You've noticed we're filing quotes. The goal is to gather at least one thought from each apostle's conference address, following each semi-annual conference session. Once we've finished with the previous conference (which, you'll observe, is taking us a while!), we'll include various other favorite quotes that we currently have filed away in other places. You can search quotes by topic or apostle on the sidebar.
These quote posts will show up randomly! Whenever we can snatch time!
Showing posts with label About this site. Show all posts
Showing posts with label About this site. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Explanatory Post
It's no secret that we're pretty intense about our religion. People who know us know that we're members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). We rarely hesitate to share our beliefs. We hope that our faith in Christ and our firm belief in the restoration of his gospel are ultimately defining of who we are and how we act.
It's all a big deal to us. It's what we constantly yearn to discuss and share with people we love. And it's what we love to discuss and share with each other.
And we hope that this blog, dedicated exclusively to our beliefs, will help us do both of those things: discuss and share faith with others and with each other.
We'll post every Sunday.
If you're curious about what Mormons believe, tune in. We don't expect our posts will be widely read. But, readers or not, we plan to write for the sake of our own study and learning. Because truth is worth our time. And because we believe it's worth sharing.
Indeed, "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ,and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26)
Now, by way of commencement, we want to say:
1. We certainly DO NOT claim to know everything. Or even very many things. But we DO believe that truth is knowable. We believe that God invites, and even requires, us to pursue truth passionately and prayerfully. We believe the repeated scriptural promise:
Well, "spiritually speaking, [we] have tasted salt [and are] no more able to convey...in words how this knowledge has come than you are to [describe] what salt tastes like...The Apostle Paul said it this way: “We speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (1 Cor. 2:13–14.)
So. Please read our posts with that proverbial grain of salt.
3. It's all been said before, and it's been said better, both in the scriptures and by inspired men and women. We don't mean for our words to replace those words. If you want Mormonism from its purest source, crack your Old or New Testament, pick up a copy of The Book of Mormon, or read what modern prophets and apostles are saying today. We'll simply be highlighting some of those things.
4. We do not plan to enable a comment section on this blog. If you DO have comments, feedback, questions, bones to pick, requests for post topics, thoughts you'd like to share (we may occasionally solicit those - be forewarned!), or any other such communication, we have made our e-mail (mailto:WesandLori@gmail.com) available on the sidebar.
5. Also listed on the side bar are The Articles of Faith, penned by Joseph Smith when he was asked to outline the basic tenets of our religion. They are remarkably inclusive of our beliefs. A great starting point for studying our faith. Some of our posts (1st Sunday of the month) will follow their organizational lead. Other posts (3rd Sunday of the month) will be dedicated to teachings from the Book of Mormon. The rest of our posts will be a smorgasbord of family/teaching ideas, guest bloggers, open-comment discussions, or whatever other random, religious topics we feel like including.
Can't wait! See you Sunday!
It's all a big deal to us. It's what we constantly yearn to discuss and share with people we love. And it's what we love to discuss and share with each other.
And we hope that this blog, dedicated exclusively to our beliefs, will help us do both of those things: discuss and share faith with others and with each other.
We'll post every Sunday.
If you're curious about what Mormons believe, tune in. We don't expect our posts will be widely read. But, readers or not, we plan to write for the sake of our own study and learning. Because truth is worth our time. And because we believe it's worth sharing.
Indeed, "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ,and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26)
Now, by way of commencement, we want to say:
1. We certainly DO NOT claim to know everything. Or even very many things. But we DO believe that truth is knowable. We believe that God invites, and even requires, us to pursue truth passionately and prayerfully. We believe the repeated scriptural promise:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9, 3 Nephi 14:7, D&C 88:63)2. Our religious convictions have come by way of spiritual communications and confirmations that are hard to explain. Hard to put into words. A good man once compared receiving a witness of the Spirit to tasting salt. A great comparison. Tasting salt is an everyday experience, but think about it: how would you describe salt to someone who had never tasted it?? (Are you thinking? Are you trying?) It's tricky! Practically impossible!
Well, "spiritually speaking, [we] have tasted salt [and are] no more able to convey...in words how this knowledge has come than you are to [describe] what salt tastes like...The Apostle Paul said it this way: “We speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (1 Cor. 2:13–14.)
So. Please read our posts with that proverbial grain of salt.
3. It's all been said before, and it's been said better, both in the scriptures and by inspired men and women. We don't mean for our words to replace those words. If you want Mormonism from its purest source, crack your Old or New Testament, pick up a copy of The Book of Mormon, or read what modern prophets and apostles are saying today. We'll simply be highlighting some of those things.
