He Who Reads it Oftenest Will Like it Best

The Prophet Joseph Smith

“Connected with the building up of the Kingdom, is the printing and circulation of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, … and the new translation of the [Bible]. It is unnecessary to say anything respecting these works; those who have read them, and who have drunk of the stream of knowledge which they convey, know how to appreciate them; and although fools may have them in derision, yet they are calculated to make men wise unto salvation, and sweep away the cobwebs of superstition of ages, throw a light on the proceedings of Jehovah which have already been accomplished, and mark out the future in all its dreadful and glorious realities. Those who have tasted the benefit derived from a study of those works, will undoubtedly vie with each other in their zeal for sending them abroad throughout the world, that every son of Adam may enjoy the same privileges, and rejoice in the same truths.”

- History of the Church, 4:187; from a letter from Joseph Smith and his counselors in the First Presidency to the Saints, Sept. 1840, Nauvoo, Illinois, published in Times and Seasons, Oct. 1840, p. 179.

“… He that can mark the power of Omnipotence, inscribed upon the heavens, can also see God’s own handwriting in the sacred volume: and he who reads it oftenest will like it best, and he who is acquainted with it, will know the hand wherever he can see it; and when once discovered, it will not only receive an acknowledgment, but an obedience to all its heavenly precepts.”

- History of the Church, 2:11, 14; punctuation modernized; paragraph divisions altered; from “The Elders of the Church in Kirtland, to Their Brethren Abroad,” Jan. 22, 1834, published in Evening and Morning Star, Feb. 1834, p. 136; Mar. 1834, p. 142.

Where is One Like Christ?

The Prophet Joseph Smith

"Who, among all the Saints in these last days, can consider himself as good as our Lord?  Who is as perfect?  Who is as pure?  Who is as holy as He was?  Are they to be found?  He never transgressed or broke a commandment or law of heaven - no deceit was in His mouth, neither was guile found in His heart... Where is one like Christ?  He cannot be found on earth."

- The Prophet Joseph Smith, History of the Church 2:23

The Torchbearer

"The Torchbearer"

The God of the great endeavor 

gave me a torch to bear. 

I lifted it high above me 

in the dark and murky air.

Straightway with loud hosannas 

the crowd acclaimed its light, 

And followed me as I carried my torch 

through the dark and starless night.

Til mad with peoples' praises 

and drunken with vanity, 

I forgot it was the torch that drew them 

and fancied they followed me.

And my arm grew sore and weary 

upholding the shining load, 

And my tired feet went stumbling 

over the hilly road.

I fell with the torch beneath me, 

in a moment the flame was out. 

But lo, from the throng a stripling 

sprang forth with a mighty shout,

Caught up the torch as it smouldered 

and lifted it high again, 

Til fanned by the winds of heaven 

it fired the souls of men.

As I lay alone in the darkness, 

the feet of the trampling crowd, 

Passed over and far beyond me, 

their praises proclaimed aloud.

And I learned in the deepening shadow 

this glorious verity, 

'Tis the torch the people follow, 

who ere the bearer be.

- Anonymous

A Little Fighting to Do

Brigham Young

"This evil is with us, it is that influence which tempts to sin, and which has been permitted to come into the world for the express purpose of giving us an opportunity of proving ourselves before God, before Jesus Christ our elder brother, before the holy angels, and before all good men, that we are determined to overcome the evil, and cleave to the good, for the Lord has given us the ability to do so. Consequently, when the evil is present with me, I have a little fighting to do, I must turn and combat it until it is eradicated from my affections, as well as from my actions, that I may have power to do all the good I wish to perform. Every person is capable of this, all can bridle their tongues, and cease from every evil act from this time henceforth and forever, and do good instead."

- Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, p. 70

Before the Lord Jesus Descends

Bruce R. McConkie

"Before the Lord Jesus descends openly and publicly in the clouds of glory, attended by all the hosts of heaven; before the great and dreadful day of the Lord sends terror and destruction from one end of the earth to the other; before he stands on Mount Zion, or sets his feet on Olivet, or utters his voice from an American Zion or a Jewish Jerusalem; before all flesh shall see him together; before any of his appearances, which taken together comprise the second coming of the Son of God—before all these, there is to be a secret appearance to selected members of his Church. He will come in private to his prophet and to the apostles then living. Those who have held keys and powers and authorities in all ages from Adam to the present will also be present." 

(Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, 578–79)

Know for Yourselves

The Prophet Joseph Smith

"Search the scriptures - search the revelations which we publish, and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation [. . . ] Search the Scriptures, search the Prophets and learn what portion of them belongs to you." 

- The Prophet Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 11-12.

Genuine Gold

James E. Talmage

“The present is an age of pleasure-seeking, and men are losing their sanity in the mad rush for sensations that do but excite and disappoint. In this day of counterfeits, adulterations, and base imitations, the devil is busier than he has ever been in the course of human history, in the manufacture of pleasures, both old and new; and these he offers for sale in most attractive fashion, falsely labeled, Happiness. In this soul-destroying craft he is without a peer; he has had centuries of experience and practice, and by his skill he controls the market. He has learned the tricks of the trade, and knows well how to catch the eye and arouse the desire of his customers. He puts up the stuff in bright-colored packages, tied with tinsel string and tassel; and crowds flock to his bargain counters, hustling and crushing one another in their frenzy to buy.

“Follow one of the purchasers as he goes off gloatingly with his gaudy packet, and watch him as he opens it. What finds he inside the gilded wrapping? He has expected fragrant happiness, but uncovers only an inferior brand of pleasure, the stench of which is nauseating.

“Happiness includes all that is really desirable and of true worth in pleasure, and much besides. Happiness is genuine gold, pleasure but guilded brass, which corrodes in the hand, and is soon converted into poisonous verdigris. Happiness is as the genuine diamond, which, rough or polished, shines with its own inimitable luster; pleasure is as the paste imitation that glows only when artificially embellished. Happiness is as the ruby, red as the heart’s blood, hard and enduring; pleasure, as stained glass, soft, brittle, and of but transitory beauty.

“Happiness is true food, wholesome, nutritious and sweet; it builds up the body and generates energy for action, physical, mental and spiritual; pleasure is but a deceiving stimulant which, like spiritous drink, makes one think he is strong when in reality enfeebled; makes him fancy he is well when in fact stricken with deadly malady.

“Happiness leaves no bad after-taste, it is followed by no depressing reaction; it calls for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no remorse; pleasure too often makes necessary repentance, contrition, and suffering; and, if indulged to the extreme, it brings degradation and destruction.

“True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a barbed sting, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present source of anguish.

“Happiness is not akin with levity, nor is it one with light-minded mirth. It springs from the deeper fountains of the soul, and is not infrequently accompanied by tears. Have you never been so happy that you have had to weep? I have.”

- James E. Talmage, "Improvement Era," vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 172-73. (Also found in notes to chapter 17, Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage)

Knowing Who You Are

President Kevin J. Worthen

It is important to remember who you are.  Yesterday, BYU President Kevin J. Worthen gave an excellent BYU devotional address on the topic of "Knowing Who You Are."  I commend it to your attention.

True Greatness

Joseph F. Smith

"Those things which we call extraordinary, remarkable, or unusual may make history, but they do not make real life.

After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman."

- President Joseph F. Smith ("Juvenile Instructor," 15 Dec. 1905, p. 752.)

A Pleasant Privilege

Russell M. Nelson

"Keeping the garden of marriage well cultivated and free from weeds of neglect requires the time and commitment of love. It is not only a pleasant privilege, it is a scriptural requirement with promise of eternal glory" - Russell M. Nelson (in Conference Report, Apr. 1991, 28; or Ensign, May 1991, 23).

The Land of Beginning Again

Louisa Fletcher

The Land of Beginning Again

I wish that there were some wonderful place

Called the land of Beginning Again,

Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches

And all of our poor selfish grief

Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door,

And never put on again.

