Jet Mariano

Tag: Oquirrh Mountain Temple

  • Soul-Stretching Days: Learning to Let God Shape Me

    Night setup: Nikon 14–24mm f/2.8G on tripod • Manual/Bulb • 30-second exposure • f/2.8 • ISO 2400

    Excerpt
    It struck on a day I never expected—like the day I lost my father, on my birthday. The same jolt ⚡️ twice. Bitter and sweet at once.

    Intro
    Some experiences arrive unannounced and unforgettable. The day held joy—time with loved ones, a wonderful dinner, thoughtful gifts 🎁 (I treasure shirts and cologne and keep them for years). Yet the soul-stretching overshadowed the sweetness, and the ache still lingers.

    Notes from Elder Neal A. Maxwell
    • “It takes time to prepare for eternity.”
    • God customizes our curriculum—He gives what we need, not always what we like.
    • Discipleship is daily; steady choosing matters more than dramatic moments.
    • Meekness is strength under control.
    • Cheerfully submit: trust His timing and tutoring.
    • Be grounded and settled in Christ to endure well, not just long.

    Perspective
    The lingering pain doesn’t mean I failed; it means the lesson matters. Like completed IT projects etched in memory, some days don’t fade—they shape.

    Practice (today, not someday)
    • Pause to breathe and pray before I speak.
    • Trade rumination for one small act of service.
    • Write three lines of gratitude (including a gift I’ll lovingly keep).
    • Use meek words with firm boundaries.

    Final Reflection
    Bitter because it hurt. Sweet because love showed up. Both can be true while God stretches my capacity for trust and kindness.

    Pocket I’m keeping
    “Customized by a loving Father.” Not random storms—tailored tutoring.

    What I hear now
    Be still. Do the next right thing. Let Me do the shaping.

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  • Marked in Time Sep 9, 2025 – Repent of Our Selfishness

    Waning gibbous, waiting: I timed the moon to rest behind the Angel Moroni atop the Oquirrh Mountain Temple—quiet light on a higher call.

    Excerpt
    Selfishness is not just a flaw—it’s self-destruction in slow motion. Elder Neal A. Maxwell teaches that meekness is the real cure, for it doesn’t just mask selfishness but dissolves it.

    Intro
    Joseph Smith urged that selfishness be “not only buried, but annihilated.” Elder Maxwell builds on that: selfishness shrinks the soul, corrodes society, and detonates commandments. Like Copernicus reminding the world it wasn’t the center of the universe, we too must learn—we are not the center. Meekness and unselfish discipleship are the only antidotes.

    Straight line (what he’s saying)
    • Selfishness = self-destruction in slow motion. It narrows life until others no longer matter.
    • Appetite and ego can never fill emptiness; zero multiplied by anything is still zero.
    • Selfishness masks itself as swagger but is as provincial as goldfish in a bowl.
    • Joseph Smith: selfish feelings must be annihilated, not moderated.
    • Common forms: puffing credit, resenting others’ success, withholding kindness, rudeness, and abuse.
    • Cultural consequence: when selfishness spreads, societies decline—without mercy, without love, past feeling.
    • Selfishness detonates the Ten Commandments: it fuels envy, adultery, dishonesty, even murder.
    • Cain’s “I am free” after slaying Abel = ultimate selfish blindness.
    • Today: people strain at gnats (small issues) while swallowing camels (grave sins like abortion).
    • Followers share accountability with leaders in cultural decline; excuses won’t save.
    • True freedom comes from unselfishness—serving, forgiving, and lifting others.
    • Christ Himself is the supreme contrast: He did not look out for “number one.”

    Final reflection
    Selfishness corrodes both heart and culture. The cure is meekness—choosing to notice, to yield, to bless. When I dissolve selfish wants, space opens for Christlike love. The world says “look out for number one”; Jesus says, “lose yourself and you’ll find life.”

    Pocket I’m keeping
    • Before big actions: quietly ask, “Whose needs am I meeting?”
    • Practice daily meekness: count to 10 before speaking, let the Spirit filter words.
    • Replace envy with gratitude; bless the success of others.
    • Sow unselfishness in family life—ordinary duties cultivate extraordinary love.
    • Remember: selfishness shrinks, meekness expands.

    What I hear now
    Unselfishness frees me under a “freer sky,” as Chesterton said. Meekness is not weakness—it’s strength without selfishness. When I choose it, selfishness dissolves and discipleship deepens.

    Link to the talk
    “Repent of [Our] Selfishness” — Elder Neal A. Maxwell

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

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