The power of writing and reading

I have, all my life, loved the power of the written word.  I like how the crafting process takes ideas, impressions, and feelings and turns them into a format that can touch other human beings.  It has to be a supreme moment when you realize that what you wrote evokes feelings.  It is the art that is what I've always admired in other writers and what I want to accomplish.  

That may be why I love twitter.  The limitation of words that can becomes a single tweet forces you to make choices about the words you use.  It forces creativity or at the very least, it makes your choice of words work for you, for the message you are seeking to share. 

Writing poetry is another "teacher".  If you have selected the right words and rhythm, you can create a different animal for every reader.  

Poetry that speaks to me:  Ahh, that is a topic for another post!

 

Today in the Federalist Papers, a story about the Seattle [Washington] School District: "A Seattle area school district has sent a letter to staff asking them to wish Muslim students a happy Ramadan and bless them with a traditional greeting."  Evidently, this should be spoken in Arabic.  

CAIR guidelines also instruct teachers to monitor Muslim students fasting and suggests teachers not schedule any tests on the Islamic holidays of Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha.
  
Twitter and Facebook would not permit me to post the story or the link, except in my own words. 

Links:  https://www.seattleschools.org/; https://www.dailywire.com/news/46894/seattle-school-district-wants-teachers-bless-paul-bois

I have no problem with friends sharing a religious greeting on a personal level.  In or out of school.  But a school teacher is a representative of the public school system which  is a government establishment.  They should neither be instructed by the school district to single out a particular religion and/or students of a particular religion for promotional purposes.  Now, neither do I believe that teachers should be prohibited from free speech.  It's a fine line, but this particular instance is clearly inappropriate.  There is a time and a place for teachers who wish to participate in religious expression can do so, but it is not in the classroom and it should not be by instruction from the school board.

Venezuela: I'm with John Bolton on this one!

I'm usually pretty negligent about keeping up with the news of the world.  However, as I see what is going on in Venezuela, I have to say that I am 100% with the things that are being espoused by John Bolton.

Looking at the map image (where in the world is Venezuela?), I'm inclined to think that Venezuela is close enough to the United States for us to be concerned about what goes on there!

The folks in power in the current government are not about democracy and dare not disappoint Maduro's leadership, at the risk of their own well-being and safety. 

A free and democratic government could hopefully turn the tide for the country's people; (food on the table) and basic freedoms would unleash stability, financial and otherwise!

Cuba plays a huge role in its Venezuela happenings.  Thugs helping to protect Maduro are receiving support from Cuba.  What is Russia's role?   

What part does Socialism play in Venezuela's downturn?

What is Guaido saying today?

Who is  Leopoldo Lopez and what role does he play?

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/03/04/what-is-monroe-doctrine-john-boltons-justification-trumps-push-against-maduro/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c97f22fb3510

I memorized this poem years ago.

Abou Ben Adhem:

Some thoughtful teacher in my past (I'm afraid that I've forgotten her name), but I think it was in the eighth grade at Pryor Jr. High School when she challenged her class to memorize this (and other poems).  I did follow her directive and have never regretted it.

I would also challenge you to follow suit: memorize the poem!  Every poem you memorize becomes your property forever.  And there are just some truths that you can know and explore via poetry, so much better than if you had just read a sentence in the scriptures.

Of course, there are scriptures that read like poetry, as well. 

Read the poem, here, and let me hear back from you: thoughts, comments and tell me if you remember this wonderful teacher's name!

Paint Your Day with Poetry

Have you ever started out the day a little gloomily?  Are you looking for relief from worry and toil?  Here are a couple of poems that ping with pleasant thoughts.  

These were featured from a course I once took at our Church, years and years ago!  The course was "Cultural Refinement" and the text was Out of the Best Books, An Anthology of Literature.  Not surprisingly, the theme for Section 1 was "A Glad Heart".  

I copied the selection from an online source, so as to save you my typing skills!  That site even has an audio version! 

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

Poem 2 from A Glad Heart (Section 1); Out of the Best Books

 

Rondeau

by Leigh Hunt

 

 

Jenny kissed me when we met,

    Jumping from the chair she sat in;

Time, you thief, who love to get

    Sweets into your list, put that in:

Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,

    Say that health and wealth have missed me,

Say I'm growing old, but add,

    Jenny kissed me.

