Mrs. Miniver, Antifa and BLM

While watching an old black and white classic movie, Mrs. Miniver, the idea occurred that there were many similarities with our present day struggles.  The first similarity is that we are a peaceful people for the most part with no desire to impose on others, much as the people of Great Britain during the time leading up to and during their war with NAZI Germany.

The primary character, Mrs. Miniver, as portrayed by Greer Garson, quietly goes about sharing her good natured spirit with most everyone she comes in contact with.  The railway station master, James Ballard, gets permission to name a rose after her, a rose that exemplifies all that is beautiful as he prepares to enter it in the local flower show competition. 

Mrs. Miniver goes about life observing the challenges of a nation at war, a war that touches many around her, to include her son as he enlists in the RAF to do his part.  Her concern for each individual is matched with her concern for their way of life and the threat to England as a nation.

A German plane had been seen to crash in the vicinity of their small village and the pilot was on the loose.  Mrs. Miniver came across him in their garden; but he had the drop on her as he followed her into the house to hide and obtain much needed nourishment. 

Splashing milk down his uniform while consuming what ever food was available, this arrogant agent of the Third Reich rattled on about how their military had taken Poland in only two days.  Hate spewing from his lips as he boasted, “Thousands of people dead in only two days”, and as he railed on, “We will do the same to you.”

Somewhere in my mind I was seeing a different enemy, arrogant bullies priding themselves on having created fear among the people, a people with no desire to impose their will on others.  I was recalling recent images of Antifa and BLM “protestors” as the left leaning news media called them, doing their best to wreak havoc on our metropolitan cities.

(Image of Antifa burning American Flag courtesy of redwhiteandright.com)

Antifa and BLM aren’t protesting racial injustices as we were led to believe; they are domestic terrorists, enemies of our country who’ve been hiding among us; but with the opportunity of civil unrest have come out in the open. 

They wear face masks to keep from being identified; but they are openly spreading fear by killing innocent bystanders under the false flag of racial equality, assassinating police officers, looting and burning businesses along with tearing down statues or defacing monuments built to honor those who have fought and died to protect a liberty loving people. 

Could an enemy from a hostile country be any more destructive? 

What about governors and mayor who’ve bowed to these terrorists, those who’ve instructed their police departments not to engage; but to permit these criminal acts?  What about the judges and district attorneys who release those arrested for looting and burning down buildings…release them back onto the street with little or no bail? 

Are they acting in our best interests or have they joined the movement to destroy our nation?

There’s a scene in the movie where the family is hunkered down in a make-shift bomb shelter while enemy fighters strafe and bomb all around.  Their children are asleep; but with each passing moment they can be seen clutching tightly to their blankets while their parents read aloud from Lewis Carroll’s, Alice and Wonderland.  Their world is being blown apart, all that is dear and sacred is under attack. 

Isn’t that much the same as our nation right now?  Aren’t we praying to survive the next attack, praying our children will inherit a land of liberty rather than have to submit to the terrorists trying to destroy our peaceful republic?

Read into Mrs. Miniver’s composure what you will; but there is strength, dignity and resolve to uphold the standards by which our culture is built.  Win or lose the fight, it is our duty to stand for what is right and true. 

As the movie came to a close, the small congregation meeting in what was left of their bombed out chapel, their minister addressed them as he pointed to the empty seats indicating the loss of a choir boy and then mentioning the loss of Mr. Ballard who’d only two weeks prior had won the award for his beautiful Miniver Rose.  Then he mentioned the loss of the recently married young Carol Beldon, the camera focusing momentarily on the young RAF flyer/husband grieving the loss of his wife and Lady Beldon grieving the loss of her granddaughter.

“We are all in this fight”, the minister proclaims, the roof of his chapel partially missing as a wave of British aircraft is seen headed towards harm’s way overhead.  It’s not just the military; but each of us has a stake in this war. 

And so Mrs. Miniver, the character and the movie has shown us all how we are to bear up under this current attack which has all the earmarks of a declared war on those things we consider sacred and of worth.  Our individual liberty, our families, religious beliefs and constitutional republic have nothing to do with racism as has been claimed.  Antifa and BLM are at war with civilized society and it is our duty to stand firm.

