My brother sent me this email – I thought maybe some of you had some thoughts and insights!

“Sunday, in HP’s group, I taught the lesson and stated that Christ had the power to raise himself from the dead…and he did (see John 10:17-18 and paragraph 2 on page 61 of the GP manual). Monday at our old fogies FHE one of the guys said he had always thought that God the Father had raised Christ from the dead, and then cited/quoted several NT passages that confirm that. He asked me to research it and see what I could find. Here are several references (there are many more): Acts 2:32; 4:10;10:40; I Cor 15:15; I Peter 1:21; Romans 4:24….Well, I’ve been looking and, except for the ‘logical’ explanation that Christ had the power to lay down his life and pick it up again and that would make him the Redeemer/’Atoner’ and he received that power/authority from his Father (Luke 10:22); or argue that ‘as far as the Bible is translated correctly’ and the KJV was ‘translated’ by those who believed in the Triune godhead, I can’t find anything very concrete! Checked NT Commentary by McConkie, Answers to Gosp Quest by Jos Fielding and looking on line but not finding anything at all…I’m stumped. Suggestions? I’m open to your scholarship!!!”

I was yelled at early this morning by a fellow runner. Running at me. Uphill. Something about me not moving out of my lane for him. He had already begun yelling, 20 feet away, before I even noticed him in my lane (90% of runners go counter-clockwise around the Prospect Park loop, including me, which means he was essentially like a driver going down a one-way street honking and yelling at cars to get out of his way). My friend and I laughed as he passed us and I remarked at how much energy he just wasted that he could have put toward his uphill climb. So much energy, such poor allocation. (more…)

I have a confession to make: I don’t like the moniker, “The Plan of Happiness.” I much prefer “Plan of Salvation.” When did they change it, anyway? Or was it always the alternate title? The Plan of Happiness sounds too much to me like something Deepak Chopra or Suzanne Somers would use. The Plan of Happiness Laguna Beach Diet. The Plan of Salvation sounds like a road map to heaven. The Plan of Happiness sounds like a pitch. When I hear it, I cringe, like when someone begins their testimony with, “Brothers and sisters… Aloooooo-haa!”

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A friend shared a story with me yesterday about his favorite uncle that left me both amused and thoughtful. The uncle is a dyed-in-the-wool man of faith; a stake president, solid testimony, the kind of guy to whom the concept of disobedience would never occur. I know the type: A friend and mentor of mine, currently the president of one of the MTCs, fits this description. I’m envious and in awe of such men, for their unpolluted spirits and natural surety of providential collaboration.

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When people talk about someone having or passing on “good” genes they are usually referring to one of two things: physical attributes or intelligence. While it is true that being born with either or both of these advantages should aid in one’s quest for happiness, we all know that the results don’t always align to the expectations. There are plenty of really really good-looking people out there who are unhappy, perhaps only outnumbered by miserable smart people.

Yet we still claim that those are “good” genes. (more…)

Since Vincent Price fell out of the window 70 years ago, I’m thinking now is probably a good time to release another big-budget movie about Joseph Smith and the early Saints. The Church has been generating some copious ink these past few years, so I’ll bet in the right hands (Martin Scorcese?), a Hollywood production about the most complex story of 19th century America  would attract interest– if not at least set a firestorm across the ‘net. Or am I the only one who thinks this?

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I have a top five list of all time best… well, I have a top five list for pretty much everything, but this particular post concerns speeches.  Not necessarily GC speeches, but religious speeches. (more…)

We’ve all had surprises, good and bad.

Rusty and his wife Sara just set up one of the best surprises ever! (For those of you who don’t know, Rusty has a beautiful little 2 yr old daughter) My wife and I “Skype” with Rusty and Sara regularly, it’s actually so my wife can get her “Lucca Fix” – she loves seeing and talking to her granddaughter.

Without telling my wife, Sara and Lucca flew out to visit. Sunday after church I told my wife I was going to a meeting. I went to the airport and picked up Sara and Lucca.