 

When glumness settles over you, "lonely as a cloud", I hope you will open your eyes and your mind and push through to find natural wonders, sweet memories, and a delight in the spirit of poets!

I hope you will do the little follow-up, explanation, and commentary at the https://www.poetryfoundation.org.  Or read the poetry and make your own remarks and interpretation.  

Here are a couple of comments from "moi":
 "I wandered lonely as a cloud"...have you seen one little cloud making its way across the sky, all by itself?  It is somewhat alone, but also somewhat majestic in its journey.  There is sometimes, it seems to me, that being alone can be a beautiful thing, a healing experience.  We all need an occasional "floating along, alone", perhaps!
Floating on high, so to speak provides perspective...Move away a bit from trials, seek a different view or viewpoint: mountain drives, over vales/valleys and hills.  Or, since I don't have mountains anywhere in my area, go to the beach when the weather is cold or rainy and not inhabited by crowds?
Have you ever thought of the word "crowd" in conjunction with flowers, sea oats, etc.?  A host (a bunch) of daffodils!  They were beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering, dancing in the breeze.  Then Wordsworth compares them to the stars in the sky, which twinkle on the milky way.  The daffodils stretched in never-ending line, Along the margin of the bay.  His eyes took in the sight, the numerous hot, maybe ten thousand, or more!  Maybe even like the stars twinkle, the daffodils nooded their heads in their own twinkling kind of way, in "sprightly" dance.
Do flowers (or stars for that matter) do a kind of dancing?  On a backdrop of the sparkling waters of the lake, bay, or sea, they held their own!  A poet could not but be happy, joyful, lighthearted and gay!  Wordsworth envisioned this, either in a walk he took one day, or in his minds' eye, perhaps a former memory returned.  The scene was that of a jocund company; a light hearted crowd!  His eyes took it all in--but he hardly realized at the time what a wealth the show would become, "had brought to him"!
"For often", later on, when lying down upon his courch, thinking of little or nothing, In a vacant or thoughtful mood, that vision, that experience comes back and "flashes" upon that inward eye [of the mind] and with the bliss of solitude; his heart once more is moved and lifted and glad.  As he remembers and rejoices in that lonely afternoon of taking a walk by the lake, his heart dances with the daffodils.
I am sure that you could put this better than me.  Read the poem and make it yours by taking your own solitary departure into fields or hills or round the block and report back to pen and paper, your observations.  Liken the scene to how it felt to take action, instead of reclining on the couch all the time!  Relive your dance with the daffodils, palm trees, sea oats, or whatever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a Reason

There is a reason that General Conference is held in April.  That is when we celebrate the Savior and Easter happens.  A time for renewing our spirits.  

I just posted on Facebook and Twitter because it is in the lonely hours of 3a.m. that I am reminded by the low back pain I suffer that I haven't prayed a lot this past week, that I haven't repented a lot in spite of Conference addresses.  And these are thoughts and feelings of having suffered just a sample of what Christ went through to redeem us a world of sin and pain.

 I wake up at 3 a.m. and realize that I'm in pain. Then, remember, that I "forgot" to say my prayers last evening. So, I prayed for peace, for relief.

Then realize that I have a lot to be thankful for and that pride gets in the way. That self-pity drags me down.

That a loving Heavenly Father sent me here to earth to suffer, just a little bit, of what His Son, Jesus Christ, suffered so that I could recover from the lessons of mortality.

And I remember, Faith fills my spaces and Fear Flees when I am faithful. And Easter is just around the corner to remind me, again, to Rejoin the Faithful, to Rejoice in Christ the Redeemer. To Launder my Spirit as well as my clothes. No SPOTS is a miracle only He can do.

 

What Do You Do with your Old Sunday School Manuals?

The Acts and the Epistles...The New Testament by Russel B. Swensen:  ( He was an ancient history professor at Brigham Young University). 

This manual was purchased in May 1995 by my husband, Ed Harris,

from the Ward Library (Fort Walton Beach, Florida), via Sister Mary Powell.  Ed and I had been married for just over 10 and a half years.  I knew well, by now, that Ed always needed a soft-covered book to stick by behind his back under his belt.  That way, he was never without a "good" book to read whenever or wherever he had a few minutes to kill.

