It's said that Sunday is a day of rest. But if you're an active Mormon, that isn't really the case. You've got the regular three hours of church, plus extra meetings (presidency, committee, ward council, etc.), firesides, home teaching, family visits, and who knows what else on top of that. Not a lot of resting going on. Still, even though Sunday is often the busiest day of the week, most of the time these Sabbath activities leave me feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to begin a new week.
By contrast: last Sunday was perhaps the most literal day of rest I've ever had. I went to Chicago for the weekend for my birthday (blog on that coming next week, hopefully), and came home on Sunday. My friend and I were traveling standby, so we got to the airport by 7:30 AM for the first flight of the day. We didn't make it. The next flight was scheduled to leave about 9:30, but there was a 3-plus hour maintenance delay. While this resulted in more sitting around, we likely wouldn't have made the flight without the extra delay, since it caused a bunch of people to change their flights. The flight in question took us to New York--the opposite direction of our ultimate destination. We had another two-hour wait in NYC before boarding the long flight back to Salt Lake City.
All in all, I was either in an airport or on a plane from 7:30 AM Central Time until almost 11:00 PM Mountain Time. After a day where I did nothing but sit around...I was EXHAUSTED. This was in part because the seats I spent all day in were less than ideal, and also because I was nervous over whether we'd actually get on the flights. But mostly, I was tired for two reasons--because my sitting around was merely waiting, it wasn't actually resting, and because it was the first time in years that I didn't participate in at least part of a worship service.
This stuff is important. I'm glad we have the Sabbath Day. I'm glad for the "rest" it can provide for us, even when we're not actually resting in the traditional sense. Two of the LDS Church callings that demand the most on Sundays of those that hold them are bishop and full-time missionary. I bet that no matter how busy these guys are this Sunday, it will seem pretty restful compared to the weeks they've had. Hopefully they can leave their swords at home and wait until Monday to fight crime in their neighborhoods.
This week's Sunday School lesson is on the Sabbath Day. Saturday is a special day--the day we get ready for Sunday--so take a few minutes tonight and prepare for the lesson.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
GIFs of the Spirit
On Easter Sunday, my ward held an extended, combined Relief Society-Priesthood meeting, and as a result we didn't have Sunday School. I thought we would go back to the skipped lesson this past Sunday, so I didn't write a BASOTRUSSL post last week. Alas, I was wrong, and now we'll never know how I would've distorted the Law of Consecration to suit my blogging purposes. But I'm back with a vengeance this week, converting the upcoming Gospel Doctrine lesson on the gifts of the spirit into the "GIFs of the Spirit."
(The title and concept of this post won't mesh as well with the Sunday School lesson if you're one of the misguided souls who pronounces GIF with a "j." I know "choosy moms choose JIF," but as for me and my house, when it comes to funny animated images, choosy memes choose hard-g GIFs. Our GIF journey is based on Doctrine and Covenants 46:11-26:
"For there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God...
...to some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby...
...to some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God...
...to others it is given to believe on their words...
...to some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know the differences of administration...
...it is given by the Holy Ghost to some to know the diversities of operations...
...to some is given...the word of wisdom...
...to another is given the word of knowledge...
...to some it is given to have faith to be healed...
...to others it is given to have faith to heal...
...to some is given the working of miracles...
...to others it is given to prophesy...
...to others the discerning of spirits...
...it is given to some to speak with tongues...
...to another is given the interpretation of tongues...
...and all these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God."
I would LOVE it if you shared your favorite animated GIFs--whether related to these topics or not--in the comments!
(The title and concept of this post won't mesh as well with the Sunday School lesson if you're one of the misguided souls who pronounces GIF with a "j." I know "choosy moms choose JIF," but as for me and my house, when it comes to funny animated images, choosy memes choose hard-g GIFs. Our GIF journey is based on Doctrine and Covenants 46:11-26:
"For there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God...
...to some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby...
...to some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God...
...to others it is given to believe on their words...
...to some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know the differences of administration...
...it is given by the Holy Ghost to some to know the diversities of operations...
...to some is given...the word of wisdom...
...to another is given the word of knowledge...
...to some it is given to have faith to be healed...
...to others it is given to have faith to heal...
...to some is given the working of miracles...
...to others it is given to prophesy...
...to others the discerning of spirits...
...it is given to some to speak with tongues...
...to another is given the interpretation of tongues...
...and all these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God."
I would LOVE it if you shared your favorite animated GIFs--whether related to these topics or not--in the comments!
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