Sept 15 2015 Proverbs by Nancy Baird

Audio

Scriptures
Proverbs
Alma 5
D&C 93

Quotes
“The life of a Christian is said to be full of pain, tribulation, sorrow, and excruciating torments…of anxieties, despair, gloominess, and mourning…but this is a mistake, for “the path of the just is as the shining light”…The faith that I have embraced has given me light for darkness, ease for pain, joy and gladness for sorrow and mourning, certainty for uncertainty, hope for despair.” Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 9:318.

“…Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. “  from William Wordsworth,“Ode: Intimations of Immortality.

Robert Fulghum writes about hearing a Greek man, Dr. Papaderos, respond to the question of “What is the meaning of life?” at a cultural seminar in Greece.

Dr. Papaderos pulled a small, round mirror from his wallet and said:

“When I was a small child, during [WWII], we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.

“…I kept only the largest piece….I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine—in deep holes and crevices and dark closets.”

When he became an adult, Dr. Papaderos realized that his childhood game was a metaphor for his life’s mission.

“I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light—the light of truth, understanding and knowledge—is there, and that light will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it….I can reflect light into the dark places of this world…and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of life.”

Robert Fulghum, What on Earth Have I Done?” 290-91. Also found in March 2015 Ensign, “Put on the Armour of Light,” by Elder Nielsen

 “For wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me…in her spirit intelligent, holy, mobile, clear, undefiled, distinct, beyond harm, loving the good…all-powerful, all-seeing, in all spirits that are intelligent, pure and most subtle. She is the breath of the power of God, a pure emanation of his glory; nothing defiled can enter her, for she is a reflection of light, a likeness of his goodness…fairer than the sun or stars. But evil cannot overpower wisdom.”

Wisdom of Solomon, (Aprocrypha), chap. 7-8.

Sept 8 2015 1 Kings 1-11 by Diane Adair

Audio
Sept 8, 2015 1 Kings 1-11 by Diane Adair

Scriptures
1 Kings 1-11

Quotes

We find, even among those who have embraced the Gospel hearts of unbelief. How many of you, my brethren and sisters, are seeking for these gifts that God has promised to bestow? How many of you, when you bow before your Heavenly Father in your family circle or in your secret places, contend for these gifts to be bestowed upon you? How many of you ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to manifest Himself to you through these powers and these gifts? Or do you go along day by day like a door turning on its hinges, without having any feeling on the subject, without exercising any faith whatever; content to be baptized and be members of the Church, and to rest there, thinking that your salvation is secure because you have done this? I say to you, in the name of the Lord, as one of His servants, that you have need to repent of this. You have need to repent of your hardness of heart, of your indifference, and of your carelessness. There is not that diligence, there is not that faith, there is not that seeking for the power of God that there should be among a people who have received the precious promises we have…. I say to you that it is our duty to avail ourselves of the privileges which God has placed within our reach….

I feel to bear testimony to you, my brethren and sisters, … that God is the same today as He was yesterday; that God is willing to bestow these gifts upon His children…. If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for charity, which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the Gospel. They are intended for this purpose. No man ought to say, “Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.” He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them. If a man lack wisdom, it is his duty to ask God for wisdom. The same with everything else. That is the design of God concerning His Church. He wants His Saints to be perfected in the truth. For this purpose He gives these gifts, and bestows them upon those who seek after them, in order that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the earth, notwithstanding their many weaknesses, because God has promised to give the gifts that are necessary for their perfection.  –We Are to Seek the Gifts of the Spirit Which Will Correct Our Imperfections, George Q Cannon, First Presidency (Millennial Star, 23 Apr. 1894, 260)

D&C 109:8
Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

Alma 33:23
And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall plant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son. And even all this can ye do if ye will. Amen.

“We need a spiritual practice in order to cultivate that awareness in our self. With a persisting spiritual practice, all folded into every day living, one’s life takes on a new quality. Many of the fallen world’s sorrows diminish. Burdens lighten and peace deepens.” page 42-43, The God Seed: Probing the Mystery of Spiritual Development by M. Catherine Thomas, M. Catherine Thomas, BYU Religion Professor

“Let us make the temple, with temple worship, temple covenants, and temple marriage our ultimate earthly goal and the supreme mortal experience.” President Hunter, “A Temple Motivated People”  Feb 1995

“In the renewal of our temple covenants we can be nurtured and encouraged by connecting the present with the past and the future. If we are deprived of these renewing opportunities over a sustained period of time,  however, present cares can blur the past and cloud the future,” “If Thou Endure It Well,” p 112 Neal A Maxwell

Climbing the Shark’s Fin, The New York Times, Aug 11, 2015

We must not drift away from the humble works, because these are the works nobody will do. It is never too small. We are so small we look at things in a small way. But God, being Almighty, sees everything great. Therefore, even if you write a letter for a blind man or you just go sit and listen, or you take the mail for him, or you visit somebody or bring a flower to somebody-small things-or wash clothes for somebody, or clean the house. Very humble work, that is where you and I must be. For there are many people who can do big things. But there are very few people who will do the small things.  Our loaves and fishes can feed thousands; give Jesus not only your hands to serve, but your heart to love. Pray with absolute trust in God’s loving care for you. Let him use you without consulting you.  Let Jesus fill you with joy that you may preach without preaching. — Mother Theresa