Fulness of Times

There's a quote that goes around--  "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.” The quote is sometimes attributed to the Savior, and it's often on a picture of the Lord. It's good if people feel inspired or motivated by the quote, but I bristle inside when people believe it's scripture.  The quote is NOT from scripture. It's attributed to Mae West, who was an actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol who lived from August 17, 1893 to October 22, 1980. There is truth in the quote. Things that are worthwhile require effort. They require us to do something. We cannot acquire that which is worthwhile simply be sitting around wishing for it. We have to do, to act in faith. However, despite what some variations of the quote state--"God never said it would be easy, he just promised it would be worth it"--I have yet to find anywhere in any Christian book of scripture where God said that. In fact, I've read the opposite. In t

 For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there's a well-known story in the book of 1 Nephi chapter 3.  Just prior to this, the prophet Lehi left Jerusalem with his family because the wicked people in the city were going to kill him. In chapter 3, Lehi tells his four sons that God has instructed them to return to the city to get their family history and scriptures (which were engraved on brass plates) from a powerful man named Laban. The scriptures are needed because the Lord is going to lead the group to a new land. Nephi's two oldest brothers, Laman and Lemuel, don't want to go. We don't know all the reasons why, only that they said it as a "hard thing" that they're being asked to do. My guess is they know the reputation of Laban and don't know how they'll be able to convince him to give them the brass plates. We don't really know what the third son's (his name was Sam) response was. But it probably wasn't like

 Most of my scripture study over the past few months has been centered around faith. I've re-read certain chapters dozens of times, gleaning new insights and understanding as I've written my thoughts down in a thought-journal. I don't write in the journal as frequently as I should, but I still have over 20 full-size pages. Here's one day's entry.

 The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly added to the divisiveness in the US as well as in other parts of the world. Not just the virus but the vaccines have added fuel to the fire. As mentioned in other posts, I am not anti-vax.  Isn't it interesting how much money vaccine manufacturers are making where as only a few years ago vaccine manufacturing (supposedly) did not make a company much of a profit, if any. Now a coronavirus has transformed the vaccine manufacturing into a billion-dollar industry. But that money isn't (directly) from consumers. The money is tax money (from citizens) given to vaccine manufacturers directly from the government. Doesn't that raise red flags? And without any long term, double-blind, control group based studies I am hesitant to believe the hype of the COVID-19 vaccines. Especially when their effectiveness seems to drop much quicker than natural immunity (obtained by someone actually getting ill with the virus), and especially when vaccine manufac

 I don't buy into the big conspiracy theories about COVID and everyone in government trying to take power and control over the people. I believe most people are sincerely trying to do what they believe and feel is best. Unfortunately most people also listen to prevailing advice and opinions blasted into the public's ears. I received this email today, and took out the identifying information. It seems honest enough, but it follows the narrative of medical "experts" most of whom don't even practice medicine in the "trenches" (so to speak) but are into the research and lab analysis. Hello,  You are receiving this email as during routine contact tracing we were notified you may have been in contact with an individual who has recently tested positive for COVID-19. Currently the [organization] does not require any information from you, we are letting you know for transparency/informational purposes only. If you are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 then there is n

Do  your birthdays leave you feeling older? Mine don't. I've never felt old. And I usually have to think about it to recall how old I am and how old I'll turn on my birthday. My age just isn't really important to me because I feel young. My last birthday--number 49-- a few months ago showed to me how my perception was really changing for the better. But first, a little bit about the last year. Summer 2020 I worked several weeks on building a nice shed in our back yard. It's an 8 ft x 12 ft shed that I designed. The kids did help and it was great to get their help, and to teach them, however I mostly ended up building the shed myself. It was mostly built after a month of getting up early and spending a couple hours on it before going in to work later in the morning, The COVID scare made it so work was slow anyway. For the first few weeks I was regularly sore from the work my body wasn't accustomed to. But after a few weeks I felt stronger, and better. My eating h