Honoring Their Gift

Gratitude is an interesting human trait.  We say thank you when somebody does something nice for us or gives us a present; but that only touches on the idea of gratitude. How do we express heartfelt gratitude?

I could lead off with the highest level, the gratitude we as individuals show for our Savior, Jesus Christ.  His gift of eternal life to mortal beings truly is incomprehensible so we can only do our best to live a life worthy of such a gift; that’s how we show our gratitude for His sacrifice. 

But that’s not where I’m headed this Memorial Day…no, but honoring the sacrifices of those who gave their lives in the battle for liberty, our individual chance to live and breathe while their lives were cut short; that’s something to consider. 

I once saw a photograph of a mass burial at sea; sailors who’d lost their lives following a kamikaze attack.  The image of their shipmates carrying out the somber task struck a chord with my soul.  They had little time to morn their friends while the business of war and the ever present threat required the detail be carried out in haste.

Recalling a movie,  The Man Who Never Was , there are civilians who ‘stepped up to the line’, so to speak.  They served the war effort in ways they never could have considered, some joining the ranks vicariously. 

(Image: The Man Who Never Was, courtesy of sgliput.wordpress.com)

The military needed to fool the German hierarchy by supplying them with erroneous information.  The plot was formulated to leave a military courier’s body floating off the coast of Spain where it would be found.  Every detail of the courier’s life would have to be verifiable, right down to having letters from his girl friend, where he purchased his uniform shirts, tickets to the show he’d last seen and so on.

“The corpse will appear as a plane crash victim, the non-existent Royal Marine, Major William Martin, who is carrying falsified letters about a forthcoming Allied invasion of German-occupied Greece, rather than the obvious target of Sicily.”

But they needed a corpse who looked like he’d drowned in the ocean, and so they obtained the body of a man who’d died from pneumonia (At least that’s how this was accomplished in the movie.  According to a different historical account the body was likely obtained from a ship wreck off the northern coast of Great Britain).

There was a scene in the movie where the grieving father of the recently deceased individual was asked to donate his son’s body for the war effort.  Instead of being able to bury his son he was being asked to trust the military, that his son would eventually be given a proper funeral.   

It’s a wonderfully well made production of a movie and worth your efforts.

Memorial Day is for the survivors, those who didn’t die in the service of their country.  Sounds a bit strange doesn’t it?  This day is for us to recognize and honor the sacrifices made and try to live worthily as a means of showing gratitude for a gift that’s too hard to understand in its entirety. 

When we look at the lessons of life, particularly in the scriptures, we see miniature versions of the big picture and use them to understand the ultimate gift of the Savior’s Atonement.  Abraham being directed to sacrifice his only son being a shadow of the sacrifice of God’s Only Begotten Son teaches us to see the world through His eyes.

So it is with Memorial Day as we consider and honor the gift of liberty from those who never made it home. 

Life Liberty and Property

I was looking for quotes from respected individuals regarding the notion of private property.  The ones listed here came from an internet site called Search Quotes.  Many of these ideas where shared in communications by the founders of our nation, studies and consideration by the best minds as they defined as best they could the enduring definitions of Life, Liberty and Property (also referred to as the Pursuit of Happiness).

“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.”― Frederic Bastiat, The Law

“Each of us has a natural right, from God, to defend his person, his liberty, and his property.”  --Frederic Bastiat

 “Liberty, then, is the sovereignty of the individual, and never shall man know liberty until each and every individual is acknowledged to be the only legitimate sovereign of his or her person, time, and property, each living and acting at his own cost.” --Josiah Warren

“All men have equal rights to liberty, to their property, and to the protection of the laws” –Voltaire

“Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.”  --Samuel Adams

“Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty.”  --John Adams

“In fact, a fundamental interdependence exists between the personal right to liberty and the personal right to property.”  –Potter Stewart

This last one might become my favorite quote as pertains to government…

“Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.”  --Gilbert K Chesterton

Surprise Ending for a Crime Scene

This past week there was a news item that showed up on Facebook about a criminal who accidentally shot himself in the “package” with his own pistol while committing a robbery.  It turns out it happened in Chicago and the story was from 2017 and was making the rounds again.  I know we’re not supposed to laugh; but that’s just too good not to at least smirk as Karma unloaded on that idiot.

