In this follow-up episode to our early December shows titled "Mormons Encountering Death," former hospice chaplain and meditation and contemplation teacher Phil McLemore joins Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a deep dive into spiritual practices and insights that can help one prepare (and prepare now!) for our eventual death. Combining discussions of scripture, both Biblical and LDS, with training and sensibilities from contemplative traditions, the two speak directly to the causes of the fear and anxieties that often lead to our denying our mortality or refusing to consider the dying process and working toward it becoming less terrifying—and possibly even beautiful.
May these 90 minutes be a source of wisdom and potential comfort to you, as well as a spur to greater integration of death into our daily consciousness.
Bill Reel is widely known within the Mormon podcast world as a fellow traveler on the road many of us have found ourselves on--often quite reluctantly. At one time, we have thrived within Mormonism. It contributes greatly to our identity, and provides our primary social group. It helps shape our thinking and character in ways we don't often reflect upon. We have everything figured out. Our religious worldview tells us what's of foremost importance, and where various traps are that might lead us from the path God says we should follow. And then . . . a bump . . . a hiccup . . . a fact that shakes us or idea that once we truly examine it leaves us scratching our head. Things accelerate. If this practice or that idea are showing themselves to be something less that purely divine in origins, to have changed over the centuries, to have human fingerprints all over them, and we move into what many call a "faith crisis." And, now it dawns on us that we will have to decide things for ourselves. Those values we were taught and believe--were they truly the best ones (or the best ones for me), the ones that my spirit or temperament is meant to hold above other ones? What about this path? I see others traveling down different ones, should I explore it? And so on and so forth...
Bill and I, and so many of you, know this territory well. We've lived it. And we've faced it in different ways according to our experiences, temperaments, needs. But via moving into this complexity, for some of us, our continuing to live or push through the tensions and difficult processes of choosing (very reflectively) our own values have ultimately led to a newfound peace. It's not a "tensionless" peace, but we end up coming to find those places where ideas and personalities and practices rub against each other (and never fully come to make perfect "sense" according to our rational minds) to be important catalysts for growth and creativity and a newfound sense of purpose--and peace. One much sturdier and less susceptible to discouragement and despair when life does its "life-ing" and people do their "human-ing" and leaders and family members and friends shift or fail to shift in the directions we'd like them to.
I'm grateful that I got the chance to interview and have a great conversation with Bill. I know you'll find him very insightful, as well as vulnerable and relatable and good-hearted. He shares his journey with us--so far!--and reflects on faith development and shifts from ego-centrism and tribal thinking to a centering in a wider cosmos and valuing the gifts of every religious tradition, every person. Finally, in addition to talking about Mormonism as a wonderful workshop in which to all tensions to do their refining and expanding work, we discuss how he now views and "holds" his Mormonism (including addressing a shift--that many have noticed and talked about--in his podcast's tone beginning about two years ago) and how new understandings of myth and ritual and practice have helped him become re-centered in Mormonism, but far more "on his own terms." Bill is a wonderful teacher and person, and I trust you will all very much enjoy this episode!
Bill Reel is widely known within the Mormon podcast world as a fellow traveler on the road many of us have found ourselves on--often quite reluctantly. At one time, we have thrived within Mormonism. It contributes greatly to our identity, and provides our primary social group. It helps shape our thinking and character in ways we don't often reflect upon. We have everything figured out. Our religious worldview tells us what's of foremost importance, and where various traps are that might lead us from the path God says we should follow. And then . . . a bump . . . a hiccup . . . a fact that shakes us or idea that once we truly examine it leaves us scratching our head. Things accelerate. If this practice or that idea are showing themselves to be something less that purely divine in origins, to have changed over the centuries, to have human fingerprints all over them, and we move into what many call a "faith crisis." And, now it dawns on us that we will have to decide things for ourselves. Those values we were taught and believe--were they truly the best ones (or the best ones for me), the ones that my spirit or temperament is meant to hold above other ones? What about this path? I see others traveling down different ones, should I explore it? And so on and so forth...
Bill and I, and so many of you, know this territory well. We've lived it. And we've faced it in different ways according to our experiences, temperaments, needs. But via moving into this complexity, for some of us, our continuing to live or push through the tensions and difficult processes of choosing (very reflectively) our own values have ultimately led to a newfound peace. It's not a "tensionless" peace, but we end up coming to find those places where ideas and personalities and practices rub against each other (and never fully come to make perfect "sense" according to our rational minds) to be important catalysts for growth and creativity and a newfound sense of purpose--and peace. One much sturdier and less susceptible to discouragement and despair when life does its "life-ing" and people do their "human-ing" and leaders and family members and friends shift or fail to shift in the directions we'd like them to.
I'm grateful that I got the chance to interview and have a great conversation with Bill. I know you'll find him very insightful, as well as vulnerable and relatable and good-hearted. He shares his journey with us--so far!--and reflects on faith development and shifts from ego-centrism and tribal thinking to a centering in a wider cosmos and valuing the gifts of every religious tradition, every person. Finally, in addition to talking about Mormonism as a wonderful workshop in which to all tensions to do their refining and expanding work, we discuss how he now views and "holds" his Mormonism (including addressing a shift--that many have noticed and talked about--in his podcast's tone beginning about two years ago) and how new understandings of myth and ritual and practice have helped him become re-centered in Mormonism, but far more "on his own terms." Bill is a wonderful teacher and person, and I trust you will all very much enjoy this episode!
Happy New Year, Mormon Matters listeners!
To start 2018, I asked many of my friends if they would consider writing prayers for the new year or share favorite prayers they have gained strength from in the past. More than twenty responded!
Recordings of them reading these prayers are included in this three-part episode, along with brief introductions of each person and a bit of background about the prayer they wrote or chose to share. They are diverse, and range from prayers in pretty standard Mormon forms, to prayer-poems, and prose essays. The participants represent a variety of voices and perspectives: women, men, believers, agnostics/atheists, engaged Latter-day Saints, lapsed Mormons, and two women who are attending divinity school. All share one thing, though: They have been on marvelous, integrity-filled journeys with God/Spirit/the Universe. I know you will really enjoy getting to know them and their hearts in this intimate way.
