Mormon Musings

The following text is taken from the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol. 8, Ch. 11, pp. 221-2: "Since Joseph Smith was younger than most of you and not nearly so experienced or well-educated as any of you at the time he copyrighted the Book of Mormon, it should not be too much to ask you to hand in by the end of the semester (which will give you more time than he had) a paper of, say, five to six hundred pages in length. Call it a sacred book if you will, and give it the form of a history. Tell of a community of wandering Jews in ancient times; have all sorts of characters in your story, and involve them in all sorts of public and private vicissitudes; give them names--hundreds of them--pretending that they are real Hebrew and Egyptian names of circa 600 b.c.; be lavish with cultural and technical details--manners and customs, arts and industries, political and religious institutions, rites, and traditions, include long and complicated military and economic histories; have your...

In response to critics’ arguments as to the origin of the Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley published the following parable: A young man once long ago claimed he had found a large diamond in his field as he was plowing. He put the stone on display to the public free of charge, and everyone took sides. A psychologist showed, by citing some famous case studies, that the young man was suffering from a well-known form of delusion. An historian showed that other men have also claimed to have found diamonds in fields and been deceived. A geologist proved that there were no diamonds in the area but only quartz. . . . When asked to inspect the stone itself, the geologist declined with a weary, tolerant smile and a kindly shake of the head. . . . A sociologist showed that only three out of 177 florists’ assistants in four major cities believed the stone was genuine. A clergyman wrote a book to show that it was not the young man but someone else who had found the stone. Finally an indigent jewele...

“There have always been and will always be charismatic men and women who can launch what sound like, on the surface, reasoned arguments against the Father and the Son, the Restoration, the Prophet Joseph, the Book of Mormon, and living prophets. But doubters and pundits never tell the whole story, because they don't know the whole story-and don't want to know. They opt for clever sound bites, hoping no one digs deeper than they have.” http://www.byui.edu/devotionals/sheri-dew

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/kevin-j-worthen_fear-not-2/

I recollect a dream that my father had. He dreamed that he was travelling, and that during his journey he came to a tremendous mountain of snow and saw that his pathway was hedged up. But some one said, “Take one more step.” My father replied, “But that will be the last.” However, he took that step, and then his guide said, “Do you not, see that there is room for you to take another?” When he had taken another, his guide told him to take still another in advance; and there was a passage all the way through. So it will be with us. The Lord will not reveal all that we at times wish him to. If a schoolmaster were to undertake to teach a little child algebra, you would call him foolish, would you not? Just so with our Father: he reveals to us as we are prepared to receive, and I hope to continue to learn. There is no cessation, in time nor in eternity, to the progress and increase of the righteous. If we will but put away every selfish feeling, we can come in possession of all the blessin...

Angela Duckworth, in her book  Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance , stated, "Grit specifies having a passion to accomplish a particular top-level goal  and  the perseverance to follow through. Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare" (Angela Duckworth,  Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance , 2016, 250). Let me repeat the last part. "Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare." Angela Duckworth also wrote in the same book, "Grit grows as we figure out our life philosophy, learn to dust ourselves off after rejection and disappointment, and learn to tell the difference between low-level goals that should be abandoned quickly and higher-level goals that demand more tenacity" (Angela Duckworth,  Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance , 2016, 86). Concerning those who fall short, John Greenleaf Whittier's words seem particularly fitting: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, / The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'...

“Throughout scripture we encounter the need for us to remember that the Lord has His own timetable for unfolding things; it will not always accord with our schedules or our wants. When, in our extremities, we urgently call for a divine response, there may be, instead, a divine delay. This is not because God, at the moment, is inattentive or loves us less than perfectly. Rather, it is because we are being asked, at the moment, to endure more for the welfare of our souls. The blessed meek understand that God loves them even when they may not be able to explain the meaning of what is happening to them or around them.”  -Neal A. Maxwell  (Meek and Lowly, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1987, page 89)

I work as hard as I can and do everything within my power. And I try to keep the commandments. Then I let The Lord make up the difference.  President Ezra Taft Benson

"The fundamental truths of the restored gospel were not delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith all at once in the Sacred Grove. These priceless treasures were revealed as circumstances warranted and as the timing was right." —David A. Bednar, " The Spirit of Revelation ",  Ensign , May 2011 Topics:  Revelation

"It is Satan who puts hopeless thoughts into the hearts of those who have made mistakes. The Lord Jesus Christ always gives us hope." —Julie B. Beck, " Remembering, Repenting, and Changing ",  Ensign , May 2007 Topics:  Hope

"What I am suggesting and asking is that we turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good in the land and times in which we live, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism. Let our faith replace our fears." —Gordon B. Hinckley, " Chapter 3: Cultivating an Attitude of Happiness and a Spirit of Optimism ",  Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Gordon B. Hinckley , 2016

"The reason our Heavenly Father asks us to pray cannot be that we are able to tell Him something He does not already know. Rather, the reason He asks us to pray is that the process of learning to communicate effectively with Him will shape and change our lives as much as we are changed by learning to communicate as children." —David E. Sorensen, "Prayer", Ensign, May 1993

"There will be noise and people around you most of your waking day. God hears your silent prayers, but you may have to learn to shut out the distractions because the moment you need the connection with God may not come in quiet times." —Henry B. Eyring, " Priesthood and Personal Prayer "