My husband, Ed, and I were residing at 37 Maples Street, in Fort Walton Beach, at this time and our phone number, 850-243-4589, written on the face sheet of the book. 

This manual was published for use in the Sunday Schools of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   The copyright was 1955. 
 
Swensen was an ancient history professor at the time of the publication of this manual.   This book can be borrowed for 14 days, via the Internet: https://archive.org/details/newtestamentacts00swen.

So a book can become a member of the family; I often was quick to mark up a Sunday School manual and make it my own, though the highlighting or underlining process didn't look particularly nice.  My husband, Ed, had been taught, by the nuns, perhaps, that such a habit was, in effect, a defacing of the book.  He may have learned over time to disregard that opinion, that "rule" of his first religion, Catholicism, but not in this case.  I cannot even determine that any of the pages are "dog-eared".

This is a scholarly book, a serious treatment of the subject and the first chapter is titled, "The Religious Significance of Acts".  Perhaps, I will read the book.  Paragraphs like this one make it a tempting proposal:

"Luke had written a most beautiful and appealing account of the career of Jesus wherein he stressed the Master's humanitarian and tender regard for the despised and underprivileged groups of the contemporary society, such as the poor, the sinners, the women, and the foreigners."
 

Good Timber

Intracoastal Waterway

A Poem Found, "Good Timber":  The photo is down at the shore on the Intracoastal Waterway, not far from the Mary Esther/Hwy. 98 location which used to be the home of some of my grandkids.  

I think this photo is Torin, my grandson.  Notice the "fence"?  Or maybe you would call it a guard rail?  It reminds me that fences can be made of wood, created to be a guide and a protection, as well as for keeping someone or an animal corraled.  

Torin is a young man, now, holding down a job in Orlando, and still great fun to be around!  Around Fort Walton Beach, this waterway is called "The Sound".  Torin is good timber.  The Sound represents to me all of the events that follow our life-lines.  Good, bad, and indifferent.  This is the test of good timber, the challenges, perhaps.

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a 3,000-mile (4,800 km) inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Boston, Massachusetts, southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following the Gulf Coast to Brownsville, Texas.

Location: Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of ...

Length: 3,000-mile (4,800 km)

Good Timber

by Douglas Malloch 

The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

But stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain

Never became a forest king

But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil

To gain and farm his patch of soil,

Who never had to win his share

Of sun and sky and light and air, 

Never became a manly man

But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger wind, the stronger trees,

The further sky, the greater length,

The more the storm, the more the strength.

 By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth

We find the patriarchs of both.

And they hold counsel with the stars

Whose broken branches show the scars

Of many winds and much of strife.

This is the common law of life.

This poem was printed in a church magazine many years ago; I had cut it out to save and re-discover.  If you want to see it on the Internet, put the title into Google.  Here is one such "hit".

 

 

 

Is watching history unfold a thing of the past?

I would suspect that so many folks have just tuned out when it comes to watching/listening to the daily news unfolding.  

We have the unique circumstance of choosing where to get the news; can we even obtain an outlet that isn't colored by interpretive reporting?

Is there a place that you can get unbiased news? Think about this: do you want the unbiased news?  Or do you want to filter your news through the coloring of one view or another?  Maybe you want to see history unfolded from the conservative viewpoint; where would you go, online, for that?  Which major news television offering tries to give both sides?

These are questions you might ask yourself and how much "happening now" or "breaking news" can you really take?!!  More on this topic, later.  And by the way, what happens to the stories that pop, instantly and then disappear...not to be found the next day?

Stake Conferencce Part Three

The next speakers, last night's session: Brother and Sister Hart (young couple with kids) spoke about morning scripture study in their family.

As our calendars get filled (not my personal situation at this time), have we remembered to put first things first?  What are our priorities?   Where do prayer and family scripture study fit in?  

The church's "new" guide, Come, Follow Me, and the adoption of the program in your own family can lead to blessings, the Hart couple explained.  They chose to get up a half hour earlier in the mornings to meet with their family members.  

Because they have been working to put the Lord first in their home, they feel that their "burdens" haven't necessarily become lighter, but that they have been strengthened significantly to bear those burdens.  (Mosiah 24);  Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the ^aburdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as ^bwitnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their ^cafflictions.

