The Evolving Nature Of A Man’s Birthday

May 12th, 2026 Scott
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Birthdays are a funny thing for a man. When you were a kid, you were filled with excitement as your “special” day came near and that date, whatever it may be, became your day. It belonged to you! You were filled with anticipation about the presents you would receive or the party that would be held in your honor. It was all about the physical! And that was the “meaning” of birthdays to me till, at the age of 19,  I went on a church mission to Argentina. There, I once attended and celebrated with an elderly couple the birthday of the husband. During the course of the party, I was alone in a conversation with the wife. She confided in me that this really wasn’t his “birthday.” He had been born in poverty and abandoned by his biological parents. His date of birth was unknown. He had been raised in an orphanage. And although this man had no idea what day, or even the exact year, in which he had been born, he had chosen a day to celebrate his birth.  It was important to him to have a day marking the beginning of his existence on this earth.  He wanted to have a day to feel “special.”  Here he was in the later stages of life, and he still felt the need to be recognized.

I suppose that all of us feel a need to be recognized on occasion and I guess I am no different. Birthdays provide that opportunity.  Today I will celebrate my birthday. And although I am now on the downhill side of life, it is still nice to be recognized.  However, as I have aged, my birthday now gives me the opportunity to reflect upon the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me and my family over the past year of my life.  For me, my birthday has evolved from a day of wanting to a day of thanksgiving.  As I have aged, birthdays for me have changed from being about the physical to being more about the spiritual. Perhaps Paul expressed it best when he wrote:

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11)

I don’t think I am different from other men.  I think for the aging man,  the gifts of life and liberty take center stage, and all the balloons and presents that seemed to thrill us as a youth have long since been replaced with appreciation for gifts of the heart. I don’t know what I will get for my birthday this year, but all I really want is a smile and a hug from my grandchildren, kids, and wife.  It’s a gift that seems to stay with me long after the party is over. The greatest gift I hope for,  is another year on this earth, so I can spend more time with those I love.  I hope God knows about the evolving nature of a man’s birthday, because he is the only one who can give me that gift. I hope he is listening so that next year, at this same time, I am once again basking in the glow of a bunch of candles, with the familiar faces of those I love!

Run, Boy, Run!

May 11th, 2026 Scott
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I’m amazed at all the studies that are done in the world whose results should be so obvious to those that do them. Take the headlines of an article found in the USA today from November 17th, 2009. It says:

“Students may drink, have sex more if in coed dorms.” Really! I never would have guessed! What is even more amazing is the sub-headline found underneath. It says: “Authors ‘caught off guard’ by the link”. All I can say is, “WOW!” They were caught off guard that coed dorms would be more promiscuous than those who live in single-sex dorms?

One semester I  lived  in a co-ed dorm at college. It is funny how an inexperienced uneducated young man discovered the same thing as educated authors just by observing that scene for three months. I didn’t need to spend millions of dollars and do a ten-year study to find out what everyone with common sense knows to be true.  I’m not complaining about the wasted taxpayer money, although that is an issue, I’m just taken back by the fact that a study is done to find out obvious truths regarding temptations.

I think we all know that if we want to lose weight, we don’t place cupcakes by our plates each night and see if we can resist! Placing ourselves in temptations way is a sure recipe for failure.  We all know the biblical story of  the Joseph and the wife of his master. It is recorded in Genesis, chapter thirty-nine that the wife of the master badgered him to, “lie with me.” And although she persisted, the scriptures record that he “fled, and got him out.”

I recall a story of a young Greek boy whose country was occupied during WWII by the Nazis. The people resented the occupation and engaged in acts of sabotage. One night he related:

“…every fifth man or boy was to be summarily shot. A sergeant made the fateful count, and the first group was designated and executed. Then came the row in which I was standing. To my horror, I could see that I would be the final person designated for execution. The soldier stood before me, the angry headlights dimming my vision…I shall never forget the words he spoke to me: ‘Run, boy, run!’ I ran. I lived.” (As told by Peter W. Hummel.)

When it comes to temptation we should heed the words of the soldier, “Run, boy, run!”  We need to run and keep running as fast as we can!  Because not only will we live, but in the words of Paul:

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” (1 Corinthians 9:24)

 

A Salute To Motherhood!

