Unproductive worry - like Parkinson's proverbial law - tends to expand to fill the time available.

The great challenge is to refuse to let the bad things that happen to us do bad things to us. That is the crucial difference between adversity and tragedy.

We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God. Heart, soul, and mind were the encompassing words of Christ in describing the first commandment, which is constantly, not periodically, operative (see Matt. 22:37). If kept, then our performances will, in turn, be fully consecrated for the lasting welfare of our souls (see 2 Ne. 32:9).

Trying to observe the slow shift from self-centeredness to empathy is like trying to watch grass grow.

In the economy of Heaven, God does not send thunder if a still, small voice is enough, or a prophet if a priest can do the job.

So much depends, therefore, upon our maintaining gospel perspective in the midst of ordinariness, the pressures of temptation, tribulation, deprivation, and the cares of the world.

Sometimes, if you're like me, [God] will brace or reprove in a highly personal process not understood or appreciated by those outside the context.