Every Riven Thing

God goes, belonging to every riven thing he's made

sing his being simply by being

the thing it is:

stone and tree and sky,

man who sees and sings and wonders why

God goes. Belonging, to every riven thing he's made,

means a storm of peace.

Think of the atoms inside the stone.

Think of the man who sits alone

trying to will himself into the stillness where

God goes belonging. To every riven thing he's made

there is given one shade

shaped exactly to the thing itself:

under the tree a darker tree;

under the man the only man to see

God goes belonging to every riven thing. He's made

the things that bring him near,

made the mind that makes him go.

A part of what man knows,

apart from what man knows,

God goes belonging to every riven thing he's made.

christian wimans

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/11/poet-christian-wimans-every-riven-thing.html

rive  (rv)
v. rived, riv·en (rvn) also rived, riv·ing, rives
v.tr.
1. To rend or tear apart.
2. To break into pieces, as by a blow; cleave or split asunder.
3. To break or distress (the spirit, for example).
v.intr.
To be or become split.
[Middle English riven, from Old Norse rfa.]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/riven

On being compelled to Love

Love is an act,
I am compelled to renew daily, 
a bittersweet choice, 
like pork seeds and chinese mustard sauce, 
   a combination of flavors,
                                   that in the end satisfies me ....
                                                       .......though more often then not, 
  very painful.

My second poem

These Poems, She Said

 These poems, these poems,

these poems, she said, are poems

with no love in them. These are the poems of a man 

who would leave his wife and child because 

they made noise in his study. These are the poems 

of a man who would murder his mother to claim 

the inheritance. These are the poems of a man 

like Plato, she said, meaning something I did not 

comprehend but which nevertheless

offended me. These are the poems of a man

who would rather sleep with himself than with women, 

she said. These are the poems of a man

with eyes like a drawknife, with hands like a pickpocket’s 

hands, woven of water and logic

and hunger, with no strand of love in them. These 

poems are as heartless as birdsong, as unmeant  

as elm leaves, which if they love love only 

the wide blue sky and the air and the idea

of elm leaves. Self-love is an ending, she said, 

and not a beginning. Love means love

of the thing sung, not of the song or the singing. 

These poems, she said....

                                       You are, he said,

beautiful.

                That is not love, she said rightly.

Robert Bringhurst, “These Poems, She Said” from The Beauty of the Weapons: Selected Poems 1972-1982. Copyright © 1982 by Robert Bringhurst. Used by permission of Copper Canyon Press

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178483

On a Weeping god,

At the very end of the bible, John the Revelator is given a vision much like Enoch’s; in fact, he sees Enoch’s holy city, the new Jerusalem in the latter days “coming down from God out of heaven . . .And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. 

. . .And God shall wipe away all tears from their eye” (Rev. 21:3–4). This is the great hope and consolation for all believers. For Mormons, it has the added poignancy that as he wipes away those tears, 

God himself will be weeping for the residue of his children who are not there.

(Eugene England , The Weeping God of Mormonism, Originally published: Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 35, no. 1 (Spring 2002): 63–80.)

On judging our leaders

“Though I admitted in my feelings and knew all the time that Joseph was a human being and subject to err, still it was none of my business to look after his faults.. . .

It was not my prerogative to call him in question with regard to any act of his life.
He was God’s servant, and not mine.”  

(Brigham Young, sermon delivered in Bowery, Great Salt Lake City Utah Territory March 29, 1857)

Job Description

Job Description;

self programming  Field Gate Array,  Googlebot, 

with Dynamic Host Memory

and intuitive IO interfaces,   

WARNING "resets every 24 hours"

If you understand this you are smarter then i am

The Vision - A Poetic Response

A Vision  

A poetic version of D&C 76 as written by Joseph Smith

in answer to a poetic response to The Vision from W. W. Phelps.

1.   I will go, I will go, to the home of the Saints,

           Where the virtue's the value, and life the reward;

      But before I return to my former estate

           I must fulfil the mission I had from the Lord.

2.   Wherefore, hear, O ye heavens, and give ear O ye earth;

           And rejoice ye inhabitants truly again;

      For the Lord he is God, and his life never ends,

           And besides him there ne'er was a Saviour of men.

