Inspiration – Page 2 – The Commonplace Notebook

Quranic Quote of the Week #3: I Only Follow What Is Revealed to Me

“When Our clear revelations are recited to them, those who do not expect to meet with Us say, ‘Bring us a different Qur’an, or change it.’ Prophet, say, ‘It is not for me to change it of my own accord; I only follow what is revealed to me, for I fear the torment of an awesome Day, if I were to disobey my Lord. … I lived a whole lifetime among you before it came to me. How can you not use your reason?’” (Quran, 10:15–16)

Quranic Quote of the Week #2: Oceans of Ink

“Say, ‘If the whole ocean were ink for writing the words of my Lord, it would run dry before those words were exhausted’—even if We were to add another ocean to it.” (Quran, 18:109)

“If all the trees on earth were pens and all the seas, with seven more besides, were ink, still God’s words would not run out. God is almighty and all wise.” (Quran, 31:27)

Quranic Quote of the Week #1: Guardian Angels before Us

“It makes no difference whether any of you speak secretly or aloud, whether you are hiding under cover of night or skulking about in the day: each person has guardian angels before him and behind, watching over him by God’s command.” (Quran, 13:11)

For better or worse, none of us can hide from God. But that’s not as bad as it sounds.

Deadly “Sins”

Pride

A pride of lions, streaking majestically across the savannah to hunt for their young. A father and mother, proud to overflowing of their child’s achievements. A nation of Yankee patriots, proud of the freedoms they have won for generations to come.

Ten Commandments

Thou shalt have no other gods before me—

—but that’s not to say you should only have one God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost: All one God, but at the same time three, like a three-leaf clover, or the anatomy of an egg, or Neapolitan ice cream, or whichever analogy suits your fancy. Not monotheistic, but monolatrous.

Staying Centered on Gospel Bullseyes

“Doctrine usually answers the question ‘why?’ Principles usually answer the question ‘what?’ Whenever we emphasize how to do something without reference to why we do it or what we do, we risk looking beyond the mark. At the very least, we fall into the trap Paul described to the Corinthians: ‘For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life’ (2 Cor. 3:6).”
Quentin L. Cook, “Looking Beyond the Mark,” Ensign, March 2003, 44.

The gospel is like a target. At the center are the core truths we need to be saved. Then, moving outward, there’s a ring that contains useful but nonessential truths, and finally at the outer edge are speculative truths that have no bearing on our present needs. As spiritual marksmen, we should aim for the center of the gospel target as much as possible.

Music Piracy: The “Justified” Sin—and How to Avoid It

NOTE: I wrote a similar essay back in 2014, but this article focuses on both the ethics and practical solutions to the issue and was originally written for a Church magazine audience. After my internship ended, I never got around to submitting it and have instead decided to publish it here!

We ARE the World

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we often reference the axiom to “be in the World but not of the World.” This harks back to Christ’s prayer for his apostles, “not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15). All too often, however, we take this principle out of context and extrapolate its meaning to an extent that can be harmful not just to our own spiritual understanding, but to our ability to exercise true Christlike love toward everyone—everyone—around us.

What Does It Mean to Be “Blessed”?

“I know that if we _______, then we’ll be blessed.”

“God will bless us as long as we _______.”

“I will…open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).

That’s all great—but what is a “blessing” exactly? And with the vagueness of its description, how do these promises help us at all? Or do they? What are general “blessings” (not of the specifically catered Priesthood blessing kind) good for if we have no idea what they are?

Apocryphal Scripture of the Week #10: So This Will Be the End

Apocryphal Scripture of the Week: (see Doctrine and Covenants 91)

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“And as the city was held by the Hebrews from that time, I too will here conclude my account.

“If it has been well and pointedly written, that is what I wanted; but if it is poor, mediocre work, that was all I could do.