Chimaera

This is for another blog post. I did a little magic in Photoshop.

July 1986- World Trade Center...view looking North over Manhatten

Praise to the man

Tomorrow marks the 200th birthday of the LDS prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. He was born December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont. In his own account he states:

"He [Moroni] called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people."
Today, in December 2005, his name is both revered and cursed. Current world wide membership in the church he organized stands at 12.2 Million and growing.

"An acquaintance said to me one day: "I admire your church very much. I think I could accept everything about it—except Joseph Smith." To which I responded: "That statement is a contradiction. If you accept the revelation, you must accept the revelator."

It is a constantly recurring mystery to me how some people speak with admiration for the Church and its work while at the same time disdaining him through whom, as a servant of the Lord, came the framework of all that the Church is, of all that it teaches, and of all that it stands for. They would pluck the fruit from the tree while cutting off the root from which it grows." President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, December 2005

In my own experiences in talking to people I have had the same responses. People like almost everything about my faith with the exceptions being the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It is a wonder to me, as well, that our faith can be so praised and yet our very foundation decried.

As President Hinkley says,

"We do not worship the Prophet [Joseph]. We worship God our Eternal Father and the risen Lord Jesus Christ. But we acknowledge the Prophet; we proclaim him; we respect him; we reverence him as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth the ancient truths of the divine gospel, together with the priesthood."President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, December 2005

Twice In the past year I have stood in the room where Joseph and his brother Hyrum were killed. Each time I have felt that I stood on sacred ground.

I add my voice to those who honor the man, Joseph.

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.

Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.

Praise to his mem’ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins,
Plead unto heav’n while the earth lauds his fame.

Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know “Brother Joseph” again.

Text: William W. Phelps, 1792–1872

The gift of a book

I was recently given a copy of a book that made my day. It is an old copy of The Story Girl by LM Montgomery. This book was written in 1911 with this particular copy being printed sometime during WWI. It pre-dates most of the Anne series. For my 15 year old son, this news was met with a mere yawn. But for those who know this side of me, I am a HUGE fan of Lucy Maude Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables and several other wonderful stories. The giver of this book knew the value I would place on having such a book.

Now to find time to read it.

It was a pretty good crowd for a Saturday

I was listening to the radio in the car this evening. As I turned the station I caught the tail end a song that took me back to a concert in Denver 16 years ago. My husband and I, along with some friends of ours, were sitting in the 14th row of the floor section listening to Billy Joel...the "Piano Man" himself. After three encores and cheering our lungs out waiting for another, out he came to do one final number...the one we had been waiting for... he sang a few lines and then let the crowd fill in the chorus...

Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright.

The crowd went wild...he sang more lines. Then, as he sang out these next lines, the crowd roared...

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see
To forget about life for a while.

It WAS a Saturday and he had us feeling alright.

A plug for another blog: On Principle

Recently, my dear husband started his own blog. His focus, for his blog, is on the principles by which we live out lives. The heading states, "Applying simple principles to our decisions can change what we do, why we do it, and how we feel about what we do."

Sometimes he uses levity and sometimes he is somber, but each time the lessons are there.

http://onprinciple.blogspot.com/

Forgiveness is Divine

I learned a profound lesson today. The concept of forgiveness is not new. It is not new to me, but I learned what can happen between two people when forgiveness is extended.

I also learned that two people can overcome huge obstacles when they are willing to put the friendship above past mistakes.

This entry IS directed toward a certain friend. She knows who she is. To her I say, Thank-you for your friendship...it is the most divine a gift anyone could give.

Was he a fraud or a prophet?

I have had much discussion of late regarding a post I made to my blog a few days ago. I gave the readers the challenge to find out a certain truth. See Truth November 21, 2005.

Today I found myself reading a quote by Gordon B. Hinkley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is what he said, "We declare without equivocation that God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, appeared in person to the boy Joseph Smith... ... Our whole strength rests on the validity of that vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens." (President Gordon B. Hinkley, "The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith," Ensign, Nov. 2002, 80.)

It doesn't get any more plain and simple than that.