Sabbath Devotional :: Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear

With last weekend’s events in Charlottesville fresh on our minds and weighing heavily on our hearts, we are eager to move forward with our new MWEG “Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear” Initiative. It is a multifaceted individual and collective effort to address the wave of overt racism and bigotry we have witnessed washing over the US (and elsewhere) in recent months. We have been encouraged by efforts being made by other groups and individuals and would like to add to those efforts by drawing upon our unique training and opportunities as Mormon women.

A couple of years ago when I was attending a small branch, we had one particular fast and testimony meeting that was even more unconventional than they often were. One sister with some mental illness issues had taken the stand and was about 20 minutes into her very emotional, heartfelt, peppered-with-the-occasional-expletive, public confession. While she continued with heartfelt pleas for love and acceptance, many of us kept looking uncomfortably toward the branch president to see when he might intervene. Then another sister in the congregation stood and walked to the podium. She gently tapped the sister speaking on the shoulder and proceeded to hug and comfort her at the podium for about three or four minutes while the rest of us watched quietly from our seats. After a few minutes, the second sister quietly walked the first down to her seat and sat there, continuing to embrace and comfort her. A third inspired sister took the stand next and thanked the first sister for sharing her heart with us and then proceeded to give a deeply moving sermon on charity. What began as one of the most uncomfortable sacrament meetings I have ever attended became truly one of the most inspiring and treasured.

This experience has been in my thoughts constantly over the past few days. I find it to be a beautiful parable of how priesthood authority and moral authority work hand in hand. When it became clear that our branch president would not intervene, the sister who did acted on inspiration and moral authority to minister with great charity. Of the experience, she later said, “I just wanted someone to help her, and realized that I fit that description myself.” I do not know why our branch president chose not to act in that moment, but I am convinced that there could have been no greater outcome than what did occur — for both the sister at the podium and for the rest of the congregation. As we continue to pray for guidance in dismantling racism within and outside the Church, I hope we will draw upon both sources of authority. We already put forth a faithful, collective, and ongoing letter-writing campaign to the leadership of the Church, which I believe has and will continue to be answered in miraculous ways. Now we must also prepare ourselves to respond in faith and boldness when the Lord directs us, drawing upon our own moral authority to move forward in comforting, persuading, instructing, correcting, and ministering to our sisters and brothers within our spheres of influence.

As we engage in this important work, we should remember the words of Moroni who says, “Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear. And I am filled with charity, which is everlasting love; wherefore, all children are alike unto me; wherefore I love little children with a perfect love; and they are all alike and partakers of salvation. For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity.” Moroni 8:16-18

It is with these words in mind that we introduce our “Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear” Initiative which will draw upon inspiration and expertise of Mormon women who are eager to comfort and share the burdens of friends and loved ones most affected by racism. Some of the projects we will be working on include:

Family Home Evening guides for engaging children and teenagers in the important work of racial justice and in using privilege to protect their friends of color
An ongoing prayer list for victims of police brutality or racially motivated hate crimes
Strategies for shutting down overt or subtle racism in a Church setting
Collaboration on a series of op-eds and article submissions to Church publications
Recommended reading lists for adults, teens, and children
De-escalation training for moments of crisis
Bias training and instruction/practice in cross-racial identification
Strategies for monitoring and addressing bias or prejudice at our children’s schools
Opportunities to support or accompany people of color who are afraid to interact with the police, the court system, or public services without assistance
A guide for interacting with police in safe and effective ways, including how to safely observe or intervene as a bystander, how to effectively work with police when racial prejudice might be a factor, and how to support improvements to police training programs that include multicultural education

If you are interested in joining this effort, please join the Pure Love Casteth Out Fear Initiative group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1600575483346475/, where we will be working together to perfect and implement these ideas. Please feel free to invite friends who may not (yet?) be members of MWEG, but who are looking for ways to participate in this important work.