Feeding the Flock: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Church and Praxis by Terryl L. Givens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I suppose I am not likely the intended audience for this book. I believe it was written primarily for non-Mormons who are interested in Mormon studies. This is the second volume of Terryl Givens' history of Mormon thought, the first being Wrestling the Angel. Whereas the first volume dealt with the key theological concepts of the nature of God and man and the relationship between them, this volume lays out the history of Mormonism's ecclesiastical structure and religious practices. Such a topic might seem dull to a born and bred Mormon--a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints--who is well-acquainted with such things, but I happen to love the study of religion, including my own tradition. I like to read what respected scholars--both insiders and outsiders--have to say. I appreciate the perspective of this particular author because he places Mormonism within the broader context of Judeo Christian history. He takes Christian church practices, organizational structures, and the theology behind them and traces them from their early roots in Judaism to early Christianity. He follows the often heated debates that led to the Reformation and modern sectarianism. Mormonism can be seen as a response to this splintering of the Christian church into bitter competing sects. Established in 1830 as the restoration (as an ongoing process) of the "true and living" church of Jesus Christ by the founder, Joseph Smith, and his followers, it centers on the Christ of the New Testament, but with twists that other Christians deem heretical. Many of the twists go back to Old Testament concepts and practices. Givens compares and contrasts Mormon practices as they developed over time with those of Judaism and different Christian sects. I love getting the big picture!


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A Gentleman in Moscow

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book on Audible. The narrator was first-rate, and the storyline, characters, writing, and historical background well-crafted and engaging. I loved the premise of a Russian gentleman having to remake his life after being sentenced to house arrest in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution. He has been living in a luxurious suite in a fancy Moscow hotel, but now he finds himself booted upstairs to a tiny room away from any important guests. It is fascinating to watch him try to come to terms with the narrowing of his choices, where the hotel becomes his entire world. A former man-about-town with no more family, he is now confined and facing loneliness. He is gregarious and charming, intelligent and clever, very well-read and a great storyteller and conversationalist, and yet he can no longer go out to meet friends and discuss his ideas, but instead must wait for them to come to him. If he is to bear this exile, he must be open to finding new companions among the hotel guests and staff and find meaningful ways to keep himself busy and useful. He has definite flaws and eccentricities that often hold him back, but maybe for that reason, I loved watching him navigate this new world of surprises and conundrums, unlikely friendships and loves, as well as of painful conflicts. The outside world inevitably intrudes into his inner sanctum, but he also finds that what happens in the small space he occupies can sometimes have significant affects on the world beyond the hotel doors. It is interesting to see that as his world contracts in some ways, it expands in others, and as he experiences so much loss, he also grows and gains much. What I loved most about this gentleman was his response to the turmoil of revolutionary ideals clashing with the corruption of power that he has witnessed himself in the hotel and that he learns from knowledgeable sources from the outside. As the picture becomes clearer to him, he begins to sift through the traditions and experiences of his own privileged upbringing, measuring them against the new ways of the revolution, rejecting from both what he comes to recognize as harmful and holding fast to that which he deems noble and worth fighting for.


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Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Personal stories are so critical when you've had no life experiences to help you understand another culture. The Appalachian culture that J.D. Vance describes is totally foreign to me, a New Englander born and married within the professional class of academics and scientists. I've driven through all the Appalachian states and even got lost once with weird Google directions that took us into the woods where we encountered a few hillbilly shacks with "No Trespassing" signs. That's the extent of my experience. That's why I appreciated this book. It's not just a memoir, it's also Vance's attempt to understand his own family, friends, and culture. He wants to understand his own life struggles and what allowed him to beat huge odds to stay away from drugs, get an education, a law degree, a well-paying job, a nice home, and least expected of all, a patient and loving wife to share all of it with. He mourns the self-defeating, but deeply entrenched worldview of his people, but he also knows their strengths, and sees hope in the channeling of those strengths toward a better life. He shares both his love and his shame and in doing so, chips away at the hardened perceptions of readers like me.


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Goodreads review of As Iron Sharpens Iron

From Goodreads
As Iron Sharpens Iron: Listening to the Various Voices of Scripture
Author/Editor: Julie M. Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the premise of this collection of essays: Invite several different Mormon scholars to each take two characters from different times and places in scripture, find a topic on which they have opposing views, and invent a dialogue between them respectfully disagreeing with each other. Some of the essays were better-written or closer to my own level of understanding than others, but I loved partaking of this exercise in thinking out of the box.

For those who insist that there are no real contradictions in holy writ--even though these books were penned by often inspired but flawed, as are all human beings, from different cultures over thousands of years, then chosen as canon by other flawed human beings from among other similar writings--I entreat you to take even just the four Gospels and try to make them match, detail for detail. And you know what? It's perfectly fine--in fact, it's wonderful that they don't fit harmoniously together! For these writers, historical or ideological accuracy was an alien concept to them. They had a perspective to share--a story to tell--that helped them make sense of the culturally meaningful stories that had been passed down (mostly by word of mouth) to them.

