Last week I blogged about, what up until that point, was the only direction I had learned by church leaders regarding whether LDS church members should worship a Mother in Heaven as equally as they do Father in Heaven. Evidently, a more firm prohibition does exist.
I've continued my study and found this from "The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven" a chapter in "Women and Authority."
In a meeting for church regional representatives n 5 April 1991, Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, responded to reports that "here and there, prayers have been offered to our Mother in Heaven." He had searched and found "nowhere in the Standard Works an account where Jesus prayed other than to His Father in Heaven...I have looked in vain for any instance..[of] 'a prayer to our Mother in Heaven." He said he "consider[s] it inappropriate for anyone in the Church to pray to our Mother in Heaven" and instructed regional representatives to "counsel priesthood holders to be on alert for the use of this expression and to make correction where necessary. Such correction can be handled in a discreet and inoffensive way. But it should be firm and without equivocation." (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Cornerstones of Responsibility" address Regional Representative Seminar, Salt Lake City, 5 Apr. 1991, 3-4.)
Elder Orson Pratt in The Seer I from 1853 also taught we are not to worship Heavenly Mother. Although we worship the father, "For the Father of our spirits is the Head of His Household and His wives and children are required to yield the most perfect obedience to their great Head. It is lawful for the children to worship the Kind of heaven, but not the 'Queen of heaven.'...Jesus prayed to His father, and taught His disciples to do likewise; but we are nowhere taught that Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Mother."
I have to point out that both of these quotes are relying upon inference from the scriptures and do not appeal or reference an answer to prayer regarding the topic. Providing counsel and direction without prayer to know the will of God does not seem correct to me and I do not understand why a simple question as "Father in Heaven, is it correct for members of thy church to pray to thee and thy queen?" could not be asked.
It also must be mentioned that both President Hinckley and Elder Pratt are referring to scriptures that are openly acknowledged as not complete, having "many plain and precious truths taken" from them and also being in many cases translated incorrectly due to "the interpolations of men." It seems a weak argument to say that because it is missing from our scriptures that no evidence exists.
Another hypothesis is that when Christ was praying to his Father, that he knew in his heart and mind that his Mother in Heaven also heard his prayers and without openly acknowledging with his words that he was praying to both his parents, that he indeed was.
All of that is conjecture and my attempt to point out the possibilities and should not be taken as statements of belief or perceived as truth. I'm glad that I continued my study to know what has been taught regarding worship of God the Father's equal and partner without first going forward in including her in my prayers.
Showing posts with label divinity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label divinity. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Do Mormons Pray to Heavenly Mother?
It’s not a secret that Mormons believe that God the Father has a wife and she is called Mother in Heaven or Heavenly Mother. In one of the distinctive LDS hymns "O My Father," poet Eliza R Snow wrote, “In the heav’ns are parents single? No the thought makes reason stare. Truth is reason, truth eternal, tells me I’ve a mother there.”
When Larry King asked president of the church at the time about the LDS belief in Heavenly Mother, Gordon B. Hinckley responded, “Yes, but we don’t pray to her.”
It appears to me that many members of the church who feel a desire to learn more about our Mother in Heaven believe that President Hinckley’s response was also an instruction that Mormons ought not to pray to Heavenly Mother.
This is the only source I have encountered that would specifically prohibit praying to God’s equal and feminine counterpart, if indeed it is a prohibition.
The scriptures remain silent to even a mention of heavenly mother (as far as I know, maybe Isaiah or somewhere in the Old Testament makes some oblique, cloaked in allegory reference to her). The Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of recorded revelations after the establishment of the LDS church, mentions that those who remain faithful in keeping their covenants to the ordinances of the gospel can become gods. Gods in this context remains gender neutral. It logically follows since women are as capable at fulfilling the commandments that they do can become gods—or in the feminine—goddesses.
The Doctrine and Covenants in expanding on the state of those who are exalted describes that those men and women who are sealed in the new and everlasting covenant (temple marriage), “shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths” (D&C 132:19). Referencing Psalms 82:6 and Christ’s own words in John 10:34, Doctrine and Covenants 76:58 states,” Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God.”
The temple ceremonies of the LDS Church more clearly state that women through participating in the ceremonies and their faithfulness that they will be priestesses and goddesses with the implication that they will be equal to their husbands.
The play “Mother Wove the Morning” by Carol Lynn Pearson illustrates how, throughout human history, knowledge of the feminine divine has been removed from cultural wisdom to the point that now our belief in a female counterpart to God earns us the status of a pagan cult in the eyes of many religious denominations.