Part 1 (Ep. 438) features prayers from:
Susan Hinckley, Eric Samuelsen, Lisa Scott, Rick Jepson, Sonja Farnsworth, Tom Kimball, Megan Kjar Christiansen, and Richard Ostler.
Part 2 (Ep. 439) features prayers from:
Laurie Lee Hall, Scott Turley, Gina Colvin, Scot Denhalter, Jody England Hansen, Stephen Carter, Merrie Smithson, John Gustav-Wrathall, Fiona Givens, and Joseph Stanford
Part 3 (Ep. 440) features prayers from:
Becky and Shannon Linford, Mark Crego, Katie Langston, Leon Maynard, Sydnie Olsen, Greg Olsen, Carol Lynn Pearson, and Dan Wotherspoon
Happy New Year, Mormon Matters listeners!
To start 2018, I asked many of my friends if they would consider writing prayers for the new year or share favorite prayers they have gained strength from in the past. More than twenty responded!
Recordings of them reading these prayers are included in this three-part episode, along with brief introductions of each person and a bit of background about the prayer they wrote or chose to share. They are diverse, and range from prayers in pretty standard Mormon forms, to prayer-poems, and prose essays. The participants represent a variety of voices and perspectives: women, men, believers, agnostics/atheists, engaged Latter-day Saints, lapsed Mormons, and two women who are attending divinity school. All share one thing, though: They have been on marvelous, integrity-filled journeys with God/Spirit/the Universe. I know you will really enjoy getting to know them and their hearts in this intimate way.
Part 1 (Ep. 438) features prayers from:
Susan Hinckley, Eric Samuelsen, Lisa Scott, Rick Jepson, Sonja Farnsworth, Tom Kimball, Megan Kjar Christiansen, and Richard Ostler.
Part 2 (Ep. 439) features prayers from:
Laurie Lee Hall, Scott Turley, Gina Colvin, Scot Denhalter, Jody England Hansen, Stephen Carter, Merrie Smithson, John Gustav-Wrathall, Fiona Givens, and Joseph Stanford
Part 3 (Ep. 440) features prayers from:
Becky and Shannon Linford, Mark Crego, Katie Langston, Leon Maynard, Sydnie Olsen, Greg Olsen, Carol Lynn Pearson, and Dan Wotherspoon
Happy New Year, Mormon Matters listeners!
To start 2018, I asked many of my friends if they would consider writing prayers for the new year or share favorite prayers they have gained strength from in the past. More than twenty responded!
Recordings of them reading these prayers are included in this three-part episode, along with brief introductions of each person and a bit of background about the prayer they wrote or chose to share. They are diverse, and range from prayers in pretty standard Mormon forms, to prayer-poems, and prose essays. The participants represent a variety of voices and perspectives: women, men, believers, agnostics/atheists, engaged Latter-day Saints, lapsed Mormons, and two women who are attending divinity school. All share one thing, though: They have been on marvelous, integrity-filled journeys with God/Spirit/the Universe. I know you will really enjoy getting to know them and their hearts in this intimate way.
Part 1 (Ep. 438) features prayers from:
Susan Hinckley, Eric Samuelsen, Lisa Scott, Rick Jepson, Sonja Farnsworth, Tom Kimball, Megan Kjar Christiansen, and Richard Ostler.
Part 2 (Ep. 439) features prayers from:
Laurie Lee Hall, Scott Turley, Gina Colvin, Scot Denhalter, Jody England Hansen, Stephen Carter, Merrie Smithson, John Gustav-Wrathall, Fiona Givens, and Joseph Stanford
Part 3 (Ep. 440) features prayers from:
Becky and Shannon Linford, Mark Crego, Katie Langston, Leon Maynard, Sydnie Olsen, Greg Olsen, Carol Lynn Pearson, and Dan Wotherspoon
On 14 December 2007, a new directive from the First Presidency was released outlining changes to certain things related to youth performing baptisms for the dead in LDS temples, as well as to the annual meeting held to prepare 11-year-old boys to receive the priesthood in the coming calendar year. The changes primarily involve now allowing Priests in the Aaronic Priesthood (typically ages 16 to 18) to perform these baptisms, as well as to serve as official witnesses to them (tasks previously performed in temples only by Melchizedek Priesthood temple recommend holders), and also to have members of the Young Women's program now take on baptistry roles that up until now have been performed only by female (adult) temple workers. The "Priesthood Preview" meeting is now being re-named the "Temple and Priesthood Preparation" meeting, and will now include 11-year-olds of both sexes, along with their parents (who already attended with their young men about to turn 12).
In this two-part episode, we focus on initial reactions to the announcements. Why might these have come? And why now? What are the nature of the roles that these youth will now be able to perform? How do temple baptistries work now, and how might this change? Is this announcement an overall positive step for the church in terms of moving toward greater equality of women and men, or does is actually highlight even more the inequalities between the sexes and their roles in the church? Will young women and men, especially those who know each other well (fellow ward members, etc.) be able to be comfortable in these new roles when it comes to performing the ordinances and temple work? Will the intimacy of ritual and touching (even in such non-sexual ways like what is involved in baptism) make them, especially the young women, uncomfortable? And/Or might this stir feelings in either the young men or women that are something other than "sacred" in nature (at least in the temple setting)? We discuss all of the above, and more!
Our guides for this "initial reactions" podcast episode are the incredible Cynthia Winward, Bruce Van Orden, Kent Nuttall, and Rosalynde Welch. Each is wise, insightful, and experienced in the various aspects and issues at play regarding the changes in both main areas here: the temple baptistry and working with Young Women, Young Men, and Primary-age children. They each contribute wonderfully!
Please listen and then join in with your comments at mormonmatters.org!
