I am writing this three minutes before midnight. It is good friday, and I have been sitting here pondering the Life of Jesus Christ.
I was blessed to write the narration for our Easter Program at church. As I typed and put together text for our narrator to read in between the songs we have prepared to sing as a ward choir, I was reminded of the amazing blessings available to everyone on the earth who decides to tap into the sacred healing power of the Atonement.
Here is the Narration for our Easter Sacrament Meeting program accompanied by the text of the hymns, anthems, and songs we will sing in praise to celebrate the Easter Holiday.
Enjoy!
Jenny Hatch
PS If you are local here in colorado please feel free to attend this service at 11AM on sunday at the Louisville Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The meeting is open to the public and you do not have to be a member of the church to attend!
Here is the text of the narration for you to read. It contains powerful scripture and quotes regarding the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Narration for the Louisville Ward Easter Program April 2006
That Easter Morn, 198 – Marion D. Hanks (© 1975 LDS)
1.That Easter morn, a grave that burst Proclaimed to man that “Last and First”
Had ris’n again And conquered pain.
2.This morn renews for us that day When Jesus cast the bonds away,
Took living breath And conquered death.
3.Thus we in gratitude recall And give our love and pledge our all,
Shed grateful tear And conquer fear.
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today, p.200 – Charles Wesley
1.Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth reply, Alleluia!
2.Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the vict’ry won, Alleluia!
Jesus’ agony is o’er, Alleluia! Darkness veils the earth no more, Alleluia!
3.Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
We’ll Sing All Hail to Jesus’ Name, 182 – Richard Alldridge
1.We’ll sing all hail to Jesus’ name, And praise and honor give
To him who bled on Calvary’s hill And died that we might live.
2.He passed the portals of the grave; Salvation was his song;
He called upon the sinbound soul To join the heav’nly throng.
3.He seized the keys of death and hell And bruised the serpent’s head;
He bid the prison doors unfold, The grave yield up her dead.
4.The bread and water represent His sacrifice for sin;
Ye Saints, partake and testify Ye do remember him.
Now Glad of Heart, Kayron Lee Scott
Now glad of heart be every one!
The fight is fought, the day is won.
The Christ is set upon his throne.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Who on the rood was crucified,
Who rose again as at this tide.
In glory to His Father’s side.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Who battled death and harrowed hell
And led the souls that loved him well
All in the light of lights to dwell.
Alleluia, alleluia!
To him we lift our heart and voice and
In his paradise rejoice
With harp and pipe and happy noise
Sing Alleluia, alleluia!
Then rise all Chirstian folk with me
An carol forth to Christ the King
That was and is to be.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Now glad of hearts be everyone
The fight is fought, the day is won
The Christ is set upon his throne.
Sing Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
NARRATION:
At the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the multitudes cried “Hosanna” and spread palm branches for Jesus to ride upon, thus demonstrating their understanding that Jesus was the same Lord who had delivered Israel anciently. These people recognized Christ as the long-awaited Messiah. The word Hosanna has become a celebration of the Messiah in all ages. The hosanna shout was included in the dedication of the Kirtland Temple and is now a part of the dedication of modern temples.
In the book of Matthew, chapter 21 verses 8 through 11 we read:
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Song – Hosanna by David H. Williams
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna, hosanna
Thou art the King of Israel
Thou David’s royal son,
Who in the Lord’s name comfort
The King and Blessed one.
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna, hosanna
The people of the Hebrews
With palms before thee went
Our praise and prayer and anthem
Before thee we present
All glory laud and honor
To thee redeemer King.
To whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna, hosanna
NARRATION: Jesus Final Teachings on the temple mount
ST JOHN
CHAPTER 14
Jesus speaks of many mansions; says he is the way, the truth, and the life; that to see him is to see the Father—He promises the first and second Comforters.
1 LET not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
11 Believe me that I am in the bFather, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my bname, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
15 If ye love me, keep my ccommandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my cname, he shall dteach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be ctroubled, neither let it be afraid.
Ether 12: 29 – 34
29 And I, Moroni, having heard these words, was acomforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith;
30 For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed. And if he had not had faith it would not have moved; wherefore thou workest after men have faith.
31 For thus didst thou manifest thyself unto thy disciples; for after they had faith, and did speak in thy name, thou didst show thyself unto them in great power.
32 And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent bhope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared.
