You are His Clear Channel

A philosopher in the kingdom once said that folks in the Celestial Kingdom will earn that Kingdom by the choices they make to keep their "Channel Clear"

In the radio business, Clear Channel refers to a radio station that was unimpeded by mountains or any obstruction.

Joseph Smith said that inhabitants of the highest Kingdom are best at transmitting light through the clear channel they have become between the Father and the recipient of that light--service--caring--love!

The means to achieve that transmission of light is to cleanse the innervessel-- repent and clean out the obstructions within the channel.  Any brass instrument player knows about spit and sludge-- that have to be cleaned out, often through spit valves--the repentance mechanism of every trumpet, trombone, baritone and tuba.

Likewise, to be effective Channels, we must use our "spit valves from time to time, change our patterns and habits to more effectively transmit light.

The real final exam- His Image in our Countenance!

Students fiinishing a summer course in Humanitarian Studies showed up at their regularly scheduled classroom to a note on the white board:  "Please come to a classroom across campus  for the final.  Take your time.   Exam begins in 20 minutes"

As class members walked to the exam, the instructor had enlisted help from friends who posed along the way as a frantic mother who had temporarily lost her child, a senior citizen who has fallen off his bike and possibly broken his ankle,  etc.

The exam was administered and graded in class and the papers passed back.  Then  in the final moments of the class with backpacks at the ready and the instructor about to dismiss the class, the final lesson:

"How many of you made it to the exam on time?"  Every hand went up with the exception of three students in the back of the class.

"What about you three?"   

"We're sorry, brother Jones, but we stopped to help a mom find her toddler!"

"Was there an elderly brother with a broken ankle?" smiled Jones..

"How did you know?" one of the three asked suspiciously.

"I'm pleased to announce the three members of our class who got the message and earned an A grade," Jones smiled again.

"The title of this class is, "Do You Have his Image in Your Countenance" and you three passed the REAL final exam with flying colors!

Who shall say his Generations?

In ancient Israel a man's wealth was measured in several ways:  In land, in numbers of shoes...but mostly in Family--off spring:  SONS!

In the New Testament the author asks of Jesus, "Who shall say his generations?  Code for how many sons will he have.

Some scholars believe that the premise of the popular Brown book and Tom Hanks Movie, the Da Vinci Code may have been true:  That Jesus married Mary Magdelene, they had a daughter and she escaped to France where her daughter was the basis for a royal line directly from the Savior himself.

Early teachings in the church included the idea that Joseph Smith, Heber C. Kimball and other church leaders had a common French ancestor decended by all popular accounts from this daughter as well; that the blood of Christ literally ran through the veins of the leaders of the restoration.

Does it really matter?

Nope!

I don't believe so.... because the real meaning of SONS of God is hinted at by King Arthur in his conversation with his illegitimate son Mordrid.  Mordrid had a wicked wish to be the heir after Arthur's death...and Aruthr knew it.

Said Arthur to Mordrid, "If only you could believe as I do, then you could truly be my son!"

That's the key to understanding the concept of "Who shall say his Generations?"

The real answer to the question is thousands of his spiritual sons (and daughters)

The Man in the Muffler

Steven Crump spoke in church to his own congregation, today.  He is their bishop, after all.  The service was short and packed with lots of Congregational Choir numbers, multiple keyboards and a familiar flute.

The Bishop started his remarks with an analogy:  "Suppose you were invited to the Birthday Party for your Best Friend?  He had already given you so many gifts and you wanted to give him what he really wanted--would you know what kind of love that is?"

Then he told us a simple story that happened on a Chicago bus.

The girl was 17 and it was Christmas Eve.  She had worked all day for too little money.  So had her mother. The older woman had to work as a char woman in a highrise by the river.  Both mother and daughter would arrive home bone tired and fall into bed.  There was no money for gifts or tinsel or anything related to most wonderful time of the year.  Two months earlier her father had left their mother and the divorce was pending with acrimony all 'round.  She felt her angry father had stolen their family.  

With that hopeless thought in mind, she boarded the bus for the long trip "home" and not much to look forward to that Christmas....or any Christmas eve in recent memory.  She recognized the bus driver.  The only comfort the whole day would be to sit near the front and put her thin shoes on the floor where the manifold of the engine warmed a small spot on the floor in front of her faded, hard bus seat.  As her cold feet were warming to the heat of the motor as they jerked along she noticed him.

He was a well dressed man in Pendleton wool and a natty vest who stood behind her on a strap-- .  He carried his last minute Christmas gifts for some lucky person in a little shopping bag with the name of .a big Department store in glitter on it.  He looked safe enough and she could see the bus driver glancing protecitvely in his rear view mirror.  

He approached her and asked politely if he could sit next to her on the seat. It was the first time she got a good look at his face.  Above the top of his well wrapped muffler/scarf his eyes were kindly and shined with genuine concern.

"Please forgive me," he said, "but you looked a little tired.  Have you had a hard day?"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized it was the first kind thing anyone had said to her in many years...and she was only seventeen.  She mumbled something about being OK..and thanks for caring enough to ask when he began to get up.  He pulled the cord and rang the bell as the bus slowed to a stop and he got off, turned and stood looking at her through the open door.

