New Words for Important Thoughts

Sometimes we hear things so often that we don’t really hear them at all. This often happens with definitions of gospel principles. For example, we’ve heard Paul’s definition of faith (Hebrews 11:1) so often that we don’t even stop to think about what the words mean. So when we hear “the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” we think “Oh, that’s faith,” and it doesn’t mean anything to us.

But let’s word the first part of that sentence differently. “Assurance of things hope for” could be worded, “Knowing that God will provide what is necessary for you at exactly the right moment.” When thought of in this way it triggers new insights and feelings.

One practice that will fuel your faith and gospel learning is to take the scriptural phrases you’ve heard all your life and restate them in your own words. It is a good way to meditate on the gospel because it keeps the thoughts and feelings alive within us rather than dulled because they are so familiar. It also keeps us from taking the marvelous principles of the gospel for granted. But the greatest blessing of doing this is that as we make an effort to renew the teachings of the gospel in our lives, the gospel will renew us.

Storytelling

This weekend I had a delightful time at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. I listened to many of the 12 professional storytellers work their magic to transport me to Gettysburg or Half Dollar, West Virginia. Some stories made me laugh and some made me cry. Some were so funny they squeezed tears right out of my eyes and caused my sides to ache for hours afterward. I love it.

My time at the Storytelling Festival has caused me to think about the power of stories in our lives. Jesus taught in stories—we call them parables. We warn and admonish each other by relating our own experiences in the form of stories. And we read the stories of people we admire and learn from them. Stories are powerful. Stories our parents told us about their lives, shape our lives.

But the most powerful stories of all are the stories we tell ourselves. Why? Because we believe them. Whenever something happens to us we begin to shape the meaning of the event by telling ourselves a story. The emotions we experience and the attitudes we carry into the future about that event are determined by our story—a story we write. We trip and fall and we can explain it with a funny story about how clumsy we are or we can make it dire with tales of someone else’s incompetence that caused the accident or even make ourselves out to be the victim of someone’s malicious actions. The positive story allows us to move on. The negative story holds us captive in the Pit of Illusion and makes us miserable for as long as we tell the story to ourselves and others.

We are all storytellers and the stories we tell can empower us or they can exhaust us. Realizing we have a choice in this matter helps us to choose stories that will facilitate goodness in our lives instead of letting negative stories ruin our lives.

Sneak Peek of My New Book!

My new book, Gospel Insights for Everyday Living will be out within the next two weeks. I am excited. This is the cover. I love the way it turned out. A few very minor changes are being made to it, but this is how it will look. I hope you like it.

I'll let you know exactly when it will be in stores!

Finding Light

Hundreds of years ago God had Isaiah write, “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged” (Isaiah 51:1). Here we are taught that those who desire to be righteous should look to the rock and to the pit. So what is the rock and the pit?

The rock from which we were hewn is God. As the spirit children of God we are hewn from the same divine “rock” as our Father. We have a modern day saying that expresses the same thing. When we encounter a child who is very much like a parent we say he or she is a “chip off the old block.” Therefore, we should look to our Father with the idea in mind that we are "genetically" like Him.

The pit refers to the Fall. Because of the Fall of Adam you and I are in a dangerous pit that we have no way of climbing out of, but Jesus Christ has rescued us--He has digged us from the deep pit. Thus what Isaiah is telling us to hearken to is our divine origins—the part of us that is good and is of God, and to the Atonement of Jesus Christ that makes it possible for us to overcome all the factors in life that could keep us from our divine heritage. The Lord wants us to focus on the good not the bad. He wants us to focus on Him and His Son and our relationship to Them.

Focusing our attention and thoughts on these two things centers us in Truth. Think about it. You’ll never discover light by studying darkness; you’ll never discover your brilliance by dwelling on what you can’t do; and you’ll never discover your divine connection by constantly thinking thoughts of what you don’t like about yourself.

Joy and Truth

I have been amazed at how people who haven’t seen me since the surgery, and don’t know I’ve had a craniotomy, react when they see my new hairdo. I’ve heard everything from, “You’ve had a make-over!” to “I like how brave you are to cut your hair so short.” But most of all I have been surprised at the remark, “You look so good, but there is no way I could wear my hair that short.” About 70% of the people who see me say that. But how do they know unless they’ve tried it? I didn’t know until the surgery forced me to shave my head.

The interesting thing is that most of the people who say this have the same hairdo they had in high school, and they have never tried anything else. Why is it that so many of us are so afraid of trying something new—afraid of change? If a person absolutely loves the hairdo she has, that is a different story. By all means keep it. But if a person doesn’t change because they are afraid to try something different then that is a problem. Life is meant to be explored and discovered. That is part of the joy—discovering all there is to find. Trying, tasting, experiencing all the good life has to offer.

Exploring life means being brave. It means opening yourself up which sometimes makes you vulnerable. It means taking risks and chances—and that also means being willing to make a mistake. The opposite is being stagnant and full of fear. It means living in a shell of timidity.

Living in Truth allows a person to break out of the shell. It allows a person to embrace life and all the joy it offers. It allows people to rejoice in each new day. Living in Truth is living in joy, and fear is never the pathway to joy.

What a Blessing?

I’ve been having problems with Unga today. As you may have learned by now, I name everything and Unga is my computer. Actually there is Unga I and Unga II and I’m having problems with both of them. Unga I is my desktop and she is having virus problems. Unga II is my laptop and she is suffering from software disconnect. I won’t bore you with details, but trying to fix everything has given me ample opportunity to use the Truth Tools.

I may look like it, but I am not stressed. Instead I am filling my mind with Gratitude for computer geeks. They are amazing. I am also employing the great tool of Humor as I observe the strange looks I get from the computer geeks when I ask them a question. You would think I was speaking a foreign language to them—but then maybe I am. Not one to let a golden opportunity pass by, I’m memorizing the looks they give me so that I can recall them in the future when I need to make myself laugh.

I’ve Anchored myself so many times today that my rear-end (please pardon the French!) has turned to iron and I’m not sure I’ll be able to lift myself up off this chair. But I am still thinking Affirmatively, “I love this cheeky Unga. Unga works well. Unga loves me. We are going to solve poor Unga’s problems—soon.” About the only thing left is to turn on some good music and enjoy. After all, the Truth is Unga I and II are as stubborn as their master.

I'm Back to Work!

After nine months I’m teaching again at Brigham Young University. I have missed it so much and can’t even being to put into words what it means to be in the classroom again. I only have one class this semester, which seems strange, but it will be good to have a light schedule for awhile. And I can already tell that my one class is a good class. I could barely make myself leave my office today, it felt so good. Have I told you how good it is?!!!!

I am really feeling the meaning of the Book of Mormon words so often repeated, “And it came to pass.” Time does pass on and things do work out the way they are supposed to. The most important thing is that the Lord helps us no matter what the outcome. I’m just glad that this time the outcome was to return to teaching.