Last week, in another unusual dream, I found myself on the desolate, featureless surface of a great orb, attempting to see where there was no light. During the course of conversation with a fellow sojourner (I hope not a fellow, permanent occupant) who acquainted me with the place, I noted a growing glow on the > > Read More …

During my morning prayers, the image came to mind…. The fire, tremendous. The gathered, pitching coals. The emissaries, collecting friends, fuel. The emotions, intense as the fire. The hills, growing ever-higher on all sides. The throngs, covering pitch-dark hills, casting ever-increasing coal. The fire, colossal, exalting itself above the expanding darkness. And the voice spoke: > > Read More …

Having a post on Jan 1 called “Reset” might foreshadow something to do with resolutions. But, no. Well, maybe. If so, then only indirectly layered into “Rethinking Alma 32, Part C.” When I started the thread on “Rethinking Alma 32,” I was documenting the lessons taught back in November and generally following that outline. Then, > > Read More …

Introduction & Principal Conclusions In preparing a Tree of Life lesson for teens (12/6/2020), the principles from Rethinking Alma 32, were repurposed. When opening Nephi’s vision to more fully prepare, there was no expectation that there was anything new or particularly interesting to be discovered. That couldn’t have been more wrong. As with Alma 32, > > Read More …

Would you rather kill, or be killed? Wedge issues have been around for a while. Recently, a friend asked if I was a “moderate.” I don’t know. Is one a moderate if one wants to neither kill or be killed? Can one be both pro-life and pro-choice? There are so many cases where there is > > Read More …

During the summer of 1977 (or so), this boy left Minnesota for the Rockies. On a whim, I drove up to Grand Targhee in hopes of seeing spectacular views. The lifts were not running; the place seemed vacant. So I took a hike. It started at the parking lot (elevation of 2420 m; 7940 ft) > > Read More …

What do these have in common? Come, Let Us Adore Him, Chapter 6, Bookends, Denver Snuffer The Chosen, Episode 5 Psalm 37 D&C 121, 122, 123 Two things: All relate to submitting to God’s timetable. All were stumbled/reflected upon two weeks ago within a 48 hour period and resolved many months of frustrations, reflections, yearnings, > > Read More …

During this morning’s reading, these disparate ideas came to mind. Music ordained? There is a phrase of a symphony caressing this soul in conjunction with the subsequent question, but it remains unidentified. Curiously, with it comes the thought: why does our music have 12 (chromatic, 1/2 step) tones, and why does the major (Ionian) scale > > Read More …

It seems that all three of these have never been “put out there.” So, with little explanation or elaboration: The First Educational Metaphor While labeled differently, this was previously discussed in http://www.celestial.life/2016/05/educational-system-metaphor/ What man upon receiving a PhD looks with derision upon a kindergartner, knowing that his knowledge is superior? The Second Educational Metaphor Context: > > Read More …

Note: this should have been written much earlier in the year…. I rarely wake up due to fear. In this case, being jerked to wakefulness came because of an absence of fear, when there clearly should have been. It was a simple, respectful, intellectually invigorating conversation. Across the table, the impeccably dressed man in black > > Read More …