Restaurants vs Governors

 Why do restaurant owners not sue the governors who require them to close for "taking"?  If  government requires them to stop and in essence "takes" their business, they should be adequately remunerated for their loss. It doesn't matter the reason government takes a business or property it is still a "taking".  It appears that the legal sharks in these states are missing an opportunity.

The Power of One

So much has been written about a baby born to parents in Israel.  To much of the world this event was just another addition to the population of the world.  But to those who knew the signs, understood their meaning and anxiously awaited that specific birth, it was an answer to prayer, it was an event second to no other since the time of Adam and Eve.  

The "wise men" in the east knew of the signs.  The scriptures do not tell us from whence they came or who they were, exactly.  The only reference is that they were "wise men" who came from the east.  They saw the new star and knew of its importance.  They had prepared for this event.  Were they "holy men"?  We are not told. We only know that they were "wise men".  Many have proposed that they were scholars of History, of the Scriptures or astronomers, or physicians,  We don't have any information from which to base these claims.  We only know that they were "wise men".

It is interesting to me that the shepherds in the field were first notified of Jesus' birth, and that they were chosen to receive angels who reported the birth of Jesus.  They knew this was an historic event, one that had previously been prophesied over centuries,.  I suspect even they were surprised of how they were informed.  Celestial beings came and sang to them.  Never in their experience had that ever happened before.

Jewish tradition indicated that the Savior would be born of a woman named Mary and many families who knew the scriptures named their first born daughter "Mary" hoping she would be the one to give birth to Him.  They didn't know what that child would do.  Most of the children of Israel hoped he would be a military leader who would relieve them of the burden of their oppressors. Never in their dreams could they have supposed that Jesus would indeed relieve them of their burdens, but not in the way they supposed.

But Mary knew and so did Joseph.  They had been prepared. 

The birth of Jesus Christ is felt the world over in this Dispensation of the Fullness of Times.  His name and His Gospel is being preached in nearly every nation to every tribe who will permit it, and to every family who will listen.  

Jesus is the epitome of the power of One.  

I testify that the birth of Jesus is one of the most sacred events in human history.

I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of mankind, and the literal Son of our Heavenly Father.  The only condition placed upon mortals is that they recognize Him as such and that they repent of their sins, both of commission and omission.

I praise Him, I honor Him, I worship Him, and I am grateful for the sacrifice He willingly gave for all of mankind.  He is my Lord and my Savior.  I so witness in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

Life IS Precious, But Eternal Life is More Precious

 In our pre-earth existence we longed to receive a body in order that we may be able to become more like our Heavenly Parents and to prove ourselves worthy of returning to our Heavenly Father who created this world and all that in it is.  Each person who lives on the earth today, regardless of his/her religious affiliation, political bent, skin color, economic advantage/disadvantage, national origin, familial traditions, addictions, health and physical disabilities, or any other characteristic that seems to define us, looked forward to coming to this world with a physical body. At that point in time, I think, we were not concerned with any of the fore mentioned, and we each were sure we could overcome any obstacle placed in our way as we worked to overcome them.  

However, we failed to take into account the strong influence of Satan, whose whole purpose is to prevent us from returning to that being that created us, but rather to frustrate the plan Heavenly Father created for us. 

Satan uses our fears, phobias, uneasiness, animal instincts, and any other tool that he can develop to cause us to stray from the Plan of Happiness.  

Here are a few things that I have noted:

1.    Reasons we fear death:

        a.  We haven't been as successful as we thought we should be.

        b.  We haven't been as "spiritual" as we thought we should be and we haven't repented.

        c.  We are afraid that our spouse/children/grandchildren/friends could not endure our absence.

2.    Reasons we stray from the path Heavenly Father designed for us:

        a.  We are afraid our friends will make fun of us.

        b.  We think it is too hard.

        c.  We are comfortable in our addictions and/or sins.

        d.  We don't want others to tell us what to do.  Some call this pride.

        e.  We are afraid that if we change we will lose our "friends".

        f.  We are uncomfortable with the thought that we can receive personal revelation.

        g.  Nobody likes us.

  I'd like to address these things.

First the fear of death.

    Every person born will eventually experience death.  Will it be painful?  Maybe.  But regardless of how it happens, it will happen eventually to each of us.  It doesn't matter if we are wealthy or poor, popular or ignored, famous or infamous.  Each of us will die.  Some of us are anxious to die and chose to select the date and manner of death because of the fears noted above.

    Life is precious.  It is precious because it is a step in our eternal progression.  The Lord said to Moses:

    "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39)

    This goal that Heavenly Father has set requires that men (and women) obtain physical bodies, learn how to manage physical things, learn to be righteous before any of his ultimate goal can be reached.  So life IS precious.  Preventing life is working against His plan and complements Satan's plan.

    That having been said, death should not be feared.  If I passed away today, my death would affect many in my sphere of life and cause pain of separation, but it would only be a step in my own eternal progression.  I hope that I am living my life in such a way that this change would be positive. So in the same way that LIFE is precious and should not be prevented, so also is DEATH precious, but it should not be hurried artificially.

Secondly

    In order to live a spiritually successful life we must take into consideration the fears mentioned above.  We should not worry what our so-called friends think if we are working to improve our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  It is not they who determine our status upon our death.  It is not easy, but as we learn how to live in accordance with Heavenly Father's plan it becomes easier because we receive assistance from the Holy Ghost.  As we work to become closer to our Heavenly Father, our addictions become easier to discard and we are more capable of repenting of those sins we have accumulated.  As we come closer to Heavenly Father, we learn that those who give us guidance are not simply "telling us what to do", but are giving us suggestions as to how we can improve our station in eternal life. If we lose "friends" because of righteous choices we make they are not really the friends that will help us or others to accomplish our eternal goal. As we do all of these things, personal revelation will attend us.  Marvelous miracles will be manifested and we will be amazed by the things we learn.  Others will seek us out because of our change in attitude regarding life and eternal progression.  Our circle of true friends will increase.  Service to others will be comfortable.

Comments are welcome as long as they are respectful.

    

The COVID-19 Corona Virus and it's effects

We are becoming a faceless, godless, uncaring, violent, and sterile society. As that happens we also become heartless and anti-social because of unfounded fears. We can't identify people around us because we can't tell the COVID "SJW", from criminals because we can't see their faces. 

We are suspicious of others because they "might" make us sick or attack us. We lose our humanity, we lose our camaraderie, we lose neighborliness, we lose patience, we lose brotherly love, and we lose our purpose for life.

I say: "Take off our masks. Open our nation. Cease this nonsense. Let's get back to living, earning, spending what we earn, befriending our neighbors, enjoying parks, going to the movies, taking our sweethearts to enjoy dinner together, and growing our economy."

NFL's new Black Anthem

Oh NFL, you have signed your own death knell. 

Why would you further race divisiveness by playing a "Black Anthem" before the National Anthem? Are players exclusively black? 

Are there not Hispanic, Polynesian and white players? So will you also play a "Hispanic Anthem" and a "Polynesian Anthem" along with a "White Anthem" before the National Anthem? 

Where are you going with this? And now the question is: What is the make up of fans attending NFL games or watching on TV? Are NFL fans exclusively black? 

C'mon NFL, you have some explaining to do if you want to save your business.