Time Experience Thoughts

In Place By Scott L. Vanatter, May 21, 2012. A poem in commemoration of our youngest daughter’s birth and her current pregnancy. She is now progressed to about the same stage where Becky and Sydney survived a pretty bad car accident. (Me too. Carrie was with my Mom, as Becky and I went out to lunch.) Becky was seven months pregnant with Sydney when we were involved in an automobile accident in 1979. Our Volvo was totaled. Half the glass in our car shattered into thousands of tiny pea-sized pieces. Becky's side of the car was destroyed. The moon roof popped off. Her head must have hit the side of the car, or the pavement, or both. She was in the Intensive Care Unit for a week. She didn’t move a muscle for the first six hours. She had a massive concussion, and a 4-inch crack in her skull, but she fully recovered -- and Sydney was unharmed. NOTE: After the paramedics stabilized her head, neck and back, they drove us ever so slowly to the nearest hospital, Queen of the Valley. Lat...

On Destructive Doubt Compared to Fruitful Faith Scott L. Vanatter, October 1, 2006, August 29, 2007, October 10, 2007, May 15, 2012   Of course, there is such a thing as faith run amok, as well as there is such a thing as a healthy skepticism. (“Trust, but verify.”) Still . . .   I. Faith creates clarity.       Doubt causes confusion.  Faith enlightens.       Doubt darkens.  Faith is light.       Doubt is dark.  Faith feels.       Doubt numbs. Faith joys.       Doubt fears feelings. Faith is full.       Doubt is empty.  Faith fills with beauty.       Doubt ends in ugliness.       Faith Sings.       Doubt sorrows.  II. Faith is assurance; doubt, misgivings.  Faith creates commitment; doubt, d...

Lest We Forget 9-11 By Scott L. Vanatter, poem written 9 September 2011 Everyday evils are often, even purposely,      Forgotten. Ultimate evil, barely even conceivable by us, rarely      Pierces the mind.      Though it is all around the world. Every day. It's tuned out.      Some other thought takes its place, any other thought.      Attack. Remember      The day, Remember      That act. Never forgetting      The surreal sight,      The first image, that second image,      Unremitting, unreal images,      Unknown questions, unformed thoughts,      Disconnected shock.           Terror, numbed fear.      The horror. The horror.  ...

President Monson in the Washington Post. [Emphasis added.]   http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/911-destruction-allowed-us-to-spiritually-rebuild/2011/09/08/gIQAbkjKCK_blog.html   9/11 destruction allowed us to spiritually rebuild By Thomas S. Monson, Posted at 11:38 AM ET, 09/08/2011, Washington Post “On Faith” The calamity of September 11th, 2001 has cast a long shadow. Ten years later, many of us are still haunted by its terrible tragedy of lost lives and broken hearts. It is an episode of anguish that has become a defining moment in the history of the American nation and the world. This week, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, along with Tom Brokaw, will pay its own homage to the unforgettable events of September 11, 2001. There was, as many have noted, a remarkable surge of faith following the tragedy. People across the United States rediscovered the need for God and turned to Him for solace and understanding . Comfortable times were shattered...

Eugene Russell Vanatter Eulogy August 17, 1932 - January 16, 2008 Eulogy delivered by Scott Vanatter, his son, January 22, 2008, in Fort Scott, Kansas. REMEMBER My Mom, our dear mother Dorothy May (Lifer) Vanatter, my sisters Gina and Tracy, the entire family, including Dad’s sisters Loretta and Kathleen, and I . . . thank each one of you for joining with us this morning. Thank you for your loving expressions of care and concern. The good people here at Cheney Witt Funeral Home have offered the most kind and comforting service; our heartfelt thanks to you, Jared, and the whole staff. Tears of Sadness and Joy Today we are here to remember Eugene Russell Vanatter—“Gene” to most of you, including to our Mom . . . but Dad and “Grandpa Gene” to us. It is entirely appropriate that we shed tears of sadness—and also tears of joy—as we remember Dad. DEATH TO UNDERSTAND ETERNAL LIFE Faith whispers to us that life is eternal; that our personal existence does not end upon our death . . . we live o...