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Mother’s Day used to really bug me as a young mother. I remember one particularly poignant Mother’s Day when my first child was 2 or 3. Her epic meltdown was noisy enough to be taken completely out of the church building. So there I stood on the church steps, holding her fast, because seriously - who rewards children with free reign in such moments? - and the irony of the timing struck me SO FUNNY. Happy Mother’s Day to me! Oh yeah, I was really having joy in my posterity at this particular moment. Then there was my season of mocking the picture perfect stories and sentiments that would never-no-never be at my home address. And yes, I know mocking is the lowest - I’d like to think I’ve mostly grown out of it. My favorite memory of this season, though, is of Madeleine Kahn, singing a hysterical version of “M is for the many things she gave me…” on SNL. This was the season where Dale was either the hero for giving me dementor-preventing chocolate for Mother’s Day, or was in the doghouse for giving me fat-laden chocolate for Mother’s Day.  Poor dear. Talk about hitting a moving target… Then there were the years of grieving that adult children lived too far away, and our family didn’t have the kind of structure that allowed a houseful of grandchildren and cousins on Mother’s Day - so can we just maybe go to Market Street Broiler on Saturday night and forget the rest?  And then I’ll symbolically put my fingers in my ears during church, symbolically going, “LA LA LA LA LA” ? And then the war on mothers - and fathers - and the whole fam damily - ramped up in earnest. Then I remembered my horrified, incredulous reaction to reading Brave New World, back before I’d even had children. I couldn’t conceive of such a world - couldn’t conceive that an author could write a cautionary tale of a dystopian world - where sex was completely recreational and untethered from marriage and family responsibilities - and the most vile swear word in the society was mother. Then I began to hear from dear friends who had strapped on the armor of the cultural warrior, and attended UN conferences that disparaged motherhood, fatherhood, and families. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing as they reported the manipulative practices of the UN, designed to bully countries into adopting “outcome documents” - which created a false sense of consensus and peer pressure -  but which held zero sway in individual countries’ policy making. Unless they fell for the trick. It was during this season I became a part of a new group, Gathering Families.  Representing this group, I was honored to write a plea to UN delegates at one of the annual Commission on the Status of Women conferences.  (https://www.laureensimper.com/post/glorious-burden) I was also part of a Gathering Families panel presentation in support of the natural family at the UN conference which was held in Salt Lake City. These experiences and line of study have served to change Mother’s Day for me - forever. Rather than profane the word ‘mother’ - I recognize parenthood - both mother and father - as the most sacred roles we shoulder in this life. And that means we are entitled, by the power of Him who gave us these precious children, to His providential help - the help necessary to bear them, raise them, nurture them, keep them safe, and teach them virtue. Happy Mother’s Day.  This is not a day to sap on about the perfect mother who - let’s face it, doesn’t exist. Rather, this is a day to celebrate that God chose such an intimate way for children to come into the world and claim their most important birthright - the safety of two parents who love them. The safety of a family.

Come Follow Me (Mosiah 4-6) Conversion is a miracle - the biggest, really. I mean, think about it. The Red Sea? It had no choice but to obey its Creator when told to step aside. Leprous cells, sightless eyes, even the demons who hate and defy the God of the universe must do exactly what He says: Heal. See. Depart. Not so much His kids. We children of the God of this universe have been given the rare gift of choice, and He is the ultimate gentleman; He never forces. Ever. He invites, and He waits. OH HOW HE WAITS. So when someone is completely converted to Him - His laws, His plan - and freely chooses to enter a covenant relationship with Him - such a big deal. This is why I love the story of King Benjamin so much. I will never get over the greater miracle still of the entire congregation being converted to Jesus Christ's redeeming message all at the same time. But that's not where the miracle stops. You have an incredible surge of spiritual insight - the idea that, partnered with Jesus Christ you can become more. You desire it so much that the very desire to go against it seems to have left you completely. Resolve is strengthened, commitments are made - covenants. And then what? Because let's face it - staying on the holy mountaintops of these kinds of experiences simply can't last forever. Mortality gets the best of us again, it's time to strive yet again with our fellow man - all of us equally flawed and challenging. How can you know that first spiritual fire really happened? How can you trust the cleansing power of it is still in force? How do you retain it? In the middle of this watershed sermon to the Nephites, King Benjamin explains to his people how they can always feel this way - what it takes to retain a remission of sins. That's what chapter 4 is about: "...if ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness, and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come,..." (Mosiah 4:11) Some of this language triggers those who don't fully understand. Too many believe this language is too strong, unkind, and I've even heard it called spiritually manipulative and abusive to call humans unworthy creatures and emphasize their need to humble themselves in the depths of humility. "Bow your head, don't be bold..." Yeah. We don't teach that, though far too many believe we do. More's the pity. But look what had just happened to this group of people. They had tasted not just the goodness of God; they had experienced something of His glory. So they knew they were nothing - compared to Him. They knew they were nothing - without Him. The Nephites experienced something akin to what Moses experienced - without actually entering into the actual glorified presence of God - an experience which caused Moses to reach the same conclusion: "Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed." (Moses 1:10) King Benjamin urged his people to call on God daily because of their new-found recognition of their complete dependence on this superior Being - who loved them because He is their Father. He further instructed the Nephites to recognize when it was working by giving them a checklist of how they knew they still had those strong desires to follow the Lord - that their cleanliness status was still in force before God. "...if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true." (Mosiah 4:12) Good markers: feelings of joy and love and growth in knowledge - of the nature of God, and of truth. He continues: "And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due." (Mosiah 4:13) Notice how verse 12 focuses on first deepening our ability to keep the first great commandment to love God, and verse 13 moves seamlessly into keeping the second commandment to love our brothers and sisters. This is a natural extension of the first commandment - when we put the first commandment first, and don't confuse the order. From that inner circle which includes just ourselves and our Creator, King Benjamin widens the circle to our families: "And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil... "But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another." (Mosiah 4:14-15) And finally, one more circle out: "And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish." (Mosiah 4:16) These six verses serve as a powerful guide and checklist which we can use to evaluate our conversion. After the miracle - how do you maintain those overwhelming feelings of love, peace, joy, and gratitude? Grow in the knowledge of our Creator, which will lead us to honor the first and second commandments. See to your families - take care of and teach your children. Share your excess with those in need. And parenthetically - verses 17-25 are in fact a parentheses of how to give appropriately with the right heart. What a wise prophet leader! Teach with such power that the entire congregation is converted. Identify what has just happened to them, and the Source of their feelings of humility, gratitude, and joy. Instruct them as to how to never lose this feeling, but only have it grow over the course of their lifetimes. This is a fantastic chapter to liken to ourselves.

