"Behold, and hearken, O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, your advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted."

This scripture caught my eye and attention a few days ago as I was reading in the Doctrine and Covenants. The Lord is our advocate! He speaks for us in a beneficial manner before the throne of Grace. He's on our side (our better side that is.) He knows our frailties and failings and stupidities. And He knows how to strengthen us. And yes, we are all tempted so we do indeed need that succor.

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It has often occurred to me that the word "know" in the scriptural sense is experiential rather than just something learned intellectually. Adam "knew" his wife by experience. The Lord knows the weakness of man through experience. We learn to know the Lord through experience.

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“A little boy, I’m told, wrote a letter to God (this is published in a collection of children’s letters). It said, “Dear God, How do you feel about people who don’t believe in you? A friend of mine wants to know.” Recently I was invited to sit in on a graduate class elsewhere–a group most critical and equipped with jaw-breaking terminology and bone-breaking arguments against religion.

At one point I said, “So I’ll know where you’re coming from, would each person here consider: If you had only one question to address to Jesus Christ, what would you ask him?” Well, most of those in the room had a grievance and said that they would ask a kind of “pick-a-fight” question. But one lad, in the corner, didn’t respond, and, having been urged, finally said with a thoughtful smile, “Well, if I had only one question, I would ask, ‘How am I doing?”’ – Truman Madsen, On How We Know

There really is nothing like a good book!

One blessing of convalescence is having a chance to read. Allysha recommended Peace Like a River, a national bestseller by Leif Enger. It was a happy surprise when a sister in my ward brought it by for me with a bouquet of lavender tulips in accompaniment. I loved the book! I recommend you find and copy and read it for enlightenment, uplift and just plain delight.

"The novel is narrated by Reuben Land, an eleven-year-old boy suffering from severe asthma who lives with his unusual family in a small Minnesota town in 1962. His mother abandoned the family years before; his younger sister and best friend, Swede, writes epic poetry at age eight; and his father, Jeremiah, a school janitor, is a man of faith who quietly performs miracles – one of which is to bring Reuben to life after he is born dead."

There much more than that but I'll let you discover it.

I am also reading Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. It won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award. "The novel is the fictional autobiography of the Reverend John Ames, an elderly congregationalist pastor in the small, secluded town of Gilead, Iowa who knows that he is dying of a heart condition. At the beginning of the book, the date is established as 1956, and Ames explains that he is writing an account of his life for his 7-year-old son, who will have few memories of him as an adult."

Another great read. Both books have underlying religious themes.

(Book descriptions from Wikipedia.)

I should post...

It's been a while. I have sat down to post numerous times and haven't had the energy to do it. My life has changed somewhat dramatically in the past six weeks. The last week of January I was finding it difficult to get going in the morning. I would talk myself out of bed and be ready by the time my Dad came. His care was getting harder and harder. His dementia had progressed and he was requiring a ramp up of the constant supervision he has needed this past year. A friend had told me last fall of an adult day care center her mother-in-law attended that she highly recommended. One day as I was sitting quietly realizing my strength was going I remembered that recommendation and decided to look into it. It proved to be sent from Heaven and none too soon because within a few days I was flat on my back in bed. Everything just stopped. Willpower was no longer enough to get me up and at it. The side benefit was my Dad loved the daycare center. It is run out of the Community Church in Orem by a group of saintly people who seem to exude love for the elderly dementia patients they care for. It's small with 7-8 drop ins. My sister would bring my Dad there at 10:00 and I arranged for my children to pick him up at 5:00 and drive him for an hour before returning him to my sister's place for dinner and bed. (At first I thought I would be able to do the pick-ups but nope - it wasn't to be.)

To make a long story short as my sister was not far behind me in not being able to maintain care for my Dad at her house, we have now found a permanent place for my Dad. He and his black Stetson (his pride and joy since last Father's Day - it's the most well-used present he's ever received!) seem to be adjusting well with a few minor hitches here and there. I am now on my sixth week of not being able to do much. Some days are better than others. I've always been go, go, go and now it's slow, slow, slow if I'm going at all. Yes, I've been to the doctor. The first one was a bust. I think I've now found someone who can really help. I'll know more next week upon my return visit. In the mean time I'm getting some reading and sleeping done. I'm pretty much living in pj's and slippers - getting dressed to go out maybe once or twice a week. There's nice things about not being on the run - like sitting and looking out the window at the magnificent clouds and flitting birds from tree to tree. I thought I would have turned around by now but not so. I see some glimmers so hope still springs eternal - it's just the spring part comes in it's own due time.

