A beautiful area in northwestern Spain called Las Médulas prompted some thoughts on the implications of seeing God’s hand in everything, even if it turns out he’s not actually involved in everything, and what the pros and cons of making such an assumption are.
I’ve noticed I have a strong distaste towards the word “commandment” when used in the religious sense. The commandments. Keep the commandments. The Ten Commandments. Et cetera.
As we stand about six weeks out from the birth of the little girl who will make us parents, we’re constantly batting back and forth parenting ideas. Soon theory will need to become practice, and one practice I’m determined to employ is teaching my kids Spanish from birth.
“Yeah, being a parent will be a challenge, but it’ll be more rewarding than challenging,” the naive dad-to-be says to himself. “Heh, just you wait and see…” comes the smirk from been-there-done-that parents. I think many of life’s experiences can benefit from properly managed expectations.
Maybe the two categorizations I present in this blog post’s title aren’t mutually exclusive, but I can definitely say which of the two comes closest to characterizing the God I like to envision.
I’m excited to be a dad. I’m scared to be a dad. It’s going to change my life unlike any other event I’ve experienced. There’s no going back.
Something I like about being Mormon is our emphasis on praying using our own words as opposed to fixed language. But what can we do when spontaneous prayers feel hollow or empty?
This post is adapted from a talk I recently gave to my home congregation about the enabling power of the Atonement.
Ever since Mitt Romney declared his intentions to become the Republican nominee for president in 2008, one of the chief criticisms directed at him has been that he isn’t ideologically pure enough, that he isn’t a “true” conservative, or that he’s changed positions on key issues too many times. In other words, he’s weak on Republican principles. But is that necessarily a bad thing?
My patriarchal blessing says I was born into the Church to good parents because of my valiance in the premortal life. But I remember thinking at the time, “I was given every chance in the world to succeed and blossom based on my fortunate birth circumstances. If anything, God thought that I was weak and needed extra help to ensure I didn’t fail.”