updated July 16 2025
50 minutes seems like such a short time to discuss the most important things.
A life built upon the sandy soil of falsehood will ultimately collapse. But so will families, organizations, cities, churches, governments, and even nations. The fatal flaw in such foundational construction is the unwillingness to recognize or accept the fact that the architect is the prince of darkness whose only purpose is to wreak havoc and chaos which will produce unending misery for everyone willing to believe him.
A life perspective that doesn’t include immortality frees one to be more reckless with their choices when seeking happiness only to discover at some point that wickedness never produces lasting happiness because immortality and its attendant accountability cannot be simply swept away by denying its existence. A personal confrontation with immortality is ultimately inescapable.
A person’s integrity can be ascertained by comparing the difference between their public and private persona.
Adam and Eve sought redemption because they recognized what they had lost. If one doesn’t believe anything has been lost redemption has no meaning. If redemption has no meaning or purpose what need is there for a Redeemer? I believe Adam and Eve. I believe something has been lost but can yet be sought and found in even greater measure in and through our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
All choose wrongly to some extent but any extent prohibits returning to God.
All will experience both success and failure in life, each is an effective instructor.
Anger never solves a problem.
An undisciplined mind requires no effort but learning does.
As the looming storm clouds of evil grow forebodingly darker, the light of truth will appear correspondingly brighter by comparison, enabling those seeking truth to see it clearly and flock to the safety it offers.
Assumptions almost always come back to bite you.
Be a friend to have a friend.
Because agency is divinely honored, persuasion is paramount.
Be forgiving of others and also yourself.
Be grateful for what you have rather than unhappy because of what you don’t.
Be kind to everyone, regardless of how they treat you. You’ll never regret it.
Better days will always come.
Bitter always makes the sweet sweeter.
Bitterness requires no effort but forgiveness does.
Building selfless relationships with others is worth the time and effort.
Can we do God’s will if we don’t know what His will is?
Care for others more than for yourself, you’ll be surprised.
Challenging days can often provide greater opportunity for growth.
Charity is more than an attribute, it is the core of divine nature. It must become what we are rather than just a part of us.
Compliment more than criticize.
Consequences are inseparably connected to choices and can be instructional.
Daydreaming requires no effort but turning dreams into reality does.
Discerning the exact second when dawn begins to dispel the dark is impossible.
Disobeying God’s law alienates us from Him.
Disobeying God’s law is the choice that will bring misery and unhappiness.
Don’t hunt for golf balls off the fairway if you live in snake country.
Don’t surrender your happiness to someone or something else. Look for the Hand of the Lord in your life. You’ll be in awe.
Don’t take counsel from you fears.
Doubt replaces faith, faith replaces doubt – your choice.
Doubt requires no effort but faith does.
Education is valuable if you learn something valuable.
Enjoy the little things, don’t fret about anything.
Embrace your mistakes and learn from them, there will be plenty of opportunities.
Eternal truth undergirds all existence.
Every willful thought I embrace, every willful word I utter, or every willful thing I do which draws me away from rather than closer to God deepens and strengthens my commitment to him who is the enemy off all righteousness and more completely certifies my affinity for the pleasurable yet transitory rewards of evil and shapes me more in his image. Conversely, every willful thought I embrace, every willful word I utter, or every willful thing I do which draws me closer to rather than away from God deepens and strengthens my commitment to Him who is the fountain of all truth and righteousness and more completely certifies my affinity for the joyful and eternal rewards offered by God our Eternal Father and enables me to become more like Him.
Failure is vastly misunderstood.
Faith and hope always trump doubt and fear.
Fear may coerce behavior but it will never purify the reason why we behave. Only divine love can accomplish that.
For fifty years I have been afflicted by one disproportionate thorn in my flesh. The intense measure of its constant irritation by no means lessons the combined compression a plethora of smaller yet persistent thorns have on my soul. But the big one, the one which plagues me most, remains as effectively entrenched in my flesh as if it was Excalibur, encased in stone with no King Arthur in sight. I know for a certainty that only the healing power of the Savior can extricate it, but as of yet, that timetable remains a mystery to me.
Genuine compliments are as welcome to others as they are to you.
Getting there fastest isn’t always the best way.
God is real and we are His children.
God uses flawed servants, but serving God enables those flaws to be converted into God’s own characteristics.
Gratitude is measured best not by words but by actions.
Growing things is incredibly satisfying, as is the harvest.