It reminded me of a crime scene from back in the early 70s when I worked as a Crime Scene Investigator; before such a designation became popular.  Basically, the department assigned some low seniority patrolman, which would be me, to carry a latent fingerprint retrieval box and a camera in the trunk of the police car for those times when a detective wasn’t available. 

It wasn’t a glamorous job at all, often times being sent to the morgue to lift prints off a ‘John Doe’ to figure out his identity.  Think about having to get up close and personal with a stiff body that had already begun to stink and having to take a ‘dead-man’s spoon’, some ink and then transfer each finger’s print onto a flat piece of card stock. 

Yeah, that was a fun and exciting job.  So glad I moved on within the department, directing evening rush hour traffic; now that really was fun. Somehow that fun and exciting job as CSI became a popular television series; folks will believe anything that comes out of Hollywood.

I did get to take pictures with a fancy 35mm camera at various crime scenes.  As I recall, there was another CSI who had a morbid sense of humor.  When I say morbid, that means much more so than most other police officers since that’s probably a character trait required to be a police officer… where was I?  

Anyway, not a great way to start a sentence; but anyway, this officer would take slide film of his own and take pictures of crime scenes and then drop a slide of a really nasty one in with his vacation pictures when relatives came over asking about how much fun he’d had.  Apparently the department didn’t think too highly of this and he was let go; imagine that…

Getting back to surprise endings for a crime scene… The best one I was ever mixed up with involved several locations all tied in with the same suspect, there having been a robbery, subsequent search for the suspect involving an empty school bus by two police officers, and then the suspect finally being shot by a security guard down the street…but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The suspect ‘allegedly’ (I love how that word has to be included) robbed a small convenience store using a pistol and got away with a handful of dollars, a couple of packs of cigarettes and some candy which he’d stuffed under his shirt.  He fled through an apartment complex with several police units that were close by when it went down in the area looking for him. 

A two man unit decided to check out a school bus that had been parked on the street over night.  The lead officer was going through the bus, looking under every seat as he worked his way towards the back of the bus.  His junior partner was standing on the landing of the bus with the door open keeping an eye out for the suspect. 

Sure enough, the suspect came running in the direction of the school bus, pistol still in his hand while looking for any police that might be chasing after him.  The officer in the bus ducked as the suspect took a shot at him and then returned fire.  The awkward manner in which the officer was standing caused him to lose balance and he fell backwards into the bus while the suspect continued on down the street. 

From the evidence at that location the suspect did get hit by the officer’s bullet, striking him in the stomach.  There was a blood trail that was easy to follow; again I’m getting ahead of myself…

The officer in the back of the bus thought his partner had been shot and, putting it delicately, lost his composure.  He was normally an excellent shot with a pistol and had the medal hanging on his shirt to prove it; but that wouldn’t explain the back window of the bus being shot out from the inside of the bus or the multiple bullet holes that exited the roof of the bus. 

Yeah, I had to take pictures of all the bullet holes and I don’t know how it came to be, those bullet holes were listed in the official report as having come from the suspect’s pistol as he shot at the officers inside the bus.

As I mentioned, the suspect continued running away from the bus and towards yet another small convenience store where there were several cars parked and a security guard standing in front of the store.  The suspect began shooting at the security guard and the security guard began firing at the suspect, all the cars in the parking lot sustained damage.

The suspect’s pistol ran out of ammunition; but that didn’t stop him from aiming at the security guard and continuing to pull the trigger, “click, click…and click”.  This didn’t set well with the security guard who still had bullets in his pistol as he shot the suspect several times at close range, “Kablam, kablam and kablam”.  The last shot apparently removed the suspect’s “package” and the rest tore up most of his gut and chest.

The suspect was loaded into an ambulance with a limited chance of survival while I was called out to gather evidence and take pictures.  As mentioned, I took pictures around the school bus to include the spot where the suspect dropped the money along with the candy and cigarettes that were on the ground. 

I then took pictures of the cars that had bullet holes and completed my supplement report, the one that would be assigned with the primary reports filled out by the officers assigned to each location’s criminal report.

