(12/17/04)
"Ah! the light breaks. There is a record kept-and surely there is one. One group is receiving its reward now; the other is laying it up in heaven; and out of the books which are written and shall be written shall the dead be judged. (See Rev. 20:12.) Then the Lord gives his word, which he cannot break, for surely 'I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say.' (D&C 82:10; italics added.) And here is the Lord's promise: 'And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.' (Mal. 3:17.) Surely, it is very difficult not to be partial to your own son who is working for you, if he does a good job. I presume there is nothing wrong in feeling that way about your own son. The Lord seems to think not." - Hartman Rector Jr., "That Ye May Have Roots and Branches," Ensign, May 1983, p. 26-27

(12/19/04)
"To most of us, autumn is a time of thanksgiving, when we acknowledge the Source of our blessings, and we kneel before him and give thanks. Our sincerity may not be gauged wholly by the words we use, the tone of our voice or the regularity of our kneeling.

"If someone does us a great favor, one which we cannot fully repay, we sometimes express the wish that some day we may have an opportunity to show our gratitude in some tangible way. What would our benefactor think of us-what should we think of ourselves-if such an opportunity should appear and we neglected or refused to embrace it? Suppose he should ask us to do some little favor for him, something, say one-tenth as valuable as his service to us, would we refuse the favor or complain that it was too much or too difficult? If we did, we should expect all who knew the facts to list us among the ingrates, and in case of future need, embarrassment and shame would make a new appeal to the benefactor, if not impossible, at least humiliating and probably fruitless.

"But the gratitude which is worthy of us will not be prompted by 'a lively sense of favors to come'-it should be akin to the charity of which the apostle wrote which 'seeketh not itself.' Real gratitude is compounded of many virtues and is productive of others. It is to be found among those who were named by the Master as 'blessed,' the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the oppressed. Blessed is he who has a thankful heart and a contrite spirit. To him the windows of heaven are opened until he is unable to contain his blessings. But it will take more than words to open those windows.

"In spite of our losses, our trials, our hardships, our bereavements, each one of us has reason to be thankful for the blessings of the past year." - Hugh B. Brown, "The Eternal Quest" [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1956], p. 208-209

(12/20/04)
"The apostle John on the Isle of Patmos 'saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.' (Rev. 20:12.)...

"The spirit world is not far away. Sometimes the veil between this life and the life beyond becomes very thin. Our loved ones who have passed on are not far from us. One great spiritual leader asked, 'But where is the spirit world?' and then answered his own question, 'It is here.'

"'Do spirits go beyond the boundaries of this organized earth? No, they do not. They are brought forth upon this earth, for the express purpose of inhabiting it to all eternity.'

"'... when the spirits leave their bodies they are in the presence of our Father and God; they are prepared then to see, hear and understand spiritual things. . . . If the Lord would permit it, and it was His will that it should be done, you could see the spirits that have departed from this world, as plainly as you now see bodies with your natural eyes....' (Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, pp. 367-69.)" - Ezra Taft Benson, "God, Family, Country: Our Three Great Loyalties" [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974], p. 22