Rough Stone Rolling

I guess everyone’s character is too complicated to be summed up in one or two adjectives. In my case, I’ve learned I have a respect for authority that’s offset by an impish streak of rebelliousness and irreverence. I want to be good, but I don’t like being told what to do. One of my favorite [...]

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I never heard of Glenn Beck until this year, and my first impression of him was, “zoobie!” Boy, was I wrong. And the more I hear him talk, the more I genuinely love the guy. He reminds me of a friend and former bishop of mine (now our home teacher, actually) because he carries with [...]

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I wrote a little before about the differences between the Utah and California Mormon experience. Something I could probably add is California Mormons have more and easier opportunities to make non-Mormon friends. Because Mormons are a small minority in any given Southern California workplace not owned by the Church, we’re more apt to befriend and [...]

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I’ve been mulling over the notion of writing a book (or books) for some time now. Recently, I checked out four books from the library for Miss D., called the “Janie Johnson” series, by Caroline B. Cooney. I’ve got a pretty good divining rod on reading material when it comes to D. and although it [...]

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I’ve come to realize that whenever I recount stories of things that have happened to me over the years, I’m writing not an autobiography but a biography, because I’m talking about someone I used to know. The events are all true (in case you wondered), but sometimes they seemed to have happened to someone else, [...]

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A friend who’s usually predominantly vocal in Gospel Doctrine was unusually quiet today. Afterward, I teased her about it and asked why this was. She told me the lesson made her think about a friend of hers, a woman who’s roots were “related to half the Mormon population” but who was never a member herself. [...]

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There’s a Gordon B. Hinckley story that goes like this: First Counselor Hinckley was addressing a congregation in the temple assembly hall during a dedication for the newly-created temple movie. Michael Ballam was there as well as other cast members. At one point, Hinckley stopped and then said, “I believe it would be appropriate at [...]

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My Aunt Anita, a family icon, died yesterday at the age of 79. She was looking forward to her 80th birthday, but instead was found sitting peacefully in her favorite chair, with her spirit relocated to a new address. Anita was a tough-as-nails Manhattenite, abrasive (she was something of a bully as a kid), but [...]

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Ah, the shadows and light of the spiritual experience. Last night I came home full of the bliss of Elysium, all aglow from a new Temple Prep course I started: A young couple and two single men, stocked with questions and challenges to the incredible doctrines of the Plan of Salvation. I felt Father with [...]

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I’m always at odds with myself and this frustrates me to no end. My spirit is a chaotic WWF uber-war with Playfully Irreverent Dave, I’ll-Do-What-I-Want Dave and Dark Dave coming down with folding chairs and elbow strikes upon Embrace-the-Light Dave, CTR Dave and Devout Dave. I’ve tried to persuade myself this is just Independent Dave [...]

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And so McCain locks the GOP nomination, Clinton and Obama are carving up the country, divvying delegates “one-for-me-one-for-you” like a brother and sister splitting the entrailed pennies of a gutted piggy bank, and the 2008 election looks more miserable than ever. I know a lot of people (myself included, to a degree) think Mitt hung [...]

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While on our Maui trip, we took a snorkeling excursion to Molokini, a volcanic crater off the coast of the island. As our boat headed for the destination, I met a couple from Long Island, NY, and we chatted about this and that as we enjoyed the whales splashing around us and ate mangoes. Somewhere [...]

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