Understanding the Priesthood Covenant

I like the following, which comes from Larry Barkdull, one of my favorite authors, with a quote from Chauncey Riddle:

To me, the concepts above that describe the development of power to come unto Christ, and power to help others come unto Christ, are particularly profound. I have served as an ordinance worker at the Mt. Timpanogos temple for the last four and a half years. Whenever I have been paying attention, I have almost always received a spiritual witness at some point during my assignment each week, which has deepened my appreciation for the work of the temple. I have often felt a connection with the persons on whose behalf I have officiated, particularly in administering the initiatory ordinances, to the point where I have had to pause for several seconds before I could continue. Every once in a while, during endowment sessions, I have gotten a tiny glimpse of the grandeur of the great plan of salvation. I've found that there is much, much more to the endowment ceremony than meets the eye when we pay attention and are receptive to instruction from the Spirit of the Lord. There and in other situations in our lives, it seems that we are most likely to receive help from heaven when we are going about serving others, like the Savior, doing for them what they are powerless to do for themselves. There are many scenarios where this applies, but perhaps none so much as in the temple.

The Case Against the Fed - Murray N. Rothbard - Mises Daily

The Case Against the Fed - Murray N. Rothbard - Mises Daily

Curiousity

I've wondered why, in my experience, there appears to be such a remarkable lack of genuine curiosity in so many people about the religious faith of others? When it comes to understanding the religious beliefs of others, many of us apparently have a sound bite understanding -- we settle for a simplified, often sensationalized view of others, much like how we get so much of our views about news from sound bites on network television, because we're too busy or distracted or uninterested, or whatever, to delve deeper.
But when it comes to the religion of others, this has been proven to be a very dangerous thing. When large segments of a population have accepted sound bites and distorted caricatures as reality regarding a particular religious or ethnic group in their society, it has led to persecution, genocide, and extermination on varying scales throughout history, from hundreds to millions. Mormons and Native Americans in the 19th century, Jews in WWII (and throughout their history),

Why do so many Christians, people how profess to believe in Jesus Christ, refuse to evaluate the Book of Mormon on its merits? There seems to be a tremendous lack of curiosity in a book that claims to be a faithful testament of Jesus Christ, that validates the Bible as the word of God, and that testifies of His divinity and mission as the Son of God?
Is it because they think they already know? Perhaps they're simply prejudiced from what they've heard from pastors or others.
Over dinner, I recently asked two cousins of mine-- Linda, a Southern Baptist, and Bill, an Evangelical-- why so few Christians are willing to evaluate the Book of Mormon on it's own merits, rather than listening to what others think of it. My evangelical cousin responded "Because of ignorance I suppose. I myself have not read the source documents." We had a lengthy conversation about our belief in Jesus Christ as the savior and redeemer, and the absolute need for the atonement and repentance, the restoration of the gospel after long centuries of apostasy etc. He admitted that he had been mistaken about our beliefs. I later handed him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and said "here's the source document. I invite you to read it."

My sweet baptist cousin Linda said her husband Kevin had a Book of Mormon and enjoyed talking to the missionaries. I asked her what she knew herself about the Mormons. She said, as closely as I can recall "well, I know that we have Jesus, and you all have Joseph Smith." Uhhh, that's not quite right, my dear.

You see, they're both a bit of a poet, and you did not know it! Right?

As some of you have already heard me proudly crow about, last month, Hannah and Brooklyn were selected as winners in a state-wide poetry competition sponsored by the Utah Arts Council. Out of about 1500 entries, our very own bracitas were chosen as two of sixty winners among 1st through 12th graders throughout Utah. I thought I should post their entries so you can see them for yourselves.




Hannah received a Special Recognition award for the 11-12th grade category. She was one of only twelve 11-12th graders to win. Here is her poem:

A Prayer for Fall


I want to go at the exact moment I have nothing
to leave, no plan about to hatch, no passport
unstamped, no fist of bills crouched in some coat pocket

I want to leave no book beside my bed
half-read, no conversation cut short, no letters in limbo
no kiss to still be savored

I can't abandon the three unfinished journals
and one fresh-hatched; I cannot leave a relationship
unresolved, or one just resolved

I cannot go in the spring with months of flowers
and frost-free windshields ahead
nor when pools lie undisturbed and cartoon blue

May be, Grace of God, I can go
when browned leaves kneel cloistered round the roots
of trees
their heads bowed in surrender.

We also recently learned that Hannah won 4th place in a creative essay competition held by the English department at BYU. Is she awesome or what?