3.   His ways are a wonder; his wisdom is great;

           The extent of his doings, there's none can unveil;

      His purposes fail not; from age unto age

           He still is the same, and his years never fail.

4.   His throne is the heavens, his life time is all

           Of eternity now, and eternity then;

      His union is power, and none stays his hand,

           The Alpha, Omega, for ever: Amen.

5.   For thus saith the Lord, in the spirit of truth,

           I am merciful, gracious, and good unto those

      That fear me, and live for the life that's to come;

           My delight is to honor the saints with repose;

6.   That serve me in righteousness true to the end;

           Eternal's their glory, and great their reward;

      I'll surely reveal all my myst'ries to them,–

           The great hidden myst'ries in my kingdom stor'd–

7.   From the council in Kolob, to time on the earth,

           And for ages to come unto them I will show

      My pleasure & will, what my kingdom will do:

           Eternity's wonders they truly shall know.

8.   Great things of the future I'll show unto them

           Yea, things of the vast generations to rise;

      For their wisdom and glory shall be very great,

           And their pure understanding extend to the skies:

9.   And before them the wisdom of wise men shall cease,

           And the nice understanding of prudent ones fail!

      For the light of my spirit shall light mine elect,

           And the truth is so mighty 'twill ever prevail.

10. And the secrets and plans of my will I'll reveal;

           The sanctified pleasures when earth is renew'd,

      What the eye hath not seen, nor the ear hath yet heard;

           Nor the heart of the natural man ever hath view'd.

11. I, Joseph, the prophet, in spirit beheld,

           And the eyes of the inner man truly did see

      Eternity sketch'd in a vision from God,

           Of what was, and now is, and yet is to be.

12. Those things which the Father ordained of old,

           Before the world was, or a system had run,–

      Through Jesus the Maker and Savior of all;

           The only begotten, (Messiah) his son.

13. Of whom I bear record, as all prophets have,

           And the record I bear is the fulness,–yea even

      The truth of the gospel of Jesus–the Christ,

           With whom I convers'd, in the vision of heav'n.

14. For while in the act of translating his word,

           Which the Lord in his grace had appointed to me,

      I came to the gospel recorded by John,

           Chapter fifth and the twenty ninth verse, which you'll see.

           Which was given as follows:

              "Speaking of the resurrection of the dead,–

              concerning those who shall hear the voice of the son of man–

              "And shall come forth:

              – they who have done good

                 in the resurrection of the just,

              and they who have done evil

                 in the resurrection of the unjust."

15. I marvel'd at these resurrections, indeed!

           For it came unto me by the spirit direct:–

      And while I did meditate what it all meant,

           The Lord touch'd the eyes of my own intellect:–

16. Hosanna forever! they open'd anon,

           And the glory of God shone around where I was;

      And there was the Son, at the Father's right hand,

           In a fulness of glory, and holy applause.

17. I beheld round the throne, holy angels and hosts,

           And sanctified beings from worlds that have been,

      In holiness worshipping God and the Lamb

           Forever and ever, amen and amen!

18. And now after all of the proofs made of him,

           By witnesses truly, by whom he was known,

      This is mine, last of all, that he lives; yea he lives!

           And sits at the right hand of God, on his throne.

19. And I heard a great voice, bearing record from heav'n,

           He's the Saviour, and only begotten of God–

      By him, of him, and through him, the worlds were all made,

           Even all that career in the heavens so broad.

20. Whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last,

           Are sav'd by the very same Saviour of ours;

      And, of course, are begotten God's daughters and sons,

           By the very same truths, and the very same pow'rs.

21. And I saw and bear record of warfare in heav'n;

           For an angel of light, in authority great,

      Rebell'd against Jesus, and sought for his pow'r,

           But was thrust down to woe from his Glorified state.

22. And the heavens all wept, and the tears drop'd like dew,

           That Lucifer, son of the morning had fell!

      Yea, is fallen! is fall'n, and become, Oh, alas!

           The son of Perdition; the devil of hell!

23. And while I was yet in the spirit of truth,

           The commandment was: write ye the vision all out;

      For Satan, old serpent, the devil's for war,–

           And yet will encompass the saints round about.

