Why Should We Be Concerned about the Somali Fraud in Minnesota?

On Friday, Nick Shirley, an independent video journalist, released a 42-minute YouTube documentary with details of his undercover work to document the fraud of mostly Somali scammers in Minnesota. This news is everywhere – except in the mainstream news.

Reports are that the scammers took billions of dollars of taxpayer money, probably with the knowledge of someone in the State of Minnesota government. Reports are also sounding about similar fraud taking place in Maine, Ohio, and Washington State.

Those in high federal government offices watched Shirley’s documentary. Vice President JD Vance commented on it on X and praised Shirley for doing more journalistic work than some people who received Pulitzer Prizes. Jarrett Stepman reported on the video as follows. 

The video is certainly worth watching. Among the big findings uncovered is a series of so-called day care centers and other facilities being funded in the state that have no children in them at all.

In one of the most remarkable scenes, Shirley arrived at a location called the “Quality Learing Center.” Yes, “Learing,” which was obviously misspelled. The center had been licensed for 99 children, but none were there. In front of the building, a woman kept shouting, “Don’t open up, ICE.” Shirley informed her that he was merely a journalist, but she ignored him and kept shouting….

This is just the latest in what is without a doubt one of the biggest scandals in American history.

According to some estimates, Somali scammers have taken more money from taxpayers in the last few years than the entire gross domestic product of Somalia.

Also, according to the New York Post, the stolen money “accounts for roughly half of the $18 billion in total federal funs provided to the Minnesota-run services since 2018.”…

Walz and most Democrats seem to be, at most, slightly bothered that they have to talk about this story at all and have tried to make this out to be a “bipartisan” issue that must simply be managed.

But it wasn’t Republicans who run the state of Minnesota, it wasn’t Republicans creating these massive entitlement programs. And while there are Republicans who embrace the kind of open-ended immigration that enabled the Somali fraud scandal, they are at least much less prominent in the age of President Donald Trump.

No, this is a problem created by the Left, one that Democrats are apparently unwilling to confront with any level of urgency.

Let’s take a step back here and get back to the rub of this Somali scammer problem at its source. It’s not just about a broken immigration system with perverse incentives, though we’ve certainly had that.

What the Somali fraudsters did was a matter of greed and crookedness, a replication of the kind of schemes that allow one to get ahead in their homeland. It’s immoral, but easy to understand in a basic sense. It’s the kind of corruption that ruins countries the world over, but it isn’t remarkable.

Now let’s say you really are an old school New Deal Democrat, who believes strongly in the power of government and a robust welfare state. You should be the most enraged by what’s happened, right? After all, these apparently well-meaning programs have become the means by which our modern-day Visigoths have essentially sacked the capital city and turned their programs into a complete mockery of the whole system.

But outrage hasn’t materialized on the Left. If anything, they’re miffed they have to talk about the Somali fraud story at all…..

When Fox News columnist David Marcus went to Minnesota to find out what the feeling was in the state about the whole mess, I think he got to the heart of the matter. He found mostly apathy and indifference from the local liberal voters….

I imagine this apathetic attitude is common among the Democratic Party’s most engaged base voters.

New Deal liberalism is dead. In its place is a warped ideology, a new religion. Many blue state programs have been converted into quasi-religious enterprises, fueling what appears to be virtually unmitigated graft the depth of which we are only beginning to understand.

The government is no longer there to give all Americans a leg up. It’s there to enact an identitarian form of social justice, to sort out the winners and losers of its largesse based on a mystical hierarchy of oppression only fully understood in the inner sanctums of the federally funded ivory tower.

That money was siphoned away by illegal means wasn’t really so terrible according to this thinking. It was just the product of a mandated secular tithe to soothe the modern liberal conscience made no less noble by its seedy application. What the oppressed groups do with the money justly given isn’t the biggest problem, after all….

The real problem right now, so this thinking goes, is that bigoted Americans noticed the scandal and might not be so keen about bringing in waves of more Somalis, who are the real victims here….

