I have thrown myself back into a study of the gospel. I'm now turning my studies into topical research that I hope will illuminate my study of the scriptures so when I go back to read them, I can have an increased understanding from a more scholarly point of view. Its an experiment on my part to see if I can be more engaged in spiritual study.
My newest resource is a dosier of documents compiled by my husband's mission president. I have begun reading through it and find that I want an electronic place to keep notes, especially lists of references of which I would like to obtain and read more.
In an article about covenants and their place in religion throughout history, I want to read the books: Temple and Cosmos by Hugh Nibley, Sinai and Zion by Jon Levenson and The Sacred and Profane by Mircea Eliade. Of course they are not available through my local library system. Maybe I will have to get over my desire to be cheap and actually invest money and not just time to my studies...
I will tag this and other posts about my notes as "notes" and maybe keep track of them that way.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Stumbling into an answer to prayer
A pondering of mine from the last few months is on the topic of social programs offered by the LDS Church. My scholastic and religious education and work experience have instilled in me a belief in social programs. Growing up outside of the LDS Church, I was very familiar with churches which offered social services to their communities. I speculate that one of the reasons for these services was to attract people to learn about and hopefully become members of their churches.
In my home stake, I saw a similar program instituted: the Tell Me About Your Family Program that was piloted in Northern California. It was a service that was offered to all members of the community. People would fill out a card with birth and death date information for their parents and grandparents and LDS volunteers and family history researchers would compile whatever genealogical information they could find for that individual in a span of 6 hours.
While a Marriage, Family and Human Development Major at BYU, I was a research assistant for the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center. BYU was one of the grantee institutions for the center and it was our job to synthesize academic research regarding marriage and family functioning into easy to read briefs which were then posted onto the resource center website as a public service.
My first "real" job out of college was working for a non-profit where my grant required me to provide workshops and trainings to child care providers in my community in an attempt to improve care and early learning experiences and promote school readiness for young children.
In my graduate studies, I learned about the many (surprisingly many!) publicly funded social services programs that can be found in communities around the country. I was most familiar with those funded by the Healthy Marriage Initiative which granted churches, community based organizations, and schools money to provide marriage education and promotion services to communities.
My thoughts of course immediately turned to the LDS church. Couldn't a stake or ward seek after a grant (or use tithing money) to provide marriage and family life education programs to community members? The LDS Church already teaches the Marriage and Family Relations Class to members of the church during Sunday School. But I was thinking of adapting that curriculum to teach it to non-members of the church. The LDS beliefs and teaching about marriage, parenting and families would be incorporated into that so non-members would have the opportunity to learn about LDS doctrines. It could be used as a missionary tool.
I have wondered why the church doesn't engage in this sort of activity. Has it been because no one has tried? Is it because it wouldn't be approved? So far, I've just complained about what I perceive of as a lack and felt discouraged by any (very weak) attempts I've made to inquire about the possibility of it.
Then one night last week, I ran into something that addressed some of my questions. If I had sought out the answers on my own, I wouldn't have come across this document because the search terms I would have thought of and used wouldn't have brought it up. I was actually searching for church published material on spanking in my gospel study of parenting practices. What I found was this article: I Have A Question Sep. 1982.
I love how the article basically says in response to the question, "Why doesn’t the Church launch campaigns to end world hunger and ease the sufferings of the needy?" We do. And you should. And the gospel has the power to solve every social ill. So people should join the church and much suffering will be relieved.
I find encouraging the application of the scripture: "be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness” (D&C 58:27). When discussing this idea with my Relief Society president, I was counseled to do this outside of my membership of the church and as a community member, that it was not within the role of the local church unit to forge relationships with other entities to provide services of any sort (outside the humanitarian efforts). In my personal life, I have been deeply involved with a couple of volunteer organizations so I feel that I'm doing as she counseled, but I have felt a draw (I don't know by which spirit) to engage the church and my ward in something that provides a service and attracts people to the church.
So finding that article was an answer to prayer that I didn't expect to find and wasn't looking for at the time, but it has spoken to some of my feelings and thoughts of the last few months. As I have continued to ponder, I have more to pray over; particularly how I can be involved in services that would help strengthen families and communities by putting my education and training to use; and whether it is through involvement with the church or professionally.