33 And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men.
34 And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.
Song: In my Father’s House by Walter W. Schurr
Let not your heart be troubled
Believe in God, Believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many rooms
If it were not so I’d have told you
In my Father’s house are many rooms
If it were not so,
I’d have told you
And I will come again
And receive you unto my self
That where I am ye too may be
If it were not so, I’d have told you
I’d have told you
I’d have told you
Let not your heart be troubled
Ye believe in God
Believe also in me.
Gethsemane
Elder James E. Talmage (1862–1933)
“From the Garden to the Empty Tomb,” Ensign, Apr. 2006, 12
“Gethsemane.—The name means ‘oil-press’ and probably has reference to a mill maintained at the place for the extraction of oil from the olives there cultivated. John refers to the spot as a garden, from which designation we may regard it as an enclosed space of private ownership. That it was a place frequented by Jesus when He sought retirement for prayer, or opportunity for confidential converse with the disciples, is indicated by the same writer (John 18:1, 2)” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 620).
President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972)
“We speak of the passion of Jesus Christ. A great many people have an idea that when he was on the cross, and nails were driven into his hands and feet, that was his great suffering. His great suffering was before he ever was placed upon the cross. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the blood oozed from the pores of his body: ‘Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink’ [D&C 19:18].
“That was not when he was on the cross; that was in the garden. That is where he bled from every pore in his body.
“Now I cannot comprehend that pain. I have suffered pain, you have suffered pain, and sometimes it has been quite severe; but I cannot comprehend pain, which is mental anguish more than physical, that would cause the blood, like sweat, to come out upon the body. It was something terrible, something terrific; so we can understand why he would cry unto his Father:
“ ‘If it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt’ [Matt. 26:39]” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:130).
President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994)
“On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took three of the Twelve and went into the place called Gethsemane. There He suffered the pains of all men. He suffered as only God could suffer, bearing our griefs, carrying our sorrows, being wounded for our transgressions, voluntarily submitting Himself to the iniquity of us all, just as Isaiah prophesied (see Isa. 53:4–6).
“It was in Gethsemane that Jesus took on Himself the sins of the world, in Gethsemane that His pain was equivalent to the cumulative burden of all men, in Gethsemane that He descended below all things so that all could repent and come to Him. The mortal mind fails to fathom, the tongue cannot express, the pen of man cannot describe the breadth, the depth, the height of the suffering of our Lord—nor His infinite love for us” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 14).
Elder James E. Talmage
“Christ’s agony in the garden is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. … It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. No other man, however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; for his human organism would have succumbed, and syncope would have produced unconsciousness and welcome oblivion. In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world’ could inflict. …
“In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world” (Jesus the Christ, 613).
President John Taylor (1808–87)
“Groaning beneath this concentrated load, this intense, incomprehensible pressure, this terrible exaction of Divine justice, from which feeble humanity shrank, and through the agony thus experienced sweating great drops of blood, He was led to exclaim, ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me’ [Matt. 26:39].
He had wrestled with the superincumbent load in the wilderness; He had struggled against the powers of darkness that had been let loose upon him there; placed below all things, His mind surcharged with agony and pain, lonely and apparently helpless and forsaken, in his agony the blood oozed from His pores” (The Mediation and Atonement [1882], 150).
Song: Gethsemane by Sally DeFord
Gethsemane lay still and dark
Creation watched in silent awe
As Jesus suffered his Father’s will
To satisfy unyielding law
He knelt in earnest prayer alone
His friends, o’ercome with sorrow, slept
Beneath the burden of grief he groaned
Beneath the weight of sin he wept
And with his blood so freely spent
He bought my soul; he paid my debt
What work of love was wrought for me
In the stillness of Gethsemane
“This bitter cup wilt thou remove?
Yet not my will, but thine be done.”
