EVERLASTING SPLENDOURS

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which....you would be strongly tempted to worship....It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another...There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendours."

- C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

SIN

"Whoever said that sin was not fun? Whoever claimed that Lucifer was not handsome? Persuasive, easy, friendly? Sin is attractive and desirable. Transgression wears elegant gowns and sparkling apparel. It is highly perfumed; it has attractive features, a soft voice. It is found in educated circles and sophisticated groups. It provides sweet and comfortable luxuries. Sin is easy and has a big company of pleasant companions. It promises immunity from restrictions, and temporary freedoms. It can momentarily satisfy hunger, thirst, desire, urges, passions, wants, without immediately paying the price. But, it begins tiny and grows to monumental proportions - drop by drop, inch by inch."

- Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes The Miracle, p. 229

ON LOVE

"When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, 

let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook

that sings its melody to the night,

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart

and a song of praise upon your lips.

And think not you can direct the course of love, for love,

if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

And when you love you should not say,

"God is in my heart", but rather, 

"I am in the heart of God."

- Kahlil, Gibran, The Prophet

HAPPINESS AND JOY

"Happiness and joy are not one and the same.

Happiness is the elation that accompanies good fortune,

while joy is the evidence of God's presence in the human experience.

Joy is not a destination; it is a way of travelling."

- Mary Manin Morrissey

ON PAIN

"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility;
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears."

-  Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

BRIGHTLY BEAMS OUR FATHER'S MERCY

Brightly beams our Father's mercy

From his lighthouse ever more,

But to us he gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Dark the night of sin has settled;

Loud the angry billows roar.

Eager eyes are watching, longing,

For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother,

Some poor sailor, tempest tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor,

In the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower lights be burning,

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

- Philip Paul Bliss, 1838-1876

THE ROBE OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

"It was the custom for one fleeing for his life in the desert to seek protection in the tent of a great sheik, crying out, 'Ana dakhiluka', meaning 'I am thy suppliant', whereupon the host would place the hem of his robe over the guest's shoulder and declare him under his protection. In one instance in the Book of Mormon we see Nephi fleeing from an evil enemy that is pursuing him. In great danger, he prays the Lord to give him an open road in the low way, to block his pursuers, and to make them stumble. He comes to the Lord as a suppliant: 'O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! (2 Nephi 4:33). In reply, according to the ancient custom, the Master would then place the hem of his robe protectively over the kneeling man's shoulder (kafata). This puts him under the Lord's protection from all enemies. They embrace in a close hug, as Arab chiefs still do: the Lord makes a place for him (see Alma 5:24) and invites him to sit down beside him - they are at-one. This is the imagery of the Atonement - the embrace: 'The Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love' (2 Nephi 1:15)."

- Hugh W. Nibley, The Atonement of Jesus Christ, Part 1, Ensign July 1990