In my home stake, I saw a similar program instituted: the Tell Me About Your Family Program that was piloted in Northern California. It was a service that was offered to all members of the community. People would fill out a card with birth and death date information for their parents and grandparents and LDS volunteers and family history researchers would compile whatever genealogical information they could find for that individual in a span of 6 hours.
While a Marriage, Family and Human Development Major at BYU, I was a research assistant for the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center. BYU was one of the grantee institutions for the center and it was our job to synthesize academic research regarding marriage and family functioning into easy to read briefs which were then posted onto the resource center website as a public service.
My first "real" job out of college was working for a non-profit where my grant required me to provide workshops and trainings to child care providers in my community in an attempt to improve care and early learning experiences and promote school readiness for young children.
In my graduate studies, I learned about the many (surprisingly many!) publicly funded social services programs that can be found in communities around the country. I was most familiar with those funded by the Healthy Marriage Initiative which granted churches, community based organizations, and schools money to provide marriage education and promotion services to communities.
My thoughts of course immediately turned to the LDS church. Couldn't a stake or ward seek after a grant (or use tithing money) to provide marriage and family life education programs to community members? The LDS Church already teaches the Marriage and Family Relations Class to members of the church during Sunday School. But I was thinking of adapting that curriculum to teach it to non-members of the church. The LDS beliefs and teaching about marriage, parenting and families would be incorporated into that so non-members would have the opportunity to learn about LDS doctrines. It could be used as a missionary tool.
I have wondered why the church doesn't engage in this sort of activity. Has it been because no one has tried? Is it because it wouldn't be approved? So far, I've just complained about what I perceive of as a lack and felt discouraged by any (very weak) attempts I've made to inquire about the possibility of it.
Then one night last week, I ran into something that addressed some of my questions. If I had sought out the answers on my own, I wouldn't have come across this document because the search terms I would have thought of and used wouldn't have brought it up. I was actually searching for church published material on spanking in my gospel study of parenting practices. What I found was this article: I Have A Question Sep. 1982.
I love how the article basically says in response to the question, "Why doesn’t the Church launch campaigns to end world hunger and ease the sufferings of the needy?" We do. And you should. And the gospel has the power to solve every social ill. So people should join the church and much suffering will be relieved.
I find encouraging the application of the scripture: "be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness” (D&C 58:27). When discussing this idea with my Relief Society president, I was counseled to do this outside of my membership of the church and as a community member, that it was not within the role of the local church unit to forge relationships with other entities to provide services of any sort (outside the humanitarian efforts). In my personal life, I have been deeply involved with a couple of volunteer organizations so I feel that I'm doing as she counseled, but I have felt a draw (I don't know by which spirit) to engage the church and my ward in something that provides a service and attracts people to the church.
So finding that article was an answer to prayer that I didn't expect to find and wasn't looking for at the time, but it has spoken to some of my feelings and thoughts of the last few months. As I have continued to ponder, I have more to pray over; particularly how I can be involved in services that would help strengthen families and communities by putting my education and training to use; and whether it is through involvement with the church or professionally.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Celebrating the Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ
Historical accounts widely accept that it is very unlikely that Christ was born on December 25. There is much discussion and writings into why this is, which I'm not going to include here. At this point, I'm relying on teachings that I have learned aurally in the past.
From what I was taught, Christmas was placed on December 25 in an attempt by the leaders of the early Christian religion to eclipse the pagan holiday celebrations of the Winter Solstice. This is evidenced by the many pagan traditions that have become part of the Christian celebration of the holiday. But when scholars have looked to corroborate the date of Christ's birth, they find that it was randomly placed there. Historical records from the time point to other times of the year. The one that I have learned about with most certainty would be in early Spring time as it coincides with the time of year when Galilee was taxed (remember that the reason why Mary and Joseph were traveling was because law decreed that they must go and be taxed). Also from what I've learned, the solar eclipse that was reported around the time of his birth occurred in Spring rather than midwinter.