This toxic, civilizationally suicidal impulse of misguided, self-destructive “empathy” mixed with self-loathing is costing us far more than the billions of dollars already pillaged from state coffers. In the end, it may cost us everything.

Carlos Garcia reported at The Blaze on the Minnesota fraud. According to Kristi Noem, Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, said that the federal government is investigating the fraud in Minnesota. He also reported the comments of FBI Director Kash Patel that any Somali immigrants who are convicted of fraud could be denaturalized and deported. 

Shirley’s commentary was not the first reported abuse in Minnesota. Patel said on Sunday that “the BI previously dismantled a $250 million fraud scheme involving COVID-19 relief funds intended to provide meals for children in Minnesota.”

In this case, there were 79 indictments with 57 convictions. Several defendants “were charged with crimes ranging from wire fraud to money laundering and conspiracy.” Some defendants tried to subvert justice by bribing “a juror with $120,000 in cash.” One defendant was sentenced to a 10-year term in prison and ordered to pay nearly $48 million in restitution.

Patel described the scheme as the “tip of a very large iceberg,” adding that the FBI would “continue to follow the money and protect children” and that the investigation remains ongoing.

The publication of Shirley’s documentary increased scrutiny into the fraud in Minnesota. Shirley put the blame on Governor Tim Walz, who pushed back saying the state had been cracking down on fraud for years. However, “a group of former state health workers have accused Walz of obstructing efforts to uncover the scams” saying that Walz “is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota.” They said that they informed Walz “early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud, but no, we got the opposite response.”

What Is America’s Creed and Heritage?

There has been some discussion among conservatives recently about what it means to be an American. Is it simply a person living in the United States – legally or illegally? Is it a person who has U.S. citizenship? Is there more to the meaning of being an American?

Thomas Jefferson primarily drafted the Declaration of Independence, and the Continental Congress officially adopted it on July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence did exactly what the title states: It declared that the thirteen American colonies were independent from the rule of Britain. The document declared that the United States of America was a sovereign nation and responsible for its own liberty and government.

The United States of America will celebrate its 250^th birthday anniversary in 2026. However, the signing of the Declaration of Independence is celebrated every year on July 4, a day known as Independence Day.

Just as the Declaration of Independence declared liberty and independence, it “remains a cornerstone of American values and identity,” according to Daniel McCarthy in an article published at The Daily Signal. The debate about what makes an American continues today, and McCarthy gave his explanation as follows. 

The two extremes in the debate are the “creedal nationalists,” who emphasize America as an idea, and those who boast of being “heritage Americans” with lineages in this country stretching back generations or centuries.

Aren’t long-established families – whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower or fought in the Revolutionary War – more American than relative newcomers?

Absolutely not, say those who insist America is about values, not bloodlines.

For creedal nationalists, an American is defined by belief “in the rule of law, in freedom of conscience and freedom of expression, in colorblind meritocracy, in the U.S. Constitution, in the American dream,” as [Vivek] Ramaswamy wrote in the New York Times Dec. 17.

Ramaswamy’s forebears came from India: Does that make him less American than the descendants of 17^th-century English settlers?

The argument isn’t just about history; it’s about immigration today.

Not only does creedal nationalism suppose the country has nothing to fear from immigration on any scale – as long as new arrivals accept the patriotic catechism – it also implies those who oppose large-scale immigration anyway are really un-American.

Yet the creed means different things to different people, and anyone can pretend to believe anything.

Defining a creed is difficult enough for a church – it often leads to schisms.

So the temptation in politics is to make the creed as vague as possible, which translates into making it easy for anyone to qualify as an American.

Ramaswamy specifies in his definition, “a citizen who swears exclusive allegiance to our nation.”

But other creedal nationalists commonly assert that noncitizens who embrace America’s values – or their own, typically liberal values – are better Americans than native citizens whose ideas are in conflict with the creed, or with the way liberals interpret the creed.

On the other hand, “heritage American” is a doubly damaging concept. It needlessly alienates newer Americans while mindlessly elevating older ones….

