Terrorists!!! Or, "Que Manhã Quemada" - Gospel Doctrine Lesson 36

There was a call late last night that one of our Gospel Doctrine teachers had fallen off a ladder and needed a substitute. He told his wife to call me as I'm in the new Sunday School Presidency (and we don't even get to ring the bell anymore!) I love teaching Sunday School and don't mind the last minute calls. In fact, the later the better as it forces me to rely more on the Spirit. But as we have late church until January, I had several hours to prepare.

My fist reaction when I realized it was Lesson 36 was a bit of a nervous shudder. I believe that we should liken the scriptures unto us which I have done, loving this portion of the Book of Mormon because there is so much there I "likened" to lead me to my personal political views and philosophy. But I knew I had to be respectful to keep my personal views in check. On the blog I feel I can express myself more fully because while clearly influenced by gospel teachings, I am not an official spokesman for the church as I am when I am fulfilling an assignment at church. That's just the way I see it.

All the Things I've Heard People Say!

If my wife has any faults, I just don't know what they are. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

When I was first made bishop, she was in the nursery during those two-out-of-three hours at church - not a bad place to be especially if you're the bishop's wife. One of the other sisters who was there, and a good friend whose husband is practically my cousin, said to her, "I can't believe all the things I've heard people say since your husband became bishop!"

"About Grant?" my wife asked.

"No. About you."

My wife's response is for the ages. With a laughing smile she said, "Well, they're probably all true!"

Provo Tabernacle/Temple, Castle?

This morning over at Keepapitchinin, Ardis posted some pictures she took of the rehabilitation of the Provo Tabernacle into a Temple. The Tabernacle burned in December 2010 and there is great excitement to see the historic structure repaired and modified to become a second Temple in Provo.

My wife and I drove by the construction site just a few weeks ago. We spent our first two married years in Provo and attended at least one LDS Stake Conference in the Tabernacle. Yet there was something oddly familiar in a different way with the pictures Ardis posted. I hadn't ever paid attention to the hexagonal towers of the Tabernacle before. They are very similar to those of Raglan Castle between Abergavenny and Monmouth, Wales!

Raglan Castle Tower
by Me, August 20, 2010

Provo Tabernacle-Temple Tower
Courtesy of Ardis Parshall

Why 47% Makes a Majority

First off, let me say that I don't believe Governor Romney really believes what he said on that secretly recorded tape at the fancy fundraiser. I think he was just trying to play to the crowd and the questioner. (The problem with saying things he doesn't really believe we'll leave for another time).

I also understand that he mixed several ideas. The conservative complaint that about 47% of people don't pay income taxes got mixed with the reality that about 47% of the electorate would never vote for him. The two groups aren't the same although there would be some overlap in a Venn diagram. The third idea thrown in was the Ayn Randian adolescent fantasy of the producers and the moochers which is about as accurate as the philosophical fantasies that divide the world into orcs and hobbits.

Seven Years of Servitude

Jacob & Rachel by William Dyce (1853)

It's been seven years since we moved to Utah and it's about seven more before I can even think of retiring and going on a church mission with my wife. A sonnet sort of on that theme keeps rattling in my brain. Let me share this beautiful piece from the 16th Century Portuguese Writer, Luis Vaz de Camões. His work follows, then my own inferior translation:

Glad All That's Behind Us Now

Somehow I missed this back in the angry days of 2009:

A Lincoln for President

Only first-time viewers need the notice that I am a big fan of Abraham Lincoln. And we all should know by now that President Obama is as well. He frequently references Lincoln directly or uses his words or phraseology sometimes without attribution. But if you live in his old house, I guess that's OK. He also claims to have read Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals which helps explain Secretary of State Clinton. And that's working out better than even Lincoln & Seward.

So, I thought I would do a little check to see how well Governor Romney reaches for the Lincoln ideal, or even the rhetoric. I found this:

The best ally world peace has ever known is a strong America. The “last best hope of earth” was what Abraham Lincoln called our country. Mitt Romney believes in fulfilling the promise of Lincoln’s words and will defend America abroad in word and in deed.- From Romney's campaign webpage.