I am diminished

My friend of 52 years,

Alison,

died today.

Feminist Friday: Alison Whitton Reeder, 7 August 1926-29 June 2018. Oh how I loved my Australian Granny Bird. She was little, but she had spunk and could hold her own with the rambunctious Reeder boys. She had a heart of gold. The last time she was able to talk to me, she told me how excited she was to cross the veil, to meet her sister and brother who died before she could know them. I'm so grateful that I could give her a hug and kiss yesterday and tell her how proud I am of her and how much I love her, and that I hope she'll continue to look out for me.—Jenny Reeder*

No one told me she was on her death bed. My first clue was when someone wrote about her cabin and said she was soon going on another journey. I made up my mind to come right home from the gym and call her. With Brooke & Family here, by the time I had time to call I saw that she had passed away four hours earlier.

She has been constantly on my mind ever since. At Christmastime I ran into her and Suzanne in the restroom at Centerpoint Theater. We never did get out for my birthday lunch. We are both too reticent. So her passing is a great shock to me.

I remember when she and Grant went on their mission to Bolivia I couldn’t stand the thoughts of her leaving. In Russia, if she got out of my sight I felt lost. She’s sort of my guardian angel and guiding light. And now I’ll miss the funeral since we will be gone all next week to a family reunion on Cedar Mountain.

She was my next-door neighbor in Bountiful. We got off to a rocky start when her son shot my sister's dog. Carol and Charles were helping us move in. The dog recovered and they paid all expenses but they ignored us. Alison had six boys (plus a baby girl) and we had one—her two youngest sons around the age of Brent. Girding up my courage one night, I went over to make amends because not only did Brent need a friend, I needed one too. What a great and loyal friend she turned out to be. Many years later, we discovered that our great grandpas were from the same area in Scotland. We both visited their birthplaces at different times.

Alison’s mother was from India and her dad was from England. Alison was raised in Australia. Her family joined the church in India when the missionaries told them that their baby,who had died and could not be buried on concentrated soil because she was not baptized, was not damned but was saved in her innocence and dwelt with God in heaven. That’s the sister Alison was eager to meet.

*Jenny has been fighting cancer of one form or another

for nearly 20 years now,

having had bone marrow transplant

and everything else to save her life.

Meanwhile, she earned her doctorate

and works for the Church.

Give Him a Chance

My sister’s friend on Facebook, re-posted a diatribe by Tom Langley from Colorado about how people are picking on Donald Trump and not giving him a chance.

One comment was as follows:

President Trump is the greatest American President ever.  He was chosen by God to save America, and to lead the American people back to Him.  Before his first year in office was completed he had set many records, and had accomplished more than the former presidents  had done in their eight years.  He is a positive thinker, and while most or thinking about doing something, he has it completed.  We are proud of President Trump, love and appreciate all that he has done for America and the American people.  He makes us proud to be Americans.

I always thought that if one did not keep God’s commandments, God could not dwell with him.

Let’s just look at the Ten Commandments:

FIRST COMMANDMENT:

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20-3). God desires what is best for you. If you put anyone or anything before Him in your life, you hinder His ability to bless you. God knows that Jesus Christ alone can save you; nothing else has that power. So God asks you to choose Him and His Son first: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) 

SECOND COMMANDMENT:

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them” (Exodus 10-4-5). Anything you revere and honor over God constitutes a graven image—human-made objects, secular philosophies, or even time and energy spent on fleeting pleasures. God commands you to worship Him to access the power of salvation through Jesus Christ.

THIRD COMMANDMENT:

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20-7) Taking the name of the Lord in vain can have various meanings. The most common meaning is using the names of Deity as profanity. Another is professing to have taken Christ’s name upon you as a Christian and yet not living His gospel.

FOURTH COMMANDMENT:

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God” (Exodus 20-8-10). God asks you to set aside one day a week to worship and rest. The Sabbath is an opportunity to withdraw from worldly pursuits and focus on your spiritual growth. Observing the Sabbath is a sign to God that you remember and love Him.

FIFTH COMMANDMENT:

“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exodus 20:12)  To honor your parents means that you show them respect, directly and indirectly, through your actions. If your parents are good examples, it may be easier to obey, value, and reflect their standards. However, if your parents have not been honorable themselves, you can still choose to keep this commandment by being kind and respectful to them and by living your life in a way that brings honor to your  family name.