24. And I saw, too, the suff'ring and mis'ry of those,

           (Overcome by the devil, in warfare and fight,)

      In hell-fire, and vengeance, the doom of the damn'd;

           For the Lord said, the vision is further: so write.

25. For thus saith the Lord, now concerning all those

           Who know of my power and partake of the same;

      And suffer themselves, that they be overcome

           By the power of Satan; despising my name:–

26. Defying my power, and denying the truth;–

           They are they–of the world, or of men, most forlorn,

      The Sons of Perdition, of whom, ah! I say,

           'Twere better for them had they never been born!

27. They're vessels of wrath, and dishonor to God,

           Doom'd to suffer his wrath, in the regions of woe,

      Through the terrific night of eternity's round,

           With the devil and all of his angels below:

28. Of whom it is said, no forgiveness is giv'n,

           In this world, alas! nor the world that's to come;

      For they have denied the spirit of God,

           After having receiv'd it: and mis'ry's their doom.

29. And denying the only begotten of God,–

           And crucify him to themselves, as they do,

      And openly put him to shame in their flesh,

           By gospel they cannot repentance renew.

30. They are they, who must go to the great lake of fire,

           Which burneth with brimstone, yet never consumes,

      And dwell with the devil, and angels of his,

           While eternity goes and eternity comes.

31. They are they, who must groan through the great second death,

           And are not redeemed in the time of the Lord;

      While all the rest are, through the triumph of Christ,

           Made partakers of grace, by the power of his word.

32. The myst'ry of Godliness truly is great;–

          The past, and the present, and what is to be;

      And this is the gospel–glad tidings to all,

           Which the voice from the heavens bore record to me:

33. That he came to the world in the middle of time,

          To lay down his life for his friends and his foes,

      And bear away sin as a mission of love;

           And sanctify earth for a blessed repose.

34. 'Tis decreed, that he'll save all the work of his hands,

           And sanctify them by his own precious blood;

      And purify earth for the Sabbath of rest,

           By the agent of fire, as it was by the flood.

35. The Savior will save all his Father did give.

           Even all that he gave in the regions abroad,

      Save the Sons of Perdition: They're lost; ever lost,

           And can never return to the presence of God.

36. They are they, who must reign with the devil in hell,

           In eternity now, and eternity then,

      Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quench'd;–

           And the punishment still, is eternal. Amen.

37. And which is the torment apostates receive,

           But the end, or the place where the torment began,

      Save to them who are made to partake of the same,

           Was never, nor will be, revealed unto man.

38. Yet God shows by vision a glimpse of their fate,

           And straightway he closes the scene that was shown:

      So the width, or the depth, or the misery thereof,

           Save to those that partake, is forever unknown.

39. And while I was pondering, the vision was closed;

           And the voice said to me, write the vision: for Lo!

      'Tis the end of the scene of the sufferings of those,

           Who remain filthy still in their anguish and woe.

40. And again I bear record of heavenly things,

           Where virtue's the value, above all that's priz'd–

      Of the truth of the gospel concerning the just,

           That rise in the first resurrection of Christ.

41. Who receiv'd and believ'd, and repented likewise,

           And then were baptis'd, as a man always was,

      Who ask'd and receiv'd a remission of sin,

           And honored the kingdom by keeping its laws.

42. Being buried in water, as Jesus had been,

           And keeping the whole of his holy commands,

      They received the gift of the spirit of truth

           By the ordinance truly of laying on hands.

43. For these overcome, by their faith and their works,

           Being tried in their life-time, as purified gold,

      And seal'd by the spirit of promise, to life,

           By men called of God, as was Aaron of old.

44. They are they, of the church of the first born of God–

           And unto whose hands he committeth all things;

      For they hold the keys of the kingdom of heav'n,

           And reign with the Savior, as priests, and as kings.

45. They're priests of the order of Melchisedek,

           Like Jesus, (from whom is this highest reward;)

      Receiving a fulness of glory and light; As written:

           They're Gods; even sons of the Lord.

46. So all things are theirs; yea, of life, of death;

           Yea, whether things now, or to come, all are theirs,

      And they are the Savior's, and he is the Lord's,

           Having overcome all, as eternity's heirs.

47. 'Tis wisdom that man never glory in man,

           But give God the glory for all that he hath;

      For the righteous will walk in the presence of God,

           While the wicked are trod under foot in his wrath.

