A NEW NORMAL

 

"Today we often hear about 'a new normal'. If you really want to embrace a new normal, I invite you to turn your heart, mind, and soul increasingly to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Let that be your new normal. Embrace your new normal by repenting daily. Seek to be increasingly pure in thought, word, and deed. Minister to others. Keep an eternal perspective. Magnify your callings. And whatever your challenges, my dear brothers and sisters, live each day so that you are more prepared to meet your maker."

- President Russell M. Nelson, "A New Normal", October 2020

THE MASTER'S CALL

 

A candle on the windowsill

Burning bright, burning still

Need you home, it lights the way

There today, like yesterday.

And it doesn't matter where you've been

Through the thick and through the thin

Say a prayer, say my name

I am the keeper of the flame.

- Allison Moorer, "Blood"

THE SUFFERING ENDURED

The suffering endured;

The power displayed;

The love manifested;

- Tad Callister

"The Infinite Atonement"

There is no depth of pain He hasn't suffered;

There is no extent of sorrow He hasn't felt;

There is no degree of difficulty He hasn't experienced;

There is no human suffering He hasn't endured;

The Healer

The Rescuer

The Balm of Gilead

- Cathryne Allen

GOD'S REST

"The ancient prophets speak of 'entering into God's rest'; what does it mean? To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in His purpose and His plan, to such an extent that we know we are right,that we are not hunting for something else, we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine....The man who has reached that degree of faith in God that all doubt and fear have been cast from him, he has entered into 'God's rest'....rest from doubt, from fear, from apprehension of danger, rest from the religious turmoil of the world....."

- President Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p 58

And when we leave this life, having honoured our second estate with valour, having endured the crosses of the world, we shall go to 'a state of rest, a state of peace, where we shall rest from all our troubles, and from all care, and sorrow" (Alma 40:12)

- Cathryne Allen

I WOULD LIVE IN YOUR LOVE

I would live in your love

as the sea-grasses live in the sea,

Borne up by each wave as it passes,

drawn down by each wave as it recedes;

I would empty my soul as the dreams

 that have gathered in me,

I would beat with your heart as it beats,

I would follow your soul as it leads.

- Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

THE ROSE AND THE BEE

If I were a bee and you were a rose

Would you let me in when the gray wind blows?

Would you hold your petals wide apart,

Would you let me in to find your heart,

If you were a rose?

If I were a rose and you were a bee

You should never go when you come to me.

I should hold my love on my heart at last,

I should close my leaves and hold you fast,

If you were a bee.

- Sara Teasdale

I HAVE A DREAM

If you see the wonder of a fairy tale

You can take the future even if you fail.....

I have a dream

To help me through reality

And my destination makes it worth the while

Pushing through the darkness still another mile.

I believe in angels

Something good in everything I see

I believe in angels

And I know when the time is right for me

I'll cross the stream,

I have a dream.

- "I Have a Dream" by ABBA