The bigger fish is a sea trout, and the smaller one a white drum. The white drum was still drumming when he was cleaning it. Pretty weird.
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Collectively and individually, you are loved with an everlasting love that delights in each faithful step taken. God yearns to draw you close so that wounds may be healed, emptiness filled, and hope strengthened.
Do not turn away in pride, fear, or guilt from the One who seeks only the best for you and your loved ones. Come before your Eternal Creator with open minds and hearts and discover the blessings of the gospel anew. Be vulnerable to divine grace.
At the heart of divine love is sacrifice-the willingness to be diminished so that another may be increased. This is the meaning of Christ on the cross. God, who could have insulated himself from pain, descended to earth, assumed the aspect of his children, and bore the greatest pain in his own person. Rather than hoard the heavenly feast for himself, he invites beggars to his table. He breaks bread with us and drinks from the cup our lips have touched. When he speaks to us, it is no longer from a great white throne, centered in a vortex of light, surrounded by celestial griffins, warding off the unwashed. He speaks to us eye to eye, from a traitor’s gibbet, with his blood and sweat and shame upon him for all to see, and with his wounds forever open. He comes not as king, but as slave. He comes not as judge, but as accused. He comes not as patriarch, but as bastard. He comes not to punish us, but to let us punish him. He does not ask us to love him until we are first certain that he loves us. He is the great failure who saves us from our success. He is the great fool who spares us from our wisdom. He is the rejected lover who will not, in turn, reject his love. He is a prophet without honor, a citizen of a despised nation, a poor relation, an unwanted guest. He is the voice of one crying in the wilderness of every human heart. He is the God of grief and sorrow who is the joy of our desiring. He is utterly good because he loves us in our sins and imperfections, because he freely made himself equal to us, and because he freely opened the way whereby we may be made equal to him.
--Paul Toscano's "Priesthood Concepts in the Book of Mormon," Sunstone (Dec. 1989): 17.
5 comments:
Good grief that fish has a huge mouth! Cute shots of your kids. Glad you had a great Halloween.
Cousin Em
Just ask Seth, diving into soft things just doesn't cut it sometimes... Anyway, it looks like you guys had a great Halloween. Seth: congrats on the thesis defense, although I'm still waiting for a copy of it! And nice costume, Alison and I love Arrested Development! It's a shame that it was cancelled. Anyways, we hope to see you all soon-we miss you guys.
Tom and Ali
Wow! You guys had a great Halloween! Abbie had fun, but didn't quite get it. She was done with her costume by the end of the night.
Fun day, we had fun too. Bethany got the hang of trick or treating quickly. She would grab a whole handful and put it in her bucket and still go back for more.
Great pics, we miss those munchkins so much! Annie was confused about why the first few trick-or-treaters that came to our house didn't give HER any candy. The big jerks. Nice fish seth, we're glad the gators didn't get you. Love you guys,
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