Because of Him—Easter Video

This video was the basis of yesterdays blog.  It is inspirational on its own.

enjoy

Breaking the Final Barrier: Christ and the Impossible

When the Wright brothers first lifted off the ground in 1903, the world crossed an invisible threshold. Humanity, once confined to the dirt and dust of the earth, had taken flight. With the discovery of electricity, light began to banish darkness from homes, cities, and minds. The moon landing in 1969 pulled back the curtain of the heavens and whispered to us: nothing is impossible.

And yet, long before any of these feats, a greater revolution took place.

Over two thousand years ago, a carpenter from Nazareth—quiet, strong, and skilled with his hands—shattered the most absolute human limits—not gravity, not darkness, not even space—but sin, death, and separation from God. This carpenter was also a teacher, one who spoke with power and compassion, who taught not just with words but with His life. His name was Jesus Christ. And His resurrection was the single greatest turning point in the history of the world.

The scientific breakthroughs of the last few centuries have revealed what humans can achieve. But what Christ did reveals what only God can do. Let’s consider a few parallels:

1. Flight: Overcoming Gravity

Humans dreamed of flying for millennia. But gravity held us down. Then came flight.

Christ, too, lifted us. Not into the skies, but into eternity. He overcame the gravitational pull of the Fall. As He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).

2. Electricity: Overcoming Darkness

Electricity gave us light. It changed how we live, see, and connect. But long before Edison or Tesla, Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). And in D&C 50:24, we read: “That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light… receiveth more light.”

Christ doesn’t just illuminate cities—He lights up souls.

3. Space Travel: Overcoming Earthbound Limits

The moon landing thrilled the world because it symbolized our desire to go beyond what we can touch. But Jesus did more. He bridged heaven and earth. He didn’t just go up—He came down. The veil in the temple tore, and heaven touched earth (see Hebrews 10:20).

4. Healing: Overcoming Corruption

Penicillin and modern medicine have lengthened life. But Christ doesn’t just treat disease—He heals the cause. “With his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). He cures not just bodies, but broken hearts and wounded spirits.

The Light Grows Brighter

Doctrine and Covenants 50 invites us to discern truth by its fruits: light, clarity, growth, and edification. Verse 24 says that light from God grows "brighter and brighter until the perfect day."

Science gives us physical light. Christ gives us eternal light.

As we reflect on the great achievements of the modern age, we should marvel at what mankind has done—but never forget what Christ has done. He is not just a great teacher. He is the Redeemer. The Revolutionary. The one who broke the final barrier.

Gravity, darkness, space, and disease may have fallen to human ingenuity. But sin, death, and hell fell to Christ alone.

And because of Him, we too may rise.

Think, Think, Think

How many times have I seen the AA slogan "Think, Think, Think" on a meeting room wall and thought to myself:

"That is the worst motto ever... for me!"

If there's one character defect I continue to wrestle with, it's over-analyzing—thinking obsessively, whether inside the box, outside the box, or inventing a brand-new box altogether.

A line from Shakespeare's Hamlet has always struck me — and sometimes tripped me up:

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” — Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2)

If thinking holds such power, then for someone in recovery, thinking can feel like a double-edged sword. At times, my thoughts are not my allies—they’re obstacles.

So how do I move forward?

Filtering Thoughts with Wisdom

The answer, perhaps, lies not in whether we think, but in how we filter our thinking. 

Willie Nelson said it simply: "Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results."

The consequences of our thinking matter. Repetitive, negative thoughts can drain our hope and peace. But practicing positive, grounded thinking can shift our mood, our behavior, and even our experience of daily life.

Which brings us back to that AA slogan:

"Think, Think, Think."

On its own, it may be overwhelming. But paired with other AA principles — "Easy Does It," "Keep It Simple," "One Day at a Time" — it becomes part of a balanced approach. Sometimes it takes a whole toolbox, not just one tool. Or as a friend of mine puts it:

"One size fits none."

Wisdom Across Time: Here are a few other voices that help me shape healthier thinking:

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace: "The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov: "Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him."

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations: "You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."

René Descartes: "It is not enough to possess a good mind; it must be applied."

Proverbs 4:7: "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding."

2 Nephi 9:28–29 (Book of Mormon): “…When they are learned they think they are wise… But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.”

In Conclusion: Thinking is not the enemy.

It’s the orientation of our thoughts—spiritually grounded, humble, and positive—that makes all the difference.

When we align our minds with wisdom, truth, and grace, we create space not for obsession or fear, but for joy and recovery.

Divine Advocacy and the Spiritual Edge

 

I had a chance today to talk with someone standing at the threshold of a life-altering decision. It was the kind of choice that could only be made through faith. As we spoke, I was reminded of a quote by Hunter S. Thompson:

“The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.”

That line brought back a vivid memory — the moment in my own life when I stood at the edge and had to decide whether to step forward in faith or fall back into fear. I remember the peace that came when I finally surrendered. It was a peace rooted not in certainty, but in trust — trust in Jesus Christ, who had already gone before me.

