Plaasabilities

"Heavenly Light" Morning light illuminates the trees at the Missionary Baptist Church in Cades Cove.  Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved This was the featured image on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Facebook page this morning. It's the perfect image for a Sunday morning, especially on Memorial Day weekend when we remember the lives of those lost in the service of our country. This weekend many of us also choose to remember the lives of family and friends that have passed on. And so the illuminating rays of sunlight over the Missionary Baptist Church in Cades Cove speak to each of us and to those no longer with us. It's not hard to feel the spirit and the peace portrayed. This morning my friend, Bryan Nowak, noted that the sunlight looked like heavenly beams. I smiled knowing I had titled this image "Heavenly Light" shortly after the photograph was taken last June. The name is inspired by a sacred ...

April Benediction Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park ©2015 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved Life is a rollercoaster of ups and downs, highs and lows. We don't stay in the same place -- physically, emotionally, or spiritually -- for very long before something changes and we must also change. When we arrive at a high place, a low invariably follows. I'm sliding on the downslope tonight after arriving on a big high this morning. To fight the feelings that accompany downslopes, I pause to reflect on the good things of the past few months. Spring is my favorite season and April is my favorite month of the year. April is dogwoods and redbuds, tulips and daffodils. It's about Easter and Jesus Christ, it's about new life and second chances, it's a celebration of surviving a long, cold winter. April is an explosion of wildflowers that fill me with joy -- trillium, trout lilies, and lady's slippers. As I drove the Loop Road around Cades Cove last Wed...

Nashville Tennessee Temple The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved Through my work in phenomenological research I have become more aware of the significance of place to a person's experience of everyday living. Ask someone to tell you about their childhood and they are likely to talk about not only family and friends but the places where meaningful things happened in their life. They may tell you about the house they lived in, the school they attended, or the place where the family went on vacations. As human beings we find connection in special places. I have many special places, but more importantly, I have a few sacred places that hold great meaning for me. As a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I choose to spend time learning and serving in temples. Not only are all temples beautiful, but they are very peaceful places where I feel the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and receive guidance from...

Winter woods aren't desolate As they would seem to be, For beauty dwells at every turn For searching eyes to see. The black of trees is ermine trimmed; Each bush is wearing lace And Nature's spread with lavish hand White velvet every place. Where winter sunrays lightly touch The ice-encrusted stream, Upon its crystal countenance A thousand diamonds gleam. No, winter woods aren't desolate-- There's beauty enough to spare; And those in search of loveliness Will surely find it there.    Virginia Blanck Moore   The Best of Ideals ©1978

Very few things in life are guaranteed. We have ideas, ambitions, hopes, dreams. We make plans that fail. We hope for things that don't happen. We make mistakes. Separating illusion from reality isn't always easy as some things aren't obvious, especially when we try to make choices or judgments when we don't have all the facts. In short, we aren't perfect. When things don't turn out quite as we hoped or when mistakes are made, it 's good to know we get a second chance to do better. We never have to be stuck with our mistakes if we are willing to do the work to overcome them. A pair of does along Hyatt Lane Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park Copyright 2012 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved Repentance and forgiveness enable second chances, where both the one who erred and the one adversely affected by the error get the chance to make amends and try again. The atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to repent. Being followers of ...