I wish we could come on it all unaware,

Like the hunter who finds a lost trail;

And I wish that the one whom our blindness had done 

The greatest injustice of all

Could be at the gates like an old friend that waits

For the comrade he's gladdest to hail.

We would find all the things we intended to do

But forgot, and remembered too late,

Little praises unspoken, little promises broken,

And all of the thousand and one

Little duties neglected that might have perfected

The day for one less fortunate.

It wouldn't be possible not to be kind

In the land of Beginning Again;

And the ones we misjudged and the ones

Whom we grudged

The moments of victory here

Would find in the grasp of our loving handclasp

More than penitent lips could explain

For what had been hardest we'd know had been best

And what had seemed loss would be gain;

For there isn't a sting that will not take wing

When we've faced it and laughed it away;

And I think that the laughter is most what we're after

In the land of Beginning Again.

So I wish that there were some wonderful place

Called the land of Beginning Again,

Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches

And all of our poor selfish grief

Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door,

And never be put on again.

- Louisa Fletcher, in The Land of Beginning Again

The Super-Substantial Nourishment of Man

Jacques Maritain

“Poetry (like metaphysics) is spiritual nourishment; but of a savor which has been created and which is insufficient. There is but one eternal nourishment. Unhappy are you who think yourselves ambitious, and who whet your appetites for anything less than the [divinity] of Christ. It is a mortal error to expect from poetry the super-substantial nourishment of man.”

- Jacques Maritain, Frontiers of Poetry [New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1962], p. 132.)

The Disciple-Scholar

Learning in the Light of Faith: The Compatibility of Scholarship and Discipleship

What is a disciple-scholar?  Elder Neal A. Maxwell exemplified both discipleship and scholarship in his life, and he explains the concept here.

The Sun Looks Down

C.S. Lewis

“As long as we are thinking of natural values we must say that the sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal, or two friends talking over a pint of beer, or a man alone reading a book that interests him; and that all economies, politics, laws, armies, and institutions, save insofar as they prolong and multiply such scenes, are a mere ploughing the sand and sowing the ocean, a meaningless vanity and vexation of the spirit. Collective activities are, of course, necessary, but this is the end to which they are necessary.”

— C.S. Lewis, “Membership” in The Weight of Glory

What is the Question?

Truman G. Madsen

We Bore Their Teaching Within Us

Marcel Proust

“All that can be said is that everything in our life happens as though we entered upon it with a load of obligations contracted in a previous existence. There is no reason arising from the conditions of our life on this earth for us to consider ourselves obliged to do good, to be tactful, even to be polite. … All these obligations whose sanction is not of this present life, seem to belong to a different world, founded on kindness, scruples, sacrifices, a world entirely different from this one, a world whence we emerge to be born on this earth, before returning thither, perhaps to live under the empire of those unknown laws we have obeyed because we bore their teaching within us without knowing who had taught us.” (Marcel Proust, La Prisonniere, as quoted in Homo Viator by Gabriel Marcel.)

When They Are Near

What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense

"In a mobile age, people want continuity. Our spouses — permanent breakfast partners, reliable sources and objects of interest and affection — anchor us. What we do alone has less verve than what we share. Spouses are witnesses to our adulthoods; they are our living and dynamic diaries. We want knowing consolation and informed advice: Spouses have license to plumb our past and present and our most private ambitions. We want the security of a first responder in emergencies, ready counsel in distress, company in defeat, and, for every personal victory, a two-way tie. Spouses typically provide all these goods.

Besides, marriage itself is a school of virtue. As fear gives way to surrender, as the exhilaration of surrender gives way to laboriousness and then to the serenely familiar, we mature. Stretched across another life’s peaks and troughs, our ego is unraveled. What we want from our spouses, we learn ever more to give. In vacations and bedside vigils, grand projects and modest self-denials, our spouses call forth in us new excellences, somehow making us feel all the while that we are most at ease, and most ourselves, when they are near."

