We experimented some more with the Family Proclamation and layed it over a nice bright gradient background. We also increased the word count so Wordle used all the words. The white text against the colored background is pretty striking.
Earlier today I noticed a quote from a Denver Catholic Archbishop, Charles J. Chaput on CNN online news. In defense of their Church’s stand on not allowing children of a same sex couple to re-enroll in a local Catholic school, The Sacred Heart of Jesus School, he said
“… what the Church does teach is that sexual intimacy by anyone outside of marriage is wrong; that marriage is a sacramental covenant; and that marriage can only occur between a man and a woman. These beliefs are central to a Catholic understanding of human nature, family and happiness, and the organization of society. The Church cannot change these teachings because in the faith of Catholics, they are the teachings of Jesus Christ.
He noted the Catholic Church does not claim people with same sex tendencies are bad, or that their children are less loved by God. He added that people with other views of marriage and family life had other excellent options for education for their children.
Its nice to see we are not alone. Archbishop Chaput wrote his comments in an article to be published in Thursday’s edition (11 March) of the Denver Catholic Register. His statement echoes several concepts put forth by The Family: A Proclamation to the World issued by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1995.
We may try wordling Archbishop Chaput’s full comments on the family in the future, but meanwhile, our latest Mormon Wordle of the Family Proclamation is below. We trimmed it down in size a little to keep the download times reasonable.
This well known D&C missionary section was given through the Prophet Joseph Smith to his father Joseph Smith, Sr. in 1829. Verses 1 and 4 really ring out with enthusiasm.
Verse 1 – Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.
Verse 4 – For behold, the field is white and ready to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul.
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith once said these seven verses contain sufficient counsel and instruction for a lifetime of study. He told us it was a revelation to each member of the Church, especially those holding the Priesthood. Then he went on to say no elder was qualified to teach in the Church or to carry the message of Salvation to the world “until he has absorbed, in part a least, this heaven-sent instruction.” (Church History and Modern Revelation 1:35).
As this is one of the scriptures prospective missionaries learn, we tried to match some of that enthusiasm in our Mormon Wordle of Doctrine and Covenants Section 4. We ran it through our normal Mormon Wordle processes, then embossed it, and hit it with a some colored light.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 4 wordle
We hope you enjoy it, and along the theme of this section, if anyone wishes to learn more about the LDS Church, please visit Mormon.org.
President Ezra Taft Benson’s well known address on pride in the April 1989 159th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was read by his First Counselor, President Gordon B. Hinkley. President Benson began by commending us for striving to flood the earth and our lives with the Book of Mormon (reading the Book of Mormon was a central theme of his Presidency). He then cited several Doctrine and Covenants and Book of Mormon scriptural references to pride bringing about the destruction of people and nations.
He tells us the central feature of pride is enmity toward God and our fellowmen. We pit our will against God’s when we let our desires, appetites and passions run wild. Our competitiveness tempts us to elevate ourselves over our fellowman, thereby putting them down. A proud man gains pleasure in being above the rest.
President Benson uses Proverbs 13:10 to point out contention can only come from pride. Pride limits or stops our progression. The antidote for pride is humility. There are several choices we can make to humble ourselves. Among them are conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters, receiving counsel and chastisement, forgiving those who have offend us, rendering selfless service, going on missions, attending the temple more frequently, confessing and forsaking our sins, loving God, submitting our will to His, and putting Him first in our lives.
President Benson closed by repeating twice, “Pride is the great stumbling block to Zion” and sharing his fervent prayer that we will put off the prideful “natural man” so we can go on to fulfill our divine destiny.
Its hard to believe this talk was given over twenty years ago. It seems like just a few years.
The talk was fairly lengthy, so we wordled it twice. Once in the default settings where only the most frequently used 150 words appear in the wordle, and again using all the words (except the stop words).
The 150 word Mormon Wordle below captures the essence of the talk
Beware of Pride - President Ezra Taft Benson 150 word wordle
but the white on black Mormon Wordle of the full talk below also has some interesting points of its own.
Beware of Pride - President Ezra Taft Benson wordle
Just like several oft repeated talking points by the Brethren, I struggle with this one too (I have problems putting off the prideful “natural man”). However, I am glad report I have made at least some progress since the talk was first given, but that prideful statement in itself may have taken me back to where I was in 1989 ……
In September 2011, we placed a larger version of this wordle on MormonCharts.com.
Elder M. Russell Ballard leads the effort encouraging members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to actively share the Gospel online. The program was launched in his December 2007 BYU-Hawaii commencement address.
He called the Internet the modern day equivalent of the printing press and recognized a member running for president (Mitt Romney) had brought about a “national conversation” about the Church in the media. Elder Ballard urged the graduates and other students there to join in that conversation via the Internet.
Later in his speech, Elder Ballard said, “Words create conversation, and conversations create understanding … In many cases, it is with words that you will accomplish the great things you will now set out to do.”
We find that statement particularly relevant to wordles. Words create conversations leading to understanding. We hope our Mormon Wordles do the same.
I was shocked by Elder Ballard’s December 2007 message. I still recall talking to my wife about it. The Church had historically wanted to be the sole online source of LDS information and tried to reel others back in. I recalled how several years earlier I had created a website for our stake that was days from launch when the Church issued the March 15, 2001 letter banning all local unit websites and announcing they were working on a policy for them (now hosted on LDS.org).
Later, I was a Ward Webmaster and sometimes frustrated with the lack of freedom we had to design the site, add links, and other options. Now, Elder Ballard pops us and starts urging us to write about the Church online as individual members. It took me a while to recover. Now, a few years later, I find myself entering the fray as Mormon Wordles.
When I started this post, I thought Elder Ballard would probably be viewed as a hero by most LDS bloggers, but when I thought about how fast things move in Internet time, I suspect many late coming LDS bloggers may not be aware of his role in urging members online.
For those looking for a little more history of Elder Ballard’s involvement in the movement, we provide a few more references.
The original BYU-Hawaii address is on video at the bottom of this post.
He took up his own challenge in October 2007 by responding to a set of frequently asked questions about the Church in a series of video clips released during an online news conference with religious writers from many newspapers around the country.
We created a Mormon Wordle of Elder Ballard’s groundbreaking December 2007 message encouraging members to use the Internet to share the Gospel. We were able to do some “blending” on the word “Church”, brightly color the word “Internet” and give a a bit of a “poster” feel to the image. We also removed the phrase “Elder Ballard” which was used so many times to quote him in the text, his name overwhelmed our first wordle. His full name is still in there, along with Elder Quinton L. Cook’s if you look a while.
Elder Ballard's December 2007 message on Sharing the Gospel Online wordle
This wordle’s strong use of colors and effects forced us to reduce its overall size to keep download times reasonable.
In September 2011, we placed a larger version of this wordle on MormonCharts.com.
Video of Elder Ballard’s 2007 Message on Using the Internet to Share the Gospel
Thank you Elder Ballard for ushering in the age of members sharing the Gospel online.
We experimented with some light renderings on our previous Articles of Faith wordle and are posting one here. We especially welcome any comments you may have in comparing these two images with each other or with the unlighted Articles of Faith.
We are posting a PNG image of the lighted Articles of Faith that will hopefully bring some of the life of these Mac created images to our Windows / PC viewers.
PNG Articles of Faith- lighted. Probably looks best on PCs.
Articles of Faith lighted png wordle
JPG Articles of Faith wordle. Probably looks best on Macs.
Articles of Faith lighted wordle
We placed a more tonal, larger version of our Articles of Faith Wordle on MormonCharts.com.