On 14 December 2007, a new directive from the First Presidency was released outlining changes to certain things related to youth performing baptisms for the dead in LDS temples, as well as to the annual meeting held to prepare 11-year-old boys to receive the priesthood in the coming calendar year. The changes primarily involve now allowing Priests in the Aaronic Priesthood (typically ages 16 to 18) to perform these baptisms, as well as to serve as official witnesses to them (tasks previously performed in temples only by Melchizedek Priesthood temple recommend holders), and also to have members of the Young Women's program now take on baptistry roles that up until now have been performed only by female (adult) temple workers. The "Priesthood Preview" meeting is now being re-named the "Temple and Priesthood Preparation" meeting, and will now include 11-year-olds of both sexes, along with their parents (who already attended with their young men about to turn 12).
In this two-part episode, we focus on initial reactions to the announcements. Why might these have come? And why now? What are the nature of the roles that these youth will now be able to perform? How do temple baptistries work now, and how might this change? Is this announcement an overall positive step for the church in terms of moving toward greater equality of women and men, or does is actually highlight even more the inequalities between the sexes and their roles in the church? Will young women and men, especially those who know each other well (fellow ward members, etc.) be able to be comfortable in these new roles when it comes to performing the ordinances and temple work? Will the intimacy of ritual and touching (even in such non-sexual ways like what is involved in baptism) make them, especially the young women, uncomfortable? And/Or might this stir feelings in either the young men or women that are something other than "sacred" in nature (at least in the temple setting)? We discuss all of the above, and more!
Our guides for this "initial reactions" podcast episode are the incredible Cynthia Winward, Bruce Van Orden, Kent Nuttall, and Rosalynde Welch. Each is wise, insightful, and experienced in the various aspects and issues at play regarding the changes in both main areas here: the temple baptistry and working with Young Women, Young Men, and Primary-age children. They each contribute wonderfully!
Please listen and then join in with your comments at mormonmatters.org!
Mormonism hangs its hat, so to speak, on the reality of revelation. It claims that God the Father and Jesus Christ visited a teenage boy in 1820 and made it perfectly clear to him that he should join none of the existing churches and that through him they would restore to the earth lost teachings and priesthoods. It also claims that revelation and the ability of Latter-day Saints to learn and come to "know" for certain truths via the mediation and inspiration of the Holy Ghost is alive and active today. Given one's stewardship, whether it is over the whole earth and church, as is the case with the LDS prophet and apostles, or one's own family, which is the responsibility of parents and siblings, clear and specific direction is available and can be (and is being) received.
But the process of receiving revelation is not at all simple—or at least not as simple as some imagine it to be. When is someone receiving revelation versus simply having a good idea come to her or his mind? Are the thoughts that enter into one's consciousness fully God's/Spirit's advice for the next move to make or direction to head in, or does this process also involve in a heavy way the interaction of the human side of things? Is it colored by personality, pre-conceived ideas or assumptions the person already has? Their language? Their expectations? The myths and exemplars who stand prominent in their thoughts? The formats ("still, small voice," prophetic dreams, visions, visitations) and type of content they imagine God might use or share in making the Divine will known to them? Theologians have been working for centuries on questions like this. In revelation, such as scripture, what percentage of what ends up on the page or one's tongue is actually contributed by God, and how by the person receiving it? It's a complex set of questions!
Luckily we have two wonderful thinkers and students of both revelation and Mormonism as guests in this three-part exploration of the intrigue and messiness of revelation. Charles Harrell and Ronald Barney join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a serious dive into the nature, scope, and factors involved in it. They explore various models for revelation and the Divine-Human dynamic and then apply them to specific instances and accounts in Mormon history and contemporary experience and discourse. And in the course of the discussion they all also share a bit about their own personal wrestles with this important and interesting subject.
It's a terrific podcast! You'll be glad you tuned in!
Mormonism hangs its hat, so to speak, on the reality of revelation. It claims that God the Father and Jesus Christ visited a teenage boy in 1820 and made it perfectly clear to him that he should join none of the existing churches and that through him they would restore to the earth lost teachings and priesthoods. It also claims that revelation and the ability of Latter-day Saints to learn and come to "know" for certain truths via the mediation and inspiration of the Holy Ghost is alive and active today. Given one's stewardship, whether it is over the whole earth and church, as is the case with the LDS prophet and apostles, or one's own family, which is the responsibility of parents and siblings, clear and specific direction is available and can be (and is being) received.
But the process of receiving revelation is not at all simple—or at least not as simple as some imagine it to be. When is someone receiving revelation versus simply having a good idea come to her or his mind? Are the thoughts that enter into one's consciousness fully God's/Spirit's advice for the next move to make or direction to head in, or does this process also involve in a heavy way the interaction of the human side of things? Is it colored by personality, pre-conceived ideas or assumptions the person already has? Their language? Their expectations? The myths and exemplars who stand prominent in their thoughts? The formats ("still, small voice," prophetic dreams, visions, visitations) and type of content they imagine God might use or share in making the Divine will known to them? Theologians have been working for centuries on questions like this. In revelation, such as scripture, what percentage of what ends up on the page or one's tongue is actually contributed by God, and how by the person receiving it? It's a complex set of questions!
Luckily we have two wonderful thinkers and students of both revelation and Mormonism as guests in this three-part exploration of the intrigue and messiness of revelation. Charles Harrell and Ronald Barney join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a serious dive into the nature, scope, and factors involved in it. They explore various models for revelation and the Divine-Human dynamic and then apply them to specific instances and accounts in Mormon history and contemporary experience and discourse. And in the course of the discussion they all also share a bit about their own personal wrestles with this important and interesting subject.
It's a terrific podcast! You'll be glad you tuned in!
