Serenity Prayer for the Chronically Ill
The Lord said, “All things shall give you experience and will be for your good.” Can I think that my experiences are exempt from that promise?
By Darla Isackson

It’s about “Doing Good”
Why it’s hard to be home from your mission. Why it’s no different.
By Heidi S. Swinton

We Have the Answers to the Hard Questions
What do we do with this sacred trust?
By GG Vandagriff

The Finale of a 6,000 Year-Old Play
If you wrote a play that took 6000 years to present, on a stage as big as the earth, with a cast of billions, what would you do for a finale?
By Gary C. Lawrence

When I Kissed the Blarney Stone
They say when you kiss the Blarney stone, you suddenly burst into new eloquence—and I did!
By Maurine Proctor

Tinkerbell Pom-Poms and Consecration
The path of consecration is whatever is required of us at the time it is required, however large and life-changing, however small and insignificant—but did it really require this?
By Susan Elzey

The Healer
Is there anything so lovely as being healed when you are sick?
By Janet Peterson

Latter-day Preparations: What We Learned at Conference
Having a house full of wheat, beans and rice will be insufficient if we are not strong in spirit and mind as we face prophesied events.
By Gary C. Lawrence

Learning to Listen with Great Intensity
Have you noticed how certain phrases in inspired conference talks tend to jump out at you?
By Darla Isackson

Beautifully Modest – Setting New Trends in Fashion
Anyone who has ever shopped with a teenager going to prom or a daughter getting married knows the plight. Finding modest dresses has been nearly impossible—until this Utah-based company came along.
By Michele Ashman Bell

When the Lord Makes You Over
We preen, nip and tuck, dye and diet, but the Lord is about something much more permanent with us.
By Lynne Perry Christofferson

Resting Gets a Bad Rap in Our Culture
The Lord does not say to us, “Come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you a mile-long checklist, the completion of which is necessary in order to earn my approval and love.”
By Darla Isackson

The Cameron Birch Christmas Jar Story
Having cancer when you are six-years old stinks.
By Jason F. Wright

The “Zealous Repair” Steps:
Steps Eight and Nine
Sooner or later, we will all come to the end of what we can do to sanctify ourselves, and know that eventually we must surrender to the mighty change of heart that only the Savior can bring to pass in us.
By Colleen Harrison

Transforming our Relationships Now!
As much as we would like to disbelieve it, when we have relationship issues, there is something amiss in us. If you don’t think so, read on.
By Anne Hinton Pratt

Abigail: Old Testament’s Life-Changing Symbol
The bounteous atonement can bless us for the poor choices of others.
By Darla Isackson

A Sufficiency of Grace
Sometimes "just enough" is exactly what you get.
By Susan Elzey

The Mighty Change of Heart: Steps Six and Seven
Even after we have shed our addictive behaviors, we may still not be spiritually free of bondage. These steps tell how to make that happen.
By Colleen C. Harrison

"If Thine Eye Be Single ... "
To what should our eye be single? To the stock market? To our children's problems? To the administrative details of our callings? To our jobs? To the neatness of our houses? Is it in these places that we will find the answers to our mortal challenges, the direction the Lord would have us go?
By G.G. Vandagriff

Living Water for the Thirsty
Can you imagine a greater gift than a well of living water springing up inside you, so that you would never thirst again?
By G.G. Vandagriff

Nature Up Close and Personal
None of us get everything done we feel we ought to before we die. And that’s all right. The Lord doesn’t ask us, when we get up there, why we didn’t get this and this done.
By Darla Isackson

Second Chances and Recovering Charles
Why we ought to give as many second chances as we can.
By Jason Wright

Strong Links, Weak Links
President Hinckley shared an experience he had in the temple that applies to us all.
By Janet Peterson

Moving On to the Fourth and Fifth Steps:
Participating in a Heart Deep Inventory
Looking back at our past to acknowledge the good, face the painful and come to honest peace with our whole life up until now brings peace with God and others.
By Colleen Harrison

