I shook my head at the title. Why in the world would women in the Church want to attend Priesthood Meeting? Especially since we have our very own meeting, just for women, a week before. And it's not like the Priesthood Meeting is a big secret. The videos are posted on the Church website just days after the conference is held.
I read through the article and found that behind this movement is a group of Latter-day Saint women called, "Ordain Women." I found their website and began to read through their purpose.
I must say, as a fellow Latter-day Saint woman, I am deeply saddened by this group. And thus I've prepared a letter for these sisters.
Now, I must preface this by saying that I detest confrontation. Moreover, I am rather sensitive in boldly giving out my opinion, especially online, because of all the negativity that it inevitably generates from doing so. However, I felt so strongly about writing this blog. Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, recently said (and when I say recently, I mean, like 10 days ago):
"We need more of the distinctive, influential voices and faith of women. We need you to learn the doctrine and to understand what we believe so that you can bear your testimonies about the truth of all things—whether those testimonies be given around a campfire at girls’ camp, in a testimony meeting, in a blog, or on Facebook. Only you can show the world what women of God who have made covenants look like and believe."
When I heard that counsel tonight as I was driving home, I knew that I needed to write this blog, regardless of any negativity that may ensue. So with that being said, here I go.
My beloved sisters (specifically those involved in the movement "Ordain Women"),
I have read your mission statement. I have read your goals. I have seen the news articles about you and your movement. And I feel compelled to say, that if you believe you are following the will of the Lord in this effort, you are truly misled.
Firstly, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. It has the same organization and leadership that it did during Christ's time--namely, prophets and apostles. You claim to believe this. And yet, your words and actions show mistrust in the Lord's chosen servants.
In Amos 3:7 it says, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."
Trust the Prophet. If He reveals that it is time for women to be ordained to the Priesthood, I will follow Him. But I will not follow a group of random women with a blog who have decided that they can no longer wait for the Lord's timing.
Your website contains a page of references. Out of those nearly 30 references, there is not one apostle or prophet, ancient or modern, cited. In fact, on your entire webpage, the only reference I could find from a prophet was a quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley, completely misinterpreted. The quickest way to apostasy is to put your faith in your own words and not in those called by God. That's why we have a Prophet. So that this kind of splintering within the Church won't happen.
Secondly, I would like to address a couple of false claims that you make on your website. According to you,
"Despite their gifts, talents, and aspirations, women are excluded from almost all positions of clerical, fiscal, ritual, and decision-making authority."
Without saying too much, I would like to say that any woman who has gone through the temple rituals knows that this is completely untrue. Women are free to participate in the temple endowment just the same as men are. There is no question in the temple recommend interview that asks if you are a man or a woman. Both are invited and encouraged to attend. As for decision-making authority, women in leadership positions make decisions all the time. And yes, they do so under the direction of the Priesthood. For that is how our Heavenly Father has designed it.
Elder M. Russell Ballard said this on the matter:
"Why are men ordained to priesthood offices and not women? President Gordon B. Hinckley explained that it was the Lord, not man, “who designated that men in His Church should hold the priesthood” and that it was also the Lord who endowed women with “capabilities to round out this great and marvelous organization, which is the Church and kingdom of God” (“Women of the Church,” Ensign, November 1996, 70). When all is said and done, the Lord has not revealed why He has organized His Church as He has."
He also cautioned:
"While your input is significant and welcomed in effective councils, you need to be careful not to assume a role that is not yours."
This is not only true of women, but of all those who do not hold the necessary keys. My husband was recently called as the second counselor in the Elders' Quorum of our ward. While he was being set apart, President Alba of the Stake Presidency said that though he was a counselor to the Elders' Quorum President, he needed to remember that ultimately the decisions would be made by the President. He is the one who currently holds those keys.
Another statement from your site took me by surprise. It said the following:
"Many Mormons respond to questions about the inequity of an all-male priesthood by insisting that men and women have distinct but equal roles. Women have motherhood, they argue, and men have priesthood. What they fail to acknowledge is that fatherhood is the appropriate parallel to motherhood."
