Morning Lines #15- Blooms

Of What Surrounds Me

by Mary Oliver

"Whatever it is I am saying, I always 

need a leaf or a flower, if not an 

entire field. "

Florists exist for special occasions but I say flowers are for every occasion. I love the sensory experience in the floral shop in my home town. Every corner has a unique surprise.

   
                                  Is this a an homage to Edgar Allen Poe?

    This season the windows are draped with a filmy, sparkly curtains to give an underwater feeling.

The cooler is filled with buckets of floral treasures, all in their prime, waiting to be fashioned into a ensemble of delight.

   The lavender bouquet accents the room leaving the right dusting of scent, while in another corner a mare, yes, a mare drinks to quench her thirst. 

Book of Mormon Sunday II- Ether 1-7

The purpose of this reading of the Book of Mormon is to identify and remark upon the strengthening power of the Lord Jesus Christ. The story of the brother of Jared starts with a situation arising from the unrighteousness in the world around the Jaredites. They cry out to God with a specific need and then act in faith.

   Ether 1:34 "And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded."

   "The enabling power of the Atonement of Christ strengthens us to do things we could never do on our own. Sometimes I wonder if in our latter-day world of ease--in our world of microwave ovens and cell phones and air-conditioned cars and comfortable homes--I wonder if we ever learn to acknowledge our daily dependence upon the enabling power of the Atonement"

   Elder Bednar "In the Strength of the Lord"

   The word prepare stands out in the following verse. Preparation has been made for each of us and then as we see what we need he invites us to act in faith make this journey through mortality successful.

    Ether 2:25 "And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?"

   "I frankly do not think many of us "get it" concerning this enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement, and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities."

  Elder Bednar "In the Strength of the Lord"

 "Brothers and sisters, the implication of this episode for each of us is quite straightforward. As you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed. We will become agents who "act" rather than objects that are "acted upon."

  Elder Bednar "In the Strength of the Lord"

Strawberry Festival Parade

   My town has a festival every year which originally celebrated the strawberry season. Once many fields yielded their luscious red fruit. Now, our berries come from the mainland, but not so far away as California. A parade kicks off the festivities on Saturday.

      We have so many artists, performers, musicians, athletes, and this year I felt the parade showcased these local talents.

   
                            The contrast between the electric cars and the wagon made me smile.

                         If you have ambitions to play the ukelele there is a group for you.

 
The King and Queen of the event were sufficiently sober about representing their kingdom and the children shouted hurray to each new display of color and to the candy, flying throughout the air.

                                          This parade had everything you can possibly imagine.

 
                    As usual, the Thriftway Drill Team showed the respectable use of shopping carts.

   Our favorite, of course, was the float from our own company. Grandchildren and friends were involved with a wonderful presentation.

               Emma reigned as the Sawbones Queen, in her eighties and still employed and loved.

                                    Our granddaughters look so beautiful in blue, don't you think?

   

                   Lastly, the most thought provoking float of all, the ball and chain of public debt.

Morning Rain

   When I was little I was afraid of thunderstorms and there were many in the hot, humid summer months. With a flash of lightning I would bolt under a table or my bedcovers. My father taught me that if I could slowly count to ten the storm was too far away to strike our house.

    This morning at 6am I knew a bike ride would be too wet. Wow! The lightning was close and knocked out the power for a few minutes. On my morning run, to drop off the worker bees in my house I marveled at the light.

                                 In this early morning, day struggled to overcome the night.

Morning Lines #14- Savor

“I will practice coming back to the present moment...not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past or letting anxieties, fears, or cravings pull me out...” 

― Thich Nhat Hanh, Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life

Seminary Study Skills

   At the beginning of each year I review what I wish my students could learn about studying the scriptures. Here are some things I wish for every year:

• I wish they could pick up their scriptures and easily find verses that inspire them
• I wish they knew how to follow a chain of scriptures to find answers to their questions
• I wish they loved the Topical Guide
• I wish they read all the footnotes

"Our students cannot know of God, and so love as they must love, unless they are taught by the Holy Spirit. Only by the Spirit can they know that God loved us enough to send His Son to be the propitiation for our sins and that Jesus is the Son of God and that Christ paid the price of their sins. Only by the Spirit can they know that Heavenly Father and His resurrected and glorified Son appeared to Joseph Smith. Only by the Spirit can they know that the Book of Mormon is the true word of God. And only by inspiration can they feel the love of the Father and the Son for them in giving us the
ordinances necessary to receive eternal life. Only by obtaining those witnesses, placed deep into their hearts by the Holy Ghost, will they be rooted on a sure foundation to stand steady through the
temptations and trials of their lives” (“To Know and to Love God” [an evening with President Henry B. Eyring, Feb. 26, 2010], 2). 

Mark and annotate. One of the most helpful ways for teachers and students to capture and retain the things they learn is by marking and annotating the scriptures. To mark means to designate, distinguish, set apart, or bring attention to. This can be done by underlining, shading, or outlining key words or passages in the scriptures. To annotate means to add explanatory notes or commentary. Examples of scriptural annotations could include writing personal impressions, prophetic commentary, cross-references, word definitions, or insights gained from the comments of class members in the margins next to specific scripture passages.

Scripture marking and annotating can help students and teachers to:

• Make important words, phrases, ideas, truths, people, and events easier to remember and find.

• Clarify and discover meaning in the scriptural text.

• Preserve personal insights gained and those received from others.

• Prepare to teach the gospel to others.

Teachers can encourage students to mark their scriptures by saying something like, “As you search these verses, I invite you to mark a key principle that you discover,” or “Here is an important cross-reference. You may want to write this in the margin of your scriptures.” It is better to teach, illustrate, and practice the basic elements of scripture marking throughout the year than to teach a particular marking system. 

These quotes from "Gospel Teaching and Learning" are guiding my first lessons of the new year.
To bridge the gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament we will go on a scriptural expedition. From Malachi 3:1,

to asking these three questions; Who is the messenger? Who sent the messenger? What is the message? The topical guide answers the first question. Reading through the list of scriptures we find that John 6:57 tells us the answer to the second question.

    The message, according to these verses, seems to be about the covenant God makes with his children.

   One really big theme I see in the words of Jesus Christ is his pointing us to Heavenly Father and the covenant He is willing to make with the House of Israel.

   This search and answering these questions brings me a magnified feeling about what my Heavenly Father has for me and leads me into reviewing the Plan of Salvation.

Twenty- Five Pounds is Hard to Carry

    Right on schedule, at 5 pounds a month, I have arrived at another milestone. I still can't quite trust that my plan is going to work but so far my body is changing as the plan said it would.

  When I get to forty pounds I shall do some maintenance time and figure out just what my body can handle, as in how much exercise does it need and how many calories are just right. Change is the one things I can count on. In just a week on the bicycle I am going farther to get the 30 minutes I set for myself. That has always bothered me. The body demands more exercise as it becomes fit, much more than the mind wants to deal with. I remember watching a ballet open class at Pacific Northwest Ballet. A principal ballerina was at the bar with others who were just doing an evening class. I asked my daughter why she had to take a class in the evening. She enlightened me by telling me that even the top dancers take class every day to keep their bodies in shape. They never arrive at the place where they are finished working.

   I anticipate when I reach my goal weight that more adjustments will be made. Andie Mitchell has some great analogies about the maintenance period.

   "Thinness is like Ikea furniture. Looks great in the showroom, but you have to get it home and assemble it yourself. Most times it doesn’t look quite like you’d hoped."