Commonplace Book

A collection of thoughts, ideas, anecdotes, poems, observations, and quotes that stood out and caught my attention, some with comment, some without. Essentially a scrapbook, a repository of thoughts too good to just pass over and let go.

“[E]ven after [a big bell] is silent you can put your hands on the metal and feel the last tingle of vibrations, as though it were still singing to itself, private music of its own which we can't hear “

(Peter Dickinson, English author, Time and the Clock Mice)

 “If you lay silently in nature, the animals come to you.”

(Anonymous)

 “Behaving and knowing are inseparably linked. So defined, the gospel is inexhaustible because there is not only so much to know, but also so much to become! The vital truths are not merely accumulated in the mind but are expressed in life as well.”

(Neal A Maxwell, The Inexhaustible Gospel, BYU Devotional, August 18,1982)

“Our eyes capture thousands of beautiful pictures every day.”

(Pradeepa Pandiyan, amateur photographer, India)

“Sometimes, in the mutual climb along the straight and narrow path, brothers and sisters, we need friends to shout warnings to us or to give us instructions, but we also need those moments when warm whispers can help us to keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

(Neal A Maxwell, Insights from my Life, BYU Devotional, October 26,1976)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

(Galatians 5:22-23)

“You may be exhausted, but don’t ever give up.”

(Neil L Anderson, Wounded, October Conference 2018)

“Because any life you take is not just one life. There will always be a family connected to that life.”

(Rukiye Abdul-Mutakallim, spoken to the boy (Javon Coulter) who murdered her son, Suliman Ahmed Abdul-Mutakallim, November 2, 2017 in South Cumminsville, OH, offering her family to help Javon live a better life then and when he is eventually released from prison)

“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness that comes it.”

(Albert Einstein, written in 1922, in German on hotel stationery, and given to a messenger who refused a tip. In 2017 the note sold at auction for $1.56m)

“Neal [Maxwell] said his testimony came in three ways. Early in his home life, he experienced the witness of the Spirit, followed afterward by intellectual and experiential conversions. He found that the witness of the Spirit is more sure but that the other witnesses would increasingly corroborate his spiritual impressions.”

(Bruce C Hafen, A Disciple's Life, the Autobiography of Neal A Maxwell, Deseret Book 2002, 67)

“What was the object of gathering the … people of God in any age of the world? … The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation”

(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the President's out e the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 415-19)

“Never has anyone offered so much to so many in so few words as when Jesus said, “Here am I, send me.” (Abr. 3:27.)

(Neal A Maxwell, Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King, April Conference 1976)

“In these days of uncertainty and unrest, liberty-loving peoples’ greatest responsibility and paramount duty is to preserve and proclaim the freedom of the individual, his relationship to Deity, and the necessity of obedience to the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only, thus will mankind find peace and happiness.”

(David O McKay, Improvement Era, December 1962, p. 903.)

“Just as a flood-lighted temple is more beautiful in a severe storm or in a heavy fog, so the gospel of Jesus Christ is more glorious in times of inward storm and of personal sorrow and tormenting conflict.”

(Harold B Lee, Conference Report, Apr. 1965, p. 16).

“Money may be the husk of many things, but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintances, but not friends; servants, but not faithfulness; days of joy, but not peace or happiness”

(In The Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts on the Business of Life, New York: Forbes, Inc., 1968, p. 88). 

Like Her Great, Great Grandmother

Since before I was born, My grandmother wore her hair long, but braided up.  Real long.  To the point that she would wind the braid into a coil around the top of her head.

1942

For the longest time, I had never seen her with her hair any other way. It wasn't until near the end of her life that she cut it and no longer wore it braided and coiled.  I never thought of it as long because, coiled up like it always was, it did not appear to be all that long.

1954

But the coil was quite thick, and the braid went around her head a number of times.  We were visiting once and I saw her in her room brushing it out one evening as she got ready for bed.  I was amazed at how long it was when it was uncoiled and upbraided. It went well down her back, nearly to the seat of the chair she was sitting on. 

1959

That was many, many years ago now.

Then, the other day, we were visiting Heidlebeere.  It was Sunday morning and the kids were getting dressed up for church.  I'm not sure how they settled on the hair style, but her youngest wore her hair braided and coiled around her head.

It reminded me of  my grandmother so much.  It was amazing.  No where near as long, but Grandma had a few years more at it than this little sweetheart.

In many ways, this young lady bears a certain resemblance to a hummingbird.  Getting her to pose for a few pictures is not the easiest thing in the world.  But her Grandma has a certain magic and we got some good pictures.

Its funny how things can bring back memories from so long ago.  This little angel stirred up some pleasant memories for me Sunday.  It was nice.