Here’s where it got interesting… About a year later I received a subpoena to attend District Court on this incident.  It surprised everyone when the suspect, the one everyone expected to die from his wounds, yeah, that suspect walked into court and pled not guilty.  It later turned out that the State of Texas and his attorney worked out some kind of plea deal so I never got to bring my “Eight by ten glossy color images of the crime scene” into court (a reference to the tune, Alice’s Restaurant).

In my best Paul Harvey voice, "...and that’s the rest of the story…"

Desperate Individuals

I remember listening to a motivational talk, can’t remember who it was giving that talk off hand; not that important…  He brought up the idea of a man who was looking to feed his family while out of work.

He knew his neighbor had plenty of food so he went next door and asked if he could borrow a loaf of bread to feed his family, which he’d pay back as soon as he could; but the neighbor turned him away.

After a few minutes he returned and knocked on his neighbor’s door once more; but this time he begged his neighbor for the loaf of bread, explaining that his family was desperate.  Again his plea was denied and the door was shut.

This part I remember… He thinks to himself, “Your family is starving and you will do most anything to keep them alive”.  The next time he goes to his neighbor’s house, desperate now, “Watch your bread”.

Since the talk was to young and eager business people seeking ways to improve, this motivational speaker then proposed the next logical question, “We know what you’d do to survive; but what are you be willing to do to succeed?”

In these troubled time; the economy in a dark place with so many individuals laid off and out of work, businesses failing as folks are locked away in their homes or have no money to spend; what kind of desperation is lurking behind those shuttered doors?

At a certain point we’ll see who prepared for “a rainy day”, or for many who live from pay check to pay check and have nothing in their pantry, nothing in savings; who will sink into “Watch your bread” mode, perhaps without ever asking for help first.

Being prepared doesn’t apply only to the material aspects of life.  What about your emotional preparedness, your spiritual preparedness; are your oil lamps filled with enough oil to get you through?

Far too many individuals have been ‘casual’, a mild explanation for ignoring their relationship with God.  They are, for the most part, good people living their lives in an honorable fashion; but without a perceived need to understand anything about their Father in Heaven or their older brother Jesus Christ.

You’ll hear some spout off, “I’ve no use for religion, that’s a crutch used by weak minded individuals who can’t make it on their own.”  What they don’t understand about the eternities and this short time we call mortality is staggering.

Often times it takes a major upheaval in life to get us to think about such things; a death of a loved one, the birth of a child, divorce, getting laid off or fired.  These things happen; but what we do about our lives when they happen determines which path we’ll go down.  Will it be a path of Despair or will we find the one marked Hope?

If you’re in doubt, don’t know where to turn for truth in a time when the major media outlets have become corrupted, you doubt anything that comes across social media because each site is at odds with the next… then perhaps you should turn to the scripture found in James 1:5 which reads…

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

If your soul is troubled and in need of peace this might be a good time to find the source of all peace.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”

Be thankful for simple blessings and don’t worry about things that are out of your control.  Now, go out and have a great day.

Call Me Theo

Before getting started…I thought I’d written and saved this story from long ago; but for some reason can’t find it in any of my files… Today a friend wanted to know what T. F. stood for, True Friend or Truck Farmer.  So, here goes…

Back in the mid to late 1970s while working downtown as a police officer, one of our daily assignments was to stand in front of the Harris County Court House around noontime so we could escort felony prisoners that would be off loaded onto the sidewalk.  We’d then remove their handcuffs and put our handcuffs back on them, take them upstairs to have their Miranda Legal Warning read to them by a county court judge and then take them back down to the street, exchange handcuffs once more and load them back into the paddy wagon to be returned to the city jail.

No, I’m not making this absurd ritual up.  There was a safe prisoner zone in the lower level of the County Court House; but it was reserved and could only be used by the Harris County Sherriff’s Department and strictly off limits for City of Houston police officers.  Yeah, we had a wonderful working relationship as you can see.

Think about it this way…we had a felony prisoner (homicide, robbery, burglary, rapist or who knows what) that was in a safe place (the city jail); but some fool (supervisor of higher rank) decided that we should take that felony prisoner outside the jail and drive him through downtown Houston in the paddy wagon with several other felony prisoners and off load them onto the sidewalk in front of the court house.  This meant letting them out of the paddy wagon were there was minimal to non-existent security available, taking their handcuffs off and trading them for the ones belonging to a police officer standing there on the sidewalk.