Behold his anguish and weep anew
For love of Christ, the sinless one
With his wounds my own are healed
My every pain o’ercome in his
My shame, my weakness, my grief untold
Find ransom in his priceless gift
For with his blood so freely spent
He bought my soul; he paid my debt
What work of love was wrought for me
In the stillness of Gethsemane
NARRATION:
Calvary
Elder James E. Talmage
“It seems, that in addition to the fearful suffering incident to crucifixion, the agony of Gethsemane had recurred, intensified beyond human power to endure. In that bitterest hour the dying Christ was alone, alone in most terrible reality. That the supreme sacrifice of the Son might be consummated in all its fulness, the Father seems to have withdrawn the support of His immediate Presence, leaving to the Savior of men the glory of complete victory over the forces of sin and death. …
“The period of faintness, the conception of utter forsakenness soon passed, and the natural cravings of the body reasserted themselves. The maddening thirst, which constituted one of the worst of the crucifixion agonies, wrung from the Savior’s lips His one recorded utterance expressive of physical suffering. ‘I thirst’ [John 19:28], He said. One of those who stood by, whether Roman or Jew, disciple or skeptic, we are not told, hastily saturated a sponge with vinegar, a vessel of which was at hand, and having fastened the sponge to the end of a reed, or stalk of hyssop, pressed it to the Lord’s fevered lips. …
“Fully realizing that He was no longer forsaken, but that His atoning sacrifice had been accepted by the Father, and that His mission in the flesh had been carried to glorious consummation, He exclaimed in a loud voice of holy triumph: ‘It is finished’ [John 19:30]. In reverence, resignation, and relief, He addressed the Father saying: ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit’ [Luke 23:46]. He bowed His head, and voluntarily gave up His life.
“Jesus the Christ was dead. His life had not been taken from Him except as He had willed to permit. Sweet and welcome as would have been the relief of death in any of the earlier stages of His suffering from Gethsemane to the cross, He lived until all things were accomplished as had been appointed” (Jesus the Christ, 661–62).
Song: How Great the Wisdom and the Love arranged by Sally DeFord
How great the wisdom and the love
That filled the courts on high
And sent the Savior from above
To suffer, bleed and die
His precious blood he freely spilt
His life he freely gave
A sinless sacrifice for guilt
A dying world to save
He marked the path and led the way
And every point defines
To light and life and endless day
Where God’s full presence shines
How great, how glorious, how complete,
Redemption’s grand design
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!
Song: Easter Anthiphon by Robert J. Powell
O give thanks unto the Lord
For he is good
For his mercy ever endures ever more.
Now is Christ risen from the dead
And become the first fruits of them that slept
O give thanks unto the Lord
For he is good.
For his mercy ever endures evermore.
This is the day which the Lord hath made
We will rejoice, we will rejoice
And be glad in it.
Alleluia alleluia
Let us be glad
Let us rejoice
Let us be glad and rejoice
and give honor to him
NARRATION:
The Empty Tomb
President John Taylor
“As a God, He descended below all things, and made Himself subject to man in man’s fallen condition; as a man, He grappled with all the circumstances incident to His sufferings in the world. Anointed, indeed, with the oil of gladness above His fellows, He struggled with and overcame the powers of men and devils, of earth and hell combined; and aided by this superior power of the Godhead, He vanquished death, hell and the grave, and arose triumphant as the Son of God, the very eternal Father, the Messiah, the Prince of peace, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor [2001], 43).
President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985)
“Only a God could bring about this miracle of resurrection. As a teacher of righteousness, Jesus could inspire souls to goodness; as a prophet, he could foreshadow the future; as an intelligent leader of men, he could organize a church; and as a possessor and magnifier of the priesthood, he could heal the sick, give sight to the blind, even raise other dead; but only as a God could he raise himself from the tomb, overcome death permanently, and bring incorruption in place of corruption, and replace mortality with immortality. …
“No human hands had been at work to remove the sealed door nor to resuscitate nor restore. No magician nor sorcerer had invaded the precincts to work his cures; not even the priesthood, exercised by another, had been brought in use to heal, but the God who had purposefully and intentionally laid down his life had, by the power of his godhead, taken up his life again. …
The spirit which had been by him commended to his Father in Heaven from the cross, and which, according to his later reports, had been to the spirit world, had returned and, ignoring the impenetrable walls of the sepulcher, had entered the place, re-entered the body, had caused the stone door to be rolled away, and walked in life again, with his body changed to immortality, incorruptible—his every faculty keen and alert.
“Unexplainable? Yes! And not understandable—but incontestable. More than 500 unimpeachable witnesses had contact with him. They walked with him, talked with him, ate with him, felt the flesh of his body and saw the wounds in his side and feet and hands; discussed with him the program which had been common to them, and him; and, by many infallible proofs knew and testified that he was risen, and that that last and most dreaded enemy, death, had been overcome.
“And so we bear testimony that the being who created the earth and its contents, who made numerous appearances upon the earth prior to his birth in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is resurrected and immortal, and that this great boon of resurrection and immortality becomes now, through our Redeemer, the heritage of mankind” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 17–18).
