Living After the Manner of Happiness

  photo by Olisaknit, Etsy  (https://www.etsy.com : accessed 24 January 2022) I awoke with a heavy heart following events of the past couple of days, and this blog post I wrote last year came back to mind. Here we are nearly a year later, and it often feels like the divisiveness has only continued to escalate. So many I care about are feeling hurt and pain. Pondering on this, the words of a song came to mind this morning. It’s like a symphony Just keep listening And pretty soon you’ll start To figure out your part Everyone plays a piece And there are melodies In each one of us Oh, it’s glorious 1   Music speaks to my soul, and I love the symphony analogy used in this chorus. The word symphony derives from the Greek word symphonia, which means agreement or harmonious sound. 2 The whole point of a symphony is bringing various musicians and instruments together to create something beautiful. There are times when small solos enhance the piece, but generally, the best symph...

  Years ago, I belonged to a very diverse book group. We all came from different walks of life. Some were young, and others were well beyond retirement, with a few sprinkled in between. We all belonged to different churches. Our eclectic group had just two things in common: we were all active in our chosen religion, and we loved to read. Our book chats often bled into religious discussions, and I learned so much about my own beliefs because they were willing to share theirs. I always walked away from our time together with my perspective expanded and with something to ponder. I was part of this group the first two years I taught seminary, and they often asked about my class when I saw them. The New Testament was the course of study in my first year. Our book group met the week I taught 1 Corinthians 15, so I asked what verses 40-41 meant to them at one point during our discussion. 40 There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and ...

My brother shared an analogy with me last night. He used a ladder to describe our motives and attitude behind why we do the things we do. The first rung of the ladder is out of fear, the second is out of duty (checking the box), and the third is because we love the person. The fourth and final rungs are because we love God. I had this analogy in my thoughts this morning as I read 1 Nephi 8. In particular, look at verses 24-25, 28 and compare them to verse 30 thinking about the ladder analogy. What is the difference between these two groups? All of them pressed forward, then caught hold of the rod, and continued pressing forward through the mists of darkness. One group clung to the rod and the other group continually held fast, but both groups had hold of the rod. It is what happens after that makes all the difference. President Packer taught the following about the word after in relation to this chapter. “One word in this dream or vision should have special meaning to...

While I love studying the New Testament, I always weep tears of joy each time I begin the Book of Mormon again because of the plainness of its writing (after Revelation) and the clarity with which it teaches. Reading the first few chapters this week has brought these same emotions and gratitude again. I am so excited for this year! Elder Bednar teaches that we should look for connections, patterns, and themes as we study (see  https://speeches.byu.edu/…/david-a-…/reservoir-liv ing-water/ ). One that stood out to me the last couple of days has been the contrast between Lehi’s sons. All of them left their home and journeyed into the wilderness. All of them went back to get the plates. All of them went through the motions to follow the prophet, but these experiences were life-changing for only one (compare the Nephi in 1 Nephi 1-3 to the Nephi in 1 Nephi 5 and beyond). A few scriptures that show the contrast (how many more can you find as we continue 1st and 2nd Nephi?): Nephi...