My 500 Words

2026 represents the final year for the Utah Grizzlies in my town because an NHL team has come to Salt Lake. When the Grizzlies moved to Utah in 1995 they had just won a championship, but the Avalanche had come to Colorado and it was time to move. The Grizzlies originally competed at the Delta Center, though current owners want to remove the word the. In its first season in Utah, the Grizzlies brought a home-grown hockey championship back to Utah, something that hadn’t been done since the Golden Eagles won the Turner Cup in 1988, while playing in the Salt Palace.  At the same time the Grizzlies moved to Utah, Salt Lake City won the rights to host the 2002 Winter Olympic games. Organizers partnered with West Valley City to build a new hockey arena that would host the Olympic and Paralympic hockey events. When the city first tried to name the arena, it found little interest. Without a sponsor, the facility became known as the “E Center.”  I unsuccessfully promoted an alternative ...

I experience a particular disconnect when it comes to images of the plates of food that people will post on social media platforms. My problem is I enjoy seeing them in my feeds, especially when they are accompanied by a story. I appreciate when the poster includes details about the quality of the food beyond its obvious presentation and when they point out flavors that came as a surprise and that you could not ascertain from the image alone.  I also experience a small level of annoyance when people are taking these photos. I am not so annoyed that I would ever ask someone to not take a photo of their food. If I tried, I would have to start with my own family. But when the photograph of the meal becomes more important than the meal itself, I sometimes wish restaurant owners would just take photos of everything on their menu and make images available for posting.  Emotional disconnect aside, I hope you all will keep sharing your images and offering tips of new and fun dishes to...

In his final year of high school, Jonah appeared in “Puffs.” He was cast as two very different characters. He first portrayed Cedric Diggory. In the original canon, J.K. Rowling describes Cedric as someone who is exceptionally handsome, modest, fair-minded and brave. I admit that my view could be skewed, but it would seem that Jonah checked all of these boxes. In addition, Jonah exceeds six feet and most consider him tall. With the exception of sporting blond, rather than dark, hair, it was a part that did not appear much of a stretch.  In the second half, Jonah took on the role of Voldy. This snake-like character embodies evil, and his for power threatens what should be a peaceful and orderly school of magic. Jonah developed a particularly cold and high-pitched voice to match the nature of Voldy, a voice he said was based on the tone and phrasing  his mother would use when reading the original Harry Potter series at bedtime and on road trips. Jonah’s capacity to adopt a role...

I learned My Favorite Things while attending elementary school. I loved its imagery of raindrops on roses as it reminded me of my mother’s and grandmother’s flowers. And getting snowflakes to land and stay on my nose and eyelashes became a just out-of-reach goal as they always seemed to melt on contact. Yet, the most exciting part of the song occurred when it turned very briefly dangerous and melancholy with the dog bite and the bee sting.  Turns out that last Friday I was putting final touches on a legal brief that needed to be filed when I received an animated, yet succinct, message from my dear wife informing me that she had just been bitten by a dog while walking by the tennis courts near our neighborhood. After a couple of exchanges, I knew she had been attacked hard enough that she required medical attention, but not so bad that she couldn’t transport herself there.  While relieved, the gnawing concern for rabies and potential scarring nagged at me and felt deep concern ...

After telling His disciples that he would die and leave them, Jesus said:  “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Can you imagine the fear they must have felt upon receiving the news that the Messiah was going to leave? As a people they had waited for this Messiah for millennia for a savior to bring them liberation. Instead He brought them salvation.  And while they had been taught what they needed to know His disciples did not fully understand. Thomas said he knew not the way to go where Jesus was going. Philip asked to see the Father as though he believed that would finally be enough knowledge and teaching to carry them through.  These disciples had accompanied Jesus throughout his three-year ministry. They had been witnesses to miracles, ministered to by angels, and they testified of Jesus’ divinity. Yet the unknown left them with the uneasiness of the unkno...

1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Be careful of the sources you read and who you choose to believe. Seek truth. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: Those who confess Jesus Christ will honestly express what they know. Others will say things for their own gain, to deceive, or simply because they don’t know better. We need to honor and look for those who speak truth. When you find lasting peace and comfort you will know you have found the truth you were seeking. 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world...