Friday, October 22, 2021

INDEPENDENCE FROM A FAILING SOCIETY



This week I had the opportunity to spend some time on Antelope Island. It really is like going to another world, a perfect place to escape from modern civilization. It was a full Harvest moon that night. The Hunter's Moon always follows the Harvest Moon, and is named after the time of year when animals fatten up in preparation for the colder months ahead and hunting season is underway for hunters to stock up on meat for the winter. Later that night when the full moon was almost directly overhead, a bluish ring appeared around the moon. It lasted for about an hour. The photo below doesn't do the experience the justice. 





While hiking around on the island, I was able to see bison and wheat-like stalks, two symbols of the Hunter Moon and the Harvest Moon.




Right after I got home from Antelope Island I received an email from a friend to see if I would be willing to post a written document on this blog. I usually don't post requests public service announcement requests, since this blog is more of a personal diary than an outlet for advertising, but thought it was important to share what was asked. The document can be found HERE

I am always grateful for those who use their time and talents for the benefit of others.

Here is a closing quote:   
"In our day of abundance, we are easily be misled into thinking that the blessings of our productive society permit us to be self-reliant. Of course that is only temporary. The principles upon which our society’s abundance are built have been discarded. Therefore, our “riches will become slippery” as the fruit of true principles vanish from those who dishonor the foundation upon which prosperity is conferred.

Safety in the coming scarcity of the last-days will only be found through Zion. Because the occupants of Zion will be one, they will follow two controlling principles which create the “self-sufficiency” of Zion.

First, the counterpart to the world (or Babylon as the scriptures have nicknamed the world) is Zion. Zion will require the laborer to labor only for Zion, not for themselves.

Second, we must perform the required great labor. We cannot expect to eat or be clothed in Zion if we do not work to produce the necessities of Zion."



Monday, October 11, 2021

Latest Official Proclamation (this one from the Federal Government)

Observing Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.


Today is Columbus Day. However, President Biden on Friday issued a proclamation naming today, the 2nd Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This new holiday is being celebrated around the country instead of or in addition to Columbus Day. For almost a century, Columbus Day has been one of the 12 federal holidays established by Congress. The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day in the U.S. was on October 12, 1792. The day marked the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing.

Instead of remembering Columbus, people across the country have defaced, decapitated and even removed statues of Christopher Columbus. 



Where is the outrage? As members of the Church, we read in our canonized scripture that Columbus was a man of God who was inspired by the Almighty to open up the pathway for people to come to the Americas. We read in the beginning pages of The Book of Mormon where Nephi tells us why Columbus sailed: “I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man and he went forth upon the many waters. even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.” 1 Nephi 13: 12.  

And while historians may debate his motives, we can read from Christopher Columbus's own writings why he did what he did:
"With a hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail, and he opened my will to desire to accomplish the project. . . . This was the fire that burned within me. . . . Who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but also of the Holy Spirit . . . urging me to press forward?"
 Hugh Nibley observed, “Most of what is mysterious and contradictory in the story of Columbus comes from the refusal of the experts to believe what he tells them. They say he was an outrageous liar when he was actually telling the truth!"

While there are so many depressing and unsettling things happening in our world and especially in our country right now. I find one of the ways I can cope with everything going on is to spend time up in the mountain, especially now with the fall weather. The leaves up in the mountains this year have been some of the most spectacular displays of color that I can remember here in Utah. Here are a few photos from latest hike up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Enjoy before the snow comes.