Parkerville

 Elder Bednar's address in the most recent General Conference (Oct 22) carried a message that will resonate with any Christian who has made covenants with the Lord. It certainly did to me. For context, take a few minutes to read his address which is a bit of a midrash on the Parable of the Royal Wedding Feast found in Matthew 22. Put On Thy Strength, O Zion (churchofjesuschrist.org) To begin, I'll assume the King represents the Lord, the wedding represents the covenant made between the Lord and his children and the wedding feast represents the blessings/fruits of a faithful life. Note that Elder Bednar doesn't take the common reading of this parable, that the King's tossing of the recalcitrant wedding attendee (who refused to wear the King's garment) represents God punishing the wicked.  Rather, his focus is on the attendee's use of their agency. Recall that early in the parable those first invited declined to attend having prioritized their business interests o...

The longer I live, the more convinced I am that God works in mysterious ways. Easy prescriptions of what to do, or even what a good Christian “looks” like, simply fall away when we honestly account for the complexities of lived experience. At this point in my spiritual journey, I am inspired to focus on spiritual  tools  instead of rules or archetypes per se. The idea is that the right tools will get you in alignment with God so that He can guide you through the unknowns, even as questions will realistically remain. The spiritual tools are those extolled by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, and traditionally referred to as the theological virtues: faith, hope, love. Faith : right thinking. No matter what, I will choose to trust that God has a purpose for my circumstances as they are. God has a plan for each of our lives that involves a unique sequence and allotment of blessings and sufferings. For this reason, there is no room for nihilism, insecurity, arrogance, victim-based thinking...