President Gordon B. Hinckley
“Then dawned the first day of the week, the Sabbath of the Lord as we have come to know it. To those who came to the tomb, heavy with sorrow, the attending angel declared, ‘Why seek ye the living among the dead?’ (Luke 24:5).
“ ‘He is not here: … he is risen, as he said’ (Matt. 28:6).
“Here was the greatest miracle of human history. Earlier He had told them, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life’ (John 11:25).
But they had not understood. Now they knew. He had died in misery and pain and loneliness. Now, on the third day, He arose in power and beauty and life, the firstfruits of all who slept, the assurance for men of all ages that ‘as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive’ (1 Cor. 15:22).
“On Calvary He was the dying Jesus. From the tomb He emerged the Living Christ. The cross had been the bitter fruit of Judas’s betrayal, the summary of Peter’s denial. The empty tomb now became the testimony of His divinity, the assurance of eternal life, the answer to Job’s unanswered question: ‘If a man die, shall he live again?’ (Job 14:14).
“And so, because our Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith. But what shall we use? No sign, no work of art, no representation of form is adequate to express the glory and the wonder of the Living Christ. He told us what that symbol should be when He said, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’ (John 14:15).
“As His followers, we cannot do a mean or shoddy or ungracious thing without tarnishing His image. Nor can we do a good and gracious and generous act without burnishing more brightly the symbol of Him whose name we have taken upon ourselves. And so our lives must become a meaningful expression, the symbol of our declaration of our testimony of the Living Christ, the Eternal Son of the Living God”
3 Nephi 13 – 17
13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:
14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.
16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:
17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.
Song: Crown him with many crowns by Richard Proulx
Crown him with many crowns
The lamb upon his throne
Hark! How the heavenly anthem
Drowns all music but its own.
Awake my soul and sing.
Of him who died for thee.
And hail him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.
Crown him the Lord of Life
Who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife
For those he came to save.
His glories now we sing.
Who died and rose on high
Who died eternal life to bring
And lives that death may die
Crown him the Lord of love.
Behold his hands and side,
Rich wounds yet visible above
In beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky
Can fully bear that sight
But downward bends his burning eye
At mysteries so bright
Crown him the Lord of peace,
Whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease
Absorbed in pray’r and praise.
His reign shall know no end
And round his pierced feet
Fair flowers extend their fragrance ever sweet.
Crown him the Lord of years,
The potentate of time.
Creator of the rolling spheres
Ineffably sublime.
All hail redeemer hail
For thou hast died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail
Through-out eternity.
Category Current Events
Sabbath Walk
http://www.naturalfamilyblog.com/archives/2005/07/index.html
We went on a walk the other day to enjoy the beautiful Colorado sunset.
It was just a perfect day!
Paul and I enjoyed the time with our children, it was a nice way to end a perfect Sabbath Day.
Here is another shot of the sunset.
Final thoughts for the day:
I have spent the past week or so doing research on CSS (cascading style sheets) and attempting to up my skills with movable type. I still have a ways to go in learning these tricky codes. At one point last week I completely erased my archives from the Blog. Thankfully Paul helped me get those back, but I have yet to figure out how to make the side bars come back up on the side as compared to running at the bottom of the text. I also am befuddled to know how to get the double posting to go back to single.
In the morning I plan to attend a prayer group with my friend and then I have a baby shower in the evening. Next week begins the final two weeks of the play I am Music Directing, so I am anticipating blogging to be very light for the duration. We have still not decided if we are going to move this summer, but it is getting down to the wire on that decision. If we do go, I am anticipating this Blogging adventure to be toned down somewhat while I do the work of moving. Enjoy my archives!
Jenny Hatch
I really wanted to do a great blog post on these articles:
C-Section Rate climb
No Massive dosing on vitamins during pregnancy
Both of these newsmax articles made me chuckle.
On vitamins:
“Women should not self-dose on high-dose vitamin C and E supplements. These are available across the counter and, we suggest, are now contraindicated in pregnancy.”
The powers that be are getting ready for Mercks takeover when Codex really gets going in America in the next year or two. I took upwards of 5 grams of vitamin C and 1200 IU of Vitamin E during all of my pregnancies and the day I gave birth to my second daughter by C-section I ate 50 GRAMS, yes that is GRAMS of vitamin C to ward off a post opperative infection. No diarrhea. If you get the runs after taking high doses of C it is a sign you have saturated your body. These water soluble vitamins easily pass out of the tissues of the body, and are necessary nutrients for pregnancy.
