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Sabbath Devotional :: The Power of Words
In many Native American creation stories, and indeed, in our own creation story, the world comes into being in part because the Creator spoke the words to create it. Genesis tells us that “God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Jacob taught that “by the power of his word, man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word” (Jacob 4:9). God cannot lie (Ether 3:12). All his words must be fulfilled (D&C 1:38). Just as his word created the earth, it can cause the earth to pass away, the rough places to be made smooth, and…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Conversion — Are We There Yet?
I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 38 years — since Elders Bishop and Christensen knocked at our door. I was baptized in the Baptist church at age 10. After my baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1981, I have grown as a disciple of Christ. My course has more firmly been set on the conversion path. Last year, I had to prepare a presentation for a missionary conference. It gave me an opportunity to search King Benjamin’s address to his people, found in Mosiah 4. The doctrines and principles he outlines have become a greater guiding…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Upon the Rock
Lately it feels like everything in my life is on fire. Simultaneously. Not a small brush fire here or there that needs a bit of quick attention and management, but frightening conflagrations that threaten to consume and destroy. There is a lot of fight and flight and not enough peace and quiet. And for me it means feeling tired and unsettled is the default. In my more objective moments, I realize some of this is just a feature of my personal phase of life. But there is something else at play. So many others seem to feel the same, as if we are all being pushed to the edge of…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Where Can I Turn for Peace?
The unrelenting turmoil I see and hear about day after day on the news takes a toll. Where is peace? Where is civility? What sources provide authentic — not “fake” — news and truth?
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Sabbath Devotional :: Spiritual Gifts
For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God (Doctrine and Covenants 46:11). Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4). There are many people in my life who would tell you they have always had a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel. They have always believed or known the Church is true. They have never wrestled with overwhelming doubts or experienced a crisis of faith. This doesn’t mean they are blind followers or their testimonies aren’t valid. Rather, it indicates some of the beautiful…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Room in my Heart
In December 2016, two months after I began volunteering for Refugee Services of Texas, I saw an opening for a position teaching English to recently arrived refugees. I hadn’t worked outside the home in years, but felt teaching was part of God’s path for me. I never could have imagined how interacting with such an incredible group of people would change me. Making room in my heart for those who suffer unimaginable burdens has made a lasting impact on me, and I am forever grateful. A few days before class began, I received a list containing all my students’ names, ages, marital statuses, levels of education and countries of origin.…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Turning to the Hymns for Peace
I spent the last few years as a primary teacher. In addition to interacting with the sweet and adorable sunbeams, the calling meant that I spent a lot of my Sunday worship singing at church. While the children’s songs were often in so high a register that I could only squeak out a few of the notes, the messages of the songs and the enthusiastic singing of beautiful truths by my little primary friends provided profound and enduring lessons in the truths of the gospel. I felt so grateful that these little brothers and sisters were learning the pure truths of the gospel – that we are children of Heavenly…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Infinite Loop of Agape
“An infinite loop (sometimes called an endless loop) is a piece of coding that lacks a functional exit so that it repeats indefinitely.” I have a faint recollection of the concept of an infinite loop from an undergraduate computer coding class I took over 20 years ago. When a young man in my ward used the phrase in a gospel context during his missionary farewell recently, I felt a jolt of recognition as it related to some of my personal spiritual experiences over the past few years. It was a way to describe a state of being that I felt gloriously “stuck” in. It began with love, then became marked…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Pursuing Peace on the Train
About a week ago my family and I were stuck on a very overcrowded train on a holiday weekend in a foreign country. People were behaving badly. There weren’t enough seats on an inadequately staffed train, and the descent into chaos was quick, with many individuals refusing to honor the seat assignments of others. There were fights, and some punches were actually thrown. Long story short, in spite of having pre-booked the journey and paid for reserved seating, my family of six was left standing for much of a seven-hour journey. We were understandably a bit stressed and peeved. A few hours in, we were able to get into some…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Leap of Faith
While we were on vacation recently, my daughters and I spent an afternoon at an outdoor swimming pool. Of course, we were not the only ones who had decided to enjoy the sunshine and water on this hot summer day. There were at least a couple hundred other people there with us. The pool was enormous. Every area of the pool was crowded with bodies, swimming and splashing and shouting. More people were all around the outside of the pool, laying on the grass or stretched out on lounge chairs; soaking up the sun or enjoying the shade of the large oak trees. The pool curved from one end to…
