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Sabbath Devotional :: Hope
As we near the end of this election season, I know many of us are feeling stressed, anxious, and just plain tired. Right now, it feels as if we’ve been sprinting for quite some time and can see the finish line, but we don’t quite know what lies on the other side. For the most part, I’m able to keep the stress and anxiety at bay in a few ways — taking positive action and making time for the things that nourish my soul. A few nights ago, though, I found it catching up to me, and I prayed that the Lord would calm my anxious heart and soothe my…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Anxiety: The Power of “Palms Up, Palms Open”
The clock is ticking. As we approach the single digit days before the election, I find my stomach clenching, my hands curling into tight little balls, my brows furrowed. I’ve started having flash backs to November 8th, 2016. Something in me broke that day. As a mildly left-of-center Midwesterner who had a son working for the 44th President, I felt like a stranger in a strange land in my very own USA. I was flummoxed by the choice of so many of my fellow citizens, and even among a majority of my sister and brother Saints. I still hold to the Church’s proclaimed stance as non-partisan and international, but an…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Christ-Centered Leadership: Examples from First Nephi
When our son TJ was a young child, my husband and I visited my graduate school mentor. As he watched our son totter around his office energetically, he said to me, “Lisa, you’re a psychologist now, trained in personality theory and behavior. Let’s see you control that child!” My mentor was, of course, teasing. But he was also reminding me that children come with the developing ability to act for themselves; and we, as parents, have the opportunity to help nurture their ability to make good choices. In our capacity as leaders, and in our roles as parents, we are constantly faced with decisions about encouraging or restricting the agency…
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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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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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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 :: Learn, Love, Act
During this time of COVID, our empty nest has expanded with four other people in the house since March — a baby and a three-year-old and their parents who both have full time jobs in DC. Our son and daughter-in-law manage their careers remotely from our place in the West, and we all spend segments of the day with the littles. We are all healthy. All things considered, for the worst of times, this is the best of times. Despite the lovely landmarks like first teeth, learning to count to 100, and Sunday home church when we share the sacrament, I admit that I still feel unsettled, unfocused, subpar, and…
