Month: September 2019

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Graphical Location does not necessarily define the Church.

No, Utah is not my church, The politics suck ….I don’t believe in “what many call Mormonism”, and please never describe me as “Churchy”.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jesus Christ is my Savior and Friend. He hears all of my prayers. He comforts me. I believe that He is at the helm of this Church but that He is also is watching over all of His children. I believe that music has a great power and that it played a very large part of the creation of this world and everything in it.

I believe that nothing happens by accident and that everything we are and everything we own first belongs to God. It is by his grace that we are able to take part in this amazing creation.

Most of all I know that I am a Child of God and that He Loves me.

In The Name of Jesus Christ …. Amen

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Halloween is Coming!

I used to enjoy dressing up for Halloween. I made costumes for my children as well as myself. It was fun to do trick or treating. However, the bloody gory movies, and the evil ugly costumes that have overtaken the commercial end of it all has sickened me to no end.

Halloween does come from Christian origins.  Halloween is the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows’ Day.  (also known as All Saints’ or Hallowmas) on 1 November and All souls’ Day. on 2 November, thus giving the holiday on 31 October the full name of All Hallows’ Eve (meaning the evening before All Hallows’ Day).

In Europe groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the dead, especially the souls of the givers’ friends and relatives. Soul cakes would also be offered for the souls themselves to eat, or the ‘soulers’ would act as their representatives. As with the  tradition of , Allhallowtide soul cakes were often marked with a cross, indicating that they were baked as alms. On the custom of wearing costumes, Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh wrote: “It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints’ Day, and All Hallows’ Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities”.

I do genealogy and Temple work to honor the dead. So I chose to reflect on those that have gone on to the next life and pray for them. Especially on Halloween. I try to avoid the evil celebrations.

I do still like the dressing up part though….

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The Healing Power of Music

I found this story that was submitted to Facebook a while back:

I turned onto the street where my father lives. The closer I got to the house, the more I dreaded seeing him.

Since Mom died and he lived alone, Dad was often angry, and lately he was getting more and more confused. Today promised to be worse than usual. He had a new aid named Liuda, from our home country of Lithuania. The presence of a stranger was bound to make Dad even more irritable.

Sure enough, Dad started complaining as soon as I got in the door. “This new girl doesn’t know anything,” he grumbled.

“It’ll take some time for her to learn how to help you,” I reassured him.

The three of us sat awkwardly in the living room. I wished I could think of something to say. Lord, please help us feel more comfortable with this arrangement. 

Liuda sprang to her feet. Walking over to Dad’s record player, she dropped a Lithuanian folk record onto the turntable. The familiar accordion music played. Dad started singing. Liuda smiled.

The music seemed to drive all the tension from the room. We chatted about Lithuania. It was one of the nicest visits Dad and I had ever had.

When I left he hugged me good-bye and asked me to look at old photos with him and Liuda next time. For a moment I glimpsed the old Dad. The man I’d always loved spending time with.

I’d come to Dad’s expecting the worst. But with Liuda’s help and a little music from the old country, I’d found what I would always love.