Come Follow Me (Mosiah 1-3) Mosiah 2:17 is almost iconic in its universal recognition and application: “And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” Rare is the Latter-Day Saint talk on service which doesn’t include this scripture. It succinctly connects the first and second great commandments and reaffirms Jesus’ statement: “…Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40) But to read verse 17 in context with the preceding six verses, this statement becomes the ideal mission statement for anyone seeking to hold public office. Translation: Serve. The Public. These verses read like a resume of public service from this ancient king. As you read them, ask yourself this question, “Would I vote for this man?” Verse 11: “[I] have been kept and preserved by [God’s] matchless power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me.” This statement underscores public service is different than ruling - and this from a king, mind you. This concept is nearly completely lost when someone seeks office in the modern world. Perhaps we could bring this idea back into popularity by only voting for the incumbent in the rarest of circumstances, forcing those in office to never assume their position once there. Okay, that was quixotic. If not making the idea popular - could we at least with our voting make it a more commonly understood principle of common sense? Short terms imposed at the ballot box where they belong emphasize public service, and help dispel the notion that politics is a career. Verse 12: “…[I] have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you.” The inevitable cause-and-effect truth of public service is that those paying you - those whom you serve - must collectively make more money than you - or they can't sustain your income. So the fact that our public servants come out of public service multi-millionaires is wrong, and frankly, smells like last week's fish. Oh, wait. See verse 11. Don't. Stay. Verse 13: "Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor that ye should make slaves one of another, nor that ye should murder, or plunder, or stead, or commit adultery; nor even have I suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord..." An ideal public servant doesn't attempt to imprison the people unjustly - meaning the rule of law applies equally to all citizens. Laws aren't enacted that violate individual rights of some in favor of others. And here's the real kicker - the best public policy upholds the Ten Commandments. In today's world, we're going to have to work a long time to restore the idea that these ten commandments are for producing the best-ordered societies that experience maximum freedom, prosperity, and peace, regardless of anyone's personal belief in their Source. Verse 14: "And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne..." Wouldn't it be refreshing if we knew our taxes were just - that they didn't go towards anything unnecessary, frivolous, or especially corrupt or immoral? This ancient king didn't live on the backs of his people; wouldn't it be a relief if our public servants didn't either? In verse 15 and 16, King Benjamin reiterates that he doesn't tell the people these things to boast in any way, but rather to witness before them that he's done his best to dispense his duty to God, and to them. Imagine this kind of accountability today - a public servant reporting back to his/her constituents on his record. Which now puts verse 17 in this powerful context: imagine a public servant, after making an accounting of that service, saying: "...I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." Is that why public servants take an oath of office? Will they one day make an accounting before God of how they "served" their fellow man in public office? There could be some interesting interviews forthcoming... So there's a short list of ideal qualifications to best earn the public's votes - a love letter akin to Jane and Michael Banks' letter of advertisement that produced the marvelous Mary Poppins. Perhaps I'll print this, tear it up, and throw it into my fireplace. Oh, that it would work.

