Kenngo1969

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?!!

I suppose. The complicating factor with respect to behavioral health is that, when speaking of physical health, it is much easier to determine when a person is healed or cured. Or, in my case, whether he's keeping the dogs at bay! I probably could make my point better by posting a picture of a ferocious Doberman or German Shepherd, but ... He was too cute! I had to do it! When I go to the doctor for a certain kind of pain (or for another symptom), it's a little easier for one to determine whether the objective in doing so has been met. Whatever treatment is prescribed, the benchmark for the effectiveness of the treatment is whether the pain (or the symptom) persists. I think you and I both know that the effectiveness of psychological/behavioral therapy is a lot more subjective, and I think neither of us would have to work very hard to find examples of therapists whose assessment of their clients' behavioral health would differ from that of the client. Every doctor, every therapist, every mechanic is going to have those "edge cases" or exceptions in which the hoped-for, worked-for, sought-for outcome, despite everyone's best efforts, doesn't materialize. That said, generally, a therapist (or anyone else) with higher ratings is going to have both more brisk business and better outcomes. True.

I don't have any comment on the specific claims raised by the person whose opinions spawned this thread, so perhaps that limits the value of my contribution. That said, generally, I do think it's worth asking whether a therapist whose livelihood depends on the frequency of visits and the length of the [hopefully] therapeutic relationship might have a vested interest in increasing visit frequency and/or in therapeutic relationship duration. As someone who has had more people, with more brooms, for far longer, [attempt to] chase out the bats that inhabit his own belfry than perhaps he cares to admit, have I benefitted from therapy? If you tied me to an ant hill, smothered my ears with jam, and forced me to give you an answer, I'd have to say, "Yes." That said, as loath as I am to take any credit for my own [hard won? or, if not, at least long awaited] [relatively] positive mental state, as the old sayings go, "God helps those who help themselves." And "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." As much as I think there can be value in taking regular stock of one's mental state, on the other hand, as the inimitable, incomparable Elder Neal A. Maxwell put it so well, "If, for instance, we are always taking our temperature to see if we are happy, we will not be." (Perhaps I should, "Embrace the suckiness"? )

I have been called ("diagnosed as"?) a narcissist. I'm not sure what credentials the person who "diagnosed" me has, if any. To the best of my knowledge, I've never even met this person, let alone interacted with him or her in any way beyond a brief on-line exchange. But, I'm sure this person has more than sufficient credentials to enable one to make such a diagnosis, reliably and validly. I'm sure even that brief, not-in-person interaction told this "therapist" everything one needed to know. Q.E.D. [?????]

Anybody else see the irony in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arguing that a case involving Jack Daniels Properties, Inc. should control the Church's defense of its copyrights? You heard it here first, folks! You can't make this stuff up! "Thank you, Jackie D.'s!!!"

Apollo XIII, yet again. There are certain movies I'll watch any time they are on no matter how many times I might have seen them previously, and this is one of them. A few memorable moments: Blanche Lovell, Apollo XIII mission commander Jim Lovell's mother, who tells one of her worried granddaughters, "Don't you worry, Honey. If they could build a washing machine that could fly, my Jimmy could land it." When someone from the NASA press office has a disagreement with Jim Lovell's wife, Marilyn, she says emphatically [although the return of the astronauts is very much up in the air at this point], "You can take that up with my husband when he gets home!" Before the astronauts' departure on their mission, a reporter asks Jim Lovell about times he'd been in tight spots in the military, and he describes an occasion in which he was trying to find his way while flying a mission on a pitch black night with no points of reference when suddenly, all of the electronics on his aircraft cut out [including lights]. Only then [in the total darkness, and, in fact, because of the total darkness] was he able to see a ship below him because it churned up fluorescent algae in its wake, giving him a reference point to find his bearings. He tells the reporter, "So, uh, you uh, never know what events are to transpire to get you home."

Oh, yeah?! Tell me, Ms. Smartypants, what weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of metal! [Sorry! Couldn't resist! ] Carry on!

When they improvise, the guitar player just knows what the bass player is gonna do, and the bass player just knows what the guitar player is gonna do! It's like ... they're one person! What? Oh. Don't mind me! Carry on!

Oh, goodness! You got us, @GoCeltics! We've never heard that one before! Shut 'er down, Clancy! She's pumpin' mud! Will the last person to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints please turn out the lights?

This is awesome!

For what it's worth,the only thing I possess that truly is mine to surrender back to God that He did not give me in the first place is my will.

That's a tough situation. I would never dream of attempting to equate, to the least degree, our respective situations, but, as an Eternal Bachelor in a Family Church, and one who has crested the "hill of middle age" and is careening rapidly toward geezerhood, I'm not exactly sure what the Lord's plans for me are when it comes to eternal relationships outside my family of origin, but whatever they are, I'm OK with them. (I realize, fully, that it's much easier to reach that level of equanimity for someone in my position than it is for someone in your son's position ... Regardless, I wish you both well.)

In conjunction with my previous comment, also, consider this from Elder-Later-President [now, Alas!, simlply "late": RIP, President Holland] Jeffrey R. Holland: Source: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (April 2013), "Lord, I Believe," Ensign, accessed on line at the following address on July 1, 2026: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng. The entire address is worth a read.