The first Thanksgiving was in gratitude to God but also to the dead who had made it possible.

I saw an aphorism recently to the effect that humility is just realism.

Yes and no.

It is possible for the realist to adjust his ends to fit his limited means.  Everyone does this, we all do this. The proud do this.

Humility is when the righteous man or woman realizes their ends are right and tries to adjust their means to achieve them.  Gratitude is when they find themselves achieving their ends despite the limits of their means.

I feel today with great weight the debt I owe to my ancestors.  I feel with great weight would a gift this nation is that they made with the axe and with the womb.

Great is gratitude.

It transforms the barest home into a heaven and the smallest meal into a feast.  It makes happiness. It ennobles the soul.  It makes a small man great and a great man divine.  It is a treasure on Earth and in heaven, it is a gift fit to bring before Almighty God.

Great is gratitude, and it shall prevail.

Elders Quorum was discussing the qualities of a good shepherd.  He loves the sheep, he knows the sheep, he cares about the sheep, he cares for the sheep, etc

I thought that while these were about the shepherd’s relationship with the sheep, there were other qualities also needed.  The shepherd needed to be strong and enduring.  He needed to be able to fight off wolves.  In addition to love, he needed capacity.

This is the righteous dominion thing all over again.  Too many of us more or less assume that the way to not be a predator to the sheep is to divest yourself of your predatory characteristics.  But it is your predator eyes that detect the wolves sneaking up.  It is your predator arm that drives them off.

So what is the capacity needed to be a good shepherd?

Well, here is where the gospel gets so glorious.  The only capacity needed, at least at first, is desire.

On January 26, 2024, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints instructed, “Each year, Church services and meetings should be limited to sacrament meeting only on Easter Sunday and on a Sunday before or after Christmas Day. If Christmas is not on a Sunday, stake and district presidencies decide whether to hold this sacrament meeting before or after Christmas.” (Letter URL, and announcement URL)

I am curious what will happen in the Spring. Easter Sunday will next be observed by non-Orthodox Christians on April 5th, which falls on a General Conference weekend. This coincidence of Sundays is not unusual. They coincided 11 out of 50 of the most recent Aprils. The usual thing on recent Conference Easters had been for the Sunday morning session of Conference, the most outward-facing session, to proceed as normal, but more of the talks than usual are about the Resurrection, and the testimonies and preaching of Christ, present at any General Conference, are given with acknowledgement that they are being voiced on Easter. Two hours later when the Sunday afternoon session starts, Easter has been mostly out of the way. (more…)

No more general conference on Saturday evening.  I am not happy about this.  That does not mean that it was a bad decision or needs to be changed.  All I am saying is that I personally would like more general conferences instead of less and I will miss the Saturday evening session.

Heck, I miss priesthood session a lot.

We were in the woods.  I had two dreams.  The dream where I had magic powers was a nightmare.  The dream with creepy, horrible things was funny. This is how the dreams went.

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Another entry in our bad habit of talking about the Doctrine and Covenants after you have already had a chance to discuss it in Sunday School, instead of telling you what you can say beforehand.  Comprising D&C 125-132.

• The bases of our existence are physical, social, and increase
• Elder Gong’s talk about sitting by people you don’t know has a cosmic version, where in the afterlife  you are trying to unite with Bronze Age Israelites, pre-Columbian tribesmen…
• The doctrine of eternal marriage is explicitly about continued growth.  Therefore the question should not be, ‘is this the person I want to spend the rest of forever with?”  Since even if you ask that about yourself the answer is probably no.  The question is, “is this the person who can become the person I want to spend the rest of forever with?”  Paradoxically, that is an easier question to answer, since it is almost solely a question of desire.
• “Whatever principle of intelligence….” Which means you are in a position to share with others in the next life.  If you have questions about polygamy, e.g., you can can ask your ancestors about it.  You can ask Joseph about it.  You can find out from Emma what she thinks.
• This was an extremely bad Sunday for an investigator to have come.  You may want to send up a prayer for her.

This grave, melancholy essay on death and ill health was the thing I am the most glad I read today.  There is a  thread of holiness winding through it.

the difference between optimism and pessimism, and between tragedy and triumph, can just be a matter of where and when we start and stop a narrative

God punishes weakness as well as wickedness.
Book review: Rasputin-the memoirs of his secretary, by Aron Simanovich

We all know the evidence that sex tendencies are innates.  Baby chimp girls play with dolls, baby chimp males play with trucks.  And so on and so on and so on.

But also clearly there is a lot of social construction going on.

What we all overlook though is how the social construction occurs.  We think of social construction as something, probably oppressive, that “Society” does.

I think in truth a lot of it is done by your children.

the villainous mastermind of social construction

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In the spirit of return and report, there were two challenges with promises in General Conference.

The first was from Johnson (? I am going off my notes here).  It was “Every sincere seeker will find Christ in the temple.”

The second was from Spannaus.  “Pray for confirmation of the Prophets and Apostles and you will get it.”

I tried both challenges.  I can say the promises were  met.

D&C 121 is one of the mind-shattering revelations of these latter days.  I find it impossible to read it through without welling up with emotion as it crescendos to its end.

The Holy Ghost shall be

thy constant companion,

and thy scepter

an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth;

and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion,

and without compulsory means

it shall flow unto thee

forever

and ever.

Amen.

If I may toot the JG horn here a bit, probably the best thinking you will see about D&C 121 has been done right here on this blog.   Now that we are no longer studying it in Sunday School and there’s no danger of mass interest, I’m summarizing the content.  Searching the blog for “dominion” yields three pages of results, you are welcome.

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Our cardiologist spoke in church recently.  He talked about defibrillation.  He explained the series of electric impulses that make your heart function and their interdependencies (one pulse triggers another) which can lead to serious problems if one of the pulses is off.  The heart will get stuck in a destructive pattern.  Defibrillation is a massive shock that blows away the existing pattern, allowing the heart to start a new, healthy one.

He was in a serious motorcycle wreck last year.  In a coma for a month.  Bedridden for another two.

He said  that was his defibrillation event.

On the sweetness of the primary program.

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3D overlay of exo-planets on our solar system, for scale.

As noted by EC, we have an apostle!

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/gerald-causse-called-quorum-of-the-twelve-apostles

I puckishly am tempted to start an argument about whether this counts as diverse or not.

He and Sister Valerie have five children which for a French family of their generation is substantial. Their recognition of their children’s sacrifice as the family moved from place to place for church callings touched me.

At 62, he is the youngest of the apostles by a small margin.

https://threestory.com/apostles/