Skip to main content

A Plea to Listen

Those of you who I talk to often know I have had a lot of questions on the role of women in the gospel. Personally, for the most part I have never felt like men have dominated over me in the church. For the most part. I had some struggles on my mission and in some callings but it was never something that was a huge deal. However, while there are many like me who have never or rarely felt unequal in the church, there are women who have felt extremely unequal. As I have listened to their heart breaking stories I've felt a renewed determination to understand what are the doctrines from God and what are the philosophies of men when it comes to women and how they participate in the gospel and in family life.

I won't go into what I've learned so far right now, but I do want to plead with those faithful and who have never had questions to please listen to your sisters. The New Testament and the Book of Mormon both make it clear that we are to mourn with those that mourn. (Romans 12:17 and Mosiah 18:9) To me this does not mean to tell them to stop thinking about it because it'll all be worked out in the next life. It does not mean to tell them Satan is deceiving them and causing them to doubt. It means to feel their pain. It doesn't mean you have to doubt with them, just that you allow yourself to just be with them and feel with them. If you are comforting a grieving friend who has lost a loved one, you don't have to have lost a loved one in order to mourn with them. It's the same with doubt and questions. Doubting is painful! I did not realize it either before my faith crisis, but it's horrible. And it's not something you can just magically turn off. (Oh I wish it was.) I've been lucky because my family has been a wonderful listening support as I've been working through my own doubts. But not everyone has that. Often, they get quite the opposite. 

So please, the next time you see someone questioning women's roles in the gospel or feeling frustrated with the way things are, don't tell them they need to repent. Don't tell them they are crazy and that everything is fine. Don't be afraid that their doubts will some how ruin your testimony. Trust Jesus, ask for His love, and let that love and understanding spill out of you over to the person who has questions. I think you'll be amazed at how powerful love really is.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On Prophet Fallibility

Recently, in a group I am a part of we discussed the fallibility of prophets. Here are some bullet points of my take away of the discussion: The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “a prophet [is] a prophet only when he [is] acting as such." ( 1 ) Also this scripture was shared from Deuteronomy 18:12 "When a  prophet   speaketh  in the name of the  Lord , if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that  is  the thing which the  Lord  hath not spoken,  but  the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:" ( 2 )  From the quote and this scripture we know that prophets can and will make mistakes. "The Church will know by the testimony of the Holy Ghost in the body of the members, whether the brethren in voicing their views are ‘moved upon by the Holy Ghost’; and in due time that knowledge will be made manifest” ( 3 )  From this quote we learn that it is our responsibility as members to seek the Holy Ghost in confirming if what...
Post a Comment
Read more

On Changes in the Temple

I just heard some really, super exciting news about the temple. I don't want to talk about it here because I do regard it as sacred, but I will just say, I cried and cried when I heard the news. I can't wait to go. Whenever the temple changes, there are always people that get frustrated and say God is unchangeable, and so why do things change so much in the church. I do believe God is unchangeable, however, humans are VERY changeable. As a parent, I know that all three of my children have very different personalities and needs. As a home school mom, I know my oldest daughter loves structure and check boxes. She loves getting things done. My second child, needs to MOVE. Constantly. Or no learning happens. Personally, my character isn't changing and WHAT I am teaching isn't changing but HOW I am teaching changes according to the needs of my little ones. I think that is one way to look at changes through out gospel history. I also think our Heavenly Parents are hearing...
Post a Comment
Read more

Seek, and ye shall find: A warning?

Seek and ye shall find. I've read this phrase dozens of times, but for some reason this time it hit me differently. I always saw it before as Christ saying "seek me, and ye shall find me." Which is probably what he is saying but I realized the other day I can take this another way. As my husband and I were talking, he pointed out that it could even be read as warning. Seek negativity, and ye shall find. Seek a victim status, and ye shall find. Seek for flaws in the gospel, and ye shall find. A few years ago I read "The Happiness Advantage" by Shawn Anchor. (I totally recommend this book!) One part that has stuck with me over the years is his explanation on how the brain works. When we decide to believe something, our brain focuses on that belief and is constantly scanning for evidence of what we believe or scanning for the focus. When the brain is focused intently on something, it dumps all the extra information coming at so it seems like wha...
Post a Comment
Read more