When we arrive home I came into the house and we Skyped Rusty. My wife started talking to Rusty (I went out to the car and got Sara and Lucca, we sneaked in behind my wife while she was still talking. She asked Rusty “Where’s Lucca?” Rusty told her to turn around, she didn’t understand so she asked again. Rusty told her to turn around. The expression on my wife’s face was what we all were looking for and planning on! What a wonderful surprise and gift – a week with our granddaughter (and her mom)!

What’s been your biggest surprise…share the joy with us.

We’re very active in the Church, but mine is not a particularly religious family. That is to say, we’ll find where the sacrament meeting is wherever we’re vacationing, but we don’t quote scripture to each other in conversation, or note how a particular challenge we’re facing reminds us of something Elder Bednar said in a talk (and can even name the title of the talk). Sometimes I feel I should be more gospel-minded, especially for my daughter. She’s 14 now, and maybe the train’s already left the station, because when I do try to talk of spiritual things with her, she gets uncomfortable, and then I stammer, and then the subject sort of limps away behind the sofa to die in peace.

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1) Don’t click on them.

Sorry, that’s all I’ve got. I had “2) don’t push the mouse button when the arrow is hovering above the link that would lead to a post you don’t want to read,” but figured that’s kind of the same thing. I also considered “3) If there is a title of a post that looks like its contents will not be something you are interested in, don’t read it,” which, again, is a little redundant.

Considering the above, I guess my title is a bit deceiving. Sorry. But that leads me to mention the entirely plausible scenario in which you find yourself erroneously reading a post you were fooled into clicking, something like, let’s say a post about Banner of Heaven. What should you do then? Stop reading. Seriously, reading histories of controversies is just too controversial. Besides, you didn’t mean to click on it anyway.

This sort of follows Don’s last entry. How I understand it, we were all distinct and authentic individuals in the pre-existence, children of Heavenly Father. I imagine we had friends, positions, we took classes. We may have dated, but I doubt it. We probably just hung out like the singles today. I wonder what sort of entertainment we enjoyed in those heady, pre-mortal salad days. Was there an equivalent to TV, sports, iPad? Did we watch the “Historical Documents” of other universes? Did we play practical jokes, or even know what sarcasm was?

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Just a quick question. How much does/did the pre-mortal existence influence who we are, where we are, and what we are doing?

There’s a lot of talk this morning about scientists’ creation of artificial cells, synthetic life, man-made DNA. The hyperbole is being swapped like spit in a dark classroom during a stake dance. This is no surprise to me: I was around when the Bay City Rollers were supposed to be the next Beatles.

While some of the fanciful predictions are pleasant enough (eliminating pollution, the creation of biofuels) what concerns me is how some are saying this breakthrough is a blueprint for making organisms that will ensure physically and mentally perfect offspring. No more congenital diseases, no more mental disabilities, no more physical deformities. Now, as wicked cool as that sounds, are there accompanying spiritual repercussions?

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One of the things about being raised dye-in-the-wool Catholic is, you never say life is unfair. Seldom, if ever, do you not get something good you deserved, and never do you get something bad you didn’t have coming. It may not be clear what it is, but you could take it to the bank. If I bumped my head on the low-hanging light fixture in the dining room, it was definitely reproof for something. Catholics– real Catholics– bear their misery with wistful sighs and Gaelic ballads (I hear cattle on the hill with no one there to tend them …). You just keep trying not to be bad, and roll with the punches. “It was meant to be” covers a myriad of circumstances.

However, when I think of the rules of Mormon gospel living, I think of a formula that’s supposed to be more controllable. D&C 130:20-21:

“There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”

Or, as Scotty exclaimed with his impassioned brio: “Ye cannae change th’ laws of physics!”

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Today I was assigned to speak in the Sacrament Meeting in one of the Spanish wards in our stake. I stunk it up. Badly. Like, my baby’s diapers level of stink. I’d like to use the excuse that it’s been 12 years since I’ve spoken to a large group of people in Spanish, but that’s not true. It’s my second time, my first being a few months ago at the Spanish branch in Staten Island, which went pretty well, considering. But today? Unbelievably bad. (more…)