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 »

Tonight and tomorrow, Mormons should be thinking about Teancum and Amalickiah.

And now, it came to pass in the twenty and sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, behold, when the Lamanites awoke on the first morning of the first month, behold, they found Amalickiah was dead in his own tent; and they also saw that Teancum was ready to give them battle on that day. (Alma 52:1)

Have a Happy New Year!

This morning I went down to the lobby of our apartment building to pick up the morning paper.  Prominently printed on the front page of the New York Times was the following article title:

Mormons Tipped Scale In Ban on Gay Marriage Read more »

Have you ever held multiple church callings and/or responsibilities at one time?

How many?  Which callings were held simultaneously?

[Though they are relevant and important roles, for the sake of this post, please exclude from consideration lifelong callings such as spouse, parent, hometeacher, etc.]

We hope everyone is enjoying what so far has been a wonderful conference weekend.

In the comments of this post, please feel welcome to share your thoughts and impressions as you listen to this morning’s conference session talks.

Over at the Messenger and Advocate, Guy Murray has provided excellent notes on the Priesthood session of General Conference. Make sure to check it out.

Please share your thoughts and reactions to this afternoon’s General Conference talks in the comments of this post.

Please share your thoughts and reactions to this morning’s General Conference talks in the comments of this post.

In the comments of this post, we invite Mormon Mentality readers to predict what announcements will be made and what topics will be addressed during the Church’s 178th Semiannual General Conference.

Years ago I had a calling as a ward mission leader.  During that time I became acquainted with a long-time investigator who was coming around to the decision to be baptized.  We met on many occasions and I got to know her pretty well.

Her baptism was a joyous occasion.  We all could feel the special spirit of the ordinance and her non-Mormon family and friends who came to witness the event were also very moved by the experience.  After her baptism, as is the custom, she was confirmed in sacrament meeting (in front of the congregation).  However, due to an error in the prescribed wording of the confirmation, she was asked to come to the bishop’s office where they confirmed her again, privately. Read more »

I just overheard a political science professor saying the following:

“The American economy has now demonstrated that it privatizes profit and socializes loss.”

Any thoughts?