Easter Morning

I recall an Easter message delivered in General Conference of April 2007, titled "The Things of Which I Know."  Gordon B. Hinckley, then President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said this as he testified of our Savior, Jesus Christ:

"On Golgotha He gave His life, crying out, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do' (Luke 23:34). His body was tenderly laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea. But three days later, on that first Easter morning, the tomb was emptied. Mary of Magdala spoke to Him, and He spoke to her. He appeared to His Apostles. He walked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And, we are told, He was seen by some 500 others (see 1 Corinthians 15:6).  …  Mortality is but a stepping-stone to a more glorious existence in the future. The sorrow of death is softened with the promise of the Resurrection."  (lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/...)

I also know of these things.  On this Easter morning, I am eternally grateful to God for these truths.

All About Reaching Out

Seems to me, the term has been used more often in the last year than before.  Must be natural now for texting and e-mailing on smartphones. 
I imagine “reaching out” happened in our premortal life, and surely when Eve approached Adam; but when did we start using the English-language words “reach out” to communicate it?  Does the term have a different meaning than “get in touch” or contact?

One urbandictionary.com answer, to be taken with understanding of the source: “This has become the new cliché for yuppie types or any pseudo-intellectual types … that think it sounds special.”

Another with obvious, personal bias: “A sort of sweet-talking, cliche [cliché] term used by … employers to give you the impression they have some particular vested emotional interest in helping you …”

(Whatever4947484646486 April 17, 2012)

More enlightening: Quora.com/Why-do-people-use-the-term-reach-out…

"The best answer to any question"

Diction and Word Usage, Phrases, Jargon, English (language) ...

Q: Why ...?

A: "reach out used to have the sense of attempting to contact someone who is extremely reluctant to be contacted . Lately, people use it to simply mean contact someone you either don't know or haven't talked to in a while.

The old meaning of reach out is best demonstrated in the Four Tops song 'Reach Out (I'll be There)'  [1966 – see dailymotion.com/video/..., and wish we had as much energy!]

The new meaning can be heard in just about any HR department:

We reached out to Tyrone Slothrop about working at Yoyodyne."

Another A: Jeff Wright, "Multiperspectivalist and native speaker of some American English Dialect," reaches out to clarify with this simple response: "To get to the bottom of this question would be a suitable PhD topic for Sociolinguistics. Even so, a definitive and singular answer will be elusive because word usage is a result of the interplay of many factors, both personal and social.  ...  The way language works in a culture is quite analogous to the way consciousness works in the brain -- a large number of possible meanings are present in the pre-conscious and then condensed to have the appearance of a single unitary construct. ...  Several of the answers express revulsion for the phrase because of its use in corporate marketing starting in the 1970's.  ..." 

(So ...... that's how it works.  Now I get it.)

I suspect “… Reaching Out” is still a work in progress while I get in touch with more answers.

Romantic, "forever" outreach at Albert Dock, Liverpool, England

Reaching out to beloved dog K... 20 Feb 2014

Many meters of outstanding outreach in UK, Aug 2015

She reaches out with graceful, loving drumming.

About Phi on Pi Day

When the library book first caught my eye, “… the Story of Phi” had me thinking "pi" (pronounced pie, like my favorite – Kay's fresh peach pie.)  Yes, today is officially Pi Day (famous ratio = 3.14…) with bakeries, Pizza Pie Café, and others offering deals on comfort food I love.  And yes, I do get carried away with the thought ...

However, I wanted to post the relatively unknown phi (pronounced fee or fai/fie) – “the world’s most astonishing number,” according to author Mario Livio.  Phi is commonly used to denote the number 1.61803…, known as The Golden Ratio (Livio’s book title, ©2002.)  As interchangeable names, he also uses Golden Section and Golden Number.  Livio explains that the Golden Ratio is an irrational number, meaning it “cannot be expressed as a fraction (as a rational number) …”  It’s mathematical, but it amazingly applies to art, architecture, botany, photography, human anatomy, psychology, musical instrument design, and order in the universe.  He quotes Pablo Picasso, “Painting isn’t an aesthetic operation; it’s a form of magic designed as a mediator between this strange hostile world and us.”

The book is an astonishing tour of world history as it relates to mathematics and phi.  With meticulous detail, it reinforces my personal conviction that real beauty in this world is by divine design to please mankind.

Entrance to the Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve, an unusual wetland.

Little List for Little Boy

He was short for an 8-year-old – helpless against the gang of small-town bullies and his older brother.  To make it worse, his loving dad and great protector was forced to leave for WWII battle against the Japanese.  A caring priest gave little Pepper an "ancient list" to teach him how to be powerful through faith in God.  In the movie “Little Boy” (2015) it seemed to work, of course.

Ebert's all-seeing Christy Lemire and other professionals provided perceptive, scathing reviews.  (Google defines scathing as “witheringly scornful; severely critical; synonyms: devastating, biting, cutting, searing.”)  Kay and I were fortunate to enjoy watching "Little Boy" on Netflix last night before I had my eyes opened by a big anti-faith know-it-all.

Regardless of the film's supposed failure to properly entertain fellow Americans, I see power in the short list:

Feed the hungry

Shelter the homeless

Visit those in prison

Clothe the naked

Visit the sick

Bury the dead

Befriend __________  [an enemy]