My Place to Reflect

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. I stand at attention with my hand over my heart. In spite of the literal meaning of this pledge, my pledge is of allegiance to the nation, its ideals, its principles, not the fabric. The flag is a living symbol. I treat it with respect as a symbolic gesture of how I want to treat those principles, those ideals, this great nation. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. A republic is a nation or state in which the power belongs to the people, administered by their elected officials. This is in contrast to a monarchy where the leader is supreme. In a republic, the people share an equality in standing. One nation under God. It is by the grace of God that we are a nation. And it will only be by the grace of God that we might one day truly be one nation in heart as well as polity. In that Latter-day Saint canon of scripture, we have a story of Enoch wh...

On May 11, 2017, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints   announced that wards would no longer use the Varsity Scout and Venturing programs for young men in the church. The transition date is stated as January 1, 2018. Rather than dwell on how sad this announcement makes me, I want to turn my attention to the positive emphasis the announcement makes in relation to reaching out to our young men aged 14-18. The new directions for activities are not new but are instructive for seeing the vision of what our modern prophets and apostles are wanting to establish for our youth activity programs. These directions are broken down into principles and guidelines . Preliminary to these principles and guidelines is a vision statement . Building young men with strong testimonies in the Lord Jesus Christ, helping them magnify their priesthood duties and preparing to fulfill their divine roles is the purpose of the Young Men’s 14-18 activity program. Activit...