Mormonopia» Mormon Church Tradition

The rain falls on the just and unjust

Graham — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:00:15 +0000

I have a Pocket PC device, and I was cleaning it up yesterday, and came across a couple of notes from last November’s Stake Conference. I can’t remember what the talk was about, or who it was that was speaking, but the person had quoted from Matthew 5:44-45:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Saviour is telling us to be kind to those who are unkind to us. I’ve always understood the last part of verse 45 to mean that rain is a good thing. We are to do good to others, even as He allows good things to happen (rain falling on crops) to everyone. However, the person who was speaking interpreted that verse to be a negative thing, as in just as rain falls on everyone, we all face tough times.

It just got me thinking about how there are often many ways something can be interpreted, and there is rarely a right answer as to which interpretation is the correct interpretation. This then got me thinking about how we do things in the Church. I’ve read online many times where people lament correlation, and how we have no freedom to do anything. That isn’t true. Sure, the Church Handbook of Instructions gives you guidelines, but I do think you have a lot of leeway in how you implement those guidelines. The problems that arise more often than not are because people think things are “supposed to” be a certain way. When talking to these people, I always think of a line from The Simpsons. The family moved, and Bart was put in an earlier grade than he was in Springfield:

Bart: Look, lady, I’m s’posed to be in the 4th grade
Teacher: Sounds to me like someone’s got a case of the spose’das

In the Church, there seems to be a lot of people who have a case of the spose’das. I don’t know if it is correlation’s fault or not, but too many people think things are supposed to be a certain way. They are always surprised when I nicely explain to them that it may have been like that previously, but now we have more options. Just because something was done before, doesn’t mean we are “s’posed to” do that.

There are very few things that are mandated. It really is one of the beautiful things about the Church. Local leaders extend calls to other leaders, and we all work together to help the work move forward. Sometimes we use the “best practices” of others and sometimes we try new things. We keep using what works, and take a pass on the things that don’t work.

Whether rain is a good thing or a bad thing, I’m glad that I can choose for myself.

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Family Home Evening on Samuel the Lamanite

Graham — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:12:00 +0000

I’m not sure where my wife got the idea from, but recently she did a Family Home Evening lesson about Samuel the Lamanite. She made a “wall” out of Rice Krispie Squares and had a bunch of the kids toys standing on the table in front of the “wall”. A “Lamanite warrior” figure that my sister had purchased for my sons was used as Samuel.

In the crowd was smurfs, Geotrax men, army men, Little People (including a tourist, pilot, ice cream man, cave girl, and more) and a Mega Bloks Buzz Lightyear (that another sister had purchased for my sons).

It looks exactly like the scripture in Helaman 16!

And now, it came to pass that there were many who heard the words of Samuel, the Lamanite, which he spake upon the walls of the city. And as many as believed on his word went forth and sought for Nephi; and when they had come forth and found him they confessed unto him their sins and denied not, desiring that they might be baptized unto the Lord.

But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows.

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The Busy George Romneys – Juvenile Instructor May 1958

Graham — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:00:22 +0000

Note: Clicking any of the pictures in this post will bring up a larger version

The first in my series of postings is from the May 1958 issue of the Juvenile Instructor. As I was flipping through the magazine, I came across an article called “The Busy George Romneys” by Melba M. Ferguson. Given the recent presidential run of Mitt Romney, the article certainly caught my attention.

The article stated how busy George Romney was (he was president of American Motors Corporation at the time as well as president of the Detroit Stake). Even with how busy he was, his family still made time for family night. Looking over the article, there were several pictures that showed young Mitt, who was around 11 years old at the time.

In the picture above, Mitt is second from the left beside his mother. The picture below (it has a caption) shows Mitt with his shells. I didn’t know he had a shell collection. Why didn’t that come up in the debates?!

The last picture (below) is a nice family photo. I can’t believe how much the current Mitt looks like George!

My favourite part of the article was as follows:

Things had already begun when Mrs. Romney came home that night from a Relief Society union meeting. President Romney and the boys were in the process of taking down the Christmas tree; and Jane was doing her packing in the living room so she could be near her father and brothers.

As Mrs. Romney took off her hat and coat, she could see Mitt’s dark eyes shine when he requested that the family sing, “In the Good Old Summertime.” President Romney and Scott paused in the act of taking down the decorations, and laughed.

“… Good Old Summertime” in January? With snow on the ground outside, and all the carols there on the piano!

But Mitt had a reason.

He wanted his father to show slides during the past summer, because it made him “warm and happy” just to remember all the family fun at Lake Huron.

…the article continued later on…

President Romney showed beach pictures when Mitt and Scott had selected. They were gay – of the boys and Jane on water skis. Then there some of Lynn in her cap and gown. And some of all the family at various stages of a summer trip west – at Salt Lake City, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite.

Refreshments had been previously requested. NO fruitckate! NO cider! NO Christmas candy! But, please, some fresh-popped corn!

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“Christ welcoming us through the veil of death”

Graham — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:17:25 +0000

By Common Consent has a neat post about a new cemetery in Austria that will have a section exclusively for Mormons. Apparently there will be a statue in the centre that shows Christ bringing someone through the veil. Although this is obviously temple-related, there doesn’t seem to be anything temple-specific shown on the statue. I think it’s neat. It reminds of some of the pictures I’ve seen of old headstones in cemeteries in Utah where you see a lot of symbolism of the temple (I couldn’t find the pictures when I did a quick search… if you know of any sites that show these, please link to it). These days our headstones are pretty basic (maybe even dull). I wonder why that has changed over the years.

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“How to Bury a Prophet”

Graham — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:17:43 +0000

Times and Seasons had a posting recently that linked to an article by Kathleen Flake called “How to Bury a Prophet”. In the article, she mentions how the family wishes were followed, and how one of President Hinckley’s sons dedicated the grave even though there were so many Church leaders there.

The article is short, but good reading, and the comments at Times and Sesons were also good.

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