Author Profile: Brian Johnston
Author Archive for Brian Johnston
Squaring the Circle is a geometry problem and a spiritual puzzle. It dates back at least 4,000 years. All of the great cultures that expressed advanced mathematics and philosophy approached this problem and had a mythology to give it meaning. On one hand, it is a practical, geometric exercise exploring approximations of PI and Phi. On the other hand, it is a philosophical puzzle to combine opposites and find the perfect balance. Can a human find their way through the maze of different extremes that we encounter in our mortal experience? We must navigate between light and darkness, health and sickness, pleasure and pain, life and death, good and evil. The greatest minds in history have expressed pleasure and enlightenment from this geometry exercise. A famous Greek philosopher included a statement in his work “On Exile” referring to one of his fellow countrymen who worked the squaring problem:
“There is no place that can take away the happiness of a man, nor yet his virtue or wisdom. Anaxagoras, indeed, wrote on the squaring of the circle while in prison.”
-Plutarch
Joseph Smith was the prophet of “the restoration,” an idea that is vital to Mormon theology. He used a term that we still often talk about today in Church: The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. It refers to the name for the current Gospel era we live in today, the 7th and last dispensation, a dispensation where all things become known. Continue reading…
Is it good to do something right for the wrong reason?
[A story from Prairie_Chuck at FacesEast.org, adapted by permission]
In Sunday School last week, the lesson topic was about motivation for obedience and service to others. The teacher referred to Elder Oakes’ talk titled “Unselfish Service.” Elder Oakes discussed reasons why people serve, saying that 5 of the 6 reasons were selfish: having a desire for blessings, wanting the association with others that callings bring, and fear of condemnation to name a few. The only right reason to have a calling was because one loved God and had faith. Continue reading…
Yanna the prophetess was sitting under a tree praying and meditating for days and a vision surges over her like a tidal wave of overwhelming, transcendent, divine love and connection to the infinite. A mighty voice of thunder like crashing surf declares to her “I am … that I am. You will declare this message to the world.” There are no words to describe it. She does her best and proclaims loudly “God is an ocean! Hear these my words and seek after God.” Continue reading…
Here is the poll based based on last week’s post. I’m picking the top 5 funny reasons to be Mormon. I picked 5 that I thought really expressed the humorous side of our religion. It was hard. There were many great responses.
It’s therapeutic to have a nice laugh at ourselves. So pick your favorite and crown the winner! Continue reading…
I’m starting a fun contest. Everyone post their funniest reason to be Mormon. You can post more than one if you have good ideas, but they must follow an important rule. In order to qualify, they have to be twitter-length: 140 characters or less.
I will take the 5 funniest reasons, based on my expertise in this matter (cough cough), and host a poll next week. We’ll let the Mormon Matters readers and participants decide which one is the champion. What is the prize you ask? Fame, glory and bragging rights!
If you have a funny story that doesn’t meet the limit, feel free to share it too. It can’t go on to the top 5 list though.
Let the list begin!
From a mythological perspective, why does our religion have such a powerful and detailed “Sons of Perdition” 
element? I asked myself this recently after observing other members talk about this theme in length during separate conversations. They were so passionate about discussing this state of being, going on and on about it, even though it was only tangential to the conversation at hand. I watched them go deep within themselves as they pulled out all the information they knew about Sons of Perdition and reviewed it out loud. It prompted me to ask myself “why is this important to them?” They were emphatic about how difficult and rare it was to reach a level of knowledge and spiritual enlightenment that one could even make this conscious choice. If it is nearly impossible to become a Son of Perdition, why does it matter? Continue reading…
This week I volunteered to help as the “priesthood” on staff for a couple days at Young Women Camp. Perhaps this is all old hat to a lot of you, but it was my first experience. I was very impressed. It was both fun and tiring. I never knew girls could be so crazy! Continue reading…
I’ve been thinking lately about the differences between the LDS Church we participate in today compared to what attracted and retained early members in the days of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was a religious mystic, recognized as a founding “prophet” of our modern church. The core of the story of Joseph and the restoration is a number of intense, other-worldly, divine encounters. He seemed to be ever concerned with bringing the Church into the presence of God. This took a worldly form in the cause of gathering to Zion, a utopian society perhaps like the City of Enoch. It also took the form of promoting the expression of visions, dreams, speaking in tongues, and prophecies. Continue reading…
Big Love Season 3 is set to start on January 18th. HURRAY! Here’s a link to the official HBO website:
Big Love at HBO
Tired of the same old emergency room and police dramas? Sitcoms telling the same old jokes? Starting to wonder how real that reality TV show really is?
Big Love! The most unusual family drama ever produced. Continue reading…
A friend of mine pointed out this blog article to me:
http://timwade.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/are-mormons-better-christians/ Continue reading…
StayLDS.com is now hosting some of the material formerly available at MormonStories. Among these are: Continue reading…
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You dropped down into this crazy, frenetic, gloomy world; stumble and trip in the darkness, trying to feel your way through the valley of shadows. Nothing seems to work right.
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I’ve had this song stuck in my mind for a week or so now. Don’t you hate that? To make matters worse, 
I keep picturing a 19th century cast of early Church leaders singing this song on a vaudeville stage. You know, the kind with oil lantern stage lights on the floor shaped like clam shells. It would also need a warped plank or two on the stage. It would be full of smoke, the audience would be drinking pints of ale while whooping and yelling — a boisterous crowd representing the world. Continue reading…
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