Mormon Musings

God has infinite time for each of us (C.S. Lewis)

2026-10-29T12:21:49.096-06:00

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis noted a difficulty some people have with prayer that is illustrated by the following statement a man had made to him: “I can believe in God all right, but what I cannot swallow is the idea of Him attending to several hundred million human beings who are all addressing Him at the same moment.” Here is how Lewis addressed this concern:

Now, the first thing to notice is that the whole sting of it comes in the words at the same moment. Most of us can imagine God attending to any number of applicants if only they came one by one and He had an endless time to do it in. So what is really at the back of this difficulty is the idea of God having to fit too many things into one moment of time.

Well that is of course what happens to us. Our life comes to us moment by moment. One moment disappears before the next comes along: and there is room for very little in each. That is what Time is like. And of course you and I tend to take it for granted that this Time series—this arrangement of past, present and future—is not simply the way life comes to us but the way all things really exist. We tend to assume that the whole universe and God Himself are always moving on from past to future just as we do. But many learned men do not agree with that. It was the Reflections June 2022Theologians who first started the idea that some things are not in Time at all: later the Philosophers took it over: and now some of the scientists are doing the same.

Almost certainly God is not in Time. His life does not consist of moments following one another. If a million people are praying to Him at ten-thirty tonight, He need not listen to them all in that one little snippet which we call ten-thirty. Ten-thirty—and every other moment from the beginning of the world—is always the Present for Him. If you like to put it that way, He has all eternity in which to listen to the split second of prayer put up by a pilot as his plane crashes in flames.

That is difficult, I know. Let me try to give something, not the same, but a bit like it. Suppose I am writing a novel. I write “Mary laid down her work; next moment came a knock at the door!” For Mary who has to live in the imaginary time of my story there is no interval between putting down the work and hearing the knock. But I, who am Mary’s maker, do not live in that imaginary time at all. Between writing the first half of that sentence and the second, I might sit down for three hours and think steadily about Mary. I could think about Mary as if she were the only character in the book and for as long as I pleased, and the hours I spent in doing so would not appear in Mary’s time (the time inside the story) at all.

This is not a perfect illustration, of course. But it may give just a glimpse of what I believe to be the truth. God is not hurried along in the Time-stream of this universe any more than an author is hurried along in the imaginary time of his own novel, He has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man in the world…

When we pray to God, let us be thankful that He loves us as individuals, and has infinite attention for each of us.

“He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”

PSALM 147:4-5 (ESV)

Our charitable giving should hurt a little (C.S. Lewis)

2026-10-14T12:40:12.733-06:00

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.”

― CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

Its Better to Look Up (Cook)

2026-05-07T07:25:00.002-06:00

Experience has taught me that if we, like President Monson, exercise our faith and look to God for help, we will not be overwhelmed with the burdens of life. We will not feel incapable of doing what we are called to do or need to do. We will be strengthened, and our lives will be filled with peace and joy. We will come to realize that most of what we worry about is not of eternal significance—and if it is, the Lord will help us. But we must have the faith to look up and the courage to follow His direction.

Why is it a challenge to consistently look up in our lives? Perhaps we lack the faith that such a simple act can solve our problems. For example, when the children of Israel were bitten by poisonous serpents, Moses was commanded to raise up a brass serpent on a pole. The brass serpent represented Christ. Those who looked up at the serpent, as admonished by the prophet, were healed. But many others failed to look up, and they perished...

President Monson’s encouragement to look up is a metaphor for remembering Christ. As we remember Him and trust in His power, we receive strength through His Atonement. It is the means whereby we can be relieved of our anxieties, our burdens, and our suffering. It is the means whereby we can be forgiven and healed from the pain of our sins. It is the means whereby we can receive the faith and strength to endure all things.