Mormonism hangs its hat, so to speak, on the reality of revelation. It claims that God the Father and Jesus Christ visited a teenage boy in 1820 and made it perfectly clear to him that he should join none of the existing churches and that through him they would restore to the earth lost teachings and priesthoods. It also claims that revelation and the ability of Latter-day Saints to learn and come to "know" for certain truths via the mediation and inspiration of the Holy Ghost is alive and active today. Given one's stewardship, whether it is over the whole earth and church, as is the case with the LDS prophet and apostles, or one's own family, which is the responsibility of parents and siblings, clear and specific direction is available and can be (and is being) received.
But the process of receiving revelation is not at all simple—or at least not as simple as some imagine it to be. When is someone receiving revelation versus simply having a good idea come to her or his mind? Are the thoughts that enter into one's consciousness fully God's/Spirit's advice for the next move to make or direction to head in, or does this process also involve in a heavy way the interaction of the human side of things? Is it colored by personality, pre-conceived ideas or assumptions the person already has? Their language? Their expectations? The myths and exemplars who stand prominent in their thoughts? The formats ("still, small voice," prophetic dreams, visions, visitations) and type of content they imagine God might use or share in making the Divine will known to them? Theologians have been working for centuries on questions like this. In revelation, such as scripture, what percentage of what ends up on the page or one's tongue is actually contributed by God, and how by the person receiving it? It's a complex set of questions!
Luckily we have two wonderful thinkers and students of both revelation and Mormonism as guests in this three-part exploration of the intrigue and messiness of revelation. Charles Harrell and Ronald Barney join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a serious dive into the nature, scope, and factors involved in it. They explore various models for revelation and the Divine-Human dynamic and then apply them to specific instances and accounts in Mormon history and contemporary experience and discourse. And in the course of the discussion they all also share a bit about their own personal wrestles with this important and interesting subject.
It's a terrific podcast! You'll be glad you tuned in!
“People tend to die the way they’ve lived.” So say two of the guests from different segments of this podcast. Both Dr. Samuel Brown, a medical school professor and doctor who specializes in intensive care medicine, and Philip McLemore, a longtime hospice chaplain, have experienced the deaths of many patients and clients, and have been with them and their families in the days and months leading to their passing. Stephen Carter has edited a newly published book of essays, stories, plays, and poetry by Mormons reflecting on various aspects of death and the dying process titled Moth and Rust: Mormon Encounters with Death (Signature Books, 2017). In this three-part episode, each of them shares his experiences and wisdom related to the mystery of death, the elements that typically come together well when someone’s passing might be labeled a “good” or “holy” death, how interactions between those dying and their families and loved ones can affect the experience of someone’s moving on as well as for the grieving processes that follow, and much more.
In Part 1, Stephen reflects on his experiences and meditations over the past two years of gathering and preparing for publication the various writings that make up Moth and Rust. He is especially alerted to how this book is quite different than most writings about death within Mormon culture and publishing, as these others seem to focus on death as part of the “big picture,” the ongoing story of the Plan of Salvation, on eternal life and what lies ahead. They typically focus on answers and assurances to those facing their own deaths or those of loved ones. Moth and Rust separates itself from these by featuring short accounts of various aspects of death and dying without much theoretical overlay. In it you’ll find pieces that show Mormons facing deaths of all kinds, including that of infants and children. About Latter-day Saints sharing both assurance and confusion about communion across the veil. Of them learning about themselves and their highest values from encounters with death. About God and suffering. And more! (The book has 46 entries!)
Part 2, featuring Sam Brown, focuses first on his work as a historian studying early nineteenth-century and Mormon death culture and the high prevalence of death during this time period and how it affected daily and religious lives and thinking. People during this time period were far more familiar with death up close than we now are because of medical technology and understandings that extend life, but also because of the rise of the funeral industry which has led to the outsourcing of care for the body and preparation for burial, things that were once managed within the home. It then turns to Dr. Brown’s experiences with patients who are very sick and often facing imminent death, including how this work has affected his own personal views of death and dying, as well as his spiritual life.
Part 3 features stories and reflections from Phil McLemore’s work as a hospice chaplain in Utah, working with mostly Mormon clients and their families. In what ways does Mormonism both sometimes comfort but also complicate things as someone faces death? He and Stephen speak passionately about LDS culture (and wider Western, capitalist culture) and its role in sometimes hiding from thought processes and failing to communicate well the importance of someone’s doing within their lifetime (or in the final months prior to death) the kinds of “inner” or spiritual work that is often a big factor in someone’s peaceful transition from mortality to immortality. As with Sam in Part 2, this third segment also spends a good amount of time on what factors, should time and faculties and conscious awareness be granted to the person who is in the dying process, can and do contribute to a “good” death.
This is a terrific series of conversations that can lead to a greater appreciation for life through its focusing as early as we can and regularly on this difficult to talk about subject that is also a very important aspect of life. Memento Vivere; Memento Mori!
“People tend to die the way they’ve lived.” So say two of the guests from different segments of this podcast. Both Dr. Samuel Brown, a medical school professor and doctor who specializes in intensive care medicine, and Philip McLemore, a longtime hospice chaplain, have experienced the deaths of many patients and clients, and have been with them and their families in the days and months leading to their passing. Stephen Carter, has edited a newly published book of essays, stories, plays, and poetry by Mormons reflecting on various aspects of death and the dying process titled Moth and Rust: Mormon Encounters with Death (Signature Books, 2017). In this three-part episode, each of them shares his experiences and wisdom related to the mystery of death, the elements that typically come together well when someone’s passing might be labeled a “good” or “holy” death, how interactions between those dying and their families and loved ones can affect the experience of someone’s moving on as well as for the grieving processes that follow, and much more.
