Along with all the glorious choral music of the season, which we’ve praised recently at T&S, Christmas is also a time of gift-giving. We make long lists of presents to give to those we love, trying hard to fulfill everyone’s Christmas wishes. Lots of toys, clothes, CDs, books and flannel pajamas get purchased and carefully wrapped. Some years bigger-ticket items like electronic equipment, jewelry or even furniture are given. Still, despite our best efforts it may be rare that we give gifts that are really cherished because they speak love. Over the years I’ve come to believe that gift-giving is… Read More

Check your 72-hour kits, everyone. Over the weekend I bought and started reading a book because Adam linked to a positive review of it in the National Review. Read More

Last year at this time I posted on the topic of “Tithing Settlement.” Although I strive to avoid repetitive posting, I trust that most of our current readers were not around at the time, and I never received an answer to my question. So I am trying again. Read More

Jed W.’s term as a guest blogger has come to a close, and I am sure that I speak for all us in thanking him for his insightful and provocative posts. I learned in Church today that Jed and his wife Shauna are expecting their first child next summer. The current debate in the W. household is whether to discover their child’s gender before the birth. I am quite certain that Jed and Shauna would appreciate your insights on this issue. In the meantime, best of luck to Jed. We hope that you will not be a stranger. Read More

I am particularly fond of an old Jewish folk story called Esperanza’s Bread. Read More

Yesterday I mentioned Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘Hodie’, but did not rhapsodize about it. Allow me to rhapsodize: Read More

This year, on an impulse, I picked up a menorah and candles, and we’re trying out a new (at least, for my family) tradition — Hanukkah. Read More

I want to thank you all for your very generous and interesting comments over the last two weeks during my time in the guest blogger’s chair. Everyone has been most congenial and welcoming. I hope to come back for the guest blogger’s reunion. For my last post, I’d like to Read More

And now for a very serious topic. Which T & S bloggers are like which types of cheese? Read More

I witnessed a very powerful illustration of the vanity of the pride of the world the other day, or at least I witnessed it until I realized that I was probably wrong. Read More

So, umm, I sort of dimly know what Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby sound like, but the voice that means Christmas for me is John Shirley-Quirks’s. Read More

A couple of days ago, Bob Caswell reposted at BCC a wonderful old post of his, dealing primarily with the complications of missionary work in an area (in this case, Bulgaria) where there are significant racial, social, and economic factors which get in the way of preaching the gospel to everyone equally. In the comments following that post, Gary made an observation which has been made many times before, but which probably cannot be repeated too often: Read More

Are Mormons a “myopic� people? The historian Richard Poll first suggested the possibility in an article on Mormon personality published many years ago. Read More

To prove that engineers have a sense of humor, I send the following to my family every year at Christmas. I wish I could say I wrote it, but I didn’t, and don’t know who did. Perhaps you’ve seen it before. If not, enjoy. Read More

Yesterday the W$J ran a story on “microinequities” — “the subtle putdowns, snubs, dismissive gestures and sarcastic tones that can sap motivation.” Life is full of microinequities, and Church life is not a safe haven. Read More

We are soon approaching the year when we’ll celebrate the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s birth. As we do so, we should also reflect back on the 100th anniversary of his birth, and the legacy of that extraordinarily chaotic period. In The Politics of American Religious Identity, Kathleen Flake vividly illustrates that in 1904 and 1905, the Church was in the midst of deep and grave crisis. Read More

Recent news reports indicate that former CES instructor Grant Palmer will be facing church discipline. Any time that church discipline comes into the news, the conversation inevitably turns to the secretive Strengthening Church Members Committee which is said to maintain files on church members suspected of intellectual improprities. In a recent and lengthy blog post, the Mormon Wasp collects and discusses information and statements about the Committee (including official church statements). Mormon Wasp’s post is very informative for anyone interested in reading on this topic. Read More

John Hatch is leaving Sunstone to go to school. Over at BCC, he has a lengthy and interesting further discussion of his own life and faith. It’s a powerful, personal statement that makes fascinating reading (and if you want controversy, well, it has parts that may be likely to offend almost everyone in one way or another). To borrow a line, go read the whole thing. Read More

Drawing on some existing discussion, Jeff Lindsay suggests that the “swords” of the Book of Mormon may have actually been spiked wooden war clubs. This idea seems problematic for several reasons: Read More

So I often hear from my “intellectual” Mormon friends how they feel this crushing weight of isolation and judgemental pressure from their fellow Saints. I don’t really get it. Read More

Since Lavell Edwards retired, BYU’s football program has entered the arms race that is major college football. Read More

My post begins with a pointed question: Are higher education and the scriptural ideal of Zion at odds? The question had never occurred to me until a few years ago while living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Read More

By adding Wilfried as a permablogger a few weeks ago, we not only gained an interesting colleague, but extended Times & Seasons beyond the borders of the United States. Over the past 24 hours, I have been tracking traffic at Times & Seasons to get a glimpse at our readership around the world. Here is what I found. Read More

Married, but only one of the partners is Mormon. In the “mission field” such part-Mormon couples are numerous, probably more than in area’s where Mormons have lived for generations. Sociologists study this phenomenon among various affiliations. “Religious intermarriage”, “religious homogamy / heterogamy”, “interchurch / interfaith marriages” are some of the key words of this academic field of study. Read More

I want to ask a question within the genre of scriptural exegesis. When our church leaders commend us to seek education, they often quote Read More

In our house, we have a box full of picture books that comes out on the first Sunday in Advent, and I’m always on the lookout for new Christmas books. Read More