Best Mother's Day message ever!

This MVP award speech by Kevin Durant is not only heartwarming and inspiring, but a testament not to the impressive goodness of the man, but the woman who raised him. I have yet to hear a better tribute to a mom, particularly with less than a week before Mother's Day. It is guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes:

Here is the pertinent segment about his family:

Here is the full speech:

"Smart Phones and Dumb People"

This video contains a wonderfully important message for our tech-crazed world.

Chuck Feeney

Rich people have been given a bad rap lately, some deservedly so, while others not so warranted.

In the latter category is Chuck Feeney,

It is not whether a person has wealth or not that makes the person good or bad, but how they use their wealth. In Chuck's case, he must be very good because he has used his wealth to do much good in the world.

Les Miserables

I tend not to view Broadway and Hollywood as leading centers for doing good in the world. In fact, I see those institutions more inclined towards moral degradation, particularly their alarming sexualizing of children and their embracing sexual perversions, and the proliferation of destructive beliefs.

However, there are rare exceptions to the rule, such as Les Miserables, which conveys and encourages a host of uplifting character traits and values, such as: mercy, forgiveness, love, duty, commitment, honor, honesty, etc.

I don't know about you, but each time I experience this endearing and enduring performance, I leave with renewed commitment to be a better person and to do good, as well as a greater hope for the world in general.

Kudos to Victor Hugo for penning the gripping story, and also to the playwrights, composers, producers, directors, actors, musicians, and production staff that have brought ththis amazing epic to life on stage and screen over the years. Millions have been enriched and changed for the better because of it.

Prank it Forward

Sometimes good things in the world are done in unexpected ways, such as in the form of a prank.

Here is one that brought tears to my eyes, not from laughter, but from joy and appreciation. It was posted at Sharedots:

"Meet Chelsea Roff. An average waitress who raised her sister alone from a very young age, suffered from an eating disorder (weighing only 58 pounds at one point of time) and runs a non profit yoga clinic to help people suffering from the former. Her friends and colleagues step in to trap her in this amazing April fools prank."

Orphanage Internship

Not all countries are as well equipped as the U.S. to handle daunting orphanage problems. So, it is very nice to discover that certain U.S. university programs are lending a helping hand.

One such program is offered by the David M Kennedy Center for International Studies, the Child Development Internship in Romania. It is explained as: "In Romania, students will intern in orphanages and hospitals with children and infants with various physical and psychological disabilities. Students will also immerse themselves in academic cultural reflection as part of their experience."

The facebook page is available HERE.

Here are interns on the road to the orphanage:

These are young people who have spent their own money and dedicated months of their lives doing good in the world and exemplifying the Christ-like precept of caring for the fatherless and poor.

I am pleased to report that my niece, Whitney Englund Robinson, participated in this program several years back (2007), and I am posting notice of this magnanimous service to humanity in her honor.

Liahona Children's Foundation

With all the poverty and starvation throughout the world, my heart warms to see individuals filling in welfare gaps left by large institutions like governments and churches. One such organization is the Liahona Children's Foundation.

May this group be blessed for their charitable contributions, and may we assist them however we can in their cause.