- Ryan T. Anderson, Robert P. George, and Sherif Girgis, "The Marriage Debate" (and What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, pp. 88-89)

He Was Ever Master

Jesus the Christ

"The incident of Christ’s forcible clearing of the temple is a contradiction of the traditional conception of Him as of One so gentle and unassertive in demeanor as to appear unmanly. Gentle He was, and patient under affliction, merciful and long-suffering in dealing with contrite sinners, yet stern and inflexible in the presence of hypocrisy, and unsparing in His denunciation of persistent evil-doers. His mood was adapted to the conditions to which He addressed Himself; tender words of encouragement or burning expletives of righteous indignation issued with equal fluency from His lips. His nature was no poetic conception of cherubic sweetness ever present, but that of a Man, with the emotions and passions essential to manhood and manliness. He, who often wept with compassion, at other times evinced in word and action the righteous anger of a God. But of all His passions, however gently they rippled or strongly surged, He was ever master. Contrast the gentle Jesus moved to hospitable service by the needs of a festal party in Cana, with the indignant Christ plying His whip, and amidst commotion and turmoil of His own making, driving cattle and men before Him as an unclean herd."

- James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 158

Make No Little Plans

Daniel Burnham

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and our grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty."

- Daniel Burnham

Thanksgiving Day Proclamations

This is a list of Thanksgiving Day Proclamations by presidents of the United States from 1789 to the present.  It includes proclamations from Washington, Adams, and Madison to Lincoln, and from Lincoln to Coolidge and Reagan.  Lincoln solidified the tradition, and each of Lincoln's successors has issued an annual Thanksgiving Day Proclamation.  Like every president before him, President Donald Trump has also issued Thanksgiving Day Proclamations. (see here, and here)

Happy Thanksgiving.

We Are Not Bound to Say All We Think

The 2018 Neal A. Maxwell Lecture with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

I just returned from the 2018 Neal A. Maxwell Lecture for the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU.  Elder Holland addressed members of the Maxwell Institute directly and specifically, and the administration, faculty, and students of Brigham Young University more generally.  The theme and the title of his address was "The Maxwell Legacy in the 21st Century."

Elder Holland began his address with four caveats to explain the context and the audience for his remarks.  He mentioned that he was speaking on behalf of the leadership of Brigham Young University.  He spoke of the challenges and opportunities of the Maxwell Institute, and he spoke specifically to the Maxwell Institute, and to BYU.  He expressed love and appreciation for every good thing that the Maxwell Institute has accomplished in seeking truth and in building faith in Christ.

Elder Holland recounted his first encounter with Elder Maxwell, then commissioner of Church Education, and he credited Elder Maxwell for providing much direction in his life as a disciple of Christ and as a scholar and a teacher.  Elder Holland made it clear that the mission of the Church and of BYU, though not the same, must be as closely aligned with each other as possible, and that the same thing must be true of the Maxwell Institute.  He challenged the Maxwell Institute to be among the best in faith promotion and world class Gospel scholarship.

Elder Holland shared many gems from the treasure trove of Elder Maxwell's teachings.  For example, Elder Maxwell taught that:

"There is as much vastness in the theology of the Restoration as in the stretching universe. 'There is space there' for the full intellectual stretching of any serious disciple. There is room 'enough and to spare' for all the behavioral development one is willing to undertake. No wonder, therefore, personal wholeness is required in discipleship. Genius without meekness is not enough to qualify for discipleship."

Elder Holland reminded his audience that discipleship precedes and informs scholarship, or, in Elder Maxwell's own words: "Though I have spoken of the disciple-scholar, in the end all the hyphenated words come off. We are finally disciples-men and women of Christ (see 3 Ne. 27:27)."  He also reminded his audience of Elder Maxwell's memorable metaphor that critics of the Church should not be allowed any "uncontested slam-dunks."

Elder Holland taught that faith requires an explicit defense, and that the foundational documents of the Church and of BYU ought to be defended by the Maxwell Institute.  In light of President Nelson's recent counsel, and with good humor, Elder Holland stated that centers for "Mormon Studies" will need to find a new name.  He also referred to a personal email that he received from President Nelson in which he was encouraged to help the members of the Maxwell Institute understand who they are  and why the Maxwell Institute exists.  Although "Mormon Studies" may be a part of the Maxwell Institute, the mission of the Maxwell Institute remains separate and distinct from that of institutions for "Mormon Studies."  The Maxwell Institute is set apart from the secular premises and even the religious "richness" that is supposed to characterize institutions for "Mormon Studies."  

