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Sabbath Devotional :: Healing Power of Gratitude
Today I woke up with a fog and congestion of what promises to be a miserable cold. I’m sluggish, dopey, achy and — hidden under all the sinus issues and sore throat — empathically grateful for this wonderful life. I recently reconnected with dear friends. I have a house that works (for the most part, although I am a little troubled about the boiler). My spouse is alive and for the most part healthy. My children are alive. My grandchildren are alive. My parents and in-laws WERE alive and blessed my life in so many ways. I’m sitting here, Kleenex in hand, singing “Count your blessings, name them one by…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Hang On
Hang on. It’s what you say to someone when you don’t want them to give up. “Hang on, I’m coming to help!” is a common thing women say, particularly to family members, or the related “Hang in there, it will be ok!” as we hug a friend when she is facing a situation that is particularly challenging. I’d better get this out in the open from the start: I am not a rock climber. I have never aspired to be although I harbor a definite admiration for those who love this challenging activity. What a rush it must be to scale solid rock and sheer cliffs and impossible overhangs using…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Shared Breath
Today I am grateful for the many diverse voices that unite under the MWEG banner. I recorded this (below) in my journal after a meaningful experience with the high school choir I conducted a couple of years ago, but it applies equally to the transformative force of multiple voices joining as one for any just and good cause. There is power in shared breath. SHARED BREATH A single breathcan make thirty voices rise,building walls of soundthat swell upward from floor to ceiling,growing in intensity,then lapsing backward,gently,into the ground. Air circulates.Pulses relax.Eyes close. In.Out.In.Out. Thirty separate systemsof veins and valves and ventriclesare boundand free,arteries interlocking beneath the soil —a blood-and-breath defenseagainst…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Privilege
In an email conversation with a friend earlier this year, she said, “Working with underprivileged groups should not make us ‘feel grateful and lucky for what I have.’ That is the typical, and wrong, reaction. Volunteering for underprivileged should make us feel angry in our souls for the situation that created their marginalization to begin with, and make us want to take action and do something about it.” When I read her words out loud to my children they said, “Yes! That’s is exactly!” We mentor a refugee family from Rwanda. They were torn from their homes, ripped from family members and suffered indignities, starvation and rape from their oppressors…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Feathers
“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness will be your shield and protection.” Psalms 91:4 I love the image of Christ as Mother Hen. There are also verses in 3 Nephi 10 in the setting immediately after the Nephite destruction where Christ uses the same metaphor — rich, compassionate, consoling. We see ourselves as chicks threatened with spiritual attack but confident that we will be protected by our Redeemer. Christ as Mother Hen will swoop in, cover us with his feathers, and his sacrificed body and protect us from destruction, like a hen protects her chicks from devouring hawks. Christ…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Lamplighters
(Sharlee Mullins Glenn and Linda Hoffman Kimball have asked me to share a post from my personal Facebook page. Credit must go to Kimberly Harris Wagner who first shared these beautiful poems and stories with me.) ☆☆☆☆☆☆ I am speaking here in the congregation of my friends, many of you I’ve known and loved for years. Some of you new and dear as if we’ve known each other all our lives. Dear ones, inhabitants of my heart, each of you whose absence would darken my world : We are in a story that ends well. I just peeked at the end of the book and it’s true. Good prevails. Darkness…
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Sabbath Devotional :: The Art of Discernment
I have a tiny painting of Jesus on my wall. It’s by J. Kirk Richards and is reminiscent of the shroud of Turin. There are no distinct features — no piercing eyes, no contoured lips that spoke “Our Father, who art in heaven. . .” or “Blessed are the poor in Spirit. . .” or “It is finished.” I walk past it many times a day. These fleeting, peripheral glimpses linger with me, settle into me, are becoming integrated into my soul. Constant exposure feels like the wisps of a breeze or a tune. They are gracious nudges toward something too real to be adequately conveyed. There is nothing sternly…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Vacuuming Epiphanies
This past week, I had the opportunity to clean the temple. For four hours on Monday morning, I vacuumed and disinfected sealing rooms and one endowment room in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, just seven minutes from my home in Pleasant Grove, Utah. I’ve always loved vacuuming. There’s something about the rhythmic back and forth of the motion, the steady whir of the motor, and those lovely lines left in the carpet that bespeak order, cleanliness, and a job well done. I often have my best thoughts and receive my clearest inspiration while vacuuming. In fact, my husband and kids sometimes ask: “Have you had any vacuum epiphanies lately?” And so,…
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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…
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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…