I am not overly qualified to speak about motherhood, as I have only been a mother for a little over 3 months. However, I am a mother, and I can testify that it is NOT the appropriate parallel to fatherhood. Anyone who has given birth, I believe, can testify to that.
Yes, it takes a man and a woman to conceive a child. But that creation ultimately takes place only within the womb of a woman. A man can stand by the bedside and hold your hand as you labor, sometimes for countless hours. But ultimately that labor can only be accomplished by the woman. There is no parallel to motherhood.
Finally, I would like to emphasize the kind of attention you are getting.
In your "News" section of your blog, you cite a multitude of news coverage, from The Daily Beast to Wall Street Journal. Yet, I have read nothing about you from the General Authorities of the Church. I have seen no articles published on LDS.org or in the Ensign or Liahona magazines. I have seen not-so-subtle warnings to you from various apostles and prophets, most notably Elder M. Russell Ballard in his speech given at BYU on the 20 of August this year.
He boldly warned,
"Do not spend time trying to overhaul or adjust God’s plan. We do not have time for such. It is a pointless exercise to try and determine how to organize the Lord’s Church differently. The Lord is at the head of this Church, and we all follow His direction."
He is speaking to you, my beloved sisters.
Follow the counsel of the Prophets.
Learn true doctrine.
Heed the warnings of the scriptures.
The only scripture you quote on your blog is 2 Nephi 26:33, also severely misused. Here is another scripture from 2 Nephi,
"O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not." (2 Nephi 9:28)
I've looked through your profiles. Many of you are much smarter than me. You have advanced college degrees and years of experience beyond what I can comprehend. I should feel wholly intimidated. But I know that the Lord will not reveal anything save He reveals it to His prophet. And until President Thomas S. Monson comes out and says, "God has revealed that all faithful women be ordained to the Priesthood," I will not believe it, and neither should you.
I truly love you, my sisters. Don't forget that Christ is at the head of His Church. He is leading it. Let Him lead.
Sincerely,
Hannah Cabrera
References:
Ordain Women: Mormon Women Seeking Equality and Ordination to the Priesthood.
(www.ordainwomen.org)
Beautifully written. I agree with everything. I am saddened that there are so many women who are going against modern (and ancient) teachings. Christ had nothing but the utmost respect for women and he holds us in a sacred light. He saved for us the most sacred responsibility of motherhood. My stake president recently gave a fireside and was jealous of women because God shares creation with us.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful that I can receive personal revelation for myself and work together with my husband, through the power of the priesthood, to know what is best for our family. I very much feel like an equal partner with him and am glad that he can be my protector (as a man should be).
If women want to watch the priesthood session....I think it's broadcast over the TV. I enjoy our Relief Society meetings and having girl time during the Priesthood session. :)
I'm not nearly as eloquent as you are, but I appreciate your words and research on this matter and your testimony. You are a strength in Zion.
Thank you so much Kristen!
DeletePriesthood session is actually not broadcast over the TV, though. I work for technical support for the Church and when we were training for Satellite Events support they told us that even the online stream of Priesthood meeting has a password that we should only give out to Stake Presidency members in case of emergency (should the satellite fail). The reason is because the Brethren want to the Priesthood to gather together to strengthen their quorums instead of staying at home to watch Priesthood session alone. Cool, huh? :)
Thank you for this. I feel the same way!
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, thank you!! This is beautifully written with lots of well-done research to back up your statements, instead of just your own opinion. I hope all the members of "Ordain Women" can find this and understand it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting what is in my heart on paper!
ReplyDeleteso relieved.... my thoughts and feelings ar the same way! thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for expressing thoughts/feelings similar to what I have had in a very beautiful and eloquent way. I add my testimony that I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored church of Christ, lead by him through a prophet. And just like you said, we need to wait upon the Lord and His timing, have faith that all things shall work together for our good. Whether or not we "hold" the priesthood as women, we receive all the blessings of the priesthood; for which I am eternally grateful.
