Contemplative Dexterity

Our Civic was stolen from our driveway over the weekend. Riley* was completely enthralled with the police man that came to file the report. Both boys kept saying the police man will bring the car back. As we knelt down to say prayers, I told Riley we can ask Heavenly Father to help us find the car. His response… “He can’t help us Mom!! Heavenly Father isn’t a police man!” A wonderful lesson on prayer and God’s love followed, but with confusion about why Heavenly Father wasn’t coming to our house like the police man did :D haha love our conversations with Riley. *name has been changed I came across this post a few days ago from a friend on Facebook. I thought it was interesting that her 4 year old son, despite Sunbeam lessons endorsing the power of god, accused god of being unable to help them find something material. It’s a logical conclusion. God is not a policeman. That’s why his name is “God” and not “Officer God”. It’s depressing to think though that my friend and her ...

The concept and importance of family is widely regarded by the LDS Church as one of the most important facets of our life on earth. This is in large part due to the belief that there is an afterlife, and more specifically, that we can remain with our families as long as individual members live according to Church doctrine. Because of this belief in an eternal existence and the potential to remain with righteous family members for eternity, a family members departure from the LDS faith is an excruciating experience for all involved. Family members still within the faith are suddenly faced with the bleak possibility that their loved one(s) will not reach the highest degree of glory and that they will never see them once death rears its ugly head. Many are convinced that the member who strayed is only going through a "phase" or they believe that with enough fasting and prayer that their loved one(s) will return to the "light". In some cases this does happen, although...