Time Experience Thoughts

The Sabbath: Holy and Delightful Scott L. Vanatter, July 19, 2015 (Chantilly Ward), July 26, 2015 (Franklin Ward) INTRO - Illustration Picture in your mind a beautiful song. Imagine how it sounds. And feels. Melody and harmony wonderfully blend together. At times, the song soars -- and you are lifted. At other times, it settles into a soft, gentle phase -- you are at peace. You notice no dissonant chords. All the parts of the song come together as One Great Whole to form one of those perfect songs. Let’s compare the melody in this song to how we daily interact with our family and our neighbor here on earth. Let’s think of the harmony as how we daily interact with God in heaven. In this thought experiment, the melody mirrors the kindnesses we extend and the hope we engender; the truth and goodness we embrace – everything which is “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy” on this earth. Closely-related is the harmony . It is written daily by our “deep...

By Scott L. Vanatter Learning and Teaching in the Home and the Church (2014 Auxiliary Training) In our daily ministries as we participate in all the broad aspects of Hastening the Work  TRUTH  Dear brothers and sisters: Truth exists and can be known. Truth is beautiful. Truth is powerful. “Truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” (DC 84:45) Jesus, of course, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Think of the meaning and implications following Doctrines: The First Vision, The Book of Mormon, The Plan of Salvation, Eternal Progression. Temples wherein sacred truths are taught, and powerful ordinances performed; where Families Are Forever. Taken together as “one great whole,” there is nothing like it -- unique in all Christendom, unique in all religions of the world. All this is made real and efficacious by the power and reach of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He is not only our Savior and Redeemer, but our Exemplar and Friend,...

In The Beginning By Scott L. Vanatter, January 1, 2015 (Poem for our 39th wedding anniversary, January 2, 2015) I Long ago now We saw enough We knew enough Then, waking up   Slumbering   No longer   Easily, actively we choose   One another II The idea Planted, buried Deep in our hearts Clear in our minds   We journey   Through life together An adventure III Encountering A sometimes lonely world A sometimes dreary world   We wend our way as beloved companions   Enjoying a lively shared   Endeavor Engaging . . . Innocence and awareness Wonders and puzzles Disappointments Accomplishments Darkness and light Dim shades gray and brilliant gradations of white Pleasure and pain Loss and gain Sickness Sorrow Sadness   And gladness Heights Depths   And breadths In the clamor and commotion Shadows cower Darknesses flee   Peace and tranquility   Calmness and serenity...

Following the Prophets in Unity In this there is safety, peace By Scott L. Vanatter, Reston Ward, July 20, 2014 INTRO Please return with me to my senior year in high school over forty years ago. It was just prior to my  receiving a testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. The foundational truths of the Restoration revealed by God through the Prophet Joseph Smith were about to be made known to me. At the time I was ignorantly, blissfully satisfied existing in the world without a belief in God. While others found truth and solace in religion, I was compelled to reject what I saw as the false, double predestination of automatically consigning most of humankind to eternal damnation. This very narrow sliver of philosophy, to me, seemed to infect most of the Christian churches I had encountered. I couldn’t conceive that, if there was a God, this plan was what he or she or it designed and set in motion. If there was a God, this world could not have begun as a major acciden...