Shouldn’t we all be full of gratitude for all things that have blessed our lives? I remember being a young, newly married man attending college on the G.I. bill and working half-time as an apprentice bricklayer for a local brick company. The paychecks for a week’s work were passed out by the foreman on the…
Author: Emil Hanson
On Reflections
During the Second World War, German paratroopers invaded the island of Crete. When they landed at Maleme, the islanders met them, bearing nothing other than kitchen knives and hay scythes. The consequences of resistance were devastating. The residents of entire villages were lined up and shot. Overlooking the airstrip today is an institute for peace…
On “How Great Thou Art”
My youngest son and his sweet wife live across the country from us and they arrange to come home to visit as often as they can; in the meantime we converse via phone or email. As his father, my writing to he and his wife, I sometimes include spiritual thoughts. This one Sunday before church…
On What I Believe I Have Learned About Life
Over the years I have heard statements by various people expressing what they thought they had learned either from an experience in their life or from life itself. I, too, have learned a few things over my eighty five years on earth. The expectation is that as a person ages their experiences in life should…
On Creeds of Religion and the Meaning of “Father”
Father connotes a loving, protecting figure, kind and caring and one who is easily recognized by His children. But both the Father and His son Jesus Christ have gotten a little irritated with us from time to time. In Luke 9:44, The Lord rebuked his disciples for not exercising faith sufficient to cast out an…
On Reaching Beyond the Norm
Years ago, Joseph Worthen, then a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told the following story. A young man sought a wiseman to find out what he would have to do to be successful. The sage held his head under water until he was close to being drowned. Then he told…
On Failing to Do Our Duty
Some years ago, when I was a very young man, I was called by our Ward Bishop to serve as the Deacon Quorum Advisor. As is the norm, when a person is called by church leadership, local, stake or by some other authorized church leader, they almost always respond in an affirmative way. And so…
An Organization that has Done a Lot of Good
Both my wife’s father and my father were alcoholics at one time in their lives. It is a difficult thing to watch a person you love struggle with an addiction such as that. They both grew up during the age of ‘prohibition’. An exciting time between law enforcement and the cunning of men to meet…
On The Search for Freedom
Freedom can be looked at in many different ways but seldom as it is in Jean-Paul Sartre’s “The Flies”. He describes the tragedy of the human condition, and it is the paradox of freedom. A tragic situation arises between two different and often contradictory courses of action. A strong man is always free to choose,…
On Sacred Records
It is indeed a dreadful thought that God, our Father, would leave us on earth with no information as to why we are here and what His plan is for us. After Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden he sought further light and knowledge from the Father. Later, Adam was commanded to keep…