Mormon Musings

  “The Lord can't reveal to you and I [what] we can't understand;…for instance when Joseph first received revelation, The Lord could not tell him what he was going to do. He didn't tell him he was going to call him to be a prophet, seer, revelator, high priest and founder of [the] Kingdom of God on the earth. Joseph would have said… ‘just what does that mean? You are talking that I can't understand.’ He could merely revealed to him that the Lord is pleased to bless him and forgive his sins and there was a work for him to do on the earth… The first time He sent [an] angel to visit him, he could lead his mind a little further. He could reveal to him that there were certain records deposited on in the earth to be brought forth for the benefit of [the] inhabitants of the earth. He could reveal after this that Joseph could get them; then he could reveal that he should have power to translate the records from the language and characters in which it was written and give it t

No revelation can be other than partial. If for true revelation a man must be told all the truth then farewell to revelation… Relatively to a lower condition of the receiver, a more partial revelation might be truer than that which would be constituted a fuller revelation to one in a higher condition; for the former might reveal much to him the latter might reveal nothing… I believe God is ever destroying concealment ever giving all that he can all that men can receive at his hands .   George McDonald, “The Consuming Fire,” Unspoken Sermons: Series 1, II and III, 2016, 19-21)

Maxwell Anderson, who wrote a moving drama about this young woman, has her say in his play as the flames begin to consume her: “One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it, and then it’s gone. But to surrender what you are, and live without belief—that’s more terrible than dying—more terrible than dying young” (“Joan of Lorraine” [1974], 80).

“I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."  ~ Gandalf (J. R. R. Tolkein ~ The Hobbit)

  If you have problems in your life, don’t assume there is something wrong with you. Struggling with those problems is at the very core of life’s purpose. As we draw close to God, He will show us our weaknesses and through them make us wiser, stronger. If you’re seeing more of your weaknesses, that just might mean you’re moving nearer to God, not farther away.   Bruce C. Hafen 

Remember: the heavens will not be filled with those who never made mistakes but with those who recognized that they were off course and who corrected their ways to get back in the light of gospel truth.  Dieter F. Uchtdorf

It has always been a wonderful testimony to me of the Prophet Joseph’s greatness and the greatness of all of our prophets, including and especially the Savior of the world in His magnificence, that in the midst of such distress and difficulty they could remain calm and patient, charitable, and forgiving—that they could even talk that way, let alone live that way. But they could, and they did. They remembered their covenants, they disciplined themselves, and they knew that we must live the gospel at all times, not just when it is convenient and not just when things are going well. Indeed, they knew that the real test of our faith and our Christian discipleship is when things are not going smoothly. That is when we get to see what we’re made of and how strong our commitment to the gospel really is... Remaining true to our Christian principles is the only way divine influence can help us. The Spirit has a near-impossible task to get through to a heart that is filled with hate or anger or