Thanksgiving

I am grateful for the new LDS edition of the Bible in Spanish and the invaluable good it will do in the lives of millions of saints across the Spanish-speaking world.

I am thankful for work, especially since it has afforded me plenty of leave to overcome illness this year. I am also grateful for the outlet for my creative juices.

I am grateful for teachers past and present: those who taught me, mentored me, and inspired me to grow; those who continue to teach me; and most importantly, those who every day teach the rising generation.

I am grateful for books that inspire great thoughts—that allow me to converse with the wise, noble, and thoughtful across the centuries. I am grateful for those who write clear descriptions of the world around us.

I am thankful for loving family, for my brother and parents and their love.

I am grateful for people who are patient with my faults and follies. I appreciate those who see the best in me and help me rise to a higher level.

I am thankful for wool socks on cold days. I have been especially grateful this year for long spring and fall seasons that made for two of my favorite kinds of moments: the sun coming out right after a spring storm and crisp fall afternoons.

I am grateful for great music; for people who dedicate themselves to making art; for those with whom I have enjoyed those performances, whether in magnificent concert halls or simple sharing of earbuds.

I am thankful for good friends.

I am grateful for people who are loyal and kind.

I am thankful for good cooking and good cooks; especially when the food is made with love. I am grateful for countless wonderful meals and conversations this year.

I am grateful for good conversation. I am grateful for all those who are valiant in defending true principles, especially in defense of the family.

I am grateful for love. It's labor is never lost.

Hail to the Chief

Today, I paid homage to the first thanksgiving by visiting the statue of Massasoit on campus. Ironically, during the week we actually celebrate his role in saving early colonists, the statue is covered in cellophane for rivalry week between BYU and the University of Utah.

As leader of the Wampanoag tribe, he helped prevent the starvation of the Plymouth Colony during the earliest years of the settlement. As importantly, his diplomacy helped prevent war through the intervening years.

The usually stately sculpture is one several in the United States, with other statues in Plymouth, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, and two other sites in Massachusetts named for Massasoit.

The sculptor, Cyrus E. Dallin, was born and raised in Springville. He is most famous for his sculpture of the Angel Moroni statue that graces the top of the Salt Lake City Temple and copies of which are found on LDS Church temples throughout the world.

Even though it obscures the statue, I prefer cellophane to desecration by red paint. And that might just make it the perfect symbol of the week—commemorating that original thanksgiving day but also the big game on Saturday. Happy thanksgiving and go Cougars!

Zero-sum mentalities

(or how scarcity is a false paradigm)