My a capella group, The Longfellow Singers, will present “Sacred Harmony: A Celebration of Worldwide Choral Traditions” this coming Sunday as a benefit concert for the victims of the recent southeast Asia tsunami. We will be singing selections from Renaissance-era Europe as well as folk songs and hymns from Africa, Korea, New Zealand and the United States. The music is absolutely gorgeous, if I do say so myself. Although a collection will be taken, it is a free concert and there is absolutely no obligation to make a donation of any kind. So, if you will be in the Boston area this weekend, come hear me sing!! Sunday, February 27th 8:00 pm St. John’s Chapel, Episcopal Divinity School 99 Brattle Street, Cambridge (this is right across from the LDS chapel) For more information, visit http://longfellowsingers.com
In Memory of the Metaphysical Elders
Lost in all of the buzz about the Bloggernacle Awards (I was tempted to make a big acceptance speech until I realized that I got only 21 of the votes cast for the category I won, meaning that the vast majority of the voting public was against me) was an interesting set of comments asking about which blog could claim the honor of first Mormon blog.
Proxy Baptizing Holocaust Victims = Fanaticism?
That’s the implication of this angry piece by David Velleman, a philosophy professor at the University of Michigan. Reading about the activities of certain evangelical groups to proselytize in the wake of the tsunami catatrosphe (some of which, I agree, are more than a little insensitive), Velleman reflects upon his discovery, over a decade ago, that his long-dead family (Dutch Jews, all) had been subject to some proxy proselytizing themselves:
A Snap Shot in Numbers
OK. I know that this will mark me as a total geek, but I recently came across a copy of Census of 1850, which is the first census with information on Utah. The numbers provide a fun snap shot of the Mormon commonwealth three years after its founding.
12 Questions with Senator Robert F. Bennett
Our next installment of the 12 Questions series will be with Robert F. Bennett, the junior Senator from Utah. Senator Bennett, a Republican, was elected to the Senate in 1992. As Assitant Majority Whip, he is a member of the Republican leadership. Prior to his election, he was a business man, PR executive, lobbyist, and Congressional staffer. His own father, Wallace F. Bennett, served as Senator from Utah in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. He served his mission in Scotland, is a former bishop, and currently attends the Arlington Ward of the McLean, Virginia Stake. Senator Bennett has agreed to discuss Mormonism and politics. Please post your questions.
Keys and Authority
In Gospel Doctrine class today, we read several verses from Doctrine and Covenants in which the keys of the priesthood are referred to. (We are on lesson eight.) An example is D&C 84:19: “This greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.”
Sunday School Lesson 10
Lesson 10: D&C 25 Verse 1: Christ is speaking here, rather than the Father. Why is it important for us to become his son or daughter rather than to be his brother or sister? He tells us that we become sons and daughters by receiving his gospel. How do we that? (Compare Mosiah 5:7.)
Yes, He Does
Someone named Katherine posted the following on the What Think Ye? thread: “The subjects of women and the Priesthood and women and the church are ones I honestly struggle with. My questions are does God love women less than men, does he esteem us less, and are we worth less in the eternities? While my heart says that couldn’t be, I have every earthly and heavenly evidence to the contrary. I beg for your collective wisdom–how can I know that his female children have the same value to him as his male children?”
Fear of God
We’re commanded in the scriptures to fear God. Why? What does this formulation mean, anyway?
Technologies of Family
I experience flashes of poetry, but I was assigned an unreliable muse in the heretofore, alas. My moment of greatest poetic inspiration arrived when I was twelve or thirteen, on a trip across country in our fifteen-passenger Ford van. My mother devised a contest among us siblings to compose the best family cheer, and, motivated as I always have been by competition, I came up with these four immortal lines: Get the baby, shut the door! What’s for dinner? We want more! Though we’re busy and sometimes mad, The Frandsen family is really rad! Needless to say, I won the competition.
Simple Testimony
Last week my bishop encouraged us to read M. Russell Ballard’s talk “Pure Testimony” from last General Conference. I did, and it has caused me to reevaluate how I share my own testimony.
Priesthood Blessings: Whos, Whens, Whys
I recently returned from what may turn out to have been a very important job interview. (Then again, it may not.) When my wife mentioned this interview to a friend via e-mail, the friend wrote back, asking if I’d received a priesthood blessing before I’d gone. I hadn’t.
Samuel goes to Charter(?) School
Next fall my firstborn will start kindergarten. As such he has the choice between the local elementary (4 blocks from home) and the charter school (Freedom Academy). He has other choices but he isn’t going to exercise them, so we’ll ignore those.
LDS Law Students’ Conference: Updated Schedule
For those interested, here is the final schedule for the LDS Law Students’ Conference
Contention and Argument
The Book of Mormon has a number of not so complimentary things to say about contention. Generally speaking, I have heard this interpreted as an admonition to be nice and change the subject if anything controversial comes up. My problem with this, of course, is that I am not especially nice, and I like controversy.
Ninety one words
Karl was a stutterer and he had to say the sacrament prayer.
The Evening When Mormons Could Once More Become Americans
I have been reading Kathleen Flake’s excellent book on the Reed Smoot hearings, and it has me thinking Smootish thoughts.
What Think Ye?
Kaimi scooped me by about 6 seconds on the sidebar link to this.
Love Requited: Fidelity in Marriage
In honor of Valentine’s Day, a love simile: If married love were chocolate, it would be have to be a bittersweet dark, because no chalky milk or bland white could adequately convey the depth, complexity, and challenge of fidelity in marriage.
LDS Law Students’ Conference This Week in NYC
For those in the New York City area this weekend, you have a chance to come and heckle Kaimi and I in person.
Do Church Salaries Drive Mothers into the Workforce?
My wife just mentioned this to me, and it has me wondering. If the church really wants mothers to stay at home, then why do many full-time church employees seem not to be paid enough to make that happen?
Pink
Yes, Pink. Apparently the color scheme of at least one bloggernacle site is enough to deter workplace browsing. John F. writes that he cannot visit Feminist Mormon Housewives while at work, because “ I feel nervous about a fellow associate walking in (or a partner, for that matter) and seeing the hot pink and knowing what they are wondering.“
How much is it worth?
Suppose you think the world would be a better place if there were no Walmarts in your town. Then the next question is, suppose you could live in the world where Walmart was not allowed, but you had less money.
A Verse for the p0rn Addict
Here’s a verse for the poor slaves and servants to that vile master, p0rnography.