48. Yea, the righteous shall dwell in the presence of God,

           And of Jesus, forever, from earth's second birth–

      For when he comes down in the splendor of heav'n,

           All these he'll bring with him, to reign on the earth.

49. These are they that arise in their bodies of flesh,

           When the trump of the first resurrection shall sound;

      These are they that come up to Mount Zion, in life,

           Where the blessings and gifts of the spirit abound.

50. These are they that have come to the heavenly place;

           To the numberless courses of angels above:

      To the city of God; e'en the holiest of all,

           And the home of the blessed, the fountain of love:

51. To the church of old Enoch, and of the first born:

           And gen'ral assembly of ancient renown'd,

      Whose names are all kept in the archives of heav'n,

           As chosen and faithful, and fit to be crown'd.

52. These are they that are perfect through Jesus' own blood,

           Whose bodies celestial are mention'd by Paul,

      Where the sun is the typical glory thereof,

           And God, and his Christ, are the true judge of all.

53. Again I beheld the terrestrial world,

           In the order and glory of Jesus, go on;

      'Twas not as the church of the first born of God

           But shone in its place, as the moon to the sun.

54. Behold, these are they that have died without law;

           The heathen of ages that never had hope,

      And those of the region and shadow of death,

           The spirits in prison, that light has brought up.

55. To spirits in prison the Savior once preach'd,

           And taught them the gospel, with powers afresh;

      And then were the living baptiz'd for their dead,

           That they might be judg'd as if men in the flesh.

56. These are they that are hon'rable men of the earth;

           Who were blinded and dup'd by the cunning of men:

      They receiv'd not the truth of the Savior at first;

           But did, when they heard it in prison, again.

57. Not valiant for truth, they obtain'd not the crown,

           But are of that glory that's typ'd by the moon:

      They are they, that come into the presence of Christ,

           But not to the fulness of God, on his throne.

58. Again I beheld the telestial, as third,

           The lesser, or starry world, next in its place,

      For the leaven must leaven three measures of meal,

           And very knee bow that is subject to grace.

59. These are they that receiv'd not the gospel of Christ,

           Or evidence, either, that he ever was;

      As the stars are all diff'rent in glory and light,

           So differs the glory of these by the laws.

60. These are they that deny not the spirit of God,

           But are thrust down to hell, with the devil, for sins,

      As hypocrites, liars, whoremongers, and thieves,

           And stay 'till the last resurrection begins.

61. 'Till the Lamb shall have finish'd the work he begun;

           Shall have trodden the wine press, in fury alone,

      And overcome all by the pow'r of his might:

           He conquers to conquer, and save all his own.

62. These are they that receive not a fulness of light,

           From Christ, in eternity's world, where they are,

      The terrestrial sends them the Comforter, though;

           And minist'ring angels, to happify there.

63. And so the telestial is minister'd to,

           By ministers from the terrestrial one,

      As terrestrial is, from the celestial throne;

           And the great, greater, greatest, seem's stars, moon, and sun.

64. And thus I beheld, in the vision of heav'n,

           The telestial glory, dominion and bliss,

      Surpassing the great understanding of men,–

           Unknown, save reveal'd, in a world vain as this.

65. And lo, I beheld the terrestrial, too,

           Which excels the telestial in glory and light,

      In splendor, and knowledge, and wisdom, and joy,

           In blessings, and graces, dominion and might.

66. I beheld the celestial, in glory sublime;

           Which is the most excellent kingdom that is,–

      Where God, e'en the Father, in harmony reigns;

           Almighty, supreme, and eternal, in bliss.

67. Where the church of the first born in union reside,

           And they see as they're seen, and they know as they're known;

      Being equal in power, dominion and might,

           With a fulness of glory and grace, round his throne.

68. The glory celestial is one like the sun;

           The glory terrestrial is one like the moon;

      The glory telestial is one like the stars,

           And all harmonize like the parts of a tune.

69. As the stars are all different in lustre and size,

           So the telestial region, is mingled in bliss;

      From least unto greatest, and greatest to least,

           The reward is exactly as promis'd in this.

70. These are they that came out for Apollos and Paul;

           For Cephas and Jesus, in all kinds of hope;

      For Enoch and Moses, and Peter, and John;

           For Luther and Calvin, and even the Pope.