May 8th, 2026 Scott
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Over the years, as I have traveled about my church, I have had thousands of opportunities to speak with and watch Mothers. They came in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some were young, gallantly fighting to keep their young ones reverent and in line. I watched them get up and down throughout the meetings. I watched them walking the halls with crying babies in arms, usually with another small one hanging on to their skirt. I know they sometimes wonder why they are even coming at all. When I would interview them, they would tell me of their struggles and also of their joys in being a young mother.

I saw and met with the middle-aged mothers who have teenagers that they love so dearly and want for the good things of this world to bless their lives. They worry and fret about today, tomorrow, and the future for their kids. They battle the forces of evil, day after day after day, wanting only the best for their kids. They are starting to show a few battle scars. They have a few gray hairs that they now cover with the latest bottled product. They faithfully sit up at night watching the clock until the last one makes it home safely. They no longer claim to know all the answers but have the hope that all their hard work over the years will pay off.

I have met with the older women of my church who smile and laugh with their grandchildren and then gently give them back to their daughters with a sense of relief and also a sense of longing for yesteryear. Their bodies are beginning to weaken, but their spirits are getting stronger by the day. Then there are the mothers who never were given the opportunity in this life to bear a child, but who gain hope from the promises of the Lord that motherhood will be theirs in the eternities. They are the strong ones who spend their life nurturing the sons and daughters of all the other Mothers by the service that they render in teaching, guiding, and loving. They are divine in their assistance of the great role of Mother.

One characteristic is common among all of them. They have unwavering love and devotion for their children. Throughout history, who is it that is found at the feet of condemned men, her love still intact! As Christ himself hung on the cross, Mary, his mother,  is recorded to be at his feet. (John 19:25) Who sees the beauty in the face of the most unlovely baby! Who is it that sits by the bedside as an illness slowly takes the life of her child?  Who patiently listens as the frustrated child pours out their soul in frustration, anger and agony! A Mother is the answer! The list of the wonderful qualities of Motherhood is endless. I marvel at the beauty of it!  It is indescribable, it is immense, and it is eternal.”

David O. McKay had this to say of Motherhood:

“Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother’s image is the first that stamps itself on the … young child’s mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world” (Improvement Era, 1953, p. 452).

No matter the society, no matter the age of time, and no matter the separation of distance, a Mother’s influence permeates her children’s world. Her influence stays with them as they travel to distant lands, to the heights of success or the depths of hell. Her love knows no bounds nor has limits. She is the lighthouse that guides and protects her lonesome mariners who are sailing the stormy seas of life. She is, in one word, “charity” personified.

So I salute mothers of all colors, faiths, countries, and backgrounds, both living and dead; past and present, and those to come. In you is carried the beauty of this life, the hope of the future, and the richness of the past. May the Lord watch over, protect, and bless you-always!

One And The Same

May 5th, 2026 Scott
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I write often of my marriage because I think it is important that there are voices out there communicating that, although sometimes hard; marriage is well worth the investment. And also that there is a thing called “eternal love” that can exist between a man and a woman. There are millions living as married couples that are happily married and are not only faithful in body, but also in mind and spirit to their mates.

From time to time I write amateur poems intended to impress my wife. I attempted to do so again when I dedicated this one to her a few years back that is based on a true story.

“ONE AND THE SAME”

I asked God “If she’s the one”

Might you give to me a sign

Give me concrete proof

She forever will be mine

Let me dream of her tonight

When I go to sleep at nine

Then I’ll know for certain

With the outcome I’ll be fine

And as I slumbered in the night

An angel stood in time

Showing me the vision

Of a girl just so sublime

I knew her face and her smile

The night before we’d dined

I married her the very next month

A promise for all time

Now my wife of many years

She’s taken on my name

I’ve learned that angel and that girl

Are really both one and the same

What has been most surprising to me is that over the past 46 years, is what has happened is that she and I have become “one and the same.” Not one in thought process, but “one” in wanting to put the comfort of the other, equal to the comfort of ourselves. That is when the statement of Adam becomes real. “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” and “he shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.” Is there any greater love than that image!

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