- Kent Larsen on A Review: The Diaries of Carol Lynn Pearson: Mormon Author, Feminist, and Activist, Volume 1: 1956–1990: “Wow, thanks for this. I am also hoping for something that will make BKP more three dimensional. I remember him speaking in the MTC and using the “Thimble and Umbrella” analogy, and listening to a talk about a newly married woman saying “my troubles are finally at an end”, to which her mother replied, “yes, my dear, you just don’t know which end.” He had a certain wisdom that needs to be acknowledged.” Sep 20, 19:42
- on Judging in our Meetings (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 9/20: “Here’s a few of my thoughts in reaction to what I experienced in Church yesterday (9/20): Our Bishop himself announced tithing settlement in Sacrament Meeting, emphasizing that the tithing declaration was a minor part of meeting with him — instead he said the purpose is to meet the ward members. Fifteen seconds of tithing and ten to fifteen minutes of getting to know you. I think that’s exactly what Bishops should be doing. I hear too many people saying that they don’t know or trust their Bishop — and that seems like a tragedy. In Sunday School the teacher pointed out two things about Isaiah that are commonly not known: 1) Quotations of and paraphrases of Isaiah make up about 35% of the Book of Mormon — so, do you think the BoM authors thought that it was important? And 2) Isaiah is a poet — the book is almost all poetry. The poetry in the Old Testament is made up of parallel metaphors, and it occurred to me that this form of poetry, by giving two metaphors for the same idea helps us to triangulate the message, and zero into ideas that aren’t explicit in the text, and may not be things that can be easily stated explicitly. Our priesthood lesson looked at Elder Christofferson’s talk “The Character of Christ”, in which he suggested that character is rooted in the motivations in our hearts. But it seems to me that even if our motivations are the same as those of Christ, we still have the difficulty of figuring out how to apply those motivations to specific situations. For example, when dealing with a wayward child, is it best to establish strict rules, or allow the child to make choices? A lot depends on the child, and what is best for their personality and view of the world, which makes the decision difficult. Any particular approach could be loving or could be harsh. ” Sep 20, 19:13
- on Judging in our Meetings (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 9/20: “In case it’s not clear from the OP: Let me emphasize that this is NOT a place to criticize what is wrong with church or your fellow congregants. The point is to post what you learned because of what happened at Church or how that led you to think. It’s about the good things we can get out of Church, not the negative things that disturbed or upset us. It doesn’t have to be orthodox, traditional or even on topic.” Sep 20, 18:56
- on Do Any Latter-day Saint Wards Own Handbells?: “Two posts forward in this series, I’ll talk more about the handbook, but they’ve given local leaders a lot more leway in deciding what instruments are apropriate at church. I suspect that African drums were one of the cases they had in mind for that shift. Though, I also wonder if there will be a lingering stigma on percussion instruments (well, other than piano).” Sep 19, 21:21
- on Do Any Latter-day Saint Wards Own Handbells?: “Looking internationally, it would be great if the Church encouraged the use of local instruments. I’ve attended SM in several African countries. The integration of drums into church services would reduce the neocolonial feel of the meeting. In East Africa, the ngoma drum is widely available and quite inexpensive. I’ve purchased them for Branches to use in their youth activities. But it would exciting to see them integrated into the regular service. In Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru, their locally made flutes have a beautiful and haunting sound. They would be a wonderful addition to Church music. Like African drums, they are quite inexpensive.” Sep 19, 14:58
- on The Glasses of Twenty Five Years: “I’m not sure how you are getting the idea that I think anyone is being forced. As you quoted, I said they were being “pushed.” I don’t see pushed and forced as the same thing. I think influence is a kind of spectrum, going from light suggestion on one extreme to coercion on the other. Our society has a HUGE influence over us, determining a lot of what we are “encouraged” or “coerced” (depending on your point of view) to do. For example, like it or not, in most places in the US you travel between places by car. Public transportation is not available everywhere, or is so infrequent that using it is difficult or impossible. So most people in the US are influenced to own and use a car to get around. This is also true about a lot of the things we believe and think. We are repeatedly told things and rarely or never given another option about how to think. The author David Foster Wallace explained this idea in his commencement speech at Kenyon College several years ago (see https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/ ) So, while I do believe we ultimately have choices, those choices are often limited by society, making it much more difficult to go against them. And sometimes those choices are event morally wrong (but I don’t believe that God will hold that against us—for it to be a sin, we have to knowingly choose to do it — there has to be a real choice).” Sep 18, 21:21
- on The Glasses of Twenty Five Years: ““The culture seems to actively push people to ignoring others, and to a very tribal perspective. And that is leading to real harm.” Hm. I may be missing what you are trying to say here. My thought is that we can’t force someone to know and taste of God’s love…and I think tasting of that love (Enos-like) is THE thing that can help people move past tribalism…which is just a defense mechanism. If someone is using a defense mechanism, they are in pain or ignorance. I’ve been behind the glass wall of knowing intellectually about God’s love and the Atonement of Jesus Christ and all of that, and not having a clue how to actually access His grace. I lived in pain and fear of God and all of that even though I was so active, etc. God brought things and people and struggles that invited me into a deeper search for Him. I found Him with people seeking recovery from addiction. I still attend 12-step meetings because that’s where I see the veil coming off of people’s eyes about the nature of God. I don’t think we can blame an inanimate thing like “the culture.” It’s just made up of people. And if we’ve had the blessing of tasting of God’s love, it’s incumbent on us to extend that love and witness of it…but also to be so patient because God’s timing is perfect in people’s lives. When the student is ready, the Teacher appears…and finding His love can’t be forced (“no power or influence”). If you ever want to be in a “culture” where His love can be found, hang out in 12-step rooms. Sit with people who were brought to the brink and see how God shows up even in the darkest of dark places. The story that helped me most when God felt so far away and I felt so confused by that was Mark Miner. He shares his story in lots of different places. He taught me so much about God. People need to hang around people like Mark to start to get how incredible God’s love and grace are.” Sep 18, 00:38
- on Do Any Latter-day Saint Wards Own Handbells?: “Yeah, it is a dilemma. In this specific example, I love handbell music and feel like there isn’t enough of it in the world, so my personal feelings are to encourage it wherever it can happen and to share it as broadly as possible. But I recognize that’s not always going to be the right answer!” Sep 17, 22:40
- on Baptisms for the Dead Among the Early Christians: What Does the Literature Say?: “Interesting and all non LDS sources.” Sep 17, 22:20
- on Do Any Latter-day Saint Wards Own Handbells?: “LHL: “Honestly, the quality and impact of LDS Sunday School and Priesthood, has declined so badly – and has become so meaningless” Uh, I think I’ve been making suggestions about this in my posts over the past year….” Sep 17, 21:57
