Kenngo1969

I honestly don't know if this would have any relevance to the discussion or not, but I just happened across it in my cybertravels. https://jewishworldreview.com/1026/unndetected_pain.php For what it's worth. (Did I violate your copyright, @Kevin Christensen? Heh-heh!)

Could be. Indeed, could very well be. For what it's worth, I value our friendship (cyber-friendship though it is) highly. Thanks. A Brother in Christ, Ken

I'm glad you have your priorities straight! (Seriously, though: Good for you. I hope you and the grands enjoyed your day!)

I'll warn you in advance that I know this is all going to seem too trite, too pat, and too "just-so." I wouldn't blame anyone for getting frustrated with me because of that. I have discussed the litany of challenges I have experienced many times here. I won't bore you by reciting it, at least, not in full and not in detail, again. I am aware, fully and acutely, that many have and do experience challenges I can scarsely fathom. Those who endure, and who have endured, what I scarsely can fathom and who retain a long-range/eternal perspective have my everlasting respect. That said, I can only speak to what I know. Premature birth, highly questionable survival as a newborn, permanent mortal disability, two failed major operations (among several others) that set me back, in some ways permanently at least until the resurrection, to which I say, "Hasten the day!" But ... I suppose not. As Alma the Younger said, "But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me." Alma 29:3. I have labors to perform in the garden of life, for how long I know not, to what purpose, often, I know not. Spectacularly failed professional aspirations, and the only answer I've ever gotten as to "why" is, "Ken, you were where I wanted you while you were getting the degree." The "dog" of clinical depression alternating between nipping at my heels and threatening to devour me whole—until, mercifully, it simply ... stopped chasing me. I have no idea how or why that happened. I know only that, ultimately, it had nothing to do with more professionals with more brooms than I can count striving earnestly to help me "chase the bats from my belfry." They simply ... left. Is it something that simply comes with advancing age and wisdom to know to "not sweat the small stuff"—and to know that most all of it is "small stuff"? With wisdom to know to "not get caught up in the thick of thin things"—and to know that most all of them are "thin things"? Someday, sometime in the [too? not too?] distant future, I look forward to a fascinating, illuminating, Personal Priesthood Interview with Someone Who Knows All of the Whys and Wherefores that, as yet, I do not. As for why He hasn't told me yet, I have no reason to believe He won't—when He thinks I'm ready ("Ay, there's the rub!"). Have I simply gotten more adept at transferring more of the burden to Him whose yoke He invited me to take upon myself (see Matthew 11:28-30)? Perhaps. Incidentally, recently, I came to a epiphany regarding that scripture. Perhaps it would make all of you more insightful folks slap your foreheads and exclaim, "Duh, Ken!": Christ isn't asking us to take on an additional burden in that scripture. He is offering to shoulder ours! After all, isn't that what a yoke does, enabling animals to do far more together than either would be able to do alone. In a sense, the three-act—premortal, mortal, postmortal—play isn't fair because we don't remember the premortal first act, and the postmortal third act hasn't happened yet. Others' mileage may, and likely does, vary, and that's fine. I understand that completely. But I trust The Playwright. What else can I do?

More of 'em are than you might think. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-common-way-that-people-accidentally-lead-the-police-straight-to-their-front-door/answer/Ken-K-Gourdin For what it's worth.

Thank You for Your Service. 👍

Update: Not only am I an Eternal Bachelor in a Family Church, I have been assigned to lead a discussion in my Elders Quorum on Elder Neil L. Andersen's April 2026 address, "Eternal Marriage is an Eternal Journey." "OK, Brethren, let's discuss what the Eternal Bachelor knows about Celestial Marriage." https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2026/04/55andersen?lang=eng Somebody, somewhere has a sense of humor, I see!

Did someone say ... Cookies?!??!!???!!!

