One of my favorite movies, and an annual viewing tradition for me, is A Christmas Carol, many versions. I don’t feel like Christmas is complete unless I’ve watched the version with Alistair Sim as Scrooge and the musical version starring Albert Finney. I like other versions as well, but I always feel like I must […]

I’ve had my share, and maybe more, of members who are so assured of their own righteousness that they see nothing wrong with trying to wrench me from my testimony. I marvel at whatever thought processes might lead a person in authority to treat one of their flock as a wolf. I’m fortunate to be […]

It has been a rough couple of weeks for me, but it began over a year ago. I wrote about it on another post on another blog, Thud and Blood. The short version is that I went ATVing on some trails near Sandy, Oregon and wound up face down in the dirt with my leg […]

Rex Goode ponders about a talk by President Boyd K. Packer at the October 2010 Semiannual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The talk, “Cleansing the Inner Vessel”, stirred a lot of controversy in its remarks about same-sex attraction. Rex Goode’s review speaks of civility and tolerance for all sides of the question of dealing with same-sex attraction and spirituality.

Few things are more destructive to healthy living than envy. Envy seems such a general thing that it’s hard to apply to it the usual Latter-day Saint cultural assignations of seriousness. You know what I mean. We like to know how much more serious one sin is than another. 5 people like this post. Like […]

Sometimes family relations are not the picture of peace and tranquility that we  wish they were. Sometimes it can be downright ugly and people can wind up hurt. So what can one do under such circumstances? Go to the hills. 8 people like this post. Like Unlike

In many hymnals, there are usually up to four verses printed between the staves. Before the modern hymnals that we’ve grown accustomed to, the music for the hymn tune was printed above and all the text was written beneath the staves and there was no text between the staves. It is always my fond yet […]

I’ve been thinking a lot about a favorite song that has been a part of my family tradition for at least three generations. It is a lullaby from Wales called Ar Hyd y Nos. It’s probably known more by it’s English title All Through the Night. 4 people like this post. Like Unlike

I moved to Sacramento in February. Since then I’ve discovered a lot and found myself getting accustomed to various aspects of the area. Most notably, the river. 5 people like this post. Like Unlike

Earlier this week, I celebrated my thirty-third wedding anniversary, married to the lovely, talented, and magnificent former Miss Barbara Wade. I’m fortunate to have found whom I consider to be the best woman on the planet. I often get a chuckle when someone describes a very minor accomplishment, and someone sarcastically replies, “And they said […]

Sometimes there are days when we just want to let go, and give up. Some days we feel like we’re all spent and can do no more to further our own progression or the work of God. But then there are the days that the love which never lets us go reaches down and reminds […]

My car is burning through oil faster than five foolish virgins. 3 people like this post. Like Unlike

I’m thinking quite a bit about graduations this week. My niece just graduated from High School on Wednesday. Hard to believe the baby I held in my arms  before I left for my mission is going to be a freshman in college studying nursing. I guess it’s pretty obvious I’m proud of my niece. Her […]

….Do not pick it up. This my friends is an object lesson. My parents and I spent the evening at my sister’s house. In addition to a husband, two children, and two golden retrievers my sister also has a Flemish Giant rabbit as a house pet. Flemish Giants are evidently good house pets because they […]

Picture it! Fast and testimony meeting May 2010 in my ward. I direct the music each week, so I’m sitting on the stand. I tell myself I’m not bearing my testimony again. I do it each month it seems. I’m just sitting back. My knee hurts from a fall I took earlier in the week, […]