An Easter Dayenu

            My wife and I recently had an opportunity to watch a few of the new episodes of the Chosen in the theater. The part that stuck out to me the most was the Dayenu. I am admittedly unfamiliar with this practice and prayer at Passover, but loved the portrayal of two versions of the dayenu in one the episodes of season 5. Dayenu is roughly translated from Hebrew to English as “it is sufficient” or “it would have been enough.” The song traces the history of God’s working among His people from captivity in Egypt through the building of the temple. After each accounting, “it would have been enough” is uttered. Here is an example of what this looks like in lyrical form:

            “If He had brought us out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had carried out judgments against them, and not against their idols Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had destroyed their idols, and had not smitten their first-born Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had smitten their first-born, and had not given us their wealth Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!” (https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/255530/jewish/Dayenu.htm)

From what I have seen and heard of this song, it is a song of thanksgiving for what the Lord has done for His people.

 It reminded me of a talk from President Eyring in 2007 about seeing and recording the hand of the Lord in his life. Here is what he shared about the experience of recording and remembering the hand of God in his life each day:

“I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.” (“O Remember, Remember” October 2007)

    Since hearing this talk, I too have tried to keep a record of how I have seen the hand of God in my life each day. I testify of the truth of this line from “Count your many blessings,” 

“Count your many blessings; name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

I can think of no better time than at Easter when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to remember and acknowledge what the Lord has done for us. I loved being able to study in the scriptures about Holy week and the last week of the Savior’s mortal life. If I were to write lyrics to my own Dayenu song, I suppose these are some of the things I would write: 

“If all He did was give us good teachings, it would have been enough. 

If He had given us good teachings and not also healed, it would have been enough. 

If He had healed, but not also atoned for our sins, it would have been enough. 

If He had atoned for our sins and not died for us, it would have been enough. 

If He had died for our sins and not been resurrected, it would have been enough. 

If He had been resurrected and not promised us the gift of resurrection ourselves it would have been enough.”

The beauty of remembering these things is that He has done all this and more. What a miracle it is, and indeed, it is more than enough.

LDS Geeks Podcast #29: Holidays at Hogwarts

With Halloween in the recent past and the holiday season before us, it's time to start talking about celebrating. So Russell and I had fun discussing how Hogwarts students celebrate muggle holidays. After you take a listen, let us know your thoughts on our Ilvermorny discussion: how do you think they celebrate Thanksgiving?

--Spencer

Listen to Episode 29 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Check out Spencer's recent blog posts: click here

Check out Russell's recent blog posts: click here

Show notes:

00:12 - Introductions
01:31 - Spencer's Recommendation: Captain America The First Avenger
        Available for streaming on Disney Plus
03:40 - Russell's Recommendation: Michael Vey 
05:49 - Halloween
15:05 - Christmas
        "Friday Creature Feature - House-Elves" by Spencer
21:35 - Valentine's Day
        "Puffs: Third or Nothing!" by Spencer
28:40 - Easter
        "Harry Potter and the Five Gospel Truths" by Brigitte C. Madrian
33:44 - Holidays at Ilvermorny
39:54 - Conclusion

Our Favorite Easter Scriptures

In April 2023 during General Conference, Elder Gary E. Stevenson gave a talk titles "The Greatest Easter Story Ever Told" In that talk he mentioned "The more I thought about our [Easter] celebrations, the more I found myself wondering if we are inadvertently shortchanging the true meaning of this holiday, so central to all believers in Jesus Christ. Then he goes on talking about the significance of Easter and how we should strive to make this holiday the most important one during the year. As the holiday draws closer we Latter-Day Saint Geeks thought it would be appropriate to share some of our favorite Easter scriptures. 

--Michael

Michael - Isaiah 53:2-6 (see also Mosiah 14)

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.

For Christmas many of us read Luke 2 and read about the saviors birth. During Easter I reflect on Isaiah and what he foresaw the savior do. I believe when Isaiah is talking about Jesus Christ I feel that it is poetic and beautiful how he describes the Master. No wonder Isaiah is one of the most quoted prophet. 

I like Isaiah 53: 2-6 because it go over the suffering that the savior went through, and more importantly the reason why. He was wounded not because he was hated, but because of our sins. We all sin and we need Jesus to cleanse us from it. I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe that he knows each and everyone of us. I am grateful that he was willing to be wounded for us. 