What cracks me up is the double standard. Pregnant women can take Anti-Depressants….even at the highest doses, but Heaven forbid if she wants to take some extra C to help with building her placenta or making sure junior has a properly built immune system.
The bottom line of these articles:
Vitamins = BAAAAADDD / Cesarean Section = GOOD
As for the C-section article, it is just loaded with lies:
“Potential benefits of CDMR as compared with planned vaginal delivery include a decreased risk of hemorrhaging for the mother, and a reduced risk of certain birth injuries for the baby.”
National Institutes of health mulling, and mulling, and mulling while doctors and hospitals reap a bounteous harvest from the wombs of unsuspecting mothers and babies all over the country…..cha ching, cha ching…
“But proponents of elective C-sections say the worst risks are extremely rare, especially for a healthy, rested woman, and that vaginal birth has its own problems, such as vaginal tears or the use of forceps.”
“At the end of the day it should be the mother’s decision,” said Linda Dyson, a New York public relations executive whose first baby was born by a medically necessary C-section but chose to have her second child the same way. “Honestly for me, I thought a C-section was safer.”
And therein lies the problem….women are NOT being taught the facts about surgical birth.
Mommas….take personal responsibility for the health of your baby, your birth, and your family life. You are the one who has to live with the long term consequences of your birth choices.
My question is….when is it going to stop??? When the C-section rate hits 75%? 85%? or are we just going to get to the point where we have a section or an unassisted home birth?
I need to go to sleep.
Jenny Hatch
Healthy Families Make A Healthy World!
Jeffrey Holland – Broken Things to Mend
I did not teach my Sunday School class last sunday because we had a worldwide General Conference of the Church I belong too. The talks were wonderful! My favorite was Jeffrey R. Holland who is an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the talk for your enjoyment. I will not be teaching a lesson today in my sunday school class, we are going to study the message of this talk instead.
Jenny Hatch
Broken Things to Mend
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up.
The first words Jesus spoke in His majestic Sermon on the Mount were to the troubled, the discouraged and downhearted. "Blessed are the poor in spirit," He said, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."1 Whether you are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or among the tens of thousands listening this morning who are not of our faith, I speak to those who are facing personal trials and family struggles, those who endure conflicts fought in the lonely foxholes of the heart, those trying to hold back floodwaters of despair that sometimes wash over us like a tsunami of the soul. I wish to speak particularly to you who feel your lives are broken, seemingly beyond repair.
To all such I offer the surest and sweetest remedy that I know. It is found in the clarion call the Savior of the world Himself gave. He said it in the beginning of His ministry, and He said it in the end. He said it to believers, and He said it to those who were not so sure. He said to everyone, whatever their personal problems might be:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."2
In this promise, that introductory phrase, "come unto me," is crucial. It is the key to the peace and rest we seek. Indeed, when the resurrected Savior gave His sermon at the temple to the Nephites in the New World, He began, "Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."3
When Andrew and John first heard Christ speak, they were so moved they followed Him as He walked away from the crowd. Sensing He was being pursued, Jesus turned and asked the two men, "What seek ye?" They answered, "Where dwellest thou?" And Christ said, "Come and see." The next day He found another disciple, Philip, and said to him, "Follow me."4 Just a short time later He formally called Peter and others of the new Apostles with the same spirit of invitation. Come, "follow me,"5 He said.
It seems clear that the essence of our duty and the fundamental requirement of our mortal life is captured in these brief phrases from any number of scenes in the Savior’s mortal ministry. He is saying to us, "Trust me, learn of me, do what I do. Then, when you walk where I am going," He says, "we can talk about where you are going, and the problems you face and the troubles you have. If you will follow me, I will lead you out of darkness," He promises. "I will give you answers to your prayers. I will give you rest to your souls."
My beloved friends, I know of no other way for us to succeed or to be safe amid life’s many pitfalls and problems. I know of no other way for us to carry our burdens or find what Jacob in the Book of Mormon called "that happiness which is prepared for the saints."6
So how does one "come unto Christ" in response to this constant invitation? The scriptures give scores of examples and avenues. You are well acquainted with the most basic ones. The easiest and the earliest comes simply with the desire of our heart, the most basic form of faith that we know. "If ye can no more than desire to believe," Alma says, exercising just "a particle of faith," giving even a small place for the promises of God to find a home—that is enough to begin.7 Just believing, just having a "molecule" of faith—simply hoping for things which are not yet seen in our lives, but which are nevertheless truly there to be bestowed8—that simple step, when focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, has ever been and always will be the first principle of His eternal gospel, the first step out of despair.
