And just as I started working on it, I happened to press ctrl-z which somehow inexplicably replaced my entire post with an old one. (ctrl-z claims to undo mistakes. In this case it was more like undue hardship.)
So. Here is what I remember. (It isn't everything, tragically.) Along with the articles I provide lots of my own thoughts. (I guess people usually use Facebook to share articles so they can get more of a dialogue going, but that's not really my goal right now.)
Religion
Image of the Mothering God -- this has some lovely symbolism about breastfeeding, among other thought provoking elements.
Forced Together by Mormonism -- This is a nice story about visiting teaching. I love it when people who seem different from each other become really good friends. Even if it's because of an "assigned friendship" (there are worse things).
Why did Alma talk about Melchizedek?
Sunday School Lesson on Hebrews
I've always been confused by mentions of Melchizedek both in the Book of Mormon and in the New Testament. So it's been nice finding resources to help me understand him better. (Both of these are great resources for lots of things, fyi.)
My Deceased Son's Answer to What It's All About -- Melissa Dalton Bradford is a lovely writer, and you should just read the rest of everything she wrote. I really liked the emphasis on relationships, even relationships of people you just happen to meet once or twice.
In fact, I just had an experience which made me think about this. I recently flew to Utah without Kevin. I was hoping for a really helpful person to sit next to on the plane. As it turned out, the person I sat next to had just come from Europe and was exhausted, so he dozed for most of it and didn't talk to us much after the first minute. I thought to myself, "Well, here's someone I will never care about after this flight."
It was a long, turbulent flight with an overtired Matthew boy, so it took some work to stay happy. (By the end I defiantly threw the nursing cover off because I just didn't care anymore.) Right before we reached Salt Lake City, the man asked me who my dad was. I told him. "And your mom is a Rytting, right?"
Somehow, maybe in a few mentions to Joseph of "Grandma Barbara," he had guessed who I was. He had been in my grandparents' ward in Kansas and had even gone to my mom's wedding reception. And now, thirty years later, he recognized me as one of them.
What was once an unpleasant flight with a sleepy seatmate now became a joyful reunion. As we deplaned, he helped carry my bags and children and had me stick around to meet his wife who had been seated several rows behind us (who also had married someone with her maiden name, just like me).
It was humbling to realize just how much my perception changed when I realized that he was someone worth caring about. And even if there had been no family connection, he still would have been worth caring about because he too was a child of God.
Anyway. Long story short. This article resonated with me.
In fact, I just had an experience which made me think about this. I recently flew to Utah without Kevin. I was hoping for a really helpful person to sit next to on the plane. As it turned out, the person I sat next to had just come from Europe and was exhausted, so he dozed for most of it and didn't talk to us much after the first minute. I thought to myself, "Well, here's someone I will never care about after this flight."
It was a long, turbulent flight with an overtired Matthew boy, so it took some work to stay happy. (By the end I defiantly threw the nursing cover off because I just didn't care anymore.) Right before we reached Salt Lake City, the man asked me who my dad was. I told him. "And your mom is a Rytting, right?"
Somehow, maybe in a few mentions to Joseph of "Grandma Barbara," he had guessed who I was. He had been in my grandparents' ward in Kansas and had even gone to my mom's wedding reception. And now, thirty years later, he recognized me as one of them.
What was once an unpleasant flight with a sleepy seatmate now became a joyful reunion. As we deplaned, he helped carry my bags and children and had me stick around to meet his wife who had been seated several rows behind us (who also had married someone with her maiden name, just like me).
It was humbling to realize just how much my perception changed when I realized that he was someone worth caring about. And even if there had been no family connection, he still would have been worth caring about because he too was a child of God.
Anyway. Long story short. This article resonated with me.
How God Messed Up My Happy Atheist Life -- This was a wonderful story about someone who let Christ in. I love this line: "No one could have in a billion years of their gripping testimony or by showing me a radiant life of good deeds or through song or even the most beautiful of books brought me to Christ. I had to be tapped on the shoulder."
Incidentally, I've had an interesting realization over the past 6 months -- I can really, honestly, truly understand where atheists come from now. I can understand how you can discount others' and your own spiritual experiences as your mind or emotions playing confirmation bias tricks on you. It feels like you are outside in the dead of winter, and someone comes and pulls your coat off of you. And you're afraid to put your coat on again because, well, what if it's just a fake coat? There's no comfort or safety in something that isn't true, lovely as it all sounds.
As I've really come to understand that mindset, I've learned that you shouldn't believe in something just because it's comforting. Comfort is not truth. But love is truth. And if love can change the world, then it can shape the universe. And if there is Someone powerful enough to create a universe that operates on love rather than on selfishness, then that Someone would be willing to let us all know He loves us by sending His Son who lived and breathed and even died that love for us.
And when we are ready to seek Him, He is there waiting, ready to "crack us open to the divine."
Willing to Submit -- I have been interested in the word "submit" for a while, so I decided to look at this talk by Elder Neal A. Maxwell. To be honest, the word "submit" is a charged one for me because there are lots of things we really shouldn't submit to (definitely not abuse, for example). But you would think that if we believe there is an omniscient God and we knew for sure He wanted us to do something, we would do it, right? Right? Actually . . . it's still tricky, and this talk discusses that beautifully.