Happiness is not the absence of opposition but rather it is overcoming it through obedience to God’s commandments.
Hate requires no effort but love does.
Having responsibility will bring satisfaction if you are responsible.
Having someone love you is sweet indeed.
Having someone trust you is even sweeter.
Heaven’s help is always available, more so if one has taken advantage of previous help.
Holding grudges against others is like taking poison and waiting for them to die.
How can one fully submit their will to God if they aren’t willing to accept His timing?
How much different could one’s life be if their aspirations were focused on Godlike goodness rather than selfish mortal motives?
How you treat others will become increasingly important to you.
I am amazed that a loving Heavenly Father would give each of His children the right to make their own choices, regardless of where the consequences will lead. What I find even more amazing is that most of His children then surrender their freedom of choice to a heinous individual who is hell-bent on making each of them as miserable as he is.
I believe the love a person has for another can be measured best by what they are willing to sacrifice for the one they love.
I have always been amazed that the judge of us all is also the least judgmental.
I have come to believe the most important qualities any priesthood leader can possess or develop is the ability to discern God’s will and the courage to act upon it.
I have ears, but I cannot hear.
I have eyes, but I cannot see.
I have a heart, but I cannot feel.
I have a mouth, but my words are as wind.
I can think, but I do not understand.
I can act, but my actions are vain.
Oh Lord, heal me.
Heal my ears that I may hear Thy word.
Heal my eyes that I might see Thy hand in my life.
Heal my heart that I may feel Thy love.
Heal my mouth, that my words may testify of Thee.
Heal my mind that I may understand Thy will.
Heal my will that I may choose to follow Thee.
My Lord, My God.
I suppose the thoughts we entertain will be included in our judgment because, more than even our words or actions, the thoughts we embrace reflect accurately the values of our heart.
I was fortunate enough to have been raised on a farm where the resplendent vista of living things was daily before my eyes, and my nostrils. I learned early that sustaining life requires appropriate and unrelenting attention. This attention was dictated by the needs of what was living. Obviously the cows needed something different than the alfalfa and barley which fed them. The stark reality of this truth is not limited to material concerns. Immaterial things such as feelings that bind relationships are equally real. For example, the love that binds people together and to a common cause is dependent upon mutual and enduring commitment, attention, and effort. This love left unattended will invariably wither and die. Conversely, given constant and devoted attention and emphasis, love will continue to grow and blossom through every season of life and become more fulfilling than was ever initially imagined. Likewise a personal witness and testimony of God, our relationship to Him, His divine plan to bless His children through His gospel, restored in this last dispensation through the prophet Joseph Smith is a living, dynamic entity. One may experience a spiritual witness or connection with God that cannot be denied in the moment. However, that witness is not static. Rather, this spiritual witness will either grow with appropriate and devoted attention or wither and ultimately die with indifferent neglect. Therefore, the faith and trust in God needed to accept His plan of redemption under the direction of prophetic guidance here on earth will require not only an initial spiritual witness but an attentive, devoted commitment to building an ongoing and ever growing relationship with Deity. As with love, the constant attention and effort applied to one’s spiritual testimony will ultimately yield fruit far more compelling and fulfilling than any mortal could ever imagine.
If a hose or cord can get caught it will get caught.
If Christ’s atonement is infinite, which the scriptures indicate it is, wouldn’t that cover your sins? If not, His atonement would have limits. And if His atonement covers your sins, wouldn’t He be interested in and willing to help you overcome them by granting you His grace and strength in order to do so?
If I require some grand or magnificent manifestation to certify the reality of God, what does that say about my spiritual sensitivity?
If is one of the most powerful words you can ever employ.
If I’m honest with myself, the reason I deny Christ’s help in overcoming my sins and weaknesses is because I love them too much and don’t want to live without them. If I truly want to change, I will want to forsake my sins and weaknesses and willingly pay any price to engage His help overcoming them. A fullness of salvation isn’t a halfhearted matter. It requires my entire devotion. However, achieving such a monumental outcome is the process of a lifetime.
If the highway of life was all downhill, you may get great gas mileage, but you’ll never get home.
If the principle of personal agency occupies a premier place in heaven’s hierarchy of doctrines, wouldn’t I be wise to use my agency to yield my will to the will of Him who knows best what will produce my greatest joy and fulfillment?
If the words rendered by those in authority to preach and protect the true doctrines of God don’t reach one’s soul to the extent that change occurs, it’s as if these words fall to the ground in vain.
