Tag Archives: blessing

The Economic Crisis Hits Home

If you’re new here, you may want to sign up for email alerts or subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for reading!My employer just let go 1/3 of our workforce today, which amounts to 7 employees, some of which were good friends.  I am grateful and fortunate that I still have my job.  They [...]

San Salvador El Salvador Temple Groundbreaking

The announcement of the building of the San Salvador, El Salvador, temple was particularly moving for me since that is where I served my mission (’00-’02).  The closest temple for members in the country when I served there was the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple.  Making the trip to Guatemala typically took members years of saving, [...]

Pōwhiri and Hongi of New Zealand’s Māori: a Sacred Ritual

The title is a bit of a mouthful, but let me explain.
I have been a ballroom dancer since I was about 12 years old, or about 15 years.  It has been quite an experience being involved with this subculture of ballroom dance, which has made up a large portion of my life.  During the summer [...]

The Rainbow - A Token of the Covenant

This morning I was listening to the ABC News report on the incoming hurricane Ike, which is heading straight towards the Galveston/Houston area of Texas, and the forecast of widespread destruction that it is provoking.  The news anchor was reporting from Galveston Island, Texas, where the brunt of the storm is said to be bearing [...]

Catholic Prayer and Mormon Prayer

There is a great article over at LDS Views by Dr. Alonzo Gaskill in which he discusses the differences and similarities between Catholic prayer and Mormon prayer.  It is quite interesting the comparisons he makes, particularly those with prayer in the temple.  I believe this article is from his latest book Know Your Religions, Vol. [...]

Seven Parts of Every Covenant - Victor Ludlow

Yesterday Dr. Victor Ludlow presented an address about covenants at BYU Education Week.  It was reported on by Sean Walker at BYU NewsNet, from which I reference the elements below.
In his presentation Dr. Ludlow explained what a covenant is and how it has been used throughout history in making promises between man and God, and [...]

Blowing out Birthday Candles

As most people know, it is a tradition in many parts of the world to bake up a birthday cake for a friend or family member celebrating a birthday.  Typically this cake is decorated nicely and topped with birthday candles, one for every year of the celebrant’s life.  When the time comes to eat the [...]

Which is Greater - The Temple or Service to the Poor?

A member of another faith asked me the following question:
In the [LDS] service that I attended, the speaker said that service to the Temple is the most important service that we can provide.  Is this opinion common across members of the LDS church?  Why is service to the Temple held in higher regard than, say, [...]

Palm up/Palm down in Middle Ages & Renaissance Christian Art

In response to a comment by Rick on my post “Consecrate = ‘A Filled Hand’ in Hebrew” I did some searching to see if I could find any commentary or studies of palm up/palm down symbolism in scholarship or art. What I found was interesting.  The palm up/palm down posture has a significant place [...]

Ordinances as Signs

Today in priesthood we talked about chapter 7 in the Joseph Smith manual. It is about “Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.” One thing that struck me as I read the chapter is the number of times that Joseph referred to baptism and some of the other principles and ordinances as [...]

U.K. Coronation Ceremony as an Endowment

The sacred ceremonies in which new monarchs are crowned kings and queens in the United Kingdom have significant parallels to the LDS Mormon endowment. These traditions stem from ancient times in English history, and have remained relatively unchanged in form throughout ages. The most recent coronation ceremony was on June 2, 1953, when [...]

President Monson’s Calling as a Prophet

I want all people to know that I know that President Thomas S. Monson is God’s prophet, seer, and revelator on the earth today. He has been called just as all prophets have been called since the beginning of time, and that is by God. God calls prophets, such as Adam, Enoch, Abraham, [...]