonderful people. I arrived late afternoon on Thursday and did the first Truth workshop Thursday night. Friday morning I taught early morning seminary to a group of beautiful teenagers who despite the early hour were eager and attentive. After that at 9:00 I taught the second Truth Workshop--the one on the Truth Tools that is always so fun to present.

Me and Mr. Lincoln

As soon as it was over, we drove north to Gettysburg where we ate lunch at the Dobbin house, an old home built for a family of 19 children. We ate in the cellar of the home which had been built over a spring so that the family had "indoor" water and refrigeration! Amazing ingenuity in that place. The second floor of the home had a crawl space under the floor where they hid slaves as part of the underground railroad. After eating, we walked up and saw the crawl space and other civil war memorabilia. We had a delightful lunch with many (eleven) of the people who had attended the workshop. Most of the women returned home after that, but our carload toured Gettysburg listening to the auto tour. My heart was touched with thoughts of all that has gone in to giving and preserving liberty.

We returned home just in time to do the last Truth workshop. It was a busy day but the women I am with are amazing. I have learned so much from them. After everyone had left last night, the women I am staying with (a get together of five sisters and their mother) got talking about their growing up together and we laughed until we cried and then we laughed some more. We didn't get to bed until after midnight, but every moment was sheer joy. Listening to their stories, feeling their love for one another, sharing their spirits has been such a treat for me. It is an added testimony that families are wonderful and if they can be this wonderful here in a telestial existence, imagine what they are going to be in a celestial world! Oh the joy we are in for!