sunday thought.

This popped up on NPR as a most read story, and I can see why.

My favorite part of the slideshow is this photograph with the quote, something that I think is so wonderful because it is so true.

Happy Sunday.

the church and feminism.

There was a  blog I used to subscribe to, which I have unsubscribed to, mostly because of her thought process (that she explicitly dictates), which I think brings me down and does not promote those things that are right, or true.  One of the things that brought her out of the Church, or is currently bringing her out of the Church, is her issue with the patriarchal structure of the Church.  I have so many thoughts on this, that are just jumbling around  in my head, but I suppose the one I have focused on is my perception of the Priesthood, of patriarchy, and of the Godliness of the structure of our Church.

Before I begin on that, I want to say that I consider myself to be a feminist, and that most others do as well.  I believe in agency of all peoples to choose the lifestyles they want to choose, however I feel that we are accountable based on the knowledge that we have and that we should be expected to act according to that knowledge, regardless of whether or not we completely understand or can rationalize or logic-ize those things that we have felt are true.

I have an issue with worldly patriarchy.  The kind of patriarchy that tells women they cannot choose, they cannot be who they want to be, they cannot achieve, they cannot succeed, and that they will always be inferior to a man.  The patriarchy in the Gospel is different.  It teaches me that I am a prized woman in God's kingdom.  It teaches me that I am equal to men and that I will be a partner with my husband in all things.  It teaches me that our Heavenly Father has a wife whose name is so sacred that it cannot be spoken.  It tells me that I beloved.  It tells me that men are in the leadership positions of the Church to help them learn and grow in the ways that are best for them, and that I am placed in certain positions because they are what will help me learn and grow in the ways that are best for me.  It tells me that Heavenly Father knows more than my little brain can understand, and that that is okay.  In fact, it gives me great comfort to know that Someone very real is guiding the actions of men and women who knows so much more, has so much more wisdom, than we ever can on this Earth.  The rationale of man will never compare to the beauty of God's wisdom and His absolute love for His children.  I know that He loves women as much as he loves men, and that He has constructed His organization of His Church on this Earth for this purpose for a reason that, while it may be unbeknownst to me is perfect.  I know that for me, being willing to, as I believe happens in the Temple, show my husband that he is the patriarch for our household and be willing to let him guide me and our family  provides me with the humility and comfort of knowing that how he guides us will be through the Priesthood from God.

Yes, this Godly patriarchy is not carried out in the perfect way continually throughout Church leadership, but that is how all Earthly things are. The Gospel is perfect, but the people carrying it out on this Earth are not.  That leads to some things that I, and others, may not like sometimes, but I pray that I will never let my mortal pride get in the way of my relationship with my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I know this isn't one of my most eloquent posts, but I hope I made some sort of sense.  I would also like to add that I do not think that this person is bad or unrighteous or any of those negative things.  I just think she's confused, and I know myself well enough to know I don't need to be listening to her confusion play out as what she portrays as logic and reason.

awake my soul.

You know how sometimes you just hear a song and you connect with it?  I love music, and I think that oftentimes (for good songwriters) it can be like poetry.  I've heard this a number of times, but today it just touched me.  I've included the lyrics below that particularly made an impact, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I.

In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
And where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
And were you invest your love, you invest your life

Awake my soul
Awake my soul
Awake my soul
For you were made to meet your maker

Awake my soul
Awake my soul
Awake my soul
For you were made to meet your maker

love her mother.

"Love Her Mother," Elaine S. Dalton, October 2011 General Conference Sunday Morning Session

"By the way you love her mother, you will teach your daughter about tenderness, loyalty, respect, compassion, and devotion.   She will learn from your example what to expect from young men and what qualities to seek in a future spouse.  You can show your daughter by the way you love and honor your wife that she should never settle for less.  Your example will teach your daughter to value womanhood.  You are showing her that she is a daughter of our Heavenly Father, who loves her." - I think this is so very true, not only because I have seen the benefits of this in my own life, but I have seen what happens when the opposite occurs.  Some of my friends who have not had a father figure, or who have had fathers who do not treat their wives with the proper respect and love they deserve have in turn oftentimes chosen men who treat them similarly because they have not been shown by their fathers exactly what type of treatment they deserve.

