I have a very difficult time asking for a priesthood blessing when I need one. It isn’t helped by the fact that I’m single and live alone, so there is not the convenience of a priesthood holder right here, nor do I have home teachers (or if I do, I’ve never seen any evidence of their existence). But I do have LDS friends from work, and in the past I’ve turned to them, and they’ve graciously agreed to my requests.

I know the priesthood, combined with faith, creates miracles; I’ve experienced miracles in my life and seen it happen to others. I do not doubt the reality of priesthood power.

I currently feel like I need a blessing (eardrum ruptured this weekend, very unpleasant, really don’t recommend it), so in an attempt to psych myself up to ask someone, I’ve been doing some reading.

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Sometime in the 1980s, I discovered Fawlty Towers. A family member had taped all of the shows from the BBC on the VCR, and I watched them for the first time. I thought I was going to die laughing.

Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) has to be one of the most imaginative characters ever created. He is a complete loon. And his wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) is a hilarious counterpart. (In one classic moment, John Cleese refers to his wife as “my little nest of vipers.”) The interaction with the Spanish waiter, Manuel, who doesn’t speak English, and Basil Fawlty is incomparable.

So, expecting to share with my wife this amusing show, which she had never seen, I ordered the complete 12-volume set on DVD and sat down to watch with her. And something funny happened. Not funny as in laughing, but funny as in strange. It wasn’t amusing anymore.

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The beginning and ending of the Book of Mormon has an interesting symmetry and balance. 1 Nephi 1:1 starts out as a very quick overview of Nephi’s birth and growth, a good place to start a story and a good introduction the writer, before jumping into the important events.

I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

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Millennial Star is pleased to announce the addition of another sparkling addition to our troupe. ECS lives in Boston, where she labors as an attorney for the Massachussetts Department of Labor. Word on the street is that she has just received a rather intimidating new calling, but we’ll let her break the news if and how she deems fit. For a more detailed account of Elisabeth’s background, watch the bio page, which will be updated, maybe, soon.

We’re excited to have Elisabeth blogging here, and expect great things from her. You can find a few of her past bloggernacle musings here (yes, T&S, your finder’s fee check is in the mail).

There was a very interesting paragraph in an article in National Review on the influence of conservative Christians on politics. The point was that the number of devout believers in Christians churches is only about 10 percent. Here’s the paragraph:

All told, these are not the beliefs of a crusading army, and only a small portion of believers should be considered truly devout, Fr. John McCloskey told me. McCloskey, an evangelist and traditionalist Catholic who is credited with helping bring Robert Bork, Robert Novak, Larry Kudlow, and Sen. Sam Brownback into the Roman Catholic Church, says that only about ten percent of Catholics are “with the program,” by which he means they regularly attend Mass, go to Confession, and attempt to conform their lives fully to church teachings. The ten-percent figure turned up elsewhere as well. Dr. Albert Mohler, head of a Southern Baptist Convention seminary in Louisville, told me that only about ten percent of Protestants are serious believers, by which he meant people who take scripture not only seriously but as a guide to behavior and thought.

This of course raised the question in my mind of how many “serious believers” there are in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If forced to give an estimate, what would you say?

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