In 2008 Stephen Covey began a speech at the University of Cumberlands with this story: “It was a dark and stormy night. Crewmember: “Captain, Captain, wake up.” Captain: “Well?” Crewmember: “Sorry to wake you, sir, but we have a serious problem.” Captain: “Well what is it?” Crewmember: “There’s a ship in our sea lane about twenty miles away, and they refuse to move.” Captain: “What do you mean they refuse to move? Just tell them to move.” Crewmember: “Sir, we have told them; they will not move.” Captain: “I’ll tell them.” The signal goes out: “Move starboard 20 degrees.” The signal returns: “Move starboard yourself 20 degrees.” Captain: “I can’t believe this. Well, I mean I’m a captain. Let them know who I am. I’m important.” Signal goes out: “This is Captain Horatio Hornblower XXVI, commanding you to move starboard 20 degrees at once.” Signal returns: “This is Seaman Carl Jones II, commanding you to move starboard 20 degrees at once.” Captain: “What arrogance? I mean, what presumption? Here is a seaman commanding me, a captain. We could just blow them right out of the water. We could just let them know who we are. Signal: “This is the Mighty Missouri, flag ship of the 7th fleet.” The signal returns: “This is the lighthouse.” I've thought of this story often as I've watched the world break up with reality. I imagine the fruitlessness of barreling towards the immovable rocks that lie ahead, as too many people are convinced that there is no such thing as the absolute... of the rocks. The first time I heard someone talk about "his" truth - taking ownership of it with a pronoun, I cringed, but didn't know why. And then suddenly, I was hearing this ownership pronoun everywhere, and the cringe never abated. It worsened. It was like I was peering at one of those cartoon drawings in the old Highlights magazine for children, which had the caption over it: "What's wrong with this picture?" - and there's a moose head in the cookie jar. The more I thought about it, it finally hit me. The problem with 'owning' truth with a personal pronoun suggests something which is at best frightfully untrue, and is at worst grimly dangerous. Most people, when they speak of their own truth in this way mean nothing pernicious or nefarious - it's simply a way of saying - "This is what I know to be true, based on my personal vantage point and life experiences." But the trend seems to have taken hold and infected collective thinking with the notion that truth is a different set of realities for every person, and isn't absolute. Like the lighthouse. Of course, our ability to recognize and accept truth is vastly different between every single individual human. It's vastly different even inside one person's lifetime. Knowing that fact is important in remaining vulnerable to accepting truth. Life experiences should give us new perspective, and keep our ability to accept truth fluid and flexible. But that doesn't make truth fluid and flexible. It's been important for me to recognize this. My personal life experiences have taught me to be committed to absolute reality, no matter the cost. And sometimes, it costs a lot. Many years ago, while adjusting to motherhood, I read M. Scott Peck's book, The Road Less Traveled. Well. I started it. At least a half dozen times. I couldn't get past the first sentence for months: "Life is hard." It was at this point I would promptly shut the book - I didn't need that kind of negativity in my life. One day when I tried again, and read that same vile sentence, a nearly visceral "AMEN" exploded in my heart and mind. I was finally able to read past that first sentence, and finish a book which was seminal in my personal growth. In the first section of the book, Peck talks about several strategies that are important for continued growth and improvement. One of these is our ability to revise our “map” of reality as we gain new perspective of its landscape: "What happens when one has striven long and hard to develop a working view of the world, a seemingly useful, workable map, and then is confronted with new information suggesting that the view is wrong and the map needs to be largely redrawn? The painful effort required seems frightening, almost overwhelming. What we do more often than not, and usually unconsciously, is to ignore the new information. Often this act of ignoring is much more than passive. We may denounce the new information as false, dangerous, heretical, the work of the devil. We may actually crusade against it, and even attempt to manipulate the world so as to make it conform to our view of reality. Rather than try to change the map, an individual may try to destroy the new reality." ― M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth Reading this book was where this important truth started to take root in me: Real is always real. It's humanity which is in a constant state of fluid and flexible - and let me add here - fickle. Human emotion is more unpredictable than the weather. But real just keeps being... real... whether I like it or not. Like the lighthouse. Or more to the point - like the rocks. Today, truth - or reality - has become inconvenient and troublesome to far too many. It's no longer a hard-and-fast absolute that must be dealt with and accepted, something which causes us to change our point of view by revising that map. Instead of recognizing that the lack of accepting reality must be addressed and corrected, there are now as many versions of reality as there are people. Why is this? The world's ability to accept reality has eroded, and with it, in large part, a foundation of stability beneath society's feet. How stable can life be if reality is up for consensus in the focus group? How certain can anyone be - of anything - if absolutes don't exist anymore. The biggest reality that must be overlooked for everyone to feel safe and comfortable in "their" own truth is that there is a God who created this world. And because He is God, He doesn't change. He doesn't change because He cannot change. It's against His very nature, and if He did, He would cease to be... God (Alma 42:13). The real existence of God and His laws are described in such a way as to underscore the immovable nature of the rocks beneath the lighthouse in this excerpt from a speech by Cecil B. DeMille, director of the film, The Ten Commandments: "Some, who do not know either the Bible or human nature, may see in the orgy of the Golden Calf only a riot of Hollywood's imaginations - but those who have eyes to see will see in it the awful lesson of how quickly a nation or a man can fall, without God's law. " If man will not be ruled by God, he will certainly be ruled by tyrants - and there is no tyranny more imperious or more devastating than man's own selfishness, without the law. "We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against them - or else, by keeping them, rise through them to the fulness of freedom under God. God means us to be free. With divine daring, He gave us the power of choice (Cecil B. DeMille, BYU Commencement Address, 31 May 1957)." There really is no such thing as someone's personal truth - only his or her personal experience with absolute truth. The healthiest people never tire in seeking for it, and are healthy enough to do the mental, emotional, and spiritual work to revise their map, and change their course, steering away from the rocks. With the help of the Lighthouse.

(Originally posted May 16, 2022) I was 16 when the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down in 1973. In my sheltered naivete, I was horrified to learn of it, and the act of abortion itself. Instantly, my nearly completely uninformed mind was taught by my Heavenly Father these facts: Abortion was wrong because it took the life of a human being. Abortion was wrong because it gave the illusion it was possible to escape the consequences of choices already made. I'm not here to discuss the 'buts'. It has never been wise to make policy based on exceptions. I was both moved and sobered to hear Mother Teresa speak at the National Prayer Breakfast in early 1994 on the topic of abortion. Moved, because she pleaded with mothers who didn't want their unborn babies: "Give them to me; I want them." Sobered - chilled, actually - when she presciently warned: "A society that will kill its own children will stop at nothing to get what it wants." Nearly 50 years after trying to federalize legal abortions - wrongly so according to even Ruth Bader Ginsburg - and 30 years after Mother Teresa spoke, her latter statement can be grimly tested and measured. I can't wrap my head around the compartmentalization of thinking that allows a woman to kill her unborn baby - not her body - if she doesn't want the baby, but allows the same woman to celebrate the pregnancy and possibility of a new life if she does. What a disturbing denial of reality. It would seem the spiritual war waging today isn't against God only, but against reality itself. I can't wrap my head around having grown up in a world where it was absolutely understood that an unborn baby was a life, only to now live in a world where this is hotly, and far too often rabidly, debated. It's as if the entire world is a delusional little child, determined to have its cake and eat it too, remonstrating against the hand of God and reality. It's as if there is an actual hand before its collective face. And while the world can writhe back and forth like the screaming child - "NO! NO! NO!" - when exhaustion finally causes the exhausted child to fall still and quiet, the hand of God and reality are still right there, before the face of the child - still being God - still being real. What is real? It is a baby. Killers wouldn't be convicted for double homicide for killing a pregnant mother if it weren't. It is a baby. They wouldn't be harvesting its organs - as close to birth as possible for more perfect, better-priced specimens - if it weren't. It is a baby. The most vociferous voices wouldn't be at this frenzied pitch if it weren't. It is a baby. Sixty million of them have been murdered. There is absolutely nothing safe or rare about that. For today, let's not pettifog out of this problem by talking about the other problems of neglected children, irresponsible parenting, cruelty, abuse, and abandonment. Enlightened societies need to deal with those real problems as well. For today, let's work to move this society to this first step back from the darkest abyss of the loss of law and order, which comes in a society that will stop at nothing to get what it wants. For today, let's work to make this implacable reality - reality again. It is a baby.

