Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1188

A thought on motherhood

    “One thing is certain: When the time has come, nothing which is man-made will subsist. One day, all human accomplishments will be reduced to a pile of ashes. But every single child to whom a woman has given birth will live forever, for he has been given an immortal soul made to God’s [Read More...]

“Temple attendance is a Christlike gift”

    My 2014 Christmas column for the Deseret News went up this morning, and I’m frankly shocked.  None of the Usual Suspects have commented.  There’s been no mockery, no derision, no atheist manifestos, no response at all.  Nada.   Weird.  I can’t imagine that they take a day off at Christmas time.  One or [Read More...]

A final apostolic testimony

    As Christmas 2014 draws toward its close, it seems appropriate to post a powerful apostolic testimony that many of us older folks heard when it was first given on 6 April 1985.   Elder Bruce R. McConkie, of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, had been suffering from cancer for about eighteen months at [Read More...]

Christmas Cheer 32

    For this final installment of “Christmas Cheer” for 2014, I’ve chosen a very short video of a very small act:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxNMU...   We’re all capable of doing little things like this.    

Music of Christmas 29

    For my final installment of “Music of Christmas” for 2014, I offer two pieces.   I’ve always loved Miklos Rozsa’s score for the movie Ben Hur.  And his “Star of Bethlehem” is, in my opinion, one of its two highlights:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0cFM...   I heard a wonderful arrangement of it yesterday, performed by [Read More...]

“The Savior can change dark to light”

    This was my Deseret News Christmas column for 2012:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/76...   My 2014 Christmas column was actually published this morning.    

Airline passenger thrown off plane after angry reaction to “Merry Christmas”

    I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a law suit brewing over this, but I would have joined in the applause, too:   http://nypost.com/2014/12/25/plane-pa...    

“There is hope in every dawning”

    Christina Lyon Maughan, who has herself had a rough year and a rough Christmas season, brought the lyrics of this song by Sally Deford to my attention.  (I haven’t located a recording of it yet that I can use here.)   I share them here for all those — myself among them — [Read More...]

The Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem

      The first Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem was begun by St. Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, in AD 333 as part of an overall building program launched in the aftermath of the great Nicene Council — a program of construction that also included Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  [Read More...]

A “Music of Christmas” Supercollection

    My gifted friend Will Schryver has assembled a collection of some of his favorite Christmas music.  You can access it here:   https://drive.google.com/folderview?i...   You need to actually download the collection in order to listen to the music.   Two of the thirty-three pieces — Jesus, Once of Humble Birth and the Greensleeves [Read More...]