Swaying God's will? Hmm. Okay. I don't think it's about swaying God's will as much as it is about aligning my own will with His. Since God has given me everything I have (save one thing), the only thing I have left to give back to Him that He did not give me in the first place is my will. And if He tells me I need to have a specific ordinance performed in a particular way in order to do that, that seems like rather a small price to pay given what He will give me in return. As the Lord asked Abraham, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14).

Kewl!

Hey, if it weren't for Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and you fine folks here, I would have no friends at all!

I don't have any comment, really, about retrofitting chapels, or what might be needed to do so. Personally, if I'm not in the right headspace, my exterior surroundings cannot do anything for me to put me in a more worshipful mood. I rather suspect that some of the most meaningful worship has been done in foxholes, or in grass huts, or in other, similar "facilities." Could our worship spaces be improved? Perhaps. But it does seem as though Latter-day Saints can't win. On one hand, our chapels aren't ornate enough. On the other hand, why does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints blow such massive "fat $tax of ca$h" [my term, obviously] on Temples rather than feeding the poor? (I say that when it comes to building Temples and ministering to the temporal needs of the poor, the Church of Jesus Christ can "walk and chew gum at the same time," but ... that's another subject for another day.) This does seem like a very first-world problem to me. For example, as humble as the Church "building" in the link below is, is it an improvement (and, in many cases, a vast improvement) over where these Saints worshipped previously? I would say yes. I think a healthy sense of perspective is in order. [Note: I know someone posted previously on the "Meetinghouse Plus" project here, and I know I commented on that thread, but my efforts to find it have been unavailing. Please pardon the duplication.] https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2026/07/20/simple-meetinghouse-plus-project-remote-pacific-islands-light/

Whoa! Just goes to show, one never knows, does one? Never say "never"!

Nine-to-Five, with the absolute blockbuster cast of Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton*, and Dabney Coleman. I was too young to appreciate this fully when it first came out, and, often, I've thought, in the years since, "Yes, absolutely, I get it: Women are oppressed in the workplace, and yes, it's absolutely awful, but—do I need to watch a movie about it?" I didn't realize how much I had been missing out. Maybe I'm just feeling sentimental and too charitable in light of Dolly's passing, but this movie is absolutely laugh-out-loud funny, and not [at least to me] in a "cheap laughs" kind of way, though it very well could have veered in that direction very easily. I think it's comedy that is clever in ways and to an extent that is not often seen today. ("Why work too hard to make a comedy? We'll make money hand-over-fist even if we just aim for the 'low-hanging fruit' and go over-the-top rather than for subtlety, anyway!") Certainly, I'll be the first to admit that I'm no connoisseur of comedy, but, surprising to me is that it is rated only "71% fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, and has only a 7/10 rating on IMDB. I wonder if those will improve, now, with Dolly's passing, as she gains a new generation of fans (as often happens after a performer's passing). After the movie, 20/20 had a retrospective on Dolly's life (sorry for calling you by your first name so much, Ma'am, but ... that's what happens when you have that rarest of personalities that makes everybody feel as though he or she is your friend!) It's said that a lot of famous people "came from nothing" [my phrase], but she really did! My favorite well-to-do people are honest, humble, down-to-earth, and so on--the kind of people you know would be exactly the same whether with the money or without, and, while I don't claim to be an expert judge of character in such matters (or in any matter), I think she's one of those. Maybe my favorite moment is when Barbara Walters interviewed Dolly and Ms. Walters came into the interview with the attitude, "I'm a real working woman, I'm going to put this country hick in her place!" It didn't work. Dolly wasn't having any of it, and she made that absolutely clear to Ms. Walters in absolutely no uncertain terms—politely, certainly, as was her way, but, still, crystal clear. As was the case with most anything involving Dolly, it was a thing to behold. RIP, Ma'am. The choirs of angels above have gained a new, absolutely stellar member! (And, of course, as always, sincerest condolences to family, friends, and [other] fans.) *As a neophyte actress, Dolly memorized everybody's lines. As a second-billed superstar in my high school's production of West Side Story as Doc, the drugstore owner, I had trouble memorizing my own lines—all three of them! Can you imagine?!!