If there is distance between me and God, it isn’t because He has moved.
If we bargain with God we will only short ourselves.
If you feel there is no hope for you, why did Christ suffer and pay the price for all your sins?
If you want a dog prepare for a life of servitude.
If you wonder why it’s important to pray every day, to search and ponder the scriptures daily, to hearken to the words of the living prophets and apostles, to find ways to serve God and others around you, to constantly strive to become more like Christ, and intentionally keep your testimony not only alive but growing, please consider that darkness can only exist in the absence of light. All of these things invite the Light of Christ through the Holy Ghost. Satan hunts his prey in the darkness because they are much easier to prey upon.
In the equation of salvation, Christ is the constant and we are the variable. Consequently, the value of the outcome will be determined by the extent to which the will of the variable becomes subject to the will of Christ.
In the process of redemption the Savior has a role that only He can play. But each individual has a role that only they can play. It is the correct combination of these two roles that produces the fullest blessings of Christ’s Atonement. Trying to play a role that is not ours, nor cannot be, results only in empty frustration.
In the process of yielding and consecrating one’s will to God, it is just as important to accept what does not result as what does.
Inclusivity as a prime doctrine of the cancel culture seems like pairing strange bedfellows.
Isn’t it ironic that Lucifer, someone so driven by the need for personal recognition, exerts unimaginable effort to hide, disguise, minimize, or distort his own influence in the process of persuading others to embrace the same misery that torments him?
It seems as if uncertainty is mortality’s mantra. My life, as well as the lives of everyone else, has been duly acquainted with uncertainty and the fear which so often accompanies it. It’s easy to feel like our lives are in our control, but things arise that remind us, sometimes painfully, that having control of one’s circumstances is merely an illusion. There is One who is in control of all things, but it isn’t any of us. So much of existential influence is provided by power beyond our ability to have or control. We are deeply dependent upon things entirely beyond our control. I suppose that’s why we strive so hard to gain control in our lives, and ironically in the lives of others, particularly the ones we love. It’s as if we are grasping for a toehold in foreign territory. Also ironically, the One who wields the only power over all things is the One who tenaciously guards the right of all to make their own choices, thus muddying the water considerably. The very breath that sustains life is granted one breath at a time and that lasts minutes at most. Everything upon the earth that sustains life was designed and created by the One great Creator who is omnipotent. Rather than flailing around helplessly trying to keep the oars aligned in the lifeboat, one’s time would be much more beneficially employed striving to adhere to the kind counsel of Him who created not only the materials that allowed construction of the boat, but the water in which the boat is cast. Far too often one’s focus is on the creation rather than the Creator. And while admiring the creation can flood one with humble awe, it will still be only the Creator who is worthy of such awe. Unlike the mortal environment in which we now live, all things associated with God and His environment are infused with certainty. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob never changes. He is certain. He can be relied upon without equivocation. His promises are sure and His love is not only immeasurable but eternally expressive. In a world of uncertainty, one can with assurance tie their boat to the one true mooring that will overcome any tidal fury or vicious storm. He is the true certainty for which we should strive and abandon any vain efforts to save ourselves in storms that rage far beyond our meager mortal efforts to still. Christ is the master of certainty to which the knaves of discord, contention, uncertainty, and chaos must bow.
It’s always easier to draw boundary lines for someone else than to draw them for yourself.
Jesus is the most important individual for all mankind.
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, voluntarily offered to ransom all sinners.
Joy is not the absence of tribulation, but the certainty of its eternal value in the process of drawing nearer to God.
Laziness requires no effort but work does.
Learn to be patient even if you have to wait for it.
Leave well enough alone.
Light dispels darkness. Darkness can only exist in the absence of light.
Many of us, perhaps most, spend our lives looking for pennies to pick up while at the same time our Exalted, Eternal Father in Heaven offers us all that He has.
Money is overrated but life is tough without it.
Neither our mistakes nor our victories define us, how we react to both defines us.
Never lose the joy you feel that comes from the laughter of children.
Neutrality requires no effort but conviction does.
No stage is big enough for the proud.
No stage of life will be without its unique challenges.
Not only did Job’s circumstantial losses become progressively more personal, intimate, and intense but also increasingly extended. Endurance was unimaginably stretched, eating away at his resolve and hope. Hope infers an end. How then is the unexpectedly difficult life lived without hope? When suffering extinguishes hope, what’s left? Christ! Help of the helpless and the only One eternal hope.
