- Anna on “Being Man and Woman Both”: The Unfiltered Voice of a Pioneer Missionary Wife: “My great grandfather went on a three year mission in about 1916-18 to somewhere in the South Pacific Islands. My grandfather was born after he left and so his father did not meet him until he was three years old. My great grandmother took in laundry for money and kept the farm running all by herself while he was gone with her two children. His being gone when my grandfather was born and until he was three made it so he never bonded with my grandfather as his son, but he doted on the little girl he knew from before he left. There were scars from that damaged relationship that were still noticeable 50 years after the guys death. My great grandfather was killed a few years after that mission. It says a lot about how my great grandmother felt about most of her marriage being spent as a single mother, that after his death, she remarried to a non Mormon. Because he was from Missouri, they were hate driven out of Provo Utah. They moved to Nevada until he was killed and she returned to Utah with her 5 children. My grandfather was 12 when his step father was killed and he pulled a handcart of their belongings as they walked on that move back to Utah. Her children from her second husband were raised to be nonmembers, even though their older brother and sister were raised in the church and they were still really young when their father was killed. So, that kind of shows my ggrandmother’s feelings toward the church. She once asked my mother to make sure temple work was done for her nonmember husband and to have her sealed to him. She about broke my mother’s heart by saying she wanted to be sealed to her nonmember husband and not the guy who was my mother’s actual grandfather because that meant to my mother that she was choosing her second family over her and that first family. But it was obvious to my mother that she felt loved and cared for by her second husband but felt she had been abandoned by her first husband who put church over her and their children. So, I would say from my families experience that sending young husbands off on missions for three years was a bad idea if the church wanted families to be forever.” Jul 10, 12:45
- on The Gospel and Entropy: “I was a physics major for most of my time as an undergrad, and I definitely came away with the sense that entropy/thermodynamics is the final boss of physics. First, it’s so fundamental to reality as we know it. We can easily imagine a universe without gravity (it wouldn’t be very friendly to humans). We can imagine local violations of the 2nd law of thermodynamics (“Let there be light!”). But a universe that consistently ignored thermodynamics would be incredibly bizarre: “All the air molecules in your room decided to hang out in one corner today. Oh, you wanted to breathe that air? Sorry about that…” Second, it really feels malign. It extracts an energy tax from everything we do. It’s the reason nothing is 100% efficient. It’s the reason we can’t have perpetual motion machines. More broadly, it’s the reason the whole universe seems to be running down. Never mind heat death, just think through all the energy sources you know and recognize they’re all going to run out eventually. Applying that to the whole universe is pretty abstract, but the fundamental sense that everything is gradually falling apart is part of our everyday experience. So yes, the fact that God can overcome thermodynamics is huge, and glorious. And I love the idea that all the creation stories that involve overcoming primal chaos are echoes of that.” Jul 10, 10:36
- on A Museum Review: The Museum of Utah: “I recently visited the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. It is a wonderful museum and should visited if you are ever in Europe. In many ways it can be a very religious experience. If you can’t visit the museum, get a picture book biography. My travels have transported me to locales that intersect with Van Gogh’s tortured existence. On my Mormon mission, I worked in the city of Mons, Belgium. Vincent lived there for a short time as a sort of missionary to the impoverished coal miners of the nearby Borinage. His failure there paralleled mine. And he decided to turn to being an artist. In Paris, he was influenced by the work of Millet, an artist who specialized in painting rural peasants. I remember one of Millet’s works “The Gleaners” was used in a SS many years ago. Van Gogh himself painted many scenes of rural life: “The Potato Eaters.” He also made a large number of drawings depicting everyday life. I have also spent time in Arles, France, where Van Gogh painted his gloriously colorful landscapes. Unfortunately, Vincent suffered from severe mental illness and, at a very young age, took his own life. So why is all this religious? Why should we Mormon’s care. Vincent didn’t sell any paintings during his lifetime. He was supported by his brother Theo. Theo was married and had a son named Vincent. When Theo died, his wife and son worked tirelessly to preserve Vincent Van Gogh’s legacy. The majority of artistic works in the Amsterdam museum are from Theo’s collection. How many of us would have the love for our brother to support him throughout his tortured life? Theo provides a wonderful example of brotherly love, and tolerance for severe mental illness. Van Gogh should make us think about how we treat the so-called mentally ill. How can we can best relate to them without squashing the creativity inside them. Vincent’s art should also make us question the art we put in our churches and chapels. The Church now has a list of 25 acceptable works. Most are boring illustrations. Perhaps a more diverse collection of creative religious and quasi-religious works would be more thought provoking. ThinkVan Gogh, El Greco, Rembrandt, etc. Or even some contemporary Mormon artists with a unique take on religiosity. So spend a day in the Amsterdam museum or perusing a colorful coffee table book. Contemplate how all this relates to Christ’s life and message.” Jul 10, 00:52