Here's Brooklyn's entry. She won first place among all 9-10th graders in Utah. We think she's pretty dang awesome too.

Deer Creek Reservoir: August 14, 2009

Fishing is not a sport,
unless patience is a sport,
unless long-suffering is a sport,
unless bearing the wrath of a tempestuous god is a sport.

Pulling soggy seaweed from a propeller is not a test
of physical prowess. Sitting in a splintering boat
slowly filling with rainwater, balancing an umbrella
and a pole, these are not competitive skills;
they are tests of moral rectitude.

Perhaps fishing is a religion.

Certainly, inveterate anglers
can bear all things,
believe all things,
hope all things,
endure all things.

Which leads them to drag their daughters
into drippy dinghies, undo the snags,
untangle knots, hook worms, and suffer
in silence when their girls twitch
and drive the hook into their thumb.

Because they have fished long enough
to master the virtues of fishing,
Faith and Hope will make them stay
to evening's last light.
What they're learning now
is Charity.

Well, that's the latest from Hannah and Brooklyn. Feel free to send them kudos and scholarships.

On Tithes and Offerings

If Father Abraham had written a book called How to Become Rich, he might have recommended that we have faith in the Covenant that we have made and give our surplus to the bishop, "the keeper of the storehouse," who shoulders the responsibility to care for the poor. It is by means of consecrating who we are and what we have to the Lord that abundance flows. Abraham might have reminded us that whereas tithing is a defined sum, offerings are not. The faith required to pay generous offerings is greater than the faith required to pay tithing, and the greater the faith and sacrifice, the greater the blessings. Therefore, our opportunity for growth and blessings lies in our paying offerings."

Larry Barkdull, The Three Pillars of Zion, p.37

Goodbye to the Decade of Dumb

Here we are on New Years Day, 2010. Last night we bid farewell to 2009 and I say to it "good riddance, and don't let the door hit you on the butt on the way out."

I'm optimistic about 2010, but I wasn't in love with 2009 on a number of levels. We were shocked and saddened when Grandma Hall passed away unexpectedly, and later when Gaylen was diagnosed with Cancer and succumbed to it within just a few weeks. Unemployment rose to over 10% nationwide (over 17% including discouraged job seekers and those whose unemployment benefits expired) as we experienced the aftermath of the most severe financial crisis since the 1930's. I spent much of 2009 paying the price for some pretty dumb financial decisions that I and others made in 2008 and earlier. From a financial standpoint, the last decade was arguably one of the dumbest on record. The asset bubbles that got pumped up over the last ten years or so in the housing and securities markets have threatened to tank the entire US and world economies. In late 2008 and throughout 2009, the Federal Reserve pumped trillions of dollars into the US and world markets, and we have averted a collapse, and the financial markets rebounded strongly throughout the second half of 2009. Now we'll see what will be the longer term effect of the USA having turned itself into the biggest debtor nation in the world, and being tens of trillions of dollars in debt. My personal opinion is that ultimately there are only two possible solutions to cure this totally unsustainable level of debt: inflation or default. The government will have to either inflate the currency by devaluing the dollar, or it will default on its debts. A large-scale disaster or global war could facilitate one of both of these "solutions." It's anyone's guess when either one of these things, or some combination of the two, will happen, but if they do, they will create serious hardship for Americans and millions of people around the world.

I suspect that in the coming months we may have a period of what feels like relative prosperity--the calm before the storm. I hope that everyone in the family will use whatever time we have left before the storm--whether it turns out to be weeks, months, or years, we won't know exactly how long until the opportunity has passed--to prepare. My official counsel as Dad and official family Geezer-in-Chief is to do everything possible to get out of debt and stay out of debt. Please take it from me, who have put my hand on the debt stove enough times to know better, that it burns and hurts a lot. Especially consumer debt. I hope you understand and believe that credit card companies are not your friends. They will lure you into having what you want now and when the debt piles up (and it always does when you buy on credit), the consequences will make your life miserable long after you no longer are enjoying whatever it was that you bought with borrowed money. Having a mortgage or monthly rent payment, and paying just basic living expenses is (or eventually will be) challenging enough. Don't sign up for long term slavery and distress by buying stuff with debt. Ok, that's my message for the day (or maybe the entire year if I don't start posting more often.) After all, I've got a new Wii to play with, er, I mean work out with (bought with 100% debt free dollars, thanks to your awesome Mom.)

Now I'm going to get on with the New Year with a shiny new motto--"Less dumb equals more happy" Ask me how I'm doing with that in a few weeks. Love, Dad