Celestial Life

Money, money, money, Must be funny,In a rich man’s world. Introduction Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve been struggling with this theme for many years now. But, it just won’t leave me alone. Let me give a couple of examples of questions / issues. World’s Richest Man Forbes compiles the list of the world’s > > Read More …

These last several weeks, I’ve had increasing opportunity to search out God in lunches with a new Muslim friend, while communing and spiritually stretching in a BaHa’i devotional, while offering an invited prayer (on my Birthday, very memorable) at a anti-gun-violence prayer meeting / peace vigil, and having deep theological discussions with disaffected or questioning > > Read More …

Note: herein I choose to reference a different compilation of the scriptures so that nothing Joseph Smith included is left out. Of course we’ve heard a lot of science in the last two decades about confirmation bias and not just how susceptible we are to this, but how those of us who attempt to be > > Read More …

A couple of weeks ago, I read about Karl Popper’s “The Paradox Of Tolerance” in Mark Manson’s MindF*ck Monday newsletter. A couple of key quotes: If everyone is tolerant of every idea, then intolerant ideas will emerge. Tolerant people will tolerate this intolerance, and the intolerant people will not tolerate the tolerant people. Eventually, the > > Read More …

I long for the days when dreams were fun. Flying through the air, luscious foods, swimming in jungle pools, enjoying massive, never-heard-before classical concerts — those were the kind of things that often made sleep a joy. Last night I awoke abruptly after intentionally and selfishly lying to an associate. Why would I do that > > Read More …

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 …