Coronavirus creates conflict for some churches, where gatherings can be dangerous but also provide comfort (Washington Post)

The house of God is empty;

where have the people fled?

They may be very faithful,

but dislike being dead.

Their pastor stands all lonely,

there's no one to preach to;

His sermon will be unheard;

his prayers reach very few.

Yet there are zealous Christians

who think it only right

to take a pew in person,

the devil for to spite.

They'll spread the gospel message,

no matter what the cost;

they'll also spread the virus

like tainted Pentecost.

The Book of Mormon

". . . the Book of Mormon testifies that all human beings are sons and daughters of a loving Father in Heaven, that He has a divine plan for our lives, and that His Son, Jesus Christ, speaks today as well as in days of old."
from A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World

Many know with fervent zeal

God the Father is quite real.

And he loves us, ev'ry one;

that is why he sent his Son.

Life is not a random spiel;

Jesus Christ does still reveal

to his prophets what is meet 

for our lives to be complete.

Photo Essay: Chimneys. Vol. 2

Photo Essay: Postcards to my President. Vol. 17

The Good Friday Fast

President Russell M. Nelson

“During times of deep distress, as when illness reaches pandemic proportions, the most natural thing for us to do is to call upon our Heavenly Father and His Son—the Master Healer—to show forth Their marvelous power to bless the people of the earth. …

"I invite all, including those not of our faith, to fast and pray on Good Friday, April 10, that the present pandemic may be controlled, caregivers protected, the economy strengthened, and life normalized."

President Russell M. Nelson

Thy footstool comes unraveled, Lord; we don't know what to do.

Our lives are far from normal as pandemics kill anew.

Our treasures and our monuments are hollow and unstable;

our leaders have but itching ears and follow ev'ry fable.

As from abundance we retreat, as we begin to fast,

have mercy on our plight, O Lord, forgive our follies past.

Heal our ravaged planet and restore our fragile hold

on the Hope of Ages, even Jesus Christ of old!

Photo Essay: Blue so sharp

Blue so sharp

it cuts the stone

beneath the snow.

Do we know

what trees really 

do at night?

Plastic yellow.

A disappointing

peril.

You can take the gray

out of the ground

but you can't take the ground

out of the gray.

Dawn.

Flushed with shame

at being reduced

to a postcard.

The pregnant cloud
breaks water
over the mountain.

If I Survive

. . . and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.
Alma 34:38

If spring finds me a faded scrap,

crossing o'er that fatal gap,

I will spend my final day

giving all my thanks away --

thanks for sunlight on my face;

thanks for snow's forgiving lace;

thanks for honey on warm bread;

thanks that I was temple wed;

thanks for friends and folly, too;

I cherished laughter like fondue.

But if my time is not yet done

I'll praise the Lord (and have more fun!)

A Promise About the End of the Coronavirus from an Apostle of God.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland


“He who created this marvelous world in which we live can say to any of the elements in it: ‘This far and no farther.’ That is what He will say to this blight we are facing. In the presence of His majesty, even subatomic-sized creations must bend—if only figuratively—and each in its own way ‘confess’ that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the great Redeemer of all."
Jeffrey R. Holland

He who stilled the tempest on the Lake of Galilee,

who overruled the elements to open the Red Sea;

The Lord of Hosts we call him, since all things obey his will --

his majesty and power give to ev'ry soul a thrill.

His promise is deliverance from this malicious blight;

his prophets have declared it far into the weary night.

So put your trust in Jesus Christ, the greatest Architect,

and witness how pandemics by Almighty God are checked.

How great are thy works

O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
Psalm 92:5

Of what use wealth

if for our health

we live like hermit lorn?

Through God's design

he prunes the vine

and we like sheep are shorn.

We cannot know

while here below

what Majesty intends.

But testify

that by and by

he'll greet us as his friends.

Ye are little children

 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you . . . 
D&C 78:17

I am but a child, O Lord, upon this spinning plane;

without thy care and guidance my existence is in vain.

How small my quibbles are to thee, how trivial my fears;

and yet thou hast assured me thou will wipe away my tears.

I cannot fully comprehend the blessings in thy hands;

to me they seem elusive, like the desert's shifting sands.

Help me to understand, dear Lord, what it must really mean

to live the gospel fully with a joy that's evergreen!