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Sabbath Devotional :: Let God Prevail
When I was a young mother in the midst of some extraordinary challenges, I was often given “glimpses” of my future as I prayed. My oldest son had needs that completely consumed the two of us and I put my career as a professional musician on hold to care for him. I don’t think that most of us will need to make such a dramatic choice, but I did not see any other way forward at the time. My son needed me more than I needed my music and I had a clear sense that the work I was doing with him was noble and good. When I prayed I…
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Are You Aware? The Model Minority Myth
This is part II in our Awareness Wednesday series on the Asian American experience. Read the other posts in the series here. I tried to step lightly across the hot sand in a graceful manner but failed as grains of sand made room for the weight of each step as I balanced three pairs of sandals and an extra pair of goggles that my daughters and husband didn’t need. We were vacationing in Kauai for the first time, and, as is normal, they all ran pell-mell into the surf leaving all their belongings behind. As I gathered their accouterments to the chair where I had staked out our spot on the beach, I…
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Sabbath Devotional :: How to Move a Mountain
This week we are blessed with a special musical devotional from Cherie Call (see video above). Cherie’s song, “How to Move a Mountain,” is a favorite of mine. I first heard it several years ago during an especially difficult time in my life. The message resonated deeply with me then and has stayed with me. I believe the message is especially relevant to each of us right now: in the work we are doing in MWEG, in the broad challenges we face as society, and in the very personal mountains that we each face in our individual lives. A note from Cherie: After the 2016 election I was worried for…
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Are You Aware? A Brief Review of Asian American History
This is part I in our Awareness Wednesday series on the Asian American Experience. Read the other posts in the series here. Asian culture and peoples have always been the “East” to the European “West.” During the Roman Empire, trade routes and networks were established early on between these two regions and cultures. The fascination and desire to trade with the East and its otherworldly foods, animals, and the like is what compelled many, including Christopher Columbus, to embark on a voyage in search of Asia. Early migrations The first Asians to set foot in the Americas were mostly from China, Japan, and the Philippines, arriving in New Spain (Alta California and parts…
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MWEG Member Op-Ed :: ‘When It Comes to Wearing a Mask, Just Do It’
“Let’s talk about our social contracts. There are laws and policies that dictate what we have to wear. Most states, and many cities, including Provo, have decency laws that require adults to wear a certain amount of clothing. Why? Because it protects me when I wear them, and it protects you and makes you feel more comfortable. Many businesses have policies that state, “No shoes, no shirt, no service.” Why? Because it protects the business against liability from injury or discomfort of their customers and employees. There are also many people who adhere to certain dress codes because of religious instruction. Are you one of them?” Click here for the…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Broken
Jesus Christ invites us to “come unto [him] with a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 12:19). What does it mean to have a “broken heart”? I once heard a teacher point out that we use the word “broken” to describe the process of taming a horse and training it to be ridden. Knowing that the Lord would like us to be someone who “putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Perfect Brightness — Light of the World
I have been thinking a lot about light. This is probably because I have been experiencing a lot of darkness. During this time when the world feels so strange and unsettled, when there are so many uncertainties, I often feel a heavy weight on my chest. The landscape of our current situation appears bleak and dreary. Dark. And so I think about light. I visualize light. I ponder light. I look for light. I seek after a “perfect brightness of hope” (2 Nephi 31:20). That phrase is in my thoughts, my prayers, my meditations, my heart — every day. I can’t say that I fully comprehend that “perfect brightness.” But…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Love One Another — But How?
Last Sunday, I was re-reading the April 2020 General Conference talks. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has always been one of my favorite speakers. His talk: A Perfect Brightness of Hope was special. This section stood out to me: “We pray for those who have lost loved ones in this modern plague, as well as for those who are currently infected or at risk. We certainly pray for those who are giving such magnificent health care. When we have conquered this — and we will — may we be equally committed to freeing the world from the virus of hunger, freeing neighborhoods and nations from the virus of poverty. May we…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Light on the Path
Everybody has a superpower. Mine is pretty straightforward, and it can best be described as an ability to see around corners. So the last few months have been incredibly disorienting for me, because not only am I unable to see around corners, I cannot even seem to see five feet in front of me. And frankly, I’ve been struggling with this. During those same months, I, like many of you, have also been experiencing a very unusual degree of isolation. Some of that isolation is straightforward — my abundant and complex life narrowed overnight. But there is another layer. I am discovering that many more people than I had previously…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Choose Love
MWEG’s fifth Principle of Peacemaking says, “Peacemaking chooses love instead of hate.” This seems like a fairly easy one in the abstract, the theoretical. I don’t think many people consider themselves hateful or relish or seek out feelings of hatred. Most people want to love and be loved. But it gets more complicated in the concrete, the specific, the up-close-and-personal and daily. So how do we choose love? Chapter 4 in 1 John is a master class on love, and I want to highlight a few verses here: 7. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.8. He that loveth…
