A svithe for all seasons

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Spring: Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven....

Summer: Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven....

Autumn: Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven....

Winter: Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven....

this svithe on thmusings - last week's svithe

Svithing simplicity

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Surprisingly, I didn't do this when I recently had a svithe that referenced Thoreau; it was actually about quite another thing entirely. It's no secret that I don't have much respect for Thoreau, but his call for simplicity is still as compelling as it ever was.

The speakers in sacrament meeting this week were given the topic of simplicity, framed by a quotation from this popular old Shaker dance number:

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Humility, of course, is a hard thing for me (see also: my theme song), so a call such as this can be nothing if not good for my soul.

May we all turn and face the Lord our God.

this svithe on thmusings
last week's svithe

A svithe for the lonely

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(from psalm thirty-one)

Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.

Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.

I am forgotten . . . as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.

But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."

Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.

How great is your goodness . . . .

Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.

In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!" Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

this svithe on thmusings - last week's svithe

Two brief svithey thoughts

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1.

Angels

Angels are decidedly different from God in the modern imagination. God is, to most believing Americans, fully ethereal. And even to Mormons, God isn't apt to show up during breakfast, you know? He stays in his heaven; all's right with the world.

Angels though --- angels break those God-on-this-side,-us-on-the-other rules. Accepting angels ---especially as per Mormon theology --- prevents us from keeping God in his box. And that can make me uncomfortable. I don't want an angel showing up in my classroom. That would really cramp my style.

The takeaway here is this: Angels change the game and shrink the modern/God division. And I think that's all for the better.

2.

In memoriam, JBW

I didn't memorialize Elder Wirthlin when he died because I didn't know what to say. But this weekend, my parents gave to me the packet of letters-to-the-president that my mission president returned to me when I came home from Korea.

In one, I talked about Elder Wirthlin who had recently visited Korea. I called him a man of perfect sincerity.

This is true. He is a man I always felt I could trust. Imagining Elder Wirthlin in even an intentional exaggeration is difficult.

He was a good man and we will miss him, though we cannot begrudge him his passing.

this svithe on thmusings
last week's svithe