Second, we must change anything we can change that may be part of the problem. In short we must repent, perhaps the most hopeful and encouraging word in the Christian vocabulary. We thank our Father in Heaven we are allowed to change, we thank Jesus we can change, and ultimately we do so only with Their divine assistance. Certainly not everything we struggle with is a result of our actions. Often it is the result of the actions of others or just the mortal events of life. But anything we can change we should change, and we must forgive the rest. In this way our access to the Savior’s Atonement becomes as unimpeded as we, with our imperfections, can make it. He will take it from there.
Third, in as many ways as possible we try to take upon us His identity, and we begin by taking upon us His name. That name is formally bestowed by covenant in the saving ordinances of the gospel. These start with baptism and conclude with temple covenants, with many others, such as partaking of the sacrament, laced throughout our lives as additional blessings and reminders. Teaching the people of his day the message we give this morning, Nephi said: "Follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, . . . with real intent, . . . take upon you the name of Christ. . . . Do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer [will] do."9
Following these most basic teachings, a splendor of connections to Christ opens up to us in multitudinous ways: prayer and fasting and meditation upon His purposes, savoring the scriptures, giving service to others, "succor[ing] the weak, lift[ing] up the hands which hang down, . . . strengthen[ing] the feeble knees."10 Above all else, loving with "the pure love of Christ," that gift that "never faileth," that gift that "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, [and] endureth all things."11 Soon, with that kind of love, we realize our days hold scores of thoroughfares leading to the Master and that every time we reach out, however feebly, for Him, we discover He has been anxiously trying to reach us. So we step, we strive, we seek, and we never yield.12
My desire today is for all of us—not just those who are "poor in spirit" but all of us—to have more straightforward personal experience with the Savior’s example. Sometimes we seek heaven too obliquely, focusing on programs or history or the experience of others. Those are important but not as important as personal experience, true discipleship, and the strength that comes from experiencing firsthand the majesty of His touch.
Are you battling a demon of addiction—tobacco or drugs or gambling, or the pernicious contemporary plague of pornography? Is your marriage in trouble or your child in danger? Are you confused with gender identity or searching for self-esteem? Do you—or someone you love—face disease or depression or death? Whatever other steps you may need to take to resolve these concerns, come first to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Trust in heaven’s promises. In that regard Alma’s testimony is my testimony: "I do know," he says, "that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions."13
This reliance upon the merciful nature of God is at the very center of the gospel Christ taught. I testify that the Savior’s Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair.14 From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us both a reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our burdens and take up our salvation. There can and will be plenty of difficulties in life. Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says, "beyond [his] own."15 The Savior reminds us that He has "graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands."16 Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, "Come unto me," He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.
Brothers and sisters, whatever your distress, please don’t give up and please don’t yield to fear. I have always been touched that as his son was departing for his mission to England, Brother Bryant S. Hinckley gave young Gordon a farewell embrace and then slipped him a handwritten note with just five words taken from the fifth chapter of Mark: "Be not afraid, only believe."17 I think also of that night when Christ rushed to the aid of His frightened disciples, walking as He did on the water to get to them, calling out, "It is I; be not afraid." Peter exclaimed, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." Christ’s answer to him was as it always is every time: "Come," He said. Instantly, as was his nature, Peter sprang over the vessel’s side and into the troubled waters. While his eyes were fixed upon the Lord, the wind could toss his hair and the spray could drench his robes, but all was well—he was coming to Christ. It was only when his faith wavered and fear took control, only when he removed his glance from the Master to look at the furious waves and the ominous black gulf beneath, only then did he begin to sink into the sea. In newer terror he cried out, "Lord, save me."
Undoubtedly with some sadness, the Master over every problem and fear, He who is the solution to every discouragement and disappointment, stretched out His hand and grasped the drowning disciple with the gentle rebuke, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"18
If you are lonely, please know you can find comfort. If you are discouraged, please know you can find hope. If you are poor in spirit, please know you can be strengthened. If you feel you are broken, please know you can be mended.
