What a beautiful verse!

"There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky."

The Hebrew word "Jeshurun" means "the upright, righteous;" so this verse could also be read:

"There is none like unto the God of the upright and righteous, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky."

What a powerful verse which inspires such beautiful images to come into my mind. The Lord rules and reigns and there is none like unto Him.

An amazing metaphor

I am reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which is an interesting account of things that happened during the Holocaust. In the particular part I am in, the main character's family is housing a Jew in their basement (I almost feel guilty writing that on here, because it is such a huge, vital secret in the book). This Jew's name is Max Vandenburg. Before the war, Max was a boxer, but now he is in hiding in a basement to save his life.

There is a point during his stay there that he decides to start working out again, despite his malnourishment. He wonders if it's worth it, and then imagines himself in a boxing ring with Adolf Hitler, the cause of all his problems. For the first portion of the match, Hitler corners Max and pummels him, over and over again, until he is bleeding and falls to the floor. The crowd is cheering. Hitler backs up, and then Max gets up again and taunts, "Come on, Fuhrer." Hitler approaches, and Max dodges in order to back Hitler into the corner. He hits him several times, until Hitler falls to his knees. The following passage is an amazing analogy of exactly what happened in WWII in Germany:

When he [the Fuhrer] returned to his feet, much to the approval of the thousand-strong crowd, he edged forward and did something quite strange. He turned his back on the Jew and took the gloves from his fists.

The crowd was stunned.

"He's given up," someone whispered, but within moments, Adolf Hitler was standing on the ropes, and he was addressing the arena.

"My fellow Germans," he called, "you can see something here tonight, can't you?" Bare-chested, victory-eyed, he pointed over at Max. "You can see that what we face is something far more sinister and powerful than we ever imagined. Can you see that?"

They answered. "Yes, Fuhrer."

Can you see that this enemy has found its ways -- its despicable ways -- through our armor, and that clearly, I cannot stand up here alone and fight him?" The words were visible. They dropped from his mouth like jewels. "Look at him! Take a good look." They looked. At the bloodied Max Vandenburg. "As we speak, he is plotting his way into your neighborhood. He's moving in next door. He's infesting you with his family and he's about to take you over. He --" Hitler glanced at him a moment, with disgust. "He will soon own you, until it is he who stands not at the counter of your grocery shop, but sits in the back, smoking his pipe. Before you know it, you'll be working for him at minimum wage while he can hardly walk from the weight in his pockets. Will you simply stand there and let him do this? Will you stand by as your leaders did in the past, when they gave your land to everybody else, when they sold your country for the price of a few signatures? Will you stand out there, powerless? Or" -- and now he stepped one rung higher -- "will you climb up into ths ring with me?"

Max shook. Horror stuttured in his stomach.

Adolf finished him. "Will you climb in here so that we can defeat this enemy together?"

In the basement of 33 Himmel Street, Max Vendenburg could feel the fists of an entire nation. One by one they climbed into the ring and beat him down. They made him bleed. They let him suffer. Millions of them..."

 The truth and horror of the Holocaust of the early 1900s.

September 11th article in Washington Post

I was surprised and thrilled to see that President Monson, the prophet today and the current president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had an article in the Washington Post. He wrote somewhat of a memoir on September 11th, and how many of us felt a need to spiritually recommit our lives. He commented that the fervor of that spiritual desire has waned over the past 10 years. He asserted that God's "commitment to us...is unwavering."

And then he gave a powerful statement in the following:

"If there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from our experience of that fateful day, it may be that we owe to God the same faithfulness that He gives to us. We should strive for steadiness, and for a commitment to God that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives. It should not require tragedy for us to remember Him, and we should not be compelled to humility before giving Him our faith and trust. We too should be with Him in every season.

"The way to be with God in every season is to strive to be near Him every week and each day. We truly 'need Him every hour,' not just in hours of devastation. We must speak to Him, listen to Him, and serve Him. If we wish to serve Him, we should serve our fellow men. We will mourn the lives we lose, but we should also fix the lives that can be mended and heal the hearts that may yet be healed.

"It is constancy that God would have from us."

Lord, let me be constant unto thee. Help thou my weakness.

There is a God, and that makes me who I am

I just started a personal finance course online from BYU. I recently stopped being the main provider for our family, and since then, I have felt somewhat lost when it comes to finances, how to manage them, and how to keep track of them as a couple. So, I figured I would start a course to help me with this.

It's been really interesting so far. This particular course is teaching finance as an integral part of Christian living - viewing and using our financial resources from an eternal perspective. In the process of teaching how to do this, the author (Bryan Lorin Sudweeks) has been trying to show the importance of having God at the center of one's perspective. He quoted some wonderful people.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell:

Living without God in the world brings a functional lack of consistent perspective. If there were no eternal truths, to what principles would mortals look for guidance? If not accountable to God, to whom are we ultimately accountable? Furthermore, if nothing is ever really wrong, then no one is ever really responsible. If there are no fixed boundaries, then there cannot be any excesses. Why should we be surprised, then, at so many disturbing outcomes, including the lack of community, when every man does that which is "right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25)  and seeks not the righteousness of the Lord but instead walks "in his own way"? (D&C 1:16) (Neal A. Maxwell, “Take Especial Care of Your Family,” Ensign, May 1994, 88).

We see the world and the people in it differently, because, as C. S. Lewis observed, it is by the light and illumination of the gospel that we see everything else. . . . The gospel is like the lens of a cosmic kaleidoscope that, instead of showing life, man, and the universe as senseless, unconnected fragments, shows us pattern, beauty, and purpose! It is this vision that can give us a special sense of proportion about the things in life that matter most. . . . This perspective can make so many differences in so many ways that, unintentionally, we may be unconscious of the implications of our difference in outlook (Neal A. Maxwell, “Talk of the Month,” New Era, May 1971, 28).

Benjamin Franklin:

Those who believe there is one God who made all things and who governs the world by this providence will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe that mankind are all of a family and that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe in a future state in which all that is wrong here will be made right will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many choices different from those who do not (The Art of Virtue, 1986, 88–90).

 I love this whole thought that what we believe and how we allow it to influence our perspective on life impacts everything we do and the decisions that we make. I know there is a God, and I will strive to live so that knowledge will be able to show through and shine onto everything I do and every decision I make. I know it influences a lot of my decisions now, but I hope it can eventually transform everything I do.

Sidenote: 

While I was writing this, "If I Were A Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof started playing on my iTunes. Perfectly fitting.