Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 34

Happy Thanksgiving!

  I wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Americanos out there.  And — why not? — I hope that all of you non-Americans have a good day, too! I published this article, entitled “The miracle of Thanksgiving pies,” in the 23 November 2017 issue of the Deseret News: “If you wish to […]

Thinking and Thanking

  I published the Thanksgiving column immediately below in the 24 November 2011 issue of the Deseret News.  Perhaps you might find something in it of value: Autumn harvest festivals were and are common across Europe, and, as every American schoolchild once learned, our modern Thanksgiving celebrations descend from a meal shared between Massachusetts Pilgrims […]

Gratitude for Air and Dirt

  I published the following column in the 14 November issue of the Deseret News: As we in the United States approach the national Thanksgiving holiday for 2019, it’s appropriate to consider things for which we should express our gratitude. Obviously, of course, there’s the good food that many of us will be eating. There are the […]

For Thanksgiving Week

  I’ve long felt that American Thanksgiving tends to be a somewhat forlorn and relatively neglected holiday.  Falling between the fun of the costumes and candies and houses of horror associated with the entirely desacralized holiday of Halloween and the weeks of carols and festivities (and unrelenting commercialism) of the partially desacralized Christmas, it tends […]

Tragedy and Triumph and Hope

  Yesterday evening, we met friends for dinner at Maria’s Mexican Grill in South Jordan — this was our first time there, by the way, and, for whatever it may be worth, I thought my food was unusually good — and then we headed up together to Symphony Hall in Salt Lake City.  We arrived […]

Things that really matter

  FAIR is a largely volunteer organization, and sometimes real life gets in the way of getting certain things done.  I’m pleased, however, to see that this important presentation has finally gone up online:  “Church Finances in Context: An Overview of History, Law, and Recent Controversies,” given by Aaron Miller at the 2024 FAIR Conference This […]

On the Translation Process for the Book of Mormon

For whatever it may be worth, today is the fifty-first anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  And of the death of Aldous Huxley.  And of the passing of C. S. Lewis.  My life has been affected by all three of these men.  Peter Kreeft wrote a book inspired by the coincidence of […]

Bonhoeffer, the Movie

  I liked this article in the Deseret News that was written by the invaluable Jacob Hess — and not merely because it cites, well, me:  “‘I’m genuinely interested in your answers’: When pretended curiosity becomes a weapon to undermine faith: The image of an earnest truth seeker invokes feelings of reverence in modern society. Little […]

These books have really changed my mind

  By the way, Six Days in August is still playing in four or five theaters through this Thursday, and will survive in two more — in Pocatello and, I believe, in Kaysville — over at least this coming weekend.  We’re also arranging some private showings.  (My wife and I will be involved with one […]

A meditation on the passage of time

  My wife and I took Royal Skousen out to dinner last night; we had a pleasant visit before, during, and after the meal.  A major topic of conversation, of course, was his wife, Sirkku Unelma Skousen, to whom he was and is deeply devoted.  Sirkku died on 9 November 2024, following a lengthy and […]