Mormon Musings

“The Savior’s use of moral agency during His lifetime is an instructive example for us. At one point in His teaching He revealed the principle that guided His choices: ‘He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.’ (John 8:29) I believe that much of the Lord’s power is attributable to the fact that He never wavered in that determination. He had a clear, consistent direction. Whatever the Father desired, Jesus chose to do…So, being Jesus’ obedient disciple—just as He is the Father’s obedient disciple—leads to truth and freedom… … Some think that they should be spared from any adversity if they keep God’s commandments, but it is ‘in the furnace of affliction’ (Isaiah 48:10) that we are chosen. This is the battle we expected when we ‘shouted for joy’ (Job 38:7) at the prospect of this time on earth. I believe the challenge of learning to make and hold onto correct choices in the face of opposition appealed to us when God

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/continue-to-patience/

"My faith is, when we have done all we can, then the Lord is under obligation, and will not disappoint the faithful; he will perform the rest." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young , p. 155 "If I ask Him to give me wisdom concerning any requirements in life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from Him, and then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, He is bound to own and honor that transaction, and He will do so to all intents and purposes." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young , p. 43

The veil of mortality (from Mormon Stuff)

There is not a single condition of life...and not one hour’s experience, but what is beneficial to all those who make it their study and aim to improve upon the experience they gain. Brigham Young I hope we realize, brothers and sisters, that we may fritter away the time, but it is always drenched with more opportunities for service and learning than we use. Elder Maxwell

"Every man is a missionary now and forever, for good or for evil--whether he intends or designs it or not. He may be a blot, radiating a dark influence outward to the very circumference of society, or he may be a blessing, spreading benediction over the length and breadth of the world; but a blank he cannot be. There are no moral blanks, there are no neutral persons. We are either the darkness that sows and corrupts, or the light that splendidly illuminates, and the salt that silently operates, but being dead or alive, every man speaks." Steven L. Richards

Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the full clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud, Under the bludgeoning of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. William Ernest Henely

The man who so walks in the light and wisdom and power of God, will at the last, by the very force of association, make the light and wisdom and power of God his own—weaving those bright rays into a chain divine, linking himself forever to God and God to him. This [is] the sum of Messiah’s mystic words, “Thou, Father, in me, and I in thee”—beyond this human greatness cannot achieve. B. H. Roberts, “Brigham Young: A Character Sketch,”  Improvement Era,  June 1903, 574.

Life offers you two precious gifts—one is time, the other freedom of choice, the freedom to buy with your time what you will. You are free to exchange your allotment of time for thrills. You may trade it for base desires. You may invest it in greed…Yours is the freedom to choose. But these are no bargains, for in them you find no lasting satisfaction. Every day, every hour, every minute of your span of mortal years must sometime be accounted for. And it is in  this  life that you walk by faith and prove yourself able to choose good over evil, right over wrong, enduring happiness over mere amusement. And your eternal reward will be according to your choosing. A prophet of God has said: "Men are that they might have joy"—a joy that includes a fullness of life, a life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, and the fruits of honest toil—an acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—of its requirements and commandments. Only in these will you find true happines

I counsel you to stop and think what you are doing, before you commit any more sins, before you give way to your temper. The temper, or the evil propensities of men, when given way to, are the cause of their sinning so much. The Lord is suffering the devil to work upon and try His people. The selfish will, operated upon by the power of Satan, is the strongest cord that vibrates through the human system. This has been verified a thousand times. Men have sacrificed their money, their health, their good names, their friends, and have broken through every tender tie to gratify their wills. Curb that, bridle the tongue, and then hold the mastery over your feelings, that they submit not to the will of the flesh, but to the will of the Holy Ghost; and decide in your own minds that your will and judgment shall be none other than the will and judgment of the Spirit of God, and you will then go and sin no more. Brigham Young, October 23, 1853, Journal of Discourses 2:9

In the next world, we will finally receive what we have persistently desired and chosen during mortality (Alma 29:4).   Individually, we will have made so many incontestable, on-the-record choices.   The final outcome, therefore, will be perfectly just, and all mortals will so acknowledge (Alma 29:4; Mosiah 27:31).   In effect, we will receive the degree of joy we have demonstrably chosen and which we have developed the capacity to receive… Only in the framework of faith in God’s mercy and justice can we ponder the interplay of agency and joy so central to God’s plan.   Of necessity, God’s gift of agency operates in the context of genuine alternatives among which we choose.   This is a condition fully consistent with God’s plan of happiness.   Without the very important condition of agency amid alternatives, life would be an undifferentiated “compound in one” (2 Nephi 2:11).   God’s creations would then be without real purpose, and His plan would certainly not be worthy of being cal

To do right, can be reduced to perfect simplicity in a few words, viz., from this time henceforth, let no person work or transact any kind of business whatever, that he cannot do in the name of the Lord, and let him sink wholly into His will, whether it oppose his prejudices, or not, or is decidedly objectionable to his feelings. The Lord will ultimately lead such persons into the fullness of His joy by a way that may sometimes appear dark to them… … Will all the people be damned who are not Latter-day Saints?   Yes, a great many of them, except they repent speedily.   I will say further, that many of the Latter-day Saints, except they learn their lessons better, will likewise be judged in the same way.   That is my candid opinion.” Brigham Young, “ Comprehensiveness of True Religion ”, December 5, 1853 ( Journal of Discourses , Volume 1)

"There are two influences ever present in the world. One is constructive and elevating and comes from our Heavenly Father; the other is destructive and debasing and comes from Lucifer. We have our agency and make our own choice in life subject to these unseen powers. There is a division line well defined that separates the Lord's territory from Lucifer's. If we live on the Lord's side of the line Lucifer cannot come there to influence us, but if we cross the line into his territory we are in his power. By keeping the commandments of the Lord we are safe on His side of the line, but if we disobey His teachings we voluntarily cross into the zone of temptation and invite the destruction that is ever present there. Knowing this, how anxious we should always be to live on the Lord's side of the line ." (emphasis added) George Albert Smith,  Improvement Era,  May 1935, p. 278 "For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know goo

"And now, my son, remember the words which I have spoken unto you; trust not those secret plans unto this people, but teach them an everlasting hatred against sin and iniquity.  Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.    O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God. Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doing be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.  Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou lies

" The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.  The Lord is good to all : and His tender mercies are over all of his works ."   Psalms 145: 8-9 (emphasis added) " ...the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom He hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."  1 Nephi 1:20 "We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, a