Christ reached His own edge in Gethsemane. In that moment of agony, He uttered the ultimate prayer of surrender and advocacy:

“Not my will, but thine, be done.”
He showed me the way to cross over. He stepped through the unknown not just for Himself, but for all of us — pleading our cause before the Father, becoming our Advocate.

So when I needed to step through my own fear and uncertainty, all I had to do was follow His example — to trust in the path He opened, and in the Gospel He lived and died to advocate.

This is the key to facing any edge, especially the edge of judgment:
We are not alone.
We have an Advocate with the Father.
He knows the fear of the edge, and He knows the way through.

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Crossing Over: Recovery and Redemption

One of the first edges I ever stepped through was the doorway of Alcoholics Anonymous — the day I finally got sober.
Another came when I chose to be baptized — committing my life to a new direction, a new power, and a new identity in Christ.

In both moments, I stood at a turning point, and by God’s grace, I stepped through.

Here are a few scriptures and insights that continue to guide me at those edges:

“We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.”
— Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 59

“I had to believe in a Spirit of the Universe, who knew neither time nor limitation.”
— Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 10

“If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
— 1 John 2:1

“He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”
— Matthew 10:39

“Take up your cross daily, and follow me.”
— Luke 9:23

“Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin… Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name.”
— Doctrine and Covenants 45:3–5

“When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours.”
— President Russell M. Nelson, April 2017

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When we come to the edge — of addiction, despair, fear, or change — we don’t need to cross alone.
We have a Savior who stepped through before us.
We have an Advocate who pleads for us.
And if we will reach out, His hand is already extended.

Fate and Freedom: A Recovery Journey

 

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Sometimes I question the events in my life: were they acts of self-awareness or expressions of fate?

Take, for example, when I interviewed for my last job. Was I just running from the life I had—or was it fate (or a Higher Power) that opened the door to a new career, a new home, and ultimately, a new life? Was it part of a divine plan that led me to recovery and the grace I live in today?

Some say I was lucky. Others say self-will made the difference.
But back then, I believed some people were simply meant to drink themselves to death—that fate had already cast its vote, and mine wasn’t in my favor.

Carl Jung once said:

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."

That quote haunted me because it rang true. I lived as though the script had been written, and all I could do was stumble through it. But something changed.

I began to see a different possibility.

Viktor Frankl said:

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

That space—however small—was my lifeline. My Higher Power offered me a choice. Not a demand. Not an ultimatum. A choice.

And in that choice, something remarkable happened. I found a path. Or maybe the path found me.
I was guided to a new city, surrounded by new people, and offered a new way of living. It didn’t come easy, and it didn’t come without pain. But as Richard Rohr wisely said:

"Transformation is often found not in the avoidance of suffering, but in the deeper meaning we give to it."

Recovery gave me the time and space to stand still long enough for grace to catch up with me. I found a fellowship that surrounded me with safety and purpose. I found the whisper of God that said, “You are not alone.”

Today, I know there’s a plan. I no longer believe I’m just being tossed by the winds of fate.

As Paul reminds us in Romans 8:28:

“All things work together for good to them that love God…”

And as the AA Big Book says,

“We are willing to grow along spiritual lines.”

That willingness has made all the difference. What I once saw as fate, I now see as providence—and partnership.

“I thought I had to fight fate alone. But I wasn’t alone. I never was.”

I no longer ask what fate holds.
I ask:
What can I give? What truth can I carry?

And I walk forward—free.

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📜 Axioms That Ground My Daily Life

"One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."
— Joan of Arc

"Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart."
— Marcus Aurelius

"Fate leads him who follows it, and drags him who resists."
— Plutarch

"To me, this means a belief in a Creator who is all power, justice, and love; a God who intends for me a purpose, a meaning, and a destiny to grow."
— Bill Wilson, As Bill Sees It

"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh... they are free to choose liberty and eternal life... or to choose captivity and death."
— 2 Nephi 2:27, Book of Mormon

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🌿 Final Thought

I used to think fate was a prison sentence.
Now I see it as the beginning of a relationship—with God, with others, and with the person I was meant to become.

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”
— Matthew 6:34

Personal Change: The Willingness to Ask Again

Dear Reader

On any given day, I wake up and wonder:

"What—and why—should I do anything today?"

I remember when I first took the Seventh Step in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was a surrender: a choice to let God oversee my life. For those who may not know the prayer, it goes like this:

“My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding.”
— AA 7th Step Prayer

My dilemma is this: were these just words, or did I truly make a commitment to change?

Josh Billings once said:

“Words are often seen hunting for an idea, but ideas are never seen hunting for words.”

This reminds me how easily we express a desire to change, yet often remain clueless about how change is actually going to happen.

Simple Beginnings, Subtle Shifts

Looking back on early sobriety, the changes were clear: stop drinking, go to meetings. Those were bold, definable actions.

Now, years later, the changes are more subtle. Aging brings new challenges—less energy, more aches and pains. So I ask myself:

Is the character defect of procrastination still hanging around? Or is it just a lack of enthusiasm for the day ahead?

More pointedly: am I now lacking the will to change my day?

