Last updated on December 29th, 2023 at 08:18 am
December 24, 2023
Here is the best thing I heard (What?), saw (Eye.), and read (Read.) this week, as well as the best idea (💡) I developed.
What?
Episode 167 (“FamilySearch’s Dan Call on honoring family history and traditions in the Christmas season”) of the Church News podcast:
- Transcript
- “Think about how many photos and how many stories that you have. Where are they being put? What are you doing with them? If you think about your grandfather or that grandmother, that person who you put on that pedestal, we don’t really always remember that we are that to someone else. Your kids and your grandkids look to you just like you looked at your grandfather or grandmother. And we don’t take that into account. These stories, the legacy that we can give them, is powerful.
“My grandfather in 1986 handwrote to his posterity his testimony. It’s the only one I have of all my family members. It is precious to me.”
Eye.
Survivor season 45 finale: In a frantic advantage challenge where contestants were tasked with counting and then remembering three different numbers, the third-place finisher (Jake) utilized a technique I learned about in the book ‘Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything‘. Contestants had to count a large pile of coconuts, a cage full of restless crabs, and a tent-shaped tower of bamboo. Each time Jake concluded his count, depending on the number, he would think of the person who won the corresponding numbered season of Survivor. Thus, instead of ’43’ coconuts, Jake instead kept in his mind ‘Gabler’ (i.e., the name of the contestant who won Survivor season 43). Jake’s memorizing technique worked to perfection, earning him the advantage the others craved. (Unfortunately for Jake, that was the best thing he did during the last few days on the island!)
Read.
A member of my Bishopric shared the significance of the words ‘manger’ and ‘Bethlehem’ with our ward this week. ‘Manger’ signifies a place where you go to eat, and ‘Bethlehem’ is the “place of bread.” Thus, when our Savior was born and placed in a manger, this could be very symbolic of the Sacrament of which we partake each Sunday. “He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.” (The Living Christ)
💡
I am on author Benjamin Hardy‘s email list. Recently, Hardy has been sharing how he creates a “1-Page Report” for each month and each year. In these 1-page reports, he sets goals (both personal and professional) at the beginning of the period (i.e., the beginning of the year or the beginning of the month), and then as the period nears its conclusion, he updates the 1-page report to share his progress towards those goals. My idea is to combine the “1-Page Report” and the idea from the ‘What?’ section above (about the grandfather writing his testimony for his posterity). What might this look like… Perhaps at the beginning of each year you share your testimony as well as how you intend to become more like Jesus Christ on just one page, and then at the conclusion of each year you share what went well and what didn’t, as well as your testimony again. Over time, these “1-Page Reports” could be combined into a book for your posterity. Both of my grandfathers wrote brief life histories and I treasure them. My maternal grandfather also left many journals, and these have become sacred texts to me and my family members. I learn so much from reading about both the successes and the failures of those whom I admire. Now is the time for each of us to begin contemplating what we will leave behind for our posterity.
Additional Content
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