In Part 1, Stephen reflects on his experiences and meditations over the past two years of gathering and preparing for publication the various writings that make up Moth and Rust. He is especially alerted to how this book is quite different than most writings about death within Mormon culture and publishing, as these others seem to focus on death as part of the “big picture,” the ongoing story of the Plan of Salvation, on eternal life and what lies ahead. They typically focus on answers and assurances to those facing their own deaths or those of loved ones. Moth and Rustseparates itself from these by featuring short accounts of various aspects of death and dying without much theoretical overlay. In it you’ll find pieces that show Mormons facing deaths of all kinds, including that of infants and children. About Latter-day Saints sharing both assurance and confusion about communion across the veil. Of them learning about themselves and their highest values from encounters with death. About God and suffering. And more! (The book has 46 entries!)
Part 2, featuring Sam Brown, focuses first on his work as a historian studying early nineteenth-century and Mormon death culture and the high prevalence of death during this time period and how it affected daily and religious lives and thinking. People during this time period were far more familiar with death up close than we now are because of medical technology and understandings that extend life, but also because of the rise of the funeral industry which has led to the outsourcing of care for the body and preparation for burial, things that were once managed within the home. It then turns to Dr. Brown’s experiences with patients who are very sick and often facing imminent death, including how this work has affected his own personal views of death and dying, as well as his spiritual life.
Part 3 features stories and reflections from Phil McLemore’s work as a hospice chaplain in Utah, working with mostly Mormon clients and their families. In what ways does Mormonism both sometimes comfort but also complicate things as someone faces death? He and Stephen speak passionately about LDS culture (and wider Western, capitalist culture) and its role in sometimes hiding from thought processes and failing to communicate well the importance of someone’s doing within their lifetime (or in the final months prior to death) the kinds of “inner” or spiritual work that is often a big factor in someone’s peaceful transition from mortality to immortality. As with Sam in Part 2, this third segment also spends a good amount of time on what factors, should time and faculties and conscious awareness be granted to the person who is in the dying process, can and do contribute to a “good” death.
This is a terrific series of conversations that can lead to a greater appreciation for life through its focusing as early as we can and regularly on this difficult to talk about subject that is also a very important aspect of life. Memento Vivere; Memento Mori!
“People tend to die the way they’ve lived.” So say two of the guests from different segments of this podcast. Both Dr. Samuel Brown, a medical school professor and doctor who specializes in intensive care medicine, and Philip McLemore, a longtime hospice chaplain, have experienced the deaths of many patients and clients, and have been with them and their families in the days and months leading to their passing. Stephen Carter, has edited a newly published book of essays, stories, plays, and poetry by Mormons reflecting on various aspects of death and the dying process titled Moth and Rust: Mormon Encounters with Death (Signature Books, 2017). In this three-part episode, each of them shares his experiences and wisdom related to the mystery of death, the elements that typically come together well when someone’s passing might be labeled a “good” or “holy” death, how interactions between those dying and their families and loved ones can affect the experience of someone’s moving on as well as for the grieving processes that follow, and much more.
In Part 1, Stephen reflects on his experiences and meditations over the past two years of gathering and preparing for publication the various writings that make up Moth and Rust. He is especially alerted to how this book is quite different than most writings about death within Mormon culture and publishing, as these others seem to focus on death as part of the “big picture,” the ongoing story of the Plan of Salvation, on eternal life and what lies ahead. They typically focus on answers and assurances to those facing their own deaths or those of loved ones. Moth and Rust separates itself from these by featuring short accounts of various aspects of death and dying without much theoretical overlay. In it you’ll find pieces that show Mormons facing deaths of all kinds, including that of infants and children. About Latter-day Saints sharing both assurance and confusion about communion across the veil. Of them learning about themselves and their highest values from encounters with death. About God and suffering. And more! (The book has 46 entries!)
Part 2, featuring Sam Brown, focuses first on his work as a historian studying early nineteenth-century and Mormon death culture and the high prevalence of death during this time period and how it affected daily and religious lives and thinking. People during this time period were far more familiar with death up close than we now are because of medical technology and understandings that extend life, but also because of the rise of the funeral industry which has led to the outsourcing of care for the body and preparation for burial, things that were once managed within the home. It then turns to Dr. Brown’s experiences with patients who are very sick and often facing imminent death, including how this work has affected his own personal views of death and dying, as well as his spiritual life.
Part 3 features stories and reflections from Phil McLemore’s work as a hospice chaplain in Utah, working with mostly Mormon clients and their families. In what ways does Mormonism both sometimes comfort but also complicate things as someone faces death? He and Stephen speak passionately about LDS culture (and wider Western, capitalist culture) and its role in sometimes hiding from thought processes and failing to communicate well the importance of someone’s doing within their lifetime (or in the final months prior to death) the kinds of “inner” or spiritual work that is often a big factor in someone’s peaceful transition from mortality to immortality. As with Sam in Part 2, this third segment also spends a good amount of time on what factors, should time and faculties and conscious awareness be granted to the person who is in the dying process, can and do contribute to a “good” death.
This is a terrific series of conversations that can lead to a greater appreciation for life through its focusing as early as we can and regularly on this difficult to talk about subject that is also a very important aspect of life. Memento Vivere; Memento Mori!
Fiona Givens' and Terryl Givens' most recent book, The Christ Who Heals: How God Restored the Truth That Saves Us, is remarkable. But it’s not because very many of the ideas they present are unheard of, undiscussed, or absolutely foreign to Latter-day Saints. Instead, the triumph of this book is in its distillation from many ancient and modern sources of a vision of Christ and the other members of the Godhead (Heavenly Mother and the extended Divine Council) that is gorgeous, ennobling of humankind, empowering for us in this earthly sphere, and reveals Gods who are in solidarity with us in our pains and suffering and whose only project (“work and glory”) is to patiently teach us, model for us the scope of a truly abundant type of life, and help us discern what is keeping us from seeing, understanding, and choosing steps that will help us move forward toward it.
