Thoughts and stories, by Pal

Beautiful thoughts, to help us forgive others!   The Crucial Skill of Giving Beauty for Ashes By  Kate Piersanti  · July 13, 2021 I love the phrase “beauty for ashes.” It’s from Isaiah 61:1-3. The Spirit of the Lord God  is  upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to  them that are  bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them  beauty for ashes ,  the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, t...

This is a very perceptive article, well worth reading and thinking about! Guess this dangerous scripture riddle in 14 clues By  Shalissa Lindsay  · August 17, 2020 This scripturally prophesied danger can be named with a single word.  Can you guess it?  CLUE SET #1: 1.  I’m delicious to practically everyone. 2.  I am extremely lucrative. 3.  I can increase your social standing and popularity. 4.  Love songs and sonnets owe their success to me. 5.  Once I was offered mostly to kings and rulers. Today, I am offered to absolutely everyone on the planet. 6.  Ancient wise emperors feared me as a poison. Have an idea?  Keep thinking while you scroll down for the next set of clues… x x x x x x CLUE SET #2: 7.  I am never associated with God, angels, or prophets—with one exception.  During Alma-the-Younger’s sinful youth—before he repented—he used me a great deal. [i] ...

I follow Brad McBride's blog called "Thus We See", which used to be named "Middleaged Mormon Man", and really enjoy it.  You could also go there and sign up to receive his free posts.    Today he posted a Baccalaureate Speech written basically to his son, who is graduating from High School this year, and anyone else who would like to read it.  I am one of those who has been inspired with it.   It would be great for all to read -- not just graduates!  Go to "Thus We See" and there is a link where you can sign up. My Unsolicited Baccalaureate Speech            by  Brad McBride |         Posted on  May 24, 2020 My son graduated this week! Our final, fifth experience. On the upside it wasn’t 100 degrees on the bleachers, nor did it rain- because no event was held. On the downside, it was a furthering of the Class of 2020’s experience in missing out. Our High School has a...

This article from LDS Living has so much wisdom in it!  It has made me think a lot! 4 Ways What You Think Is Humility Could Actually Be Pride by Julie de Azevedo Hanks  | May 02, 2019 Mormon Life Pride is often referred to as the universal sin. From the perspective of Latter-day Saint theology, this seems pretty accurate; pride caused Satan to rebel against heaven, pride led to the downfall of ancient civilizations, pride is the driving factor that has caused evil individuals throughout history to come to power, and anyone who has studied the Book of Mormon has probably heard of the pride cycle. However, for this discussion, I’d like to move away from the archetypal, “big picture” idea of pride to focus on the perspective of it as an individual characteristic, that is, of personal pride. It seems that certain patterns of pride are easy to identify. I think that one of the reasons that pride is so difficult to manage, ...