Why?  Elder Maxwell taught that: "A few hold back a portion of themselves merely to please a particular gallery of peers. Another might hold back a spiritual insight from which many could profit, simply wishing to have his or her 'ownership' established. Some hold back by not appearing overly committed to the kingdom, lest they incur the disapproval of particular peers who might disdain such consecration. In various ways, some give of themselves, even extensively, but not fully and unreservedly."

Elder Holland then addressed the problems inherent in "bracketing" truth claims or "bracketing" one's faith.  There are more limitations than virtues in "bracketing" one's faith or the truth claims of one's faith.  Common ground is not found on neutral ground, and "bracketing" costs credibility.  In fact, to paraphrase Elder Maxwell, we are not really learned if we neglect education in eternal truths and Divine data.  

Elder Holland suggested some topics of study for the Maxwell Institute, including the importance of family life and kinship in early America, ordinances for the dead, holy spaces, and selections from The Joseph Smith Papers.  If we err, Elder Holland taught, we must err on the side of our covenants.  

Elder Holland provided counsel regarding ways to maintain a balance with academic excellence, appropriate tone, and constant vigilance.  The Maxwell Institute cannot simply be synonymous with "Mormon Studies."  Instead, it must follow the example of the Scottish pastor George MacDonald who asked and answered his own question:

"Is every Christian expected to bear witness?  A man content to bear no witness to the truth is not in the kingdom of heaven.  One who believes must bear witness.  One who sees the truth must live witnessing to it.  Do we carry ourselves in bank, on farm, in house or shop, in study or chamber or workshop, as the Lord would, or as the Lord would not? Are we careful to be true? Do we endeavour to live to the height of our ideas? Or are we mean, self-serving, world-flattering, fawning slaves? When contempt is cast on the truth, do we smile? Wronged in our presence, do we make no sign that we hold by it? I do not say we are called upon to dispute, and defend with logic and argument, but we are called upon to show that we are on the other side. But when I say truth, I do not mean opinion: to treat opinion as if that were truth, is grievously to wrong the truth. The soul that loves the truth and tries to be true, will know when to speak and when to be silent; but the true man will never look as if he did not care. We are not bound to say all we think, but we are bound not even to look what we do not think."

Elder Holland also recalled that Elder Maxwell was fond of quoting Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien's appropriately named book The Return of the King:

"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."

Finally, Elder Holland reminded his audience of Elder Dallin H. Oaks' clear instruction that the Maxwell Institute have no obsessions or cheering constituencies because the institute belongs to God.  I'm not sure why it is so difficult to find this particular speech online, but Spencer Fluhman has the full transcript of these remarks in his possession.  Here, at least, is an excerpt from that speech:

"The work of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship must be genuine and pervasive—as broad as the spiritual interests of the children of God, as faithful as eternal truth, and as bright as the light of truth within us."

That is a great challenge for all of us, but it is a challenge that particularly pertains to the members of the institute that bears the name of Elder Neal A. Maxwell.

He Will Try Us

Lorenzo Snow

"I daresay that in the [premortal] spirit world, when it was proposed to us to come into this probation, and pass through the experience that we are now receiving, it was not altogether pleasant and agreeable; the prospects were not so delightful in all respects as might have been desired. Yet there is no doubt that we saw and understood clearly there that, in order to accomplish our exaltation and glory, this was a necessary experience; and however disagreeable it might have appeared to us, we were willing to conform to the will of God, and consequently we are here.

The Lord has determined in His heart that He will try us until He knows what He can do with us. He tried His Son Jesus. … Before He [the Savior] came upon earth the Father had watched His course and knew that He could depend upon Him when the salvation of worlds should be at stake; and He was not disappointed. So in regard to ourselves. He will try us, and continue to try us, in order that He may place us in the highest positions in life and put upon us the most sacred responsibilities."