It’s a notorious fact that many Americans descended from Puritan forefathers are today enthusiastically and aggressively woke.

Just look at the average “No Kings” rally – “heritage Americans” are in abundance, some looking old enough to have watched the Battle of Yorktown in person.

Such “heritage American” institutions as Harvard University and the Episcopal Church certainly don’t hold much hope for conservatives.

Being an American has never meant subscribing to one political party, but that’s the point – much of the “heritage” population and the institutions entrusted to its custody have come to align with a single ideological faction today, one that does not revere the America of old.

At the most basic level, being an American simply means being a citizen, and all citizens are equal – not only as a point of law but as a foundational principle.

[Vice President JD] Vance was utterly clear about this in his interview last weekend with UnHerd’s Sohrb Ahmari: “Whether you got your citizenship an hour ago, or you got your citizenship or your family got citizenship 10 generations ago, we have to treat all Americans equally.”

But Vance’s understanding of heritage bolsters the creed, rather than conflicting with it.

Taken on its own, the creed is abstract and open to endless debate.

Yet regardless of how one understands the creed, an American – of any background, however recent or ancient in this land – should honor the patrimony handed down to us by our ancestors: Our American ancestors, the men and women who originally made this land great, not just our biological ancestors.

America’s heritage is something to which all citizens are heir, regardless of how recently they arrived.

Honoring that heritage is a moral duty of good citizenship.

That doesn’t mean overlooking the sins of America’s past or present – but it does mean expressing gratitude and loyalty to the memory of our national forefathers.

And that, in turn, means being careful about accepting too much immigration or demanding too little in terms of assimilation.

The Americans who built this country bequeathed us not only a Constitution but a culture, which is more than a litany of abstract propositions….

Whenever immigrants and their descendants honor that heritage, they should be honored in turn as dutiful sons and daughters of America.

My definition of an American is an individual who is a U.S. citizen who is willing to work and sacrifice to make America the best that it can be while remaining true to the U.S. Constitution. All other people are freeloaders – trying to get all they can get from America without giving anything in return. Race, religion, color, or sexual orientation do not matter. What matters is what an individual is willing to do to make and keep America as the greatest country in the world.

Who Is Nick Shirley?

My VIP for this week is Nick Shirley, an independent video journalist. Monica Showalter, a seasoned journalist who publishes frequent articles at American Thinker shared the following information about Nick Shirley. She wrote that Shirley  took “his cell phone and a man named David he’s working with, to record and expose massive Somali fraud in Minnesota” – ending with a 42-minute video about the Somali fraud in Minnesota. 

Shirley and his guide, “David” who has done hours of research, take to the streets of Minneapolis on Dec. 26 to ask Somali daycare owners and later, home health care providers, how to enroll someone in their services. They show state data on how many children their daycares serve, as well as millions in federal money received, and find one empty establishment after another, some of them flamingly obvious in their Potemkin operations, with misspelled names, people who say ‘I don’t know’ to every question, people excitedly yelling in Somali, owners unable to give basic information such as price for services, and hangers on filming them with their own cell phone cameras and calling the cops on them for ‘harassment.’

The cops, of course, escorted the two investigative reporters from the premises, unconcerned about the obvious problems with the Potemkin establishments – health care providers without old people, daycare centers without little footprints of kids in the snow, utterly empty of occupants as seen through the glass on a weekday.

They learned that the Somalis notified one another as if in a racket, and many slammed doors in their faces for asking basic questions.

In the most comical moment, a white leftist karen in a keffiyeh appeared seemingly out of nowhere and started shouting behind them to the Somali “day care” owners not open up, that Shirley and David were ICE agents, which suggests a lot of illegal aliens among those taking federal money on false claims of running businesses are actually here illegally, which didn’t come up in the piece….

Shirley and David exposed about $110 million in likely fraud in their day’s work, taking the results to the statehouse, where they were berated by another white karen Democrat wearing a puce jacket with a hall-monitor mien and probably an elected official, who showed no concern whatsoever as to the merit of their claims – of a state that is paying Somalis for fraudulent services and this was just a day’s work….

