I just finished a book called Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom. Mitch is asked by his rabbi to deliver his eulogy, and the book details his efforts to get more acquainted with the rabbi. There is a wonderful message about gratitude and happiness that I wanted to share for Thanksgiving.
The rabbi was aging, and spent some time in the hospital. Pages 97-99 detail an interesting insight into one of these visits. Continue Reading »
Mitch Albom wrote a book titled Have a Little Faith. Mitch grew up Jewish, but as he left for college and started a career in sports writing, he left many of his Jewish roots behind. Years later, his rabbi approached him with a special request. From page 1 of his book,
“Will you do my eulogy?”
I’m not sure why President Benson is so popular lately. Will at Wheat and Tares asked, Were President Benson’s Words Prophetic? In Sunday’s Salt Lake Tribune, FBI files shed light on Ezra Taft Benson, Ike and the Birch Society. In July, I promised to talk about President Benson’s politics, and I guess the timing is right; I’m finally getting back to that post. Continue Reading »
I posted this at Mormon Matters, but since I am not there any more, I wanted to preserve this on my blog. I loved Greg Prince’s biography of David O McKay. Under the McKay Administration, correlation of LDS church materials made a great deal of headway. While correlation has cut down on duplication of church materials, it has become a bit unwieldy. I found a quote by Paul Dunn that discussed how correlation has had some unintended side effects, and he likened these problems to the Supreme Court. We are all familiar with “legislating from the bench”, and there seems to be a similar problem with correlation. Paul Dunn gave an interview in 1995 and said on page 158, Continue Reading »
I’ve been a big fan of Richard Dutcher over the years. I loved God’s Army, Brigham City, and States of Grace. I loved that his films took Mormonism seriously. His films were touching, thoughtful, and spiritual. I found great value in his presentations of Mormon spirituality, and dealing with life in a complex world. When Richard Dutcher resigned from the LDS church, I was still a fan, and hoped that he might change his mind someday. But even if he didn’t, I still want to be a fan.
Angel Moroni
A few months ago, I attended several family reunions. At the time, I was reading John Hamer’s book, Scattering of the Saints. I was absolutely fascinated with all the accounts of Mormon schismatic groups. I was especially interested in Strangism and the Church of Christ with the Elijah Message. As I told the story of their founding, the reaction of my relatives was incredibly interesting to me.
Ok, I created a Facebook page a few months ago, and was amazed at the increase in page views. So, I’m now on Twitter too, and decided to update my GoodReads by adding a new page here about the books I’ve read, am reading, or want to read. So, feel free to add me as a friend on Facebook, Twitter, or Goodreads. Also, I’ve had the Networked Blogs up for a few months, but have only 1 follower besides myself (thanks Vickie!) Go to the bottom and add yourself!
And if you have any other suggestions for me, I’m all ears.
As a follow up to my previous article discussing female priesthood holders in Ancient Christianity, I thought it would be interesting to discuss a now discontinued practice of Mormon women anointing and blessing the sick. Did you know that Mormon women used to wash, anoint with oil, and lay hands on the sick until 1946? Linda King Newell outlines the history of this practice in a Sunstone article called “A Gift Given: a Gift Taken“. When questioned the propriety of women laying hands on the sick to heal, what do you think Joseph Smith’s response was?
I attended Sunstone back in August. Bridget Jack Jeffries (who runs a blog called Clobberblog), gave a fascinating presentation on female priesthood holders in the ancient Christian church. Bridget is a “never Mormon” that attended BYU, graduating in 2005. She “seduced” (her words, not mine) and married a BYU priesthood holder while there, and she is currently studying the History of Christianity in America at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near Chicago. She has done some fascinating research on women and the priesthood in early Christianity that I wanted to share.
Mormon Heretic 