HFD to Me

happy fathers day to me..............the young lady sitting next to me has a father I am thankful for. He was a good man and had a fine daugher.

Pa

thoughts for the day.................Fathers Day and a Birthday coming up real soon. All milestones. Good to be a Dad. Good to have a Dad. Good to know good Dads. Good to know that our Grand kids have a good Dad. I remember my Dad referred to his father as "Pa". Always called him "Pa" and then his Mom was "Ma". I remember when I was around 5 or so and frankly I suppose I would admit that it was probably the case until I was close to 12 that I called my father, "Daddy". Course Mom was not "Mommy" so don't think it was. I think that the "Pa" is an interesting name and I wish I understood more why that was the case. My mother called her father "Daddy" most of her life. So I suppose that this subject may need expanding later...........

Better today than yesterday and so on...............

Truman Madsen wrote a book called "The Eternal Man"> It was published in 1966 and shortly after that I bought a copy. I have been re re reading it the last few days.

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The first essay is titled "Whence Cometh Man?" It discusses the foundational LDS doctrine of the pre-existence and highlights that men and women have always existed as uncreated and indestructible intelligences and are co-eternal with God. The doctrine states that we are spiritually begotten of God, and that physical life is to obtain a physical body and prove ourselves worthy to return to God's presence. The remaining chapters cover the following issues: 1. The Problem of Identity, which reviews the LDS position on "self" compared with orthodox Christianity, Existentialism, and Humanism. 2. The Paradoxes of Creation, which discusses the LDS rejection of creation "ex nihilo" and its profound impact on many philosophies. 3. The Mind-body Problem, which talks about the Mormon view that the body and spirit combined form the soul of man and how the physical resurrection and permanent union of these is one of the objects of our creation. 4. The Problem of Human Freedom, which shows how humans truly are free agents and are not simply creatures and the impact of this thought. 5. The Problem of Evil, of Suffering, which can be explained much more easily given that fact that we are eternal beings here to learn to love and be tried and strengthened, which can only happen with true free will and its consequences. 6. The Problem of Self-awareness, which reflects on those flashes of remembrance some of us have related to the divine that many poets have discussed and how this relates to our spiritual pre-existence

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I borrowed the summary above from a review. I thought it was a very accurate overview of the book and the book itself brings up what is truly unique about this faith. Many would take issue with these ideas. On the other hand the implication is that we are becoming something and adding to ourselves. Worth knowing. Worth being reminded of. Worthy of eff0rt.