Most modern Christian churches recognize that Christmas is not truly Christ's birthday, and continue to believe that they cannot know the true date of his birth without it being revealed by God, which in their belief will not occur until after death and being reunited with God. I have heard my Protestant Christian friends say its one of their questions on their list to ask God when they get there--meaning to his presence. Contrast that belief to teachings of the LDS Church which teach that the answer to that unknowable question has been revealed through revelation to modern-day prophets.
The scriptural citation to evidence the actual day of Christ's birthday can be found in Doctrine and Covenants 20:1
That verse teaches that the LDS Church was officially organized on April 6, 1830 and that day happened to correspond to the birth of Jesus Christ. Later a prophet of the early restored church stated:
Even though this is believed to be true by LDS people, that date offers some inconveniences for celebrations. It is the day of the organization of the Church, every few years coincides with the semiannual General Conference of the church, sometimes Easter or the celebrations of his death and resurrection. Its certainly easier to celebrate his birth on a different day than the "true" one. And while LDS people strive to be a "peculiar people" they don't aim to be so peculiar as to move their Christmas celebrations to April.
Except maybe me.
I'm still undecided but I feel very odd celebrating Christmas in December knowing all the pagentry is a sham. The intent and heartfelt devotion may be genuine so much to the point that it doesn't matter when the holiday is celebrated, but I find it feels hallow to me.
This year on April 6, my two year old heard me mention to my husband that day was Jesus's birthday. The toddler's next request was to watch a video of Jesus. That was the first time he had requested that, but he knows all about watching videos of cars and animals, so why not about Jesus? Thankfully we did have videos produced by the Church in our video library. The one I could find easiest was called The Nativity which depicts the events surrounding Christ's birth. I was very excited to be able to share the story of Christ's birth with my young child on Christ's birthday.
That is how we celebrated April 6 this year, and maybe it will be a family tradition. I think that I would certainly like it.
From what I was taught, Christmas was placed on December 25 in an attempt by the leaders of the early Christian religion to eclipse the pagan holiday celebrations of the Winter Solstice. This is evidenced by the many pagan traditions that have become part of the Christian celebration of the holiday. But when scholars have looked to corroborate the date of Christ's birth, they find that it was randomly placed there. Historical records from the time point to other times of the year. The one that I have learned about with most certainty would be in early Spring time as it coincides with the time of year when Galilee was taxed (remember that the reason why Mary and Joseph were traveling was because law decreed that they must go and be taxed). Also from what I've learned, the solar eclipse that was reported around the time of his birth occurred in Spring rather than midwinter.
Most modern Christian churches recognize that Christmas is not truly Christ's birthday, and continue to believe that they cannot know the true date of his birth without it being revealed by God, which in their belief will not occur until after death and being reunited with God. I have heard my Protestant Christian friends say its one of their questions on their list to ask God when they get there--meaning to his presence. Contrast that belief to teachings of the LDS Church which teach that the answer to that unknowable question has been revealed through revelation to modern-day prophets.
The scriptural citation to evidence the actual day of Christ's birthday can be found in Doctrine and Covenants 20:1
THE rise of the Church of Christ in these last days, being one thousand eight hundred and thirty years since the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh, it being regularly organized and established agreeable to the laws of our country, by the will and commandments of God, in the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the month which is called April—
That verse teaches that the LDS Church was officially organized on April 6, 1830 and that day happened to correspond to the birth of Jesus Christ. Later a prophet of the early restored church stated:
"As to the season of the year in which Christ was born, there is among the learned as great a diversity of opinion as that relating to the year itself. It is claimed by many Biblical scholars that December 25th, the day celebrated in Christendom as Christmas, cannot be the correct date. We believe April 6th to be the birthday of Jesus Christ as indicated in a revelation of the present dispensation already cited in which that day is made without qualification the completion of the one thousand eight hundred and thirtieth year since the coming of the Lord in the flesh. This acceptance is admittedly based on faith in modern revelation, and in no wise is set forth as the result of chronological research or analysis. We believe that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, April 6, 1 B.C." 7 Online source
Even though this is believed to be true by LDS people, that date offers some inconveniences for celebrations. It is the day of the organization of the Church, every few years coincides with the semiannual General Conference of the church, sometimes Easter or the celebrations of his death and resurrection. Its certainly easier to celebrate his birth on a different day than the "true" one. And while LDS people strive to be a "peculiar people" they don't aim to be so peculiar as to move their Christmas celebrations to April.
