The Beatitudes are the eight blessings pronounced by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Each one begins with the words “Blessed are…” If you count Matthew 5:11 separately, there are nine beatitudes, but most commentators consider verse eleven to be an extension of verse 10. Definition of “Blessed” Among other definitions, the Oxford dictionary … Read more
This week in Sunday School we discussed the event in Luke 4:16-30 when Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue in Nazareth and announced that the scripture was fulfilled that day in him. Sunday School classes typically emphasize the “no prophet is accepted in his own country” (Matthew 4:24) part of the story and the … Read more
While shopping three days before Christmas, I saw a group of 3 or 4 young men walk by a large display of Christmas wrapping paper that was on sale. One of them said, gleefully, “I’d like to take all the Democrats and wrap them all up in a ball and throw them away!” I was … Read more
There once was a man who built a planter box beside his driveway. He filled it with rich topsoil and planted a garden to provide fresh, healthy, natural, food for his family. He believed that the garden would become a ongoing source of joy for his family for years. The planter box was quickly filled … Read more
Before your LDS family and friends in Utah, Idaho, and Arizona blindly vote straight “Republican” once again, I strongly encourage you to call them and point out that the Republican Party they think they are supporting no longer exists. Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, recently published a piece in which she documented the removal … Read more
There is a branch of social philosophy that advocates for the idea that one should live in the moment. It teaches that one should “avoid expectations” in favor of simply living in the present and seeing what comes. This philosophy posits that expectations are always false because they are constructs of the mind, rather than … Read more
As long as I can remember, I have been hearing in church about how we know we are living in the “last days” because the world is getting “increasingly wicked.” Obviously, we thought, the end times were imminent because there were so many “bad” people in the world doing such “bad” things. And, of course, … Read more
The establishment of our new Government seemed to be the last great experiment for promoting human happiness. George Washington, January 9, 1790 American democracy is in very serious trouble. Our “great experiment” could very well come to an end with the election of 2022 or 2024. If the Republicans retake Congress, as the media keeps … Read more