It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live

Cross-posted from my Google+ account.


As you might imagine, I love the Hairless (Harry Potter) series.  I particularly relish listening to Hairless, as read by Jim Dale.  The other night, I was listening to the first book, again, and heard the part where Harry is met by Dumbledore, standing in front of the Mirror of Erised, gazing longingly at his deceased family.  Dumbledore encourages Harry to live in the present, giving the quote of this post's title:  "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

I love what a modern-day prophet had to say on this subject, as well:  "We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. 'This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,' the Psalmist wrote. 'Rejoice and be glad in it.'"  http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/of-regrets-and-resolutions?lang=eng

Or, as another modern-day prophet quoted from The Music Man, a few years ago, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/finding-joy-in-the-journey?lang=eng

I hope we can all find and accept happiness and joy in life, now, rather than consistently telling ourselves, as Harry does, when tiredly searching for a solution to breathing under water in the Goblet of Fire, "In the next book . . . the next one, . . . the next one."  We can choose to be happy, now!

Today's Spiritual Message: Prophets and Apostles

There are prophets and apostles, again, on the earth, today.  Think of it:  Men like Moses, Noah, and Abraham.

I invite you to learn what they taught last Saturday and Sunday at the semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Read, watch, listen to, or download their messages at gc.lds.org.

Here is what the chief prophet and apostle, President of the Church Thomas S. Monson had to say, during his principal message (almost like a keynote):



"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).

Yesterday's Spiritual Message: What the Prophet Said

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormons), there are many prophets and apostles.  On the other hand, there is only one president, like Peter, who is authorized to exercise all authority delegated to man.  The name of this president is Thomas S. Monson, and he gave his principal address ("talk"), yesterday, morning.  I hope you enjoy it.

To watch or listen to any message given during the five sessions of General Conference over the weekend, please visit this link (text will be available Thursday).

Today's Spiritual Message: Come Listen to Living Prophets

In the book of John, Philip informs his friend Nathanael he's found the Messiah.  Nathanael responds, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see"  John 1:45-46.

In our times, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaim the Savior has established His Church on the earth, again, with prophets at its head.  Some might respond similarly to Nathanael, "Prophets in our day?"  Like Philip of old, we invite you, "Come and see."

HAPPY 500TH POST! Today's Spiritual Message: Things as They Really Are

"Time flies on wings of lightning, we cannot call it back."  I've written on this subject a few times and it's still something I greatly struggle with -- and I lived two years on a rigid schedule, absent TV, email, friends, dating etc., waking up early and going to bed by 10:30.

As I imagine some of you might also be having similar struggles with prioritizing your time, I'm confident you'll enjoy this brief video, incorporating words from Elder David A. Bednar, as well as the full video of Elder Ian S. Ardern's recent general conference talk, A Time to Prepare.

(Yesterday's) Spiritual Message: What Did Heavenly Father's Prophets and Apostles Say, Last Week?

Last week, I mentioned that prophets and apostles, called of God (our Heavenly Father), would be speaking to all the world.

Here is one of the messages the chief prophet and apostle (the equivalent of a modern Peter, Moses, Noah, Abraham, etc.), President Thomas S. Monson, shared with us all, entitled Stand in Holy Places:



In addition to President Monson, the Church is also guided and directed by other prophets and apostles (15, including President Monson) and seventys, as described by Paul in Ephesians 4:11-14 and called by the Savior, Himself, as recorded in Luke 10:1 (seventys) and Luke 6:12-13 (apostles).  An overview of who the principal leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are can be found here.

The messages given by all the prophets, apostles, seventys, and other Church leaders can be read, listened to, watched, and downloaded, here.

As always, I'd love to answer any questions, or you can certainly visit mormon.org and search for yourself.