Indubitable

Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito Niccolò Machiavelli (1489-1527) was an influential politician and writer from Florence at the peak of the Italian Renaissance.  His work The Prince is so notoriously self-serving and unscrupulous, that it spawned the whole concept of Machiavellian ethics. Not surprisingly, he didn’t exactly have the reputation of a pious saint.  I recently read an account of “Machiavelli’s dream” which reminded me of a similar passage written by Moroni.  Failing in health,  Niccolò’s doctors could do nothing more for him…

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nurturing the seeds we planted Thanksgiving is a time of harvest and thankfulness. It’s definitely my favorite holiday. I’ve been thinking about the harvest Paul’s use of the the harvest as a teaching moment. In summarizing the Law of the Harvest, Paul said: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7 a canola field You reap what you sow. This is not rocket science. You cannot plant peas in the…

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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008)Taken while a prisoner in a Kazakhstan Gulag Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970 (One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Gulag Archipelago).   A former Red Army captain, he was sentenced to eight years in a labor camp in 1945 for making derogatory comments about Joseph Stalin in a private letter to a friend. After being interrogated and tortured at Lubyanka prison in Moscow, he was sent to a Gulag in Kazakhstan to work…

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A Poison Treeby Merm-ish A Poison Tree I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. And I watered it in fears, Night and morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles. And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine. And he knew…

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The Deuteronomy ScrollA copy of the Ten Commandments as recorded in Deuteronomy 5The Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit – Philadelphia, PA – 2012Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority When I visited the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit in Philadelphia I was very moved by the display of The Deuteronomy Scroll, which recites the Ten Commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless the one who takes his name in vain. The Deuteronomy Scroll*…

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George W. Bush at a 2005 Press Conference UNWEARYINGNESS: I came upon this word while reading the Book of Mormon recently and it kind of jumped out at me. The word could arguably be considered a heavenly equivalent of a Bushism. However, one has to be a little careful in being too critical of God’s linguistic style. Actually, I looked it up and it is a legitimate word.  But it’s certainly not one you encounter in the scriptures every day. In God’s estimation,…

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Scene from the 1993 classic: The Sandlot Anyone from my era has recollections of the anxiety provoked by the Physical Education teacher telling us to “line up and pick teams”.  I’m not sure if they still do this given how traumatic it can be for the kid picked last. I vividly recall the anticipated horror of being unchosen, and forced upon the team with the last pick. Kids generally were not that nice about those kinds of things. It was a…

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A huge chunk of America is on pins and needles as we approach the biggest election of our lives. I’ve been afraid to get too optimistic–I’ve been disappointed too many times before.  I’ve therefore been a bit of a doubting Thomas, but am feeling good enough about it now to get this out BEFORE the election results are in. Call me crazy, but methought I saw a sign during General Conference this fall.  Take a look at this screen shot taken during Dallin H….

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‘Head of Christ’oil on oak, circa 1648-1650Staatliche Museen zu Berlinby Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn There’s nothing like an election year to bring out the worst in people. As the rhetoric heats up, it’s no longer just the candidates that are vilified, but their supporters as well. Republicans are painted as heartless capitalists and religious fanatics that are all racist to the core. Democrats are portrayed as godless sluggards in perpetual search for government handouts–able but unwilling to take responsibility for…

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