In 2006, my book group read a phenomenal book, 5000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen. It lays out 28 liberty principles culled from the writings of the Founders which they felt were indispensable for the new nation. The book is almost a forensic outline of the Founders’ thinking, including excerpts of their own reading: Cicero, John Locke, William Blackstone, and others. It’s woeful to relate, eighteen years later, that even back then, I was appalled at how far from original intent the country had moved. I learned that in 1905, just 116 years after Washington’s inauguration, when the country was more closely living the liberty principles, this was the richest country in the world - not from the exploitation of other nations, but because it was producing more than half of the wealth of the world with a relatively small percentage of the world’s land and population at the time. I learned that just over a century later, we had become a debtor nation, spending at an impossibly unsustainable rate. Now, eighteen years after that first reading, I’m sick to consider that the Federal Reserve - NOT A FEDERAL INSTITUTION - prints ONE. TRILLION. Dollars every ONE. HUNDRED. Days. Hope you weren’t drinking soda when you read that. In 2011, I began to study liberty principles from other sources with a group of women. We generally studied together, but often invited fabulous speakers who became not just teachers but mentors in these principles that if followed, could turn things around in such a short time. In 2013, thanks to a poignant question from one of our teacher-mentors, one of my study friends and I began to pray to ask what the Lord would have us do with this important knowledge we were acquiring. We both felt strongly we should try to teach them to others. That’s how my new hobby was born: trying to save the country, by teaching correct principles. It’s far more stressful than cross stitch, I can tell you that. In May of 2013, Stacie and I sent over 100 emails to friends and neighbors to invite them to a cottage meeting to see a presentation introducing the liberty principles. Stacie had made a beautiful power point, and we anxiously awaited that first audience… Of one. We told our dear friend she didn’t have to stay and watch. But stay she did, and in spite of such a dubious beginning, we’ve been teaching ever since. The next group we taught - we were shocked at 30! - loved the presentation so much, they asked us if we could teach all the principles in an extended class? Excuse me, what? We taught that first group several months later, and too many more groups to count since. We’ve taught in civic groups - most notably the Salt Lake County Republican Central Committee, the United Women’s Forum, and the FIRM Foundations conference. We’ve taught in church groups - stake and ward firesides and Relief Societies. But we’ve mostly taught in homes. And when the world changed with covid, we started teaching on Zoom - people from all over the country. It’s been a most unusual journey for a couple of moms with zero credentials. But the more we’ve taught, the more we realize how dangerous it’s been for this country to be conditioned to only trust ‘experts’ to know anything. We’ve really learned that the biggest qualifier for teaching something is loving it. If a teacher loves her subject matter, she earnestly studies along with her students. We’ve learned that most people, regardless of their education, aren’t as familiar with these saving principles as will be necessary to save the country. We’ve had class members tell us they vote differently since taking this class, because their emotion doesn’t cloud an issue anymore once they understand the principle behind it. It’s particularly gratifying that often people who consider themselves both left and right of center politically can agree on how much better off we’d be if we returned to these important original principles. And by the way - ‘left’ and ‘right’ is an important misunderstood concept which we clear up in the first class. The Rip Van Winkle-like experience of the last two and a half years of my life has put our classes on hiatus. But we’re finally starting another zoom class at the end of the month. There are details on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/libertymoms My favorite thing to talk about ever ever EVER is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. My second favorite thing to talk about ever ever EVER is liberty. Because to fully become what Jesus Christ sent us here to become - you need freedom to choose. Not freedom to choose willy nilly whatever you want. No, no. LIBERTY is the freedom to do what is right, and good. Liberty is essential to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s PART of the gospel of Jesus Christ. “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Corinthians 3:17

Come Follow Me (Jacob 5-7) I first learned the term ‘anti-Christ’ in 9th grade seminary. We studied the Book of Mormon that year, so we studied the lives and teachings of three different men who are referred to as anti-Christs: Sherem (Jacob 7), Nehor (Alma 1), and Korihor (Alma 30). My youth and inexperience only understood that an anti-Christ opposed Jesus Christ. What I didn’t understand until after many more readings of the Book of Mormon was this: anti-Christ teaching doesn’t just oppose the person of Jesus Christ; it opposes everything about Him: His mission, His doctrine, His role in Father’s Plan of Salvation - His very Divinity. This opposition creates a doctrine of its own - a counterfeit doctrine. What is the doctrine of Christ? By reason of the Fall, all men are unclean. All men are subject to death and sin. As no unclean thing can withstand the glory of the presence of God, the Fall created conditions which make it impossible for man to ever come back into the presence of God. Jesus Christ became the Savior and Redeemer of mankind by overcoming death through the Resurrection, and by overcoming sin by performing the atoning sacrifice and suffering for all sin in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. All men will be judged by God after this life - according to their works and desires of their hearts. By exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, being baptized, and following the Holy Ghost to increase in obedience through life, all men may stand clean, justified, and sanctified before God when they are judged - thus, enabling them to be clean to enter the presence of the Father again. Anti-Christ doctrine involves denying, dismissing, or downplaying any or all of this doctrine. In Jacob chapter 7 Sherem teaches these counterfeit doctrines: There is no need for Christ, because There is no final judgment & accountability before God; therefore There is no sin - whatever you want to do is okay; therefore There is no need for repentance Is it possible that someone who has anti-Christ beliefs isn’t simply content to not follow the teachings of Jesus, but is actually more interested in having others validate their choice - or worse - have their own followers? Because wow. If that’s true, that’s priestcraft at its finest. The scriptures describe this teaching as “flattering words” (Jacob 