“Judge a person by their questions, rather than their answers.” – Voltaire
Throughout history, tyrants and freemen have been waging a war – a war of questions. The enemies of agency ask questions in order to confuse, deceive, coerce and enslave. Freemen ask questions designed to clarify, enlighten, persuade and liberate. Prophetic evidence of these questions exists so that we in the latter days can identify those who would seek to trap us or manipulate us.
I just finished a fantastic book titled The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict by the good folks at the Arbinger Institute. The book was published in 2006 and was a sequel of sorts to one of their earlier works, Leadership and Self Deception. At 231 pages, The Anatomy of Peace is short enough to read in one day but the principles contained therein should be studied and pondered frequently. I highly recommend both books…both have opened my eyes to the underlying problems that cause nearly all of the internal and external strife that lead to “cold” and “hot” wars in our minds, homes, businesses, and nations. The solutions, not surprisingly, are literally right in front of our eyes.
A great emphasis has been placed upon good music and the singing of hymns in our Latter-day Saint congregations. In fact, it was a only a short time after the organization of the restored church that the Lord gave a commandment to Emma Smith, through the prophet Joseph Smith, to make a sacred selection of hymns. The First Presidency has described the importance of this music in great detail:
On one recent occasion, while I was pondering my freedom as it relates to how I live my faith, I was struck by the connection between freedom and service. Forgive me if this seems to be an over-generalization, but the thought crossed my mind that human beings have always lived at some degree in the following spectrum:
BONDAGE <—-> INDEPENDENCE <—-> SERVICE
Latter-day Saints young and old alike are often reminded of the Lord’s commandment to serve their fellow brothers and sisters as they read the words of King Benjamin:
“And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”
In addition, priesthood holders have been counseled countless times to magnify our callings and render service to all those in need. As we apply these scriptures to our own lives, in our own day, we can be grateful that we live in a country where we are free to serve our fellow beings according to our own willingness and desires.
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Here’s something to keep your eye on.
There’s been a flurry of new web activity this year as representatives at the state and federal levels have rolled out attractive, fancy websites that allow you (yes, YOU) to submit and vote on changes that you’d like to see made to government.
Isn’t that sweet.
(note: sarcasm)
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