Have you heard the saying, “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and take what ever comes”? I remember first hearing it in college and thinking that it was a clever little bit of wisdom. Do I follow that little piece of advice? No, I sure don’t. I have a tendency to hope for the best and then get disappointed when it doesn’t happen. (more…)

Our speculative discussion in the last post has me thinking about the implications of total unity vs. individuality. This is a doctrinal question that touches most every important part of our spiritual and religious lives. It is at the heart of the tension between our unity as a community striving to become a Zion people and our individuality, our unity as couples or families vs. individuality, and the unity of the Godhead vs. their individuality. If we are to become one with God then what becomes of our individuality? (more…)

There have been some interesting discussions recently that have made me ponder the question of degrees of divinity. J. Stapley wondered at another thread whether the pre-earth Christ was “fully divine” and thus worthy of our worship. He also expressed doubt that we should currently worship the Holy Ghost along with the Father and Son. (more…)

As most of you know I’m fairly new to the bloggernacle. I’ve only been active in this little community since the beginning of summer, some of you have been around much longer than this. I’m curious to find out from my fellow bloggers of all experience (novice to veteran) what one would consider good manners when one is navigating around the bloggernacle. (more…)

Ronan made a funny comment over at BCC the other day that I thought was worthy of posting on. After my favorite doctrinal sparring partner Jeffrey Giliam made a comment and I agreed with it Ronan said:

Has anyone seen Geoff J and Jeffrey G. (GJ>JG>GJ) in the same room together? … Doctroholics come only one per generation. I’m checking your IP’s. New Cool Busted!

The sad part is that I’m starting to think he is on to something… Where are the other doctroholics? Jeffrey and I post heavily on Mormon doctrine and theology, but not many others do. Why is that? (more…)

I just finished installing radio.blog in my sidebar and oddly enough it appears to work. I figured this would be a nice addition here at the Thang since we are sort of a blog about Mormon theology, Mormon life, and of course, Rock ‘n’ Roll. Not that I anticipate a lot of posts specifically on rock ‘n’ roll but the subject comes up often enough that I figured this might be a good idea for our blog. (more…)

I have some very lovely children, the cream of the crop I’d say. They do have a few odds going against them. The most serious is that their mother doesn’t know what the heck she’s doing. It’s true. I officially decided yesterday that I’m clueless when it comes to raising children. I don’t know when directions on child rearing were handed out but I wasn’t there. I was probably late, or I skipped school that day, or I may have been daydreaming. (more…)

We are commanded to give to the poor and needy. Ancient and modern scriptures are clear on that. But are there clear priorities when choosing how to distribute our offerings? Let me give you a hypothetical situation to see what you think. (more…)

I have been really embarrassed about something for many years. I don’t like to talk about it that much so not very many people know about it. I need to move past it so I’ve decided that I’m going to share this embarrassing moment with you today so that one of two things will happen. Either I will realize that it’s not uncommon and move on with my life or I will realize that I am a freak and promptly find a psychiatrist who will help me learn from this experience and then move on. (more…)

Kristen’s excellent post yesterday on teaching children compassion reminded me of a subject I have been thinking about lately. I saw the greatest ad on BYU TV recently. Some nerdy kid in a high school hallway scene had his books and papers spilled all over the floor by a passing bully. A big strapping athlete kid was nearby hanging with his jock and cheerleader friends and noticed it. He paused for a minute then went over to help the nerdy kid pick up his books. For some reason I found it touching (clich�s and all). There is something very powerful and moving about seeing the strong help the weak simply out of compassion. (more…)

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how to raise kind and compassionate children. I think I know how to teach them to have compassion for those they know personally, but I’m not sure I know how to teach them to have compassion and take some responsibility for people they don’t personally know. For that matter I’m not sure if I know how to do that myself. (more…)