Except maybe me.
I'm still undecided but I feel very odd celebrating Christmas in December knowing all the pagentry is a sham. The intent and heartfelt devotion may be genuine so much to the point that it doesn't matter when the holiday is celebrated, but I find it feels hallow to me.
This year on April 6, my two year old heard me mention to my husband that day was Jesus's birthday. The toddler's next request was to watch a video of Jesus. That was the first time he had requested that, but he knows all about watching videos of cars and animals, so why not about Jesus? Thankfully we did have videos produced by the Church in our video library. The one I could find easiest was called The Nativity which depicts the events surrounding Christ's birth. I was very excited to be able to share the story of Christ's birth with my young child on Christ's birthday.
That is how we celebrated April 6 this year, and maybe it will be a family tradition. I think that I would certainly like it.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Jenneology and the Spirit of Elijah
I was asked to submit my experiences with family history and temple work for an article in the ward newsletter, and this is what I wrote:
My conversion to the gospel was very dependent on understanding and knowing about the temple. I was looking for the way that I could be reunited with my father who had died when I was 15. The doctrine of sealing ordinances was a joyful relevation for me. After I joined the church, I had to learn how to do family history in order to get my dad's name ready to go to the temple. That was when I was introduced to the Family History Centers and genealogy. I started looking up ancestors and got hooked really quickly. As the first latter-day saint in my family, I was really excited to put together the family information that relatives had shared with me.
Growing up, my family had been very proud of their Swedish and Italian ancestry so I knew some information. One of my friends realized how interested I was in genealogy and one time wrote me a note that joked that my name could be "Jenneology." I loved it and it became my screen name, email address, etc. My family history has truly become part of my identity.
Once I transfered to BYU, I felt like I was in the Vatican City of family history research and one semester I was very lucky to be able to spend 6+ hours a day collecting family history in the BYU Family History Library. I loved living 10 minutes from a temple and attending once a week, sometimes more. I loved calling home and telling my mother the information I discovered. I had a relative on the Mayflower, soldiers who fought in the Revolution and the Civil War for both the Union and Confederacy. One ancestor was a contemporary and friend of John Calvin and immigrated to Switzerland with him. I found a connection to a Danish prince from Shakespeare and traced one line back to 457 in France. It was truly fascinating and exciting work. I was proud to have been swept up by the Spirit of Elijah.
It was during that time that I learned that I really like to research and data entry is relaxing to me (strange, I know!). I became skilled at using Personal Ancestral File, Temple Ready, familysearch.org, ancestry.com, census records, requesting records from vital statistics and reading microfiche. As a product of the technological revolution and the information age, I loved all the digital resources the LDS Church had compiled and how easy it was to find out so much using the internet.
Although I loved the work I was doing, I also realized that it is an imperfect system and I began wishing that Temple Ready could be done using the internet instead of going into the Family History Center. I heard rumors that the Church was working on that project. When the new Family Search was announced in church last year, I almost jumped out of seat and yelled for joy because I have been looking forward to it for so long.
I'm at a different stage of my life now so I don't have as much time as I once did to work on my family history. I have checked out the new Family Search and it is really nice to be able to submit names to the temple from home. The system works well, especially for a stay at home mother and graduate student. I have had some frustrations with the new system; like when I discovered that you can't delete a mistake. I accidently transcribe the wrong wife for an ancestor and found I couldn't delete it. So it is different that using the old PAF program. It is a welcome adjustment for me to make, but like learning most new things, there is a learning curve. I think there will probably be improvements made to the system as more people use it, but right now I'm excited to learn how to use it and help others as they learn too.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Feminist Views on God
I recently got into reading feminist theories on mothering after finding a reference to a book entitled "Mothering: Essays on Feminist Theory" in the BYU textbook "Strengthening Our Families." Interesting to find the two connected, isn't it? After I placed the request for the feminist theory book, I saw what other things came up on the search for it and I discovered The Journal for the Association for Research on Mothering. I requested a couple of the issues one on the process of becoming a mother: socially, physically, emotionally and politically, the other spirituality and mothering; both topics interesting to me.
One of the articles discussed the goddess worship and the antiquated views of deity as a patriarchal, controlling male presence. The author, Trudelle Thomas, discussed the history of goddess worship and why it has resurfaced in the last 40 years. She proposes a new paradigm for viewing diety: in the female form as Mother, Guide and Friend to take the place of the Father, Warrior, King.
Of each, she says:
Latter-day Saints are not opposed to recognizing that there are divine females (Hymn #292, O My Father). And while viewing God in the feminine appeals to me, I feel its unnecessary. I truly believe that God is my Father and that his fatherly attributes are kind, loving, compassionate and gentle. He is also my friend and guide. Latter-day Saint culture teaches males to be fathers who are not the your typical authoritarian, domineering 1950's father, but to cultivate Christlike attributes that are more culturally seen as feminine: "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, ggentleness, goodness, hfaith, Meekness, temperance (Gal. 5:22-23). Through my prayers and efforts to establish a relationship with my Heavenly Father, I have come to know God as the perfect father--exactly the type of father who would best support and encourage my development as his daughter.
I also recognize and believe that God is all-knowing. In my logic, that means He also knows how to be the perfect mother and it is through that infinite knowledge and understanding that he possesses that I can learn to be a "perfect mother" or in essence, a goddess.
Latter-day Saints believe in the doctrine of eternal progression where we continue to learn and grow throughout eternity until eventually we possess all the knowledge that God possesses and through obtaining all that he has, as joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), we "shall be gods" (D&C 132: 20).
Therefore, in my belief, God, then not only knows how to be a father to me, but He also knows how to mother me, more perfectly than any earthly mother. He is a friend to me, and provides me the Holy Spirit to be my Guide (Hymn #143, "Let the Holy Spirit Guide").
There are so many other scriptures I could cite to tie all these together. It may even be enough to write a book or a chapter of a book, which would be a worthy goal... But for right now, I with let what I have already expressed suffice.
One of the articles discussed the goddess worship and the antiquated views of deity as a patriarchal, controlling male presence. The author, Trudelle Thomas, discussed the history of goddess worship and why it has resurfaced in the last 40 years. She proposes a new paradigm for viewing diety: in the female form as Mother, Guide and Friend to take the place of the Father, Warrior, King.
Of each, she says:
"Whether we imagine God holding us in her lap, braiding our hair, rocking us to sleep, or tenderly feeding us, the effect is to affirm God's personal love and nearness....By affirming our connections with God as Mother, mothers can help children also believe in an intimate, powerful and benevolent God."
"Whether we speak in terms of coach, teacher, doula, or mentor, a guide is a powerful image of God because it connotes caring, helpfulness, and generosity....Like a mother, a guide offers encouragement and support, but she also invites us to grow into more; she "tests and challenges us."
"Think of the ten-year old who is discovering the difference between a buddy and a true friend, the college student who finds her kindred spirit in a new place, the spouse who grows into a trusted friend, the widow who enjoys traveling with dear friends.
Latter-day Saints are not opposed to recognizing that there are divine females (Hymn #292, O My Father). And while viewing God in the feminine appeals to me, I feel its unnecessary. I truly believe that God is my Father and that his fatherly attributes are kind, loving, compassionate and gentle. He is also my friend and guide. Latter-day Saint culture teaches males to be fathers who are not the your typical authoritarian, domineering 1950's father, but to cultivate Christlike attributes that are more culturally seen as feminine: "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, ggentleness, goodness, hfaith, Meekness, temperance (Gal. 5:22-23). Through my prayers and efforts to establish a relationship with my Heavenly Father, I have come to know God as the perfect father--exactly the type of father who would best support and encourage my development as his daughter.
I also recognize and believe that God is all-knowing. In my logic, that means He also knows how to be the perfect mother and it is through that infinite knowledge and understanding that he possesses that I can learn to be a "perfect mother" or in essence, a goddess.