SIXTH COMMANDMENT:

“Thou shalt not kill” ) (Exodus 20-13) God values life; each son and daughter is precious to Him. Under normal circumstances, you do not have the right to take someone else’s life. Only in times of war, self-preservation, or other extenuating circumstances would killing be necessary or acceptable to God. As a general rule, God makes it clear that killing is wrong.

SEVENTH COMMANDMENT:

“Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20-14)  One of the first instructions that God gave Adam and Eve pertained to their marriage relationship: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). When a husband and wife are faithful to each other, they create the best possible environment in which to raise children. Adultery shreds relationships and leaves spiritual and psychological scars on those involved. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul emphasized the importance of keeping the seventh commandment under all circumstances (see Galatians 5:19-21). This commandment has not changed and will never change.

EIGHTH COMMANDMENT:

“Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20-15). This commandment encompasses more than just the taking of physical property. It also includes any gain dishonestly acquired. For example, cheating on a time card or failing to disclose income on a tax document is stealing.

NINTH COMMANDMENT:

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Exodus 20-16) Simply put, this commandment encourages you to speak the truth. “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour”  (Ephesians 4:25). People who misrepresent others or spread rumors about a person’s character bear false witness. “Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips”  (Proverbs (Proverbs 24-28).

TENTH COMMANDMENT:

“Thou shalt not covet . . . anything that is thy neighbour’s” (Exodus 20:17). A person who covets desires something excessively. Simply admiring an item or working hard for an accomplishment is not necessarily coveting. Rather, this commandment cautions you not to make worldly items your priority. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for [God] hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”  (Hebrews 13:5).

(I don’t know who wrote the comments.)

#4 – Keep the Sabbath Day Holy. Does God whisper to Donald when he’s on his way to the golf course on Sunday?

What about the lying part?

Just last night at a rally in North Dakota, Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large wrote: Thu June 28, 2018

Donald Trump's 54 most outrageously over-the-top lines from his North Dakota speech

Just a sampling:

14. "Because, frankly, they find this more exciting than the NFL and a hell of a lot more dangerous, right?"

In which the President of the United States says that he is both more "exciting" and "a hell of a lot more dangerous" than professional football.

And tut tut, we don’t swear if we want the spirit of the Lord to dwell with us.

15. "And I wish those cameras would circle the room to see how many thousands of people are here, because, you know, on the screen I look -- and all you see are those few beautiful, wonderful people -- I don't know who the hell I -- but you've got a nice group over there. I know you have Mike and some others. They're going to be so famous."

Yes, Trump is again talking about crowd size. But his focus on how the people who are behind him in the TV shot will be "so famous" is a window into how he thinks TV = fame. And fame = good.

16. "I said to my people, 'How many people are here?' They said, 'Six thousand in the arena, but we're going to be -- have to, unfortunately, walk 15,000 or 18,000 people that couldn't get in.'"

Crowd size. Crowd size. Crowd size.

34. "I said, 'Oh, I am so smart. I am the smartest person.' My uncle was a great professor at MIT for 40 years. Can you believe? Forty years. I said, 'But I'm smarter than him. I'm smarter than anybody.'"

38. "And one of my biggest critics, a slovenly man named Joe Crowley, got his ass kicked..."

The President of the United States, ladies and gentlemen! Talking like that?

41. "My daughter and my wife, Melania, they love -- they love the women. And the women love them. The women love them. And the men love them."

44. "The fake news was so upset when I said we had a good relationship. We had a good chemistry."

Trump is referring to his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un here. And, no, the media wasn't "upset" by it. The media did point out, however, that a) Kim murders his own people and b) Trump met with him privately for less than an hour before declaring them great friends.

46. "And I've directed the Pentagon to begin the process of creating a sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces, called the Space Force. The Space Force."

SPACE FORCE!!!

50. "We got more money. We got more brains. We got better houses, apartments. We got nicer boats. We're smarter than they are. And they say, 'The elite.'"

Jennifer Rubin with the Washington Post wrote: (Thursday June 28, 2018)

President Donald Trump’s racist outbursts and disdain for our Constitution are, alas, nothing new. On Sunday, he tweeted, “We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came. Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and Law an Order. Most children come without parents.”

This is the language of totalitarianism, rule without civil rights. It’s the language of racist regimes that seek to demonize foreigners, creating hysteria in the home population. It is distinctly un-American.” . . .