71. For they never received the gospel of Christ,

           Nor the prophetic spirit that came from the Lord;

      Nor the covenant neither, which Jacob once had;

           They went their own way, and they have their reward.

72. By the order of God, last of all, these are they,

           That will not be gathered with saints here below,

      To be caught up to Jesus, and meet in the cloud:–

           In darkness they worshipp'd; to darkness they go.

73. These are they that are sinful, the wicked at large,

           That glutted their passion by meanness or worth;

      All liars, adulterers, sorc'rers, and proud;

           And suffer, as promis'd, God's wrath on the earth.

74. These are they that must suffer the vengeance of hell,

           'Till Christ shall have trodden all enemies down,

      And perfected his work, in the fulness of times:

           And is crown'd on his throne with his glorious crown.

75. The vast multitude of the telestial world–

           As the stars of the skies, or the sands of the sea;–

      The voice of Jehovah echo'd far and wide,

           Ev'ry tongue shall confess, and they all bow the knee.

76. Ev'ry man shall be judg'd by the works of his life,

           And receive a reward in the mansions prepar'd;

      For his judgments are just, and his works never end,

           As his prophets and servants have always declar'd.

77. But the great things of God, which he show'd unto me,

           Unlawful to utter, I dare not declare;

      They surpass all the wisdom and greatness of men,

           And only are seen, as has Paul, where they are.

78. I will go, I will go, while the secret of life,

           Is blooming in heaven, and blasting in hell;

      Is leaving on earth, and a budding in space:–

           I will go, I will go, with you, brother, farewell.

JOSEPH SMITH.               

Nauvoo, February 1843. 

Healing Begins - Tenth Avenue North - w/lyrics

On where the healing starts

"Healing Begins"
Tenth Avenue North

So you thought you had to keep this up
All the work that you do
So we think that you're good
And you can't believe it's not enough
All the walls you built up
Are just glass on the outside

So let 'em fall down
There's freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Afraid to let your secrets out
Everything that you hide
Can come crashing through the door now
But too scared to face all your fear
So you hide but you find
That the shame won't disappear

So let it fall down
There's freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now
We're here now, oh

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Sparks will fly as grace collides
With the dark inside of us
So please don't fight
This coming light
Let this blood come cover us
His blood can cover us

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Songwriter(s): Jason Ingram, Mike Donehey, Jeff Owen
Copyright: Sony/Atv Cross Keys Publishing,
Sony/Atv Timber Publishing, Windsor Hill Music,
Formerly Music, West Main Music

Sunday Morning Coming Down

"Sunday Morning Coming Down"

Well, I woke up Sunday morning 

With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt. 

And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, 

So I had one more for dessert. 

Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes 

And found my cleanest dirty shirt. 

Then I washed my face and combed my hair 

And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day. 

I'd smoked my mind the night before 

With cigarettes and songs I'd been picking. 

But I lit my first and watched a small kid 

Playing with a can that he was kicking. 

Then I walked across the street 

And caught the Sunday smell of someone frying chicken. 

And Lord, it took me back to something that I'd lost 

Somewhere, somehow along the way. 

On a Sunday morning sidewalk, 

I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned. 

'Cause there's something in a Sunday 

That makes a body feel alone. 

And there's nothing short a' dying 

That's half as lonesome as the sound 

Of the sleeping city sidewalk 

And Sunday morning coming down. 

In the park I saw a daddy 

With a laughing little girl that he was swinging. 

And I stopped beside a Sunday school 

And listened to the songs they were singing. 

Then I headed down the street, 

And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringing, 

And it echoed through the canyon 

Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday. 

On a Sunday morning sidewalk, 

I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned. 

'Cause there's something in a Sunday 

That makes a body feel alone. 

And there's nothing short a' dying 

That's half as lonesome as the sound 

Of the sleeping city sidewalk 

And Sunday morning coming down.

Kris Kristofferson  

The Three Little Pigs - Like Unto Shakespeare

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2PCGINWXA8


In time passed, though not long ago, there lived three pigs in stature, little in number, three, who being of an age both entitled and inspired to seek their fortune did set about to do thusly.

