My good friend implored me to read "Everybody, Always" by Bob Goff. Bob Goff is a New York Times bestselling author and known for his unique perspective on life and faith. In this book Goff challenges readers to love everybody, always, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Through his own personal stories and experiences, Goff shows how loving others can change both their lives and our own.

A new feature I’m trying out - What I learned (or relearned) on the Sabbath. July 23, 2023 Edition

Mary’s example in Luke 2 is something we should ponder, just as she did at the time "in her heart". I could do more to keep things in my heart longer, and let thoughts and experiences affect me at a deeper level.

A few years ago, my wife gave me some coaching and told me all she wanted to hear from me (or sometimes from her friends) when things are not going well is the words, "that sucks."

All who seek will find, and all who knock shall have the way or the door opened to them.  I have wondered, probably like all of us at some point, if this is just an unlimited or unqualified promise for us.  Can I have anything I want just for the asking?

The word reason means to use the mind to think, understand, and form judgements. The Lord asks us to do that together with him. Sometimes we may need help from others to with this process. A priesthood leader or teacher is there to help. Sometimes we need help to reason it out from a therapist, or a professional. Sometimes there may even be medical attention needed to help us cleanse ourselves and our behavior of some sins. No matter the process needed for each person, it is comforting to me that we will be working with the Lord.

A recent article in Scientific American talked about the many surveys that have shown an increasing preference to work remotely or in hybrid manner. I think we all feel that. They also linked to surveys that showed that there is also an increased comfort or ability to participate for those with social challenges, different abilities, different personalities or other areas that have traditionally been a left out in the workplace.

Isaiah gives us what it takes to wash ourselves clean. He tells us it is more than just not doing a bad thing, like life was made up of checklists or things to do and not do.

Ed Yager loved many things in life, but anyone who knew him knew his real passions were his faith, his wife, his family, and music.

When we were young, we all "understood as a child," but as we grew and gain perspective our knowledge and wisdom grew and we "put off childish things." We learned to see the world, and people, and the even the gospel in more complex ways.

While John the Baptist was preaching, calling his followers to repentance and baptizing those that followed, there came a question from the crowd in Luke 3 asking, “what shall we do then?”

We are here to help each other. Sometimes we can’t do it ourselves.

Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. Add light and darkness ceases to be. The more light, the more darkness is removed. The opposite of darkness is light.

In the same way the opposite of fear is faith.

Time tracking can help us understand how we are spending our time and find balance in our life. It will not solve all your problems, but it may help you find a better balance. Finding that balance while trying to stay productive and successful is not easy. Our normal measurements are all out of whack.

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells his followers (and all of us) that they (we) are the salt of the earth. Looking at all the things that salt does and the essential nature of this, Jesus was telling us something rather important.

People are complicated, wonderful, mean, beautiful, ugly, loving, angry, and sweet things all at different times. We all have backgrounds that no other human could ever fully understand. We all experience life in so many different ways, one story, or one victory, or one mistake I made could not come close to explaining who I am. We need to remember that when we look at others.

It is easy to think of practice as something we do for only certain skills in life. We practice playing musical instruments, we practice athletic team sports, we practice when we learn how to play a new game. Practice should be much more than that, we just don't usually use that word in other areas of life. Working to change or improve is practice, or it should be.

The Lord has asked us to act differently and forgive. He has asked us not to fight back. The Lord is telling us to leave the justice and the anger and the blame to him. We should forgive, always.

The crooked paths we all have or may strayed on will be made straight as we repent and find our way back.  The rough parts of our personalities or the rough parts we cause though sinning will be made smooth.

“It’s time to liberate our dusty ideas about what friendship is and who it’s for. We’ve gotten so used to the idea of moving through life with just our family and a tight circle of friends that we’ve lost our ability to imagine a wider web of connection encompassing a gorgeous mess of layers and levels of closeness. What if neighbor is just another word for friend?” - Shannan Martin