Obeying God’s law is the choice that will bring lasting happiness.
Often a person’s measure of conversion to God is determined by the limits they place on their willingness to comply with God’s expectations. His commandment to love Him will all of our heart, might, mind, and strength is an invitation to push past those personal limits into territory intended to expand our development until we are no longer limited, until we have become like Him.
One cannot seek greater wisdom and understanding if they believe that they already know more than anyone else. Humility is the key that unlocks the acquisition of understanding.
One of my hard and fast rules is never be bound by my own hard and fast rules.
Opportunities passed on bring more regret than opportunities that failed.
Over the years I have learned, sometimes by sad experience, that when I have been asked to pronounce a blessing on someone in need, an added measure of spiritual guidance and acceptance is available when those present unite themselves in prayerful supplication for God’s wise and merciful blessings prior to the formal blessing being pronounced.
Parents and grandparents are most likely to be your very best friends.
Persistence will always serve you well.
Praise should always be an unwelcome guest unless it comes from God.
Preparation will never disappoint you.
Satan is real and our avowed enemy.
Record your experiences.
Several people, even endowed people, have chosen not to return to church activity post Covid. While pondering on why that is, I wonder if part of the reason is that the pandemic provided an opportunity for comparison. For those whose membership was in name only, or whose membership was only socially or traditionally grounded, even if they were actively involved, but who never developed a personal, spiritual relationship with Christ, who never engaged and felt humbled by the Savior’s redeeming power in their lives, who never personally felt God’s love, are betrayed by a false comparison. Unfortunately, not having experienced any of these spiritual things, nor having a living affirmation of their reality, they essentially compare their new non church life to the Church life they had before Covid, but they failed to experience all of the spiritual and eternal benefits that come from true devotion to God. Essentially they cannot tell the difference between the two because, for them, there is no difference. They have known nothing else and mistakenly walk away thinking that what they are walking toward will be better than what they are leaving.
Shame is a silent adversary, keeping one locked behind a wall of secrets.
Sometimes I feel that striving to live the gospel in its fullness is like carrying two dozen tomatoes home from the store in my arms. There just isn’t enough room for all of them and I always drop some. While trying to pick up the ones I drop, others will inevitably fall out of my grasp. No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I want to get the tomatoes home in pristine condition, I just can’t keep all the tomatoes safely in my arms. My best efforts are never enough. It becomes discouraging at times, even to the point of wanting to give up. After all, why try if the best I can do is get home with only a few undamaged tomatoes? However, imagine my surprise when I arrive home only to find that all of the tomatoes are just as undamaged as when I left the store. There is not a single flaw in any of them. I wondered how such a thing could be. Understanding came softly. I’m not talking about tomatoes. It never was about tomatoes. It was about how dropped tomatoes can help me better understand how the Atonement of Jesus Christ can change me. My focus is on the tomatoes when it should be on how I responded to the challenge of getting the tomatoes home undamaged. Regardless of how seemingly impossible it is to get all the tomatoes home in store-like condition, the Lord isn’t worried about the condition of the tomatoes. He wanted me to keep picking up the tomatoes as best I could, even if I had to pick them up over and over and over again, until I got home. He wanted my best effort even if it wasn’t good enough to preserve the tomatoes. The struggle I had to get the tomatoes home was evidence of my desire and effort to get them home without damage, even if my ability to do so was flawed. It was a way to express what was most important to me and the extent to which I would go to successfully complete my task. It wasn’t my best effort that made the tomatoes whole. It was the power Jesus Christ has to make damaged things whole. But it was my best efforts that engaged the Savior’s power to enable me to become more like Him. Now I begin to understand the importance of struggling forward, no matter how often I fall short while seeking Him, to become His disciple. It doesn’t matter that if in the process I become bruised, or broken, or flawed. The Savior can heal me from any flaw, any weakness, any sin. He is incredibly patient with each of us as we struggle to do something far more challenging than juggling tomatoes. And best of all, if we diligently seek Him, regardless of how inadequate we feel or are, no matter how many tomatoes we drop, His grace enables us to complete the process without flaw. Just like the tomatoes that are miraculously made whole, it isn’t my best effort that makes them whole. But it is my best effort that invited the Savior to enable me to accomplish something I could not accomplish on my own. Just as I had to expend my very best effort to get all the tomatoes home in pristine condition, I must expend my very best effort to engage His power to heal me and accomplish the same miraculous thing in my life. He gave His all for me, can I give anything less to Him? This is the meaning of Christ’s atonement. Christ heals that which is broken. He makes whole what is inadequate. His justice makes right that which is tragically unjust. His mercy provides hope. His pure goodness and love overcomes any negative or evil influence and replaces it with peace, hope, and pure love. He makes the natural man a Saint, if that’s what the man wants and is willing to do what is required, regardless of the cost. Indeed, He is the Christ, the Mighty Messiah, the Hope of Israel, the Deliverer, the Savior and Redeemer, the literal Son of God.