Suggestions from the Hart family:  Invite the Spirit to visit and abide with family members.  

Review D&C 88:124:  Cease to be ^aidle; cease to be ^bunclean; cease to ^cfind fault one with another; cease to ^dsleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be ^einvigorated.

Cultivate a desire for [spiritual] knowledge.  Direction via the whispering of the Holy Ghost will come as pray for guidance. 

 

Stake Conference Part Two!

Brother Anderson also talked of his granddaughter and the struggles that she had experienced.  She was blessed to receive support from a certain group or organization in Utah, which incidentally, was comprised of many Tongan ladies.  Fortunately, his granddaughter received assistance from this organization and progressed to the point that she felt well enough to put in her papers to serve a mission.  

She was advised that as a result of her past history in mental health challenges that she might not be invited to fill a regular full-time mission.  Another individual told her not to worry about that because the Lord would call her where he needed her.  

The response, the "call" came and Brother Anderson and all the family gathered around the computer, as his granddaughter was going to announce the results on Facebook Live.  Each person was invited to put in a guess as to where the granddaughter had been called.  Friends and relatives (over 100), filled her living room in Utah and others were watching on the Internet.  

Brother Anderson's guess was Oakland California mission, because he had been reared in that area and he knew that at that location, his granddaughter would find many of the Polynesian Saints and have the opportunity to "give back", in part, to those members, what she had received, in spirit, if not in kind.  See population of islanders in California.

I'm sure that you can guess where his granddaughter was called to fill a mission.  She would be serving a full-time, English speaking mission in Oakland California!  

Attention to Conference

I took quick and incomplete notes at the recent (yesterday) Stake Conference.  I had failed to eat properly during the day and arrived at the conference feeling humble and a little weak!  

However, I was looking forward to enjoying a spiritual feast and was not disappointed.  Besides that, I shortly learned that one of the major themes of the conference was "Family History"!  This is topic I love so dearly and I engage in almost on a daily basis.  

The first talk was given by Joe Anderson, a counselor in the Stake Presidency of the Fort Walton Stake.  He must have fasted before the meeting because his attitude and talk was totally a spiritual experience!  He talked about Toothpicks!  The whole thing about synergy.   

A recent (2016) talk at the Women's Conference, illustrates and alludes to this eternal principle... [Actually, the talk was about "Agape"].  Elder and Sister Renlund presented this talk.  
 
 “One in charity” can be used as an exhortation—encouraging individuals to be unified and to join with others, such as the newly introduced “I Was a Stranger” initiative. When we think about this phrase as an exhortation, we, as individuals, are strongly encouraged to voluntarily join together to help those in need. Our desire is to be charitable, but we want to do so in a unified effort. It builds on the concept of synergy, that many can do more than the sum of individuals. For example, 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 8. Now, I’m no mathematician, but 8 is clearly more than the sum of the individual parts."

So, Brother Anderson/or President Anderson, if you prefer, was telling about when he was instructed (in school science class?) to create a device made wholly by toothpicks and seeing how much weight that device could hold.  I'm not describing this accurately, but you get the idea, right?!!


Elder Renlund: Synergy occurs because the capacity of the five grows as they work together and because they qualify for heaven’s help. As we work together, our capacity grows, and we are able to accomplish even greater tasks in the future.

Brother Anderson's other point was that together we prop each other and "others" up in the worthy goal of helping mankind.  Luke 10:2: The ^aharvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

In another book of scripture: Exodus 17: 9-12 of the Old Testament, there is the story of Moses and Joshua and Amalek...when Moses held up his hand, Joshua prevailed in the fight with Amalek.  When Moses' s hand got tired and lowered, Joshua would not prevail.  

 9 And Moses said unto ^aJoshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the ^brod of God in mine hand.

10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12 But Moses’ hands ^awere heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur ^bstayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

The members of the church should support one another in doing the Lord's work. We are called to the work by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Is Communism Really Dead AND Are Socialist Countries a Threat?

First article is a little dated, but true principles are true.  Sometimes we are relieved or think all is well, but what really happens is a group based on destroying capitalism hides behind one mask and then takes on a different appearance pretending to be not so harmful in nature.   The names and terms change as those who would harm the American Way seek to sneak past you and I with tom-foolery.

