Lehi's Dream

I found so much beautiful art about Lehi's dream, I couldn't resist putting it all together in a slideshow.
Tree Of Life

Happy Labor Day!

I Hear America Singing
by Walt Whitman



Why is everyone singing? Because working makes you happy
like nothing else can. Oh, if we only remembered that it
is the pursuit of accomplishment rather than the pursuit
of leisure that really satisfies.

On Duties

"How necessary it is to cultivate a spirit of joy. It is a psychological truth that the physical acts of reverence and devotion make one feel devout. The courteous gesture increases one's respect for others. To act lovingly is to begin to feel loving, and certainly to act joyfully brings joy to others which in turn makes one feel joyful. I believe we are called to the duty of delight." -Dorothy Day

It's spring. I itch to dig in the earth, to get my hands dirty, to labor for the life of some beautiful or useful plant. To weed. To prune. To nourish. To protect. I hope to help my little seedlings not only live, but thrive. And that's what I want for myself. I want not only to live, but to thrive.

As Dorothy Day points out, we must cultivate joy. I think that means dig for it. Weed around it. Prune it. Nourish it and protect it. Get in there and get our hands dirty in helping it along. Perhaps joy is tied much more closely to work than we ever realized - hard, break a sweat, task by task accomplishment- our duties. Dishes, laundry, dusting, bills... can we find delight in these duties? Can we look at them as acts of loving service for our family? as prayers of gratitude to our Father in Heaven? As we "serve" our home, won't we come to love it all the more? Won't our contentment grow?

The work our mind has to do is no less arduous, even if we won't break a sweat. Dorothy Day's words illuminate one of our mental duties. It is to choose to act. Today we have largley forgotten that the doing precedes the feeling. We must act to sow seeds of reverence, courtesy, love, and joy with faith that they will grow. We must act joyful when we feel the farthest from it and yearn for it the most. If we understood the power of acting, of choosing what it is we long to feel or be, we would already be harvesting delight.

Happy New Year

A new year, a new beginning. I love new beginings. They are so full of hope -the hope that is a part of all good things. The hope, of course, is that it's not too late, that we haven't blown it, wasted it, ruined it, or let it slip through our fingers. The hope is that we can start from here and move forward, and not just forward, but upward. The hope is that we can improve, grow, reach a little higher, do a little better, or just hold on a little longer. The hope is that our past mistakes may somehow be erased, forgotten, overcome. The hope, at its very core, is in the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We hope that perhaps God will find our offering acceptable when laid along side the offering of our Redeemer.
I hear hope's song in the ringing in of the new year. I catch its scent on the tender petals of spring. I feel it in the freedom and release of summer. I see it in the fall's crayon colors. I taste it in the first floating flakes of winter's snow. It is in each new month. It comes every Sabbath as I fill my thirsty soul with living waters. And daily it dawns upon me.

A new day,
a new start,
another chance,
a step towards where?
It is mine to decide.
I cannot stop my journey, but I can plot its course.
I can get home.

For in His Strength I Can Do All Things - The Grace of Jesus Christ

David A. Bednar teaches us...

“Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea. (see 1)

“Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things” (Jacob 4:6–7).

Brothers and sisters, please pay particular attention to the word grace as it is used in the verse I just read. In the Bible Dictionary we learn that the word grace frequently is used in the scriptures to connote a strengthening or enabling power: (see 2)

“The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ. (see 3)

“… It is likewise through the of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. (see 4) This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts” (p. 697).

Thus, the enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity. (see 5) I testify and witness that the enabling power of the Savior’s Atonement is real. Without that strengthening power of the Atonement, I could not stand before you this morning.

Can we sense the grace and strengthening power of Christ in the testimony of Ammon? “Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever” (Alma 26:12). Truly, brothers and sisters, in the strength of the Lord we can do and endure and overcome all things.
-from In the Strength of the Lord October GC 2004 (emphasis added)

1. Ok First of all, can you imagine the trees, mountains, or waves obeying you? It creates quite a visual image in your mind. It is an amazing illustration of the strength of the faith of these people in Jesus Christ, for this is obviously something that you could not accomplish without God's power. It seems like an exclamation point or special emphasis on the size, power, importance, and strength of their faith in Jesus Christ.

2. Second, the Lord shows us our weaknesses in contrast to His grace, condescension, and power. We have to know our sins in order to partake of His atonement. Our human nature makes it necessary for us to rely on Him. Our sins, weaknesses, and problems can become strengths through Him. Is He showing you where you need to improve? Don't get discouraged by your faults. He wants you to see them in order to lean on Him in overcoming them.

3. Next, grace makes us stronger or enables us to do something. Through the Lord's grace we are better able to do things of which we thought ourselves incapable, or which we even thought impossible. What impossible tasks are facing you in your life right now? He will help. He loves you. His mercy is bountiful.

4. Now, are there good works that you are just too tired to carry on? Are you worn out? Are you too tired to continue in the service you have been asked to give? Does it seem too much? Do not despair. Through your faith and repentance you will receive strength and assistance. Don't try to do it alone. Lean on the Lord.

5. As Elder Bednar says, "Thus, the enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity."