This Mormon Life

Hello!

Hey, everyone, I just wanted to say that I'm still alive.  And boy, do I have stories and adventures to tell.  Things have been wonderful and challenging over the past few months, and I hope to write a bit about things in the future.  But until then, I hope everyone has a great holiday season.  Probably beginning in the new year, I'll get back to blogging occasionally and maybe often.  Time will tell.  Thanks for everyone who continues to drop by.

The Sacrament of Doubt by Paul Toscano: A Review

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have started doing some freelance writing for a local weekly paper The City Weekly.  My first work is a book review of Paul Toscano's The Sacrament of Doubt.  Read the review.

Just Sharing . . .

I came across this on Jana Remy's blog today and I just wanted to share it with others.  She talks a bit about her spiritual journey and she ends with a quote from Terry Tempest Williams' book Leap:

Spirituality is solitary...At times, it is lonely, often informed by pain. On other occasions, it is the body submerged in a phosphorescent tide, every movement sparking a trail of illumination. Afterwards, we sit on the shore in moonlight. No candles are necessary. Spirituality exists when we are present, buoyed up by the waters of attention. We learn the courage of faith. It is peace that is earned. We can take solace in the heat of doubt knowing this is the pulse of poetry.

Some Final Thoughts: Sunstone Symp 2007

I've been meaning to write up a final summary of my Sunstone Symposium experience, and since it had been almost a month since the event, it has allowed some perspective.

I think this has been my best symposium experience since the first time I attended back in 1992 as a fresh faced returned missionary ready to take on the world.  That seems eons ago.  But this past symposium has somehow energized myself to take on my own world in new ways.  The open and honest study of Mormonism is not for everybody in the church, but I am glad there is a place like Sunstone where it is fostered and encouraged.

But more than the sessions I attended, what I enjoyed more was the people I met.  I don't really know how to describe the wonderful community that exists at Sunstone.  I was able to catch up with old friends.  And I made quite a few new friends and acquaintances.  I was able to discuss my spiritual journey with people who have also been along their own unique paths - and we were able to understand each other, knowing were we've been, able to share the challenges that we face.  I met such a wide variety of "Mormons": true believing, bloggers, inactives, feminists, jack, liberals, conservatives, polygamists, atheists, agnostics, really too many to even name, not to mention all the non-LDS who attended.

I shared moments with some people that now I see as very special and important.  I underestimated the community that Sunstone has created.  It has a unique place in Mormon culture that needs to continue to grow.

Was there any disappointments?  There are always thoughts about "what I wish they had more of."  In particular I hope for more sessions on scriptural studies and literature in the future, but I know it's not an easy thing to accomplish.  But overall, I wasn't disappointed. It was a well run conference with plenty to see, do, and discuss.

I look forward even more to the next symposium.  I think I will join in and submit a abstract myself.   I guess I better get writing.

Mormons Exposed - Men on a Mission Calendar

In the effort of promoting religious tolerance and better understanding, twelve missionaries are posing bared chested in the effort to promote better time management. This is something I never really expected to see, but I guess nothing really surprises these days.  I really don't even know what to think of it.  I just want to know where is the sisters' missionary calendar? From the their myspace page:

Would You Lie to Get a Temple Recommend?: Sunstone Symp 2007

"Do You Have a Testimony Of ...?" was by far the most enjoyable session of the symposium, and being the last session I attended, it was an entertaining conclusion to three days of Sunstone.  From the program:

People who have much in common can still look at things very differently. Case in point: James McLachlan and Tom Kimball have been enjoying an ongoing discussion about their Mormon beliefs.  Both have contemplated similar historical and philosophical dilemmas, and both are active in their home wards. One holds a current temple recommend while the other doesn’t hold much hope of ever having one again. “Sin isn’t the hold-up. For me, it is an issue of integrity as I don’t believe in the Restoration,” says Tom. “But perhaps you do believe in the Restoration. It may only be a matter of what you think the “Restoration” means,” says Jim.  Come listen in on and join their discussion!

So when you go into get a temple recommend and the bishop asks you "Do you have a testimony of the Restoration?" what exactly goes through you mind?  Is your idea and understanding of the "restoration" different from your Bishop's understanding, and if it is, then do you answer yes or no?

Polygamy and the New Joseph Smith Manual

With the new Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith manual used for the church's priesthood and Relief Society classes, I wondered if it would avoid the issue of polygamy.  But to my surprise they talk about the issue briefly in the introduction:

Boys and Girls: Sunstone Symp 2007

In the recent June 2007 issue of Sunstone, Margaret Merrill Toscano published "'Are Boys More Important Than Girls?' The Continuing Conflict of Gender Difference and Equality in Mormonism" (pdf).  The paper was originally given at last year's symposium and is definitely worth the read.  So at this year's symposium there gathered a panel discussing Tocasno's thesis, that comprised of Jana Bouck Remy, Kristine Haglund Harris, Wendy Demandante, Lisa Tensmeyer Hansen, and Margaret Toscano.  The progam suggests that these responses will be published in forthcoming issues.  From the program itself, the questions are asked: "What kind of Equality does God demand?  It there a way to measure the current state of this quest objectively?  If Mormon women report that they feel as equally valued and empowered as men, does that settle the matter?  Or should more overarching and logic-driven arguments continue to call for changes?"

A Jack Kerouac-Style LDS Novel?

Zarahemla Books is going to be carving out a interesting niche between the faithful fiction we see published by Deseret Book and "lost generation" type of literary writers who usually leave behind their Mormonism.  Will it succeed?  I hope so.  With more frankness and realism in Mormon fiction is only a good thing.

I got a press release for their upcoming book On the Road to Heaven by Coke Newell.  I wasn't real sure whether I would be interested, but now I must say I am interested.  Check out the release for the full story.

Big Love and September Dawn

I have noticed something interesting over the past few weeks.  The traffic for my blog has increased lately in which 60-75 percent of traffic is coming from search referrals looking for information about the Mountain Meadows Massacre film September Dawn or the HBO show Big Love.  But I'm afraid that there is not really any great information about those subjects on my blog.  But for some reason they keep on coming.

So what I have decided to do is to include a list of books on the subject of Mormon polygamy and the Mountain Meadows Massacre that I think provide reliable, scholarly, and balanced information on the subjects.  Scroll down a little and you will see my list.  I will expand the list as it becomes necessary, and may add other book lists on other LDS subjects that people are insatiably interested in.