- on The Gospel and Entropy: “What fascinating beings we are. A human concerned about the heat death of the universe today is like a stromatolite 4 billion years ago worrying that some day it will be dredged up to make way for a luxury beach resort. We have a doctrine of eternal life. We readily have a solution for earthly mortality. I suppose the next concern is the heat death of the universe, uncountable eons in the future. Surely God has a solution for that, right? I’m not trying to mock or criticize. I find this question fascinating as well. I just think it’s a little funny we spend any energy dwelling on these extraneous gospel topics. I guess we like it and that’s why we’re on this forum.” Jul 9, 13:55
- on The Gospel and Entropy: “One thing I know is nothing really makes sense, whether it’s the scale of the universe or how my guts digest things, or how life is created. It’s all too bizarre to be either something someone created or something that just happens over time. Doesn’t make sense. So faith is pretty much a conscious choice for me to choose one story that doesn’t make much sense instead of accepting a different story they also doesn’t really make much sense. Finally, I think the story in the BoA of Adams without end and the roleplay (since disbanded and soon to be forgotten) of Adams and Eves in the temple is another pretty cool thing that doesn’t make much sense either.” Jul 9, 11:28
- on The Gospel and Entropy: “It could be that the known universe is just a small division of the sacred cosmos–perhaps a sort of thin layer of fallen creation along the outer edge where the waters of chaos are constantly lapping upon its shore.” Jul 9, 07:39
- on Church in Contrast: Participation and Meaning in Church (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About) Yesterday, 7/5?: “Our Sunday School class spent a lot of time on Solomon’s prayer dedicating the temple. It struck me that he saw it as a tool to help Israel repent and reconcile with God. Too often we treat attending the temple as a reward for overcoming sin rather than a source of strength that will help us do so. On this week’s apparent theme, in testimony meeting a missionary read a poem about a man who finds himself on a hole, tries to build a ladder with the available materials but it’s not long enough, and then someone drops a rope to him (apparently a short rope, because he has to be on his ladder to reach it). As an analogy for the atonement that strikes me as all wrong: nothing we can do helps in the slightest way to save us from sin and death. As for changing, in my experience Christ’s help is more like “If you’ll just tie this rope around you, I’ll pull you up.” But the poem was obviously meaningful to the elder who read it. I did like the ending, where the man expresses his gratitude to his helper–and then is given a rope of his own and pointed to the thousands of holes around him. @DeAnn Spencer. I’d start with the supreme importance of agency, and that we must freely choose Christ in order to be true Christians, not choose him because of government influence or coercion. I’d point out the 11th Article of Faith, and maybe quote Joseph Smith’s statements that non-Christians were welcome in Nauvoo to make it clear how broadly he meant it to apply. Add Alma 30:7 about how it would be strictly contrary to the commandments of God for the law to put men on unequal grounds because of their beliefs (and a non-Christian in a Christian nation is definitely on unequal grounds). Maybe touch on how mixing government with religion makes religion a path to power, and Jesus’ sharpest criticism was reserved for those who use religion as a path to power. (I’d say it already applies to some of our politicians today). But I think the most relevant statement came from President Oaks in his October 2020 talk Love Your Enemies: “The United States was founded by immigrants of different nationalities and different ethnicities. Its unifying purpose was not to establish a particular religion or to perpetuate any of the diverse cultures or tribal loyalties of the old countries. Our founding generation sought to be unified by a new constitution and laws.” It’s frustrating that a member can advocate for the US to be a Christian nation without realizing they’re going against the prophet. It would be clearer if President Oaks came out and said Trumpism is wrong, Christian Nationalism is wrong, post-liberalism is wrong, etc. But it would also cause a lot of people to stop listening. Leadership’s current strategy of instead advocating for their opposites: loving your enemies, peacemaking, religious freedom, pluralism, etc. makes sense to me.” Jul 8, 14:56
- on A Museum Review: The Museum of Utah: “A highlight for me as I toured the museum was bumping into you!” Jul 8, 07:53
- on A Museum Review: The Museum of Utah: “my family and i visited last week when i was off for the 4th holiday weekend. it was overwhelming in the best sense; we definitely walked out thinking “we’re gonna have to come back, there’s just too much to see and process in one visit”. highly highly recommend if you are in the slc or surrounding areas. worth a drive.” Jul 7, 16:42
- on Church in Contrast: Participation and Meaning in Church (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About) Yesterday, 7/5?: “I often use our ward fb page to comment on some of our s/school, or priesthood lessons on aspects of the lessons from which I have learnt, or to make further comment. I find our ward fb page to be an excellent medium to engage in gospel topic discussions.” Jul 7, 15:30
