Living an Abundant Life

Life is challenging. At times I feel like the circus act where I am spinning plates on top of poles. As I was thinking about how some of those plates have fallen recently for me I thought of the First Presidency message of Jan, "Living the Abundant Life". President Monson defines it as "a life filled with an abundance of success, goodness, and blessings".  He went on to describe the ABCs to help us all gain the abundant life.

Have a Positive Attitude

Believe in Yourself

Face Challenges with Courage

I definitely need to improve on those accounts.  I also searched for "Balance LDS" and found this article about Julie B. Beck, "Go to the Lord for Help with Balance" 

"“When we make covenants, we promise that everything belongs to the Lord—our time, our abilities, everything we have is His. That means we have to go to Him to know how to balance all that.”"

Another article is "Seeking a Balanced Life"

He give four areas of priorities: our love for Heavenly Father and His Son, our care of our families, our service to the Lord, and our life’s temporal work.

I am encouraged by the testimony of President Hinckley,

“… How do you balance them? I don’t think that is difficult. I served in many capacities in this Church. I am the father of five children, who were young and growing up when I was serving in those various capacities. … We enjoyed life. … We just did what the Church expected us to do.”

Elder Hallstrom also said,

"When we are out of balance, we have a choice. We can delay making changes and experience the tragedy of a failing family or the sorrow of losing our own spirituality; or we can be attentive and continually nudged by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit to make necessary adjustments. Seeking balance among the essential responsibilities of life is preparatory to salvation."

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"For many, properly caring for the family is the first area of compromise when other demands arise, since the results of neglect are not always immediately apparent. But nurturing the husband-wife relationship and building a spiritual home require men and women of vision and commitment."

I am sure the Lord will help me balance my responsibilities in the four areas of priority. I must seek His wisdom and ask for the courage and strength to carry it out. 

Pictures on Silence

On Sunday, we had Ward Conference. I loved listening to our Bishop and Stake President. The best part of the meeting for me though was when we ended the service singing "I Know that My Redeemer Lives".


"Without music, life would be a mistake." Friedrich Nietzsche

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." Victor Hugo

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” Plato

"A painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence." Leopold Stokowski

"Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable." Leonard Bernstein

"Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite." Thomas Carlyle

Quotes were found compiled here

In order to recover and collect strength

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. — Matthew 11:28-30

Bruce Webster looked up the Greek word that is translated as “rest”.  It means, "to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labour in order to recover and collect his strength".  This gives new meaning to the word for me.
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Beware of Pride

A great message that needs to be remembered. Read the text at lds.org 

Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing. 

The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us. 

Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.” As Paul said, they “seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” (Philip. 2:21.)

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In the words of C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1952, pp. 109–10.)

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Pride is the universal sin, the great vice. Yes, pride is the universal sin, the great vice. 

The antidote for pride is humility—meekness, submissiveness. (See Alma 7:23.) It is the broken heart and contrite spirit. (See 3 Ne. 9:20; 3 Ne. 12:19; D&C 20:37; D&C 59:8; Ps. 34:18; Isa. 57:15; Isa. 66:2.) As Rudyard Kipling put it so well: 

The tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and the kings depart.
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget. 

References to this talk in General Conference.
Elder Marlin K. Jensen, Apr 2001 “To Walk Humbly with Thy God”
President Deiter F.Uctdorf Oct 2010 "Pride and the Priesthood"

I've always been able to count on you

At 17:08 in the video Mr Willie Krueger imagines himself visiting the baby Jesus in the manger.

I'm Willy Krueger and I'm custodian over at the Beck Apartments, but, but you know that, don't you. You know that. I guess nobody here can see me or hear me except you. I didn't bring a gift, I, but I, I guess that's not important. Thank you for everything you've done for me. As long as I can remember you've been right by my side. I'll never forget when you walked with me right in those first few hours after I lost Martha. I-I've always been able to count on you, when I felt dark inside and when I... You were right there, right, every time, right there. Even when I didn't feel good about myself, I knew that you cared for me enough, and that, that made me feel better. Like that time I got mad with Mabel Huntington because she broke her pipes on purpose just so she could have somebody to see while I came up and fixed them for her. Boy, I hollered at her, boy I hollered real loud. But then, then I got to thinking - you loved Mabel just as much as you loved me and I should treat her the way you want me to. I believe I talked to you about that at the time. Well, I started visiting her and we became friends. I saw her almost every day until the day she died. I love you. You're my closest, my finest friend. And that means that I can hold my head high, wherever I go. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. (Emphasis added)

At the end
'Narrator: "I love you." That's what Christmas is all about... Clarissa said it to Mr. Krueger; Mr. Krueger said it to Jesus; and Jesus in so many ways said it to all of us.'

Something in the Way She Moves

There are a couple of James Taylor songs that sum up how I feel about my wife and her soul saving influence in my life. I am so grateful for her love, patience and example of unwearied diligence. "She has the power to go where no one else can find me and to silently remind me of the happiness and the good times that I know"


Something In The Way She Moves
Something in the way she moves, or looks my way, or calls my name
that seems to leave this troubled world behind.
And if I'm feeling down and blue or troubled by some foolish game,
she always seems to make me change my mind..