7:2, 4), and “pleasing to the carnal mind” (Alma 30:53). And that is indeed flattering doctrine. It’s the siren song of the path of least resistance. Doctrine which teaches you’re enough the way you are, that you don’t answer to anyone for your behavior, that there is no need to examine yourself or consider change or growth - that’s absolutely going to appeal to the carnal mind. The earthy, earthly, temporal, temporary mind. But not the spiritual mind. And as Paul taught: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6) This is the doctrine of secular humanism, which teaches the highest moral authority in your life is your Self. This is the way to make God in YOUR image. An interesting thought exercise would be to read all three anti-Christ manifestos in the Book of Mormon, and then read the modern-day Humanist Manifesto, written and signed in 1933 (https://huumanists.org/publications/journal/humanist-manifesto). This unhappy little reading assignment powerfully underscores that Satan can create absolutely nothing; he’s only capable of imitating through perversion. And because of this, there is truly nothing new under the sun when it comes to how he deceives humanity. Jacob’s defense against a popular demagogue was his sure knowledge of the doctrine of Christ. This came from the timeless, unassailable sources of scripture, words of prophets, and the direct teaching of God through the gift and power of the Holy Ghost - the testator of the words from scriptures and prophets. That’s our defense, too. Counterfeit experts spend very little time studying counterfeit currency. Their expertise comes from poring over real currency. With real as their chief focus, they can easily spot the counterfeit. The Book of Mormon includes three little pop quizzes - three chapters with the counterfeit doctrines - in a sea of the real doctrine of Jesus Christ. If we’ve been paying attention, the rest of the book is full of the real. If we do our homework, we should be able to spot the counterfeits - whether they were written thousands of years ago, a century ago, or in a social media post from last week. Jacob puts it this way: “…for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.” (Jacob 4:13, emphasis added)

One of the most memorable movies of my childhood is Shenandoah - filmed in 1965 and starring Jimmy Stewart. The thing that made it memorable as a child was the way it made me feel. I remember observing in wonder as both my parents wept at the ending. It blessedly gave me and my younger brothers permission to feel what we were feeling and express it. There the five of us sat, weeping at the restoration of a beloved, given-up-for-lost family member, knowing what it means for a family to be together. As an adult, this film has become a type of what it means to live in this world, hoping to be unaffected by the ugliness and brutality of it, and learning the lengths to which I am trying to be capable of going to fight that ugliness and brutality. In myself. I’m learning I can only fight the ugliness and brutality in myself, as I have zero control over the ugliness and brutality at large. Jimmy Stewart plays the part of Charlie Anderson, patriarch of a Virginia farm family three years into the Civil War. Anderson doesn’t believe in slavery and doesn’t own any, so he has no intention of becoming involved in the war, even though it comes quite close to his land. He, his six boys and one daughter, work the land and try to stay out of the fray. Until his youngest son, known only as Boy because his beloved mother died in childbirth before naming him, makes the momentous mistake of putting on a Confederate cap he finds floating in the stream near his home. Though only 16, he is captured as a Confederate soldier by Union soldiers, and the rest of the film becomes the journey of Charlie Anderson’s family trying to find their son and brother. In a world where so very much goes wrong, the film depicts so very much going wrong. By the time Charlie Anderson comes home, he has lost three more beloved family members in his search for Boy, and still comes home without him. There’s an unapologetic spoiler here to make the point of my post - so reader beware. In all the confusion of the journey and return home, Charlie has lost track of the fact that today is Sunday, and while he was never an enthusiastic church-goer, he went faithfully out of a promise made to his wife that he would take their children to church. Charlie’s not even sure He likes God very much at this point, or even if he believes there is a God, after this devastation has befallen his family. But a promise is a promise, so off to church goes the grief-stricken family. The last scene of the movie, set in the church during the opening hymn of the service, shows Boy staggering into the church with a crutch - dirty, bloody, having been shot in his attempt to escape and get home. Every person in the church recognizes Boy’s return for the miracle it is, and the singing becomes even more true praise, with the help of the invisible orchestra soundtrack joining the organ. So here’s the thing. Boy’s one goal was to get home, because he knew that’s where his family was going to be. And once he got home and realized it was Sunday? He got to church, because he knew that’s where his family was going to be. Besides the main theme of restoration and homecoming, the thing I love about this movie is the powerful message of being where you say you’ll be, and doing what you say you’ll do. Charlie Anderson promised his beloved wife he would take their children to church. Despite the heart-wrenching emotion of grief, loss, and doubting the little faith he had left, Charlie took his children to church. The longer I live, the more profound covenant making becomes to me. The hardest part of keeping covenants for me is - frankly - when I’m tired, or hungry, or overwhelmed, or afraid, or someone’s not been their best self with me. Maybe because they’re tired, or hungry, or overwhelmed, or afraid. I think that's the point of the covenant. It's to strengthen us when our emotions want to take us someplace else. Particularly when the ugliness and brutality threaten to get the best of us. C.S. Lewis wrote this about the promise of a marriage covenant, but he makes my point better than I can: "The promise, made when I am in love and because I am in love, to be true to the beloved as long as I live, commits me to being true, even if I cease to be in love. A promise must be about things that I can do, about actions: no one can promise to go on feeling in a certain way. He might as well promise to never have a headache or always to feel hungry." (Mere Christianity, emphasis added) If my children were to be taken as prisoners of war in all this ugliness and brutality, I need them to know two things: I will spare no effort to find them and bring them home, And if I fail, I need to be where they know they can find me. And because of the ugliness and brutality of mortality, it won’t just be my kids bloody and injured when we’re reunited. It’ll be me too. Then Jesus can fix it all. Clean it all. Wipe all the tears, and restore all that was lost. That’s the place where Jesus WILL fix it all. That’s why I love Shenandoah.