Precious Grace

"Most of us spend many, many years trying to do things on our own. We believe in God, to be sure. We know of the availability of the precious grace and tender mercies of Jesus. And yet our hearts tend to cry out (even if we never utter the words), "I can handle it!" The fact is, I cannot handle it; neither can you. No one can "handle" life without help, particularly heavenly help. There comes that moment when it dawns upon us-and a singular moment it is-when we admit to the fact that our omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-loving God can do far more with our lives than we can. Humility ushers us into the realm of submission and surrender. And, ironically, submission and unconditional surrender to the true Captain of our souls lead eventually to victory."

From Men of Valor by Robert Millet

Scriptures of strength and solace...

A few years back during a time of spiritual need I collected a number of sciptures that gave me strength and hope. I have them printed on 4x5 cards and keep them in my scriptures to draw from as needed. I would like to share a few of them with you.

"Hast thou not known? Has thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall untterly fall; But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40: 28-31)

"...for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." (D&C 84:88)

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." (Psalms 27:14)

"My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning, therefore my hand shall be over thee." (Abraham 2:8)

"And it shall come to pass that power shall rest upon thee; thou shalt have great faith, and I will be with thee and go before thy face." (D&C 39:12)

There are many. These are just a few. If you have beloved scriptures or quotes of faith and strength please share!

Love and Pleasure... one of many Swedenborg tidbits.

I'm reading Heaven and Hell by Emanuel Swedenborg. I find it interesting. Swedenborg was an 17th-18th century scientist, philosopher and theologian who began having visions at the age of 56. He wrote volumes on spiritual matters taught him by angels. I find his writings thought provoking and they make me want to serve God and do good towards my fellowman.
Here's a small segment on love and pleasure.

"All pleasures flow from love, because what we love we feel as pleasant. There is no other source of any pleasure. It follows, then that the quality of the love determines the quality of the pleasure. Pleasures of the body or of the flesh flow from love for ourselves and from love of the world, and these are also the source of our urges, and their gratifications. The pleasures of the soul or spirit, though, all flow from love for the Lord and love for our neighbor, which are also the source of affections for what is good and true and of our deeper bliss."

"Heaven's pleasures are both indescribable and innumerable; but no one can realize or believe anything about their multitude who is wholly wrapped up in the pleasures of the body or the flesh....For no one who is wholly involved in pleasures of the body or the flesh (or in love for oneself and the world, which is the same thing) feels any pleasure except in eminence or profit or in physical and sensory gratification. These stifle and smother deeper pleasures of heaven so completely that people do not even believe such pleasures exist. So they would be quite bewildered if they were so much as told that any pleasures remain once the pleasures of eminence and profit have been taken away; and they would be even more bewildered if they were told that the pleasures that take their place are countless and simply defy comparison with pleasures of the body and the flesh, especially pleasures of eminence and profit. We can see, then, why people do not know what heavenly joy is."

"We may gather the magnitude of heaven's pleasure simply from the fact that for everyone there, it is delightful to share their pleasure and bliss with someone else; and since everyone in the heavens is like this, we can see how immense heaven's pleasure is....This kind of sharing flows from the two loves of heaven, which as noted are love for the Lord and love for our neighbor. These loves by nature want to share their pleasures. The reason love for the Lord is like this is that because the Lord's love is a love of sharing everything it has with everyone, it intends the happiness of everyone."

My unofficial endorsements!

Just thought I would tell you about a few products I love!!! :)

dyson ball

My Dyson vacuum! I can't say enough good about it. It's perfect! It's worth the $$. Best vac I've ever owned. I can't think of anything I don't like about it. It turns on a dime, gets in all the nooks and crannies, is light weight and easy to use on stairs and the tools are a dream. There you go! (Mine's the purple one.)

swiffer wet-jet

My Swiffer Mop! I received it as a Christmas present this year and I'm sold. I haven't used a mop for years because I couldn't find one I liked. This one comes the closest to my all time favorite mopping tool - an old terry cloth towel cut in half. Don't let your kids use it however as they use it as an attacking squirt gun on any unsuspecting sibling who meanders by.

It is battery operated (woo, woo) and dispenses the cleaning solution directly onto the floor. When done you throw away the disposable pad. Probably not great for the environment and it costs more than an old towel, but very convenient and easy to use.