The Covenant People of the Lord—Armed with Righteousness for a Difficult Time
It has been many generations since we have had to have the kind of individual relationship with the Lord that we need now to withstand corruption.
By G.G. Vandagriff

Warning: Both Over and Under Reacting Can Be Dangerous to Your Spiritual Health
Satan wants us to be miserable and has some sneaky ways to keep us from our true and deeper selves.
By Darla Isackson

New Study Answers “What Makes Us Happy?”
Results of the longest study on happiness ever conducted (268 men followed for 72 years) has been recently published. What do you suppose they learned?
By Janet Peterson

How You Can be a Tool for the Lord
In Church history, you can easily see how certain people arose to perform important tasks. It is no different today.
By Marilynne Linford

Teaching Children to Love Their Country*
Unlike addition and subtraction, there is no test to measure a child's patriotism because it isn't something of the mind; it's something in the heart.
By Marilynne Linford

"We Need the Temple More Than Anything Else"
Lest anyone should disagree with this statement, it was Joseph Smith who said it.
By G.G. Vandagriff

Are you Suffering from Spiritual Dyslexia?
Too many of us are wearing ourselves out by trying to live the gospel in the exact reverse of what God asks.
by Colleen Harrison

The Onion Skins and Egg Shells of Life
When it doesn’t take much to jam the motor.
by Lynn Harbertson

I Deserve Better
Most of us are quite certain that things could be better for us. We carry with us what poet Philip Larkin called, “A joyous shot at how things ought to be.” Something inside tells us we were born for more.
By Maurine Proctor

The Test
Many years ago when I was suffering from bipolar disorder, I had an experience that changed my life.
By G.G. Vandagriff

The Blessing of Belonging to a Ward
A ward is something you don't have to deserve and which has to take you in.
By Janet Peterson

Satan's Subtle Attack Upon Our Identity
Satan has been using the same old bag of tricks to discourage and dim us since before the world began.
By Maurine Proctor

Remembering Joy
I ran across my missionary journals the other day and felt drawn to them and was surprised and delighted to discover that the primary, most repeated theme was JOY!
By Darla Isackson

How We Know What We Know
Over a period of forty years, I have worked in the area of "how does one know," a study that has become more significant in an age of deeply conflicting voices.
By Truman G. Madsen

Finding Hope in the Gospel after Divorce
Two weeks before our 20th anniversary in 1992, my husband left our marriage.  This is what I learned about how to survive.
By Susan Elzey

Keeping the Twelve Steps of Recovery Focused on Christ
Those whose hope, peace, strength and potential are being consumed by an addiction (whether it be to drugs and alcohol or to sexually inappropriate behaviors or to unhealthy eating behaviors or to unwise spending behaviors, etc.) are in as desperate need of a Savior as Alma the younger was when he cried out in his heart directly to the Savior for rescue.
By Colleen Harrison

Change the Way You Change Minds
Have you ever wanted to change someone? Or, after failing to get them to change, have you ever wanted to force them do what's right?
By Ron McMillan

What a Cat and a Fox Taught Me about Relationships
?My life is very monotonous,? the fox said, ?I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life.?
By Darla Isackson

Satan's Secret Strategy and How We Fall for It
Satan always uses the same tricks. He is a mastermind of psychology who has perfected a few ploys and uses them again and again, devilishly pleased with how easily we succumb.
By Maurine Proctor

Dreams in the Mist
The life we imagine we want to have sometimes stands in the way of our loving the life we do have.
By Tessa Meyer Santiago

Snow on the Daffodils
I woke with high hopes for some sunshine, but by noon it was snowing. Whenever snow bends our bright moments it has a tendency to wake us up a bit.
By Darla Isackson

Prophets: A Better GPS
Every day, thousands of Americans plug their desired destinations into their cars' Global Positioning System (GPS), and then dutifully follow the commands of a disembodied voice.  What blind followers!
By Gary C. Lawrence