Elder Carl B. Cook, October 2011 General Conference

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2011/10/it-is-better-to-look-up?lang=eng

Church is not for entertainment (Kimball)

2026-02-08T06:30:00.006-07:00

"We do not go to Sabbath meetings to be entertained or even solely to be instructed. We go to worship the Lord. It is an individual responsibility, and regardless of what is said from the pulpit, if one wishes to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, he may do so by attending his meetings, partaking of the sacrament, and contemplating the beauties of the gospel. If the service is a failure to you, you have failed. No one can worship for you; you must do your own waiting upon the Lord.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-spencer-w-kimball/chapter-16?lang=eng#note18). Spencer W. Kimball

"One good but mistaken man I know claimed he could get more out of a good book on Sunday than he could get in attending church services... But we do not go to Sabbath meetings to be entertained or even solely to be instructed. We go to worship the Lord. It is an individual responsibility... there is a meeting within a meeting... It is a meeting between a man and his God." Spencer W. Kimball, Miracle of Forgiveness, Chapter 16

death (Brigham Young)

2025-10-01T14:58:00.004-06:00

My spirit is set free. I thirst no more, I want sleep no more, I hunger no more, I tire no more - I run, I walk, I labor, I go, I come, I do this, I do that - whatever is required of me, nothing like pain or weariness. I am full of life, I am full of vigor, and I enjoy the presence of my Heavenly Father. When we pass through the veil, we will view death as one of life's greatest blessings - So nothing is dreaded. If we could see things as they are (and we shall see and understand them), this dark shadow, a valley of death, is so trifling that we shall turn around and look upon it and think when we have crossed it, 'Why this is the greatest advantage of my whole existence, for I have passed from a state of disappointment to a state when I can enjoy life to the fullest.

Brigham Young

pray for gifts to overcome weaknesses (George Q. Cannon)

2025-05-12T07:11:00.005-06:00

If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for charity, which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the gospel. They are intended for this purpose. No man ought to say, “Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.” He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them. If a man lack wisdom, it is his duty to ask God for wisdom. The same with everything else. That is the design of God concerning His Church. He wants His Saints to be perfected in the truth. For this purpose He gives these gifts and bestows them upon those who seek after them, in order that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the earth, notwithstanding their many weaknesses, because God has promised to give the gifts that are necessary for their perfection.

George Q. Cannon, from the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, Apr. 23, 1894, 258–61

Hell is a temporary place (Talmage)

2025-03-04T07:16:00.006-07:00

To hell there is an exit as well as an entrance. Hell is no place to which a vindictive judge sends prisoners to suffer and be punished principally for his glory; but it is a place prepared for the teaching, the disciplining of those who failed to learn here upon the earth what they should have learned. … No man will be kept in hell longer than is necessary to bring him to a fitness for something better. When he reaches that stage the prison doors will open and there will be rejoicing among the hosts who welcome him into a better state.

Elder James E. Talmage, Conference Report, April 1930, 97

Brigham's confidence in Joseph Smith (Brigham Young)

2024-09-20T07:56:00.005-06:00

I can tell the people that once in my life I felt a want of confidence in brother Joseph Smith, soon after I became acquainted with him. It was not concerning religious matters—it was not about his revelations—but it was in relation to his financiering—to his managing the temporal affairs which he undertook. A feeling came ever me that Joseph was not right in his financial management, though I presume the feeling did not last sixty seconds, and perhaps not thirty. But that feeling came on me once and once only, from the time I first knew him to the day of his death. It gave me sorrow of heart, and I clearly saw and understood, by the spirit of revelation manifested to me, that if I was to harbor a thought in my heart that Joseph could be wrong in anything, I would begin to lose confidence in him, and that feeling would grow from step to step, and from one degree to another, until at last I would have the same lack of confidence in his being the mouthpiece for the Almighty, and I would be left, as brother Hooper observed, upon the brink of the precipice, ready to plunge into what we may call the gulf of infidelity, ready to believe neither in God nor His servants, and to say that there is no God, or, if there is, we do not know anything about Him; that we are here, and by and by shall go from here, and that is all we shall know. Such persons are like those whom the Apostle calls "As natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed." Though I admitted in my feelings and knew all the time that Joseph was a human being and subject to err, still it was none of my business to look after his faults.