If then it is acknowledged as truth and women are in training to become goddesses, a Mother in Heaven does exist and must hear our prayers. If she hears our prayers and there is no specific prohibition to praying to Her then it appears to me that it is a personal choice, one not condemned by God, to include prayers to a Mother in Heaven if Father in Heaven to whom his people have been commanded to pray is not cast aside.
It could be argued, however, that when addressing our prayers to Heavenly Father that actually we are praying to Elohim, a Hebrew title that implies male and female diety (see my previous post on this topic: More Ponderings on Heavenly Mother
I then ask, is it appropriate to address our prayers to Elohim? What about our Parents in Heaven, Father and Mother in Heaven, or our Heavenly Parents?
And since I’m not yet comfortable to take my prayers there, I am currently feeling that the generic term “God” is least restrictive and most inclusive. This is a interesting circle of development because when I first started believing in the existence of God, I found the title too impersonal, ambiguous and felt that the divine was largely unknown and unknowable. I then preferred the humanity, intimacy and closeness that came from viewing God as my Father. And now I’ve come back around to embracing the title of God again, even if it is borne out of a discomfort that is coming from considering a change in believe that is not officially sanctioned by church doctrine.
It feels right, in my mind, to include Heavenly Mother in my prayers, though, I suspect whether I have been addressing her all these years, she has been hearing my prayers all along.
Until next time when I contemplate what Heavenly Mother might be thinking if response to her invisibility in the world today.
When Larry King asked president of the church at the time about the LDS belief in Heavenly Mother, Gordon B. Hinckley responded, “Yes, but we don’t pray to her.”
It appears to me that many members of the church who feel a desire to learn more about our Mother in Heaven believe that President Hinckley’s response was also an instruction that Mormons ought not to pray to Heavenly Mother.
This is the only source I have encountered that would specifically prohibit praying to God’s equal and feminine counterpart, if indeed it is a prohibition.
The scriptures remain silent to even a mention of heavenly mother (as far as I know, maybe Isaiah or somewhere in the Old Testament makes some oblique, cloaked in allegory reference to her). The Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of recorded revelations after the establishment of the LDS church, mentions that those who remain faithful in keeping their covenants to the ordinances of the gospel can become gods. Gods in this context remains gender neutral. It logically follows since women are as capable at fulfilling the commandments that they do can become gods—or in the feminine—goddesses.
The Doctrine and Covenants in expanding on the state of those who are exalted describes that those men and women who are sealed in the new and everlasting covenant (temple marriage), “shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths” (D&C 132:19). Referencing Psalms 82:6 and Christ’s own words in John 10:34, Doctrine and Covenants 76:58 states,” Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God.”
The temple ceremonies of the LDS Church more clearly state that women through participating in the ceremonies and their faithfulness that they will be priestesses and goddesses with the implication that they will be equal to their husbands.
The play “Mother Wove the Morning” by Carol Lynn Pearson illustrates how, throughout human history, knowledge of the feminine divine has been removed from cultural wisdom to the point that now our belief in a female counterpart to God earns us the status of a pagan cult in the eyes of many religious denominations.
If then it is acknowledged as truth and women are in training to become goddesses, a Mother in Heaven does exist and must hear our prayers. If she hears our prayers and there is no specific prohibition to praying to Her then it appears to me that it is a personal choice, one not condemned by God, to include prayers to a Mother in Heaven if Father in Heaven to whom his people have been commanded to pray is not cast aside.
It could be argued, however, that when addressing our prayers to Heavenly Father that actually we are praying to Elohim, a Hebrew title that implies male and female diety (see my previous post on this topic: More Ponderings on Heavenly Mother
I then ask, is it appropriate to address our prayers to Elohim? What about our Parents in Heaven, Father and Mother in Heaven, or our Heavenly Parents?
And since I’m not yet comfortable to take my prayers there, I am currently feeling that the generic term “God” is least restrictive and most inclusive. This is a interesting circle of development because when I first started believing in the existence of God, I found the title too impersonal, ambiguous and felt that the divine was largely unknown and unknowable. I then preferred the humanity, intimacy and closeness that came from viewing God as my Father. And now I’ve come back around to embracing the title of God again, even if it is borne out of a discomfort that is coming from considering a change in believe that is not officially sanctioned by church doctrine.
It feels right, in my mind, to include Heavenly Mother in my prayers, though, I suspect whether I have been addressing her all these years, she has been hearing my prayers all along.