Communities of the Spirit
As news in the world grows grimmer, it is more important than ever that we forge strong bonds, not just with our Lord and Savior, but with our fellow Saints.
By G.G. Vandagriff

Daily Invitations to Darkness or Light
?What do you do?  I had always had an easy response to that question, until just recently when my job was eliminated.  
By Barbara Keil

Bless the Broken Road
Every week for years, we go to church, and every week there's a discussion of some truth that, if actually believed and applied, would change the nature and quality of our lives.  Why do we resist?
By Tessa Meyer Santiago

Coming Home
Recently I was feeling lost, alone, far from home?for no good reason. Everything is really okay in my life. However, feeling lost isn't necessarily a rational emotion.
By Darla Isackson

Little Known Capsule of History Demonstrates Need for Healthy Opposition in a Democracy
Few people in America that Austria was a democracy before it rushed into the arms of fascism.
By G.G. Vandagriff

Watch over Me
How God Teaches Tenderly When I Mess Up
I think of how many clean bowls and new eggs to crack God's given me over the years.
By Tessa Meyer Santiago

It Wasn't Because Laman and Lemuel Had a Bad Attitude
Once when I was teaching an institute class on the Book of Mormon, I lined up two scriptures and asked a question that I thought would be easy.  As it turned out, it wasn't.
By Maurine Proctor

A Command Voice
The voice of the prophet calls cadence for us, in a voice we can hear above the crowd.
by Janet Peterson

The Gathering is All About the Atonement
The aims of God and those of Satan are polar opposite in a way we sometimes don't perceive.
By Maurine Proctor

The Cure for Weltschmerz
As things in the world seem to be collapsing in ever more dramatic and unsettling ways, it is tempting for people to experience Weltschmerz , a very descriptive word that translates roughly as "world sorrow" or "world pain."
By G.G. Vandagriff

The Folly of Looking Around to See Who You Are
Our children are tested every day for their courage to be true.
By Maurine Proctor

Dear God, Am I in Trouble?
To live with the mental construct that God is always over our shoulder shaking his head in dismay at our weaknesses makes life and spirituality a burden.
By Maurine Proctor

?That Ye May Have Hope?
With world conditions being downright scary, the words of the prophets at the coming General Conference can give us hope.
By Darla Isackson

How You Can Fire Up Your Friends to Hear the Gospel
If the old models for sharing the gospel with your friends aren't working, try this idea. 
By Barbara Keil

Re-Parenting Ourselves In The House of the Lord
At a time in my life when I was being buffeted in an unusually severe manner, I finally found the perfect home.
By G.G. Vandagriff

Purpose in Pain
Elder Neal Maxwell said, ? If, indeed, the things allotted to each were divinely customized according to our ability and capacity, then for us to seek to wrench ourselves free of every schooling circumstance in mortality is to tear ourselves away from matched opportunities.?
By Darla Isackson

If You Want Miracles In Your Life . . . Or Miracle on the Volga
A descendancy chart yields hundreds of names from a contact she forgot she had made.
By G.G. Vandagriff

?The Lord is On Thy Side?
A Missionary Returns Home Early
?Walking became a greater burden with every passing day until I had been taken out of commission and moved close to the mission home for immediate care.? 
By Mathew Greene

When Honesty Is a Temptation, Not a Virtue
Have you ever been tempted to honestly tell someone exactly how you feel?  ?Tempted? is the right word in that sentence.
By Darla Isackson

Choosing to Grow
Only God's children have the capacity to direct their own growth.
by Janet Peterson

"And If Your Eye Be Single . . ."
"If we must give all that we have, then our giving almost everything is not enough.  If we almost keep the commandments, we almost receive the blessings.?
By G.G. Vandagriff