When they had traveled a distance, pig numbered first spake saying, “Harken Brethren, head this impetuous realm! Tarry me far from hearth and home I fear we shall fair *snort* not well!” and so being collectively agreed, but individually impaled, the diminutive swine sought each to erect himself an abode.

Pig numbered one did construct his house of straw. Pig numbered two did likewise, though rather not from straw but instead from sticks. Meanwhile, unique in his imaginings, pig numbered three did erectus his domicile star-ward and garish structure made from brick entirely. Soon there happened along, as is frequently the scenario of classic protagonist pig or red hooded child – a wolf.

Carnivorous nature in full season, he called out to the straw staunched swine saying, “Pray thee, little pig, grant me entrance.” But pig one recalled with sage foreboding that he is mad who trusts in the tameness of a belly pinched wolf and responded immediately, “Nay it shall NOT be indeed! Not by wit or whiskered jowl!”

Prepared for this most expected response, the wolf replied immediately, “Than steal thyself, little pig! Forthwith shall I endeavor employing means both huffing and puffing to dismantle yon flaxen fortress!” Where upon there issued forth from the wolf an exhale of gale proportions that quickly rendered straw hovel to dregs and dross and carried aloft piglet and shattered courters both.

Exposed now to claw and fang, piglet one made haste, wolf in pursuit, to the stick festooned sanctum of peccary secondary. Causing pig two to cry out in dismay, “Well, this knocks my knickers! The marshaling of feral wolf on my doorstep is nowhere among those endeavors of animal nor congenial!”

“A thousand pardons!” Squealed two…one…”T’wood seem the beast made from breath has purged me of home and sound judgment alike!”

The mighty maelstrom of the wolf’s exhale…splattered second swine’s shack and shortened his sanctimonious scolding simultaneously.

“Low and behold!” Squealed two, “stand we now amid wooded wreckage, tremulous and vulnerable with nay various strategy for ensuing the canine devour in looming in deadly proximity!”

“Strategy?” Squealed one, “While it is noble to contemplate tactical particularities, pressed as we are with the time restraint for bidding detailed strategical conversations, I would URGE WE RUN!”

Whether by their own fleet footed competence or the wolf’s windless attitude, the diminutive swine arrived at their ultimate kindred neighbor’s inexpugnable brick ingress unscathed. Upon the third pig’s door with urgent hooves they pounded calling out, “Unbar this entrance and with haste, we beseech thee!”

The third pig haled from the American colonies….

And possessing a vocabulary substantially less robust than impromptu visitors replied, “Say what?”

“Seek we sanctuary!” They implore on the verge of hysteria, “Lest we fall forthwith to the ravenous appetency of yonder approaching carnivore!” Still confounded by their importunate words, Pig three did render ajar his portal whereupon one and two spilled through and collapse beyond the threshold, enervated.

“Y’all just wanted to come in? You could’a said that.”

The sinister hiss of the wolf could once again be heard outside, “Pray thee pigs, grant me entrance!”

“The wolf!” said one and two.

“Wolf?” said three, “What’chya suppose he wants?”

“He seeks to gain purchase within, indeed he would occupy this very alcove where we have afforded the most meager of opportunities!”

“Right…I’m just gonna go ask him what he wants.”

“Under no circumstances!” Squealed two flinging self bodily against the portal, “there is none to be gained accost the external opponent save our immediate demise!”

“What did you say about my momma?”

House occupants were again engulfed by a benevolent blast of wolfish wind. The foundation shook, the frame rattled, and low, to the astonished eyes of piglet and encroaching scoundrel alike, stood the third pig’s lodging undaunted.

Good news for you, pig fans.

Aghast and dismayed, pig two quarried of pig three, “How does, against such relentless and torrential onslaught, does this domicile endure?”

Pig three, puffed out chest, tapped a hoof to the hearth and responded “It’s American made.”

Shakespeare’s The Three Little Pigs – John Branyan

On Orson Pratt's Observatory

Is this not a sign of our faith  ...

and reason?

 Reason in the shadow of the Salt Lake Temple.

He built an observatory before a temple.

 In the days of their poverty ....


 he yearned for the stars.

On simplicity; and the Transit of Venus

" The things we need most for immediate practical purposes are all abstractions. 