(Originally published in Millennial Instructor, Volume 3, 2018) The Savior gave His disciples the parable of the ten virgins at the end of His mortal ministry. Joseph Smith received valuable added revelation concerning its meaning in the early days of the restored church. Since then, it has been widely – and wildly – interpreted by writers, musicians, and artists alike. But modern prophets help us narrow our focus and not look beyond the mark: To briefly retell the original parable: Ten virgins were invited to a wedding feast by a bridegroom – who symbolizes the Savior. There was a delay, and the women had to wait for the bridegroom longer than was the custom. As the night wore on, the lamps continued to burn, and the oil ran low. Five of the virgins were wise, and came prepared with extra oil; five had not. They asked the five with extra oil if they would share their oil, but the five wise virgins didn’t have enough for themselves and the others. As the five unprepared women left to purchase more oil, the bridegroom came, the five wise virgins joined the wedding procession and went into the feast, and the five foolish virgins missed the feast.  (Matthew 25:1-13) When I was a teenager, I had a difficult time with this parable. Why didn’t those five prepared virgins share with their friends? I’m certain part of that feeling was because I identified more with those who hadn’t planned ahead, because I have felt the sting of being unprepared far too many times in my life. I imagined myself, on this rare occasion, somehow, as one of the five prepared virgins, perhaps because I knew how important it was. I imagined looking into the faces of friends, stricken, because they were unprepared – like I usually was. How could I deny them? How could I tell them no, when I knew exactly how they felt? Many years later, I read something Spencer W. Kimball wrote: “The foolish asked the others to share their oil, but spiritual preparedness cannot be shared in an instant….This was not selfishness or unkindness. The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing; a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge? How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity, or the experience of a mission? How can one share temple privileges? Each must obtain that kind of oil for himself.”  (Faith Precedes the Miracle, pp. 255-256) Suddenly, the parable made better sense. Now, in my mind, I could imagine traveling in a time machine, away from that young version of myself, to a much older version of myself – no doubt younger than I am today! I imagined who I would have become over a lifetime of obedience to the commandments: tithing, sacrament meeting attendance, daily scripture reading, and serving others daily. The Young Me had become a different person, over time, by each of these seemingly small acts. Then, I could picture Heavenly Father – the perfect mathematician – knowing the trajectory that such a life creates. A trajectory is the path an object travels when it’s thrown or launched. Mathematicians can predict precisely where something will land if they understand the principles behind the trajectory. Listen to what the scriptures teach us about the trajectory God can predict precisely if we obey - precisely: “Yea, we see that whosever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a straight and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked – “And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.” (Helaman 3:29-30, emphasis added) “And land their souls…” – that’s a trajectory! Heavenly Father knows where exact obedience will land us, where casual obedience will land us, and where disobedience will land us. That’s why he pleads with us to obey! In my mind, I have come to picture another version of myself in another time machine, and meeting a different Future Me – one who didn’t spend a lifetime paying tithing, attending sacrament meeting regularly, reading scriptures daily, or serving others. That version of me is a completely different person than the Future Me who obeyed. Seeing those two versions of myself side by side, in my imagination, has fueled greater, higher, consecrated obedience as I’ve tried to become the obedient Future Me. Now, back to the ten virgins. Imagine the five wise virgins got in the time machine of obedience. Every act of obedience put a drop of oil into their lamps. And imagine the five foolish virgins got in the time machine of casual obedience. Hence, there was no extra oil at the darkest time of the night, when the bridegroom finally arrived. President Kimball made this important point: “I believe that the Ten Virgins represent the people of the Church of Jesus Christ and not the rank and file of the world. All of the virgins, wise and foolish, had accepted the invitation to the wedding supper; they had knowledge of the program and had been warned of the important day to come. They were not the gentiles or the heathens or the pagans, nor were they necessarily corrupt and reprobate, but they were knowing people who were foolishly unprepared for the vital happenings that were to affect their eternal lives.” (Faith Precedes the Miracle, pp. 253-254) It’s important to know the five foolish virgins were not wicked. Foolishness is not wickedness. The wise virgins had learned the eternal principle that preparation is a deliberate lifestyle, and had invested wisely in building such a lifestyle. The foolish virgins, while possibly occasionally obedient, had not done so, consistently, over time. And when it mattered most, that lack of preparation was a sobering lack. Joseph Smith’s added revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants can help us intentionally build a lifestyle of preparation and daily adding oil of exact obedience to our lamps: “And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins. “For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived – verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.” (D&C 45:56-57, emphasis added) Note the four qualities of the wise virgins mentioned in D&C 45: 1.   They were wise 2.   They had received the truth 3.   They had taken the Holy Spirit for their guide 4.   They had not been deceived These are important additional insights. The true wisdom of being obedient is the added power it gives us to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost gives us added power to not be deceived by the philosophies of men – no matter how pleasing or reasonable they may sound, or how prevalent or popular they may be. The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is the true prize of all that stored oil - when the darkness surrounds us as we wait for the return of the Bridegroom. If there’s anyone reading this like Past Me - and all too often, Present Me, who doesn’t plan ahead as I should - I’ve got good news for you. There’s another parable about laborers who came late in the day to work in a vineyard, and were paid the same wages as those who came early in the day. (Matthew 20:1-16) This is a story that teaches repentance. Our generous Heavenly Father has a beautiful catch-up plan for those who truly want to make up for lost time. Repentance puts oil into an empty lamp; it puts you back in the right time machine, no matter when you climb in, and corrects your trajectory, so you still land in the right place – back home in Heavenly Father’s presence. Our covenants mean we’ve been invited to the wedding feast. The Bridegroom will return. He has promised; and He always keeps His promises. “Wherefore, be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom - “ “For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that I come quickly….” (D&C 33:17-18) How soon will it be time to go in?