You can link to Shirley’s video through Showalter’s article. I watched it and was amazed at the blatant fraud. See what you think about it.

Who Should Execute the Law in Illinois?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the decision made by President Donald Trump to send National Guard members into Chicago to help ICE and other federal officers to enforce federal laws and the temporary restraining order  by the U.S. Supreme Court.

I happened to find a podcast by Victor Davis Hanson on this topic, and his words helped me to understand the situation better. According to the transcript, he began by saying that explaining that he has been studying for many years how republics test their constitutions. “Not always in grand crisis, but in these tense half-legal, half-political episodes where everyone insists [that] they are defending the system and yet the system itself is what’s on trial.” He said that this was exactly what the Supreme Court did when they gave Trump a temporary no. He then started from the beginning of the “chain of decisions.” 

According to the court’s description, the administration argued that federal immigration enforcement in Chicago faced serious resistance, including threats and assaults, and that protests around an ICE processing facility in Broadview were sometimes violent and damaged federal property. The president in early October 2025 called roughly 300 members of the Illinois National Guard into active federal service and then federalized members of the Texas National Guard and sent them to Chicago as well invoking 10 USC section 12406, the provision that allows federalization when a president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States. 

Illinois sued. A district court entered a temporary restraining order. The Seventh Circuit allowed the guard to remain federalized but kept the bar on deployment. Now the Supreme Court, at least at this preliminary stage, has refused to override those lower court blocks.

What’s important is why the majority’s reasoning turns on something most Americans never think about until it explodes onto the front page. What regular forces means in that statute and how that collides with the posyic commitatus tradition [posse comitatus], the general rule that the military does not execute the laws inside the United States unless Congress has clearly authorized it. The court signaled that regular forces likely means the regular US military, not civilian federal law enforcement.

And if that’s true, then the statute’s logic forces you into an uncomfortable box. You can only invoke section 12406 in situations where the military could legally execute the laws, which is rare and exceptional. And the government, the court said, had not identified a source of authority that would allow the laws in Illinois in the first place. 

Read that again because it matters. This wasn’t the court saying there is no disorder. It wasn’t the court blessing Chicago’s politics or condemning Trump’s immigration enforcement. It was the court saying, “You haven’t shown the legal bridge that gets you from protecting federal personnel and property to executing the laws. And you haven’t shown the statutory or constitutional exception that let you use the military that way in Illinois, at least not yet. Not on this emergency posture.” 

Now, three justices dissented publicly, Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch. So, you can already see where this is going. Not just a legal fight, but a legitimacy fight. 

And this is where the deeper tension emerges, the kind that history recognizes immediately because there are two competing instincts in American life. And both can sound patriotic depending on who’s speaking. One instinct says the federal government has the duty to enforce federal law to protect its officers and to keep its buildings from being besieged, especially if local politics become permissive toward disruption.

The other instinct says the founders divided militia authority for a reason. And the minute a president starts treating troop deployments as a routine answer to civic disorder, especially in states governed by political opponents. You are moving into the most combustible territory in a federal republic, the normalization of domestic military posture as a tool of governance. And the court is telling Trump, for the moment, you can’t just gesture at danger and skip the legal architecture that stands between a republic and a security state.

That doesn’t end the argument. It starts the real one. Because if Chicago truly is becoming the kind of environment the administration describes where federal officers cannot do their jobs without being obstructed and attacked, then the public will ask why enforcement is impossible without troops. And if the situation is being exaggerated as Illinois argues, then the public will ask why the country is being asked to accept a military solution to what state and local police claim they can manage.

Either way, we are back to an old question that never disappears, only changes costumes. When the center cannot hold, who has the lawful authority to restore order? And what is the limit? That’s the question this case is really about.

Hanson continues the podcast in a second part where he explains “why the phrase execute the laws is the loaded gun in this entire dispute.” He added, “Because once you redefine that phrase, you redefine the balance between liberty and order in the American tradition.” ….