What could possibly go wrong?  But that’s not why I’m writing this today…

Aside from this insanity, there were a collection of odd women, groupies if you will, trolling for police officers like they were band bunnies or something.  They’d start conversations hoping to engage a police officer, flirting or whatever until such time as all the prisoners had been taken upstairs.

One day, while awaiting my turn to take a felony prisoner upstairs, a young woman got up in my face, going on about just about anything.  She handled my name tag, physically touching it as she read the name, T. F. Stern.  Then she asked, “What’s the T. F. stand for?”

Not sure where my answer came from, but sarcasm is a standard file in my personality, as I responded, “It’s supposed to be T. B. Stern; but they got it wrong”.

“So what’s the T. B. stand for?” 

“Theophanous Bastardo Stern.  Some of folks call me The Old Bastard; but my friends just call me Theo.”  Like I said, I’ve no idea where this stuff comes from; but the young woman huffed a bit and walked away feeling insulted.

On the other hand, one of the other police officers who’d been standing there in front of the court house almost lost it, trying to contain his belly laugh.  From that day on he called me Theo.  It would have been a shame to lose a story like this simply because of a bad filing system.

Banner Waving

My son came up to visit and brought me a Trump flag/banner to display from my house up here in Buffalo, Texas.  He didn’t want to attach it to the house in Houston, fearing it might bring out the worst in some folks who lack civility at most any level.  Can’t say I blame him, having seen some of the nonsense that’s been going on in our country.

So here’s the Trump banner, proudly waving in the breeze as it’s wedged in between the top railing of my porch and the roof overhang.  

I’m not sure I like Trump as much as so many of his supporters; but at least he loves America and is doing what he can to expose the ugliness of the folks in Congress who keep trying to destroy this nation. 

Several years ago when Obama was running for the presidency, a good friend of mine, Terrell Hunt, (may he rest in peace), was backing Obama's candidacy and put up a huge ‘Obama for President’ banner to hang from the entryway to his house.  I was on my way home in the evening and noticed it; how could you not notice it? 

Terrell and I didn’t see eye to eye on most anything political; but we were brothers in the gospel of Jesus Christ and treated each other with the highest respect and love.  Lucy and I would go over and visit with the Hunt family regularly and joke about our differences, chiding each other here a bit and there a bit; but always knowing our friendship was more important than any political issue.

I decided to call Terrell in the morning to chide him about the ‘Obama for President’ sign.  When he answered the phone I explained, “Someone vandalized your house last night.” 

Terrell was a bit angry as he replied, “They sure did…they wrote nasty stuff all over my brand new ‘Obama for President’ banner.”  Turns out someone had actually ‘vandalized’ his home by spray painting across his political hero’s banner.

His response caught me completely off guard, and from the way he paused, let me know that perhaps he considered me the culprit since I knew about it as the sun was coming up.  I assured him I had no idea that someone had spray painted over his Obama banner; that I was joking with him for having put the banner up in the first place. 

Timing is a funny thing and it’s a shame Terrell passed away a couple of years ago; he was a true friend, and I can’t say that about too many folks who claim to be Democrats…

Terrell’s probably looking down from the Heavens at my house here in Buffalo, Texas, wishing he could call me on the phone, “Hey, Brother Stern, someone came by your house and vandalized it.”  Yes, I can see him laughing into the phone and wondering if I too have a sense of humor big enough to let him get away with such a line.

An American in Paris - Gershwin CD

Being restricted somewhat from movement away from the house to a certain degree has permitted an extensive use of music playing in the background while accomplishing other chores.  We are blessed to have Pandora Radio going most of the time, with my favorite location, the Gershwin Station, a collection of similar music.

As I was going over recent Facebook entries I found my mind wandering as they had the American in Paris on, as found on the CD, Gershwin Plays Gershwin – The Piano Rolls .  The piano rolls were played on a “Yamaha Diskclavier, a computer-driven descendant of the player piano”.  The quality of these  performances is breathtaking.  (If you like Gershwin music I recommend this CD for your collection)

Now for a little piece of history on this particular cut; …how it was produced. I’ll copy the information as presented in the booklet provided when I purchased this wonderful recording. 

