Category: 2026 Essay

Monthly Message, November 2021

Giving Thanks

November is a great time to give special thanks to our Father in Heaven and our Savior, for they have given us all we have and are the source of all we hope for. Not to be grateful is to kindle the wrath of God against us. “It pleaseth God that he has given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion. And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.” (D&C 59:20–21)

I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost, for it is the pearl of great price, so valuable that a wise man will give all that he possesses if he can obtain this one great gift. And this gift is the key to all other special blessings from God.

I am grateful to have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who manifests himself to me through the Holy Ghost, answering my prayers and helping me to bless others. The thing I most want him to save me from is from my own weaknesses and foolishness. Above all I want to become like Him, to bless everyone and everything around me.

I am grateful for my wonderful wife, Bertha Janis Allred Riddle, who has blessed my life so greatly. She may be in the world of the departed spirits, but there is not a day that I don’t think of her and wish to be with her. And that day of reunion will soon come.

I am grateful for our posterity. Thirteen special children, forty-two special grand-children, seventy six special great-grandchildren, and one special great-great grandchild. Unfortunately, I am not the out-going person yet that I would like to be, to love all of you as Bertha would. But I am trying and hope to do much better on this score in the rest of my mortal probation.

I am grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ which it teaches, and for the ordinances of salvation which it administers. The temple ordinances are especially important to me, and I marvel at how meaningful and helpful they are. And to have the opportunity to administer those temple ordinances is a really special frosting on the cake.

I am grateful for the world we live in. It is the kingdom of Satan, and Satan increasingly controls what goes on in government, culture, education, entertainment and family life. But as his dominion increases, that also increases the value of faith in Christ, and provides the perfect negative environment in which to show that we truly do love our Savior and our neighbors. Satan’s dominion is the refiners fire which enables us to perfect our faith in Jesus Christ.

So I give thanks to my God and to each of you for what you do and are. I only hope that I can do better by each of you. May each of you be blessed with all that is eternal in Christ.

Monthly Message, October 2021

Just before a concert begins for a symphony orchestra, the concertmaster, usually the 1st chair violin, sounds a note and all the other instruments tune their instruments to that exact pitch. Then as the concert proceeds, the whole orchestra is in tune, producing beautiful music.

General Conference serves the same function as the tuning of an orchestra. The Brethren bear witness of the truths of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and direct us in doing the work of Christ in this dispensation. They tune us to righteousness. Righteousness is serving and blessing others under the direction of the Holy Spirit, which is direction from Christ. And righteousness is even more beautiful than music.

As each assigned person speaks during conference, each of us reacts positively or negatively. If we find we can react positively to each message, that shows us that we are basically in tune with the Holy Spirit. Being in tune is our hope of producing true righteousness. If we miss conference, we can still be in tune and produce what our Savior desires us to produce. But conference helps us to know that we are really on track.

So let us bask in the light of Christ as we partake of conference. If we do, we will all be better persons and better servants.

How blessed we are to have such an opportunity.

Monthly Message, September 2021

The Savior has been very clear about the temporal order he wishes his servants to create on this earth: “For verily I say unto you … it must needs be that there be an organization of my people … for a permanent and everlasting establishment and order unto my church … That you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things; For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things.” D&C 78:3- 6

And again: “For Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness; her borders must be enlarged; her stakes must be strengthened; yea, verily I say unto you, Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments. … And you are to be equal … you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just. … Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.” D&C 82:14–19

As we attempt to create a Zion in preparation for the Second Coming of our Savior, one of the great tasks is to get every faithful person to be so unselfish that we will again have all things in common, every person a steward, all having the same standard of living. As you can see, we have quite aways to go to get to that point. But we can all pray for and work for that goal.

Monthly Message, August 2021

Metaphysics is ideas about the unseen universe in which we live. It is the complement of the seen universe in which we live, which we will call “physics.” We cannot see all of physics, but we sample enough of it by our senses to firm up good ideas as to what it is, even the parts we cannot now see, such as the parts of this earth we cannot now see. Metaphysics is much more vast and complicated than physics is, for it includes all of the past, all of the future, all of the things so small we cannot sense them, and all of the things so large we cannot sense them. Metaphysics includes the causation of most of the things we observe in physics and any realms that exist that we cannot observe.