Shout of Acclamation!

From the Fall of Man, in the Garden of Eden, when mankind was put out of the presence of God, mankind was in darkness. 

But adding his voice to all the other prophets that had lived and prophesied, since the beginning, Isaiah prophesied that it would not be forever.  While death and sin had been introduced into the world, it was not to be permanent.

Isaiah was a prophet during a time when Israel was not so righteous.  So naturally a lot of his messages have to do with the dismal future Israel faced because of its disobedience.  Scattering and affliction were a common theme in Isaiah's writings.  But part of his mission was to also prophesy to future generations so deliverance was also a common theme in Isaiah's writings. Part of his mission was to prophesy of the time when God would fulfill His covenants that He had made to Israel.

And so Isaiah gave us one of my favorite passages of deliverance.  He spoke of the reason Israel would not have to remain in darkness forever.  But not only deliverance from their earthly affliction and sorrow, but from death and hell as well.

"The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light: They that dwell in in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.  Thou has multiplied the nations, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou has broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning an fuel of fire."

And then, after explaining that the people, all mankind, would not remain in darkness or under the pall of death and hell forever, but be delivered and have reason to celebrate more than they had ever known, he breaks forth in acclamation at the source of their deliverance!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

"Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the Throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice henceforth even forever." (Isaiah 9:2-7)

This is why we celebrate Christmas, because those that were in darkness can now move into the light.  This is why there is hope, because unto us a child was born!  Never was there a greater reason to rejoice!  No doubt, His gift was the greatest gift ever given.  How right it is that we should celebrate His birth.  How right it is that our celebration should be centered on Him and His gift.

Praise the LORD!

Yes, give praise, O servants of the LORD.

Praise the name of the LORD!

Blessed be the name of the LORD

now and forever.

Everywhere—from east to west—

praise the name of the LORD.

For the LORD is high above the nations;

his glory is higher than the heavens.

Who can be compared with the LORD our God,

who is enthroned on high?

He stoops to look down

on heaven and on earth.

He lifts the poor from the dust

and the needy from the garbage dump.

He sets them among princes,

even the princes of his own people!

(Psalms 113:1-8

New Living Translation)

The Art Project

Several years ago, about the time school was getting ready to start, a couple of the kids decided to do an art project.  Schwarzbeere was quite pleased that his big sister was going to work with him to get it done.  It was quite the undertaking.

They got their materials out and figured out how they were going to approach it.

There was some tracing involved.  Since they were doing body outlines, this took a minute.

Their canvas was pretty big, so it took several minutes.

Then they traded places and the tracing continued.

Once they had all the tracing done, then the detail work began.  If you thought the tracing took a while, the filling and coloring really took them some time.

Team work, they kept at it and kept working.

In the end, I thought they ended up with quite the work of art!  I liked it.  They were pretty happy with it, too.  It was a fun afternoon.

Kinda Soupy

Not too long ago, at the school where Brombeere teaches, they had a contest, a challenge for the kids.  The kids in third grade got points for good behavior.  Then, at the end of the period, those with the most points got a prize.  The prize was to hit the teacher of your choice, from those that volunteered, with a pie.  There ended up being several teachers volunteer to be on the receiving end of the pie, including Brombeere.  There were several more teachers volunteer than there were students to throw pies - she figured the odds were good she wouldn't get picked.  She was wrong.

She got picked and she got a pie.  They let the kids stand nice and close so there was no chance of missing.  And he didn't miss.  Not even a little.

Maybe he was coached in how to effectively put a pie in someone's face.  At any rate, he did a good job.  And everyone had a good time.  Three cheers for Brombeere, the good sport!

Commonplace Book

A collection of thoughts, ideas, anecdotes, poems, observations, and quotes that stood out and caught my attention, some with comment, some without. Essentially a scrapbook, a repository of thoughts too good to just pass over and let go.

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace”

(C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, New York: MacMillan Co., 1960, p. 160).

“Great souls have wills; feeble souls have only wishes.”

(Chinese proverb)

“Oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us—even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will.”

(Joseph B Wirthlin, The Great Commandment, October Conference 2007)

“An optimist is someone who plants two acorns and buys a hammock.”

(Anonymous)

“May the dead rest in peace - and the living be ever mindful that whatever divides us, it, too, shall pass.”

(Kathleen Parker, The California fires remind us of our common humanity, Washington Post, November 16, 2018)

“The cavity created by the suffering through which we go becomes a receptacle for compensating blessings.”

(Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883-1931), Lebanese-American writer, poet, visual artist and Syrian nationalist.)

“Haste is the enemy of the Spirit.”