ReplyDeleteMany of your arguments were used by people who believed that men of color would never be granted the Priesthood. And then they were. Is it the Lord who is holding back the fulness and further light and knowledge or is it the biases and prejudices and cultural mores of human beings. The scriptures are full of people who weren't ready for a higher law and then didn't get it. My mother joined the church in 1972 with grave reservations because of the priesthood ban. It was only a prayer in which she was told that when the people were ready, God could reveal what He really wanted that allowed her to choose to be baptized. Six years later, that prayer was fulfilled, and in the intervening years, she didn't hide her desire for a priesthood equally available to all men. Was she being unfaithful? Was she acting as if she knew more than the prophet? Or was she just one of many who were READY for the higher law?
ReplyDeleteMaybe the OW supporters are ready for a higher law God always wanted his children to have. Maybe he's waiting for us to be open to that change before he can even hope to reveal it.
Beautifully said. Thank you so much for your comment.
DeleteSarah, thank you for your comment. I think you are definitely right, and in no way was I trying to say that women will never be granted the Priesthood. In fact, I wholeheartedly believe they will be. I don't know that calling media attention to the "inequalities" of the Church is the way to go about showing the Lord that we are ready for a higher law. I for one do not believe so, but I cannot receive personal revelation for these other sisters and if they do so with the intent to follow our Father in Heaven, then more power to them.
DeleteI can see why you would have a problem with the press and the very public aspect of this movement. It can feel like those involved are trying to force the hands of church leaders rather than wait for inspiration. Unfortunately, there is no official way to share these thoughts and feelings with the only leaders who can actually go in prayer and ask the Lord for further light and knowledge. Letters written to the first presidency or the Quorum of the 12 are automatically sent back to bishops who have no authority to receive revelation for the church as a whole. Historically, this has not been the case and many changes have been made due to bottom up efforts by regular members (Primary, church welfare, Relief Society, even the word of wisdom came about because of Emma's request for a revelation on tobacco use within the school of the prophets).
DeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts. As one might expect, there's a lot here I agree with, and a few things I don't. One thing I would ask is for a bit of sensitivity to those who are mothers but have not given birth--i.e., adoptive and foster mothers. I'm absolutely sure your goal was never to exclude those women. Nonetheless, by talking about motherhood solely in terms of pregnancy and delivery to make a point that motherhood and fatherhood are not corollaries, you're (unintentionally?) excluding the millions of women who have raised babies they did not give birth to, but were indeed mothers. And I can attest that in my sisters' marriages, where children have been sought and prayed for and finally received by adoption, both mothering and fathering is vitally important. It's been a delight for me to see in my own family growing up, and in my sisters' families now, how both wife and husband carefully create a loving home environment for their children. Fatherhood is vital. Motherhood is vital. And each couple carefully brings their innate, individual gifts to create a home and then raise their babies. Giving birth is a fantastic and incredible and inspiring experience I can only aspire to having, and I know there's a good chance I never will in this life--my intent is not to pass of giving birth as irrelevant, and I can't believe that fatherhood is so irrelevant that the priesthood is given to the instead. Absolutely not what you said, but a worrisome implication nonetheless. They both matter.
ReplyDeleteI can absolutely see the logical tidiness of motherhood being what women get instead of priesthood, but it just doesn't bear out so neatly when you consider women who never marry, women who cannot conceive, and a myriad of other reasons why women, outside of their own control, may never be a mother in this life--whereas all LDS men, by virtue of personal worthiness and commitment, elements within their control, are potentially eligible for the priesthood. I'd rather believe in a God who has not yet made it clear why women lack the priesthood (or don't need it, as many believe) than try to force this false dichotomy down. It just hurts too many.
There's no shame in accepting some things on faith. And when we can accept things without trying to explain them all, we can more easily avoid accidentally marginalizing people we never meant to. Here's a post I suspect you'll enjoy about women, priesthood, and God's plan (and I mean this sincerely): http://amenalready.tumblr.com/post/58482629161/on-peyos-and-priesthood-part-1
Thank you for your comment Christa. Like you said, it was definitely not my intention to leave out those many women who are either not mothers by birth or those who may not have children of their own. In fact, I did think about that as I hit click to publish this post, I suppose I should have gone in to edit before so many people read it. (Something I never thought would actually happen.) I have many friends who have adopted or are caring for children who are not "biologically" their own. I think they are amazing women, and mothers in every sense of the word. I had a Mia Maid leader when I was younger who has no biological children of her own, but I know that many consider her their "other mother." I suppose I'm a little "birth happy" since I've recently given birth to my very first child just 3 months ago and why I emphasized the creation of life and birth process. I apologize to anyone who felt that I may have been slighting those women who cannot do so, or don't have the opportunity in this life. Not my intention at all, nor was it my intention to belittle fatherhood.
