On of my favorite works by C. S. Lewis is his last published academic book, The Discarded Image: An introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature. The book was published in 1964, the year following his death on November 1963.

Part of the book features some interesting thoughts on Science:

The business of the natural philosopher is to construct theories which will 'save appearances'...

A few month’s ago, I arrived late to church and as I scurried across the parking lot with three small children to try to make it in time to take the sacrament, I noticed something so awesome that I just had to stop. Despite our tardiness, the freezing cold, and the fact that we were probably going to miss the central purpose of attending church every Sunday (again!), I fumbled around in my pocket for my phone to snap a picture, trying to ignore the children’s whining remonstrations and arm tugging.

I think that this photo is nicely symbolic. Or it at least implies a story. What it symbolizes, however, or what the story is, is up to you. Submit your photo caption suggestions in the comments or by email.

The winner will be announced next Week.

I have discussed and debated the Intelligent Design vs Evolution issues numerous times both online and in person, but I have not felt a need to broach the subject very much on this blog until now.

It is a complex debate and I have no illusions about easily resolving it for anyone else. Those of you who have discussed this issue with me before know that I lean strongly toward the Intelligent Design side of the controversy, though I have some reservations about a number of the political goals of the movement.

I do intend to go see the new documentary film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, which opened last Friday, if I can make some time this week.

My thoughts here, however, were prompted by reading this blog post by BYU Professor Steven L. Peck . Brother Peck certainly has impressive credentials, and so I hesitate to respond to what he has written for the honest recognition that the topic may simply be beyond my skill and understanding. However, despite my worries, I will share my thoughts.

I have waited to comment on the situation down in Texas where the Texas government has removed over 400 children from their parents with allegations of abuse until there was more information available.

The situation distresses me for a number of reasons.

It wouldn’t be appropriate to go into details here on my blog, but a number of years ago I was involved in a brief legal struggle over some abused children. Having reported abuse to child protection services, I quickly discovered that unless there is physical evidence of abuse (bruises, dislocated or broken bones, etc.), the chances of getting abused children removed from their parents into the safety of state care are practically nil.

It is extremely frustrating and heartbreaking to talk to an abused child who has trusted you and to have to tell them that there is nothing you can do because they haven’t been hurt badly enough yet to deserve protection from the government’s Child Protection Services.

At the same time, through this process I did learn that there are very strong legal protections for parental rights in the United States, and that is something that I strongly support.

“The face of sin today often wears the Halloween mask of tolerance. Do not be deceived. Behind that facade is heartache, unhappiness, and pain. You know what is right and what is wrong, and no disguise, however appealing, can change that truth. The character of transgression remains the same. If your so called friends urge you to do anything you know to be wrong, you be the one to make a stand for right, even if you stand alone. Have the moral courage to be a light for others to follow. There’s no friendship more valuable than your own clear conscience, your own moral cleanliness…”

President Thomas S. Monson
Priesthood Session, April 2008 Conference
In his first address as President of the LDS Church

This weekend we are holding the annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Every year I try to post links to MP3 audio and other Internet resources as they become available. This conference will include the sustaining of Thomas S. Monson as the President of the High Priesthood and Prophet.

MP3 Audio
These are links to the earliest available audio I can find. They will be replaced by links to the MP3s at the church website as they are posted.

Saturday Morning Session
Entire Session
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Elder Russell M. Nelson
Elder Ronald A. Rasband
Sister Cheryl C. Lant
Elder Kenneth Johnson
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
President Henry B. Eyring

Saturday Afternoon Session

Sunday Morning Session

Sunday Afternoon Session

Streaming Video
Live Video, streamed over the Internet, as well as archived recordings of completed sessions is available on demand through BYU and KSL. We have been watching conference through BYU.tv for several years now and love it. The video player only works on Windows or Mac OS X (Sorry Linux Users!). This year KSL appears to be using the same player as BYU.tv, so they may be actually the same source. Also, the church is officially providing a Video Podcast for the first time this year (see the podcast section below).

Sorry that my blog has been so silent lately…I have been up to my ears in more important responsibilities.

But since today are the Utah State Neighborhood Caucuses, I wanted to encourage all of you to attend your Precinct meeting tonight.

I have been involved with my local precincts for a number of years now.

Did you know that unless you participate in the Caucuses tonight it is very likely that some of your elected representatives will be put into office without you having a say in it? For some elections the winner is decided only by those delegates you elect in your caucuses, so that there is never a primary or general election vote.

A friend of mine spent the time to quickly write a Beginner’s Guide to the Utah Neighborhood Caucuses, which I am posting here for those of you who want to understand what the caucus is for and why it is important that you attend.

