Privilege of Having Been Born

    "Henry Thoreau, an early American philosopher, once said that we should thank God every day of our lives for the privilege of having been born.  And then he went on to speculate on the rather unique supposition of what it might have been like if we had not been born.  Just suppose that you had never been born or that your parents had never been born.  Think of all of the excitement and opportunities you would have missed as a consequence.  What Mr. Thoreau may not have known was that one-third of all of the children of God never were born and never can be born because they failed to pass the requirements of their first estate.  And yet, every spirit child of God hungers for a body.  We remember the unembodied spirits who appeared to Jesus in his day who preferred to have the bodies of swine rather than not to have any bodies at all.  In my own case, I didn't find out that I had been born until quite a long time after it happened.  And I am still finding out many important things about the good fortunes of my birth.  I eventually discovered that I had inherited two parents who were very interested in my welfare.  And I am very glad that they were not members of this modern breed of abortionist who are followers of King Herod in his program of slaughtering the innocents.  My parents were pretty poor in material things, but I have discovered that even a little adversity can have many advantages."

-Sterling W. Sill

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