Why Should We Study “The Living Christ”?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles” in a Christmas lesson titled “The Matchless Gift of God’s Divine Son.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2011], 49). Over 160 years later, this statement inspired the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to publish “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles” in honor of the 2,000th anniversary of the Savior’s birth (see Russell M. Nelson, “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 40).

As Latter-day Saints, we rejoice in the blessing of continuing revelation through modern prophets and apostles. We are thankful for their inspired words of counsel, warning, and encouragement. But most of all, we are blessed by their powerful testimonies of Jesus Christ—at Christmastime and throughout the year. These are more than just stirring words of skilled writers or public speakers or insights from scriptural experts. They are the words of God’s chosen, called, and authorized “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:23).

The subject matter includes numerous principles that could be the topic of this essay. Such principles include (1) “None other has had so profound an influence,” (2) “He rose from the grave,” (3) “His priesthood and His Church have been restored,” (4) “He will someday return to earth,” (5) “He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world,” and (6) “God be thanked for [His] matchless gift.”

Rather than discussing a specific quote from “The Living Christ” document, I feel prompted to discuss the document as a whole. To begin, I would like to share the document. The document is titled “The Living Christ:The Testimony of the Apostles [of] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” 

As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth.

He was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New. Under the direction of His Father, He was the creator of the earth. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). Though sinless, He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill. He entreated all to follow His example. He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the sons and daughters of God in the life to come.

He instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice. He was arrested and condemned on spurious charges, convicted to satisfy a mob, and sentenced to die on Calvary’s cross. He gave His life to atone for the sins of all mankind. His was a great vicarious gift in behalf of all who would ever live upon the earth.

We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.

He rose from the grave to “become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). As Risen Lord, He visited among those He had loved in life. He also ministered among His “other sheep” (John 10:16) in ancient America. In the modern world, He and His Father appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, ushering in the long-promised “dispensation of the fulness of times” (Ephesians 1:10)

Of the Living Christ, the Prophet Joseph wrote: “His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:

“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father” (D&C 110:3–4).

Of Him the Prophet also declared: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! “For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

“That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:22–24).

We declare in words of solemnity that His priesthood and His Church have been restored upon the earth— “built upon the foundation of . . . apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20).

We testify that He will someday return to earth. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts.

We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles— that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son. [Emphasis added.]

The document is signed by the First Presidency on January 1, 2000 (Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, and James E. Faust) and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the same date (Boyd K. Packer, L. Tom Perry, David B. Haight, Neal A. Maxwell, Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, M. Russell Ballard, Joseph B. Wirthlin, Richard G. Scott, Robert D. Hales, Jeffrey R. Holland, and Henry B. Eyring).

It is interesting to me that all of the men whose names are listed above have “graduated” to the next life except Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring – the current Prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Oaks) and his first counselor (Eyring). Yet, the current Apostles claim this document as their own because their "name" is on it.

In his discourse in the October 2024 General Conference, Elder Ronald A. Rasband talked about the family proclamation and said, “When I was called to the holy apostleship in 2015, I was advised, ‘This proclamation is now yours. Your name [pointing to the words “Council of the Twelve Apostles” in the title] is right here. Feel it and teach it like you own it.”

Even though the family proclamation and the living Christ are two separate documents, both of them refer to the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in their titles. Therefore, their names are on both of them, and each Apostle has testified that Jesus Christ lives.

My oldest sister had an interesting experience this week in her study of “The Living Christ,” and she gave me permission to use it in my blog post.

Let me tell you of my day of repentance. This week in Come Follow Me, we are learning about The Living Christ. On a podcast I heard the words, “We hang it on our walls, but we never read it.” That fit me. This week I have studied it, read it, and listened to it. I have felt the spirit of it. I have cried over the great blessing my Savior is to me. This morning in my reading in the Book of Mormon, my chapter was Mormon 9. This went along with The Living Christ. My soul was filled, and my eyes leaked.