So there are at least seven big questions to be resolved about the metaphysical realm:

1. Is there a God?
2. Is there a devil?
3. Do we humans live after death?
4. Is there right and wrong?
5. What causes what?
6. Is there a spiritual realm related to this physical realm?
7. What is the true character of the persons whose bodies we see?

It is probable that each human being answers these questions and the ideas related to each of them in at least a slightly different way, but that too is a metaphysical question. If we are thus different in our thinking, then each of us lives in a private universe. And one of the great metaphysical questions is: Is my private metaphysical universe real or just imaginary? One reasonable answer to that question is that I alone exist, and everything else is just my imagination. This answer is called “solipsism.” There is no mortal way to show that solipsism is not true.

One positive side of the unseen existence of the metaphysical realm is that our situation, with metaphysics being discussable but unknowable between human beings, is that the situation provides us with a most precious gift: agency. Because we cannot prove to anyone else that our formulation of the metaphysical universe is true or correct, each of us is free to answer all metaphysical questions for ourselves. We may bear testimony of what we believe to others, but since we cannot prove what we believe about metaphysics, we cannot coerce any other person to believe as we do. This does not mean we cannot influence them. Parents, teachers, friends and so-called authorities are often very persuasive in getting other people to accept their metaphysical views. But it remains that no one can force another person to any metaphysical belief against their will.

Conclusion: It is my belief that we have a Heavenly Father and a Savior who love us so much that they created a mortal existence for us wherein we could imagine for ourselves whatever kind of universe we wanted to live in. They also created a real physical world that we must deal with. We find we succeed better at our tasks in the physical realm when we agree and cooperate. But each person is forced to imagine his or her own metaphysics, which personal metaphysics gives answers to all the great questions of life and provides the basis on which the individual lives the life of their own choosing. Thus are we free indeed. Our freedom is not unlimited, but it is sufficient for each of us to show what we really want to be true. I believe that the love of God thus assures each human being a mortal experience that is a perfect prelude to an eternity of living with the answers to the questions of metaphysics which we choose during mortality.

Chauncey C. Riddle

Monthly Message, July 2021

In our thinking we use universals as a catalog of all the kinds of things we imagine. Some of the universals we imagine we call “real,” such as cat, dog, sand, gravel, small-pox, impetigo, foreigner, native, etc. Some universals are imaginary only, such as leprechaun, unicorn, the average man. Some we don’t know if they are real or not, such as “Bigfoot.” Some are used to measure things, such as pound and inch. Some are vague, like hot; some are precise like 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Some are personal, like boring and beautiful. Some are unique to ourselves, like our self-image.

Concepts are dynamic because we can change them at will, change how we feel about them, discard them if we feel like it, or invent them as we see fit.

We refer to our concepts using words. Every word that has a “meaning” to us does so because we associate it with a concept or a family of related concepts. But we can also have and use concepts without associating them with words, such as we do when we imagine a familiar landscape or build an imaginary object in our mind. We can assign words to concepts or not by our own desire to do so or not.

Some people have very large concept catalogs, others have very small ones. The size of our concept base is usually related to our vocabulary of words. One form of “intelligence” test is simply to give a person a vocabulary test, and suppose that the more words they are familiar with, the more intelligent they are. But vocabulary is a test for only one kind of intelligence. For instance, some people can take anything apart and put it back together again even though they may not have a very large vocabulary. But they do have the ability to form an accurate concept of what they are taking apart and to refer to that concept to reassemble the object.

We have the ability to refine and change our concepts. This is what doctors do when they study the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Connoisseurs of tastes have developed concepts of taste and smell that enable them to detect odors and tastes more precisely than ordinary persons.

Some people like to read a lot simply because in the process they gain new concepts. Others accomplish the same end by listening to music or watching plays or movies.

Probably no two people have the same concept base, and thus we all are isolated by our own thinking. Sometimes two people use a common word but have two different concepts related to that word, and thus communicate poorly, if at all. We try to solve that problem by “defining” our concepts to one another, and can “explain” what we mean by a variety of means.

It is a miracle that we communicate as well as we do.

But there is divine help for communication. The mission of the Holy Ghost is to bring us the meaning God intends us to have in reading a particular passage of scripture at a particular time. Of course it is impossible to say that any scripture has only one precise meaning, for God uses reading or remembering scripture as an occasion for revelation of a particular message God wants us to receive from him at a particular time. God builds and changes our concept base by directly planting the concepts he wants us to have directly in our minds. Every human being who has normal intelligence and is thus accountable sooner or later has communicated to him or her the concepts God wants them to have to be able to repent and have faith in Jesus Christ. This receiving of concepts directly from God is the true freedom and the true agency of each human being. Because God loves each of his children with a pure love, he makes sure that each one of them is given the correct concept base to be able to come to him and be saved. And each child of God uses that divinely given concept base to accept or reject their Father in Heaven and their Savior Jesus Christ. Through concepts God makes us all agents.