Then she saw the little fancy shopping bag on the seat of the bus.

"Hey, sir, " she shouted at him through the door, "you left your package on the seat."

"No, that's for you -- and Merry Christmas!!  

The door slapped shut and the bus resumed it's stop and go down Lexington Avenue.

She didn't want to take it...but the bus driver said she should..Couldn't leave anything on the bus.  

When she got home, she told her mother about the kindly man...first one she had ever seen that close in her entire life and they opened the bag together.  There was a brightly colored foil candy box with expensive pralines and cream made with white chocolate and the biggest nuts either of the women had ever seen.  The daughter gently draped the red cashmere scarf around her mother's shoulders and for the first time in months they both smiled.

The pretty music box played a tinking version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and as they listened to it over and over again they began to believe that one day their troubles would be far away.

Now, twenty years later she still keeps her late husband's wedding ring inside the delicate little music box with little love notes from her little children now grown."

Bishop Crump concluded with his prayer that we as the man in the muffler should take the challenge pass on the spirit of the Savior to others during this time of year..and all year round."

Merry Christmas 2011

"I wish there was something more I could do." he bagan, "but this is my stop."

   

..

Change, Forgive & Contribute!

A Three Word Formula for Success!

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Ever since I heard Hugh Nibley's comment that there are only two things we really can do on earth:  REPENT and FORGIVE, I've made those verbs two of the three MISSION STATEMENTS of my personal creed.  The third verb: CONTRIBUTE comes from President Marion G. Romney who taught that Service is the price you pay for the space you occupy on the earth.  He also taught that service is the very content of the Building Blocks used to build your mansion on high*.   

CHANGE by any other name is Repentance.  

I have always enjoyed the comparison between Joseph Smith and his once close friend Oliver Cowdrey.  Joseph wrote that Oliver generally considered himself to be nearly perfect, and marred by the unpleasant experiences of life.  "I, on the other hand," he continued, "am a rough stone hurtling down the mountain.  Every obstacle I come in contact with knocks off another of my many rough edges and makes me a smoother shaft in the quiver of the Almighty."  

Change is best when it grows from within rather than imposed from without .  In Brazil, I wrote in my journal that, "The 'Call to Repentance' is like the Call to Supper to nourish yourself with a change that does everybody good, especially you. The result is always rejuvinating.  See TMB post: The Parable of the Bicycle ATONEMENT Change is the part of "The Plan" that involves Do Overs until we get it right! Elder Dallin H. Oakes told a General Conference audience that, "most sin is like specks of dirt that get washed away in the laundry."  Remember, PERFECT doesn't mean flawless.  Elder Russell M. Nelson taught that PERFECT means COMPLTE--as in completed ordinances, completed requirements for eternal life.

FORGIVE means to resolve differences, unburden yourself (and others) of the friction between you and another and just "let it go!"  It means JUDGE NOT THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED.  Mother Teresa, the inspiring nun of Calcutta said, "I don't know how people can judge others.  It leaves so little time to love them." That is the spirit behind the D&C commandment: "I the Lord will forgive whom I will forgive, but unto you it is required to forgive all men."  Grudges should not be part of your life because they only hurt you--rarely the person against whom the grudge is being held.

CONTRIBUTE means the fulfillment of President Kimball's teaching that, "We pray to the Lord for help, but the answer usually comes from another.   

Plan from now on to be a prayer answerer!  One young mother Rosie and I know well often bakes a dozen shredded apple pies and then prays to know who in her neighborhood "needs a little tangible encouragement."  As they cool, she and her family pile into their van and make anonymous deliveries as inspired from above.  What a great lesson to her children!

King Benjamin worked in the fields to sustain his body and gave his spare time to his kingdom and the Lord.  It's a good balance that keeps us grounded. He changed, forgave and contributed.

NOTE:  The late Sterling W. Sill advised forward thinking saints that they should come to church with a little talk for Sacrament Meeting, inspired, researched, and written fresh for that Sunday, just in case called upon. This is my "contribution" for this Sunday, just in case. 

NOTE 1: Bishops used to call up folks from the congregation to fill time--but after a few fainting spells and the odd heart attack, it became official church policy not to do that any more.    (Of course there's nothing stopping the Bishopric living on the edge to call a dozen faithful to prepare "just in case" for a two and a half minute contribution--with that done, the conducting officer could seek inspiration and call on four or five of the folks to come up and share--that would work.  In fact we do that kind of thing every month in what is called Testimony meeting.  

NOTE 2: A non-member author wrote about dropping in on an LDS service on the first Sunday of the Month and being a bit confused, "I wasn't sure who was in charge, there were officers on the stand, but members rose out of the audience on their own accord and spoke extemporaneously, often confessing their faith with tears.  At first I thought the minister was sick and these valiant members were helping out by substituting for him to fill the time of the meeting.  Afterward I asked around and was amazed to found that this congregation does this every month of the first Sunday--and so does every other Mormon ward and branch.  If that's what they mean by a "Lay Ministry" I'm intrigued!"

