Mormon Musings

You have been taught the standard of right. Now subdue your rebellious passions, dismiss everything that you know or consider to be wrong, and embrace that which is better. Get wisdom and all the light you possibly can, and never live another twenty-four hours without the Holy Spirit of the Lord, and that will give you joy, peace, comfort, light, and intelligence, by which you can grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot reach these attainments, neither can you, only by the light and intelligence which flow from heaven. You may say, "Brother Brigham, you are like the rest of us: we see our faults, but we do not like to acknowledge them; we like to have them covered up and kept out of the sight of our  neighbors ." If you find a secret fault, dismiss it secretly. Let your faults go behind you; turn them overboard, and for ever disown them. If no person but yourselves has seen your faults, you are blessed. You may then get rid of them without their ...

Time makes of the praise and honors of men so much cotton candy--it is sweet, but melts in one's mouth quickly.  Yet how many have paid such a terrible price for that transitory taste.  The problem with approaching life on the basis of "now" is that "now" is over, even as one says the very word.  Neal A. Maxwell, "Things As They Really Are", p. 7

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.  Leo Tolstoy

Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man -C.S.Lewis

If you are ever called upon to chasten a person, never chasten beyond the balm you have within you to bind up. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 9:125-25 "Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;" D&C 121:43

the wise counsel of Gamaliel, teacher of Saul/Paul: And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought.  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. Acts 5:38-39

Both the history of the Church and our personal lives are replete with examples of the Lord’s pattern for receiving revelation “line upon line, precept upon precept.” For example, 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. President Joseph F. Smith explained how this pattern of revelation occurred in his life: “As a boy … I would frequently … ask the Lord to show me some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a testimony. But the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line upon line … , until He made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. He did not have to send an angel from the heavens to do this, nor did He have to speak with the trump of an archangel. By the whisperings of the still smal...