Category: Latter-day Saint Thought
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Did you bring an Umbrella? (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday, 3/15)?
I remember hearing a talk by Boyd K. Packer years ago, in which he spoke about what happens in meetings. As I remember it (I haven’t found the speech — perhaps someone know which one it is) he suggested that many speakers bring just a small thimble full of the spirit to their talks—they simply…
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CFM 3/23-3/29: Poetry for “I Have Remembered My Covenant”
Often the titles of lessons raise questions for me. If God ‘remembered’ His covenant, does that mean he forgot? Is forgetting an error? Or is it ok to forget sometimes, even if it is an agreement we made? What are we saying about the nature of God when we say that He ‘remembered His covenant?’…
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B. H. Roberts Beginner’s Guide Update
Last December, I announced that I had released a free digital book entitled A Beginner’s Guide to B. H. Roberts: Excerpts from the Writings of B. H. Roberts. Since then, I have had enough people reach out to ask me about getting a physical copy of the book that I have now overcome my personal…
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My Meeting with the Pope
I wondered whether I should write this post, but it seems weird to have something this big happen without mentioning it, so I might as well. I had a private audience with the pope for about a half hour to talk about my Traditional Latin Mass research that will be coming out with a book from…
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What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday, 3/8?
In these posts I am trying to suggest that each of us can have better experiences at Church if we take responsibility for our experiences. We can choose to find ways to learn and benefit from what happens regardless of whether it fits our perception of what is “good.” What we get out of any…
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CFM 3/16-3/22: Poetry for “God Meant It unto Good”
Given the famine described in the Bible, it is certainly fortunate that Joseph ended up in Egypt and in a position to help his family. His rise there to 2nd in the kingdom seems highly unlikely, something that might require the help of divinity to occur. And the explanation this lesson focuses on, “God meant…
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What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday, 3/1?
In these posts I may be expecting too much. It’s a big change to react to Church in a new way. I apologize if I haven’t been clear enough. I’m trying to suggest that each of us can have better experiences at Church if we take responsibility for our experiences, and find ways to learn…
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CFM 3/9-3/15: Poetry for “The Lord Was with Joseph”
The story of Joseph, as portrayed in this Come Follow Me lesson, is closely connected with confronting trials and overcoming adversity. Today, while it’s hard to believe that most of us face adversity like that of Joseph, I suspect that our trials still have a significant impact on our lives. Perhaps how we react to…
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Lest We Forget
Recent events have made me think a lot about one of our hymns. By happenstance yesterday I came across Rudyard Kipling’s “Recessional” in the April 25, 1940 issue of the Millennial Star. Both my coming across it, and its publication in the Star seem like appropriate timing, given the poem’s text. Most LDS Church members…
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What We Can Learn from Visions of Glory, Part 3
Part 3 of What Can We Learn from Visions of Glory On verifying revelation, guardrails, and personal accountability. The Church has no doctrine for the fate of stillborn children. Erin Stiles, whose Episcopalian upbringing in northern Utah inspired a book, The Devil Sat on My Bed (2025), about the Mormon spirit world, recorded this interview…
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Will the Community of Christ Die Off?
Yes, I know there’s no big hill on the back-side of the Community of Christ Temple, but Gemini has decided that there is and I can’t convince it otherwise. It is no secret that the Community of Christ is not doing so well growth-wise. Of course, no religious groups except for Assemblies of God,…
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What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday, 2/22?
Who is responsible for your experience at Church? Is our worship passive, dependent on the skill of the speakers, musicians and those organizing the meeting? Or are each of us active participants, trying to pull worship out of what we’re given? We claim that we go to Church to worship, but often members talk about…
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CFM 3/2-3/8: Poetry for “Let God Prevail”
The phrase “Let God Prevail” suggests a certain view of life—the idea that we might be a kind of impediment to what God wants to do, and that we need to get out of the way. And the idea makes sense theologically, since we believe that God respects our agency, and will not force us,…
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Abraham: A Study in Humanity
Two things need to be noted first of all: One, I don’t think scriptures should be read as an Ikea manual—do things exactly this way or else you’ll ruin it. They are meant to be read as wisdom literature. Their purpose is to throw us off our stride by subverting our expectations; they make us…
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What Did You Think About Church Yesterday, 2/15?
Was something wrong at Church? Did you object to what was said? I know that things sometimes go poorly at Church (and everywhere else, for that matter). But do we go to Church to catalog the problems and errors? We claim that we go to Church to worship, but often members talk about Church like…
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CFM 2/23-3/1: Poetry for “Is Any Thing Too Hard for the Lord?”
