Mormon Musings

Some seek to brush aside conscience, refusing to hear its voice.  But that deflection is, in itself, an act of choice.  Like it or not, therefore, reality requires that we acknowledge our responsibility for our desires. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1996, p. 21

“Do you get answers to your prayers? If not, perhaps you did not pay the price. Do you offer a few trite words and worn-out phrases, or do you talk intimately to the Lord? Do you pray occasionally when you should be praying regularly, often, constantly? Do you offer pennies to pay heavy debts when you should give dollars to erase that obligation? “When you pr ay, do you just speak, or do you also listen? Your Savior said, ‘Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.’ (Rev. 3:20) “…Should we ever fail to get an answer to our prayers, we must look into our lives for a reason.” - Pres. Spencer W. Kimball, ”Prayer," New Era, Mar. 1978, 17

I would like to urge you brethren to read the scriptures, not somebody's interpretation of them. Read them. They are the original sources. You go to them and read them. Make up your own minds about them. When the Prophet, Seer and Revelator speaks, when he interprets, we follow. So with the brethren when they speak under the influence of the Holy Ghost. We have a growing lot of books, a growing lot of courses of study, but I urge you to read the scriptures, so that you may get your own idea as to what they mean. J. Reuben Clark, April 1950 General Conference

What a narrow measure it is to try and judge and calculate the infinite by the little our finite minds know. A story is told of Lincoln, who was supposed to be a great skeptic in his younger life. When he was down at Richmond as the war was drawing to a close one of his early companions—I think it was General Reynolds—suddenly came around the corner of the tent where the President was living and found him reading the Bible. The General began to twit him about reading the Bible, basing the raillery on the early life, as he understood it, of Lincoln. Then Lincoln said: "Well, I have grown older and wiser. I now read the Bible. I believe all I can and I take the rest on faith." And that is about where all of us are when it comes to the infinities that are involved in our spiritual welfare. J. Reuben Clark, April 1950 General Conference

I am again impressed, as always, by the strength of the priesthood. I have seen it work in the lives of many men. I have seen them grow under its power and its influence. I have seen men moving in the walks of life of the world increased in power and in influence, far beyond their natural abilities, and I am sure the only reason for it was the possession of the priesthood. The priesthood, of course, must not be taken lightly, and as I have said to you before, the priesthood cannot be taken off and put back on at will as you would a coat. Once endowed by the priesthood it remains with you. You may forfeit its power, the power may go, but your priesthood is still there, and in the days to come God will judge us by the use we have made of it, and we can no more escape that consequence than we can escape death. That fact should be with us always and never absent from us. President J. Reuben Clark, April 1950 General Conference

We are gathered here for the express purpose of carrying out the purposes of God. The world, however, do not understand it. But I will tell you what they will do, by and by. You will see them flocking to Zion by thousands and tens of thousands, and they will say, "We don't know anything about your religion, we don't care much about religious matters, but you are honest and you are honorable and you are upright and just and you have a good, just, and secure government [speaking of the Government of the Church], and we want to put ourselves under your protection for we cannot feel safe anywhere else." John Taylor ( Gospel Kingdom , pp. 71-72)

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only means by which we may hope to find a place in the celestial kingdom. Sometimes we feel that we are sure of it because we have membership in the Church. I take this occasion to call to the attention of the older members of the Church, who have lived a part of their lives and feel quite secure, the fact that nobody is secure unless he is on the Lord's side of the line (   Ex. 32:26 ). President George Albert Smith, April 1950 General Conference