I repented of my unbelief, and that too, very suddenly; I repented about as quickly as I committed the error. It was not for me to question whether Joseph was dictated by the Lord at all times and under all circumstances or not. I never had the feeling for one moment, to believe that any man or set of men or beings upon the face of the whole earth had anything to do with him, for he was superior to them all, and held the keys of salvation over them. Had I not thoroughly understood this and believed it, I much doubt whether I should ever have embraced what is called "Mormonism." He was called of God; God dictated him, and if He had a mind to leave him to himself and let him commit an error, that was no business of mine. And it was not for me to question it, if the Lord was disposed to let Joseph lead the people astray, for He had called him and instructed him to gather Israel and restore the Priesthood and kingdom to them.

It was not my prerogative to call him in question with regard to any act of his life. He was God's servant, and not mine. He did not belong to the people but to the Lord, and was doing the work of the Lord, and if He should suffer him to lead the people astray, it would be because they ought to be led astray. If He should suffer them to be chastised, and some of them destroyed, it would be because they deserved it, or to accomplish some righteous purpose. That was my faith, and it is my faith still.

Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 4:54

Remember (Kimball)

2024-09-08T07:45:00.003-06:00

When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is? It could be "remember." Because all of you have made covenants--you know what to do and you know how to do it--our greatest need is to remember.

Spencer W. Kimball

the development of attributes requires regular and repeated efforts (Maxwell)

2024-09-05T07:56:00.005-06:00

Our clinical material (Maxwell)

2024-05-20T07:12:00.008-06:00

Your lives, your friendships, your marriages, your families, your neighbors and coworkers currently constitute the sample of humanity which God has given you. We are each other’s clinical material, and we make a mistake when we disregard that sober fact. No wonder, therefore, we feel stress at times. The wise and insightful President Brigham Young said this: “There are no two faces alike, no two persons tempered alike; … we are tried with each other, and large drafts are made upon our patience, forbearance, charity, and good will, in short, upon all the higher and Godlike qualities of our nature” (in Deseret News, 6 July 1862, 9). Now, you are going to have days when people make a large draft on your patience, when they lay claim to your long-suffering that you may feel they don’t quite deserve. This is part of the chemistry that goes on in discipleship if we are serious about it, as we constitute each other’s clinical material.

Neal A. Maxwell

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2001/02/jesus-the-perfect-mentor?lang=eng

The Atonement leaves no tracks (Packer)

2024-05-06T07:51:00.004-06:00

The Atonement leaves no tracks, no traces. What it fixes is fixed. … The Atonement leaves no traces, no tracks. It just heals, and what it heals stays healed.

Boyd K. Packer, general conference training meeting, Apr. 7, 2015

Conscience beckons us to be better (Maxwell)

2024-05-06T07:50:00.001-06:00

We can distinguish more clearly between divine discontent and the devil’s dissonance, between dissatisfaction with self and disdain for self. We need the first and must shun the second, remembering that when conscience calls to us from the next ridge, it is not solely to scold but also to beckon.

Neal A. Maxwell, October 1976 General Conference

scriptures and revelation (Oaks)

2024-04-18T07:50:00.001-06:00

The idea that scripture reading can lead to inspiration and revelation opens the door to the truth that a scripture is not limited to what it meant when it was written but may also include what that scripture means to a reader today. Even more, scripture reading may also lead to current revelation on whatever else the Lord wishes to communicate to the reader at that time. We do not overstate the point when we say that the scriptures can be a Urim and Thummim to assist each of us to receive personal revelation.

Dallin H. Oaks

our relationships continue after death (Joseph F. Smith)

2024-03-15T06:16:00.008-06:00

“I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … If this is the case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses, … how much more certain it is … to believe that those who have been faithful, who have gone beyond … can see us better than we can see them; that they know us better than we know them. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; … their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.”

Joseph F. Smith, in Conference Report, Apr. 1916, 2–3; see also Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. (1939), 430–31.

The Spirit strengthens, purifies and teaches of truth (Eyring)

2023-11-21T07:38:00.003-07:00

The companionship of the Holy Ghost makes what is good more attractive and temptation less compelling. That alone should be enough to make us determined to qualify for the Spirit to be with us always.

Just as the Holy Ghost strengthens us against evil, He also gives us the power to discern truth from falsehood. The truth that matters most is verified only by revelation from God. Our human reason and the use of our physical senses will not be enough. We live in a time when even the wisest will be hard-pressed to distinguish truth from clever deception.

