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I’ve recently been thinking about the non LDS spiritual influences in my life. I have quite a few and won’t mention all of them right now. Today though two movie influences stuck with me, maybe it’s because of the holidays or maybe I’m just getting old, but I thought I’d share them with you. What outside LDS spiritual influences do you have? The first clip is from my favorite Christmas movie, The Bishop’s Wife. It’s old, black and white, it stars Loretta Young, Cary Grant and David Niven. David Niven is a Bishop/Priest. He wants to build a large Cathedral, he prays for help and Cary Grant comes as an Angel to help. His help though isn’t the kind David Niven wants. David Niven wants a Cathedral and Cary Grant helps him see that other things are more important. The final scene is the Bishop giving his Christmas Eve Sermon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUk09rjFRpw The second clip is the best prayer ever. It’s from Shenandoah, it’s Jimmy Stewart and it’s self-explanatory.
Thanks, I’ll watch them later. Having recently moved back from Asia I’ve enjoyed discovering a little of Buddhism/Confucianism and Taoism. A book that wayfarer shared with me a while back was “The Nei Ye” (inner cultivation). It was very inspiring and reminded me of how similar religions are, despite their differences.
On the Christian side, my influences are Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Sally Army and Methodism. On the non-Christian side, zen buddhism, Taoism, and certain Jewish teachers.
Individuals who have influenced me are Julian of Norwich (a woman btw), CS Lewis, Carl Jung, Gautama Buddha, Francis of Assisi, Kierkegaard, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Bonhoffer, Hermann Hesse…
I’m heavily influenced by Calvinism and Celtic culture (pagan and Christian) as an inheritance rather than a choice.
Buddhism fascinates me, and I see much of the philosophical stuff as so consistent with pure Mormonism that it enthralls me. Music has moved my soul for as long as I can remember. I love beautiful instrumentation, but I can’t like a song with words if I can’t understand the words. Any song with a good message moves me.
Good people doing good things and loving each other, no matter the setting.
I have been quite impressed with this new pope. He seems to believe what he preaches. I like how he tells the people to live modest lives. He is not talking about dress code. He is talking about not using more than we need. That struck a chord with me. Of course, I still want the nicest cars. I like views that rely a lot on being more calm…. to hear the wind, to smell the flowers and to see the beauty.
I can’t believe I forgot Pope Frances. He and Pres. Uchtdorf appear to be kindred spirits, and it’s good to see that attitude at the head of the Catholic Church. I believe that pope Francis and the 14th Dalai Lama and Elder Uchdtdorf are three of the great prophets of our time. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Cwald – I totally agree. Thanks everyone for your input. I am going to order the Buddhist book for myself. I’ve been practicing the meditation and learning about Karma. The book intrigues me.
This week I’ve been reading Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne – As contemporaries of Joseph Smith’s time, I find their vision of life closely laced to his ideals. That Universal God just keeps coming back.
Phillip K. Dick – a left field selection
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