And I feel fine anytime she's around me now, she's around me now almost about all the time.
And if I'm well you can tell she's been with me now.
She's been with me now quite a long, long time and I feel fine.

Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
and I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go.
She has the power to go where no one else can find me and to silently remind me
of the happiness and the good times that I know, and then I just got to go then.

It isn't what she's got to say but how she thinks and where she's been.
To me, the words are nice, the way they sound.
I like to hear them best that way, it doesn't much matter what they mean.
she says them mostly just to calm me down

And I feel fine anytime she's around me now, she's around me now almost about all the time.
And if I'm well you can tell she's been with me now.
She's been with me now quite a long, long time and I feel fine.



Mean Old Man
On my own
How could I have known?
Imagine my surprise
Just a fool
From a tree full of fools
Who can't believe his eyes
Imagine my surprise

I was a mean old man
I was an ornery cuss
I was a dismal dan
I made an awful fuss
Ever since my life began
Man, it was ever thus
I was a nasty tyke who was hard to like

I had to misbehave
I did things in reverse
Refused to wash or shave
I was horrid to my nurse
I got back what I gave
Which only made me worse
I had to have my way
Which was bleak and gray, oh dear

Living in here
One hundred years of rain
Such a drag
This riches to rags
With just myself to blame
A dirty low-down shame

Silly me
Silly old me
Somewhere outside my mind
Clever you
Walking me through
Willing to lead the blind
Just in the nick of time

Who gets a second chance?
Who gets to have some fun?
Who gets to learn to dance
Before his race is run?
Who gets to she'd his skin?
Who comes up born again?
Who was a mean old man
'til you turned him into a golden retriever
Puppy dog
Who's a good boy?
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Don't demand things that are unreasonable

"Be patient with yourself. Perfection comes not in this life, but in the next life. Don't demand things that are unreasonable. But, demand of yourself improvement. As you let the Lord help you through that, He will make the difference." ("Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them" Elder Russell M. Nelson shares a personal story to give encouragement for when we feel "weak in the heart.")

Unrestrained Bluntness

I have had some interactions online that immediately came to mind when I read this comment.

"So many people think unrestrained bluntness is the ideal simply because it is honest - not realizing that honesty can be expressed in numerous ways. Sometimes boldness is necessary - but sometimes, though true, it is cruel, lazy and cowardly." Papa D
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Yielding to the Enticings

When I woke up this morning it was clear what I was to do.  

I had been angry with my son when I hit him with the pillow. I didn't realize it at the time but I was upset when he made that noise while I was reading the scriptures. The noise I could barely hear. When I asked if him if he was making noise, he just smiled like he thought it was funny. My thought was that he was not showing me respect and I was upset. Then when he was messing around with his brother and threw the pillow at him, I acted without thinking. I picked up a pillow and hit him with it.  I did it in anger, to force him to submit to me.  

So I was angry with my son. I wanted him to submit to me before he made the noise. To not do it in the first place.  I didn't not want him playing fun when I was reading scriptures. I was upset when he pointed out that I was angry and that I should be setting the example. I was stewing last night.  

I apologized to my son in the car before we left this morning. I let him know that it was not OK for me to be angry even if I felt that I was being disrespected by my son. I also let him know that the right thing to do if you do get angry is to admit what you did wrong and apologize. If it happens one to one, then you apologize one to one. If it happens in public, you apologize in public. I said I was planning to apologize when our family was together again tonight.

It was this scripture that helped me to recognize my fault and what I was to do to be reconciled.
D&C 42:88-93

 88 And if thy brother or sister offend thee, thou shalt take him or her between him or her and thee alone; and if he or she confess thou shalt be reconciled.
 89 And if he or she confess not thou shalt deliver him or her up unto the church, not to the members, but to the elders. And it shall be done in a meeting, and that not before the world.
 90 And if thy brother or sister offend many, he or she shall be chastened before many.
 91 And if any one offend openly, he or she shall be rebuked openly, that he or she may be ashamed. And if he or she confess not, he or she shall be delivered up unto the law of God.
 92 If any shall offend in secret, he or she shall be rebuked in secret, that he or she may have opportunity to confess in secret to him or her whom he or she has offended, and to God, that the church may not speak reproachfully of him or her.
 93 And thus shall ye conduct in all things.

I also thought of this scripture, Mosiah 3:19. Am I to submit to the Lord because He is an angry God? Because I am afraid of what my punishment will be? Or because I am afraid that He might be angry with magma simmering just underneath the surface? 

No that is not right. It is not the way God is. If I am to have the respect of my children, I am to model the behavior of my perfect Father in Heaven. God may reprove betimes with sharpness but not because He loses his temper. Because he gives correction at the time when it will be received best. He does it with the sharpness or exactness of the Spirit.  In a way where we will only receive it if we are willing to listen.  

Then I have received the challenge from the Holy Ghost to change. To turn my face to God. To turn to the better way. To leave behind anger and all its chains. It is because God loves me and is willing to reason with me to teach me the ways of happiness that I have the respect I have for God. I love Him because His first loved me. He loves me enough to correct me in a timely and uplifting way.

-Richard