“The Last selection on this CD is Frank Milne’s 2 roll arrangement of An American in Paris, Cut in 1933, it is one of the most impressive and powerful roll performances of the era.  After the crash of the piano roll industry, the severely curtailed Aeolian Company kept Milne on as its lone roll editor and ceased using performing artists. 

According to Milne’s children, by that time and probably much earlier he was so skilled at arranging that he did not need a recording apparatus to generate the performance.  Much as a composer notates a score, he prepared roll masters by drawing lines on a roll of special graph paper which served as a template for perforating the holes. The roll of An American in Paris is identified, however, as being played by Milne and “Leith”.  We now know that “Leith” was one of Milne’s pseudonyms; to put an arrangement of this complexity forward to the public, it had to be represented as a 4-hand performance.

We have no evidence that Gershwin supervised Milne’s arrangement of An American in Paris but the arranger had previously worked with Gershwin on his late Duo-Art song rolls.  Milne’s version of An American in Paris ingeniously evokes not only the full sonority of an orchestra but also the vitality of a live performance.”

Finding Treasure

A couple of weeks ago while doing some yard work I was scattering grass seed around the base of a large tree. While in the process of scooping handfuls of seed and dropping it on the bare spots I caught a glint, a reflection from something in the dirt.

It was a tea spoon from our silverware service that apparently one of my grandchildren had been digging with. My first inclination was to take a deep breath and remember that little children don’t see a piece of silverware as being valuable; only that it can be used to dig in the dirt. No telling how long this tea spoon had been lying there and, it’s something of a miracle that it hadn’t been destroyed by my mowing.

It pricked a memory from when I was a young boy digging in the dirt behind my friend’s house. At the time we lived on Long Island, New York where they were blessed with rich dark soil that was used for truck farms. As the area grew more populated, many of these old farms became what we now call Suburbia.

My folks bought a nice three bedroom house after my father returned from serving in the Navy during WWII. I think he paid $12,000 for that house under the G.I. Bill. That house was valued at $450,00.00 when my wife and I visited back in 2005.

As I mentioned, they had beautiful dark top soil and most of my neighbors had planted shrubs, trees and flowers along the back fences; a perfect place for kids to dig. We could hide in the shadows and day dream about most anything; hiding from Indians, the Red Coats or looking for hidden pirate’s treasure.

I found a piece of pirate’s treasure; at least that’s what my mind decided it must be. It was a knife, more precisely, a dinner knife that had been buried there for a hundred years. That it matched the same silverware service belonging to my friend’s mother was something of a coincidence. That didn’t discourage us from looking for more pirate treasure.

My mother understood the importance of little boys digging in the dirt and how imagination opens the door to a much larger world. She suggested we continue digging for more pirate treasure in our backyard while letting my friend’s mother keep the booty we’d stumbled upon. She was careful to hand us stainless steel spoons rather than her good silverware. Interesting how spreading grass seed sparked a simple memory.

Spinning the years forward to last October’s General Conference and a talk given by President Russell M. Nelson, Spiritual Treasures, he pointed out some important items relating to our search for spiritual treasures, those associated with the power of the priesthood.

“Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God. Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord receive a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power.” (emphasis added)

That priesthood power isn’t reserved only for the Brethren; but extends to our Sisters when they are doing the Lord’s work.

“Now, you might be saying to yourself, “This sounds wonderful, but how do I do it? How do I draw the Savior’s power into my life?”

President Nelson was quick to point out, “You won’t find this process spelled out in any manual.”

In case you’re wondering about this glorious priesthood power, President M. Russell Ballard, in the April 2013 General Conference taught:

“Not only is the priesthood the power by which the heavens and the earth were created, but it is also the power the Savior used in His mortal ministry to perform miracles, to bless and heal the sick, to bring the dead to life, and, as our Father’s Only Begotten Son, to endure the unbearable pain of Gethsemane and Calvary—thus fulfilling the laws of justice with mercy and providing an infinite Atonement and overcoming physical death through the Resurrection”.

