We had a saxaphone. Top that!Originally Posted by Applejack
We had a saxaphone. Top that!
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
AGAINST THE RULES!!!!! see CHOI.
Forgiveness soooo trumps permission....
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Oh yah, well our Christmas program was cancelled because church was cancelled! We slept in. Of course, what else is there to do when there is no power or heat, it's -11 and the world is covered in a quarter inch thick sheet of ice. From the sounds of it we will be spending Christmas in the dark this year huddled around the fireplace.
The Christmas program has been scheduled for next week ... if the power is back on. It is at the chapel, at the moment, where the boys and I have sought refuge to play some basketball. Below is a pic of the railing at the chapel entrance.
railingatchurch.jpg
Last edited by tooblue; 12-23-2013 at 01:37 PM.
That is awesome 2B. As much as the freezing rain can be devastating and dangerous, it is also spectacularly beautiful. I loved seeing the sunlight filter through our trees when they were coated in ice like that.
As a missionary I sang John Lennon's 'Imagine' with one companion in sacrament meeting, with each of us playing a guitar. Good times...
We actually had a sax, trumpet and acoustic guitar... and it was the best Christmas program I've ever seen on a local level. As off the hook as Mormons can get.
I think what I learned in the what-i-learned-in-church thread is that bishoprics from the east coast to the west coast are thumbing their nose at the prohibition on "secular" music and "most brass" instruments.
steel drums, an oboe and a kazoo.
okay not really but that might have been better than our ward choir
Oh, and I have an ear infection that is very painful to loud noise right now. Our organist excited about the musical presentation blasted the organ so loud I was in some pretty good pain. I'm sure it disturbed whatever was living in the pipes too, and I kept imagining a whole bunch of bats flying out into the congregation and causing mass Christmas hysteria.steel drums, an oboe and a kazoo.
okay not really but that might have been better than our ward choir
No such luck. As my father said each Christmas morning of my childhood, "It is always a disappointment."
IIRC the Handbook leaves it up to the bishop. Haven't ever checked (after 8 years in this bishopric).
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
We had strings, flute, piano, and guitar as prelude music all month. They stretched across the stand. It was awesome. We had a lady solo on a harp last Sunday.
As a child I heard you are supposed to store what you eat. So I have 24 boxes of Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mix in my food storage. And then just for good measure, some 15 year old bushels of wheat, a wheat grinder, and a generator.
If you make friends with yourself, you will never be alone. -Maxwell Maltz
The fudge brownie mix makes complete sense to me.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Who knew that toner cartridges in the clerk's office could derail a whole ward for a week.
I'm pretty late to the discussion, but agree completely with Northwest. There doesn't seem to be any logical reason that these Sundays shouldn't be dedicated solely to talking about the savior. Especially from an organization that prides itself so highly on correlation. It would take slightly more than zero effort to reorganizing already existing lessons to match up with these holidays. Instead, we had lessons on...can't even remember. I imagine inviting a non-member one of these weeks and then trying to convince them that "I promise that we really do believe in Jesus, it just wasn't his week!"
As for our Sacrament meeting service, I found myself slipping I to cynicism as Sisters Showoff paraded one after another in overly dramatic song solos through the program. About half way through, I checked myself and started just focusing on the songs and was instantly reminded of how much the Christmas hymns mean to me this time of year. It's easy to become immune to the secular garbage piped through the radio about sleigh rides and Christmas shoes. It was nice to cleanse that off my palate for 30 minutes.
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Two of the things I miss the most from my protestant upbringing are Christmas Eve and Easter morning sunrise services.
Since we have the 'Fullness of the Gospel' we seem to focus on the higher aspects of administration. Middle Management positions have a way of sucking all the joy out of the work that we leave to the 'lesser' religions (who do not have the 'fullness of truth')...
Frankly I would like to see a greater focus on Grace and Forgiveness at church. And for Christmas and Easter we need to either raise the bar and prove we are Christians, or stop claiming to be.
This is exactly why I hang the most Christmas lights on my street, so nobody can deny my Christianity.
It is actually funny I have mixed feelings about the name 'Christian' as a result of a mission in the South. After two years of being harassed by people who called themselves Christian, in my 19-21 year old mind I couldn't think of a more mean, deceptive and hate-filled people... and thinking back on some of those people and what they did it still holds true...
But I remember hearing them call themselves Christians and thinking to myself, "If that is what it means to be Christian then I want nothing to do with it; I'll just be a disciple of Christ instead."
Interestingly to me today is my critiques of those people are remarkably similar to critiques I hear of Mormons in Utah. I've concluded that the dominant religion or group in any given area is going to be met with the same ire by those 'on the outside'.
Maybe it was just you.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
~Mohandas Ghandi
I agree on the point about living as a 'disciple of Christ'. I relate strongly to the 'philosophical Christian', 'love thy neighbor', 'Golden Rule', 'live and let live', be a lover, not a fighter' way of life. So when I say 'Christian' perhaps I refer to an ideal, and not necessarily a particular denomination.
I align myself most closely with the statement by the Dalai Lama, "My religion is love."
No maybe about it.
Primary leader: "In what ways are you different from your Heavenly Father?"
Smart 7ish year old hand shoots up. "I'm evil."
Okay then.
I learned both that baby Jesus never cried and also that he probably got in fights as a child with his siblings. These were both from the same person in two different comments.
I'm down in St George visiting my parents as well as a sister who came in for the holidays. My sister was bemoaning that at her in-laws ward she attended yesterday, they sang no holiday music or Christmas songs. She was disappointed that the music celebrating Christ's birth was so quickly abandoned. It reminded me of earlier posts in this thread.
Before I left SL, we had a fantastic service at UU. It was on gratitude and giving thanks, Congregation attendees were invited to go to the front and share the things for which they are grateful, and light a candle. The centerpiece was a beautiful display with so many bright candles by the end of the service. It was a warm and thoughtful way to close out the year.
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If you make friends with yourself, you will never be alone. -Maxwell Maltz
What is wrong with these people???
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I learned that since the drop in age for missionaries, that the efficiency/effective level of the average missionary has dropped (go figure). The answer to increasing young mens' readiness for missionary work is active participation in Scouting.
I HATE the thought of using scouts as a missionary training program. I have the 11 yr old scouts and we stick to scout-related activities only (tying knots, learning first aid, camping, cooking, merit badges, etc).
Also for all the complaints I have about the LSD church at the top, I need to express my appreciation for local congregational leadership from the Stake level on down. They are fantastic, and do the best job possible with the resources they have.
Yesterday my son gave his first talk as a Deacon. He wrote the whole thing by himself, and absolutely nailed the presentation. I was very proud of him.
Late last night we had a knock at the door. I opened it to find the Bishop (who is a friend and former home teacher). He wanted to stop by and praise my son for a job well done. That made my son feel especially good about the effort that went into preparing his talk, and I appreciated the gesture.
Last edited by NorthwestUteFan; 12-30-2013 at 05:42 PM.
"I learned both that baby Jesus never cried and also that he probably got in fights as a child with his siblings. These were both from the same person in two different comments. "I'm not sure why but that cracks me up!
I agree with you, that for the vast majority of leaders they are doing a very good job with the little resources the Church and God gave them. They sacrafice their time and talents to the needs of the members and should be commended for their efforts. Just think of what they could do with a little more resources.
I realize that tithing is like taxes, you pay them and they go to the needs of the whole state (roads, schools, police, utilities, etc) whether or not you directly benefit from it, but I sure wish that more tithing would find its way to the local level instead of being gobbled up by the "needs" of church headquarters.
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