4. We do not plan to enable a comment section on this blog. If you DO have comments, feedback, questions, bones to pick, requests for post topics, thoughts you'd like to share (we may occasionally solicit those - be forewarned!), or any other such communication, we have made our e-mail (mailto:WesandLori@gmail.com) available on the sidebar.
5. Also listed on the side bar are The Articles of Faith, penned by Joseph Smith when he was asked to outline the basic tenets of our religion. They are remarkably inclusive of our beliefs. A great starting point for studying our faith. Some of our posts (1st Sunday of the month) will follow their organizational lead. Other posts (3rd Sunday of the month) will be dedicated to teachings from the Book of Mormon. The rest of our posts will be a smorgasbord of family/teaching ideas, guest bloggers, open-comment discussions, or whatever other random, religious topics we feel like including.
Can't wait! See you Sunday!
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Reason of the Hope: Background
In the months following Wes's 2005 brain surgery, word of his cancer slowly trickled throughout our general circles of acquaintance. During that time, my mom stopped by for a brief visit and slipped a small beaded bracelet into my hands, describing how Diane Barrus, a dear teacher and friend from my old neighborhood, had taken it off her own wrist one Sunday and asked my mom to deliver it to me.
The bracelet remains a sweet reminder of the hope we've felt (and continue to feel) over the course of Wes's cancer battle. But it's even more dear to me now: several months ago, Diane Barrus died, very suddenly. She was about 55 years old. She was in seemingly perfect health. She was serving as a vivacious Primary president in my parents' ward and was the mother of 4 young adult children - her youngest son is, and was, at the time of her death, serving a mission in Kentucky.
Diane's unexpected passing was a blow to everyone who knew her, and remains, I'm sure, a source of heart-break for her husband and family. But I know that the Barruses would tell you the same thing Wes and I yearn to share with all the word: in spite of the hurt, there is so much hope. And it's not hypothetical hope. It's more than optimism and positive thinking.
I don't present this as new information. Truly, I've belabored the point. But even though you already know, and even though most of you share our feelings, Wes and I want to be direct:
If our experiences with cancer have taught us anything, it is that our faith - our religion - holds up. Trials that could have exposed its holes and limits have only certified it's strength and sufficiency. We believe more surely than ever that Jesus Christ has restored his pure and perfect gospel to the earth. And with it: peace, understanding, and above all, hope.
We constantly feel driven to share what has so successfully sustained us. Last spring, in fact, around Easter, Wes and I designed (ha! doesn't that sound fancy! What I mean is "pushed three buttons to create") this new blog for the purpose of more regularly sharing, as Peter urged, the "reason of the hope that is in [us]."
Not that we're shy about sharing our beliefs on our personal blog, but the new site will be solely, exclusively for the discussion of doctrine. And it's as much for us as for anyone. We need a place to organize our study, to categorize our favorite quotes, to grapple with difficult concepts, and to, generally, "rejoice in the message of the Lord." (See Alma 26:35, quote from D&C Explanatory Introduction.)
The bracelet remains a sweet reminder of the hope we've felt (and continue to feel) over the course of Wes's cancer battle. But it's even more dear to me now: several months ago, Diane Barrus died, very suddenly. She was about 55 years old. She was in seemingly perfect health. She was serving as a vivacious Primary president in my parents' ward and was the mother of 4 young adult children - her youngest son is, and was, at the time of her death, serving a mission in Kentucky.
Diane's unexpected passing was a blow to everyone who knew her, and remains, I'm sure, a source of heart-break for her husband and family. But I know that the Barruses would tell you the same thing Wes and I yearn to share with all the word: in spite of the hurt, there is so much hope. And it's not hypothetical hope. It's more than optimism and positive thinking.
I don't present this as new information. Truly, I've belabored the point. But even though you already know, and even though most of you share our feelings, Wes and I want to be direct:
If our experiences with cancer have taught us anything, it is that our faith - our religion - holds up. Trials that could have exposed its holes and limits have only certified it's strength and sufficiency. We believe more surely than ever that Jesus Christ has restored his pure and perfect gospel to the earth. And with it: peace, understanding, and above all, hope.
We constantly feel driven to share what has so successfully sustained us. Last spring, in fact, around Easter, Wes and I designed (ha! doesn't that sound fancy! What I mean is "pushed three buttons to create") this new blog for the purpose of more regularly sharing, as Peter urged, the "reason of the hope that is in [us]."
Not that we're shy about sharing our beliefs on our personal blog, but the new site will be solely, exclusively for the discussion of doctrine. And it's as much for us as for anyone. We need a place to organize our study, to categorize our favorite quotes, to grapple with difficult concepts, and to, generally, "rejoice in the message of the Lord." (See Alma 26:35, quote from D&C Explanatory Introduction.)
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