Possibly Insightful Ramblings

Nearly two years ago I lived in a place that has become forever sacred in my heart and memory. Although covering only the geographical area of a couple city blocks, the MTC was a place that has forever changed my life. It was there that I learned a language which changed my view of the world. It was there that I found out more fully who I was. It was there that I developed relationships that will last for eternity. And (although it definitely had significantly less of an eternal impact on me), it was there that I became acquainted with John Rutter’s beautiful work, “Look at the World.” Those Tuesday and Sunday evenings spent in choir practice were some of the most sacred times at the MTC as we united our hearts and voices in praise of the God we were called to serve. One week, the piece chosen by our choir directors was this inspiring song. I remember thinking about the words as we sat there, impacted by the magnitude of God’s creations. That was a song I reflected on time and time ag...

Quotes like this make me feel validated in my chosen educational pursuits:  The greatest intellectual revolution in the past 40 years may have taken place in biology. Can anyone be considered educated today who does not understand a little about molecular biology?              - Frank Westheirmer (1912-2007)                     Harvard Professor of Chemistry Good thing I am coming to understand a little about molecular biology.

The Leonardo museum in Salt Lake City currently has a display on the Dead Sea Scrolls. In addition to hundreds of period artifacts and many fragments of the scrolls themselves, the exhibit boasts of a boulder some 2000 years old from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. As I stood next to this three-ton stone, writing my prayer for peace to stick into a crevice of the replica wall before me, I heard some children talking among themselves. “Now, do you remember what you say in a prayer?” An older sister of 10 or 12 coached her younger siblings through the process of writing their prayers on the little scraps of paper provided. I heard a muffled exclamation of “thankful,” and some more murmuring and rustling as the prayers began to take shape in children’s scrawled letters. After a pause the older sister inquired, “What did you write in your prayers?” I smiled at the tender scene, touched at how seriously they were taking this prayer. “I wrote, ‘You’re the bestest God ever...

Sometime soon my thoughts about this most excellent book will formulate themselves into writing. But for now, (for the possibly two of you that might be interested) these are a handful of my favorite quotes from Dostoyevsky's classic.                “You will see great sorrow, and in that sorrow you will be happy. This is my last message to you: in sorrow seek happiness .”  “There’s no proving (that there is life after death), though you can be convinced of it.” “How?” “ By the experience of active love . Strive to love your neighbor actively and indefatigably. In as far as you advance in love you will grow surer of the reality of God and of the immortality of your soul. If you attain to perfect self-forgetfulness in the love of your neighbor, then you will believe without doubt, and no doubt can possibly enter your soul. This has been tried. This is certain.”  “What seems to you bad within you will grow purer from the ve...

There is something in the human soul that longs for permanence. The eternal nature of our being begs that the things which we love will not cease with our mortal breath. We ache to know that the relationships we cherish will not end at death. And because of our inherent nature as children of God, we each feel in our souls that these relationships will last forever. Anything less than that would be an injustice to the eternity we feel within ourselves. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I'm grateful that I've always had the knowledge that I will be with my family forever. Because my parents were married in the temple of the Lord by sacred priesthood power, my brothers and I are eternally bound to them. We never have to say goodbye. That knowledge especially brought a lot of comfort to me on my mission, knowing that I could leave my family in the Lord's hands and when I returned home, they would still be my family and they would still love me. ...

I wasn't there 2000 years ago kneeling by a stable in Bethlehem, gazing into a baby's face in awe and wonder. I didn't follow the star with the wise men until they came and saw the young child. My mortal eyes did not behold the boy as he grew into a man and assumed his divine role. And yet, I know that all those things happened. And I am grateful. And, because of what that young child did when he came to this earth so long ago, I will yet see him! One of my favorite lines in all of Christmas music reads, "And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love" ("Once in Royal David's City"). What hope there is in that statement! We didn't have to be there to partake of that miracle. He came to this earth for each of us, regardless of the century in which we lived. And our insatiable longing for his presence will one day be filled. Every trace of homesickness for him will be replaced with joy and peace. Because of what he did so ...

One fall day twenty-nine years ago, some American military chaplains were walking the streets of Kwang Ju, South Korea. As they walked along, they noticed a storefront much like the other buildings surrounding it. But it was a little different. It was a visitors' center for a church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in fact. As the chaplains entered the visitors' center, they were greeted by two missionaries. All of them were excited to talk with fellow countrymen, and as the chaplains finally left, they took a couple business cards from the missionaries, promising to pass them along to anyone who was interested. Before handing this card with information about the church in Kwang Ju to the chaplains, however, one of the missionaries happened to decide to write his home address on the back of the card. Likely thinking little of the event, the two missionaries bade farewell to the chaplains and continued on in their missionary tasks. How many other such cards the...