In Nazareth, the narrow road,
That tires the feet and steals the breath,
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth.And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on the bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, "Can you mend it, Carpenter?"And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing which each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.So, up the hill the long years through,
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:"O Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that’s broken past repair,
This life, that’s shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?"And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A New Creation—"all things new.""The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
Mould Thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!"19
May we all, especially the poor in spirit, come unto Him and be made whole, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, amen.
NOTES
1. Matthew 5:3.
2. Matthew 11:28–29.
3. 3 Nephi 12:3; emphasis added.
4. John 1:35–39, 43.
5. See Matthew 4:19.
6. See 2 Nephi 9:43.
7. See Alma 32:27; emphasis added.
8. See Alma 32:21.
9. 2 Nephi 31:13, 17.
10. D&C 81:5.
11. Moroni 7:47, 46, 45.
12. See Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses," in The Complete Poetical Works of Tennyson (1898), 89.
13. Alma 36:3.
14. See Alma 7:11–12.
15. "Lord, I Would Follow Thee," Hymns, no. 220.
16. 1 Nephi 21:16.
17. Mark 5:36.
18. Matthew 14:27–31; emphasis added.
19. George Blair, "The Carpenter of Nazareth," in Obert C. Tanner, Christ’s Ideals for Living (Sunday School manual, 1955), 22.
Healthy Families Make A Healthy World!
Yummy Soup for the Bird Flu
Here is my recipe for a great Anti-Viral Soup. It is chock full of garlic, nutrients, and all the ingredients needed to quickly nourish and cleanse the body if it becomes ravaged by a flu virus.
Start with Two full bulbs of garlic…
I purchased a large bag of these bulbs from Sam’s Club the other day – cost? $4.00
Break the cloves of garlic off the bulb and chop it up. I then pick out about ten cloves worth of peeled garlic to add to the soup. The rest of the garlic and peels I add to my stock pot. Garlic is one of the most powerful anti-viral foods on the planet. Even chopping this garlic and getting it all over your hands, and sniffing the odors will help to kill virus in your kitchen and your home.
The idea of eating “chicken soup” for a “chicken virus” does seem a little weird, so this recipe is vegan (does not contain any animal ingredients) and is easy enough for even the novice cook to make.
You add the peels to the stock pot to extract as much power from the garlic as possible. Boiling for twenty minutes helps to pull those properties out of the garlic. It also helps to kill any air born viruses in your home as the steam from the soup spreads over your home.
Adding in the garlic – Cook on a medium heat while the lentils soak and the stock boils.
Add the Oatstraw Tea to the stock pot. Make sure not to add this to your soup pot, it will make the soup taste terrible. However, using it to make stock is one of the most powerful herbal additions to any food.
Oatstraw is an excellent food to eat for any viral disease.
Potatoes and Sprouted Lentils
Potato peels are a great addition to any stock. Just peel your potatoes right into the stock pot. Then chop the potatoes and add them into the soup pot.
When I purchase foods at the store, I always buy a variety of colors, sizes, and types of foods, to add different nutrients to my meals. For this recipe I used one baking potato and one red potato. But you can use any combination of potatoes. This same principle is good for onions, any vegetable, or grain. Get small amounts of different types of food to get a variety of flavors and nutrients into your foods.
I could talk all day about the goodness of Flax Seed. Friends are always surprised to hear that I use flax in almost everything I make. Flax is a natural anti-depressant for me, and it adds great flavor to any dish. I use two tablespoons in this recipe. Add the flax into the stock pot.
Add in Red Raspberry leaf tea to the stock pot. Raspberry leaves contain Vitamin C and Magnesium, both necessary nutrients to fight disease.
Sea salt added liberally to the stock pot will help to extract the nutrients from the foods. I put in about a full tablespoon of good quality sea salt.
Carrots in the sink
While I made the stock I asked my daughter Allison to peel the carrots.
You can add the peels to the stock pot to extract more vitamin A into the stock. This is a very important nutrient to help the body fight disease.
Sprouted lentils contain a high concentration of Vitamin C.
The soup pot with the lentils
Organic Brown lentils
Organic Quinoa – This high protein grain is easy to digest and is a great alternative to rice. I keep a bay leaf in the food bin to ward off weevils and moths.
One half cup of Quinoa
One cup of lentils
Adding in Quinoa to the garlic and onions
Stock pot simmering
Getting ready to strain the stock into the soup pot
Straining the stock into the soup pot. When I have put the first stock into the soup, I fill up the stock pot once more with the same foods, cover them with water, and again, boil a second pot of stock for twenty minutes. This ensures that the highest amount of the nutrients are extracted from the herbs and vegetables. It sort of “rinses” the final nutrients from the herbs, seeds, and vegetables.