Kenton - Alma 42:15, Luke 22:40-44, and 2 Nephi 26:24-25

I'm particularly fond of this scripture from the Book of Mormon in Alma 42:

15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.

We understand somewhat of what this "atonement" meant, from Luke 22:

40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

In order for us to be claimed by the plan of mercy, in order for us to be claimed by the grace of Christ, it was necessary for him to suffer, even a suffering beyond what he wanted to bear, in order to understand our griefs, and in order to satisfy justice and the law. In the end, all of our pains, sufferings, abuses, trials, and difficulties will be made right, and it is made right through the blood of Jesus Christ, who suffered for us all. All we need to do is to come to him, as described in 2 Nephi 26:

24 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.

25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.

He offers his love, his sacrifice, and his gift freely; if we will but come to Jesus he will heal us, he will take us in, he will fill the emptiness in our souls, and he will mend our broken hearts, and give us strength through our difficulties. All we need to do is to turn to him, and seek him out, and try to come closer to him, and he will try and come closer to us. 

Spencer - D&C 76:21-24

I'm grateful for the extra emphasis the Church has put on Easter in recent years, especially as I've wondered how to raise my family in faith. As a father, even more than before, I can pick out moments each and every day to emphasize my personal need for the Atonement. I make daily mistakes with my girls and my wife. It isn't enough to white-out the mistakes, but I need the Savior's grace to change me and make me better with each day. And as my favorite contemporary Christian song says, "Grace wins every time!" Moroni emphasized the power of grace as he closed his father's book in Moroni 10:

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

As we close this blog post and look forward to Easter next week and General Conference the week after, I want to finish with some modern-day scripture from Doctrine and Covenants 76:

21 And saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever.

22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

23 For we saw him, even on the bright hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

"The Savior will return. Soon, He will be here." (Final lines of the Hill Cumorah Pageant)

Friday Creature Feature - Chick and Duck

As I tried to decide what whimsical post I could write for this week, two feathered friends (from the show Friends) popped into my mind. That's right. I'm talking about Joey and Chandler's pet duck and pet chick. These additions to the sitcom were ridiculous and pointless, but wonderful and perfect. So let's get into it with these two. 

Easter 1995

I didn't even think about this post as an Easter post when I began mentally planning it, but it's true; it all began with a news report Joey saw that spring. The reporter talked about the cautions of giving baby chicks as gifts at Easter... only for Joey to somehow interpret it as a commercial for Easter baby chicks. And because he couldn't return the chick, or else the chick would be euthanized, he came home with the duck as well, saving him from the same fearful fate.

Chick

First thought to be a female chick, Chandler called the baby Yasmin, after his favorite on Baywatch. Later on, the boys discovered that the chick was maturing into a rooster. I guess that's no different than baby Chandler being a girl. But that discovery of the chick being a rooster was the catalyst for Monica put her apartment on the line in a bet, trying to evict the poultry pals. Other heartwarming moments with "Yasmin" included Chandler and Joey trying to get him to swim (and the subsequently blow drying) and Chandler watching Baywatch with little Yasmin. 

Duck

After rescuing the duck from euthanizing, the duck became the final member of Joey and Chandler's little bromantic home. Despite the chick coming first, the duck became involved in more comical moments than the chick. Probably because he was louder than his brother. And according to Rachel, he riled up the maturing rooster. Some of my favorite funny moments with the duck include peeing on Ross's letter to Emily, visiting Phoebe's guru, and being put in time out.

Their Legacy

The antics of the chick and the duck played into the recurring gag of Chandler and Joey acting like a married couple, with the fowls being their children. I love the Chandler/Joey bromance and the fact that it continues after Chandler and Monica get married. Everyone needs a friend like Joey and the two pets just completed the package. We don't know exactly what happened to the two and when, but it was implied that sometime after Season 6 appearances, they died (or were sent to a "special farm"). They weren't forgotten though, as Joey got Chick Jr. and Duck Jr. as a housewarming present for Monica and Chandler. He kept them for himself in the end, but they were never seen in the Joey spin-off. So the second generation of feathered friends have an unknown fate. But I think it's obvious that Friends wouldn't be the same without these two.

Easter and the End of the Long Dark Night

A few words that represent Easter to me are forgiveness, renewal, and hope. 