1.  http://www.raythomas101.com/communismdead.html

2.  Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Repression, Terror by Stéphane Courtois (Author).

3.   http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/05/09/california-may-allow-communists-work-openly-state-government/

4.   https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/26703-how-the-violent-hard-left-antifa-movement-copies-communists-in-weimar-republic-germany

Meanwhile, back at the State Department

Daniel Greenfield reports on this crazy idea that someone had at the State Department.  To welcome known agitators and sponsors of terror organizations to sit down and be treated in a civil manner is beyond the pale.  The State Department needs to come down hard in defense of Israel.  And this isn't the way.  Read for yourself.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/267650/state-dept-hosted-cair-and-hamas-front-group-daniel-greenfield#.WZui9cEEp6w.twitter

Tortilla Soup

...the movie!  For ladies like me.  Perfecto!  I don't need hot and hungry and over the edge all the time, but when I do, I like movies like this one.  The whole cooking thing at the beginning of the movie was seductive, with a capital S.  My biological father was a short order cook, but Hector Elizondo exceeds my highest expectations (I know, he probably isn't a chef in real life)...anyway...this role was written for him.  His quiet, understated manner is a perfect backdrop for the tangy and entangled love stories in the movie!
At my age, I really see things differently---I may not have lost my ability to smell or taste food, but appetite is always there waiting in the wings for something good to happen, something that will wake you up.   In this case, the movie!

social justice gimmick and other remarks

• http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/267110/15-hour-cost-worker-paychecks-125-month-daniel-greenfield

“You’ve got to watch out because at some point you run the risk of harming the people you set out to help.”

The math, here, is so simple that even I can understand it.  Raise the wages.  The employer will compensate by cutting a worker's hours.   Or by cutting the number of workers.
I just love

...reading Greenfield; he has a way with digging down to the truth.  I just wish kids and others, nowadays, would realize the damage that socialism can do.

• William J. Conway says, :

Venezuela’s decline is the inevitable endgame of socialism, told by the deterioration of its streets, the abuse of its opposition politicians, and the use of the military to maim and kill Venezuelan children as young as 14.

1.  https://plus.google.com/108709180471526832566/posts/PaWjnTcGbrU

1.  http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/06/12/visual-portrayal-socialism-venezuela-20-photos/

We Have to Seek the Lord to Find Him

Sometimes, the circumstances and trials in our life leave us feeling quite isolated and alone.  We believe that God lives and have a testimony that there is a Gospel Plan and yet, we stumble.  We feel lost when things don't quite measure up to what we think of as our ideal life.



Why?  What is it that we are supposed to learn from failure, disease, new situations and the surprises that is our path?!!

Just listened to a talk from a young woman on BYU television in a devotional address that she made regarding just this topic!  Though her disappointments were not mine, it is sure that we have all had disappointments.

I loved the quotes that she used.  Be sure to look for them in the transcript link above.

In searching for that transcript, I discovered the website : BYU Speeches.  Thankfully, I now have a source for many other inspirational talks.  An Easter gift that I can really use, right now.  Remember, Christ perfectly knows our burdens; look for His comfort, His understanding His empathy!

Renewal and Thoughts of Easter

“We shall rise from mortal death to have life everlasting, because of the atoning sacrifice and resurrection of the Savior.”

My dad with his mother, my Grandma Hall.

Easter Bonnets:  In first grade, the teacher set out crepe paper, cardboard, crayons, and scissors.  With her help and the help of a teacher's aide, we made our hats and adorned them with bows and thought them beautiful.  I'm not sure what the boys did; maybe they got to make Easter baskets?  I love the idea of an Easter Parade, a show of hope and celebration.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_bonnet)

Hot Cross Buns:  I left home at the age of 17.  During those first years away, responsible for setting up my own household, I begin to experiment with recipes and cooking.  I read magazines and became inspired and educated by the presentation of food on Easter.  I had never heard of hot-cross buns.  I knew about Ham, Potato Salad; I had grown up with that fare.  I determined to add making the yeast buns to Easter Dinner preparations.  (http://people.com/food/best-easter-hot-cross-buns-recipe/)

Easter Chicks:  I'm not sure that I understood the spiritual significance or connected the significance of little new-born chicks at Easter.  They had been dyed different colors and were furry and warm and chirping a lot.  I don't remember what we did with them after Easter.  We didn't live on a farm, really, though Mother did raise chickens for a while.  We had a garden, too, in the Spring.  I remember a summer of picking beans.  The rows had been criss-crossed, so that we could pick in the shady tunnels, from the inside.

