When It All Fell Apart
I was married on December 13, 2013. After some debate, we chose the Mesa, Arizona, temple rather than the recently dedicated Gilbert temple. The Mesa temple was a staple of my youth. I had grown up seeing its Christmas lights, doing Baptisms for the Dead in its font, and had taken out my own Endowment there. It felt like a part of who I was, like an extended family member in and of itself, without whom the wedding wouldn't feel right.
In Which We Pontificate Upon Schedules
On March 30, 2026, the First Presidency announced a new meeting schedule for the two hour block. Unsurprisingly, we have thoughts:
Watching Jesus’ Spiritual Monitors Beep
I’m writing this at 11pm a few weeks before Easter, an hour or so into spending the night with my son in the emergency department. He’s fine, at this point they’re just observing him as a precautionary measure. He is sound asleep. I am watching over him and I cannot sleep. And I’ve been thinking about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on Maundy Thursday.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus Rode a Kids’ Bike
According to Mark's gospel, on what we call Palm Sunday: "[T]hey brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
LDS Church and the Cross: New Statues on Temple Square
A couple of years ago I posted a brief reflection about the LDS Church’s complicated relationship with the cross. The short story is this: despite the fact that early saints wore the crucifix as jewelry, that early churches were adorned with cross-related imagery, and that the Laie, Hawaii and Cardston, Alberta temples both have a cruciform design, the cross fell out of fashion with the LDS Church… but it’s making…
Women and Sunday School
Yesterday I learned from Peggy Fletcher Stack that the Church had made a massive policy change: ward Sunday School presidencies are no longer the exclusive domain of men. Effective immediately, women can serve as Sunday School presidents and counselors. It should surprise nobody that I have thoughts about this. After all, more than two years ago(!) I wrote a…
Do You Attend the Temple?
LDS leaders have been unequivocal when it comes to the importance of the temple. Reiterating past leaders’ statements, and consistent with subsequent leaders’ views, Gordon B. Hinkley asserted that “no member of the Church has received the ultimate which this Church has to give until he or she has received his or her temple blessings in the house of the Lord.” This sentiment is ubiquitous in LDS teachings—it is…
“We Need … Your Voices”
If a woman's voice falls in the forest and nobody hears it, did the woman speak at all? Recent changes have gradually reduced the visibility and speaking time of women in worldwide Relief Society broadcasts. Find out what has changed.
If a woman's voice falls in the forest and nobody hears it, did the woman speak at all? Recent changes have gradually reduced the visibility and speaking time of women in worldwide Relief Society broadcasts. Find out what has changed.
An I Ching Reading for Our Times
Standing as a wanderer above a sea of Orange fog, I do what all seekers do when faced with a new and rubbish world order: I consult the oracle.
“High Church” and “Low Church” in LDS Worship
In a recent post of mine, the comments took a quick (and interesting) diversion into whether people preferred “high church” or “low church.” For those not familiar with those terms: “High church” is used to describe worship that emphasizes ritual, formal liturgies, ordinances, and have strong priestly presence. A Catholic Midnight Mass is an example of “high church”— heavy on ritual, use of formal liturgies, celebration of…
