If Andy Warhol is right, everyone will have fifteen minutes of fame. This takes on various forms for different people. For some, it is a stint on MTV’s The Real World. For others, it is YouTube stardom. I’ve always wondered when my fame would come and in what form. Well, the moment has finally arrived, and I must say I’m underwhelmed. Read more »

“A poor, humble man is a powerful tool in the hands of the Lord. A rich, humble man is an even more powerful tool in the hands of the Lord.”

True?

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I’ve spent most of my married life in two major metropolitan areas: Boston and Washington, DC. (If only NuSkin would build another tower, I might have a case for including Provo…) Living in a big city is great. I love the energy, diversity, and range of opportunity that often accompany big city life. When we began having kids, we were sure that we could make the city work for them, too. Surely they’d love all the museums, zoos, parks and other things the city has to offer.

And they did love those things, but eventually the reality began to settle in: living in the city is really not that great for kids. Read more »

A few years ago I devised a clever way to get my kids to “share” their dessert with me: the Dad Tax. I gave a simple explanation of what a tax is, and then I began levying taxes on everything from cookies to Halloween candy. When my kids have, say, a cookie, I simply announce, “Dad Tax,” and then take a part of the cookie for myself. I’ve been imposing the Dad Tax for a few years now, and while my kids are not happy with it, they have more or less resigned themselves to the fact that they owe and must pay the tax. Perhaps somewhat unfairly, the Dad Tax is unpredictable. No flat rate here, folks. Sometimes the Dad Tax is especially onerous, often depending on how hungry I am at the moment. Read more »

Yesterday I gave a sacrament meeting talk on personal revelation, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Dan Ellsworth wrote something on this thread I really liked that was related to this issue, so I decided to quote him. And I openly cited the source as follows: “On the popular Church-related website Mormon Mentality, blogger Dan Ellsworth wrote…”

Setting aside the shamelessness of my publicity stunt, can the Bloggernacle be a legitimate source of authority? Read more »

Warning: The following post contains descriptions of behavior almost certainly not condoned by the Church.

I owe New Jersey an apology. I didn’t mean to cause any harm, and I certainly meant no disrespect. It all happened so quickly.

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How often have you been able to change someone’s mind on an important political issue? For many of us, it is an unusually difficult, if not impossible task. But Eugene England had a unique gift in his ability to change minds. One of the most striking examples of this that I saw happened a few years after he had passed away.

The incident involved an LDS classmate of mine in law school, a politically liberal professor, and the issue of gay marriage.

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As he was wheeled into surgery after being shot in 1981, Ronald Reagan famously joked with the doctors, “Please tell me you’re all Republicans.” The head surgeon, a liberal Democrat, replied, “Today, we’re all Republicans.”

In that spirit, I would like to suggest that today, we’re all New England Patriots fans. Read more »

Yesterday in sacrament meeting a guy stood up to bear his testimony, which started out normally enough, but took a turn for the weird when he said he wanted to read the lyrics of a Nick Lachey song (“What’s Left of Me”). So he did. The entire song. I wondered if it was the first time ever that someone had quoted Nick Lachey from the pulpit. Which led me to further wondering about the most controversial person ever quoted from the pulpit. I remember hearing Bart Simpson quoted in a sacrament meeting talk several years ago, but I think the winner has got to be Elder Dallin Oaks at a BYU devotional quoting John Lennon’s “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.” Of course, Oaks doesn’t cite Lennon, but rather the ambiguous, “Someone has said…” (Incidentally, Elder Tom Perry at General Conference in 1995 also once quoted Majorie Hinckely quoting this same phrase of Lennon’s.)

So who are other odd personalities you’ve heard quoted from the pulpit? Can anyone top Oaks quoting John Lennon?

On mornings without breakfast, the candy bowl on the bishop’s desk has often been a source of sustenance. But even on a full stomach, that small dose of sugar often does wonders for keeping me alert during early morning meetings while the high priest group leader sits uncomfortably attempting to explain yet another month of poor home-teaching statistics. Read more »

Tis the season to reexamine the ethics of allowing our children to believe in Santa Claus.

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Folks, it’s Colonel Tagore, reporting from the gender battlefront. There are some gender disparities in the Church that may not change anytime soon (e.g., women and the priesthood), but there are other battles well worth fighting. I come today with a success story. Read more »

You knew that you enjoyed sitting on the couch on Saturdays watching football (or Sundays, for the less faithful among us), but did you know that doing so would bring you closer to Christ? That’s right sports fans: watching sports is not just a good time with your buddies; it’s an important step in becoming more like God.

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Naming a child is a serious responsibility, fraught with long-term, potentially hazardous consequences. Too many parents make naming decisions without fully considering the implications of their seemingly harmless choices. I am one of those parents, and this is my story.

When we named our first boy Calvin, one of my best friends was very vocal about his disapproval of our choice. He even went so far as to mock the name—it’s Latin for “bald” he pointed out. I reacted defensively and had several arguments with him about the merits of our choice. His protests turned to warnings, but I was undeterred.

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You would think that a lifelong member of the Church would be accustomed to long meetings. After all, each week we endure a three-hour meeting, and if we’re “lucky” enough to have certain leadership responsibilities, that cranks up to anywhere from four to six hours. In fact, I’ve been enjoying a six-hour meeting schedule each Sunday for the past couple of years. Talk about a rowdy, good time.

So when my current job at a state agency assigned me to a committee that meets each week for two to four hours, I didn’t think much of it. I’m a meeting veteran. A two-hour meeting? Please. The equivalent of skipping sacrament meeting and showing up for Sunday School and Elders’ Quorum would be a Mormon vacation of sorts.

But there was a catch. Read more »

The baseball gods were unusually cruel last night. Red Sox lose. Yankees win. And then the inevitable: 756. I knew it was coming. Everyone knew it was coming. But hope springs eternal, and I held onto my sliver of faith that some way, somehow, the baseball gods would intervene and prevent the injustice. But it was not to be. A mighty, drug-powered swing of the bat, and a smirky grin plastered on an oversized head rounding the bases.

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In my current ward, women are not allowed to give the opening prayer in sacrament meeting. Read more »

Don’t you think the truth is sometimes overrated? Everyone knows, of course, that the Church, Joseph Smith, Gordon B. Hinckley (the “B” is mandatory), the Republican Party, Especially for Youth (for teens), and roommates (for BYU students), are all true. And that’s all well and good. But what about truth when it comes to how one went about offering a proposal for marriage?

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He said he just wanted to call to see how I was doing. After all, we hadn’t seen each other since the mission reunion ten years ago. So we exchanged updates on our lives, and then reminisced and gossiped a bit about the old mission days. Then the conversation took an unexpected, and ultimately, horrifying turn. Read more »

It all started when I was in my second year of law school and my wife and kids went to visit her parents for a few weeks and we decided to save a little money by subletting our house and having me sleep on the couch in the basement apartment of our friend Justin, who happens to be gay.
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