President Ballard further explained:

“In our Heavenly Father’s great priesthood-endowed plan, men have the unique responsibility to administer the priesthood, but they are not the priesthood. Men and women have different but equally valued roles. Just as a woman cannot conceive a child without a man, so a man cannot fully exercise the power of the priesthood to establish an eternal family without a woman. In other words, in the eternal perspective, both the procreative power and the priesthood power are shared by husband and wife”. (emphasis added)

Returning to President Nelson’s invitation for Sisters to tap into the priesthood powers available to both men and women he added,

“Part of this endeavor will require you to put aside many things of this world. Sometimes we speak almost casually about walking away from the world with its contention, pervasive temptations, and false philosophies. But truly doing so requires you to examine your life meticulously and regularly. As you do so, the Holy Ghost will prompt you about what is no longer needful, what is no longer worthy of your time and energy.”

While it wasn’t specifically mentioned, how many times have we been taught to do the simplest tasks in order to have the Spirit in our lives? Daily habits that when followed, invite the Holy Ghost to participate in our lives like; daily scripture study, individual and family prayer, Family Home Evening, making use of the Come Follow Me home study manual, family history and genealogy work to find our kindred dead, temple attendance and ministering to those around us. Are we doing what is required to invite the Spirit?

When we are doing things the way the Lord would have us do them we are inviting the Spirit to guide our thoughts and actions. And, while in this attitude of following the admonitions of the Spirit is when we’ll find the Spiritual Treasures that have been set aside for us, tender mercies and blessings that enrich our eternal bank accounts if you will.

“As you shift your focus away from worldly distractions, some things that seem important to you now will recede in priority. You will need to say no to some things, even though they may seem harmless. As you embark upon and continue this lifelong process of consecrating your life to the Lord, the changes in your perspective, feelings, and spiritual strength will amaze you!”

President Nelson added some words of caution.

“Most certainly, the adversary does not want you to understand the covenant you made at baptism or the profound endowment of knowledge and power you have received or will receive in the temple—the house of the Lord. And Satan certainly does not want you to understand that every time you worthily serve and worship in the temple, you leave armed with God’s power and with His angels having “charge over” you.” (emphasis added)

Later in President Nelson’s talk he spent considerable time talking about the blessings found by attending the temple. Sisters working as Ordinance Workers perform these ordinances by using priesthood power, the same priesthood power that created this earth, the same priesthood power the Brethren use. Each time you present yourself as a patron or worker at the temple you become “armed with God’s power and His angels having “charge over” you.” These are the Spiritual Treasures we should be seeking as we find the joy in becoming more like the Savior.

Isn’t that always going to be the case? Satan wants you to be miserable like unto himself. The more you seek to follow the Lord, the more tricks and ploys Satan will use to act as stumbling blocks, hedging up the way before you.

“Satan and his minions will constantly contrive roadblocks to prevent you from understanding the spiritual gifts with which you have been and can be blessed. Unfortunately, some roadblocks may be the result of another’s misbehavior. It grieves me to think that any of you have felt marginalized or have not been believed by a priesthood leader or have been abused or betrayed by a husband, father, or a supposed friend. I feel deep sorrow that any of you have felt sidelined, disrespected, or misjudged. Such offenses have no place in the kingdom of God.”

President Nelson expects us to do our part while seeking these Spiritual Treasures as found while exercising the power of the priesthood.

“I entreat you to study prayerfully all the truths you can find about priesthood power. You might begin with Doctrine and Covenants sections 84 and 107. Those sections will lead you to other passages. The scriptures and teachings by modern prophets, seers, and revelators are filled with these truths. As your understanding increases and as you exercise faith in the Lord and His priesthood power, your ability to draw upon this spiritual treasure that the Lord has made available will increase. As you do so, you will find yourselves better able to help create eternal families that are united, sealed in the temple of the Lord, and full of love for our Heavenly Father and for Jesus Christ.”

While President Nelson’s remarks were mostly directed to the Sisters, he was quick to include:

“I hasten to add that I do not absolve men in any way from God’s requirement for them also to distinguish between right and wrong. But my dear sisters, your ability to discern truth from error, to be society’s guardians of morality, is crucial in these latter days. And we depend upon you to teach others to do likewise. Let me be very clear about this: if the world loses the moral rectitude of its women, the world will never recover.” (emphasis added)

It would seem our work is cut out for us. Satan and his minions will always be trying to ensnare us as we strive, diligently at times or barely striving when feeling lazy. The fact remains that Spiritual Treasures have been prepared for each of us as we follow the promptings of the Spirit during our probation here in mortality.

