The gross size of our talent inventories is less important than the net use of our talents?

We are vulnerable if we can be taken by a wave of emotion, invaded by an invidious impulse, roughed up by resentment, or engulfed by a surge of selfishness.

While most of our suffering is self- inflicted, some is caused by or permitted by God. This sobering reality calls for deep submissiveness, especially when God does not remove the cup from us. In such circumstances, when reminded about the premortal shouting for joy as this life's plan was unfolded (Job 38:7), we can perhaps be pardoned if, in some moments, we wonder what all the shouting was about.

Real hope is much more than wishful musing. It stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual spine.

Sometimes the best people... have the worst experiences... because they are ready to learn

Do not let the future be held hostage by the past

Those few members who desert the cause are abandoning an oasis to search for water in the desert.