My sister, obviously, did more than read The Living Christ. She came to know the Savior a bit better and make the living Jesus Christ a bigger part of her life.

 

 

How Can We Help Men and Boys to Rise to Their Full Potential?

 Families are stronger when men and boys as well as women and girls fulfill their God-given positions in life. “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” tells us that husbands and fathers are to preside, provide, and protect their families, and wives and mothers are to nurture their children and families. It also tells us that men and women are to work together for the good of their families – and their communities by extension. However, things are not as they should be.

In an article published at the Deseret News, Samuel J. Abrams (a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a scholar with the Sutherland Institute, explained what is happening with boys and young men as well as what they need. 

NYU professor Scott Galloway deserves credit for saying something too many cultural leaders still avoid: Boys and young men are not OK. They are falling behind in school, withdrawing from work, retreating from relationships and disappearing into digital worlds that offer stimulation without meaning. Galloway’s writing on “healthy masculinity” resonates because it names realities parents, teachers and researchers confront daily. In a culture that increasingly treats masculinity itself as suspect, simply affirming that boys matter is no small thing.

But the crisis facing American boys – and the deeper danger facing American society – cannot be solved by health alone. What we are witnessing is not merely a breakdown in confidence or emotional regulation. It is a collapse or moral formation. Boys are not just struggling; they are unanchored. They are growing up in a culture that has emptied manhood of purpose, stripped masculine strength of meaning and replaced inherited moral expectations with vague warnings about what men must not become.

For years, boys have absorbed a steady message: Masculine traits are liabilities. Physical courage is framed as aggression. Competitiveness is treated as pathology. Risk-taking is something to be managed away. The drive to build, protect or lead is often met with suspicion. When boys misbehave, the culture has a rich vocabulary of condemnation. When boys ask what they are for, the culture offers little more than silence.

The result is not gentler men. It is drifting ones.

“Healthy masculinity,” as Galloway presents it, encourages responsibility, empathy, ambition, emotional openness and self-control. These are real virtues. But the framework remains fundamentally therapeutic. It treats masculinity as a personal wellness project – habits to cultivate, impulses to manage, behaviors to moderate. It teaches boys how to cope in a confusing world, but not why they should rise to meet it. It offers guidance, not a calling.

Boys need more than coping skills. They need a horizon.

What I call sacred masculinity begins with a simple but unfashionable premise: Masculinity is morally consequential. It is a form of power – physical, emotional, social – that demands direction….

Sacred masculinity does not romanticize men or excuse abuse. It binds strength to obligation. It treats courage as something owed, not displayed. It understands masculinity as a calling ordered toward others rather than an identity optimized for self-expression. Where healthy masculinity asks how a man manages himself, sacred masculinity asks what – and whom – his strength is meant to serve….

Sacred masculinity offers a harder but more hopeful path. It tells boys that one day others will depend on them. That self-control and endurance are not about feelings but responsibility. It teaches that freedom is not the absence of obligation but the capacity to carry it well.

This vision appears in fathers who remain present when disengagement would be easier, in coaches and teachers who demand discipline to prepare boys; and in men who commit to work, marriage and community rather than drifting in permanent adolescence.

Crucially, sacred masculinity also places responsibility on adult men. Boys do not drift because no one lectures them. They drift because too few men invite them into a shared life of duty….

Healthy masculinity teaches men how to cope. Sacred masculinity teaches them what they are for.

If we want stronger families and a more resilient civic culture, we must stop treating masculinity as an embarrassment and start treating it again as a charge. Boys will rise to expectations – if we are brave enough to place any at all.

How Do We Become Like the Wise Men?

Many families read, watch, and/or portray the Nativity story of the first Christmas. There are many lessons in this story that we can apply to our lives IF we care to “take the time to study and ponder” it. The Deseret News Editorial Board shared some ways that we can apply the Nativity story this Christmas season and throughout the next year. 

Another central part of that Christmas story has to do with the Magi, or the Three Wise Men, as they are popularly known. Their experience applies to the modern world in many ways.