The ideas and vision that is in this book is my (host Dan Wotherspoon) favorite depiction of the Plan of Salvation (Happiness) and Christ’s Atoning work. In engenders deeper love within me for my Heavenly Parents, Savior/Healer, and Holy Companion/Paraclete/Comforter and all beings who are venturing along a Godward path—which, ultimately, is or will be everyone (with only very few exceptions). And this is so, especially as we see in it that at every step we are collaborators with the Gods in their project. And even if the depictions of Gods’ work and glory in this book aren’t exactly on the nose, or even if the whole Christian drama is purely a mythic presentation that fails to correspond with anything in the eternal realm, this vision of the Gods and Heavens are ones that I hope are true. Yet even if not, I am inspired in wonderful ways to want to deepen my relationship with my fellow human beings and to immerse myself even more deeply into the energies I’ve felt as I have tasted experiences that seem far deeper to me than anything my senses could generate or brain could present to me.
I hope you’ll listen to this podcast and consider Christ anew—or if not exactly anew as much here will be familiar to you, at least to consider what it means in your life to sense the presence at every step of a loving God, who even if you feel alone in your struggles and pain, is with you every step, and sees you and all that is blocking you from a fuller understanding. What would it be like to be “healed”?
Fiona Givens' and Terryl Givens' most recent book, The Christ Who Heals: How God Restored the Truth That Saves Us, is remarkable. But it’s not because very many of the ideas they present are unheard of, undiscussed, or absolutely foreign to Latter-day Saints. Instead, the triumph of this book is in its distillation from many ancient and modern sources of a vision of Christ and the other members of the Godhead (Heavenly Mother and the extended Divine Council) that is gorgeous, ennobling of humankind, empowering for us in this earthly sphere, and reveals Gods who are in solidarity with us in our pains and suffering and whose only project (“work and glory”) is to patiently teach us, model for us the scope of a truly abundant type of life, and help us discern what is keeping us from seeing, understanding, and choosing steps that will help us move forward toward it.
The ideas and vision that is in this book is my (host Dan Wotherspoon) favorite depiction of the Plan of Salvation (Happiness) and Christ’s Atoning work. In engenders deeper love within me for my Heavenly Parents, Savior/Healer, and Holy Companion/Paraclete/Comforter and all beings who are venturing along a Godward path—which, ultimately, is or will be everyone (with only very few exceptions). And this is so, especially as we see in it that at every step we are collaborators with the Gods in their project. And even if the depictions of Gods’ work and glory in this book aren’t exactly on the nose, or even if the whole Christian drama is purely a mythic presentation that fails to correspond with anything in the eternal realm, this vision of the Gods and Heavens are ones that I hope are true. Yet even if not, I am inspired in wonderful ways to want to deepen my relationship with my fellow human beings and to immerse myself even more deeply into the energies I’ve felt as I have tasted experiences that seem far deeper to me than anything my senses could generate or brain could present to me.
I hope you’ll listen to this podcast and consider Christ anew—or if not exactly anew as much here will be familiar to you, at least to consider what it means in your life to sense the presence at every step of a loving God, who even if you feel alone in your struggles and pain, is with you every step, and sees you and all that is blocking you from a fuller understanding. Imagine what it would be like to be “healed”!
This is an encore presentation of a fantastic May 2014 episode by the same name. In this episode, philosopher-theologian Adam Miller and narrative studies specialist Stephen Carter join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon to explore the many and varied ways we live within, think from, are shaped by, and are both aided and hindered by "stories." The depth at which our lives are impacted by narratives—about what the world is like, about ourselves, our lives, our hopes and deepest desires, about God or the universe’s biggest forces—is staggering. Plus, and here is where it gets interesting, messy, and sometimes frightening, our stories change. Sometimes we fight these changes, trying to pigeon-hole into pre-packaged worldviews and narratives everything that life in all its complexity is attempting to show us. When we do so, we fail to live fully, to be vital. Sometimes Mormonism, if we give into certain cultural forces, seems to distract us from seeing this failure, from realizing our stagnation. But does it also have elements that focus our attention directly to the importance of living out of big stories that are intended to always yield to even richer vistas and more profound embodiments?
We cannot escape stories. They provide many of the fundamental lenses through which we see and function in the world. But can we break free from the negative aspects of these narratives? Can we, and how do we, develop a love for the life-giving dynamic of letting life constantly call into question our stories and exploring our way into new ones? The participants in this conversation believe we can, and they share their experiences with "living" stories—Mormon ones, and others.
This is a wonderful episode that will give you a lot to think about!
The four people on this three-part podcast episode love Richard Rohr's book, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. If you find yourself experiencing a faith crisis or in some way are actively feeling called to reexamine and make peace with or in some way better integrate within your heart, soul, and mind, life's deepest and most unsolvable (thankfully!) questions and your personal experiences (wonderful and tragic) in deep, soulful ways in which you can come to most meaningfully embrace your truest self and life in all its beautiful (and tragic) mystery, please listen. Please buy, borrow, rent this book. Whether in the first or second half of life, there are wonderful insights and many potentially life-changing bits of wisdom within.
Joining Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for this rich and often very personal discussion are Jana Spangler, Jeralee Renshaw, and Scott Turley.
The four people on this three-part podcast episode love Richard Rohr's book, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. If you find yourself experiencing a faith crisis or in some way are actively feeling called to reexamine and make peace with or in some way better integrate within your heart, soul, and mind, life's deepest and most unsolvable (thankfully!) questions and your personal experiences (wonderful and tragic) in deep, soulful ways in which you can come to most meaningfully embrace your truest self and life in all its beautiful (and tragic) mystery, please listen. Please buy, borrow, rent this book. Whether in the first or second half of life, there are wonderful insights and many potentially life-changing bits of wisdom within.
Joining Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for this rich and often very personal discussion are Jana Spangler, Jeralee Renshaw, and Scott Turley.
The four people on this three-part podcast episode love Richard Rohr's book, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. If you find yourself experiencing a faith crisis or in some way are actively feeling called to reexamine and make peace with or in some way better integrate within your heart, soul, and mind, life's deepest and most unsolvable (thankfully!) questions and your personal experiences (wonderful and tragic) in deep, soulful ways in which you can come to most meaningfully embrace your truest self and life in all its beautiful (and tragic) mystery, please listen. Please buy, borrow, rent this book. Whether in the first or second half of life, there are wonderful insights and many potentially life-changing bits of wisdom within.