Strive every day to be a little better than you were before.
Take care of your teeth and the rest of you.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is a sacred offering that cancels the Fall of Adam.
The boundary line between appropriate and inappropriate never seems dangerous until crossed.
The ability to choose our own path and preferences is enhanced in mortality.
The man who never swears has never worked with animals.
The only thing harder than trusting God is not trusting Him.
The price we pay for what God requires of us pales in comparison to the price He paid for what He gives us.
The survival and longevity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is not in question. The question, as it always has been, is whether or not one will be a covenant part of it. Individual survival and longevity will depend upon how one answers that question.
The veracity of a person’s belief can be measured by the price they are willing to pay not to betray it.
There are no hearts which have not ached, currently ache, or will yet ache for one reason or another. Such aching comes for many reasons, some self inflicted, some unjustly inflicted by others, and some simply as a result of being mortal. Regardless of origin, such burdens can weigh heavily upon one’s soul. However, there is One whose sacrificial preparations attuned Him perfectly to anyone’s personal pain. There is One whose perfect obedience qualifies Him to render help and aid that is guaranteed to heal any aching heart. Furthermore, He invites every wounded soul to lean upon His matchless comfort and healing care. There is no appointment needed, no waiting lines, no forms to complete. His office is always open. Healing is what He does because He loves each of us beyond measure. Why else would He have suffered and endured what He did on our behalf? He is Jesus Christ. Come and See!
There is a depth to the Gospel of God that lies hidden by its simplicity but which is available to all who are willing to pay the price for seeking it.
Though not recognized as such, the waters that latter day Israel must pass through are much deeper than the Red Sea and the howling army hounding them is far more ferocious and numerous. However, if they follow the current Moses, as Israel did then, the ground will be just as dry and the outcome even more majestically miraculous.
Thoughts are the doorways to the path you will follow, one way or the other.
Time is precious and cannot be reclaimed when spent carelessly.
True friends are precious gifts from God.
True happiness doesn’t come from the places you think it does when you’re young.
Unhappiness requires no effort but happiness does.
Watching children pick pumpkins from my patch is a harvest of joy.
Wanting God to answer all of my prayers exactly the way I want and according to my timetable is expecting Him to submit His will to mine rather than me offering to submit my will to His.
What I once was, I am not now. What I hope to be, I am not yet.
What’s important looks different to the aged than to the young,
When you near the end of your life you’ll wonder why you worried about anything.
Why is it when we are hurt by someone else, justice is our weapon of choice while when we hurt someone else, we much prefer mercy?
Wisdom grows most for the humble and spiritually willing.
With choice comes accountability to God.
Without a belief in and an acceptance of God our Heavenly Father we are left without traffic management at the intersections of our lives. We are left without a rock, so firmly entrenched that it never moves, upon which we can build our lives safely. We are left without an unmoving star in the sky upon which we can rely for certain and unwavering direction. In other words, we are left to ourselves to determine our own destiny all while blindfolded. It’s amazing to me that so many eagerly abandon their belief in God and consequently reject any accountability to Him simply because it mistakenly feels liberating.
Without a knowledge of God, His divine character and purposes, and our relationship to Him, adjudicating goodness in our fallen, mortal world is left up to each individual. Thus, goodness is entirely relative and one person’s values are as viable as another’s. No man is safe from the acts of another. Chaos reigns and certainty is subjugated.
Without revelation from God and sacred records, man would be at the mercy of him who is merciless.
Work is medicine for many ailments.
Worry is just fear dressed up.
Worry is useless, seeking solutions to problems is regenerative.
You will harvest what you sow.
Your future is well within your God given power to determine. It cannot be changed by others or governments or disaster or any extraneous influence. Your future is eternal. Because of your divine origin and Christ’s atoning sacrifice on your behalf and with His willing and eager assistance being ever available, your future is entirely up to you.
While not my own, this quote has long been one of my favorites. “If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there are men on base.” – Dave Barry