- Lorenzo Snow

After All We Can Do

After All We Can Do

I’d been in that hole for a very long time –
In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime.
The shaft was above me; I could see it quite clear,
But there’s no way I ever could reach it from here.
Nor could I remember the world way up there,
So I lost all my hope and gave into despair.

I knew nothing but darkness, the floors, and the walls,
When from off in the distance I heard someone call,
“Get up! Get ready! There’s nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder.”
This had never occurred to me, had not crossed my mind,
So I started to stack all the stones I could find.

When I ran out of stones, the old sticks were my goal,
For some way or another I’d get out of that hole.
So I soon had a ladder that was really quite tall,
And I thought, “I’ll soon leave this place once and for all!”
Then I climbed up my ladder, it was no easy chore –
For from lifting those boulders my shoulders were sore.

So I worked and I climbed and at last had to stop,
For my ladder stopped short – some ten feet from the top.
I climbed back down the ladder and felt all around,
But there were no more boulders nor sticks to be found.
I went back to my ladder and started to cry.
I’d done all I could do; I gave my best try.

But in spite of my work, in this hole I must die,
And all I could do was to sit and think, “Why?”
Was my ladder too short? Or my hole much too deep?
Then from way up on high came a voice: “Do not weep.”
And then hope, love, and faith entered my chest,
As the voice said to me that I’d done my best.

He said, “Nothing’s the matter. There’s reason to hope.
Just climb up your ladder; I’ll throw down my rope.
You have worked very hard, and your labor’s been rough,
But the ladder you’ve built is at last tall enough.”
I climbed up the ladder, then climbed up the cord.
When I stood at the top, there stood the Lord.

I’ve never been happier; my struggle was done.
I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son.
I fell to the ground; his feet did I kiss.
I cried, “What can I do to repay thee for this?”
He looked all around Him – there were holes in the ground.
They had people inside, and were seen all around.

There were thousands of holes that were damp, dark, and deep.
Then the Lord turned to me and He said, “Feed my sheep.”
Then He went on His way to help other lost souls.
And I got right to work, calling down to the holes,
“Get up! Get ready! There’s nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a find ladder!”

It now was my turn to spread the good word.
The most glorious message that man ever heard.
That there’s One who is willing to save one and all,
And we’ve got to be ready when He gives the call.
He’ll pull us all out of the hole that we’re in,
And save all our souls from death and from sin.
So do not lose faith; there is reason to hope:
Just build up your ladder; He’ll throw down His rope.

- Elder Robbie Pierce, 2000

Be Quiet, Man

With thoughtless and impatient hands
We tangle up the plans
The Lord hath wrought.
And when we cry in pain He saith,
‘Be quiet, man, while I untie the knot.’

- Anonymous

Tell All the Truth But Tell It Slant

Emily Dickinson

Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —

- Emily Dickinson

She Made Beauty All Around Her

C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold

"Of Psyche's beauty — at every age the beauty proper to that age — there is only this to be said, that there were no two opinions about it, from man or woman, once she had been seen. It was beauty that did not astonish you till afterwards when you had gone out of sight of her and reflected on it. While she was with you, you were not astonished. It seemed the most natural thing in the world. As the Fox delighted to say, she was 'according to nature'; what every woman, or even every thing, ought to have been and meant to be, but had missed by some trip of chance. Indeed, when you looked at her you believed, for a moment, that they had not missed it. She made beauty all round her. When she trod on mud, the mud was beautiful; when she ran in the rain, the rain was silver. When she picked up a toad — she had the strangest and, I thought, unchanciest love for all manner of brutes — the toad became beautiful."

- C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, Ch. 2

The Winds of Fate

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Winds of Fate

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
’Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.

Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate,
As we voyage along through life:
’Tis the set of a soul
That decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Stick to Your Task

Stick to your task till it sticks to you.

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honor, power, place and praise

Will always come to the one who stays.

Stick to your task till it sticks to you;

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too—

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life’s victories after awhile.