Filled with a Marvelous Light?A Story from Yemen
After a two-week tour last October following Lehi's trail, LeRoy Hannon left the 43 people he had been traveling with, to continue alone to Yemen.  This is a land that is a dream for a Book of Mormon explorer, but also dangerous and hostile, with warring tribes.  This is the remarkable story of what happened to LeRoy in Yemen, a far different one than he ever supposed. 
By Leroy Hannon

Life is God's Novel; Let Him Write It
If life is God's novel, we are only in the middle chapters where the plot is thickening and all the complications are besetting us.
By G.G. Vandagriff

Living Christians
Traditional Christianity often criticizes us because we do not rally around the symbol of the cross.  The Christ we revere and worship is a dynamic, immediate, loving presence.
By Paul Bishop

Toward Understanding of The Creeds and the Godhead, Part 3
This is another insightful look at the way God is described in the creeds, pointing out what some believe, where they get their ideas, and how the scriptures contradict them.
By John A. Tvedtnes

Toward Understanding of The Creeds and the Godhead, Part 2
Join us for Part 2 as Dr. Tvedtnes carefully explores a Biblical examination of the facts concerning the various creeds and official declarations concerning the Godhead.
By John A. Tvedtnes

Toward Understanding of The Creeds and the Godhead
From the Council of Nicea to the Council of Constantinople and the many creeds that were created in the centuries following Christ's Resurrection, come and try to understand others in their attempts to comprehend God.
By John A. Tvedtnes

A Christmas Question:  Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?
The single most important thing that we can focus on in our lives is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and there is not one of us to whom the Lord would not make that same query:  Wilt thou be made whole?
By Sean Brotherson

I Have a Complaint
Some people are so given to complaining, if they had been there when Jesus blessed the loaves and fishes, they would have asked if He had cooked the fish long enough.
By Paul Bishop

Want an Antidote to The Three Deceivers? 
Try Thanks-Giving!
"Thanksgiving" can be explored as a verb, as a noun, or as an adjective.  We have tried, in years past, to write poems about where it comes from, why it is important, who it is for, when it can be felt, and how it can be increased.
By Richard Eyre

A Moment of Gratitude
Every once in a while you have one of those moments of clarity when you realize just how grateful you are for something in your life.
By Susan Law Corpany

Gratitude for a Special Friend
This Thanksgiving I am grateful for a grand woman who reached out to me and said, ?I would like to be your friend.?
By Dian Thomas

True Thanksgiving
In my view, Thanksgiving should happen every week as we approach the Lord to make covenants.
By H. Wallace Goddard

"Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me"
I cannot thank the Lord enough for my son being safe and sound.  I am doubly grateful the Lord would use me to help one I love more than my own life.
By Steven Kapp Perry

Gratitude: Recognizing God in His Gift
Every gift that we receive from God reflects his personality, including his power, his awareness and his love. Sadly, some people explain away their gifts as strokes of good luck while other people overlook their gifts completely.
By Larry Barkdull

This assignment will bring . . .
We had one concern when we were called on our mission to England:  our family.  When we walked out of President Monson's office I remember looking at my husband and saying, ?This assignment will bring Cameron and Kristen a baby.?
By Heidi Swinton

A Moment Awash in Gratitude
?Troubles are not polite.  They don't wait to take their turn, but often pile on you all at once.  On this occasion, after a series of extreme trials, I felt noticed by the Divine, acknowledged by my Creator, and encircled in the robes of His righteousness.?  Come and read this story of thanksgiving.
By Maurine Proctor

The Battle Continues
It is certainly not convenient to find ourselves assaulted in so many ways.  But as the attacks on our faith increase, as Christianity is defamed, we can find strength through our prophets and keep Christ in our hearts.
By Paul Bishop

Contrasts and Foils in Scripture
17th Century artists employed a technique called chiaroscuro where the extreme contrasts between light and darkness are highlighted to achieve dramatic and emotional effect and to create depth.
By W. Jeffrey Walsh