(Originally posted January 24, 2018) Our book group read an incredible book called Witness written by Whittaker Chambers. Chambers defected from the Communist underground in the U.S. in the 1930's - which had already heavily infiltrated the U.S. government. In 1948 and 1949, he testified in a grand jury and two lawsuits against Algier Hiss, one of the underground Communists who had a high position in the U.S. State Department. I can't recommend this book highly enough, though it is a project and a half, and there is much of the machinations of the Communist "apparatus," as Chambers calls it, that are very difficult to wade through. It's like thinking you need to memorize an organizational flow chart of a secret combination for some quiz, so remember - there's no quiz! Chambers is unapologetic and bold in his condemnation of communism, and its opposition to the free will granted to men by God. His writing is unbelievably articulate and poignant. Here is a short excerpt about his legal team, the "Davids" set up to go against the "Goliath" of the Communist Party, which, at that time, absolutely included huge sectors of the U.S. government. Speaking of those who were on his side, believed him, and defended him, he writes: "The inclusive fact about them is that, in contrast to the pro-Hiss rally, most of them, regardless of what they had made of themselves, came from the wrong side of the railroad tracks. I use the expression as the highest measure of praise, as Lincoln noted that God must love the common people; he made so many of them. For in America, most of us begin on the wrong side of the railroad tracks. The meaning of America, what made it the wonder of history and the hope of mankind, was that we were free not to stay on the wrong side of the railroad tracks. If within us there was something that empowered us to grow, we were free to grow and go where we could. Only, we were not free ever to forget, ever to despise our origins. They were our roots. They made us a nation." I'm profoundly grateful I took the time to read this one. It joins the ranks of 4 other important biographies/autobiographies that have been watershed, defining books in my education on liberty. [Added March 21, 2024] I often speak and write about the handful of autobiographies/biographies which have been seminal in my understanding of the world and human nature. When I say that, I mean primarily that they have been seminal in my understanding of humans' struggle for freedom versus dominion. This memoir was important because it clearly showed how public figures are packaged for popularity or notoriety. Algier Hiss reeked of success, style, and respectability, and the press lauded him and bleated his innocence because of it. On the other hand, Chambers was an unfashionable, almost dumpy, frumpy-looking character. Again, the press capitalized on his appearance to help them paint him as an unsavory, untrustworthy character. This book was one of the first places I saw clearly the tactics of those who subvert freedom by turning themselves into victims, and then their victims into bullies. Because portions of the actual grand jury transcripts are included in this book, this was the first place I was able to analyze the non-answer stonewalling and obfuscating we routinely see in public hearings today. To see the exact same patterns in hearing after hearing have led me to the inescapable conclusion that these patterns and tactics are taught, coached, and rehearsed. But the most beautiful takeaway from this book which is so full of what could feel like hopelessness - some, actually expressed by Chambers himself - is his bold, brilliant, and beautiful witness of what he did, why he did it, and for whom he did it. Chambers wanted to leave his personal witness of the existence of God, and the help and support he received from his God when he made the seemingly impossible decision to stand up, against all odds, and do what was right.

