John and Steph's Houston Mission

In this post, I invite you to examine with me one of the great parables taught by Jesus recorded in  Luke 10:25-37  of the New Testament. The parable is evoked when Jesus is asked a deeply important question by a lawyer, an expert in the Law of Moses.  25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. This initial exchange is remarkable on its own. Jesus courteously recognized, acknowledged and even acquiesced to the experience, expertise and knowledge of the lawyer. He was aware that the lawyer knew the right answer to his own question and side-stepped what was, apparently, an effo...

What do you want to be when you grow up? It is a classical question commonly asked of children and youth. Of course, the answers change as we mature and become more aware of the possibilities, and many of us do not settle on a specific answer until college, having been surprised by previously unknown options. When I was three, I wanted to grow up to be Superman. At twelve, I thought being Mr. Spock would be ideal. At 15 electrical engineering was looking pretty good having had a good first run at computer programming on my Commodore PET, so at 18 I started down that path at college.  But that vision was refined when I was on my earlier mission at the age of 23. I was serving in Pittsfield, Massachusetts at the time. Interestingly, it was the town where I was born while my dad was employed in the accounting department of the General Electric transformer factory. On my mission, I was visiting with a man who worked for GE. He essentially asked me the same classical question mentioned ...

It's been a long minute since my last post. Time easily slips away when you are engaged in demanding activities, so let me post a few thoughts as they flow today.  It has been surprising how much energy is required to simply support individuals as they navigate their own lives. Trying to help someone improve the way they budget, providing a bit of senior care to ensure they get to their doctor's appointments, or simply visiting with and listening to people of any age because everyone needs to be seen and heard, require both physical and emotional energy. Stephanie and I have time for those things right now and the results of such service to others are days with tired bodies but joyful souls.    Proselyting itself is a young man's sport, however. That's not to say that we don't get to speak with people about the Church and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, but putting in a day's work to find people who may be interested in learning more and are courageous enou...