It’s the holiday that commemorates the great hope that Christ overcame the world for us. It also checks in after the first quarter of the year is through. By now, most of our New Years ambition has leveled out, and the craziness of the higher-expectation holidays has waned.

But the deeper meaning has to do with belief in the Savior, our redeemer, who cares more about us than we can imagine, even though we let each other and ourselves down, despite efforts not to.

I know I need reminders to have hope. It helps me to find renewal by asking myself what I have faith in, and who I want to spend my holidays with. I want to challenge myself to make forgiveness my normal response, rather than resentment, or despair.

So, this week I wanted to recommend The Haunting of Hill House.

This isn’t a late April Fool’s prank. I mean it, THoHH is an amazing show that I've watched all the way through twice now. My caveat is that it is a horror series. (audible gasp). If this genre isn’t for you, that’s fine. VidAngel does have filters to remove the swears, and any other objectionable moments, because this series can be morbid. No judgment here if you're not into it. I’m not recommending this show for children, or for anyone that feels it’s not right for them.

However, I do believe there is room for great storytelling even in genres conservative moms didn't like us watching, back in the day. If you are looking deeply at what the show is trying to say, you might find like I have that it moves and inspires me to be a better person.

So why would I recommend this series around Easter?

The storytelling is just phenomenal. A family is shown before, and after a hugely traumatic event that occurred during their stay at the Hill House. Their experiences there are plagued by ghosts, some merely menacing, and other definitely deadly. As the series progresses, the family must come together to prevent more losses to the evil of Hill House.

For starters, the show is really about family. The Crain siblings and their parents face trials and struggles like addiction, grief, betrayal, estrangement, childhood trauma, and unsolved mysteries. And yet, the ending depicts resolution and human transformation in a way that indicates even decades-old ghosts can be put to rest. The hope of the atonement (the atonement is the linchpin Christian doctrine that says Christ is capable of healing our souls if we let him) is that true healing can create new patterns that end the cycle of generational suffering. Even though the show does not explicitly mention gospel topics with language you would hear in a Sunday-school lesson, I hear loud and clear that my human imperfections can be overcome through finding strength I wouldn't know was there if I wasn't looking for it.

The Dudley family, caretakers of Hill House, experience a horrible tragedy, which the Crain family finds a way to do what they can to ease their suffering. There are wounds that will always be a reminder to us, and THoHH is a story that to me, says you are not alone. Sharing the wound might be the thing that shows someone you understand.

I find that the way I experience horror is strangely close to the way I experience empathy. Both are difficult in the moment, but afterwards I find that facing fear and pain of another person expands my heart and makes more room for me to see life from a new perspective. True empathy is the difference between observing someone’s pain from a distance, and actually going and sitting with them, and letting down all my barriers so I can feel as much of their pain as possible myself. It’s very easy to find ways to avoid moments of ambivalence or distress, whether they are from someone else, or even from my own mind. But living through that pain through great art is a needed bridge to opening up healing conversations.

Like great music, great horror films create a moment where we can vicariously experience emotions. Spoiler warning, Hill House does not have an entirely happy ending, but it does show that the Crain siblings have become new people by the end. Their trials and tribulations have taught them by the end how to live more in line with higher values.

When I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we often said that we didn’t want to take away any of the good things from people’s lives by sharing the gospel with them. We simply wanted to add more goodness by sharing what we knew. I find that the values that are the foundation of THoHH are what the hope of Easter is about. Our families and communities can overcome the absolute worst that life can and will reveal to us. As much as we wish we could just avoid struggles in life, a wiser plan is to learn how to face and survive them. Even if it seems that all hope is lost, and that the nightmare has come true, that is the time when we must still have hope.

The resurrection is the reality that the sun does rise and reveal a bright and glorious morning for us all. The end of the dark night will come.

For Narnia and For Aslan!

With Easter coming up just a week away, I wanted to throwback to one of my favorite series, Narnia. This series won my heart back when I was a freshman in college and it never let go. So as we look forward to Easter, I want to talk about quotes by Aslan, Narnia’s representation of the Savior. 

“If the Witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the deep magic differently. That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack, and even death itself would turn backwards.” (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 2005 Movie)

I wrote about this one a couple years ago. The White Witch was conceited enough to think that Aslan could be defeated in the name of the “deep magic” holding Narnia together. It makes me wonder how the adversary can believe he has an edge against us in mortality. Satan thought he had won our souls when Jesus Christ died, but he must have overlooked just how powerful the Atonement would be in saving the sons and daughters of God.

