On several occasions I have spoken at the funeral of a deceased relative, friend or neighbor. I have always prayed for inspiration at those times, that I might say those things that would be comforting for the family of the deceased person. It is easy to find good things to say about a deceased person,…
On The Advantages of Disadvantages
Some of the greatest men and women were born and/or raised under difficult circumstances. Those whose itch is more difficult to reach, scratch harder. Booker T. Washington coined the phrase, “The advantages of disadvantages.” He felt that having been born a slave and being deprived of the right to a formal education drove his ambition…
On Attractions
In a recent conference talk, Elder Dallin H. Oaks declared, “The attractions of the world must lose their luster.” Everything that we become attracted to, as human beings, we first become aware of through one of our five senses. Attractions are all learned responses through our senses, either by one alone, or a combination of…
On Gates
Gates, to most people, are essentially a means of keeping some things in and allowing other things to get out of an enclosed area. When I was a young teenager, toward the end of the summer, I sometimes worked on a farm, putting up hay. Whether we were leaving a hay field or going into…
On Prophetic Glimpses
I am thrilled and amazed at the spiritual insights of the Prophets of old and even of some enlightened men who are generally considered outside the conduit of light from on high. Daniel Rona, an LDS member of Jewish descent, currently resides in Israel. He writes a weekly article, “Insights,” which is avail- able on…
On Genes
I recall as a young boy attending my Lutheran Sunday school class, learning Bible stories, such as: Noah’s Ark, Daniel in the Lion’s den, Jacob’s ladder and Abraham blessing Isaac. These stories were all in little bible story books with pictures that we could color. When my mother passed away twenty some years ago, one…
On By Their Fruits
I grew up in a northern region of the United States where we enjoyed the four seasons of the year. It was a long time ago, before fresh produce was shipped all over the country. Fresh fruit in our town was only available during the autumn harvest time. After our fall fruit harvest was over,…
On Omission
Many Christian people may not be familiar with the term ‘omission’ in respect to their religious obligations. Some would prefer to use the term ‘sloth’ as opposed to omission. It is listed among the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ which are: pride, anger, envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, and lust. Many theologians feel that sloth is the single…
On ‘Little By Little’
We marvel at the wonders of this world and we see them as if they always existed in their current state when in reality they were probably years, centuries, or millennia, in the making. Very few events in history happen instantly even though that may seem to be the case by one just coming on…
On Precious Souls
We live in a throw away culture, we use something until it is worn and then discard it and seldom look back. Based on stories in the daily news, it appears that some people in our world, feel that people (souls), like things, can be used until they tire of them or until they get…