Joining Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for this rich and often very personal discussion are Jana Spangler, Jeralee Renshaw, and Scott Turley.
In this, the second installment in a series of co-hosted and co-released shows related to Mormon Apologetics, Mormon Matters and Mormon Stories hosts Dan Wotherspoon and John Dehlin interview and engage with two wonderful, bright, and articulate voices in Mormon Studies: Loyd Isao Ericson, from Greg Kofford Books and co-editor of the volume Perspectives in Mormon Theology: Apologetics, and Bert Fuller, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto and a former editor at both BYU’s Religious Studies Center and the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.
The podcast begins with an examination of the apologetic endeavor itself, with special attention to the arguments that it is a flawed enterprise from the start as it involves a confusion over what is being defended. It centers on the question of whether religious claims (spiritual claims and experiences that drive religious conversion and growth) can be defended or proven by the tools of scholarship. If the answer is no, if these are two quite different arenas or (in Wittgenstein’s terms, “language games”), then apologists play into and further the category mistakes inherent in the very activity itself. It also challenges common ways in which claims in one arena are said to be probative or at least should be considered in the other one.
In the final two sections, the conversations move more toward the personal experiences of those who become troubled when various truth claims they’ve held tightly to begin to crack and show their limits. Life choices have been made out of one understanding of the world, it’s purposes, and God’s will for the person, so it’s very natural that she or he should feel lost, upset, and even angry, especially if they feel that important information that provides wider contexts for the claims or actual challenges to them have been known by top church leaders and yet withheld (or worse, as in the case of excommunicating or smearing the reputations of those who alert people to these issues). Out of that discussion emerges reflections once more on the role of those who John Dehlin has labeled “neo-apologists” (those who seem to him and others to be becoming somewhat relied upon by the church to stem the tide of defections or calm troubled souls who are in faith crisis or are loved ones of those in such shifting relationship to the church and their previous beliefs) should be, as well as their obligations for full disclosure in the articles and books they write and firesides and public appearances they make of the troubling issues and counter-claims to key LDS teachings.
It’s a three-hour (!) discussion, but it never runs out of energy and models great respect for all in the conversation, whether it is fellow panelists or apologists/neo-apologists or listeners and people for whom these worldview and faith crises are very, very real.
In this, the second installment in a series of co-hosted and co-released shows related to Mormon Apologetics, Mormon Matters and Mormon Stories hosts Dan Wotherspoon and John Dehlin interview and engage with two wonderful, bright, and articulate voices in Mormon Studies: Loyd Isao Ericson, from Greg Kofford Books and co-editor of the volume Perspectives in Mormon Theology: Apologetics, and Bert Fuller, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto and a former editor at both BYU’s Religious Studies Center and the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.
The podcast begins with an examination of the apologetic endeavor itself, with special attention to the arguments that it is a flawed enterprise from the start as it involves a confusion over what is being defended. It centers on the question of whether religious claims (spiritual claims and experiences that drive religious conversion and growth) can be defended or proven by the tools of scholarship. If the answer is no, if these are two quite different arenas or (in Wittgenstein’s terms, “language games”), then apologists play into and further the category mistakes inherent in the very activity itself. It also challenges common ways in which claims in one arena are said to be probative or at least should be considered in the other one.
In the final two sections, the conversations move more toward the personal experiences of those who become troubled when various truth claims they’ve held tightly to begin to crack and show their limits. Life choices have been made out of one understanding of the world, it’s purposes, and God’s will for the person, so it’s very natural that she or he should feel lost, upset, and even angry, especially if they feel that important information that provides wider contexts for the claims or actual challenges to them have been known by top church leaders and yet withheld (or worse, as in the case of excommunicating or smearing the reputations of those who alert people to these issues). Out of that discussion emerges reflections once more on the role of those who John Dehlin has labeled “neo-apologists” (those who seem to him and others to be becoming somewhat relied upon by the church to stem the tide of defections or calm troubled souls who are in faith crisis or are loved ones of those in such shifting relationship to the church and their previous beliefs) should be, as well as their obligations for full disclosure in the articles and books they write and firesides and public appearances they make of the troubling issues and counter-claims to key LDS teachings.
It’s a three-hour (!) discussion, but it never runs out of energy and models great respect for all in the conversation, whether it is fellow panelists or apologists/neo-apologists or listeners and people for whom these worldview and faith crises are very, very real.
In this, the second installment in a series of co-hosted and co-released shows related to Mormon Apologetics, Mormon Matters and Mormon Stories hosts Dan Wotherspoon and John Dehlin interview and engage with two wonderful, bright, and articulate voices in Mormon Studies: Loyd Isao Ericson, from Greg Kofford Books and co-editor of the volume Perspectives in Mormon Theology: Apologetics, and Bert Fuller, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto and a former editor at both BYU’s Religious Studies Center and the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.
The podcast begins with an examination of the apologetic endeavor itself, with special attention to the arguments that it is a flawed enterprise from the start as it involves a confusion over what is being defended. It centers on the question of whether religious claims (spiritual claims and experiences that drive religious conversion and growth) can be defended or proven by the tools of scholarship. If the answer is no, if these are two quite different arenas or (in Wittgenstein’s terms, “language games”), then apologists play into and further the category mistakes inherent in the very activity itself. It also challenges common ways in which claims in one arena are said to be probative or at least should be considered in the other one.