Clear back in October 1942, David O. McKay said in General Conference:

“Satan is making war against…the very foundations upon which society, government, and religion rest…He plans to destroy freedom—economic, political, and religious, and to set up in place thereof the greatest, most widespread, and most complete tyranny that has ever oppressed men. He is working under such perfect disguise that many do not recognize either him or his methods. There is no crime he would not commit, no debauchery he would not set up, no plague he would not send, no heart he would not break, no life he would not take, no soul he would not destroy. He comes as a thief in the night, he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Without their knowing it, the people are being urged down paths that lead only to destruction.. . “

Donald Trump called of God?

I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise. D&C82:10

“And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21). 

If you love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15

The Real Boogie Man

When I was little,

I was afraid of ghosts and bears

and boogie men hiding under my bed.

When I got older

I was afraid of robbers, rapists

and murderers.

All of those have been replaced

by my terror of what Donald Trump

will do and say next.

The fear is real.

Who will knock my door down

and tear my kids away?

What nuclear devise will obliterate us all?

Lies.  Mockery. Treachery.

I’m scared.

God's Love

I am totally intrigued with Gandhi. He was interested in and experimented with everything. He reminds me a lot of DeRay. Always willing to delve into the unknown and give it a try. Some of the things he learned, he did to save money and live more austerely.  When he was practicing law, he decided to starch and press his own collars, as to have them done professionally cost almost as much as to buy new. His first try he got too much starch and it kept flaking off. The other barristers made fun of him, saying there was professional help. Eventually, he learned to do it perfectly and his collars were as shining and sharp as any of the others.  He decided to learn to cut his own hair.  He could do the front fine with a mirror but the back posed a problem. Again they taunted him, asking him if he used an egg beater. Instead of buying bread, they used a hand grinder to make home meal bread. He read books on delivering babies and how to care for infants. Behold, he was called on to deliver his last child as neither the doctor nor midwife made it. He was perfectly calm because he had studied. He nursed his children back to health, often going against the advice of doctors since they were vegetarian and they didn’t want to use chicken broth or eggs. Once while on a walk for relief after being with his young son day and night, he was impressed to wrap him in something or other until his fever broke. Food and health were a big part of his passions; also exercise.

To pacify his Christian friends, he read the Bible.

“I could not possibly read through the Old Testament. It sent me to sleep.” But he read it -  "with much difficulty and less interest or understanding". Have I read straight through the Bible? I cannot believe the books he read and studied and memorized. Evidently, he didn’t waste any time playing games on his i-Pad. While he didn’t like the Old Testament, “The New Testament produced a different impression. The Sermon on the Mount went straight to my heart.”

“Resist not evil – smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other.”

“And if any man taketh thy coat, let him your cloak too' delighted me beyond measure."

Throughout the book, he tells of experiences when God saved him; stop him from sinning.

Someone had arranged accommodations for him and a companion in Portsmouth probably not realizing it was a house of ill repute. They were playing games, then the conversation became a little rank and before he realized it, he had set down his cards and was standing up to follow when God uttered the blessed warning: “What is the devil in you boy?  Be off quick.”

“I didn’t know how God works in us.

I only know that God had saved me.

But in all my trials of a spiritual nature as a lawyer

I can say that God saved me.”

“When every hope is gone, 'when helpers fail and comforts flee,' I find that help arrives somehow, from I know not where. Supplication, worship, prayer are no superstition; they are acts more real than the acts of eating, drinking, sitting or walking. It is no exaggeration to say that they alone are real, all else is unreal.” 

He writes about how he had no definite plan on how to write his story. He didn’t use diaries or documents. “I write as the spirit moves me. All conscious thought and action are directed by the spirit.

I have not seen Him.

Neither have I known Him.

I have made my faith in God as my own.

I have no word for characterizing my belief in God.

As I write I follow the voice within.”

Gandhi does not like the Christian concept that only Jesus Christ can offer us eternal life. God has intervened in his life enough for him challenge the belief that only Christians are saved.

“I came to the conclusion long ago that all religions were true and that also that all had some error in them, and while I hold by my own religion, I should hold other religions as dear as Hinduism. So we can only pray, if we were Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu; but our innermost prayer should be that a Hindu should become a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, and a Christian a better Christian.” --Mahatma Gandhi

I have no trouble believing Gandhi’s life was directed by God. That he was called to help make all men equal; to make the world a better, fairer, safer place to live. His sacrifices were colossal. He was noble and true and listened to the voice of God just as did Eugene Orr and Darius Gray.

Still he was imprisoned for many years

upon many occasions in both

South Africa and India,

by autocratic (synonymous with hierarchy or patriarchy?) men.

He was assassinated by his own countrymen

receiving three bullets in the chest
at close range.

