This is the first of at least four pieces in a Sanctuary series — Mutual Improvement Associations — wherein I try to describe the bonds that exist between members of the church/a ward. Being a...
Lately, I have been spending a portion of nearly every evening stargazing in my backyard. There is a beautiful quality of light that graces the Texas sky come 8 p.m. Reclining on an old down...
Today’s guest post comes to us from Andrew. I’ve spent the past several weeks euphemizing, dodging, and altering the narrative of the long out-of-print Book of Mormon Reader as I read to my two young...
My son is the only boy in his Primary class, which makes him the only soon-to-be Young Man in the Valiant 11 group. He will be turning twelve this spring, which means he was also...
My son made a basket during the final game of his fifth grade basketball season yesterday! It was a beautiful shot, let me tell you. I was holding my breath the entire time. He jumped...
In the space of just four weeks during the most recent holiday season, I had to purchase three new tires for my Mormon mommy minivan. That seems like a lot, doesn’t it? I certainly thought...
I’ve been chewing my way through The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith by Marcus Borg, a professor of religion and culture at Oregon State University. Borg’s is a very universal, ecumenical message....
Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous April 1963 letter, written to his fellow southern clergymen, was not known to me, sadly, until I was a college student, some thirty plus years after it was written. But...
Today I am thinking about a profound lesson I learned as a student at Ricks College. I am thinking about the sacred text that prompted this lesson, its lines inspired, certainly, by the spirit. These...
As a kid I read a lot of comic books. I enjoyed studying the intricate character storylines consisting of their origin stories, their many adventures and their overlapping histories with other super heroes. The result was...
Is your ward like mine — that first Sunday of January brings another round of Sacrament Meeting talks on setting goals? For the record, I love those talks. I’m actually a big fan of liturgical...
When I moved to Texas several decades ago as a naive, hopelessly midwestern college student, adjustments had to be made. I had to get used to the way people here talked (there is no difference...
In Paul’s 2nd epistle to Timothy, chapter 3, verses 14-17, we read this ringing endorsement of inspired writings: But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom...
I hope you’ve been enjoying our discussions of animal love (and non-love) this week here at Doves & Serpents. Considering that our blog’s title names two animals, it’s a wonder we haven’t had these discussions earlier!...
The following piece is a guest submission by Claudia Ruptier Ron liked dogs. He just didn’t want one—even after he’d been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment with likely progression to dementia. I was thinking...
The Sanctuary may seem like an unusual place to discuss Facebook status post trends, but recently, I was so disturbed by a word art image being shared and “liked” on FB walls that I wanted...
Two powerful iconic men — Steve Jobs, technology visionary, and Fred Shuttlesworth, Civil Rights movement activist — died this week. While Shuttlesworth’s death was certainly mourned and reported on, it was Jobs’ death at age...
“What does God look like?” I asked my little girl as I tucked her into bed. “Well, he is old, and he has a beard, and wears a….a white dress,” she said. “A-ha,” I answered....
If you were to open your green hymnbook emblazoned with that nifty gold Tabernacle organ icon to page hymn #144, you’d find this ode to solitude, a song about the necessity of quiet, private places...
The kids and I began this school year with everything organized and ready. Clothes, backpacks, lunches – all ready to go. I summoned my inner “Tiger Mom” and set up our homework station and check...
“Faith is like a little seed. If planted it will grow,” sing the Primary children. The Book of Alma extends the metaphor of faith as a seed beautifully. While I’m not sure where doubt fits...
It is the first Sunday of the month. In many Mormon families that means one thing: no breakfast! Well, that’s a bit of an oversimplification, I’ll admit, but fasting (for twenty-four hours or as close...
This week I found myself in that place Tinkerbell is so fond of – the place between asleep and awake. I opened my eyes from an awkward catnap on the I-80 in Nevada, and for...
One year we had a brown horse in the church parking lot. Bonnet-wearing girls and cowboy-hatted boys took turns “riding” him around the building. Another year, I helped organize a stake-wide celebration with all the...
