Mormon Musings

Faith is not hope.  Faith is not simply to know that God could do something.  Faith is to know that he will [do that thing].   Henry B. Eyring, address to religious educators at BYU, August 14, 2001

A wise man has said that we need to be reminded more than we need to be instructed.  One of the most powerful functions of the Spirit is to bring things to our remembrance. Neal A. Maxwell, "Old Testament Symposium Speeches" 1991, pp. 1-6

"Mortality is a period of testing, a time to prove ourselves worthy to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. In order to be tested, we must sometimes face challenges and difficulties. At times there appears to be no light at the tunnel's end—no dawn to break the night's darkness. We feel surrounded by the pain of broken hearts, the disappointment of shattered dreams, and the despair of vanished hopes. We join in uttering the biblical plea 'Is there no balm in Gilead?' (Jeremiah 8:22). We are inclined to view our own personal misfortunes through the distorted prism of pessimism. We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone. If you find yourself in such a situation, I plead with you to turn to our Heavenly Father in faith. He will lift you and guide you. He will not always take your afflictions from you, but He will comfort and lead you with love through whatever storm you face." Thomas S. Monson ,  "Looking Back and Moving Forward," Ensign, May 200...

Naive optimism and pervasive pessimism are both to be avoided.  It's not an easy balance to maintain, to be asked to work away in the Nenevahs of our lives without being so conscious of the coming cataclysm that we fail to be serious citizens in our communities and nations. Neal A. Maxwell (Deposition of a Disciple, p. 98) There are...those who refuse to follow the Brethren because these individuals have over-identified with a single doctrine, principle, or practice; sadly, they exclude all other counsel, which leads to a dangerous spiritual imbalance.  The difficulty with such individuals is that they have a strange sense of justification about that which they are doing.  In their intensity they lack, of course, the spiritual symmetry that comes from pursuing, in a balanced way, all the commandments of God  Neal A. Maxwell (All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, p. 111)