The gems you find, while they may not be as tangible as the silver knife found when I was just a boy, will be recognized as priceless gifts from the Lord. It is my prayer that we take President Nelson’s words into our hearts as we labor in His vineyard.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

This article has been cross posted to The Self Educated American, a publication whose banner reads, “Standing Fast By the Judeo-Christian Heritage, Limited Government and the U.S. Constitution”.

Springtime is here March 7, 2020

One of the joys in life is watching nature, simple and glorious at the same time.  Take for example the promise of springtime that follows winter as trees, bushes and grasses remind us to be grateful for the beauty supplied by our Creator.



We have a tree that just began flowering; becoming more spectacular each passing day.  It last for about a week as the white petals are then replaced with lush green leaves.  This happens before our pecan trees give any sign that winter is over.  Today that tree is nearly covered with white blooms and the evening sun gave it the impression of being on fire.



I thought of the Sermon on the Mount as found in Matthew 6, where the Lord teaches his disciples to seek after the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  More specifically, He’s teaching all of us to appreciate and be grateful for life itself; not worry about things too much since He’s in charge.

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

Addressing Contrary Strangers

We’re supposed to be kind and loving to everyone; but…

There are some folks who enjoy being insulted, going out of their way to extend or prolong a conversation that should have ended before it ever started. These folks are often found on social media forums such as Facebook or Twitter. I’d have included conversations on elevators; but that in and of itself violates a Cardinal Rule of remaining silent while the doors are closed.

The problem, at least as it has presented itself, arises when you read something which runs contrary to your opinion, an opinion based on a lifetime of experiences, feelings, prejudices with an occasional fact thrown in just for fun. These type of contrary comments beg for a snide reply and, (pausing to inhale) they most often are found in comment threads belonging to someone listed as one of your ‘Friends’.

Of course, (I read somewhere that you’re not supposed to start a sentence with Of course; but I like to live dangerously), where was I… there are others who’ve specialized, even made careers out of insulting others. “ Don Rickles earned the nicknames “The Merchant of Venom” and “Mr. Warmth” for his poking fun at people of all ethnicities and all walks of life.”

But what about the common everyday Smart-Alec who doesn’t make a living insulting their friends, strangers or people who didn’t check with their mothers prior to commenting in an open social media forum? What’s the average Joe/Jane supposed to do when he/she enters a conversation only to find the other individual is never going to ‘get it’, what then?

This is a modern day challenge. In the past you’d simply shake your head and leave; but in our day of omnipresent communication abilities, there really isn’t a way to exit without appearing cowardly or uninformed. All those years of schooling, indoctrination and prejudice can’t be ignored or wasted; no, you have to get your Two Cents in.

Of all the folks I know and consider associations, some reaching close enough to be classified as Friend, I try to weed out those who ‘will never get it’. This saves time and energy; but it limits the number of times I’ll have to apologize to the Lord for yet another human frailty, another sinful act on my part…remembering that we’re supposed to be kind and loving to everyone.

I really do try to be open-minded, giving others the opportunity to admit that they are mistaken and could use a healthy dose of my insight. Those who are unable to benefit from my exhaustive library of information; well, it’s their loss and good riddance to bad baggage. Some people have never learned to enjoy sarcasm, considering everything to be on the level.

The Onion and BabalonBee take great pride in killing off these weaklings, often leaving their entrails scattered across the internet as a warning to others. Their message, have fun laughing at the ridiculous because most of the time it can’t compare or compete with what’s really happening.

All of what I’ve written to this point, this nonsense, is a set-up, a way to introduce my latest slam-dunk reply to someone who just won’t let a comment thread die. I have no idea who the individual is; and don’t figure on inviting them over for lunch to find out other areas of life on which we don’t see eye to eye.

After a prolonged exchange, (that’s when you never actually exchange ideas or convince anyone of anything), their final ‘insult’ to my intelligence was, “You watch Fox news too much”. I’m sure that must be important to some folks; but is it really an insult?

I sent the following, “I get my most important information from a Ouija Board; but since most of this data comes from dead people I must assume they are Democrats.”

Do you think this individual will request being my Friend any time soon?

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