Mormon Musings

We can follow the timeless advice that Susanna Wesley gave in 1725 to her son John, a founder of Methodism: “Would you judge the lawfulness or unlawfulness of pleasure, [of the innocence of malignity of actions? Take this rule.] Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind; that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.” Susanna Wesley: The Complete Writings  (1997), 109.

“Our leisure, even our play, is a matter of serious concern. There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” C.S. Lewis

Surely it should give us more pause than  it does to think of how casually we sometimes give  to [Satan] who could not control his own ego in the  pre-mortal world such awful control over our egos here.  We often let the adversary do indirectly now what  we refused to let him do directly then” Elder Neal A. Maxwell - We Will Prove Them Herewith

"Though of themselves life's defining moments may seem minor, our wise responses gradually increase our traction on the demanding path of discipleship. For instance, we can decide daily, or in an instant, in seemingly little things, whether we respond with a smile instead of a scowl, or whether we give warm praise instead of exhibiting icy indifference. Each response matters in its small moment. After all, moments are the molecules that make up eternity, affecting not only ourselves but others, because our conduct even in seemingly small things, can be contagious." --Elder Neal A. Maxwell

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/substance-of-faith?lang=eng

I love this quote from C.S. Lewis in  Mere Christianity  about the process of becoming true Christians: “We begin to notice, besides our particular sinful acts, our sinfulness; begin to be alarmed not only about what we do, but about what we are. This may sound rather difficult, so I will try to make it clear from my own case. When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected: I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself.  Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated.  On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pop

"God, who has seen billions of spirits pass through His plan of salvation, has told us to be meek in order to enhance our enjoyment of life and our mortal educa tion. Will we be meek and listen to Him and learn from Him? ...Perhaps, brothers and sisters, what we brought with us as intelligences into our creation as spirit children constitutes a 'given' within which even God must work. Add to that possibility the clear reality of God’s deep commitment to our free agency—and we begin to see how essential meekness is! We need to learn so much, and yet we are free to choose! How crucial it is to be teachable! There 'is no other way' in which God could do what He has declared it is His intent to do. No wonder He and His prophets emphasize meekness time and time again!... Like Himself, He first had to make us free, to learn, to choose, and to experience; hence our humility and teachability are premiere determinants of our progress and our happiness. Agency is essen