- Anonymous

Nazareth Was a Little Place

Meade MacGuire

“Father, where shall I work today?”
And my love flowed warm and free.
Then he pointed out a tiny spot
And said, “Tend that for me.”
I answered quickly, “Oh no, not that!
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done.
Not that little place for me.”
And the word he spoke, it was not stern; …
“Art thou working for them or for me?
Nazareth was a little place,
And so was Galilee.”

- Meade MacGuire, “Father, Where Shall I Work Today?” 

True Education

David O. McKay

“The Church stands for education. The very purpose of its organization is to promulgate truth among men. Members of the Church are admonished to acquire learning by study, and also by faith and prayer, and to seek after everything that is virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy. …

“Indeed, one of the fundamental teachings of the Church is that salvation itself depends upon knowledge; for, says the revelation, ‘It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance,’ (D&C 131:6)” (Gospel Ideals, 440).

“Gaining knowledge is one thing and applying it, quite another. Wisdom is the right application of knowledge; and true education—the education for which the Church stands—is the application of knowledge to the development of a noble and Godlike character.

“A man may possess a profound knowledge of history and of mathematics; he may be authority in psychology, biology, or astronomy; he may know all the discovered truths pertaining to geology and natural science; but if he has not with this knowledge that nobility of soul which prompts him to deal justly with his fellow men, to practise virtue and holiness in personal life, he is not a truly educated man.

“Character is the aim of true education; and science, history, and literature are but means used to accomplish the desired end. Character is not the result of chance work but of continuous right thinking and right acting.

“True education seeks, then, to make men and women not only good mathematicians, proficient linguists, profound scientists, or brilliant literary lights, but also honest men, combined with virtue, temperance, and brotherly love—men and women who prize truth, justice, wisdom, benevolence, and self-control as the choicest acquisitions of a successful life” 

- David O. McKay (Gospel Ideals, 440)

A Single Figure Rises from the Flood

Arnold Toynbee

"This is the final result of our survey of saviours. When we first set out on our quest we found ourselves in the midst of a mighty marching host; but as we have pressed forward on our way, the marchers company by company have been falling out of the race. The first to fall were the swordsmen, the next the archaists, the next the futurists, the next the philosophers, until at length there were no more human competitors left in the running. In the last stage of all our motley host of would-be saviours, human and divine, has dwindled to a single company of none but gods; and now the strain has been testing the staying power of these last remaining runners, notwithstanding their superhuman strength. At the final ordeal of death few even of these would-be saviour-gods have dared to put their title to the test by plunging into the icy river. And now, as we stand and gaze with our eyes fixed upon the farther shore, a single figure rises from the flood and straightway fills the whole horizon. There is the Saviour; "and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand: he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied." 

- Arnold Toynbee [quoted in F. W. Dillistone - "The Christian Understanding of Atonement".]

Take Care of Your Garden

Kind hearts are the gardens,

Kind thoughts are the roots,

Kind words are the flowers.

Kind deeds are the fruits.

Take care of your garden

And keep out the weeds,

Fill it with sunshine,

Kind words and Kind deeds.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It Hits Us in the Solar Plexus

Hugh Nibley

"We recognize what is lovely because we have seen it somewhere else, and as we walk through the world, we are constantly on the watch for it with a kind of nostalgia, so that when we see an object or a person that pleases us, it is like recognizing an old friend; it hits us in the solar plexus, and we need no measuring or lecturing to tell us that it is indeed quite perfect. It is something we have long been looking for, something we have seen in another world, memories of how things should be."

- “Goods of First and Second Intent,” Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 9:528

A Creed

Edwin Markham

A Creed

There is a destiny that makes us brothers:
None goes his way alone:
All that we send into the lives of others
Comes back into our own.

I care not what his temples or his creeds,
One thing holds firm and fast
That into his fateful heap of days and deeds
The soul of man Is cast.

Edwin Markham

Only a Dad

Edgar Albert Guest

Only a Dad

Only a dad, with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame,
To show how well he has played the game,
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come, and to hear his voice.