•           We need a right view of the human lot,

•           a right view of the human society;

and if we were living eagerly and angrily in the enthusiasm of those things, 

we should, ipso facto, be living simply in the genuine and spiritual sense. 

Desire and danger make every one simple.  And to those who talk to us with interfering eloquence about Jaeger and the pores of the skin, and about Plasmon and the coats of the stomach, at them shall only be hurled the words that are hurled at fops and gluttons, ...

 "Take no thought what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed.  For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

...Those amazing words are not only extraordinarily good, practical politics; they are also superlatively good hygiene.  …

…The one supreme way of making all those processes go right, the processes of health, and strength, and grace, and beauty, the one and only way of making certain of their accuracy, is to think about something else….

 …If a man is bent on climbing into the seventh heaven, he may be quite easy about the pores of his skin.  If he harnesses his waggon to a star, the process will have a most satisfactory effect upon the coats of his stomach. …

…For the thing called "taking thought," the thing for which the best modern word is "rationalizing," is in its nature, inapplicable to all plain and urgent things. …

… Men take thought and ponder rationalistically, touching remote things--things that only theoretically matter, such as the transit of Venus….

… But only at their peril can men rationalize about so practical a matter as health."

(Heretics, Ch 10, On Sandals and Simplicity;

 Gilbert K.Chesterton)

On the beginning of the god's

If You Could Hie to Kolob,

If you could hie to Kolob In the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward With that same speed to fly,
Do you think that you could ever, Through all eternity,
Find out the generation Where gods began to be?

Or see the grand beginning, Where space did not extend?
Or view the last creation, Where gods and matter end?
Me thinks the Spirit whispers, “No man has found ‘pure space,’
Nor seen the outside curtains, Where nothing has a place.”

The works of God continue, And worlds and lives abound;
Improvement and progression Have one eternal round.
There is no end to matter; There is no end to space;
There is no end to spirit; There is no end to race.

There is no end to virtue; There is no end to might;
There is no end to wisdom; There is no end to light.
There is no end to union; There is no end to youth;
There is no end to priesthood; There is no end to truth.

There is no end to glory; There is no end to love;
There is no end to being; There is no death above.
There is no end to glory; There is no end to love;
There is no end to being; There is no death above.

 William W. Phelps

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob

on abolishing of Christianity in England

St Paul's Cathedral

An argument to prove that the abolishing of Christianity in England may, as things now stand, be attended with some inconveniences, and perhaps not produce those many good effects proposed thereby.

Written in the year 1708.

I AM very sensible what a weakness and presumption it is to reason against the general humour and disposition of the world. I remember it was with great justice, and a due regard to the freedom, both of the public and the press, forbidden upon several penalties to write, or discourse, or lay wagers against the union even before it was confirmed by Parliament; because that was looked upon as a design to oppose the current of the people, which, besides the folly of it, is a manifest breach of the fundamental law, that makes this majority of opinions the voice of God. In like manner, and for the very same reasons, it may perhaps be neither safe nor prudent to argue against the abolishing of Christianity, at a juncture when all parties seem so unanimously determined upon the point, as we cannot but allow from their actions, their discourses, and their writings. However, I know not how, whether from the affectation of singularity, or the perverseness of human nature, but so it unhappily falls out, that I cannot be entirely of this opinion. Nay, though I were sure an order were issued for my immediate prosecution by the Attorney-General, I should still confess, that in the present posture of our affairs at home or abroad, I do not yet see the absolute necessity of extirpating the Christian religion from among us.

This perhaps may appear too great a paradox even for our wise and paxodoxical age to endure; therefore I shall handle it with all tenderness, and with the utmost deference to that great and profound majority which is of another sentiment.

And yet the curious may please to observe, how much the genius of a nation is liable to alter in half an age. I have heard it affirmed for certain by some very odd people, that the contrary opinion was even in their memories as much in vogue as the other is now; and that a project for the abolishing of Christianity would then have appeared as singular, and been thought as absurd, as it would be at this time to write or discourse in its defence.

Therefore I freely own, that all appearances are against me. The system of the Gospel, after the fate of other systems, is generally antiquated and exploded, and the mass or body of the common people, among whom it seems to have had its latest credit, are now grown as much ashamed of it as their betters; opinions, like fashions, always descending from those of quality to the middle sort, and thence to the vulgar, where at length they are dropped and vanish.