Adding Cumin to the soup. Cumin helps to make the lentils more digestible. Also tastes great.
I like LOTS of cumin…
Adding in whole coriander to the soup pot.
This soup is now ready to be covered and simmered for three hours at a low temperature.
The final step is adding in powerful anti-viral oils and herbs just before serving the soup. This step is one of the most important in terms of the overall “viracide” action of this soup. We want to kill off as many viruses and bacteria as possible. I add in one or two drops each of Thyme and Oregano oil. I purchase these oils from a company that produces therapeutical grade essential oils. Dried herbs also give good flavor and final color to the soup.
Adding in two drops of Thyme essential oil
Adding in a drop of Oregano oil
Finished Garlic, Lentil, and Quinoa Soup
Soup’s on! Serve this soup with whole grain toast, fresh fruit, or home baked rolls or bread.
Here is the recipe in a quick synopsis for those of you who missed amounts and steps while browsing through the pictures…
Jenny’s Flu Soup:
2 onions
2 bulbs of garlic (about 20 cloves)
2 tablespoons sea salt
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup oatstraw tea (you may need to go to a health food store to get this)
2 tablespoons flax seed
¼ c Red Raspberry leaf tea
½ cup quinoa
1 cup brown lentils
½ cup sprouted brown lentils
2 potatoes
10 large carrots
1 tsp cumin
10 whole coriander seeds
Essential oils of Thyme and Oregano
Dried herbs of Thyme, Oregano, and Parsley
Directions for soup:
Cook onions, garlic, and olive oil in a pot. Add in chopped potatoes, carrots, and one Tablespoon of the sea salt. Let this cook for a few minutes, then add in the Quinoa, and sprouted lentils. (Sprouted lentils have the highest concentration of vitamin C of any food). To sprout lentils just cover a half cup of them with water over night. Drain in the morning and keep them wet until a ¼ inch tendril of sprout is detected. (This takes about 35 hours)
Fill a separate pot with two quarts of water to make soup stock. Add in the peels from the garlic, flaxseed, the oatstraw, raspberry leaf tea, and the peels from the carrots and potatoes. Bring the stock up to a hard boil for twenty minutes.
Cover the cup of brown lentils with water in a bowl. After soaking them for a few minutes, add the lentils and the water to the soup.
After the stock is finished boiling, strain the liquid into the soup pot. Recover the stock vegetables with another 2 quarts of water, and bring to a boil. Once again, strain the stock vegetables and add that liquid to the pot of soup. This ensures that the maximum amount of nutrients from the herbs will be included in the stock. This stock is chock full of essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.
Add in the ten whole Coriander seeds. Cover the pot and let simmer for three hours.
To finish the soup, add in the drops of Essential oils of Thyme and Oregano (one or two drops of each) – Therapeutic grade oils are best, and then toss in the dried herbs.
I made this soup for my family and asked them to describe it for you who are reading…
Husband Paul – “on a scale of one to ten, this soup was a six in terms of my all time favorite soup”
Shelly (16) – “it was OK, wouldn’t want to eat it every day”
Allison (13) – “too spicy, but I would eat it if I was sick”
Jeff (11) – I liked the carrots, but that was about it…”
Andy (9) – “yum!” (Andy will eat ANYTHING!)
Ben (2) – Ben would not even try the soup
I thought it was delicious, really spicy, with a powerful effect on my throat and sinuses, I could feel it moving through my system cooking out all the junk. I plan to make this soup a couple times this season both to help prevent the flu, and if we get it, to help heal those who may be ill.
Jenny Hatch
Healthy Families Make A Healthy World!
Kite Flying on a perfect Spring Day
Paul and I took our boys kite flying yesterday. It was windy and cool, a perfect day for going to the park and flying Ben’s new Eagle kite.
The children wanted to play at the park first
Paul and Jeff set up the Eagle Kite
Ben played on the slide
All of the children playing on the slide
Ben age three
Ben and I tried to get the kite up in the air first
All of the kids going down the slide
Here is a distant shot of the arboretum where I like to walk
The Eagle Kite!
Paul and the boys get the kite airborn, you have to look close to see the kite from that distance…it really did look like a real bird flapping its wings in the air.
Here is a shot of our home town, Louisville Colorado, you can see the Boulder Flatirons in the background.
Jenny Hatch
