I share my views on religion, politics and life. They are intertwined! According to George Washington, "Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens."
My Christmas gift this year to you, dear readers, are scanned copies of pictures from The Coloured Picture Bible for Children [1] which was published in London in 1884. These can be used for family home evening lessons or other teaching opportunities.
I first found these online when I was looking for images to use in earlier blog posts that covered biblical topics [2]. I recently purchased my own copy of the children’s Bible. It’s a small book (6”x7”x1”) and while the illustrations are great the writing could be better.
The picture bible is divided into into 4 sections. I’ve create a blog entry for each one (“I. Creation of the World to the Death of Moses”, II. “Judges, Ruth & Kings”, III. “Hezekiah to the end of the Old Testament”, and IV. “The Holy Gospels”) where the illustrations are shown in the order they appear.
Note, At the end of the post I’ve included links to download all pictures for each section and a scanned version of the entire children's Bible.
Below are a list of great books, recommended by my father (Ron Mann), and me that will help you discover your American heritage and how to protect it. They are organized by category.
Some of these books can be downloaded or viewed online. I've added links to connect you to the appropriate sites. For most books I've linked the title to its entry in books.google.com which has links to where the book can be purchased and often has a description and reviews. While working for President Reagan Ron helped formulate the legislation to create a The Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution and was later named Deputy Director of the Commission. In his Challenge to the readers of The 5,000 Year Leap he says:
Below is the first national Thanksgiving Day proclamation written by President George Washington. It affirms that those who participated in the founding of America acknowledged the hand of Providence, both in winning the Revolutionary War and establishing the Constitution. You’ll find humility grace and a recognition of the hand of God along with a sense of our obligation to serve others and promote “the knowledge and practice of true religion”. Contrast these words with those emanating from Washington today and you’ll see why a change is needed. Unfortunately, the words from our political leaders usually reflect what we want to hear. The change we need to make starts with ourselves and for that I’m grateful. Grateful that we live in a country where that is still possible.
By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor — and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
Over the last 18 months I’ve seen a growing number of articles in newspapers promoting the idea that Utah’s caucus system is flawed and must be revised to prevent a variety of ills. I read another such article Saturday morning in editorial section of the Deseret News.
A couple of weeks ago I posted a set of questions I would seek to answer for candidates looking for my vote. Thursday evening I attended an event where state Senator Dan Liljenquist spoke about fiscal responsibility. From what I understand there is a good chance that Dan will run against Hatch to be the Republican nominee for the US Senate. I’d like to share with you what I was able to glean from this event and some time spent afterwards relative to my list of questions.
Of late my life seems full of happy coincidences (miracles as I choose to view them). For example, today at church as we began to sing one of the hymns I wished that we would sing more than the first four verses of this particular hymn (99.9% of the time we only sing those verses that are written between the lines of music – typically 4 verses – and not the additional verses written out at the end of the music).
Well guess what? The chorister had us sing one of the two extra verses. Not a big deal. Well maybe but for me it was important as the additional verse carried for me extra import and I really thought about the words we sang. Then I took the time to read and ponder the last verse which I would normally not do. This last verse stayed with me throughout the day.
How great, how glorious, how complete Redemption’ grand design, where justice love and mercy meet In harmony divine!
How Great the Wisdom and the Love, Eliza R. Snow, verse 6.
You can listen to this hymn by playing the following YouTube video. Probably sounds better than we did at church :)
Happy coincidence or miracle. Here’s the definition of miracle:
an event that is contrary to the established laws of nature and attributed to a supernatural cause
any amazing or wonderful event
a person or thing that is a marvellous example of something: the bridge was a miracle of engineering
For me #2 fits the bill. Let me list a few of the other minor miracles I’ve seen lately.
My wife had a great product idea this summer and has been working to turn the idea into a reality. In September she had reached the point where she needed to file a patent. At that exact point in time I had someone comment on a blog post. For some reason I chose to try and find out more about this person. His Facebook page mentioned that he was a patent attorney and that he lived in my town. After I reached out to him it turned out he lived about 200 yards from our home. Definitely an “amazing or wonderful event”. More amazing still was that he had done work recently in the specific area that my wife’s patent application would require.
My wife and I volunteer on Saturday mornings at a nearby temple. Not long ago I was walking down a hall and literally bumped into a friend who was on his way to the room in which he was to be married. I had been invited to the wedding but had forgotten. As it happened, I had a break between assignments (which rarely happens) and was able to attend the ceremony.
My mom is from Germany and she, along with my wife, recently traveled there for 3 weeks to try and get some estate issues settled. My mom’s only sister passed away last year and among other things the house my mom was born and raised in was left to her. It was too expensive to keep and so it really needed to be sold. Well within a week a buyer was found (without a real estate agent) and two days before the flight home my mom was in a notary’s office signing the paperwork to close the deal (at the price my mother wanted). Lest you think the real-estate market in Germany is hot, it is not! Pretty much the same as here … in other words very much a buyers market.
For me life is not always the way I want it to be but I’m sure it is the way it should be. These happy coincidences let me know that there is a God and He is aware. The more minor the miracle the more I realize that He cares, even about something a trivial as singing an extra verse.