In the final two sections, the conversations move more toward the personal experiences of those who become troubled when various truth claims they’ve held tightly to begin to crack and show their limits. Life choices have been made out of one understanding of the world, it’s purposes, and God’s will for the person, so it’s very natural that she or he should feel lost, upset, and even angry, especially if they feel that important information that provides wider contexts for the claims or actual challenges to them have been known by top church leaders and yet withheld (or worse, as in the case of excommunicating or smearing the reputations of those who alert people to these issues). Out of that discussion emerges reflections once more on the role of those who John Dehlin has labeled “neo-apologists” (those who seem to him and others to be becoming somewhat relied upon by the church to stem the tide of defections or calm troubled souls who are in faith crisis or are loved ones of those in such shifting relationship to the church and their previous beliefs) should be, as well as their obligations for full disclosure in the articles and books they write and firesides and public appearances they make of the troubling issues and counter-claims to key LDS teachings.
It’s a three-hour (!) discussion, but it never runs out of energy and models great respect for all in the conversation, whether it is fellow panelists or apologists/neo-apologists or listeners and people for whom these worldview and faith crises are very, very real.
The sexual assault and abuse scandals rocking Hollywood these days, along with the #MeToo campaign that is encouraging victims of unwanted or abusive sexual advances to speak up, make this a prime moment to re-release one of Mormon Matters podcast’s most powerful episodes. Below is a description of the episode.
The April 2012 General Conference featured a terrific talk by President Uchtdorf that reinforces the importance of being forgiving and non-judgmental. He "bottom lines" his message with the following statement: "This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon. When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following: Stop it!" Earlier in the talk, he cited D&C 64:9, "Forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not . . . [stands] condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin."
For the vast majority of Latter-day Saints, such messages are wonderfully received. When it comes to judging and hating and resenting and holding grudges, yes, we should "stop it." Most listeners would also hear in an earnest spirit of striving to do better the scriptural statement that those who fail to forgive others are sinful—perhaps condemned even more than the one who did the offending. But what about abuse victims? What about those who have been physically, sexually, emotionally abused—sometimes relentlessly and violently? How would they hear such messages? Is a warning that they must forgive their abusers, rapists, torturers or else they are even worse sinners than them a good one to hear? Can certain messages that are wonderful in most cases (and no one is imagining that abuse victims were on President Uchtdorf’s mind when he gave his remarks) be heard in spiritually and emotionally damaging ways by those whose self image distorted by internalized shame over the abuse they received as a child or whose lives are in danger or souls are being warped by abuse even in the present? Are there circumstances in which even the beautiful message of "Families Are Forever" be heard as a threat—heard in such a way that a person might express a deliberate choice to live in hell rather than be forced to associate with their abuser(s) in heaven? The answer is yes.
In this episode, LDS therapist Natasha Helfer Parker and blogger and abuse survivor Tresa Brown Edmunds share deep insights about how important it is for all of us, whether it is through official church capacities or friendships or other relationships, to understand and keep in mind the realities of abuse and all the ways it can affect its victims. They discuss the mindset of victims that often includes deeply internalized shame and warped thinking about their own role in the abuse, the effects of trauma and helplessness on physiology and normal bodily responses that manifest in many and varied ways beyond the victim’s control yet somehow still get carelessly talked about (often in wrong-minded gospel frameworks) as if these "problems" are actually the victim’s fault, that if they were only stronger or a better person they would just suck it up and move on.
This discussion is a difficult one but powerful and very important. We encourage you to share it widely.
During the recent October 2017 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Council of Twelve Apostles gave a talk titled, "The Plan and the Proclamation." In it, he framed some of the current trends and laws of today's society as coming from "the world," while Latter-day Saints who are truly converted and actively seeking eternal life and exaltation are those who reject the world in favor of God's plans for us. Key among the things that "the world" is embracing more and more and that Latter-day Saints should reject are "cohabitation without marriage, same-sex marriage, and the raising of children in such relationships." In this battle with "the world," Elder Oaks makes reference to the fact that throughout history many family members have understood God's eternal plan differently, causing conflict. "Such conflict is always so. . . . But whatever the cause of conflict with those who do not understand or believe God's plan, those who do understand are always commanded to choose the Lord's way instead of the world's way." In short, if Latter-day Saints support same-sex marriage or in any way condone cohabitation outside marriage and raising children in such homes, it is God's call to them to stand up for eternal values about family and marriage and God's plan rather than acquiesce to individual or societal pressures.
In the second half of the talk, Elder Oaks shares background and assures Latter-day Saints of the "inspiration" and "revelatory process" at work throughout the writing and revising and releasing in 1995 of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." He then lifts its teachings up as having been "the basis of Church teaching and practice for the last 22 years and will continue so for the future." He then urges all to "consider it such, teach it, live by it, and you will be blessed as you press forward toward eternal life."
Elder Oaks's talk and its clear stance pitting "converted" Latter-day Saints and those seeking eternal life against "the world" and those church members who have come to believe that the church should change its teachings and stance on same-sex marriage (including rejecting the November 2015 "Policy" that doesn't allow children from same-sex parented homes access to ordinances until after they reach age 18 and speak out against their parents' relationship) has caused quite a bit of consternation among many Mormons. Some have found the message of this talk "the final straw" in their ability to stay engaged with Mormonism in a meaningful way, while many others have felt depressed and deflated, recognizing that because of this talk it will be harder for them among family members who aren't at the same place they are with regard to LGBTQIA issues or to sit in their wards as allies and those who are convinced that these marriages and families should be fully supported within the Church. They hope they might find peace in this time of turmoil, this "new normal" in the church that has and will for some time to come be affected by the stances and tone Elder Oaks took in this talk.
In this two-part episode, Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by three wonderful and insightful active church members--Laura Root, John Gustav-Wrathall, and Richard Ostler--to discuss this talk and its messages and ramifications. How have they been personally affected by its contents and the interactions they've had with other Latter-day Saints since its delivery? How are they finding the strength and courage to remain firm in their personal convictions about these issues that differ from that of Elder Oaks and many in their close circles? What perspectives do they draw on that give them comfort and hope for eventual change within Mormonism on various issues related to same-sex relationships and gender identity? And much more!
Please listen and then share your experiences, questions, and comments in the designated section of the Mormon Matters podcast blog!