Monthly Message, June 2021

As I think about departing this mortal sphere my mind keeps coming back to why we are here. And we are here for two reasons. First, to get a physical body. Second, to choose what kind of body we will have, which we do by choosing the kingdom we would like to live in for the rest of eternity. [Some persons believe we do not live after mortal death. I cannot prove that we do, but there surely is a lot of evidence that we do. And I believe the evidence. Of course, accepting or rejecting the evidence for an eternity of existence is part of choosing the kingdom we will be in for the rest of it.]

We choose a kingdom for eternity by how we treat others:

If our desires and actions are to bless others in our mortality, we are choosing celestial eternity.

If our desires and actions are to deal justly with others in our mortality, to keep the Ten Commandments, the we are choosing terrestrial eternity.

If our desires and actions are just to feather our own nests in our mortality, then we are choosing telestial eternity.

If our desires and actions are to deprive others to obtain what we want, then we are choosing perdition eternity.

And we choose each day in each action which one of these patterns we wish to follow.

But some follow one pattern one time, then another the next. Where will they wind up? We all finally settle in to the pattern with which we are most comfortable. And in each kingdom apparently there are degrees.

So it all boils down to whether we at any moment choose to do good or evil, to bless or to use those whom we affect. And we get help from Satan to use others and from Christ to bless others. At every moment we can choose to follow Satan or Christ as each tempts and entices us.

We do not get to choose our temptations. But we do choose which temptations we give in to.

That is our agency. And that is our eternity.

Monthly Message, May 2021

A theory is a set of unproved ideas. The word “theory” means vision. Our human minds always invent or appropriate unprovable theoretical frameworks, mental visions, which we use to make sense of and to explain what we observe in our physical (provable) surroundings. For instance, we experience today and make sense of what happens today in the frame of our unprovable imaginings of the past and the future. Because we all think and act in an unprovable frame of reference, we all live by faith. There is no human act that does not proceed in a framework of faith.

There are only two really important systems of faith in this world. To be a careful thinker one must know clearly what these two systems of faith are and choose one’s metaphysical framework, one’s faith, very carefully and deliberately. Let us describe each so that our faith will be careful and deliberate, not just a cultural default. These two most important systems of faith are here called “Humanism” and “Faith in Jesus Christ.”

Humanism has the following main metaphysical parameters:

There is no God, no spiritual realm, only scientifically provable material existence.

Mankind and all life forms are blind creations of matter in motion.

There is no spirit or soul in any human being, and each ceases to exist at death.

There is no right or wrong, only the exercise of power to accomplish chosen goals.

Beauty and good are subjective, not objective, and are cultural artifacts.

Human beings are not free agents in any meaningful sense. They are creatures of material and cultural context. Therefore they cannot be blamed for their actions.

There is no such thing as either sin or salvation from sin.

Wisdom consists in achieving personal desires. Happiness is to eat, drink, and be merry.

The best political arrangement is the smartest humans governing the rest (socialism).

The greatest physical threat to humanity is too many babies.

The greatest cultural threat to humanity is faith in Jesus Christ.

Note that humanism is the principal product of a college education at almost every university world-wide. And its principal personal product is pride.

Faith in Jesus Christ has the following main metaphysical parameters:

God does exist and is the Father of all human beings. There is a spiritual realm, and it governs and controls the material universe.

Mankind and all life forms are careful creations of God.

Each human being has a spirit within that gives each life and freedom to choose to follow either Christ or Satan. That spirit continues after mortal death, and each human being will be resurrected and rewarded eternally with what he or she has chosen during mortal probation.

Each human is an agent and will be held accountable for each choice made.

Each human use of power is either right or wrong. Right is to bless one’s neighbor as God would. Wrong is doing anything other than what is right.

Beauty and good are subjective, but are related to what a person thinks is right and wrong.

Human beings are free to choose to become Gods or devils, or some mixture, but are held responsible only if their choices are made in connection with their knowing the truth of their situation.