Until next time when I contemplate what Heavenly Mother might be thinking if response to her invisibility in the world today.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Finding Parallels in Polythesism: The Legend of Ni'auepo'o
I have been exploring the world of polytheism lately. I'm testing a hypothesis that the various gods/goddesses of ancient cultures can give insight into certain aspects and characteristics of the God I recognize and worship. I'm just getting started on this and the first culture I turned to was from ancient Hawai'i.
In reading from the book "Folktales of Hawaii" by Mary Kawena Pukui, I last night read The Legend of Ni'auepo'o, a boy whose father moves away when he is very young. His father gives him some items to bring with him so the father will recognize his son when he goes to seek for his father. When the time comes for the boy to find his father, he chooses to not bring the items and gets there in another, magical way. His father does not recognize him, is angry and killed his son for being an impostor. When the son returns from the dead, the father is told by the prophets of his village that the man standing before him claiming to be his son is indeed his son. The father repents by preparing an offering for an ancestor-god and accepts his son.
Legends, stories and allegories are fascinating and as I ponder this legend more, the more I begin to learn from it. And that's just with my cultural background, and not being schooled in much Hawaiian culture.
I see a parallel between Ni'auepo'o and Christ being prophesied and expected by the Jewish people to come to them, but then he is not recognized when he does appear and they kill him. Just as Christ, Ni'auepo'o is resurrected and comes back to his people and no doubt, there was a period of where his people came to the realizsation that not only was it him that came, but that he returned after death; just like how over the centuries some Jews have come to the realization that the one early Jewish people killed is who he said he was. In that way, the Legend of Ni'auepo'o can be used as an allegory for the prophesies of Christ, his persecution when he declares himself, his death and resurrection.
What role does this particular legend play in convincing Hawaiians of Christ? It may actually dissuade more than convince if one views the story of Christ as a more modern substitute for an ancient legend. As Christianity is famous for superimposing Christian rites and beliefs over earlier cultural beliefs and practices, could this not be one more example?
If one were to consider the perspective here, this could be an example of how the gospel was known from the beginning and that ancient peoples the world over knew the stories and prophesies, and those stories became the legends of ancient cultures, with words and names in their own language and cultural practices that were familiar to their locale, climate and food system.
There are other concepts that can be learned from this legend, specifically Ni'auepo'o's mother as a strong female character who has a strong relationship with deity and power to invoke and enact magic/miracles. There are likely other concepts present in the legend as well and its a good example of how simple stories--this one is simple enough that my little boy would likely enjoy it--can veil powerful cultural and spiritual truths.
In reading from the book "Folktales of Hawaii" by Mary Kawena Pukui, I last night read The Legend of Ni'auepo'o, a boy whose father moves away when he is very young. His father gives him some items to bring with him so the father will recognize his son when he goes to seek for his father. When the time comes for the boy to find his father, he chooses to not bring the items and gets there in another, magical way. His father does not recognize him, is angry and killed his son for being an impostor. When the son returns from the dead, the father is told by the prophets of his village that the man standing before him claiming to be his son is indeed his son. The father repents by preparing an offering for an ancestor-god and accepts his son.
Legends, stories and allegories are fascinating and as I ponder this legend more, the more I begin to learn from it. And that's just with my cultural background, and not being schooled in much Hawaiian culture.
I see a parallel between Ni'auepo'o and Christ being prophesied and expected by the Jewish people to come to them, but then he is not recognized when he does appear and they kill him. Just as Christ, Ni'auepo'o is resurrected and comes back to his people and no doubt, there was a period of where his people came to the realizsation that not only was it him that came, but that he returned after death; just like how over the centuries some Jews have come to the realization that the one early Jewish people killed is who he said he was. In that way, the Legend of Ni'auepo'o can be used as an allegory for the prophesies of Christ, his persecution when he declares himself, his death and resurrection.
What role does this particular legend play in convincing Hawaiians of Christ? It may actually dissuade more than convince if one views the story of Christ as a more modern substitute for an ancient legend. As Christianity is famous for superimposing Christian rites and beliefs over earlier cultural beliefs and practices, could this not be one more example?
If one were to consider the perspective here, this could be an example of how the gospel was known from the beginning and that ancient peoples the world over knew the stories and prophesies, and those stories became the legends of ancient cultures, with words and names in their own language and cultural practices that were familiar to their locale, climate and food system.
There are other concepts that can be learned from this legend, specifically Ni'auepo'o's mother as a strong female character who has a strong relationship with deity and power to invoke and enact magic/miracles. There are likely other concepts present in the legend as well and its a good example of how simple stories--this one is simple enough that my little boy would likely enjoy it--can veil powerful cultural and spiritual truths.
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