Henry B. Eyring, October 2015 General Conference

Meekness (Maxwell)

2023-11-18T07:54:00.003-07:00

Meekness permits us to be prompted as to whether to speak out or, as Jesus once did, be silent. But even when the meek speak up, they do so without speaking down.

Neal A. Maxwell

the challenge not to be distracted (Bednar)

2023-11-14T18:38:00.002-07:00

One of the great challenges each of us faces every day is to not allow the concerns of this world to so dominate our time and energy that we neglect the eternal things that matter most.¹ We can be too easily diverted from remembering and focusing on essential spiritual priorities because of our many responsibilities and busy schedules. Sometimes we try to run so fast that we may forget where we are going and why we are running...We easily can be overcome by the routine and mundane matters of mortality. Sleeping, eating, dressing, working, playing, exercising, and many other customary activities are necessary and important. But ultimately, what we become is the result of our knowledge of and willingness to learn from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; it is not merely the sum total of our daily pursuits over the course of a lifetime.

David A. Bednar, October 2017 General Conference

Prayer (Bednar)

2023-11-07T08:12:00.002-07:00

You don't pray to tell God what you want or what you need. You pray to find out what God wants for you. Big difference. That will change the way you pray forever.

David A Bednar

our doctrine is not hard to find (Andersen)

2023-11-06T21:32:00.001-07:00

There is an important principle that governs the doctrine of the Church. The doctrine is taught by all 15 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It is not hidden in an obscure paragraph of one talk. True principles are taught frequently and by many. Our doctrine is not difficult to find. Neal L. Anderson

October 2012 General Conference

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2012/10/trial-of-your-faith?lang=eng&id=p30#p30

The Holy Ghost is not an independent revelator (Millett)

2023-11-04T09:24:00.001-06:00

The Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead, is not an independent revelator. He does not put forth His own views or His own point of view. Rather, He is the messenger of the first two members of the Godhead and is commissioned to deliver the mind, will, purposes, and words of God the Father and Christ the Son to God's children. And so, when Nephi informs us that those who receive the gift of The Holy Ghost--those who are baptized by fire--are enabled to speak with the tongue of angels, to speak the words of Christ, he is in essence unfolding to use the marvelous oneness of The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost, and the angels of God. They speak with one and the same mind. That is, what an angel declares is what Jesus or The Father would have declared, and the message is delivered by the power of the Spirit. (see also John 16:13)

Robert Millet, The Holy Spirit, page 194

The Atonement of Jesus Christ leaves no tracks, no traces (Packer and McKay)

2023-10-27T07:26:00.003-06:00

We are taught that for those who do not repent, it is as though no redemption had been made. Consider the converse. For those who do repent—truly repent—it is as though no sin had been committed. “I, the Lord, remember them no more,” not because He has some godly power to forget but because there is simply nothing to remember. In His world, the eternal world, it is gone, its effects are canceled, it is undone. President Boyd K. Packer taught: “The Atonement [of Jesus Christ] leaves no tracks, no traces. What it fixes is fixed . . . , and what it heals stays healed.”

Kyle S. McKay

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/kyle-s-mckay/there-must-needs-be-a-christ/

transgressions can be erased (Packer)

2023-10-27T07:00:00.001-06:00

Just as chalk can be removed from a blackboard, with sincere repentance the effects of our transgression can be erased through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That promise applies in every case.

Boyd K. Paker, October 2013 General Conference

the Gospel is not a buffet (Augustine)

2023-10-21T22:09:00.003-06:00

If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you do not like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.

Saint Augustine

our religion embraces all truth (Wilford Woodruff)

2023-10-20T16:15:00.004-06:00

If any man has a truth that we have not got, we say, "Let us have it." I am willing to exchange all the errors and false notions I have for one truth, and should consider that I had made a good bargain. We are not afraid of light and truth. Our religion embraces every truth in heaven, earth or hell; it embraces all truth, the whole Gospel and plan of salvation, and the fulfillment of the whole volume of revelation that God has ever given.

Wilford Woodruff (Journal of Discourses 18:117)