People today, and especially during the holidays, are prone to rush. They dash to finish their shopping, weighing price and appropriateness to a degree that seems to lose exactness and fade like dissipating snow clouds the later in the season it becomes.

The tendency is to become so lost in the mechanics of Christmas that we miss what is important.

On a more serious level, people today can become discouraged by news reports of violence, especially against believers, as seen recently in a deadly attack against Jews in Australia. When viewed through the lens that terrorists try to impose, the world can seem a dark, dismal and discouraging place.

These are not attributes unique to our time. People in every time period have gotten lost in the mundane matters of life. They have suffered through hardships, violence and war.

At the time of Christ’s birth, we suspect much of the world either did not notice the new star or missed its significance.

But the Wise Men noticed. They had studied. They had pondered. They had sought the divine in quiet moments of contemplation.

[The Wise Men] chose gifts that were appropriate, wise and symbolic. Then, as now, gold was the standard of wealth, the most valuable of minerals. Frankincense was considered even more valuable and was used in sacred temple rites, symbolizing spiritual strength and worthiness. Myrrh was used in healing ointments. This was a substance most suitable to honor the master healer of both body and soul; the one who could restore all things and wipe away all tears.

The Wise Men decided to travel to meet the Christ Child in person. They could have stayed home and sent their gifts with couriers or messengers. Instead, they embarked on a lengthy trip that scholars estimate could have covered 900 miles or more and taken perhaps two years.

The journey could not have been easy. Skeptics might have questioned the men’s faith in finding the Messiah. They had, after all, abandoned their homes for several years in order to embark on this quest. They may have faced moments of doubt. There were no super highways. They may have encountered hardships. Yet they persisted, day after day.

When they finally came to King Herod in search of more detailed directions, they were sensitive and perceptive enough to recognize a dream as revelation, and they decided not to return to Herod with information, as he had requested. Meanwhile, their gifts no doubt helped Mary and Joseph survive as they then fled to Egypt, warned by a revelatory dream given to Joseph, and escaped Herod’s cruel massacre of children.

The Bible account of these Wise Men is sparse, but it has much to offer.

Today’s world

Our world is one of noise and commotion, with endless voices competing for attention on social media and over airwaves. There are pundits, hawkers with wares, influencers with philosophies, advice and promises of ways to find popularity. The world is filled with wars, cruelties and injustices.

Like the Wise Men, we would do well to seek peace, to study and to listen for inspiration. We should cut through the noise and look for true beauty.

Our journey to peace and joy may be long and filled with hardships. We need the persistence and faith of those men, having hope that the end goal will be worth the trouble. We need a faith strong enough to recognize dangers and deceit when they come hidden behind smiles.

Finally, we need to be willing to give the Christ Child the most important gift of all – our heart.

Then, as now, the journey to find the divine takes real intent and determination. Tinsel and glitter may be pleasant to look at. They may raise warm feelings and cherished memories.

The real spirit of Christmas, however, will elevate the soul and last far beyond one day in December. As the Wise Men more than two millennia ago knew deep down, this is worth the journey.

 

What Is the Nativity Story?

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Our family has performed the Nativity story each Christmas Eve for about fifty years, and this practice continues with my children in their homes. I hope that the grandchildren continue the practice.

When enough family members and/or friends are present, we have costumes and act out the story as it is read. Sometimes, someone puts a different twist on the presentation, such as the year that we had reporters “interview” the various people in the story.

Sometimes, there are too few people to act out the story. One year, we used a Nativity set to act out the story. Last year, we watched a video of the Nativity because there were only three of us. The most important thing to know is the story of the birth of the Savior of the world, and an annual review of the story helps us to remember it better.

I thought for this post that I would give the Nativity story straight from the King James Version of the Bible. In our Christmas Eve portrayal, my family skips over the introduction in Luke 1, starts with the story in Luke 2, and ends with the story of the wisemen in Matthew 2.

Luke 1

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

 Luke 2

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

21 And when eight days were accomplished

Matthew 2

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet,

6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 ¶ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.