(Nathaniel R Payne. President. St Paul Temple)

“The Hebrew verb lehitpalel, meaning “to pray,” is reflexive, implying an action done to one- self. Literally, it means “to judge oneself.” It means, to escape from the prison of the self and see the world, including ourselves, from the outside. Prayer is where the relentless first person singular, the “I,” falls silent for a moment and we become aware that we are not the centre of the universe. There is a reality outside. That is a moment of transformation.”

(Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, When the 'I' is Silent, Vayetse 5779. November 14, 2018)

“The formula of faith is to hold on, work on, see it through, and let the distress of earlier hours—real or imagined—fall away in the abundance of the final reward. Don’t dwell on old issues or grievances—not toward yourself nor your neighbor nor even, I might add, toward this true and living Church. The majesty of your life, of your neighbor’s life, and of the gospel of Jesus Christ will be made manifest at the last day, even if such majesty is not always recognized by everyone in the early going. So don’t hyperventilate about something that happened at 9:00 in the morning when the grace of God is trying to reward you at 6:00 in the evening—whatever your labor arrangements have been through the day.”

(Jeffrey R Holland, The Laborers in the Vineyard, April Conference 2012)

“I learned about peaceful intensity. … I would sometimes recall a scriptural phrase I'd first heard [Elder Maxwell] quote: “But if not…” (Daniel 3:18) - meaning, we must do everything we can to make this work, and then if it doesn't, “it matters not” (Mosiah 13:9).”

(Bruce C Hafen, A Disciple's Life, the Autobiography of Neal A Maxwell, Deseret Book 2002, preface)

“Our prophets have focused not on the terror of the times in which they lived and not on the ominous elements of the latter days, in which we are all living, but they felt to speak of the opportunity and blessing, and above all the responsibility, to seize the privileges afforded us in this, the greatest of all dispensations.”

(Jeffrey R Holland, Terror, Triumph, and a Wedding Feast, BYU Devotional, September 12, 2004)

“Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same.”

(Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet)

“This same special assurance can see each of us through all the seasons and circumstances of our lives. A universal God is actually involved with our small, individual universes of experience! In the midst of His vast dominions, yet He numbers us, knows us, and loves us perfectly. … We can wrongly charge God with that large portion of human misery which is actually caused by mortals’ failure to keep His commandments. Or, like Enoch, we can be intellectually meek enough to look and to accept the truths about God’s being there and about His personality and plans.”

(Neal A Maxwell, Yet Thou Art There, October Conference 1987)

“Leadership isn't about position. It's about who you are. …Leadership isn't about dominion, leadership is about service. … Leadership is about turning up at the top end of who we really are, … it starts with having a clear understanding of who we are and what we really stand for. … it's about listening and trying to identify what is lost. … Everything we really need to know about leadership was written down a long time ago. Maybe it's simply time to start listening.”

(Peter Anderton, Organizational Development Manager, 3M, TED Talk, TEDxDerby, May 21, 2016, Derby, Derbyshire, UK)

“I find it moving that Isaac, who underwent so many trials, from the binding when he was young, to the rivalry between his sons when he was old and blind, carries a name that means, “He will laugh.” Perhaps the name – given to him by God Himself before Isaac was born – means what the Psalm means when it says, “Those who sow in tears will reap with joy” (Ps. 126:5). Faith means the courage to persist through all the setbacks, all the grief, never giving up, never accepting defeat. For at the end, despite the opposition, the envy and the hate, lie the broad spaces, Reĥovot, and the laughter, Isaac: the serenity of the destination after the storms along the way.”

(Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, The Courage of Persistence, Toldot 5779, November 7, 2018)

“Until I changed myself, I could not change others”

(Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, 1918-2013, revolutionary, political leader, philanthropist)

“Discouragement is not the absence of adequacy but the absence of courage.”

(Neal A Maxwell, Notwithstanding My Weakness, October Conference 1976)

Happy Holidays!

'Tis the season and we were all at the Ward Christmas Dinner the other day, even Himbeere.  So we were sitting at the table waiting for the festivities to get started and noticed that they had provided some crayons for the little kids to keep them occupied while they waited.  Some fun, here. So pretty soon Himbeere began playing with the crayons.

First, he made a  cute little stack.  Had to use a green bean to finish off the top, didn't quite have enough crayons.

Then he got a little more challenging, standing them up on their ends, on top of his inverted cup, no less.  That is pure, unadulterated skill.

Then he actually colored the picture.  Yet another display of skill; talent unleashed.  The paper was hardly able to contain it.

Yeah, Himbeere was all bubbly with fun and excitement.  It was a great time.  The food was pretty good, too!