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Not to me.

I may have perceived hostility where none was present. If that's so, I apologize, Anddenex.

At some point in grade school, my two brothers and I were in the car with my mom. I had shotgun. It was raining, so the windshield wipers were going. I started to ask why the windshield wipers weren't on the inside. I stopped myself, but not so soon that they didn't all know what I was going to say. Very awkward silence - to me.

Anddenex, you're not alone, FWIW. I tend to think as you do. Vort's description in #55 of the difference between agency and stewardship is how I've always thought of them. I think of agency as an inherent part of an individual, something which cannot be separated from them. I think of stewardship as an assignment with some duration attached to it - it may or may not (seem to) last eternity. Further, when I think of agency, I am an agent unto myself - I represent myself (and I'm the one who gets all the consequences of the choices my agent - me - makes). When I think of stewardship, however, I think I am representing someone else. When I act in my calling at church, I am representing the Lord, for example. I'll have to ponder a while longer to determine whether I think stewardships always involve representing someone else, sometimes, mostly, or whatever; but my initial thought is that I'm carrying out an assignment given by someone else and am therefore representing them. (I can understand the idea that mere existence - at least as a spirit child of God, and then as a mortal - is a stewardship, but I need to ponder that further - as existence is another of those things which cannot be separated from the individual. But if we call mere existence a stewardship, it does indeed become more like agency - though I still see a distinction.) I can certainly understand the tight linking of the two, and how pondering that relation can provide understanding which can be used to improve one's handling of either / both. And I certainly see a fair amount here to ponder - both what's been said and what I have thought in response. Perhaps it comes down to whether you prefer the parts of your dinner to be kept separate from each other or whether you like to mix them all up into an ad hoc casserole.

Jr High: I was 6'2" and 123 lbs, and didn't play basketball. Spent one semester of lunches discussing Bible with a few JW students. Sr High: Lettered in debate. We had two on the team (I was captain), and got slaughtered in varsity competition. I also did drama, and was the editorial page editor. Students didn't read me. Unfortunately, the teachers did. Yeah...I was SQUARE. Difference between square and dork. Both or socially awkward, but dorks actually care.

That's what it is: A thought. Something for consideration. The fact that you can't find a recognized prophet that has taught exactly that nuance is beside the point. I totally don't get the hostility here. TFP offered a fascinating and potentially paradigm-changing thought. Why the blowback? Why not just spend some time considering it? It's not as though he said something that threatens the very foundation of our understanding of God or the atonement. He suggested another way to think about these issues, possibly a very valuable way. In what way does this threaten you? If it does not, why the harsh response? That is an issue of usage. TFP was not talking about usage; I expect he would concede your point, but then say that it was not relevant. The point is not how we currently use the words, but how they might be intimately connected, thus changing our understanding of the nature of agency.

I read the entire encyclopedia of Man, Myth and Magic in high school.

When I was about 14, I won a set of the World Book encyclopedia at the Scout-O-Rama in Salt Lake City. I read it. Lehi

Why Do People Say Muslim Now Instead of Moslem? Is it rude to use the spelling "Moslem" for Muslim in modern English? Basically, whether you're right or wrong, you're wrong here. Whenever you demand to use a spelling that lots of people find offensive, even if they're mistaken about the issue, you are being intentionally offensive. Like, on purpose. Because you figure you're right and they're wrong and to heck with them - even if they are Muslim. Serves 'em right for not knowing the etymology of their own name - right? LeSellers, your continued use of Moslem is one reason why people are having a hard time taking you seriously here. I mean, you obviously know a lot of stuff, but we're having a hard time caring since you sound like a a petulant 12-year old. I mean, I remember when I heard about that villiage in Africa named Compenis. Eventually everyone had enough of me finding ways to work it into every other sentence. Then I turned 13 and grew up a little. p.s. We don't say "Hindoo" or "Chinaman" any more either.

To let you in on the secret, it's not your breasts that make the men uncomfortable, we just hate it when we're hungry (and we're usually hungry) and someone else is eating right in front of us. Bring tuna salad sandwiches and grape soda for everybody else and it will all be fine.

That may be true, but what difference does it make, at this point, to the child(ren)? Lehi

Truth. If you don't have children or aren't around them, you probably think little kids just aren't all that aware - but they are! I remember my daughter not even being a year old and reacting to my husband playfully tackling me. She'd get these big eyes and start rattling the bars of her crib very upset and wailing. After this had happened a few times, we knew the horseplay was just too much for her. No doubt children that are a couple years old and toddler age understand plenty! They may not comprehend big fancy words but they read and sense body language like experts. They know when they are loved.

I had a Ward member tell me once that he also wondered about Omni... Why the Lord included it... Then he continued with a story about how while on his mission he had an investigator gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon because of Omni. Apparently that investigator needed the reassurance that he didn't need to be perfect, and he got that from Omni.