DeletePlease keep in mind that not all mothers give birth to their children. Would you describe them as unequal to you as a mother as well? As a mother who gave birth 5 times, I can tell you that my husband is every bit equal to me when it comes to being a parent. I am not some super parent for giving birth, and the most important part of being a mother is a million things besides the day I gave birth to my children. You need to rethink that explanation of what makes motherhood - and fatherhood - important.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why women don't have the priesthood in the Church. I love church leaders, but certainly the priesthood has been withheld due to prejudice and cultural biases in the past. That is the only explanation I can understand for why the priesthood was with held from blacks for a time. It seems very plausible that this is the case today as well. The gospel is perfect, but the church is made up of imperfect people that do make mistakes. Even our leaders are not perfect. As Elder Holland said in the last conference "...when the infinite fullness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all. Those finite vessels include you and me...". We are member of a living church, so it is not apostate to believe that new revelation can come, but a very reasonable and faithful position. "We believe all God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God."
Thank you for your comment. Beautifully put.
DeleteThank you for your comment Lara. Please see my comment above in regards to women who may not give birth.
DeleteAs far as motherhood and fatherhood, I agree one hundred percent that they are equally as important. That's the whole plan of our Heavenly Father! A man and woman sealed together and sealed with their children. A woman cannot be sealed only to her children. I am personally so grateful for an amazing husband who has turned out to be a pretty amazing father so far as well.
However, I will say that I do not think that motherhood and fatherhood are the SAME and I suppose I should have worded it that way. In the very way that "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose," I believe that motherhood and fatherhood are equally important, yet distinct in character.
Every time I hear the Motherhood = Priesthood explanation I cringe a little inside.
ReplyDeleteIt sets up a false equation, that mothers are better at parenting and therefore dont need the priesthood because... what, they are more righteous? They are better with kids? That smacks of stereotype, and to me sounds like a line of reasoning created to give women the feeling that they are equally important without giving them any authority or leadership in the church. (token auxiliary leaders aside)
Fatherhood is just as important as motherhood. Sure, the woman does most of the work for the first 9 months, but both genders are a parent FOR LIFE. And that is an equally shared responsibility, each partner contributing different strengths. To say otherwise is to diminish a father's role and infantilise the man's desire and capability to raise children.
Hi Missy,
DeleteI'm sorry I was not more clear and emphatic on my respect and admiration for fatherhood. I completely agree with you that fatherhood is just as important as motherhood. I have seen too often seen the pain and the problems that are caused in the life of children where the father is absent, and unfortunately no amount of mothering seems to make up for it.
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ReplyDelete“Why in the world would women in the Church want to attend Priesthood Meeting?” Maybe because the prophet is speaking. My girlfriend always has wanted to go, I practically have to recite each talk by each general authority. Maybe you don't want to go, but you don't have to agree with someone in order to have empathy for them. Christ had empathy for those he didn't agree with for example. In general, it sucks to feel left out. You may not feel that, but others do. And it sucks for them to feel left out, even if you don't understand or agree with it, those feelings are there and real.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned you hated confrontation: If you approach this from an empathetic perspective, there is no confrontation, only bonding. Again, you do not have to agree with someone to be empathetic. Perhaps that is the perspective in which we should address this.
You said they distrust his servants: Saying that they mistrust his servants is a logical leap. We call that mind reading in my profession, it's a cognitive distortion, you are assuming this.