This collection of essays shows the richness and complexity of the scriptures--as rich and as complex as every human life. Coming to terms with paradox--two opposing ideas that are equally true, like two sides of a coin--is what challenges us to grow up to maturity. Stephen Peck's dialogue between Abraham and St. Thomas about faith and doubt is a particularly effective example. Julie Smith brings Mark and Luke together to express how Jesus honored women in ways that seem to oppose each other. Each of the essays brings out a different paradox for their scriptural characters--and us--to grapple and grow with.

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Nigh onto 50 years of church callings

I am a list-maker. Here's a list, as far as I can recall, of my LDS church callings (volunteer "assignments"):

My church callings, as far as I recall

New Haven, CT Ward

Bishop Taylor

Junior in High School 1969-1970 Primary, Sunbeam teacher (3 year olds)

BYU 52nd student ward 1971-75

Bishop Taylor

Bishop Riggs (?)

Sunday School Gospel Doctrine teacher

BYU (BYU Academy bldg, Manavu bldg) marrieds ward 1975-1980

Bishop Kay Young

(Friends--Roger and Janet Bird, Jim and Jolene Downs, Louise Fitches)

Homemaking?

Primary counselor 

Provo family ward 1980-1982

(Friends--Gail Newbold)

Unofficial nursery helper

DeKalb, Illinois Ward 1982-1987

Young Women's counselor/MiaMaids teacher

Relief Society Compassionate Service leader/Visiting Teaching Supervisor

Primary Chorister

Primary President

Louisville Ward, Boulder Colorado Stake 1987-

Young Women's Secretary

Cub Scout den leader

Primary Chorister

Primary Counselor

Merrie Miss advisor and activity days

Early morning Seminary teacher

Ward Choir Director

Relief Society President

Stake Seminary Coordinator

Nursery Leader with Brent

Relief Society Chorister/Stake Priests & Laurels Activity Leaders

Primary Sunbeams teacher

Primary CTR 2: 4 year-old class

Nursery leader with Brent
Compassionate Service Leader

I debated whether or not to post this GR review on Facebook, but It's too important a book to be kept under wraps. Bringing skeletons out from one's own closet is never a comfortable undertaking, but the skeletons Carol Lynn Pearson brings out are not simply relics of an embarrassing, but safely dead and distant past. What makes this book so relevant today is that these skeletons are NOT safe, dead, or distant. Instead, they are a hidden source of great pain for too many of our LDS sisters and brothers, right here, right now. Carol Lynn has placed the issue out on the table, believing the church is better than this. My hope is that her work will provide a reality check that can be consulted and considered for the benefit of the church.

Sharman Wilson's Reviews > The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy: Haunting the Hearts and Heaven of Mormon Women and Men

The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy: Haunting the Hearts and Heaven of Mormon Women and Men 
by Carol Lynn Pearson 

Sharman Wilson's review 

Aug 29, 2016  ·  edit

really liked it

bookshelves: lds, non-fiction, women-s-issues

Read from August 02 to 16, 2016

This book elicits so many negative emotions, as it should. These feelings come from my ancestral past, from my maternal great great grandmother Lavina Young, who married John D. Lee as a 13th or 14th wife (she and her sister Polly married him on the same day). They come, unbidden and still painful, from a relatively recent personal family trauma. And yet, life is messy, and my feelings can also be ambivalent. My own beloved sister died at age 35, leaving 3 children and a wonderful husband who later married a divorced woman (a good friend of theirs) who took my sister's motherless children under her wing and gave them a step-brother and then two half brothers that we love. I have no idea how all of this will shake out, but I appreciate that Carol Lynn Pearson has looked at this uncomfortable subject so carefully and passionately. Thanks to her, the personal stories of so many women cannot be swept back under the rug, and for every story in the book, there are probably hundreds, maybe thousands more. Thank you, Carol Lynn. You are one brave pioneer!

Today's FB post:

Sharman Hunter Wilson shared a link. Mar 23, 2016 1:41pm

8 quotes from Mormon leaders on independent thinking - Flunking Sainthood janariess.religionnews.com And this isn't cherry-picking. There are plenty more quotes like this from a number of other respected Mormon leaders, past and (unfortunately not enough) present. We are ultimately accountable to God, not fallible men, no matter how much we respect or want to trust those called to lead us. I am NOT saying the answers will be clear--the water can be murky either way. Sometimes when going with our heart or conscience, against authority, we realize we were mistaken, and they actually did know what they were talking about. Other times, it turns out we are completely validated. The tension between the individual and the institution is a real thing--we are always faced with the dilemma and the choice of which to follow when the two clash, and we alone are responsible in the end. No matter how much we wish for the comfort of certainty and clarity, we must actually grapple and struggle with the tension! The more we practice making our own decisions, even as we make plenty of mistakes, we will be getting better at it, whereas pretending there is an easy answer (whether that is defiance or compliance) will leave us automatons.