By Roger Cowin Call me Judas, a noose for a necktie, dangling from my tree of woe, I have wandered alone in the wilderness. forty years and forty months. son of the dead millennium. I have offered prayers with forked tongue, cast the first stone and took delight spitting in my neighbor’s eye. …
Category: Issue 170
Braving the Borderlands: Borderlanders Share their Coping Mechanisms
By D. Jeff Burton This column presents several readers’ answers to the frequently asked question, “How can I cope as a member of the Borderlands?” I have edited their comments for clarity and brevity; I have also changed their names.1 From Denny: What helps me to cope is to be a “verifier;” never a …
Summer Sales and the Protestant Ethic
By Jacob Bender THE SUMMER BEFORE grad school, I worked installing security systems. I didn’t mean to. I’d been put off by home security companies while a missionary in Puerto Rico, where I met RMs who’d once testified of Christ but who were now shilling for shoddy systems no one really needed. In Rexburg, recruiters …
An Olive Leaf
By Allen E. Bergin Allen E. Bergin is a celebrated clinical psychologist specializing in psychotherapy outcomes and widely honored for pioneering the integration of religion and values in therapeutic settings. He has been received many awards, including the “Distinguished Professional Contribution to Knowledge Award” (1989) from the American Psychological Association, and the “Oskar Pfister Award …
Living on the Edge
By M. E. Or right-click here to download the audio file: Living on the Edge THE FIRST TIME MY oldest child made a frantic telephone call to me occurred on a crisp autumn afternoon when he was thirteen. I sat in a row of parents watching my daughter chase a soccer ball …
Searching for Happiness and Never Finding It
By Michael Vinson Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy. —D&C 11:13 Even though Mormons are enjoined not to play the lottery, many are nevertheless tempted by it, fantasizing about how a …
Sacred Groves
By Jason Brown Cosmic Trees Imagine the most common of trees, the Christmas (or solstice) tree, decorated with globes, lights and a star on top. Allow that tree to grow in your mind so that it fills the sky. The bright star at the very top of the tree merges with the North Star, Polaris. …
James Talmage on Book of Mormon Geography
By James P. Harris Elder James E. Talmage had a firm belief in the historicity of the Book of Mormon account, yet the record shows that he was uncertain where the events described in the book took place. For instance, in his 1916 masterwork, Jesus the Christ, Elder Talmage appends the following note concerning where …