You mentioned the Lord's timing: Who is to say that they have not felt inspired to do this. Maybe this is happening for a reason. Do you remember the political situation of the church in 1977? Some colleges would not even play BYU because blacks were not allowed the Priesthood. Drawing attention to it was what led the apostles to pray about it. Who is to say this is different? Endowed women have the priesthood like you mentioned. According to Joseph Smith the priesthood they receive in the temple is inclusive of the lesser priesthoods. With this in mind think about women being excluded from priesthood session while those who are not members, but male, are welcomed. Could you see how this might be interpreted? Could you see how feelings might be hurt? Feelings are hurt, and women feel excluded. It is important to be sensitive to that. I don't believe they intend to “overhaul God's plan” as you put it. They believe they are carrying out his plan.
Christ is the pinnacle example of charity, without charity we are nothing. He taught empathy and love. I implore you to seek those feelings in regards to these women. It is easy to become defensive, and harden our hearts, but I truly feel these women deserve to be heard. I think they deserve our compassion and understanding.
Thank you for your comment. In expressing my feelings, it was not my intent to not show empathy for the feelings of others.
DeleteI am one of those "misguided women." Here is my testimony. It is of God and Christ and not of men below.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the questions regarding the request to receive further light and knowledge from the Lord on behalf of women's role in the Church and in the priesthood was a rejuvenation of my testimony that God will speak to the members today. I hemmed and hawed over it for a long time--was once quite opposed to it--and after a long bout of study and contemplation, and what I feel to be inspiration, I moved forward. And then I felt it was right for me.
I truly do not believe that every sister can or should get involved in Ordain Women. I think it is entirely personal and that our Heavenly Parents have different things for each of us to learn and different ways to learn them. I feel OW has been a vessel for me to learn to have faith once again--faith that we are led by revelation, faith that our prayers and petitions to our God are heard, and faith that our God will never forsake us. I do not pretend to know or have the ability to change the will of God concerning the matter, but I do profess that it has brought me closer to Deity. For that reason, for me, this has been an answer to a prayer in and of itself. Please do not suppose that your opinion trumps another's personal revelation. We are taught directly on that matter not to do so.
As for the comparison between birth and priesthood, it is one that I have heard many times, especially as an aspiring birth professional. Birth was a big deal for me too. Imagine how devastated I was when after doing *every.single.thing.in.my.power* to have a natural birth, my baby went in to massive distress and was forcibly cut out and taken from my body. This idea of birth = priesthood sent me in to months and months of postpartum depression because I felt I had failed in my role because of the perpetuation of ideas that are not doctrinal in nature. I would hope in efforts to help others feel and know of Truth, we would be careful not to hold up the philosophies of (wo)men, all the while calling out women who are exercising faith that their priestesshood will once again be recognized, as was our foremothers in the Restoration.
Thank you for your testimony Amy. Beautifully stated.
DeleteAs a father I have to say I found this post extremely hurtful. I spend just as much time as my wife every week taking care of our daughter; My wife expresses so I can feed the baby in the evening and at night, I change her nappies, I feed her breakfast. I hold her when she cries most of the night when she is ill or teething. I make her laugh, I encourage her to walk. Sometimes I do more some weeks than my wife and vice versa. We are an equal team and Fatherhood absolutely equals Motherhood. Why are you belittling a fathers ability to equally contribute to raising a family?
ReplyDeletePlease see my above comments about fatherhood. I was in no way trying to belittle it and I applaud you for your sincere and hard work. I'm sure you are a wonderful dad!! :)
DeleteI wish you knew me IRL! I am a fun, happy, recommend holding, temple married, RM church school grad. I love the gospel and I pray daily. I consider myself to be a woman of faith. And when I prayed about posting a profile to Ordain Women (a long, ongoing prayer conversation that included my faithful, honest husband), I felt that it was something I should do. Because in addition to those women who are single or adoptive parents, there are women like me who are married and may never be a parent at all. I could help in so many areas that are currently off limits to me because of my gender. I do not think that is "of God." I think that's a cultural thing that we haven't asked about before. Sometimes we set things up because that's how we set it up, and God lets us. God gives us so much wiggle room in which to learn and grow, and I love God dearly for it.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is that I just want to follow my Savior and serve. My path does not include motherhood. As a woman, a faithful, personal progress medallion toting woman, this is like being permanently assigned to the sidelines. It was especially hard as a teen - all those marriage and kids lessons, and I'm sitting there in my hard folding chair thinking,"Uhhh...nope. But, maybe? But...GAH I DON'T KNOW! I just want to go help people!" *commence teen flailing about*
Now, each time someone in conference or at church dives into a discussion on women's roles, I have to fight off feeling like despite all I have done, I will never be able to do the one thing God has "assigned" me. It's like a spiritual knife to my heart, and it causes very real heartache and pain.
