“Never fear shadows. They simply mean there’s a light shining somewhere nearby.” (Ruth Renkel) I walk our little dog every morning about 5:30 A.M. and in the Winter, it is usually dark. As we walk along the sidewalk and pass by street lamps, I cast a shadow in front of me. As I get further…
Category: The Book of On – Volume 2
On Burdens
I remember many years ago seeing the Atlas statue where a very muscular male was portrayed with the world on his shoulders. There are people all around us who, in fact, feel like they are carrying the world around on their shoulders. The figure may be telling us that our burdens, the burdens of our…
On Scapegoats
I really do not remember hearing the term scapegoat until I was nearing adulthood, but that doesn’t mean that I did not see it in practice. A scapegoat is someone or group that has been singled out to blame for something that another has done. It was fairly common for me to witness the ‘back…
On Seeing
When I was in my late teens, I used to enjoy western music, and one of my favorite songs was called, “Brown Eyes.” The lyrics went something like this: Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes I’ll never love blue eyes againWillie, I love you, my Darlin’ I love you with all my heartTomorrow we might have been…
On Communicating
As Jerry Seinfeld once quipped, “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Does that sound right? This means at a funeral most people would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy.” There are so many ways to communicate and the most common is with speech….
On Decorating
We should often contemplate the Great Jehovah. Not only was he the creator of this earth (after which the Father proclaimed it to be good!), but we should also contemplate His great artistic talent and decorative skills. We need to give Him credit, as well as our thanks, for decorating the earth the way that…
On Being Peculiar
In 1861 Elder Parley P. Pratt wrote a pamphlet, entitled “Mormonism Unveiled,” which differentiated Mormonism from other Christian faiths at that time. Pratt stated that even though there was much that united Mormons with those of other faiths, yet there are many points of doctrine that set us apart and to the world make us…
On Greed
Greed has many faces, it can be found in all places and in all levels of society, among the poor as well as the rich. The object of greed may be as simple as a piece of cake and/or as complex as high finance. When there were only two young boys still living at home…
On Man’s Agency
There are people of all ages who seem too timid and/or unsure of their own ability to learn skills that would enlighten their minds and make their lives so much more interesting and glorious. For example, some have had very little experience with a computer and feel that they could never learn how to operate…
On Time
Time may be accurately recorded and tracked by a good watch and calendar, but regardless of how often we refer to these tools of our civilization, time will still elude us. I recall as a young boy how it seemed to take forever to get through a period of time, whether it was 10 minutes…