In Others' Words: Absolutely Essential

In Others' Words: Absolutely Essential:

I apologize for the last post. I'm simplifying. I will return to the real purpose of this blog and minimize my own commentary (soap-boxing) on the quotes I provide. I can't really say it any better anyway.

I am reprimanded by the words of a favorite author of mine, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In his book The Little Prince, the title character so truly teaches (as I have now illustrated):

"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."

Saint-Exupéry was a French pilot during WWII. In spite of his involvement on behalf of his country, he despised war and viewed life with the eye of a poet. He wrote much concerning charity, which the prophet Mormon defines as "the pure love of Christ."

The insights of Saint-Exupéry are simple but profound. For fear of saying anything to detract from their greatness, I will refrain from comment, but merely place quotes in a pleasant order.


"Charity never humiliated him who profited from it, nor ever bound him by the chains of gratitude, since it was not to him but to God that the gift was made."

-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"If a man say, 'I love God,' and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also."

1 John 4:20-21

"For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow."

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"Love does not cause suffering; what causes it is the sense of ownership, which is love's opposite."

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Let go. Let God. Without charity, life is meaningless. With it, life is given energy and purpose. In it's pure unadulterated form, Love is the greatest thing in the world and the greatest absolute essential.

As a summation of his philosophy, we can take these words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to heart.

"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye."

By Elder Thatcher

See his blog at http://inothers-words.blogspot.com/

Let Us All Press On!: "If a man die, shall he live again?"

Let Us All Press On!: "If a man die, shall he live again?": "I am so grateful today for the inspired words of our modern prophets. I was reading one talk in particular during church that meant a lot to me. The talk was given by Thomas S. Monson, who is the current prophet today. Below is the video of that talk. The part I'm writing about starts at 2:37 and goes through 4:45, but you can watch the whole thing if you want! :)

"If a man die shall he live again?" (Job 14:14)

It's a good question. For some even a scary question. Many of the people I meet on the street or at doors say something like, "I dunno buddy; I don't like to think about it!"

Well I am here today to say that there is more! There is so much that awaits beyond this mortal life! Today we are here in what we call mortality. We have physical bodies that are subject to pain, suffering, temptation, disease, and other hardships. At some point we may struggle through employment difficulties. We might be betrayed or abandoned by someone close. Many experience depression or anxiety. All those make life challenging, and sometimes seemingly impossible. In those moments where everything seems so insurmountable or even pointless, it is easy to lose perspective.

HOWEVER, if we remember that this life is not the end, then life is much more positive. In the Mormon church, we call that keeping an eternal perspective. Even if we fully believe that there's more to our existance than mortality, it won't help us unless we remember that always. By keeping our eternal perspective on, we can take our blinders off a bit and see that there's more to life than the trials that we're currently experiencing.

If a man die shall he live again? YES!!! The scriptures, the prophets, and the light of Christ in all of us bear witness that this is true! My invitation to all of you is to hold on to that. Keep moving forward. Continue trying. Follow our Heavenly Father's commandments because He has promised if we hold out faithful we "are recieved into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow." (Alma 40:12)

As a real life example, check out: http://www.mormon.org/me/1JWZ-eng"

By Elder Brandt Elison

See his blog at http://ldselison.blogspot.com/