let’s roll

very enthusiastic and excited infatuation about someone or something. "moviegoers went gaga over Harry Potter"

There’s a golf ball up there that would provide evidence…🙂. Frankly, I have no problem believing there was a moon landing in 1969. I do struggle with the characterization of another moon landing nearly 60 years later as some marvel of science. There are some more practical reasons for going back that I think have been largely ignored, supplanted by lots of space gaga.

Just in time. 😉

AFTER ALL What does it mean that His grace will save after all that I can do. Does He stand aside and watch me try til I ultimately fail And once I’m spent I stand aside to watch His strength prevail? Or will He lift me from the very start Do we strive, labor, and weep together, and not apart Perhaps after all, all that I can do is ask in faith that He abide with me To hasten my conversion from who I am to who I want to be

Most of the Venezuelans I’ve spoken to are living in Peru or were visiting Peru while living in Bolivia, Columbia or Ecuador. Many of the Venezuelans I’ve spoken to in the U.S. are relatives of the Venezuelans I met in Peru. Part of my role in Peru was tracking the Church properties in Venezuela that were taken by the Venezuelan government, including being briefed by lawyers in Venezuela regarding political/government affairs in that country.

Millions of Venezuelans disagree with you. I’ve had a chance to speak with scores of them. They’re not rebels with muskets but they are as hungry for self determination as the colonists were and have pined for U.S. intervention for years. They welcome U.S. involvement to augment their quest for self determination via a functioning democracy. Since they haven’t seen any benefits from their countries natural resources for years, they welcome U.S. oil company investments to modernize and monetize those resources, knowing that such investment isn’t certain because of the history of instability of capitalism in Venezuela. While your outlook is filled with a long list of horrible what ifs, Venezuelans see, for the first time in many years, a reason to hope for a better day for themselves and their country. The next step for many of them is to see sufficient evidence of stability, civil and economic, to make moving back home a wise decision and most agree that the only way that will happen is with some level of continuing U.S. involvement.

Maybe you can read up on it and let me know why you think the motivations of the French were so morally pristine.

Lucky for us the French didn’t feel the same way.

Condolences to you and your family Navidad. Having an adult son who is profoundly autistic (non-verbal), I feel a kinship with you and an acute sense of your loss. Because our son’s cognitive disability is such that he is unable to make informed decisions and is thus not accountable for his actions, he has not been baptized. I know you have close ties to the LDS community in your area so you may already be familiar with that tenet of the LDS faith, and not being aware of the severity of your son’s autism, don’t know whether it would apply in his case. My heart mourns with you.

The windows of heaven opening for tithe payers, like the glory of God being made manifest in the lives of those with physical or mental challenges, can occur in a variety of ways. We do well to be open to His omniscient will on how those blessings manifest themselves, thereby learning to recognize and benefit from His will, rather than expecting our will to be done.

Are there 10, 20 or 1,000 angels dancing on the head of that pin? Wait, is that a pin or a thumbtack? Just trying to cool the temperature a bit. Carry on everyone, you all seem to be intrigued by the dialogue.

Yes. And the why should be self evident…blessed are the peacemakers. Shalom.

It’s fair to characterize a correct view of God as exaltation. For this is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. (I posted this before I had read the entire thread, so now realize this point has already been raised).

Agreed. It’s about our wanting His will, not ours (to the extent it conflicts with His), to be done. Not to satisfy His ego but because we come to understand, as He already knows, that to be able to join Him in His work, work that exalts through a process of agency that also results in suffering and damnation. A process that produces both bliss and sorrow, even Godly sorrow.

I’ve thought about this perspective for some time. Typically in the context of either a discussion when someone says “the God I worship…” or when or I’m pondering the boundaries of what God would have me understand in mortality, including the circumstances attendant to having a perfect knowledge of God in this life. The former is pretty straightforward. I’m not reticent to admit there are things I don’t know about God. So when someone professes certainty about what He would never do, i.e., “the God I worship would never…” I find it odd that mortals would deign to dictate to God and I admit that I view such as worshiping their own idea of god, rather than God Himself. The latter instance is akin to the reference in the podcast to the parable of the talents. To start, I’ve always believed that the reference in the parable to the number of talents given need not always be understood as a one time event…that is, we can be endowed with talents/knowledge/gifts/power in an iterative fashion and are invited to increase all of those through our faith and diligence. Doing so doubtless increase our understanding of God but one of the things I admit I don’t yet know about God is whether it is appropriate to ask to know Him perfectly in mortality and, if it is appropriate, when is it appropriate to ask. My working assumption is that since He knows my heart, He will prompt me if, and when, needed.