"Our most fundamental doctrine includes the knowledge that we are children of a living God . . .This doctrine is so basic, so oft stated, and so instinctively simple that it can seem to be ordinary, when in reality it is among the most extraordinary knowledge we can obtain." Donald L. Hallstrom. A child of Deity am I; I will inherit soon all my Father has for me; an inconceivable boon. What have I done to merit this; is God somehow beguiled? No! Tis simple Gospel truth that I am but his child! And not just I myself, but all the people of the earth were once his precious infants given joyous mortal birth. So never hang your head and say you've been cast off, my friend; for heaven holds a Father who is not at all pretend!
There is no denying that the stakes are high. As of 2013, the elephant population in Africa had plummeted to about 400,000, according to the conservation site elephantdatabase.org, from some 1.3 million in 1979, due to strong demand for ivory, particularly in Asia, where it is a status symbol for the burgeoning middle class.
An elephant never forgets
when made into rings and bracelets.
To tell you the truth,
if killed for a tooth,
I, too, would have many regrets.
Oh what a tangled web we spin when office seeking we begin. The promises we have to make are often vague and nearly fake. The spider does not tempt her fate; she doesn't run -- she likes to wait. I wish all politicians ran right off a pier and into flan.
President Hassan Rouhani wants to make way for foreign deals and investment by limiting the business role taken on by the Revolutionary Guards when sanctions isolated Iran.
Alma 40:3 -- there are many mysteries which are kept, that no one knoweth them save God himself. The wonder and the mystery, the questions and surmise; this world is full of marvels that do take me by surprise. As God said in the whirlwind to his humble servant Job: "What made the deep foundations and preserves this fragile globe?" The merest ray of sunlight or the smallest drop of rain a universe of speculation really does contain. And so I relish pondering the mysteries of God; they make me joyful and alive, and sometimes overawed.
There's nothing like a good trellis
to leave wedding guests feeling jealous.
But stealing one, well --
that means a jail cell.
Even for minions of Tellus.
Alma 37:8 --And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people O memory please go to sleep and do not pester me; I do not want to be reminded of my history. I'm weary and I'm sated on the promises galore that lay so thick around me and will last forevermore. I want to slacken, just a bit; to tarry one more hour before I have to struggle with the devil and his power. Is it so wrong to duck my head, to ogle lesser things? Must I always be reminded of my fledgling wings? Ah, but who's that dust-stained traveler that goes ahead of me? My recollection tells me he's the Man from Galilee! So must I polish memories and keep them burning bright, to safeguard my long journey to the sunshine from the night.
