Sabbath Devotional :: Six Month Anniversary

“Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart.” (Deuteronomy 4:9)

This past Wednesday, July 26th, 2017, marked the six month anniversary of Mormon Women for Ethical Government. The milestone passed with little fanfare, largely because we were all so focused on ensuring that the most vulnerable people in our country not be stripped of life-saving healthcare as a result of reactionary partisan politics. In other words, we were busy doing exactly what MWEG was established for.

I do want to take a moment today, though, to be still and to sit with and acknowledge both our existence (we’re still here, sisters!) and the importance of the work we are doing — to remember, lest we forget the things which our eyes have seen and lest they depart from our hearts.

Back in March, the editors of Exponent II asked founder, Linda Hoffman Kimball, if she would interview me about the genesis of MWEG and the work we are doing here. In the flurry of nonstop activity since then, I had largely forgotten about that interview. This past Friday, I returned home from attending a conference in D.C. (followed by a stop-off in Wisconsin to celebrate the first birthday of our adorable grandson) and found a complimentary copy of the Spring 2017 issue of Exponent II waiting for me. Reading the interview printed therein (Calling for Ethical Government) was like being re-awakened to the importance of our mission and to all those early feelings associated with the creation of MWEG.

One of the things the spirit has whispered to me over and over again these past few months is that we must continue as we commenced (see D&C 9: 5). And how did we commence? With full and open hearts; as humble and devoted disciples of Jesus Christ, committed to the ideals of honor, justice, compassion, and decency; brimming with resolve, commitment, energy, and optimism.

Do you remember the feelings of those first heady, dizzying weeks? The hope, the buoyancy, the sisterhood and solidarity, the sense of being carried by the spirit?

Can we feel so now?

Reading this interview reminded me of all these things. I’d like to share a few portions of the interview here with the hope that you, too, will be reminded of why you’re here, devoting so much time and energy to this important work.

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Ex2: Tell us about last January. What happened?

Like many Americans, I grew increasingly alarmed in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. As I watched the unlikely but steady rise of our current sitting president, my feelings moved gradually from disbelief to revulsion to horror to steely resolve. I knew that I could not just sit by and do nothing. On January 25, aghast at the latest Executive Orders that had been issued that day, a friend wrote to me, “What can we do?” I responded:

“We must turn our outrage into action. But we can’t panic. First, and above all, we seek the Spirit. We stay on our knees and pray our hearts out until we know we have the Spirit with us. And then we get to work. Calmly, with focus, impelled by the ferocity of love, not fear, not anger. What do we do? We learn what it means to be an engaged citizen in a democratic republic. We write/call every single one of our representatives, over and over again. We flood them with phone calls and letters and emails and let them know that THIS MUST NOT STAND. And we use whatever other platforms are available to us to make our voices heard. We must work hard, but we also must work smart. Our power is greater the greater our numbers, so we have to mobilize.”

On the evening of January 26th, I sat down at my computer and created a Facebook Group. I called it Mormon Women for Political Action (though we soon changed the name to Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG)). I invited the fifteen or so friends who had indicated interest to join me in brainstorming ways we could combine our efforts to more effectively combat what we saw as the attack on the fundamental values of honor and decency in our government. We determined from the outset that, as devoted disciples of Jesus Christ, we would conduct ourselves with civility and goodwill, and that we would adopt the core principles of nonviolent resistance as practiced by Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Much to our amazement, our group grew to nearly 4,000 members in just the first two weeks. And we continue to grow. We now have chapters in 36 states/regions of the world. You can imagine how we had to scramble to build a structure to support these numbers.

Ex2: What unexpected lessons have you learned along the way?

In addition to everything I’m learning about the political process and civic engagement (which is a lot!), I’m learning how better to listen to the Spirit — to go when the Spirit says go, and, more importantly for me, to stop when the Spirit says stop.

I’m learning, as did Ammon, the truth that “I am nothing.” At the same time, I am learning how to speak with courage and confidence and power as a daughter of God. I’m learning how to listen, how to engage in a conversation with the intent of understanding rather than of proving a point or being right. Perhaps most importantly, I’m coming to understand the real truth that love is the most powerful force in the universe and the only thing that can heal this broken world.

Ex2: What impact do you see MWEG having on its members and in the country?

One of our members, Maren Mecham, wrote something that addresses this perfectly:

“MWEG has excited our inner Joans-of-Arc; it has made us want to stand for truth (real truth, the pre-“post-truth” kind) and righteousness (the public kind) in a way we hadn’t even considered three months ago. It has us nearly stumbling over our own eagerness to change the world, rushing in to attend to the daily dumpster fires going on in Washington. It has us anxious to preserve any moral high ground the USA has — until recently — retained, and to conserve any democratic virtues which we might still represent in the world. We squeeze our eyes shut against the possibility of losing the noble principles that the American Experiment has validated through its bumpy history. We shut our eyes, but then we take a deep breath, open them again and we go and do things that we’ve never done before because the stakes are very high.”

Yes, the stakes are very high and history will demand to know which side we were on. Let us continue as we commenced, with courage, compassion, and confidence, and with God ever as our guide. Onward, dear sisters!