-
Sabbath Devotional :: Mourning with Those Who Mourn
The past year and counting have provided us with ample opportunities to reflect upon and to fulfill our covenant to “bear one another’s burdens,” “mourn with those that mourn,” and “comfort those that stand in need of comfort.” (See Mosiah 18:8-10). Far too many moments. Far, far, too many. The deaths, loss, and grief brought about by Covid-19. The deep pain of our fellow Black siblings in light of the wrongful deaths/murders and also of our Asian and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) siblings following the murders in Atlanta and the other instances of AAPI hate and violence. The continued rise in murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, and two spirits. And…
-
Sabbath Devotional :: The Middle Space
It has been a week full of mourning with and holding space for the pain of people I love. I feel a strong call to sit with, listen, and try to carry some of their burden. It is sacred work to be able to fulfill baptismal covenants in this way, but it also means that I am a little bit weary, so I am bringing you a simple devotional this evening, filled with the words of others. I don’t feel particularly naturally skilled at mourning with those who mourn, other than being an introvert who is satisfied to listen while others talk. But I have learned over the years that…
-
Sabbath Devotional :: The Marvel of Rebirth
Over the last few days, as I have been reflecting on the message of Easter and basking in a truly glorious New England spring, a few simple words of scripture keep coming to my mind. Spoken by the Savior to Nicodemus, they are words that explain baptism and its link to exaltation. Nicodemus has come to learn, but he still seems to be struggling to comprehend, the spiritual nature of the teachings offered him. In that moment Christ addresses this confusion head on: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not…
-
Sabbath Devotional :: Unity and Difference
Last week, we celebrated the Relief Society’s birthday or, as I like to call it, “The One Day a Year When Being a Mormon History Nerd Makes You Interesting and Popular.” One of my favorite episodes in Relief Society history is an argument between two Relief Society leaders with intractable opinions and healthy self-confidence. What is unusual about this particular argument is that it took place in the office of President Heber J. Grant. The women were Amy Brown Lyman and Susa Young Gates, both members of the Relief Society General Board. Amy Lyman had been asked by Joseph F. Smith to establish a Social Services Department within the Church…
-
Sabbath Devotional: By the Sweat of thy Brow … Holding Nothing Back
Late one recent February night, despite my hours of reading and writing about peace and conflict resolution, I could only feel the dull flatness of a sense of stupor like the Lord describes in Section 9: 9 of the Doctrine of Covenants: “But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me. “ Despite all my studying and seeking for inspiration about this assignment, I kept turning my ideas over and over in my…
-
Sabbath Devotional :: Lessons Learned
As this week marked the one-year anniversary of the explosion of the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself reflecting on the experiences of the past year. It has been a strange year, surreal at times. It has been a difficult year. For many of us it has been an intensely painful year. But I have been reminded that intense pain often brings intense growth. I have been learning many lessons. I attempt to share just a few of them below. Accepting Uncertainty One thing that came up often for me over the last year was uncertainty. Uncertainty about the future: for myself, for my family, for my country. Uncertainty about what…
-
Sabbath Devotional :: Magnify
I was called to a primary presidency while in the throes of morning sickness with a rainbow baby following my second miscarriage. I was downright crabby and to make matters worse I was assigned to be the counselor over Cub Scouts. Hats off to the super scouters out there! I grew up in a part member family and my knowledge of and passion for scouting was non-existent. I did feel reassured that the calling was where the Lord wanted me, so I proceeded, but again, with crabbiness. The new primary president had been the counselor over scouting before her call as president but she was no help whatsoever. I couldn’t…
-
Sabbath Devotional :: The Choice Between Outside or Clean
A few weeks ago I started feeling some familiar feelings of regret. It is probably because we are approaching the anniversary of a global pandemic and since this time was so remarkable, I feel that I should have done something remarkable with it. Those feelings are familiar to me. Regret is a powerful, universal emotion that burns its way into our thoughts. We sometimes talk about regret in the context of sin, because regret can propel us positively to repent and change. The emotion can also protect us from making and repeating mistakes, so it certainly isn’t all bad. But the kind of regret that makes me feel ashamed that…
-
Sabbath Devotional :: The Divine Complexity of Our Current Circumstances
The temperature here in Omaha has been hovering around 0 degrees for over a week now, often dipping into negative territory, with more frigid weather to come. And we keep getting new layers of snow laid on top of what came the day before, with barely enough time to chip away at them. It kind of feels like we will never be able to go outside again. Even when I am inside, I can feel the never-ending chill of the ice that seems like it is trying to break its way into my home. I have cold toes, cold fingers, and, if I am being honest, a cold heart at…
-
Sabbath Devotional :: The Power of Personal Narrative in Creating Identity and Vision
As a junior in high school, I usually enjoyed my popular Thomas Hardy/Charles Dickens English class with Mr. Thompson. He had a quick wit and engaging teaching style that usually led to interesting discussions among my classmates about all kinds of social topics. On one particular morning, as I sat ready to participate in our literature discussion, Mr. Thompson began with the following statement: “As we all know, religious people are just looking for a crutch to explain their suffering.” As a devoted religious teenage girl living in a largely secular community in Northern California, I sat there shocked, but silent. I was not prepared to say anything to contradict…