Latter-day Saints believe in the doctrine of eternal progression where we continue to learn and grow throughout eternity until eventually we possess all the knowledge that God possesses and through obtaining all that he has, as joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), we "shall be gods" (D&C 132: 20).
Therefore, in my belief, God, then not only knows how to be a father to me, but He also knows how to mother me, more perfectly than any earthly mother. He is a friend to me, and provides me the Holy Spirit to be my Guide (Hymn #143, "Let the Holy Spirit Guide").
There are so many other scriptures I could cite to tie all these together. It may even be enough to write a book or a chapter of a book, which would be a worthy goal... But for right now, I with let what I have already expressed suffice.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Compelled to be Humble
In the book of Alma (in the book of Mormon), verse 15 it states: "Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed—yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble..."
In relating this scripture to my conversion story, I sadly realized that I was compelled to be humble in order to be willing to accept the gospel. My father's death when I was 15 years old brought me to my knees. I spiraled into depression that took 2 years to lift. I felt desperate at the time to find a way out of that spiritual darkness that I find is best described by Alma the younger when he says "But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was charrowed up to the greatest degree... Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell...Oh, thought I, that I acould be banished and become extinct both soul and body" (Alma 36: bits of 12, 13 and 15). Anyone who knew me during that time knew that I was miserable, that I truly did wish to cease to exist in order to join my father whom at that time I believed didn't exist anymore.
I have wished many times that I hadn't needed his death to turn me to the questions that drove me to learn more about the LDS Church and its doctrines. How I have wished that when I was first introduced to the church at 14 years old that I had desired to learn about it then, instead of being compelled (as I see it) after my father's death.
And yet I have realized that I needed that event to occur in my life in order for me to be humble, to repent and be baptized. However if I could trade having my father back in my life (even though we didn't have a good relationship) for the last few years of testimony and Spirit in my life, I would make that trade.
But only if I could have the promise of the chance to accept the gospel at a point later in my life. And hopefully share it with my father who would accept it with me.
Thank goodness for temple work. Through making sure my father's ordinances have been completed, I strongly beleive that he has also accepted this gospel, even though it was not while he was living.
In relating this scripture to my conversion story, I sadly realized that I was compelled to be humble in order to be willing to accept the gospel. My father's death when I was 15 years old brought me to my knees. I spiraled into depression that took 2 years to lift. I felt desperate at the time to find a way out of that spiritual darkness that I find is best described by Alma the younger when he says "But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was charrowed up to the greatest degree... Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell...Oh, thought I, that I acould be banished and become extinct both soul and body" (Alma 36: bits of 12, 13 and 15). Anyone who knew me during that time knew that I was miserable, that I truly did wish to cease to exist in order to join my father whom at that time I believed didn't exist anymore.
I have wished many times that I hadn't needed his death to turn me to the questions that drove me to learn more about the LDS Church and its doctrines. How I have wished that when I was first introduced to the church at 14 years old that I had desired to learn about it then, instead of being compelled (as I see it) after my father's death.
And yet I have realized that I needed that event to occur in my life in order for me to be humble, to repent and be baptized. However if I could trade having my father back in my life (even though we didn't have a good relationship) for the last few years of testimony and Spirit in my life, I would make that trade.
But only if I could have the promise of the chance to accept the gospel at a point later in my life. And hopefully share it with my father who would accept it with me.
Thank goodness for temple work. Through making sure my father's ordinances have been completed, I strongly beleive that he has also accepted this gospel, even though it was not while he was living.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Alternate Ending to the First Vision
As a teenager I came to the same point when Joseph Smith prayed to know which church was true and which he should join. I started with the same course as he: I began learning about the different churches that I might join if I were to find the truth there. I visited my friend's churches, my grandparent's churches and I read the history of world religions. I spent 3 years with this as an intellectual pursuit where I attempted to have an open mind and be able to recognize the truth when I found it.
Through that search--what the Unitarians would call a "search for truth and meaning" I learned many valuable lessons about what I wanted to see in a church before I felt it could be the possessor of what is true. A short list includes:
I honestly beleived, with how advanced our society is, and how long people have been on this earth that the truth must exist, that out of all the thousands of organizaed religions in the world, one of them must be true. So when I didn't find what I was looking for, I kept looking. Although I did give up my search of churches when I decided I would become a Unitarian Universalist reverend to dedicate my life to that search for truth.