In 2006, Elder Nelson spoke of his first wife saying, “When people have asked her how she managed with ten children with so little time available from her husband, she has responded with a twinkle...
“You’ll only be baptized once in your life, so it is a very special experience,” my grandmother said, speaking at my eight year old daughter’s baptism last week. After her talk concluded, we made our...
This week I found myself hanging upside-down from aerial silks in an artist’s studio in Oakland, when the blasphemous words came out of my mouth, “I can’t!” I found new levels of humility while failing...
My father grew up in a troubled home, poor as coal dust. A child of the depression and of divorce, he lined his broken-soled shoes with newsprint. As a child, he learned to hustle, earning...
When I was about six years old, my Dad walked me to primary class. We passed a man in the ward who nodded at the baby girl in my dad’s arms and said, “Wow. Four...
26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. — Michael Jordan In one...
“The greatest advantage of not having children must be that you can go on believing that you are a nice person. Once you have children, you realize how wars start.” Fay Weldon This week, I’m...
A week ago, some of us were waiting with bated breath to find out if Harold Camping had crunched the numbers correctly! Had the world ended during the night? Even though the LDS church uses...
A few years ago I was crossing Castro street in San Francisco after a yoga class when I was stopped by an enthusiastic man. “Hey! You look exactly like that girl from SNL, what’s her...
Welcome to our All Tina, All the Time week here at Doves & Serpents. For an explanation of why we’re examining her new book Bossypants from a variety of angles — parenting, friendship, spirituality, humor...
Virya is a Sanskrit word that is most often used in spiritual circles to refer to the energetic push or effort it takes a person to progress spiritually. This week, I found a...
When I need chocolate, and nothing but an enormous brick of Cadbury Dairy Milk or a handful of a Kinder Surprise (those yummy chocolate eggs with little toys inside that my kids love so much)...
By Dan A long favorite movie scene of mine comes near the close of “Saving Private Ryan.” Capt. John Miller, the character played by Tom Hanks, lies dying in the street, having just held off...
We were a wreck. The basses and tenors were supposed to be singing a unison line—yet I kept hearing a variety of notes, none of them correct. I’d moved two altos and myself to the...
In last week’s LDS General Conference session. Elder Nelson, a prominent priesthood leader, said,“ Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring...
He blazed up the wide middle aisle of our repurposed Presbyterian sanctuary, passing the stained glass depictions of Biblical scenes on his way to the pulpit to speak at the open mic of our LDS...
Nearly a year ago, I was distressed to realize that I desperately wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else. I wanted to be someone else. Felt burnt out at work. Phoned it in with my...
Today on ‘The Sanctuary’ we’re very pleased to have a guest post from Krisanne, who writes at the Mormon Women Project, as well as A Paper Moth and Bottari. A couple of days ago I watched...
This week, Brandon Davies was suspended from playing on the BYU basketball team for violations of the Honor Code. (ie: he had sex with his girlfriend) The responses have surprised me – Mormons everywhere have...
What a treat! Mel spilled over to Sunday this week to bless us with a guest post. Enjoy… I was once asked to teach the Gospel Doctrine class,...
*Please note: This post addresses rape and violence to women. Buddhists use the word interdependence, and it’s one I resonate strongly with. I see the softness of my own edges and those of others. I...
This week on ‘The Sanctuary’: a guest post from Andy. One way of characterising my spiritual journey over the last four years would be to say I’ve gone from functioning within an inherited culture, towards...
If you asked a Mormon what the purpose of this life is, you would probably get an explanation of the Plan of Salvation. Something along the lines of coming to earth to get a body,...
Today at the yoga studio we offered a day of full retreat complete with restorative yoga, meditation classes, clean vegetarian meals, and dharma talks. It was a day to rejuvenate and draw within. During one...
When I signed up for Yoga Teacher Training years ago, I was warned to expect a lot of sitting still for hours on the floor in silence, listening to dharma talks, anatomy lessons, and meditating....
*The following is a guest post by Dan Ron Kauk is one of the world’s most renowned rock climbers. A fixture at Yosemite during the climbing season, he’s pioneered routes on some of the most...
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