I have prayed for this to change since I was young and suspected I would not be a mother. This movement of faithful, honest women is an answer to my prayers. Please, consider that we have so much invested in our faith in Christ, that we want to do what is right, and that we are daughters and sons of God who love and honor the Savior and his gospel.
I hope the comments here continue to be gracious and respectful, and that you don't feel the negativity you fear, but rather continue to be a part of a kind and open dialogue on a different, faithful perspective
Thanks for your comment sister. Dude, I wish I knew you too!! :) You sound fantastic!
DeleteAs others have stated, this is pretty insensitive to adoptive parents. Do they count for less because they didn't give birth? And my dad is just as important in my life as my mom. To suggest he should matter less because he didn't give birth to me is insulting and diminishes everything he has done and given up for me and my sisters.
ReplyDeleteYou are also missing the point when you talk about power in the church. Yes, everyone can go to a worthiness interview. But who always does the interviewing? It is always a man. Both women and men attend the temple, but they make different promises. And those promises place women below men in their relationship with God. Women attend decision making meetings in the church, but never have final say in what is going to be done. Even in their own organization, women need male permission to do anything. So the fact that both genders are interviewed to attend the temple is beside
It's also insensitive to non-member families. So if motherhood is so much more important than fatherhood, and priesthood is the equalizer, the 99.9% of families on the planet that don't have the priesthood just have inferior fathers? Really?
ReplyDeleteI believe the poster is coming from a sincere place, but it's important to think through these arguments logically. The argument that mothers are superior to fathers because they go through labor is severely insensitive to infertile women, adoptive parents, and non-members.
Motherhood = Fatherhood. Anything that argues otherwise strains logic to the snapping point.
I personally have no desire to hold the priesthood, but I do understand that desire in other women. What I don't understand is the placebo which we are constantly offered - women don't need the priesthood as we are destined to be wives and mothers. As a woman who is neither, could I please say, I find it insulting for you to limit my spiritual worth to my reproductive capabilities. In the comments, someone else mentioned that every worthy male is given the priesthood, so does it follow that I will be 'given' a husband and a baby if I remain worthy? I think not.
ReplyDeleteAccording to your thinking, I am only worthwhile if a man decides he likes me enough to marry and impregnate me. Does that mean I am currently redundant? Am I not living to my full potential? Am I worthless? Nope - I think I am pretty awesome, thank you very much. Meanwhile, a man can obtain the priesthood simply by being a good person. Call me radical, but this is not fair.
The gospel may be from God, but it is being passed on through men who are not perfect and who may, probably unwittingly, shade it with their own biases. There are instances of prophets rescinding previous doctrine, such as polygamy and the priesthood ban, so what am I supposed to extrapolate from this? Perhaps, in time, it will be accepted that women are capable of much more than just being a reproductive vessel.
I believe that organisations like Ordain Women are important, because it is only when people stand up, and say ‘this is not right’ that things change. Many thought the Suffragettes were a crazy nuisance, but you and I now have freedoms, which were previously limited to men, because of them. As I stated before, I do not want the priesthood, but, as I grow and mature, this may change. What I do want, at the moment, is the option to choose for myself.
Oh Louise, I am glad you know you are awesome, and it was not my intent at all to say otherwise.
DeleteLike I've mentioned in some comments above, I may have focused on birth because I just barely went through it and it has completely changed my life. It was a mistake to not continue speaking about women's roles. I must caveat by saying that (duh, Hannah, this is a public blog on the internet!) but it is also my personal blog as you can see by the other posts, and never have I had so many people read it. Not a great excuse, but perhaps to shed a bit more light to where I was coming from writing it.
I have so many friends who are not wives or mothers. My all time role model in life is the amazing and wonderful Sister Sheri Dew, and she is neither. I wish I could be more like her, I think she is amazing, and I think you are too!
