And Yet, We Believe

Mercy might be the only thing that can heal our society.We talk in this episode about how showing mercy means recognizing and centering the human dignity in another person. It doesn’t mean excusing behavior, but it does mean seeking to understand even those who are wildly different from us.

When we go to church, are we having the same experience as the person sitting next to us?When we try to explain our spiritual experiences, can we ever explain what we have felt or learned in a way that the other person will fully understand?Since our perspectives and experiences are vastly different, that means it is up to each one of us to make room for everyone, regardless of how they are showing up at church. That is how we will have true harmony and unity there.

What does it really mean to repent? And is that the same thing as being forgiven? In the Church we tend to teach repentance as being a transactional list of steps, when it may be more about just turning our hearts to God.

Receiving revelation can be messy. We always thought the leadership of the church received revelation as a complete and prepared package, possibly through a light-filled conduit directly from God. But we have recently learned that the process could look quite different.We also discuss what personal revelation looks like and how we may need to stretch beyond our current capabilities to figure out how we receive revelation.

We hear a lot about "traditional family values" around us in society today--but it doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. Are we loving our neighbor when their family looks different from ours? Are we trying to be as loving and inclusive as the Savior was?

"Lord, is it I?" Is there a more humbling and difficult question we are called to ask?In this episode, we get into some scriptures and some behavioral psychology, and we talk about the divided and difficult issues our American society is facing right now.How can we be peacemakers in the myriad of conversations happening online right now? We might need to start by asking, Lord, is it I?

This was a great and vulnerable conversation. We almost never hear about how patriarchy harms men, both in the Church and in society. But it's a real thing, showing up as suppressed and unprocessed emotions, worthiness anxiety, and in countless other ways. And this means even more to us, as the parents of four boys.

Do we really, truly, actually believe we are all children of Heavenly Parents?Our theology tells us that we are literal children of Heavenly Parents, thus making us all siblings.So if we believe that, do we have a greater responsibility to care for one another? Are we only required to care for those who are baptized into our church? Does this belief dictate how we are to treat immigrants and members of other marginalized communities?

We all go through this process--order, disorder, reorder. But sometimes just knowing that it's a process, and that there's something that comes after the painful disorder, is enough to keep us pushing through.

Raise your hand if you feel like you are never doing quite enough at church? Unfortunately, we have adopted a culture of always needing to do "more."
More ministering.
More temple attendance.
More service.
More scripture reading.
Those can all be good things, but not if they make us overwhelmed or over-burdened. The gospel isn't a checklist that keeps growing into eternity.