Tug of War

Tug of war. A contest in which two teams pull at opposite ends of a rope until one drags the other over a central line.

Annually a twist is placed on this game in Idaho where the loosing team falls into a pit of sticky instant potatoes.

This mess is fun to fall into and can be quite enjoyable for a time but cleaning up is extremely difficult.

Spiritually we each are players in this game The devil lets go of the rope the instant we side with him. Temporal joy fades into a sticky mess and misery is found. Our battles are deep within and often are seen by the Savior alone.

In the second book of Nephi we learn their “must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so,….righteousness could not brought to pass.”

Reading further we find “all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things…and men are that they might have joy.”

Freedom comes “according to the flesh ; and all things are given them (us) which are expedient unto man. and they are free to choose liberty and eternal life through through the great mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.”

The ultimate tug of war outcome was determined long ago. Christ has come, He lives, He loves us, and He has provided a way home. As we side with him he will never let us fall into the potatoes though He will allow us to feel the force of the opponents pull so we can learn and grow.

The devil however lets go of the rope the instant we side with him. Temporal joy fades into a sticky mess and misery is found.

Ezra Taft Benson declared “Daily, constantly, we choose by our desires, our thoughts, and our actions whether we want to be blessed or cursed happy or miserable.”

Will your choices place you in the instant potatoes today?

Time to Dance

“Time where did you go why did you leave me alone, wait don’t go so fast I’m missing the moments as they pass…”

A few years ago I had the opportunity to Ballroom dance to these words. As I did they became my own, my body awakened expressing the depth of they’re meaning in my life. Since this experience these words have become etched more clearly upon my soul.

Time is a precious commodity we cannot earn it nor get it back once we have spent it.

Elliott Landau once stated “There is a time to talk and a time to be quiet, a time to think, a time to cry, a time to laugh, a time to smile, a time to go to bed, and a time to awaken. There is the right time and the wrong time for all kinds of things. As we grow older, we are continually reminded by those with whom we live, by our teachers, by our friends, even by our grandmothers, that we have done things that were right at the wrong time.”

So how do we not let these precious moments pass and use our given time correctly?

We learn to become as the Savior IS and SEE AS HE SEES by placing ourselves in another’s position. By doing this we learn to discern when it is the right time to laugh, to smile, to cry, to ask, and even to wonder.

Don’t wonder where the moments have passed in your life or where the time has went.

Today is the day to remember the Second Greatest Commandment and feel the windows of heaven open as you love your neighbor as yourself!