"Don't let any influence come into your life or your home that would cause you to compromise your covenants or your commitment to your wife and family." - If there is someone or something that is keeping you from giving your family, and especially your wife or husband, the time and attention and love they deserve than that someone or something is not worthy of your time and is not of God.

the Book of Mormon - a book from God

"The Book of Mormon - a Book from God," Tad D. Callister, October 2012 General Conference Sunday Morning Session

"[The Book of Mormon] is either the word of God as professes, or it is a total fraud.  This book does not merely claim to be a moral treatise or theological commentary or collection of insightful writings.  It claims to be the word of God - every sentence, every verse, every page." - The first time I read the Book of Mormon through was when I was six years old.  I remember distinctly feeling it my mission that year of my life to read the gigantic coffee table version of that scripture, and I took it with me everywhere as it was taking me much longer than my impatient six year old self wanted.  I remember lugging it with me around the house along with my bears, Bucky and Freckle (who were of course best friends), and  most notably taking the giant book with me on our family's infamous camping trip where our campsite was overrun by yellow jackets and where I thought I lost it, but soon discovered that I had placed it in my pillow case for safe keeping when resting my tear stained face on my pillow at night.  I loved that book then, and I love it now.  I will be honest and say that my young self did not understand those words the way I do now, but I understood them enough to know that they meant something, and meant something real that helped me in my life.  I remember praying to my Heavenly Father that He would help me be able to read the words that were difficult to read, and that I would know that book was true. Those same prayers are often repeated now, nearly seventeen years later.  He told me it was then, and His spirit continued to testify of that truth to me as I grew older.  I do not think that my earnest prayers as a six year old will ever be truly matched by the prayers I offer up now as an adult who has been tainted by the world and has been cloaked more by the veil that separates me from my Father in Heaven.  I remember the feeling I got when I read that book then, and during the times in my life where I wondered where He was I knew He was there because those feelings have never changed for me.  That Book is true.  That Book is from Him to help me, and all of us return to Him.  He loves us, and He shows us that through His book that testifies so beautifully of the grace, the mercy, and the charity of His Gospel and His sacrifice of His only Begotten. There is no middle ground because I know, with such a surety that it feels as though my entire body and spirit is filled to capacity with all that is good in the world, that the Book of Mormon speaks truth and enlightens the mind to ideas and principles that can only be from our Father in Heaven.

I encourage you all to read this talk (linked above), and to read the Book of Mormon because, "Together with the Bible, the Book of Mormon is an indispensable witness of the doctrines of Christ and His divinity.  Together with the Bible, it 'teach[es] all men that they should do good' (2 Nephi 33:10).  And together with the Bible, it brings us to 'one Lord, one faith, one baptism.'  That is why the Book of Mormon is so crucial in our lives."  I testify that it is true and this is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

on my heart, as of late.

"Never can I repay thee, Lord,

But I can love thee."

-Hymns no. 112

As of late I have been thinking a lot about this, and it has resulted from my focus on becoming a witness to the pain of the world through increased exposure to what the daily reality is for so many people everywhere.  When I see what war has done to this world, to the people who fight in wars, to the people who are labeled as "collateral damage," to the animals implicated by humans' actions during wars, to the children who know nothing other than violence, to the babies born disfigured because of what we have created to help us "win" wars, I cannot separate their anguish, their pain from the misery that Christ suffered for them.  I think this is, in part, what makes me feel so compelled to try and alleviate some of the suffering in the world.  While my drive to make change is complex, it is based on two basic feelings: I love my Lord, and I love my brothers and sisters.  I feel that these are inextricably bound together in this life, and that my eternal welfare is in turn bound to the welfare of my brothers and sisters around the world, and that because of this there is an anguish, a guilt, a pang to do something when I see the images of war. Of suffering. Of sadness. Of destruction.  All these wrought on people by people  The only way I know of loving the Lord is by following His example,  devoting my heart to Him and my Father.  While I know that the agony He underwent was not in vain, it pains me to think that I contribute to it by not trying to stop some of the suffering that occurs in the world at the hands of those who are oftentimes ignorant and do not know another way of functioning, of living.  I cannot change the world.  I cannot change the destiny of it.  But I think I can help to change a person's experience here on this Earth, one at a time, by me loving them the best I can.