As a young child, I may not have realized the significance of all the trappings of Easter, but as I grew older, I began to associate the gift of new clothes (pastel colors) with the idea of the Resurrection.  And as the years passed, I realized that my Mother, who had lost a child before I was born, who had lost her mother in a car accident...that Easter, though a time of hoping to be reunited with loved ones, down the road, was also a time of sadness and loss, for her.  One Easter morning, she was on her way to Church and just down the dirt road from our house, she saw my sister's dog, runned over and stretched out in the middle of the road, dead.  Her heart was softened, the tears hot and bitter.  She never did make it to church; the grief and loss had completely overtaken her.

  “It is our firm belief that [the Atonement] is a reality,” he testified, “and nothing is more important in the entire divine plan of salvation than the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We believe that salvation comes because of the atonement. In its absence the whole plan of creation would come to naught. … Without this atoning sacrifice, temporal death would be the end, and there would be no resurrection and no purpose in our spiritual lives. There would be no hope of eternal life.”^{2 (President Howard Hunter)}

^{Read Also: Why We Wear New Clothes at Easter}

Saturday is a Special Day

There is a children's song that we used to sing in Primary; it goes like this:

Saturday is a special day, It's the day we get ready for Sunday.  (Primary Children's Songbook)

 So, Sunday is the sacred day.  But spiritually and physically it is more than okay to start preparing on Saturday for the "Holy Day" of "peace and rest".  

Put your house in order, at least to the extent that you know you have something ready to wear for church and you know where your shoes are.  I even dumped my purse out on the carpet last night and only put back in, the things I would need in my purse to attend church.  Maybe that seems a little weird, but it's a woman thing to do.  As I left this morning (Sunday), I also threw in a Rice Crispy Treat and a cheese stick in case my blood sugar started dropping.

"Peace and rest":  Rest from your normal routine, from loud television shows, from conflicts and stress.  Rest from the "everyday", worldly cares.  It actually is a relief to not have to go shopping!

In Sacrament meeting today, someone was bearing their testimony and in her words, I could feel the effort she was making to drop her burdens at the feet of the Savior.  She had had a busy, crazy, stressful week; she had ended that week in tears and I could feel her searching for peace as she spoke.  

It is the Savior who can pull us through those hard times, through adversity and troubled waters, through grief and pain.  We (I) so need a day to be reminded of this, to be reminded to look up to the Heavens for strength, inspiration, and rest. 

Here is what I jotted down on my church bulletin as I listened to the soul's plea as the sister worked through her grief and came out on the other side.

I wrote, "Things to do on Sunday":  

• FamilySearch indexing 
• Write a missionary
• Scan family pics to put on FamilySearch
• Read the scriptures or talks from conference
• play uplifting and joyful music 
• Write in my journal (I don't have a journal, but I have a booklet that could become a journal.
• Pray for our soldiers and sailors (my granddaughter is in the Coast Guard.
• Pray for those who weren't able to make it to church this Sunday
• Send someone in the ward a birthday card or an inspirational happy card or whatever kind you feel like they need.
• Make a plan to do your visiting teaching.
• Touch bases with family.  If they are far away, call or Skype.  If they are closer, eat a meal together.  Reach out to family members or those who live alone.

This was fast Sunday and since I'm a diabetic, I don't fast the 24 hour way.  Someone suggested that I fast in other ways.  For example, I thought about not watching any television that would detract from the spirit.  Not go out to a store or dine out.  (I don't usually do this anyway on Sunday, but sometimes I do, so I guess I am still needing to work on that goal as well as others).

After writing these thoughts down, I will go back and put in a few pictures so as to make it more vibrant and shareable.  Hope you have a Happy and Fulfilling Sunday. 

Remember, if you need to take a nap or have some private time, add that type of goal on your Sunday To Do List, too!







 

Dated but Timeless "How to LIve a Successful LIfe"

President Tanner is deceased, but he had a great sense of humor; spiritually, he was a giant whose words can touch hearts in every dispensation.

https://youtu.be/7xIvFgRhI10