Only a dad, with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more.
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad, but he gives his all
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing, with courage stern and grim,
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen,
Only a dad, but the best of men.

- Edgar Albert Guest

The Empty Pot

The Empty Pot (A Chinese folk tale, retold by Demi)

A long time ago in China there was a boy named Ping who loved flowers. Anything he planted burst into bloom. Up came flowers, bushes, and even big fruit trees, as if by magic!

Everyone in the kingdom loved flowers too. They planted them everywhere, and the air smelled like perfume.

The Emperor loved birds and animals, but flowers most of all, and he tended his own garden every day. But the Emperor was very old. He needed to choose a successor to the throne. Who would his successor be? And how would the Emperor choose? Because the Emperor loved flowers so much, he decided to let the flowers choose.

The next day a proclamation was issued: All the children in the land were to come to the palace. There they would be given special flower seeds by the Emperor. “Whoever can show me their best in a year’s time,” he said, “will succeed me to the throne.”

This news created great excitement throughout the land! Children from all over the country swarmed to the palace to get their flower seeds. All the parents wanted their children to be chosen Emperor, and all the children hoped they would be chosen too!

When Ping received his seed from the Emperor, he was the happiest child of all. He was sure he could grow the most beautiful flower.

Ping filled a flowerpot with rich soil. He planted the seed in it very carefully. He watered it every day. He couldn’t wait to see it sprout, grow, and blossom into a beautiful flower!

Day after day passed, but nothing grew in his pot. Ping was very worried. He put new soil into a bigger pot. Then he transferred the seed into the rich black soil. Another two months he waited. Still nothing happened.

By and by the whole year passed. Spring came, and all the children put on their best clothes to greet the Emperor. They rushed to the palace with their beautiful flowers, eagerly hoping to be chosen. Ping was ashamed of his empty pot. He thought the other children would laugh at him because for once he couldn’t get a flower to grow. 

His clever friend ran by, holding a great big plant. “Ping!” he said. “You’re not really going to the Emperor with an empty pot, are you? Couldn’t you grow a great big flower like mine?”

“I’ve grown lots of flowers better than yours,” Ping said. “It’s just this seed that won’t grow.”

Ping’s father overheard this and said, “You did your best, and your best is good enough to present to the Emperor.” 

Holding the empty pot in his hands, Ping went straight away to the palace. 

The Emperor was looking at the flowers slowly, one by one. How beautiful all the flowers were! But the Emperor was frowning and did not say a word.

Finally, he came to Ping. Ping hung his head in shame, expecting to be punished. The Emperor asked, “Why did you bring an empty pot?” 

Ping started to cry and replied, “I planted the seed you gave me and I watered it every day, but it didn’t sprout. I put it in a better pot with better soil, but still it didn’t sprout! I tended it all year long, but nothing grew. So today I had to bring an empty pot without a flower. It was the best I could do.” 

When the Emperor heard these words, a smile slowly spread over his face, and he put his arm around Ping. Then he exclaimed to one and all, “I have found him! I have found the one person worthy of being Emperor!”

“Where you got your seeds from, I do not know. For the seeds I gave you had all been cooked. So it was impossible for any of them to grow.”

“I admire Ping’s great courage to appear before me with the empty truth, and now I reward him with the entire kingdom and make him Emperor of all the land!”

(see also this video)

At the Crossroads

At the Crossroads

He stood at the crossroads all alone, The sunlight in his face;
He had no thought for an evil course, He was set for a manly race.
But the road stretched east and the road stretched west,
And he did not know which road was the best;
So he took the wrong road and it lead him down,
And he lost the race and the victor's crown.
He was caught at last in an angry snare
Because no one stood at the crossroads there
To show him the better road.

Another day at the self-same place a boy with high hopes stood;
He, too, was set for a manly race; he was seeking the things that were good.
And one was there who the roads did know,
And that one showed him the way to go;
So he turned away from the road leading down,
And he won the race and the victor's crown;
He walks today on the highways fair
Because one stood at the crossroads there
To show him a better road.

- Sadie Tiller Crawley