My adult daughter called her mother the other day, tearful and emotional, to tell her that her family dog, Taz, had passed away. Later that day I was with my wife and she told me of the sad event. Taz had not been feeling well for several days and that night they had put him…
Author: Emil Hanson
On Good Without God?
Is there a possibility of good in this world without God? My answer is, Of course there is good without God. Evil has been described as the absence of God or good. There are pockets of evil wherever one goes as well as pockets of good wherever one goes. I have become acquainted with many…
On Whining
The World is Mine Today upon a bus I saw a girl with golden hair; She seemed so gay, I envied her, and wish that I were half so fair; I watched her as she rose to leave, and saw her hobble down the aisle. She had one leg and wore a crutch, but as…
On Choices
Choices are made every day, in fact probably nearly every second of every day. They range from insignificant to very important choices. As we mature the choices we made early in life, choices that may appear insignificant now, yet were choices that now have become habit. A thing we do that we don’t even think…
On Hard Things
The truth is hard to hear by those who do wickedly. I remember the first time that I read the Book of Mormon. I marveled how Nephi the younger brother to Laman and Lemuel took the leadership role only because his elder brothers were unwilling to seek the Lord and to be obedient. It shouldn’t…
On Coincidence or Serendipity?
The word Serendipity does not come from Latin or Greek, but rather was created by a British nobleman in the mid 1700s from an ancient Persian fairy tale. The meaning of the word is, ‘good luck’ in finding valuable things unintentionally or by chance, refers to the fairy tale characters who were always making discoveries…
On Census Records
In verifying a person’s identity in our family line, legitimate sources are absolutely necessary. If a relative were working on our line and made a notation in the source area that said; “I believe this is the correct person?” With no other evidence, an experi- enced researcher in that family may suspect that the entry…
On Being A Guide
I enjoyed reading the following story several years ago. It was written in the first person so I assumed the author was writing about his own neighbor’s animals. “Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it. From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you…
On Gifts That Cannot Be Bought
I remember bringing a gift of flowers home to my wife on our first anniversary, and she was pleased but advised me that we shouldn’t spend our money on things that are nice but unnecessary. We were struggling financially while I attended the university. Later, when we could afford it, she was still too practical…
On Israel And You
Israel, in the Hebrew language, literally means “Champion of God” (From the Book, ‘Wisdom of Israel’). Israel was the name given to Jacob when he ‘prevailed with God’ at Penuel in the wilderness. Jacob (Israel) was the son of Isaac who was the son of the great Abraham. Israel had twelve sons who eventually became…