“Oh, Adam's son, how cleverly you defend yourself against all that might do you good!” (The Magician’s Nephew)

Isn’t this true of human nature? It’s easy to disregard counsel and advice when it’s hard to do. We fight against people who have different opinions from our own and we get defensive. Maybe this is why Jesus Christ said that the meek would inherit the Earth. If it’s our pride that gets in the way of listening to God’s word, then it’s meekness and humility that enables us to turn to God to transform us into our best selves.

“To know what would have happened, child? No. Nobody is ever told that.” (Prince Caspian)

It would be impossible for me to tell you how much time I’ve wasted on the “what if” game. What if I had changed my career path sooner? What if I had mended bridges with that friend sooner? What if I’d held my tongue instead of losing my cool? It’s a beautiful thing to learn from the past, but when I let myself live there, it only brings me down. In the movie version, Aslan says that we can’t know what would have happened, but “what will happen is another matter.” So let’s learn from our mistakes and use it to better the future.

“I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the horses the new strength of fear for the last mill so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.” (The Horse and His Boy)

I’ve written about this one as well. I remember during my first reading this book I was struck by these moments. It was a hard time in my life and this quote gave me comfort. Despite all the things weighing on my heart, I could tell the Savior was watching over me. Through friends, through family, through strangers. Despite how alone I felt, I was never alone. 

“But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.” (Voyage of the Dawn Treader)

Here’s a good one to end on. John Piper is quoted as saying “All heroes are shadows of Christ.” It’s a bit more explicit in Narnia than in other series, but wherever there is good, you can find the attribute of Jesus Christ. Of course there is no better place than scripture to find those Christ-like attributes. So as we head towards Easter, let’s take some extra time to search and learn of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us.

Easter

I have a favor to ask the world this year: This Sunday I want at one point everyone to put the pastel Easter clothes, the bunnies, the candy, the toys, and all the eggs aside and think for just a minute about what this holiday is all about. Yeah, I know it’s not as commercial as Christmas, but it’s certainly receiving it’s fair share of clutter, isn’t it?

As a kid I enjoyed Easter, because it meant in the middle of spring I got a second Christmas, usually full of stuff I can use during the summer. One year, all the plastic eggs were full of fishing gear and we took the boat out soon after. It was a ton of fun, so I don’t want to say that I don’t respect the whole celebration, but I find that with Easter too much emphasis starts being put on all the nonsense that isn’t important. Does it really matter that all the kids wear matching Sunday outfits? Is anyone killing themselves over building the perfect Easter basket? I guess a lot of my comments are directed at parents, and to them I have a question: Do your children really understand what Easter is all about?

It’s not a common practice in LDS homes to keep a lot of images of the crucifixion around in public view, normally walls are adorned with temples or that one picture of the Savior in the red robe looking over your left shoulder, and I’m not a critic of that, but among all the candy and bunnies do they really understand what happened?

Let me give you some context as to why we have an Easter bunny: Once upon a time the Christians were moving en masse north into Europe where they encountered what is today called Pagan. This included Druids, Wiccans (witches) and people believing in the Norse mythology. In an effort to try and combine cultures the Christians combined many of their holidays with the Pagans, including Easter and Christmas, figuring that peace was a better alternative to war. They eventually did declare war and burned anyone who tried to keep their non-Christian beliefs, but that’s a different story. What we ended up with though was Easter, Christmas, Halloween and a few smaller holidays woven in for the fun of it. Now no, I’m not saying that if your kid believes in the Easter Bunny that it’s somehow evil and needs to stop, for heaven’s sake it’s fun for everyone involved. What I am saying is to remember the reason for the season. Make sure that Easter is more about Christ than bunnies and candy, because if not it’s just another day with candy and toys.

For the adults I ask the same thing: Remember what Easter is really about. For me it’s a good time to remember things like the temple, and what the rituals performed inside mean to me, or the sacrament, our way to renew our covenants in a way that symbolizes a dinner that started the first Easter. There’s a time to have fun and a time for quiet reverence, and Easter can have both as long as the reverence is shown with a higher level than watching Peeps melt in the microwave.

-JOE