I want to start with perhaps the most misunderstood and misrepresented object lesson from ancient literature: the story of Scylla and Charybdis from (among other sources) Homer’s Odyssey. The actual story comes from Book XII of the Odyssey, the last of the four chapters devoted to Odysseus’s wandering throughout the Mediterranean Sea while trying to bring his men home to Ithica. Most scholars believe that the legend of Scylla and Charybdis represents the Strait of Messina a treacherous passage about 3 kilometers wide between Sicily and Southern Italy. In ancient mythology, though, Scylla was ..read more

Adapted from a sacrament meeting talk given in Elk Grove, California on 4/22/23 Once upon a time, I built my faith – and my relationships – on the expectation that certain things were fixed and permanent, even though I couldn’t prove them. In the ocean of life, my expectations were like a raft of ice. No matter what else happened, I could expect that my next step or two could be safe and secure from the waves on my little raft of faith.  Speaking of walking through the ocean of life, let’s read the story of Peter walking on water from Matthew 14. 22 …Jesus constrained his disciples to ge ..read more

What is the relationship between Jesus and the veil of the temple? I thought it might be useful – if the Bible is going to be brought into the discussion – that we try to find a solid understanding of the relevant New Testament temple-related Christology. If we accept Markan priority, Jesus and the veil first appear in the gospels together in Mark 15.38: at the death of Jesus “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” (In this post, “curtain” (NRSV) and “veil” (KJV) are used interchangeably.) The same word – katapetasma – is used both for the inner curtain that separated ..read more

I had a conflict and so was unable to watch Saturday Conference, but I was able to tune in for the Sunday sessions. To catch up I read some of Peggy’s commentary on the Saturday sessions. The first several paragraphs were focused on the ages of the 1P. Now, I knew RMN was deep into his 90s, but I was not aware that RMN will turn 100 in August, and DHO is 91 and President Eyring is 90. I guess I just hadn’t been paying attetention, but I was shocked by how old they all were. And so I sent the captioned title to the BCC backlist. One of my blogmates mentioned that there has been a lot of chatter ..read more

It is, again, April 15, Tax Day in the United States (except in Maine and Massachusetts, where Tax Day will be Wednesday, April 17). As happens most years (at least when I remember and am not too busy), I like to post something Mormon-and-tax related, and I will this year too. But before I do: if you’re a US taxpayer and you haven’t yet filed your returns or obtained an extension, may I recommend that you do that before reading on? With that: this year’s installment is going to be a little different from usual, because I’m not actually going to write anything about the church’s or church memb ..read more

When I was young (I’m GenX if that gives you a sense of timing), priesthood was defined as “the power of God delegated to man.” Though I was taught that ‘man’ meant ‘humankind,’ for all practical purposes the ‘priesthood’ resided with the boys and men and was roughly equivalent in my young mind to the authority to administer saving ordinances and oversee (or preside at) church functions. But, in the last few years, there has been an interesting rhetorical expansion in the way LDS folks use the word ‘priesthood.’ I thought it might be informative to sketch out how I’ve experienced this word use ..read more

Regular readers here will know that I have long enjoyed writing about Joseph Smith’s sermons. We don’t have many robust accounts of his speaking, but we have a few, especially later in his life. I love thinking about them. Today marks the 180th anniversary of his best-known preaching episode on Sunday, April 7, 1844, a sermon for his friend, King Follett. Follett’s wife, Louisa, asked for a sermon and it is a sermon for the ages. The sermon does not say everything for everybody. Some find it too distant to be useful, too out of tune to their lives to be memorable. I see it as remarkable, a kin ..read more

My sophomore year at BYU, freshly off my mission, some friends invited me to hot springs somewhere in the Provo vicinity. (I didn’t end up going, so I have no idea where in the Provo vicinity these hot springs are.) As a freshly returned missionary, though, I had a question: should I wear my garments there, then change into my swimsuit? or should I change into my swimsuit at home and then head to the hot springs? See, most of my time as an endowed member of the church, I’d been a missionary, and questions of when to change into a swimsuit hadn’t come up. I ended up asking my bishop; I have no ..read more

  [It’s been years since I last shared this story; I thought I’d do so again. Happy Easter, everyone.] Once upon a time, three trees stood in a forest high on a mountain, dreaming of what they might become one day. The first tree looked up at the stars twinkling like diamonds in the night sky. “I want to hold treasure,” it said. “I want to be filled with gold and decorated with jewels. I want to be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world.” The second tree looked down the mountainside at the ocean far below. “I want to be a strong sailing ship,” it said. “I want to travel mighty wa ..read more

Steps away from St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church on the Jordanian side looking towards Qasr el-Yahud on the Israeli side “You may go down to the water’s edge, but unless you want to ascend into the Kingdom of Heaven today, do not cross the buoys in the middle of the river,” warned our guide. I was standing with my friend and four other visitors under the thatched roof of a modest wooden structure providing shade on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, flanked by a couple of armed Jordanian border guards. Across the river—which is not wide—was a larger, more elaborate concrete struct ..read more