(Original post April 30, 2022) I was the burnt waffle. Erma Bombeck wrote that it’s too bad we can’t do children the way we do a batch of waffles - throw out the first burnt or doughy ones, until we get the hang of the thing. My parents were marvelous parents. But growing up the eldest and only girl in a coach’s home had its challenges. The overriding message that burnt my waffle was I was never going to be good enough. Because let’s face it - even if I had been the all-star forward, there’s always room for improvement, right? Little did I know I was writing a narrative from that angle, and pretty much ignoring every other angle. Like the angle where these people were delighted with the human being they were raising, that they were grateful she was so instinctively obedient, setting an example for younger brothers that we just do what we’re told, because we’re supposed to. Or the angle where they were relieved I included my brothers in neighborhood groups, and was the catalyst for all things interesting and wholesome going on in the neighborhood on long summer days. Or the angle where they could mostly laugh because of my oblivion to cause and effect, which got me into scrapes that could rival Wally and the Beav. So - ignoring all these lovely angles where there was so much humor and affection and grace, somehow, burnt waffle that I was, I only focused on the angle where there was always room for improvement, and thought my parents would never find me - enough. Being so narrow and tight, this drove my relationship with my parents into very narrow and tight places as I became an adult. I worked - and continue to - work on rewriting that early narrative - based as much on the narrow angle I had chosen as it was based on imperfect parenting and burnt waffles. Then I nearly died. A few days before Christmas, my younger brother brought me a gift - a book, a la Shutterfly - which he had made for me. It was filled with pictures of our childhood, accompanying a tender, inspired poem he had written about the good example I had always been to him. I lay there in my hospital bed, barely able to move, and watched my brother fight back tears as he read what it had meant to grow up with me in this idyllic, privileged childhood.  He finished, and as we both wiped tears away, he commented that when he read it to our nearly blind mother, as she dimly viewed the book, she could tell him the circumstances behind each photo in stunning detail. My mother could remember each photo because she’d been compiling her own private photo album of our entire childhood in her heart and mind. She treasured being our mother, as our father treasured being our father. In all our messiness as a family, we had loved each other, and been happy together. As the days stretched into weeks of recovery, I read that book and looked at those memories over and over again. One day, it hit me quite forcibly: what the woke world was calling my ‘white privilege’ was an intentional lie to destroy the biggest privilege I had grown up with - the privilege of having parents who loved me. There are families of all colors, all over the world, with far less than even a modest school teacher in Murray, Utah in the 1960’s. Families who are happy because there is a mother and father who made the children there. While society continues to try to engineer a better system of raising humans, no better system exists than to have two committed humans - one with an X chromosome, and one with a Y chromosome -  making their own humans and choosing to make sacrifices to keep them alive, safe, happy, and teach them to be virtuous. Not everyone has this greatest of all human privileges, and there’s the rub for the woke crowd. How do you redistribute such a thing?  Well, you can’t. So, like petty little crabs in a shallow bucket, preventing each other’s easy escape, society wants to make sure that if everyone can’t have the privilege of a natural family, no one can. As I read my brother’s tender words about the childhood I had largely overlooked in all my burnt wafflehood, I realized all I had missed, writing that narrow narrative from the limited lens of my childhood. It was the greatest privilege to be raised by a mother and father who loved not just me and my brothers, but each other. It was a privilege to have a mother and father who went about trying again every single day, even after the messiest days. Like lab experiments that went bad and where things blew up, there were horrific days of bad practice. But the next day, there they still were, devotedly saying something very important in simply being there: “I’m not going anywhere.” I’m fully aware that there are far too many humans who didn’t get this privilege. But the family is vital to society’s survival and its ability to thrive.  It is no reason to throw this crucial baby out with the bath water of the failed attempts. God doesn’t send any perfect humans except the One He sent to clean up all the messes, fix all the broken things, heal all the sickened hearts and minds. So it would seem that maybe we’re all burnt waffles, and that’s kind of the point. Whoever seeks a Physician when there’s no need to be healed? One greater privilege still: my parents taught me “to what source [I] may look for a remission of [my] sins.” (2 Nephi 25:26). They had enough faith that when I noticed my burnt nature, I would know where to look for relief and healing. I praise God that thanks to their example, I did. Because if your story needs editing from the right angles, you can’t do better than coaching from the Author and Finisher of your faith.

It’s great to get a day off work for any reason, so hey, I’ll take it. But I’m not a huge fan of calling today President’s Day because it seems like one of the first steps towards participation trophy mentality that is damning the popular culture. It’s never been officially established as President’s Day, it just morphed into being called that because someone must have decided it was gauche to celebrate two great presidents’ birthdays 10 days apart. To me, this will always be the celebration of George Washington’s birthday - actually February 22. It became a holiday in 1869, and he so truly deserves a day to be remembered and honored. The reason there is such a thing as American exceptionalism is because of the exceptionalism of this man. I’ve visited Washington’s home at Mount Vernon on three different occasions. Each time I’ve been there, I’ve felt such gratitude for such a man as George Washington. There is peace there in a perfect marriage of form and function. The last time I was there, I went through the tour of the home, sat on the rocking chair lined porch which overlooks the Potomac, and wandered the grounds. As I walked, I found myself thinking, “No wonder Washington didn’t want to be the king - he was already a king right here!” As we come to this earth to practice dominion over ourselves, I’ve learned to appreciate those who take that stewardship seriously, watching the stewardship expand with good use, as the parable of the talents teaches (see Matthew 25). There’s something exceptional about those extraordinary humans who, talent, intellect and leadership notwithstanding, prefer their empires small. It was exceptional that Washington refused to become king at the end of the Revolutionary War. Upon learning of his resignation as commander of the Continental Army and refusing a kingship, King George III remarked he was “the greatest man in the world.” At the time? Absolutely. And today? Which of our power-hungry politicians would do such a thing? It was exceptional that Washington refused to become king after the Constitutional Convention, and that after being resoundingly nominated and elected the first president, shocked the world by stepping away after two terms of office - subtly suggesting that that was enough time for ANY federal office holder to serve. Now, when I hear today referred to as a day to honor all the presidents who have served, I feel sad. Of course it’s appropriate to be glad for their service, but it’s done our country a great disservice to pretend that all served equally well by clumping that honor into one day, and completely diluting the original meaning of the holiday in the process - that of honoring one of the greatest men who has ever lived, and one who set a precedence worth following, not abandoning. Excellence in character and leadership shouldn’t be diminished because we’ll make any who served in a lesser way feel bad. Thomas Jefferson used to call good men rising in society a “natural aristocracy” - it was a man’s talent, intelligence, and integrity which caused him to rise to natural leadership. Why? Because excellence has always been, and always should be something to emulate. I think I’ll enjoy the day off today, but celebrate and honor one of my true heroes on February 22. It’s my own private little effort to not give each and every president a participation trophy today. I want to celebrate the one that started the whole thing with his singular approach to public service, and I pray more honorable men step up to do the same kind of work that still needs to be done.