I hate the word equality. I feel that many have interpreted it to mean that everyone gets the same.... But that is very far from the case. Equality in the Lord's kingdom, I believe, means that everyone receives what they need in order to come closer to Christ. Heavenly Father knows us individually and understands your desires and hopes, sisters, and will give you what you need if you truly desire to come closer to Him, whether that be the priesthood or not. Only fervent prayer and fasting will bring you these answers. I do not believe you need to make a scene to get the prophets attention so he can ask The Lord.... Go ask The Lord yourself. He will answer your prayers. He does not need you to tell the prophet, He will tell the prophet himself. I pray that we can all make it through the trial as sisters more fully united and closer to our Heavenly Father. May we also follow Elder Ballard and focus on sharing this Gospel and building of the kingdom of Heaven, because that is why we are here and have been so greatly blessed with this Gospel.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment!
DeleteI posted this comment on your blog post prior to this one, "A daughter of Levi". I thought since I referenced this post as well that I should post my comment here too. This comment is referencing her "A daughter of Levi" post.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog through a link to your letter about the women who are a part of the Ordain Women movement. I have to say that the women of OW would be the first to applaud a post like this and thank you for your thoughtfulness and mindfulness about working through your own personal circumstances with the help of personal revelation. Whether you choose to stay at home or work while you have children is a delicate balance and should be approached mindfully by every family trying to make those types of decisions. I think it's easy to lump the OW into one big group and write us all off, but we are here for all women especially women like you! We are here to support and love you and lift you up as you have to delicately balance a decision that goes against our culture not our religion. Shame from fellow members happens more than I wish it did, and I know this firsthand as a woman with a career in the church. No matter what you decide as a mother we are here to support you, to support you as a stay at home Mom or as a Mom who balances mothering and working. Please give us a chance and try to understand the depth at which we have thought about, fasted about, prayed about, and yearned about this subject. I am happy to answer any questions you have about this movement and you can email me personally if you're interested. Just reply to this comment and we can exchange information. All the love and peace in the world.
Thank you so much for this post. I really enjoyed it. I like you have been lucky enough to have two beautiful boys of my own. I also feel the sting of infertility recently when I was told that I most likely won't be able to have any more bio. children. I agree with you whole heartedly that motherhood and fatherhood have very different roles and as outlined in the Proclamation to the World on the Family... "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners."
ReplyDeleteBefore I went through the temple to receive my endowment I struggled a bit with the question "Why can't women have the priesthood?" I had heard the parallel to motherhood like most of you have, but I never really loved the analogy. What helped me was recognizing that we all play different roles in God's plan. Some people aspire to certain callings and know that they could benefit from or helps others in holding those callings... but I've come to realize that everything God does is for a reason. I don't presume to know that reason. I may never be Relief Society president, but that won't make me any less of a women then any other woman who has been. It just means that the Lord has other plans for me. That is how I feel about the Priesthood. Sure I think being able to hold the priesthood would be an amazing gift, but I also find joy in supporting my husband who does hold it, like I support all men and women called to calling in authority.
I have enjoyed the testimonies of others on here from OW, and I just wanted to share mine. Thanks again to the author for you sweet testimony.
Thanks for your thoughts Hannah. Gotta love how things get around the internet. Here's a blog I follow regularly and from your thoughts I know you will love it. This is my favorite post of hers. She says it so much better than I can. http://womeninthescriptures.blogspot.com/2008/12/importance-of-birth.html
ReplyDeleteI would love to know your thoughts.
Thanks for sharing! I loved that blog, very beautifully written.
DeleteHi Hannah! Great post! I'm Heather and I was hoping you would be willing to answer a quick question I have about your blog! My email is Lifesabanquet1(at)gmail.com :-)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! I'll email you :)
DeleteHannah, just wanted to say that you are awesome. I'm impressed with how well you're responding to everyone's comments and how respectful you're being. Cat and I love you. Keep up the excellent writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael!! You two are so great! Hope you come visit SOON!! :)
DeleteHannah, just wanted to say you are awesome in the way you're responding to everybody. Mutual respect is hard to come by even in the church.
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