Over the last few years in both public and private discussions about apostasy from the church, I have encountered an increasingly frequent complaint. It goes something like this:

“Practicing Mormons incorrectly attribute all apostasy to sin. There are many, many sinners in the church who do not leave. People leave the church for a variety of reasons, but it is not because they are sinners.”

In their own minds, they leave the church because they have discovered apparent incongruities that lead them to believe the Church is not true.

Of course everyone within and without the church sins. But when members say that people “leave the church because of sin” it is an idiomatic shorthand. What they mean is that people leave the church because they are unrepentant for their sin. We are all sinners, but we are not all penitent. Justification of sin eventually leads the unrepentant to leave the church.

The notion that those who reject the Gospel do so because of sin is not a just a cultural invention, it comes from the scriptures.

Transcripts, mp3 audio, and video of the World Wide Leadership Training Meeting originally held on February 9th, 2008 by the LDS Church on the topic of “Building Up a Righteous Posterity” are now available online at the official church website:

Building Up a Righteous Posterity

All adult members of the church were encouraged to attend. If you weren’t able to do so, find some time to watch it online, or download the mp3 audio to listen to at your leisure on your iPod or other portable mp3 player.

The past Sunday, our Bishopric decided that instead of following the Sacrament ceremony with prepared talks by three or four members of the congregation, or with a testimony meeting like we normally do, they would try something new: A Hymn Testimony Meeting.

The Bishop’s Councilor read the First Presidency’s preface to the LDS Hymnal:

Music in Our Church Meetings

Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings. The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members, and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord.
...

In a fascinating interview with Time Magazine , the Anglican Bishop of Durham, N.T. “Tom” Wright, who is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England, says that most Christians misunderstand the Biblical teaching of the the afterlife. The view he advocates bears a striking similarity to the Mormon teachings of Joseph Smith.

Here are excerpts:

Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I’ve called the life after life after death — in the ultimate resurrection into the new heavens and the new Earth. Jesus’ resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will “awake,” be embodied and participate in the renewal.

There is Luke 23, where Jesus says to the good thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” But in Luke, we know first of all that Christ himself will not be resurrected for three days, so “paradise” cannot be a resurrection. It has to be an intermediate state.

The President of the High Priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, passed away last night.

The speed at which the news spread was phenomenal. Aided by technologies that were not yet available or wide spread when the previous prophet passed away in 1995, the news traveled quickly by word of mouth. Within an hour of his passing we had received Instant Messages, Text Messages, and Telephone calls from friends and relatives. Those whom we contacted many states away had already heard from others before two hours had passed since his death. Even friends who are lamentably no longer associated with the Church took the time to send email to pass the news along.

President Hinckley presided over so many sweeping changes to the Church’s structure and policy:

This is an entry in an ongoing, periodic series I call “An LDS Lexicon.” Each entry in my LDS Lexicon series contains etymology, etymologically related words, some information about the Hebrew and Greek terms from which the word is translated in the Bible (if applicable), and some personal insights about the word.

The views expressed here and in other entries in this series are my own and should not be construed to represent the official doctrine of the LDS Church. They are subject to change and amendment.

You may view all entries in this series: An LDS Lexicon

SACRAMENT

Just after Christmas, my wife was looking through the more than 300 photos on our digital camera that we had taken between Halloween and Christmas. Our four year old daughter had snapped about 30 photographs the day before and the camera memory was getting full. The battery was getting low too and the camera wasn’t responding well to the controls. My wife mentioned that she still hadn’t downloaded many of the pictures from the camera to her computer and that she better do it just in case something were to go wrong and we were to lose them.

She was struggling with the uncooperative controls, when all of a sudden she cried out “Oh NO! I think I just accidentally deleted all the photos!”

“What?” I responded. “How did you do that?!”

She didn’t know exactly how it had happened, but she was right. There wasn’t a single picture on the camera. All the pictures of Christmas Day, the pictures of the snowman I built with the kids before Christmas, the pictures of our family Christmas party, even the pictures from Thanksgiving—ALL GONE! She was devastated.

I panicked for a only a brief moment, but then the computer geek part of my brain clicked on.

“I think I can recover them,” I told her.

Merry belated Christmas and Happy belated New Year to everyone. I would have posted something at the appropriate time, but our family got Viral Influenza for Christmas and I am just getting over it (today is my first day back to work since the day after Christmas).

We were most concerned about our 10-month old son, who sustained a fever, vomiting, and serious coughing for five days. The first doctor we saw misdiagnosed him with ear infections and bronchitis. When the prescribed antibiotic had no effect, a return visit and a blood test identified our illness as the Influenza virus. Influenza can be very serious for young children because it can develop into pneumonia fairly easily. And because it is a viral and not a bacterial infection, it is not easily treated. Fortunately he has been slowly, but surely recovering. His cough has improved, has only had a mild fever at night, and is not longer vomiting.