How Evil Poses as Good
Evil masks itself, tries to pretend it represents all that is intelligent, forward-thinking and enlightened.  The Book of Mormon turns a spotlight on this illusion.
By Maurine Proctor

Pouting before the Lord
It is tempting to want God to be, in C.S. Lewis's words, a ?cosmic bellboy? or a ?senile old benevolent? whose highest aim is to make sure the children are having a good time.   It is tempting to hope that God is there merely to wait on our needs, jump at our demands, make our path a freeway to success and take us off the bumpy roads.
By Maurine Proctor

?Behold Never Was There a Happier Time?
Smack dab in the middle of the war chapters in the Book of Mormon, this surprising line about happiness appears!
By G.G. Vandagriff

One Heart at a Time
President Monson, found a man one night at 2:00 a.m. in the hospital, who needed his support, and as so many other times, he stepped forward.
By G.G. Vandagriff

Exercising Faith
Faith is not merely a positive attitude in our own minds, but is a power that centers in the perfect character and caring of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior Jesus Christ.
By W. Jeffrey Walsh

Are You Willing to Receive the Blessings of God?
Too often we fail to recognize the Lord's intervention and His tender mercies?which are always exactly what we need whether we realize it or not.
By Darla Isackson

Grace Under Pressure
We can be true and hopeful when prayers are answered and the crops come in, but what about when we kneel in need and seem to hear only the echo of our own voice?
By Maurine Proctor

The Haunting Message of Haun's Mill
One clear morning at Haun's Mill, the children were happily playing, not knowing what was about to happen because their parents hadn't heeded a prophet's counsel.
By Darla Isackson

Where have all the Prophets Gone?
Chapter One, Part 1
The Early Christian Fathers and Nonbiblical Writings
When Pilate asked Jesus, ?What is truth??, he may have been very aware that this is one of the most complex and controversial issues of all time. Part of the reason it remains so alive lies in how we perceive truth.
By Scott R. Petersen

Where have all the Prophets Gone?
A Condensed Exploration of the Apostasy
Today we begin publishing one man's ten year quest to understand and document the apostasy ? not just the apostasy from the Church of Jesus Christ in the Meridian of time ? but the apostasy from all other priesthood dispensations. Written in an easy-to-understand style, and using the Bible, selected Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha, the Dead Seas Scrolls, and the earliest Christian writings, Where Have All the Prophets Gone? attempts to carefully uncover the apostasy as never before. Join with us in this great journey through the ages.
By Scott R. Petersen

Searching the Scriptures ? A Personal Journey
I had such a wonderful experience yesterday morning in my personal scripture study I wanted to not only share it with you, but walk you through the process so that it might be of some benefit. This is a very personal article. Please come and enjoy this with me.
By Scot Facer Proctor

Are We an Obedient People? Our Lives May Depend on It!
Too often we bask in our comfortable complacency and rationalize that the ravages of war, economic disaster, famine, and earthquake cannot happen here.

On Norms, Phobias, and Feeling Safe within Imperfect Faith Communities
We must examine our hearts with respect to those who struggle for any reason. Unloving hearts, such as the one attributed to the brother of the prodigal son, will not make us a safe society.
By Jim Birrell

Thanksgiving with the Zoramites
A sincerely humble gratitude is different than a boast.
By Scott A. Hanks

Thank You to the Ones We've Never Met
This Thanksgiving there are thousands of people I have never met, to whom I owe a debt that cannot be repaid.
By Orson Scott Card

The Many Faces of Forgiveness: A Deeper Look at the Atonement
I know the Lord ... will help me fight my inner battles. He will make up the difference between what I lack and what is required, until the victory is complete and I am fully His.
By Darla Isackson

Comfort in the Aftermath of Loss
"There's a myth that suggests that people who take their lives have committed an unpardonable sin. I'm here to tell you today that's just flat out not true."
By Darla Isackson

Start Now to Give a Christmas Gift to Jesus
What kinds of gifts will show our love for Jesus Christ, will be gifts that please him most, and that are within our power to give?
by Janet Peterson

