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The Power (and Covenant) of Community
Do you ever get words stuck in your head? Or notice a specific word or concept popping up over and over? These last few weeks, “community” keeps working its way into my thoughts. Being physically separated or isolated from our communities right now, not able to “meet together oft” (3 Nephi 18:22), has made me think a lot about the importance and power of community. A few weeks ago, I watched Just Mercy and noticed how this theme weaves its way through the storylines. For the inmates who are physically cut off from the outside world and for their families and friends and neighbors trying to band together against the injustices…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Of Peacemaking and Piglets
The Third Principle of Peacemaking reads: Peacemaking demands great tolerance for people and none for injustice. This is so hard. I’m tempted to think it’s impossible. With the news this week of the commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence, a scripture has reverberated in my head: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” Proverbs 28:13. Is that true? In whose court? Under what authority? Day after day the onslaught continues. Which government appointee is just a toady for another one higher up? Which elected official takes our trust and swaps it for prestige, influence, protection or money? (It has been said,…
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Sabbath Devotional :: An Eye of Faith
Several years ago, during an especially difficult time of my life, I was reading in Alma 5 when a phrase from verse 15 jumped out at me: Do you look forward with an eye of faith? At that time in my life, “looking forward with an eye of faith” meant believing my current difficult situation was not permanent. It meant trusting that things could and would improve. It meant holding on to hope instead of yielding to despair. Asking myself that question reminded me to shift my focus from fear to faith. In the years since, this question has come to my mind at different times, prompting reflection and acting…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Planting Seeds
A couple of years ago I attended a Relief Society lesson with a relative while I was visiting from out of state. I can’t remember for sure, but I think the lesson was on the talk A Plea to My Sisters by President Nelson. What I do distinctly remember is the electric feeling in the room as all of us, including me, a stranger, got excited about the possibility of the Lord needing us — his sisters — to do his work. I also remember thinking: But what exactly should I do? The good news is that having that feeling — of wanting to help God with his work and…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Concentric Circles and Self-Care
“… and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death…” (Mosiah 18: 8-9). These are the covenants we make when we are baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They can seem overwhelming, especially in this…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Just and True
As I was contemplating the past week or so about my devotional message, I was reading my scriptures. Alma 18:12 jumped out: “Ammon . . . went in unto the king, and he saw that the countenance of the king was changed.” Ammon proceeded by the power of the Holy Ghost to ask King Lamoni inspired questions. Lamoni then asked, “Art thou sent from God?” (verse 33). In the next verse Ammon answered: “I am called by his Holy Spirit to teach these things unto this people, that they may be brought to a knowledge of that which is just and true.” It struck me, aren’t we here as members…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Embracing the Period of Great Humbling
Many years ago, in the mythical days just before the internet sped up communication, I was a student studying abroad in London. General Conference had happened somewhere, but it hadn’t happened yet for us, and just as we left to head out on a month-long trip in Europe, a friend got a package containing homemade conference cassette tapes. Because of this, a few days later I found myself on a train, struggling to get discernible words out of a small portable cassette player. Suddenly, a voice came through clearly. Gordon B. Hinkley was reading a talk that President Benson felt too unwell to give himself, and for some reason it…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Prayer of the Peacemaker
As a kid, I had kind of a love/hate relationship with the story of Abinadi. I loved the example he set of testifying of truth but, honestly, was a little terrified by how things ended for him. I was also fairly shy, and extremely conflict-averse, so the thought of standing up in front of a group of people and telling them a whole bunch of things that made them angry was nearly as terrifying as Abinadi’s untimely death. And yet, I knew it was important to follow the example of people like Abinadi, to use my voice to “stand for truth and righteousness.” At the Mormon Women for Ethical Government…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Perspectives on the Pale Blue Dot
This week’s diet of news includes: a platter of pardon for a confessed criminal a fresh gumbo of cooked-up conspiracy theories a pallet cleanser of a whistleblower’s account about specious miracle drugs and a bulk order of Funeral Potatoes for the nearly 90 thousand souls in the US who have died so far this year from COVID-19. This maelstrom of chaos has been unrelenting for years now. We muster our courage and contact our civic leaders on important matters — often feeling like we’re howling in the wind. We protect the vote and encourage our communities. We send aid, lift banners, and inform ourselves from reliable sources. We reach way…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Reflections on Remembering
During more than one lesson I was taught at church during my youth, I learned that President Spencer W. Kimball once said the most important word in the dictionary is “remember” (Spencer W. Kimball, “Circles of Exaltation,” June 28, 1968). This really stuck with me, and I have thought of it often over the years. There have been times in my life when “remember” has been an especially painful word. There have been traumatic events that replay in my mind that I desperately want to forget. There have been losses that sting and ache, and remembering is accompanied by waves of sadness and grief. Still, I recognize that remembering some…
