Thoughts and stories, by Pal

  Dealing with the Collateral Damage of Divorce   By  Jeff Teichert  · May 31, 2022 As you may know by now, we released our long-awaited book, “Intentional Courtship: a Mid-Singles Guide to Peace, Progress, and Pairing up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” on November 5 th  2021, just over six months ago. Intentional Courtship contains a lot of counsel and information about coping with loss and recovery from pain and trauma through the power of intention. One of the most unanticipated and difficult consequences of divorce is the impact it has on our relationships with in-laws and mutual friends. Some families and friends handle this well, but most do not. In the church, we have such a dim view of divorce that we tend to subconsciously believe that giving compassion or support to someone getting divorced is condoning divorce. Often this motivates people to stay away or to try to determine who was at fault in the divorce and then take the ot...

This article has a lot of wisdom in it!  I hope we can stop judging each other! Hit Me With My Best Shot                                                  by  Brad McBride   |  Posted on  Jun 28, 2020 What’s the absolute worst thing you’ve ever done in your life? It is possible that it was really, really bad. It is also possible that it wasn’t very bad at all. It is also possible that you haven’t actually done the worst thing you will ever do…yet. Now that you have that unpleasant thought in your head, have you ever considered putting it on your business card, or posting it on your social media.  “Hi, I’m Amy: I lied on my taxes!”  Or,  “I’m Ron: I beat up a kid in college ,” or “ I’m John, and I cheated on my wife .” Most of us would never do that for obvious reasons. We don’t want to be defined by the...

The thoughts in this article are very perceptive.  I enjoyed reading and thinking about it! Epiphany: How to “Un-Judge” Your Neighbor By  Anne Hinton Pratt  · October 23, 2019 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE We’re all in this earthly school trying our best to learn to be like God. There are times in our lives when a lesson hits us squarely in the face, and we begin to see things from a different and enlarged perspective. That happened to me, and I’d like to share the amazing, elevating things I learned: Spiritual Jolt Years ago, I was in a church meeting with my husband, and noticed that he kept nodding off. This wasn’t new. In fact, it happened quite often. This particular Sunday though, my self-righteous self raised its ugly head and I felt indignation that he could allow himself to do this.  I didn’t buy into the “I’m just resting my eyes” story. I nudged him several times to wake up, and privately f...

We had a child one time be lost -- actually left by accident, and we had to go back and find her! -- and it was really a panic.  This shows how Heavenly Father wants to welcome back anyone who has been lost from Him for a time. How the Lord Feels About Finding Lost Things By  Ted Gibbons  · January 29, 2019 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Cover image: “The Lost Lamb” by Robert Theodore Barrett. Have you ever lost something important? How did you feel when it was found? Have you ever lost a small child, or been lost yourself? What feelings did you have as you searched for a missing infant, or when a missing toddler was found?   Part of the power of the teachings of the Savior was found in his ability to draw spiritual lessons from the common experiences of the people. Try to identify with these parables of the Savior that relate to the emotions of finding something valuable that you have lost? ...