Sacrament Meeting Talks Worth Rereading

On the Fourth of July I sat in the driveway at my in-laws' house, watching the neighborhood firework show. Aerial fireworks are legal in Utah and it seemed like everyone in [the neighborhood] spent their life savings just for this occasion. Everywhere the sky was filled with a million bits of flame. We had left our home in California three weeks prior and at that very moment my husband was headed to the airport to fly here. I was left with our three kids for another three weeks in Utah before we would join him. I felt adrift, unmoored from time and identity. It seemed I was watching my old life--with all of its bright colors, fast disruptions, flashy ideas, big sounds--play out one more time and then explode and turn into smoke. We spent the last eight plus years near [the university] where [my husband] was a PhD student and then a post doc, where I did my residency in medicine and then worked as physician and as clinical faculty. To live [there] was to work hard, play hard, to alw...

It is much too grand, it is much too glorious to speak of the true depth of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice is “totally enigmatic and impossibly intricate.” I am humbled to speak of it. Yet I feel that the Spirit has given me language to express His love, and I invite your attention as we speak of Christ in our hearts together this morning. “He is a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” A gardener, His vineyard is laden with loathsome and bitter fruit. A shepherd, His flock is scattered and his sheep astray. A healer, His hands are helpless in his homeland. Christ teaches, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Does man grieve alone for his own fall from grace? Are miracles fallen on blind eyes only mourned or forgotten? Christ fell on His face, and pled, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” And the cup remained. In this too, seeing Christ, we see the Father. “And the God of heaven lo...

Imagine with me heaven as a place called forgiveness. The sky is forgiveness, the sun is forgiveness, rain is forgiveness. Imagine that in this heaven there are no stones, only bread which is freely given. There is no hunger for we are filled with forgiveness, no thirst for we are quenched with forgiveness. Imagine we are clothed in forgiveness. Forgiveness is so present no one ever has to say the words, I forgive. Imagine that the God of this heaven--a God-mother and a God-father--have forgiven everyone there everything. All the times anyone in that heaven has cursed them, used them, persecuted them, or hated them--all of these times have been forgiven. Imagine that mourning is a memory wrapped up in the comfort of forgiveness. Imagine that through forgiveness, everyone has been made pure and, with pure eyes, everyone sees God.  Easter came for me this year when I heard Sister L sing, so beautifully, "Weeping Mary"--Are there anybody here like Mary a-weeping. Call to my ...

I have been given the theme “Be Ye Therefore Perfect…Eventually” to speak on today. As most of you probably remember, this was a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in the October 2017 general conference. I love this talk. Elder Holland has a way to reach inside of me and give talks that I can relate to and be blessed by. I would like to share his introduction to this subject. It is wonderful. “The scriptures were written to bless and encourage us, and surely they do that. We thank heaven for every chapter and verse we have ever been given. But have you noticed that every now and then a passage will appear that reminds us we are falling a little short? For example, the Sermon on the Mount begins with soothing, gentle beatitudes, but in the verses that follow, we are told—among other things—not only not to kill but also not even to be angry. We are told not only not to commit adultery but also not even to have impure thoughts. To those who ask for it, we are to give our coat and th...

What do we celebrate on Easter morning? This year on Easter we also celebrated April Fool's, which is perhaps appropriate since being a Christian in Silicon Valley really is considered foolish – if not borderline illegal. But even here in SV we know that Easter celebrates new life. Ask Google what Easter’s about. Google (or perhaps Palantir) is the Seer Stone Silicon Valley can get behind. Google “Easter” and its awash in pastels: it’s all babies and bunnies and brunch. The imagery of Easter is a bunny and bushels of eggs (symbols of new life). And this is the religious message of Easter as well. On Easter morning we celebrate the happy story about new life and how things will end up after we die. Or is it? New Life Let me tell you my own experience with new life. I was in my second year of law school when we learned Ruthie was pregnant. I was something of a reluctant expectant father ‐ I worried about the cost. We were financially strapped and to save money, we had g...

We have a dog. Not a very smart dog – but at least we have a dog, and for our kids who spent years begging [my wife] Ruth for one, it’s enough. His name is Oakley. Now Oakley is lovable, but not bright. In fact, he comprehensively, diligently, predictably and somewhat endearingly dim. He’d last about 30 minutes in the wild. I walk out the door to the car and walk back in the house 30 seconds later, and he’ll bark at me like a wild animal. But he can stare forever out the back window, completely oblivious to the coyote wandering in the backyard. When he take him out for a walk, he strains at the leash, straining to break free and to attack anything that moves; he plays the terrible hunter. But last year, in our yard, a tiny baby bunny was caught in some string near a bush. Oakley spotted the baby bunny – and was terrified. Every time that baby bunny moved, Oakley would turn and run away. He still won’t go near that bush. He also takes a long time to learn a new trick. He’s not a brig...