This week Patheos is focusing on the future of Mormonism, with posts written by Philip Barlow, Tresa Edmunds, Kristine Haglund, Brian Hales, Grant Hardy, Bridget Jack Jeffries, Richard T. Livingston, Armand Mauss, Neylan McBaine, Blake Ostler, Michael Otterson, Seth Perry, Boyd Petersen, Aaron Reeves, Jana Riess, Jan Shipps, David Stewart, Stephen Taysom, Walter van Beek, and Margaret Blair Young & Darius Aidan Gray.

Check it out here.

Over at Times and Seasons, Kaimipono Wenger has posted about the opportunity to pre-register for Sunstone 2010 between July 26th and July 30th and simultaneously enter a raffle for some pretty cool prizes.

Check it out!

Yesterday before walking into the Orem, Utah library (to visit an aunt who works there) I called my parents. They asked me rather urgently if I could pick up a book for them: “Stories From the Life of Porter Rockwell” by John W. Rockwell and Jerry Borrowman. Read more »

I was looking at various items on Craigslist. On a whim I punched in the word “Mormon” and was amused to see this: Read more »

There are some scriptural passages that succinctly get to the point, telling us in one way or another what is crucial – what is most important.

Here’s a number of summary scriptures: Read more »

This past week I heard someone use a Yiddish word I had never heard before: sitzfleisch.

I asked that person what the word means and was told:

“sitzfleisch means the ability to sit down and learn, to study, for extended periods of time.   It is the opposite of ADD.”

Literally translated into English, the word means “sit flesh” – a phrase that conjures quite the image of what the word is about.

Looking it up further online, I came up with a few more meanings that were also very interesting:

“The ability to endure or carry on with an activity.”

“A term used in chess to indicate winning by use of the glutei muscles–the habit of remaining stolid in one’s seat hour by hour, making moves that are sound but uninspired, until one’s opponent blunders through boredom.”

In the Old Testament and Book of Mormon, there are instances when a patriarch (father) gathers his children and descendants together and give them blessings. Some of these blessings are profound and beautiful – yet in a number of cases the blessings sound more like pronouncements than blessings. That is, the words spoken are less than favorable, acknowledge a serious problem or are in fact negative assessments/forecasts for the person(s) being blessed.

Read more »

Years ago at BYU, while I was taking an American Usage course, Prof. Don Norton recommended that the class read the J.B. Phillips’s “The New Testament in Modern English.” Prof. Norton commented on the clarity and the beauty of the translation. Curious, I picked up a copy and in the process of reading it, became a bit of a fan. Read more »

There is an article at Mormon Times, titled “All Are Vulnerable to Threat of Infidelity” that offers some statistics and information that surprised me and raised some questions. Read more »

This is completely preposterous.

Some family in Great Neck, NY is saying they are in possession of an ancient Middle Eastern gold tablet with an engraved inscription.

It’s very small, fits in the palm of the hand, and is worth $10 million.

As of yet, no mention of an angel being involved.

(please note that the title and post previously and mistakenly indicated that “Great Neck” is in New Jersey when it is in New York … the error has been fixed)

Just a little while ago I was sitting at my desk and happened to be chatting a little bit with an older man I had not met previously.  He seemed very nice and I was enjoying the conversation.  It was basically just small talk.  He asked me about where I had been employed previously and among other things I told him I had worked in Salt Lake City.  He then asked me if I was Mormon and I said yes.  He said he knew we had a beautiful chapel with a congregation for single people nearby (he was referring to our chapel in Inwood) – I asked him how he knew and he said he’s interested in religion.  Then he simply told me (I’m paraphrasing here): Read more »

I re-read Chaim Potok’s “the Chosen” over the past couple of days.

A good book.  Definitely worth reading.

There are a few lines at the very end of chapter 14 (probably my favorite chapter in the book) that I don’t understand.  It reads:

“That evening after my first class , I went to the school library and looked for Rav Gershenson’s name in the Hebrew and English catalogues.  His name wasn’t listed anywhere.  It was then that I understood why my father was not teaching in this school.”

There is some finality there – obviously an important point is being made.

I have tried to figure out if there is an earlier part of the narrative that would connect with these lines. So far no luck. So I don’t really know what the message is.

Any Chaim Potok experts out there?

J. Max Wilson and I are announcing a new plugin for WordPress.

It is called ScriptureLog.

You can also read about the project here.

I am reading about Roman Polanski in the news and I’m trying to understand the stunned outraged reactions of some European figures. Read more »

Gene is 91 years old. He turns 92 in September.

Read more »

As everyone has seen in the news lately, there is a major confrontation occurring between factions of the Iranian government and also between Iranian police/military forces and the Iranian people. Read more »

Do you have a Sabbath Day playlist?

Read more »

Punctuation is important.  The Book of Mormon uses dashes/hyphens quite a bit and the choice of an em dash versus an en dash makes a significant difference in how a particular passage may be read, pronounced and understood.

One particular construction in 1 Nephi Chapter 14:3 effectively demonstrates the difference and we should be careful how we read this verse out loud in the home or at church.

1 Nephi 14:3
And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell—yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end.

I usually enjoy seeing children bear testimonies, with or without parental help.

LDS children seem to learn early on in the church that they are welcome, that they belong to the congregation, that they are expected to attend meetings and that they have rights to participate.  One of these rights is to come up in front of the congregation during testimony meeting.  It’s often very interesting and refreshing to see children figuring this out. Read more »

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” – Tolstoy (in Anna Karenina)

I was reading the Times and Seasons post titled “Get Me A New Home Teacher”, with the associated comments (particularly ones that dealt with testimony meetings and hometeaching), and the line above came to mind, except the thought was worded “Happy wards are all alike, every unhappy ward is unhappy in its own way.” Read more »