Layne's Lunch

As I thought about the experience of the woman who was "taken in adultery", a thought came to my mind.  What do we have in our personal bag with when we leave our homes each day?  Did the scribes and Pharisees make sure they had a bag of stones with them at the ready just in case there was someone who needed their  judgment  and punishment?  Do we figuratively fill our pouch with stones so we are ready to meet out our own self-righteous verdicts and penalties?   Let's review the story: 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,   4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.   5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?   6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them n...

Essentialism as defined by Greg Mckeown in his book with that title , is the disciplined pursuit of less, or in other words it is doing what is absolutely necessary and extremely important.   OK, that is a great idea, but how do I define what is absolutely necessary and extremely important.   Is this simply a matter of separating what I SHOULD be doing from what I WANT to be doing? Is this another one of those "follow your passion" topics?   Come to think of it, who defines "should"?  Why do we let others define "should" for us? For those who are still struggling with the question, "Why am I here on this planet?", this can be a difficult exercise.  For the purpose of this discussion I am going to assume that you understand God's plan of happiness and you know what you are doing on this earth.     With that as a foundation, now you can't simply separate your life into these two lists: What I should do (demands of others...

I was listening to an old episode of the Mormon Vegitarian Podcast  and I heard a statement that I thought was quite interesting.   A fellow ward member said to the wife of the host of this podcast that she could show in the scriptures how vegetarianism leads to apostasy. The scripture she quoted was 1 Timothy 4:1-3  1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;  3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.  4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: One of the places I typically go when looking for greater insight on a particular scripture is to the LDS Scripture Cita...