Sin is not blessing those around one. Christ will teach each human how not to sin and offers forgiveness of all sins through his atonement. This is the double cure.

Wisdom consists in learning the will of God and doing it. That produces righteousness.

The best political arrangement is to let Christ rule all things. This is called “Zion.” The second best government is a constitutional republic, such as the United States.

There is no greatest physical threat to humanity. Christ controls all things to bless mankind.

There is no greatest cultural threat to humanity. God has arranged physical and cultural existence to be the perfect situation for each human to freely choose his or her own eternity.

Faith in Jesus Christ is promoted by everyone who has faith in Jesus Christ, by every person who accepts the witness and guidance of the Holy Ghost, and by everyone who obeys their conscience.

Bottom line: Humanists blame all human evil on chance, with no one being responsible. Christ’s servants blame all human evil on choice, with the selfishness of individuals being responsible.

Monthly Message, April 2021

It is true that some secular ideas are not compatible with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is true that some persons are destroyed spiritually by the university experience. But it is also true that there need be no destruction of an individual’s faith in Christ in even the most adversarial university environment. The real question is, how ready to meet the world is an individual?

A university is part of the world. The mission of a university is to expose each student to a rich variety of ideas, beliefs, skills and values. The supposition is that the student will then select for himself or herself which of the university’s offerings best fill his or her needs and will then proceed to master these offerings in order then to make an enhanced contribution to welfare of the society of which the student is part.

If the student goes to the university well-grounded in faith in Jesus Christ, that means the person has had personal experience with the Holy Spirit and has taken it for his or her guide. One intelligently takes a guide only after comparing many guides and selecting the one that is most helpful in filling one’s desires. Those souls who hunger and thirst after righteousness find that nothing compares with the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit, so they take and keep the covenant which assures that blessing.

Being rooted and grounded in faith in Christ then makes this person fully ready to face the world. Using the Holy Spirit as a personal guide in all matters, the person will seek out everything with which he or she comes in contact and hold on to all that is true, virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy. Things thus garnered will be treasured, learned, adapted and adopted as the individual grows steadily in the nurture of Christ towards the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

As an individual seeks that which is good (righteous) in all things, inevitably there will come to that person ideas, practices, standards and persons which are evil, which is to say, are not up to the standard of truth and righteousness. The wise person will not shy away from these automatically, but will seek the guidance of the constant companionship to know how worthwhile a pursuit of such would be. As a little child led by the hand, the person guided by the Holy Spirit will be led to investigate thoroughly some things that are not true and right. The Holy Spirit will enable the person at the same time to keep in mind, by contrast, that which is true and right. Later this individual, thus learned in the ways of the world, will find an opportunity to make the world a better place either by promoting better ideas and standards in that area or by rescuing some faltering soul from being destroyed by lesser ideas and standards.

Specific university challenges to faith in Christ: Atheism, agnosticism, socialism, humanism, destroying the U. S. Constitution, deficit spending, organic evolution, letting LGTB values run everything, preference of science over technology, etc.

A university is a smorgasbord of good and evil, noble and ignoble. No one has to devour it all.

But everyone should taste widely and become acquainted with the offerings of their brothers and sisters. As one comes to know one’s way around academia, there are mountains of good to be digested. Thus nourished, one might indeed make the spiritual contribution to this world for which one has been sent into it.

It is not possible to make the world safe for individuals, but it is possible to make individuals safe for the world. Which is the way it should be.

Monthly Message, February 2021

We human beings normally are able to choose our actions. This is called “agency.” None of us has total agency. But we are each responsible for how we use what we have.

Our Father in Heaven has asked us to use our agency in a special way, and he sent his Son to show us how it can be done. That special way is to return good for evil. One mark of every true servant of Jesus Christ is the many ways in which they return good for evil. Such as:

When someone smites us, turning the other cheek to be smitten again.

When someone speaks ill of us, saying something good about them.

When someone takes what is ours, giving them more of what is ours.

When we find a mess, cleaning it up.

When our neighbor is in prison, visiting them and encouraging them.

When our neighbor is ill, visiting them and ministering to their needs.

When our neighbor has an overwhelming good task, helping them to complete that task.

There is no way to count all the ways we may bless our neighbor, but trying to do so always is one special mark of the true children of Jesus Christ. Doing this sometimes results in pain. But it always brings happiness. We do not do it because it brings happiness. We do it because it is right. This is the way of righteousness.