Many of the difficulties that we face in our lives in the gospel come down to assumptions we make about God. We expect a consistency according to our conception of things. In short, we expect a vending machine, instead of God. So the answer to the question about what could be too hard for the…
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Feeding the hungry has negative ROI
The holiest service you perform, the kind of service Jesus asks of those who would be his disciples, will not be rewarded with success, respect, or even a lot of happy feelings. That was never part of the bargain, and you should be aware of that in advance.
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First Shall be Last and the Last Shall be First: A Didactic, Overbearing Parable
Yes, I know nobody perfectly fits these stereotypes. Once upon a time Bill was a 7th-generation member who loved his Mormon community. His grandfather had been a [insert high Church or BYU or Utah business culture position]. For him Church participation wasn’t much of a sacrifice, but rather was a part of the waters he…
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Your Reactions to Church Yesterday, 2/8
While we claim that Church is worship, I think Church members often talk about Church like it is entertainment. I hear things like “I got bored”, “I didn’t like that talk,” “What they said was wrong,” etc. If you are worshiping God at Church, why do these questions matter? Is the presentation, good or bad,…
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CFM 2/16-2/22: Poetry for “To Be a Greater Follower of Righteousness”
Since the Old Testament is so long, each lesson covers much more material, making it much harder to have overall themes for the lesson. As a result, each lesson tends to be more episodic, covering a broad range of topics. This lesson is like that, covering everything from righteous desires, to Melchizedek, to tithing. I…
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Your Reactions to Church Yesterday, 2/1
While we claim that Church is worship, I think Church members often talk about Church like it is entertainment. I hear things like “I got bored”, “I didn’t like that talk,” “What they said was wrong,” etc. If you are worshiping God at Church, why do these questions matter? Is the presentation, good or bad,…
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CFM 2/9-2/15: Poetry for “Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord”
The story of Noah and the flood has often led to difficulties, especially between those who take the story literally and those who see it more metaphorically. For those who are trying to decide between a literal interpretation and a metaphorical interpretation (as if this were a binary question that has to be decided one…
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What Can We Learn from Visions of Glory? Part 2
Mystery seeking is an essential part of Mormonism’s founding narratives. Part 2 of a three-part series beginning with What Can We Learn from Visions of Glory? Speculating about the afterlife is integral to who we are as Latter-day Saints. The Church’s proselytizing program puts questions about “our Heavenly Father’s plan” in the center of its…
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Your Reactions to Church Yesterday, 1/25
Recently I explored the writings of a Mormon literary thinker little-known among Church members today, Wayne Booth. In The Company We Keep, Booth proposes that human beings not only learn by induction and deduction, but by what he calls “coduction” — the discovery of knowledge in conversation with others. This is a cornerstone of how…
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CFM 2/2-2/8: Poetry for “The Lord Called His People Zion”
For me, this lesson (to be taught February 8th — I work 2 weeks ahead) might be one of the most important lessons of the whole Come Follow Me cycle. The example of Enoch and the idea of Zion, our utopian ideal, lead to important questions about what we do today and how we organize…
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The Church Doesn’t Need Your Panic: A Response to Jonathan Green
Guest post by Morgan Deane. I read Jonathan Green’s post and because the underlying flaws have been repeated at least three times over the past year, I thought it was worth a substantive response, and it was too long for comments. There’s a lot of heat, hyperbole, and moral posturing in his post, but very…
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Ark Steadiers and the Priesthood Ban
So a while back I tossed out the idea of faithful LDS who pushed back on some church policies and proposed the label of “ark steadiers.” I thought about these issues while reading and reflecting on Matthew Harris’s Second Class Saints. The big issue for me was that some members did push back on the…
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Your Reactions to Church Yesterday, 1/18
Recently I explored the writings of a Mormon literary thinker little-known among Church members today, Wayne Booth. In The Company We Keep, Booth proposes that human beings not only learn by induction and deduction, but by what he calls “coduction” — the discovery of knowledge in conversation with others. This is a cornerstone of how…
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CFM 1/26-2/1: Poetry for “Teach These Things Freely unto Your Children”
I’m old enough that when thinking about teaching children my mind quickly goes to the wonderful and insightful Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song, “Teach Your Children Well”. Most of all, the song points out an often overlooked element of teaching, that we really don’t know and can’t completely understand what our children have gone…
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What Can We Learn from Visions of Glory?
Kendall Buchanan is a Provo business owner with a wife and six kids, and a passion for religious scholarship, especially Mormonism. Visions of Glory is a side-effect of our spiritually vibrant Mormon culture. Part 1 of a three-part series discussing the book and its significance. Ever since Visions of Glory was spotted in a photo…