The Barber and the Golden Rule
His father wasn't just having his hair cut in the kitchen. He was teaching a long-remembered lesson on compassion.
By Joel W. Darrington

My Son?s Suicide: Seeking Gospel Perspectives
What can you learn about God and his comfort in the very worst of times?
by Darla Isackson

The Calling of an Apostle
We’ve all had the calling of an apostle on our minds these past two months as we lost our beloved Elder Neal A. Maxwell on July 21st and our dear and tender Elder David B. Haight just ten days later. In order to understand the calling of an apostle more clearly, a story is told about an obscure, wind-swept piece of land in northwestern Missouri where a quiet meeting was held some 165 years ago.
By Scot Facer Proctor

At the Recommend Desk
I arrived for my assignment at the recommend desk a little out of sorts. Granted that this was not the right attitude for someone who was to spend the next two hours welcoming patrons to the temple, but my back hurt and my feet were sore.
By Steve Orton

Neal Maxwell:A Personal Touch
How could Neal Maxwell be so kind to just another random face in the crowd?
By Maurine Jensen Proctor

Let It Go!
I have heard it said that forgiveness is the willingness to give up hope for a better past. How true!
By Jim Birrell

Turning 50: Things I Wish I'd Known Before
What has life taught you to this point? What have been the little and big lessons? Turning 50, Meridian writer, Jim Birrell, wrote down some insights and out takes on what the journey has taught him thus far. For example, this is not a Burger King world--and it's not always going to happen your way.
By Jim Birrell

That He May Know According to the Flesh How to Succor
His People in Their Infirmities
Christ's suffering served multiple purposes. The prophet Alma throws light on one aspect of that infinite experience.
By G.G. Vandagriff

Broken Hearts Let In the Light of Christ
Why does the Lord require the sacrifice of a broken heart? Why would He want us to wade through sorrow in this life?
By Darla Isackson

A Heart at War
Why We Must Forgive
You want to be at peace with the world and everyone in it--but you've been hurt and offended. You still feel the wounds. What can you do?
By Robert L. Greer

Obedience:The Doorway to Freedom
Part 2
We all begin with the same divine gift of agency, but every choice we make either adds to our freedom or restricts it.
by Brent L. Top

Obedience: The Doorway to Freedom
Part 1
One of the most important messages of the Book of Mormon for our day--for young and old alike—is how agency really operates.
by Brent L. Top

The Temple Express: A Tale of Two Sisters
When two sisters in a ward decided to attend the temple every week (which was 2-1/2 hours away), they didn't know the spirit of their expedition would spread so far.

Virtual Historian: An Integrated Approach to the Study of the Doctrine & Covenants
A new software program allows you to take an arm-chair tour of Church history, step into more than 100 photographs as if you were there, and find multiple references to enhance your study of the Doctrine & Covenants with the click of a mouse.
By Greg DeVore

Cry Unto the Lord
The roadblock to greater spirituality posed by "praying with­out really praying" is all too prevalent in the world today, even in the lives of those who profess to know the power of prayer and how to pray.
by Brent L. Top

Hard Questions and Keeping the Faith
Why do some people assail the Church? Should we respond to critics? How should we deal with hard questions and accusations? Were can we find answers?
By Michael R. Ash

My Thoughts on The Passion of Christ
Meridian's editors said they wouldn't put in one more article on The Passion of Christ, thinking our readers had probably seen enough. Then this one came in and we couldn't resist.
by James R. Birrell

Generosity in Forgiving Others
Joseph learned early in his ministry about the importance of mercifully forgiving others. He had experienced the joy of forgiveness during his first vision, when he heard the Savior’s voice declare, “Joseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee.” [i]
By W. Jeffrey Marsh

Dealing with Personal Injustices
Lessons from the Life and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith
Have you been offended or treated unjustly? Given a wound that does not seem to heal easily? Joseph Smith walked that same rocky road and left insightful ideas to lift our burdens.
By W. Jeffrey Marsh