That decision had been hasty because I hadn't investigated all of the religions in the world. At some point, I had written off all Christian churches because none of them had what I was looking for. That was before I was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It has what I was looking for and more. I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to learn about it which I did. I spent 10 months meeting with the missionaries regularly to learn about the Lord's church on the earth today, that it was restored and revealed by Him through prophets, not pieced together by groups of men.
I abandoned my goal of becoming a Unitarian minister, needless to say when I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As I pondered these events and how there were some similarities to Joseph Smith's first prayer on the subject of which church to join. I wondered what would he have done if the answer he had gone had been "none of them" and it was left at that. If the Lord hadn't then revealed to him that Joseph would become the first prophet of the restored church of Jesus Christ. And what would I have done if I had prayed to know if that Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints was true and felt that it wasn't?
At that time in my life, I would have despaired. I was already despairing over the death of my father who made my questions concerning religion all that more poignant. Where was he? Would I see him again? Was he free from life's afflictions? At some point, I felt that the LDS church was the end of the line for me. Either it was true or it was not, and if it was not I didn't want to imagine life without it. The answers to my questions provided by the doctrines of the LDS church made so much sense to me that it couldn't not be true.
I'm sure the more pragmatic side of me would have continued my spiritual quest for truth, that I would have pursued my doctorate in divinity from one of the UU theology schools. But how grateful I am that I didn't have to. How grateful I am to know, through the verfication of the Lord's Spirit that the church is true, that Joseph Smith really was the first prophet of the restored church of Jesus Christ and that Christ really is who he says he is.
Through that search--what the Unitarians would call a "search for truth and meaning" I learned many valuable lessons about what I wanted to see in a church before I felt it could be the possessor of what is true. A short list includes:
1)prophets
2)modern-day revelation
3)God's authority to act in His name
4)opportunities for those who have never heard of the church to be redeemed
5)justice and accountablity as well as mercy for all people
6)families that could be reunited after death
7)freedom from pain and hurt after this life is over
8)the afterlife is not as black and white as heaven and hell
I honestly beleived, with how advanced our society is, and how long people have been on this earth that the truth must exist, that out of all the thousands of organizaed religions in the world, one of them must be true. So when I didn't find what I was looking for, I kept looking. Although I did give up my search of churches when I decided I would become a Unitarian Universalist reverend to dedicate my life to that search for truth.
That decision had been hasty because I hadn't investigated all of the religions in the world. At some point, I had written off all Christian churches because none of them had what I was looking for. That was before I was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It has what I was looking for and more. I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to learn about it which I did. I spent 10 months meeting with the missionaries regularly to learn about the Lord's church on the earth today, that it was restored and revealed by Him through prophets, not pieced together by groups of men.
I abandoned my goal of becoming a Unitarian minister, needless to say when I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As I pondered these events and how there were some similarities to Joseph Smith's first prayer on the subject of which church to join. I wondered what would he have done if the answer he had gone had been "none of them" and it was left at that. If the Lord hadn't then revealed to him that Joseph would become the first prophet of the restored church of Jesus Christ. And what would I have done if I had prayed to know if that Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints was true and felt that it wasn't?
At that time in my life, I would have despaired. I was already despairing over the death of my father who made my questions concerning religion all that more poignant. Where was he? Would I see him again? Was he free from life's afflictions? At some point, I felt that the LDS church was the end of the line for me. Either it was true or it was not, and if it was not I didn't want to imagine life without it. The answers to my questions provided by the doctrines of the LDS church made so much sense to me that it couldn't not be true.
I'm sure the more pragmatic side of me would have continued my spiritual quest for truth, that I would have pursued my doctorate in divinity from one of the UU theology schools. But how grateful I am that I didn't have to. How grateful I am to know, through the verfication of the Lord's Spirit that the church is true, that Joseph Smith really was the first prophet of the restored church of Jesus Christ and that Christ really is who he says he is.
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