Dawn Pheysey, Curator at BYU Museum of Art: "Sacred Gifts: The Religious Art of Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofmann, and Frans Schwartz" Dawn talked all about the current Carl Bloch exhibit at the Museum of Art (MOA) titled "Sacred Gifts". It took quite a bit of work to get these pieces here to BYU. The MOA is free and is supported by donors only; no BYU or LDS Church funds go to the museum and its projects. Doctrine and Covenants 6:10 - "Thy gift...is sacred and cometh from above." "No, grey skies and rain splashing are part of it - one must be washed thoroughly before one goes in to meet God." - Carl Bloch. Kenneth Cope, popular LDS singer/songwriter: "Who You Really Are" Kenneth Cope is an extremely popular LDS singer/songwriter. He brought his guitar and did a musical devotional for us while we had lunch. I'm going to try and include videos of his songs if they are available on YouTube. "What Have I Done With His Name?"
We are already Gods. I am my Father's child. [Then he sang "Your Father's Child" which is not available on YouTube. Here is a little blurb about it from Cope's website.] "Broken"
We are MORE than our bodies. How do I feel about my son, William? As a mortal being, I am limited in my capacity to love. But God is perfect. So how much more must he love me? Love is our greatest motivator. "More of Me to Give"
When we forget who we are, we forget from whom we came. Never forget that God is your Heavenly Father and you are his loved child.
In March, BYU put on the Office Professionals Conference (OPAC) and I got to attend all three days. I took notes at all the lectures I heard because they are all so good! These notes might not make a lot of sense but I'll try to flesh them out a bit. I took more notes at some of the lectures than others. I'll be sure to separate the notes into readable chunks. Day 1
Brad Wilcox, BYU English Professor, "The Clown of God" "My life is EPIC!" Are we grateful for all the blessings God has given us? Do we feel like our lives are epic? How do we juggle our responsibilities without becoming tired? The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola. Find it on Amazon. Sharing our gifts gives glory to God. Easy things become hard. Hard things become easy.
How do we handle our responsibilities? For LDS people, simplifying isn't going to work. We already are down to pretty much the basics. Priorities don't work either. They lead to guilt. Our family can't be our first priority always because we have to attend work to make money to feed our family. Church can't be our first priority always because we need to spend time with our family or go to work. Work can't be our first priority always because we need to spend time with family or attend a church meeting. See? Always with the guilt. What motivates us? Not money. Most of our activities are unpaid, including church service. For helping people? People can be mean and ungrateful. For recognition? That doesn't always work out. We juggle for God. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland says that we need to maintain our relationship with God. Listening to the Spirit will keep our priorities in the right order. The order changes day to day, hour to hour. Would you rather feel tired and peaceful? Or feel well-rested and guilty?
The story of the sick woman who reaches out to touch Jesus' hem shows that Jesus knows His priorities. He stopped what he was doing to help this woman. In that moment, she was more important than anything else. Just remember who you are juggling for. Come unto Christ. Become like Christ.
I am feeling super grateful for the Plan of Salvation today. In Mormonism, we believe that families are sealed together for time and all eternity. This means that when people die we do not lose that familial connection. You know how in regular marriage vows they say "till death do you part"? Yeah, that's not a thing for us. When a husband and wife are sealed for time and all eternity they start a family bond that is extended to their children. This sealing is particularly comforting for families who lose babies and children. My uncle is dying. When I was a kid he had a brain tumor but the doctors were able to remove it. It came back last year and this time there was nothing they could do. It's been difficult. Brain cancer isn't painful like other cancers but it's sort of like watching someone die from Alzheimer's. I have only seen my uncle a few times since his tumor came back. The last time was at his daughter's mission farewell about a month ago. My dad and all the other siblings flew out to see my uncle but he couldn't really talk to them or do much. My dad and my uncle both speak German, so they read some scriptures in German together. He isn't going to be alive for very much longer. It's so sad but our family is peaceful about the whole thing. My dear aunt has the support of my cousins and her other family. We are hopeful that if my cousin is still in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo when my uncle dies then she will be allowed to attend the funeral. I am grateful for my sealing to Tyson and to my family. I am grateful that no matter what happens to Tyson or William or my parents or my siblings that we will always be a family.