Confucius gives us a sharper perspective:

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”
— Confucius

What Blocks My Vision?

Today, I believe my struggle is not physical or mental. It is spiritual. It’s a lack of faith that keeps me from seeing what I still am—and what I can still become.

Paul wrote:

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
— Ephesians 4:22–24

As I reflect on this form of change, I pray that my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, will remove from me that lack of faith. It’s still a simple act—but it requires daily willingness. A willingness to ask for help. A willingness to admit that I am not in charge—and more importantly—not in control.

Encouragement from Wisdom and Scripture

I find strength in the wisdom of philosophy, religion, and my community of faith:

“Change is never a matter of ability, it’s always a matter of motivation.”
— Tony Robbins

“Do not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
— Galatians 6:9

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness... then is his grace sufficient for you.”
— Moroni 10:32

“Faith in the Lord includes faith in His timing.”
— Elder Neal A. Maxwell

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
— Proverbs 3:5–6

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Conclusion: The Daily Offering

And so today, personal change is not about fixing everything at once. It is about showing up honestly, asking for help humbly, and trusting that grace is still at work, even in the quieter seasons of life.

The promise of the Seventh Step is not perfection, but willingness—the daily offering of ourselves, good and bad, to a Power greater than ourselves.

There are still character defects to confront, but there is also more wisdom, more patience, and more faith than there once was. I do not have to manufacture the will to change alone. I only need the willingness to ask, to believe, and to move forward—one day, one prayer, one step at a time.

“Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.”
— Doctrine & Covenants 88:63

May we each rise today—not because we are strong, but because we are willing.
And may that be enough.

Liberty on the Line: Reflections from the Past for Today’s Political Crossroads

 

The Liberty Dilemma

We live in a time where the word "liberty" is invoked often—but rarely examined deeply. Competing political visions each claim to defend it. As we approach a new era marked by proposals like Project 25, the blueprint for a radically restructured executive branch, and watch how the current administration struggles to steady the ship of state, we are reminded of a sobering truth: liberty, when not guarded vigilantly, becomes a casualty of comfort, fear, or ambition.

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Part I: The Voice of the Founders and Philosophers

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
— Benjamin Franklin

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty... nothing will preserve it but downright force.”
— Patrick Henry

From Franklin to Henry to Jefferson, the founders warned that liberty is lost not in cataclysms, but in compromise. Today, some view Project 25’s sweeping centralization of power—its promise to purge dissenting voices from civil service and empower the executive branch—as a restoration of strength. Others see it as the beginnings of soft authoritarianism cloaked in constitutional language.

“Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy... out of the most extreme liberty.”
— Plato

Plato’s warning resonates across centuries: when liberty is unmoored from virtue and self-restraint, it can decay into tyranny. Our era’s polarization and ideological purification—left and right—bring that danger closer.

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Part II: Patriotism, Pretenders, and Justice

“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”
— George Washington

Project 25 speaks the language of patriotism—restoring American greatness, rooting out “deep state” enemies—but Washington reminds us that true patriotism defends the whole republic, not just a faction or a figure. When loyalty to a party or person supersedes loyalty to principle, liberty suffers.

“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”
— Thomas Jefferson

This trembling still applies. When policies favor political revenge over equal justice, or when compassion is scorned as weakness, we invite judgment—not just divine, but civic. A free people must also be a just people, or they become something else entirely.

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Part III: Liberty in Canonized Literature

The concept of liberty isn’t just political—it’s spiritual.

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:17

In scripture, liberty is linked not merely to rights, but to righteousness—to the freedom that comes from truth, humility, and a heart turned toward God. Liberty, then, is not just freedom from tyranny, but freedom from bondage of another kind: fear, sin, and pride.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
— Galatians 5:1

Political liberty without spiritual integrity becomes license. And spiritual liberty that avoids social responsibility becomes escapism. The balance must be struck.

Even in literature, liberty is more than independence—it’s the ground of the soul’s dignity.

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
— Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
— Patrick Henry

Whether in novels or revolutions, liberty stirs us not simply because it offers choice, but because it demands courage.

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Part IV: Wolves and Shepherds – Whose Liberty?

“The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep’s throat... the wolf denounces him as the destroyer of liberty.”
— Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln’s parable fits perfectly in today’s discourse. Project 25 frames itself as a shepherd’s staff. But to many, it feels like the wolf’s claw. The real question is not who says they defend liberty—but what they mean by it, and for whom.

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Conclusion: Choose the Hard Liberty

“Let every nation know... that we shall pay any price... to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
— John F. Kennedy

True liberty is not effortless. It’s not partisan. And it’s not popular when it demands sacrifice, honesty, or humility. As we look at today’s political choices—between clumsy incompetence and calculated overreach—we must remember the wisdom of generations past. Liberty is not inherited. It is guarded, lived, and earned.

“Compassion... is essential for our own peace and mental stability... for human survival.”
— Dalai Lama

If we want a future worth living in—whether liberal or conservative—we must preserve liberty not with slogans, but with compassion, courage, and conviction.