But here I would not be mistaken, and must therefore be so bold as to borrow a distinction from the writers on the other side, when they make a difference betwixt nominal and real Trinitarians. I hope no reader imagines me so weak to stand up in the defence of real Christianity, such as used in primitive times (if we may believe the authors of those ages) to have an influence upon men’s belief and actions. To offer at the restoring of that, would indeed be a wild project: it would be to dig up foundations; to destroy at one blow all the wit, and half the learning of the kingdom; to break the entire frame and constitution of things; to ruin trade, extinguish arts and sciences, with the professors of them; in short, to turn our courts, exchanges, and shops into deserts; and would be full as absurd as the proposal of Horace, where he advises the Romans, all in a body, to leave their city, and seek a new seat in some remote part of the world, by way of a cure for the corruption of their manners.

Therefore I think this caution was in itself altogether unnecessary (which I have inserted only to prevent all possibility of cavilling), since every candid reader will easily understand my discourse to be intended only in defence of nominal Christianity, the other having been for some time wholly laid aside by general consent, as utterly inconsistent with all our present schemes of wealth and power.

But why we should therefore cut off the name and title of Christians, although the general opinion and resolution be so violent for it, I confess I cannot (with submission) apprehend the consequence necessary. However, since the undertakers propose such wonderful advantages to the nation by this project, and advance many plausible objections against the system of Christianity, I shall briefly consider the strength of both, fairly allow them their greatest weight, and offer such answers as I think most reasonable. After which I will beg leave to show what inconveniences may possibly happen by such an innovation, in the present posture of our affairs.

  (Jonathan Swift)

On John Milton's inner light

Hail holy light, ofspring of Heav'n first-born,
Or of th' Eternal Coeternal beam
May I express thee unblam'd? since God is light,
And never but in unapproached light
Dwelt from Eternitie, dwelt then in thee, [ 5 ]
Bright effluence of bright essence increate.
Or hear'st thou rather pure Ethereal stream,
Whose Fountain who shall tell? before the Sun,
Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice
Of God, as with a Mantle didst invest [ 10 ]
The rising world of waters dark and deep,
Won from the void and formless infinite.
Thee I re-visit now with bolder wing,
Escap't the Stygian Pool, though long detain'd
In that obscure sojourn, while in my flight [ 15 ]
Through utter and through middle darkness borne
With other notes then to th' Orphean Lyre
I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night,
Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down
The dark descent, and up to reascend, [ 20 ]
Though hard and rare: thee I revisit safe,
And feel thy sovran vital Lamp; but thou
Revisit'st not these eyes, that rowle in vain
To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;
So thick a drop serene hath quencht thir Orbs, [ 25 ]
Or dim suffusion veild. Yet not the more
Cease I to wander where the Muses haunt
Cleer Spring, or shadie Grove, or Sunnie Hill,
Smit with the love of sacred Song; but chief
Thee Sion and the flowrie Brooks beneath [ 30 ]
That wash thy hallowd feet, and warbling flow,
Nightly I visit: nor somtimes forget
Those other two equal'd with me in Fate,
So were I equal'd with them in renown,
Blind Thamyris and blind Mæonides, [ 35 ]
And Tiresias and Phineus Prophets old.
Then feed on thoughts, that voluntarie move
Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful Bird
Sings darkling, and in shadiest Covert hid
Tunes her nocturnal Note. Thus with the Year [ 40 ]
Seasons return, but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of Ev'n or Morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or Summers Rose,
Or flocks, or heards, or human face divine;
But cloud in stead, and ever-during dark [ 45 ]
Surrounds me, from the chearful wayes of men
Cut off, and for the Book of knowledg fair
Presented with a Universal blanc
Of Nature's works to mee expung'd and ras'd,
And wisdome at one entrance quite shut out. [ 50 ]
So much the rather thou Celestial light
Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight. [ 55 ]

(John Milton, Paradise Lost Book iii)

On seeing Mom

Mom; 


I saw your reflection

In the mirror ...        
         ... this morning

May;

the world  will see

our reflection, ...         
                 ... in my eyes.

Steven Lynn Bassett

child of Voyle Gladys Herzog Bassett