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Sabbath Devotional :: The Gift of Peace
They were wholly preposterous words. “On earth peace, good will toward men,” sang angels hovering over a land heaving with political and racial tension, ruled by a degenerate despot, choked by Roman oppression, crowded in on all sides by competing foreign powers — a land that in just one generation would collapse under revolt, its temple razed to the ground. Yet it is precisely into the heart of such a conflict-rife setting that the shimmering, pulsating words “peace” and “good will” spilled down the conduit from God’s presence. Like pure water, they gushed into this murky sphere, sending bright, ever-expanding ripples across the thick Judean night. Peace, proclaimed the angels.…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Advent
Last week my husband and I began our Sabbath with a quiet family devotional focused on the theme of this special First Advent Sunday: Hope. Today is the second Sunday of Advent. Its theme is Love. Here is this year’s schedule of my interpretation of the four Sundays of Advent, plus a couple additional related worshipful family devotionals for the season. This could be a wonderful tradition to add to your December Monday night Family Home Evenings, if you don’t wish to add this faith-filled Christian tradition to your Sundays. Make it your own, and peace be with you! – Linds P. Jackson. WEEK 1: HOPE (purple candle) Hymns Readings…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Letter from the Founders
The following Open Letter from the founders of Mormon Women for Ethical Government will appear in the Sunday edition of the Salt Lake Tribune and then again in Meridian Magazine (https://ldsmag.com) on Monday. Please join us in an MWEG-wide fast and mighty prayer tomorrow (Fast Sunday) for our Church leaders (who will be meeting with President Trump on Monday), for Robert Mueller and his team, for our elected leaders, for an enlightened citizenry, and for our country. Have a blessed Sabbath, all! * * * Dear Mr. President, We welcome you to our beautiful state. You probably do not know much about Mormons, so let us take a minute to…
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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…
