Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Life Within

From the Artist: “The overarching theme is that external feelings are irrelevant to internal truths. In this piece, the external feelings are represented by the positive and negative words displayed on the outside of the pregnant woman’s stomach. The internal truth is the baby growing inside the woman. This piece is to speak to the feelings or thoughts that may occur when a woman becomes pregnant, and to show that the most relevant thing is the presence of the precious and sacred human life that is growing inside the pregnant woman.”

Pick A Little Talk A Little

Our local pool opened this month—the literal and metaphorical watering hole of the neighborhood. Moms gather to apply sunscreen to their tribes, hover over young swimmers, and chat. Mostly we stick to small talk. Sometimes we get into deeper topics like education or marriage. And sometimes we stray into gossip.

“I heard Mark’s wife just up and left.”

“Did you see Claire’s new haircut?” 

“Ashley is having another baby, bless her heart.”

Are we supposed to feel sorry for Mark, or are we questioning his qualities as a husband? The remark about Claire’s new look could imply admiration, or it could be veiled criticism of her taste. And while I hope we’re meant to be happy for Ashley, the comment might mean she’s out of her depth and going deeper. Bless her heart.

I don’t often gossip, but when I do, I have a lot of fun doing it. Fortunately I know that fun does not always equal good. We can experience good delights and bad delights—a profound idea of the New Christianity. 

Continue reading Pick A Little Talk A Little

Home Worship

This week we are sharing images of a variety of home worship areas. Last week’s article finished with this quote from Deuteronomy 6:4-7, which fits nicely as we contemplate these warm and thoughtful family worship set ups.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

The Power of Dependency

The New Christianity has some very new ideas. Some of these concepts are so profound that they contradict both western “progressive” values as well as our “traditional” perspectives. The challenge for us is to stand outside the cultural boxes we exist in, and take a look at our world as God describes it.

The Heavenly Doctrines paint a truly unique picture of what it means to be a woman and what it means to be a man and how these two different creatures are designed to fit together. I can find no similar perspectives to this either in the current world cultures or in my studies of history. This makes these particular teachings fascinating and exciting for me, but I have also discovered that the very uniqueness of these teachings can make them confusing to conceptualize. Continue reading The Power of Dependency