NOTE 3:  Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. -Mark Twain

JRH

Come, Dream with Me...Outloud!

Hiking or not--Dreaming Together is Great!

One of the fun "build our marriage" exercises we do together when Gramma Rosie is in pain, is a mind diversion we call "Dream with Me...Outloud."  Often these moments happen in the car as we drive together shopping.  Rosie doesn't drive, so I often get to play Prince Phillip to her Queen Elizabeth, and truly be "an husbandman"

We invented this very practical imagination game when our Jeff and Sally were little.  It goes like this:  "If you had a million dollars that you had to spend in 30 days--where would you go, what would you do and who are two or three people you'd do it with?  Sound intriguing?  Five year olds have to really think about the issues involved..and then it seemed more like work than fun!  Rosie took the bait and began to spin a project out of her imagination that really sounded pretty good.

"If I had all that money," she told me that day, "I'd pay all our bills--and then I'd find some land where we could build some modest homes for elderly folks who had nowhere else to go."

I immediately began suggesting names.  The best I could come up with as a working title was: "Happy Dreams Acres!"  For the next few minutes her painful teeth, gimpy tummy, consistent migrane and bum knees and hip were overcome by visions of helping folks like us who had rented or gone homeless most of their lives.  I gently asked about compensation: "Oh, they'd pay a little rent, but only what they could afford," she said.  By then we'd made it to the store and bigger, more immediate issues became for the moment, upper most in her mind.

When you find yourselves in some kind of want, pain or lack of funds, consider this alternative.  We've always taught each other than a Dream is a wish that you write on paper and review the progress of occasionally.   "Happy Dreams Acres" may never happen, but we can always talk about it during a lull in the action.

Diversion of the practical kind is good for married teams and their teammate children.

One third world mother strapped for grocery money would come home late at night after foraging through the neighborhood and announce that the family would chew the beet greens she brought and sing hymns.  Sometimes it was just hymns without the greens.

Dreaming outloud with someone you trust and love can wipe away negative emotions and guide the brain to build often practical castles in the air.  The advantage is that encouraging the process builds hope and guides futures.

President Merrill of the Monterey Bay, California Stake in 1970 counseled us that parents should bring their babies to church.  Not only does it get everyone into a good habit, if the babies cry--no matter.  "You can only hear one thing at a time!" he told us.

On the other hand I have treasured Brigham Young's clever advice from the stage of the Salt Lake Theater in the early pioneer days before Social Hall Avenue was ever built. "Crying babies are like good intentions:  They should be carried out!"

The great truth in all this is that the human mind can really only concentrate on one thing at a time.  Contrary to what modern behavioralists tell us there really is no such thing as effective multi-tasking.  Most good things are consecutive--and if a good husband can divert his wife constructively with a way to harness her creative thoughts to build their family, it will be good for both of them.

Emeritus GA Elder Joe J. Christensen, former President of Ricks College once told a Priesthood Session of General Conference:  "Make the time to listen to your spouse; even schedule it regularly. Visit with each other and assess how you are doing as a marriage partner.  Brother Brent Barlow (prominent LDS Marriage Counselor) posed a question to a group of priesthood brethren: “How many of you would like to receive a revelation?” Every hand went up. He then suggested that they all go home and ask their wives how they could be better husbands. He added, “I followed my own advice, and had a very informative discussion with [my wife] Susan for more than an hour that afternoon!”  (To Build a Better Marriage," Ensign, Sept. 1992, p. 17) 

Communication--keeping the thoughts, like water flowing between us... that's what the Dream Outloud exercise is all about--and if it improves her disposition and supercedes her pain medication--all the better!  

JRH

Steak Center Restaurants: Never a Dry, Boring Meating!

Think Ward Dinner...every night!

There is an idea floating around Utah, Arizona, Missouri, Idaho and California for a chain of non-pretentious Mormon-themed restaurants called "The Steak Center" (Where There's Never a Dry, Boring Meating!).

Each Steak Center will have one enormous dining area with basketball hoops at either end and folding metal chairs and long tables covered in plastic tablecloths.

The Steak Centers will not have hostesses, but greeters -- men in their seventies will meet you at the door and talk like they have known you all your life.

The main menu items for lunch and dinner will be: 
Porterhouse Rockwell Steak
Primary Rib
Poor Wayfaring Pan of Beef
Parsley P. Pratt Funeral Potatoes
Eliza R. Snow crab (in season)
And It Came to Pasta

Kraft MacaMoroni and Cheese.

Breakfast items will include:
Pearls of Great Rice
Frosted Minivans

Adam-ondi-Omelettes

Also available:
In Our Lovely Desserts
Fast Sundaes
Gadianton Cobbler

Laman Meringue Pie (just sinful!)

The waiters will be 12- and 13-year-old boys wearing white shirts and their fathers' ties.

At the end of the night the customers will be asked to help fold up the chairs and tables and vacuum the floor.

Franchises are selling faster than Sunbeams on Skittles! Get yours while they last! 

--Guest post from David Dean