My CMS The View from a New City

Here is a quote from a book entitled Eloquent Witness: Nibley on Himself, Others, and the Temple, which might give a hint as to how to handle the coming recession:

“At UCLA I quickly learned the knack of getting grades, a craven surrender to custom, since grades had little to do with learning. Still, that was during the depression, when people of little faith were clinging to institutions for survival, and so I went along, as timid and insecure as the rest of them.” page 12.

The Odyssey contains a great story about Ulysses and the Sirens. It is too long and complicated to tell here. You should read it. But it contains a deep truth about life.

I suspect we came to earth to get experiences we can’t get in heaven. But there are real risks in the getting. You and your crew could wind up shipwrecked and dead. There must also be a great benefit to justify taking such risks. The good, the bad and the ugly may all contain hidden value.

“5 If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;

6 If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;

7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” Doctrine and Covenants 122

It is March 6, 2026. I woke up this morning and watched it snow with the happy knowledge that the snow can’t last long this time of year. Then I realized that I can’t last long this time of life. So I started thinking about what is worth doing with my remaining time on earth.

In our town there is a bill board with an advertisement from a group of plastic surgeons that says, “Life is short, buy the lips.” I consider this a classic case of non-sequitur. If life is short, why spend it trying to impress people who care about how fat your lips are?

Someone recommended that I write my memoirs. This is a valuable use of my time if someone is going to read them, which I see no evidence of now. And besides, the real reason I don’t write my memoirs is because there are too many villains. You can’t celebrate the heroes without exposing the circumstances created by the villains. Better to imitate God who “maketh the sun to shine on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

But I will tell one experience from my life, the villains remaining anonymous. I sued a man to collect for his wife’s hospital bill since the law says spouses are liable for family expenses. The bill was for breast implants. The couple had separated but the wife who was not a party to the case was sitting in the gallery when the case was called in court. When the lawyer for the husband said to the judge that the bill was not a family expense for which he should be liable, she bolted to her feet and shouted, “That’s not true, he made me get them.” The judge told the parties to settle the case which we did.