There is an oft repeated notion that our Heavenly Father never punishes or curses anyone; instead he may just withhold his bounteous blessings from those not prepared to receive. Opening the scriptures anywhere and reading the next ten pages would disabuse us of this notion that God would never actively punish us, yet as I heard the hearty, triumphant song Moses and Israel sang after crossing the Red Sea, I considered verse 19:

For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

The standard thing to expect driving forth on horse or foot into the midst of the sea would be to drown. The highly unusual thing was that Israel did not drown. Pharaoh mistakenly thought the miracle given Moses should be given him as well.

Yesterday morning driving to work, I heard a radio ad from IBEW Local 26. An electrician was telling listeners why they should think of joining an apprenticeship to enjoy the life he does. Featured were freedom from tuition debt and an attention to safety so that “you always go home at the end of the day.” Most attention-grabbing, though, was the electrician’s enticement, from memory, “I am able to support my family with a single income, so my wife is able to stay home and take care of our children.”

My stake and my 15-year-old son have been invited to attend FSY, “For the Strength of Youth,” a six-day/five-night gathering of hundreds of the church’s youth. This one will be held at the University of Maryland campus. This seems to be a more ecclesiastical version of the long-running EFY, “Especially For Youth,” program that had been run by BYU. I and my family have no experience with EFY.

When it was announced a few years ago that FSY would replace some of our stake youth functions, I didn’t care for the idea, and wariness was my initial impulse on reading the invitation for my son to register for FSY. In this internet web space last summer concern was expressed about “the bureaucratization of everything including the gospel,” and that is certainly what FSY is. (more…)

In the middle of an article about social media of all things, somehow something significant was written:

The idea that motherhood is a woman’s highest calling may not be unique to Mormonism. But Ann Duncan—associate professor of American studies and religion at Goucher College and the author of an upcoming book on women who view pregnancy as a spiritual experience—says the Mormon conceptualization of motherhood is truly distinct, and it’s one of the reasons Mormon women are so conspicuous online. They have a strong sense that their voices matter. (more…)

I noticed this morning that there was the tiny tip of a thorn still there in my middle finger a little below the first joint. Late afternoon yesterday I had grabbed a thorny vine by mistake, but I washed the scratches and went on to other things. This morning that one spot still hurt, and with no blood obscuring the view there was obviously a little dark speck bedded deep. With tweezers I pulled away skin until the speck was exposed and the tweezers could grasp it and pluck it out. It is a marvel how immediate the change is when foreign debris is no longer touching a place it shouldn’t. Plying the tweezers to reach the thorn tip hurt more while I was doing that than the thorn itself had. Due to experience with such things, though, the immediate pain did not deter me from pursuing the relief I was confident I would gain.

From TV station KTNV in Las Vegas:

“History’s greatest question is a little closer to being answered and the best answer gets half a million dollars.

“Back in February of this year, Las Vegas businessman Robert Bigelow announced he was offering over $1 million in prize money for the best answers to the question about life after death. (more…)

Friday will be the release of the Killers’ next album, Pressure Machine, so here is one more highlight from Imploding the Mirage.

Here is a link to a video for the opening track, “My Own Soul’s Warning.” Three questions for the listener and viewer: Who is the singer addressing when he says “I just wanted to get back to where you are”? Where is he or she? And wouldn’t it be cool if you presented your recommend to enter the temple and it was examined by Bro. Flowers serving at the desk that day, wearing the same clothes from the end of this video, tuxedo labels and all?

A couple years ago I shared in this space “The Killers: Songs for a Future Widower.” Last year’s album added another for that category, “Lightning Fields.” This one could be taken as a fulfilling, decade-later follow-up to “Goodnight, Travel Well.” It also connects with Battle Born’s “Heart of a Girl.”

Working in the rock music genre as he does, Brandon Flowers’ lyrics, especially those since Battle Born, generally revolve around a man in love with a woman. For a religion whose pinnacle ordinance is sealing a husband and wife eternally in a temple of the Lord, that genre requirement is not so limiting as it might appear at first glance as a mode for expressing a desire for holy things. (more…)

Last August the Killers released their sixth album, Imploding the Mirage, and since they couldn’t tour, they created a seventh that will be released in a couple weeks. There is a long, detailed essay on the Killers’ music with quotes and links that has been going through my head that will never be properly written, so I am going to dash off some thoughts with the time that I have. (more…)

I had a great time preparing and executing today’s lesson for the 13 year olds. (more…)

“Beachcombing” sung by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris, opening track from their album All the Roadrunning

And speaking of time to head on home, try this bootleg YouTube video from the 5m20s mark to 16m13s. Warning: if going ten minutes without checking something on your phone is difficult, don’t bother with this video. It probably isn’t for most others either.

Michel Houellebecq essay at Unherd, beginning:

“I look on every side and all I see is darkness.”

I use that quote from Pascal (Pensées, 229) because I am not setting out to assert positive truths nor to defend opinions. I see a situation which — as Pascal writes in his next sentence — “offers nothing but cause for doubt and anxiety”.

In asking me to give an opinion on the now celebrated “Letter of the Generals,” UnHerd‘s Will Lloyd rightly notes: “What seems most extraordinary about the furore that followed is that so few people questioned the premise of the letter — that France is on the point of collapse.”

Can anyone expound for me the logic of the following sentence from yesterday’s announcement? “This change [ending priesthood and women’s sessions of General Conference] is being made because all sessions of general conference are now available to anyone who desires to watch or listen.”

What would a dwindling, a withdrawal of priesthood from the world and the church look like that is different from the ministry of Russell Nelson as president of the church? A sad, inglorious task to be given, but in sad, inglorious times some obedient son oversees the withdrawal of gifts.

Eight years ago: “The Singing Won’t be the Same”
Four years ago: The Singing Wasn’t the Same”

(more…)

Teacher Council Meeting last Sunday reminded me of a song I like and have replayed every day this week. (more…)