Like a Broken Vessel Video -- I listened to this while I was washing dishes the other night, and it was beautiful. You are not alone!
Honest, Simple, Solid, True -- I don't remember what led me to this BYU devotional from forever ago, but I liked it.
Inside the sealing room inside the temple -- There are times when people have asked me why the church has spent so much time and money making so many temples around the world. After all, other Christian denominations don't do this, so why should we? Sometimes it's a harder question to answer than others, but stories like this make it clear to me. There are people on the other side who really are waiting and excited.
Social/Political (this is where I forgot most of what I saved, so it's a bit sparse.)
The Case For Reparations -- I was a little discouraged learning about New Haven, especially the elementary schools, so I pulled this up and skimmed it again and came away discouraged again. There is a lot I love about America, but this aspect not so much. It's always been strange to me how there was so much discrimination in the north even without slavery. No simple fixes to these problems, that's for sure.
Lt. Gov Cox at Orlando Vigil -- I don't know that his words were the healing balm I wanted following the massacre of 49 people in Orlando, but they were probably the words I needed.
Scott Adams on Guns -- this is by no means a helpful article about gun violence, but I think he's onto something in his generalizations. (At least, the way he explains why Republicans like guns jives with what I've seen from my friends.)
And if you were curious, here are a few of my thoughts about guns:
1. In my mind, for whatever reason, motorcycles and guns are equivalent (probably because some people think motorcycles are fun and some think target shooting is fun, and I don't think either is fun but I can respect different hobbies). So if it's a good idea for motorcycles, it's probably a good idea for guns. (e.g. registration, being competent at using it, etc.)
2. The ultimate goal really shouldn't be more guns. Do we want to be like the Jaredites or Nephites sleeping on their swords because everyone's safer when they can defend themselves? Or do we want to instead be beating our weapons into plowshares and pruning hooks? I believe statistics that suggest that places with less gun control tend to be safer (such as, say, Idaho), but I feel like adding more guns to the world is not the loftiest goal in the world. (Unless you're a gun manufacturer, I guess.)
The War On Stupid People -- I recently taught about Korihor to my Primary class. We talked about some of his lies and what Christ would teach instead. One thing Korihor taught was that "every man prospered according to his genius." Even though that might seem perfectly fair, it leaves a lot of people vulnerable (what are mentally disabled people or even children supposed to do? Many of them don't have much genius to put to use). And this article touches on those concerns a little bit. I don't think the solutions they present are the best (too much government intervention for my liking), but I think they're worth thinking about.
Elder Christofferson on Religious Freedom -- There are times when I get frustrated with people who use freedom of speech or religious freedom as an excuse to say ugly things (for example, I'm sure some people have backed up their anti-Semitism with religious freedom on occasion), but I believe what Elder Christofferson said here. Beliefs belong in the public square. Beliefs deserve to be disagreed with, not suppressed. And though I believe that ugly speech begets violence (terrifyingly so), suppressing ugly speech begets it as well. (So . . . any solutions there? Haha.)
Parenting
4 Reasons Parents Lose Their Temper -- There were a few weeks in June where I was really having a hard time with Joseph, and kept yelling at him (usually over food). I was surprised, discouraged, and worried at myself. When I changed my mindset (i.e. repented . . . but not just of losing my temper, but of having a worst-case-scenario mindset) and tried to take better care of sleep for both of us, things got a lot better. I just read this article today, and I think the ideas in there were similar to what worked for me lately.
Picky Eater Strategies -- So these didn't work for me at all. But they are still good ideas for some kids. Maybe. (What worked for us was to cut back on snacking except for fruit, and then stop pestering Joseph at mealtimes.)
How to Homeschool Preschool -- just some good resources.
10 Insights of Remarkable Parents -- hopefully nothing new here, but good reminders!
Art and Music
Minerva Teichert's Manti Temple Murals -- there isn't as much artwork in this as I would hope, but it's really interesting. (And so fun to see pictures of her! She looks like some people I know. :D)
Textures of Mormonism -- Funny and evocative
Feuerfest -- the past few days we've listened to this over and over. So I wanted to remember that. Joseph says it sounds like Snow White to him.
Books
I may as well mention what I've been reading, too.
-I finally read most of 1984. Always applicable.
-I've seen Thomas Merton's name floating around a few times, so I decided to read his book New Seeds of Contemplation. It has been really enlightening, and I'll probably have to reread it to write down all the quotes.
-I read the first part of The First Fifty Years of Relief Society. It has all the minutes of Relief Society meetings. There were things that were kind of funny to me (like how they came up with the name "Relief Society") and it was exciting to see some Moons listed on the rolls. Still, not the easiest read.
And I've definitely gotten more pleasure out of this serialization "Abinadi" than I was expecting. It reminds me of the sort of stuff Leslie and my cousin Megan and I would have written or acted out back in the day (although a bit more thematic). I always think the world could use more Book of Mormon fan fiction.
One last thing . . . I am still trying to figure out how to stop web crawlers from taking over my blog. So thank you for your patience! (And if you're reading this via invitation, thank you for reading! I super super appreciate it!)
Here's an example of stuff I've tried to parse in my efforts to stop web crawlers from viewing the same 100 blog posts 10 times a day:
http://www.blogtips.org/web-crawlers-love-the-good-but-kill-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
Happy reading!