Who Was Responsible for the Death of Jesus?
The recent release of The Passion of the Christ has created quite a stir in a society that is already saturated with those claiming to present the true picture of Jesus. Scholars at BYU have carefully been studying the last hours of Christ and shed some insight.
By Thomas A. Wayment

Have you Inquired of the Lord?
It was a shocking moment in church when his daughter turned to him and said, "I'm going home! I don't believe any of this stuff, anyway!"
by Brent L. Top

Springing the Comparison Trap
Comparing ourselves to others is detrimental to our well-being and a sign of pride. The Savior offers a way out of this harmful trap.
by Darla Isackson

He Did Deliver Me from Bondage
An Introduction
Darla introduces us to He Did Deliver Me from Bondage, a powerful guide for serious seekers.
by Darla Isackson

Grace Under Pressure
We can be true and hopeful when prayers are answered and the crops come in, but what about when we kneel in need and seem to hear only the echo of our own voice?
By Maurine Proctor

The Interloper
He'll never forget the night he accidentally was moved into the crowd of VIPs touring the newly-opened Washington D.C. temple.
By Steve Orton

Fathers and Forgiveness
"I Guess I Came to Feel the Same Way about God as I Felt About My Father"
by Darla Isackson

Except Ye Become As Little Children
Every year when Mother’s Day and Father’s Day roll around, I somehow think we ought to have a day to honor children too! Not by giving gifts or indulging them as we do on many holidays, but by recognizing their pure spirits.
by Darla Isackson

Perspectives on Prayer
How different my prayers are when I can feel His nearness and His love, when I am trusting Him completely, seeking His will because I know He wants what is best for me, than when I am desperately pleading to get my will done!
by Darla Isackson

When Help Hinders
As members of Christ’s church, we are a service-oriented group, and that is as it should be. Christlike service strengthens the recipient and can dispel dark clouds of discouragement hovering over the hopeless. However, not all service strengthens, and some help hinders.
by Darla Isackson

What Are the Chances? Thinking about the Big Questions
When people find out I am a pretty recent convert, they often ask me why I converted. The answer has mostly to do with a heart-changing experience with the Holy Spirit. But there is another point that bears considering: before I became a member of the church I rarely spent much time thinking about the Big Questions.
by Geoffrey Biddulph

What Do We Treasure?
With Christmas behind us, we may be faced with a new dilemma: how to make room for new “things” when our closets and cupboards are already jam-packed. Some home management texts include the rule: “Whenever you buy something new, get rid of something unwanted.” They suggest that the number of items that flow into our homes should equal the number of items that flow out. Seems like good advice, so why is it so hard to follow? We know that if we do not get rid of things, we may find ourselves unwisely seeking a larger home, renting storage space, or living in constant chaos!
by Darla Isackson

Is the Giving Enough?
Giving is to Christmas like snow is to an Idaho winter. It can swirl around our celebration like a pesky blizzard delaying progress to our destination or it can cover our mundane cares with sparkling excitement and beauty. Why is some giving so satisfying, other giving such a burden and frustration? What are our motivations for giving? How much should we give? What constitutes genuine Christlike giving?
by Darla Isackson

Brazil's Poor
How do you know if you’ve done enough, when there are so many who are desperately poor?
by Geoffrey Biddulph

When Help Hinders
As members of Christ’s church, we are a service-oriented group, and that is as it should be. Christlike service strengthens the recipient and can dispel dark clouds of discouragement hovering over the hopeless. However, not all service strengthens, and some help hinders.
by Darla Isackson

The Healing Blessings of the Temple
Editor’s Note: Our beloved writer, G.G. Vandagriff, has not been with Meridian for about a year as she has been afflicted with a severe illness. We are excited and grateful that she has recovered enough to again be on the pages of Meridian.
by G.G. Vandagriff