Answer to Your Question

OK, I’ll answer my own question. I enjoy talking to myself since no one else talks to me.

I won’t exactly answer the question, “Is it OK for General Authorities to lie to protect the Church?” but I have learned a little more about how to be a faithful member of the Church and of the human race.

In another podcast, Doug Fabrizio interviewed Engene Orr who joined the Church in 1978 and was a founding member of Genesis, a group for African-American Mormons.

After he had been attending church for awhile, he asked the Bishop if he could attend Priesthood Meeting. The Bishop said he would check with the Quorum. He reported back that three members of the Quorum said they would not attend if Eugene did. The Bishop asked him if he didn’t think it was more important for Priesthood holders to attend than those who don’t hold the Priesthood.

Eugene told this incident to his dentist, who was a bishop. “Come over to my ward,” he bade and he did.

Eugene stayed active in the church despite the racism he encountered. He put in a lot of effort trying to help the blacks get the Priesthood. With others, he met with apostles for six months. He thinks the folklore should be dissolved; and the Church should acknowledge the pain of the past or apologize. So far, there has been no real acknowledgment.

Perhaps they could say:

Yes, we made mistakes.

Yes, we are making mistakes.

Yes, we will make mistakes in the future.

We’re all in the same boat. We’ll work this out together.

“You can change all the bills you want, but you can’t change people’s hearts.”

So why does he stay? The same reason Darius Gray stays.

Because he received a firm conviction that the Church is true and the Book of Mormon is inspired scripture.  The Holy Ghost bears witness to him. He wasn’t totally shocked when he heard the announcement in 1978, because he had received a confirmation through prayer that his boys would receive the Priesthood. His oldest boy was 11 at the time.

The Blacks didn’t get the Priesthood in 1978; they got it back.

By now, I’m realizing that you have to have a relationship with God and be patient with the Middlemen. They are doing what they think is right.

I next listened to an interview with Darius Gray, who joined the church four years before Engene Orr and was also a founding member of Genesis.

He found out on his final interview, the night before his baptism that he could not hold the Priesthood. He was shocked. “No way in hell am I going to join that Church.” He prayed and “heard the voice of deity saying that you are to join – if you’ve heard that voice, you can’t deny it.” So when people asked him why he joined he answers: “Because God told me to.”

He admits that being excluded was painful; being seen as less-than; not a worthy son of God because of the color of his skin.  He feels whole now he holds the Priesthood; however, he has always felt whole in God’s sight.

Darius was raised to be proud of who he was, of his race and heritage. It was routine in his family. Then to be confronted with “You’re cursed,” “You can’t be a full member,” was crushing but “I had no other choice because of what God had said.” “We have challenges and obstacles to overcome. We each have to find our own testimony.”

He knows the Priesthood ban was not of God; he knows it wasn’t from God; but it was allowed by God. And the Church had to undo that which man had put in place.

“There is only one race – the Human Race – All are God’s children - Glory in diversity.”

I learned a lot about humility and forgiveness from these two brethren but I’m not through talking to myself. I’ve been listening to Gandhi as I ride my trike each morning and he expands my boundaries even more as he tells his life story and his mission and relationship with God.

Quotes from Mahatma Gandhi:

v  “I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world.”

v  “I call him religious who understands the suffering of others.”

v  “God has no religion.”

v  “If it had not been for the Christians that I have known I might have been a Christian.”

v  “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

NEXT

I have a question

Is it OK to lie when as a prophet, seer, and revelator, your job is to uphold and protect the institution?

In the “Be One” celebration on Friday June 1, at the Conference Center, Dallin Oaks, representing the Church, said something to the effect that “The reasons that had been given to try to explain the restriction on members of African American descent by previous church leaders were promptly and publically disavowed.”

“That’s not really true,” says Doug Fabrizio on his podcast interviewing Max Perry Mueller, a historian, who recently wrote the book, Race and the Making of the Mormon People.

“It took 100 years. It’s yet to be disavowed.”

“There is a deep felt need for some kind of contrition from the Institutional Church. They cannot do that because of their belief in continued revelation. It cannot disavow its past; it cannot apologize; to say it was wrong. As late as the 1970’s, General Authorities were preaching from the pulpit that the Curse of Cain cannot hold the Priesthood.”

“They claim it was a policy established by Heavenly Father. God’s idea.”  In 1908, a few months after the death of Jane Manning James, a faithful Black woman who suffered two harsh migrations for the church 1) from Connecticut to Nauvoo; 2) from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley, the Quorum of the Twelve voted to create a policy to not let Blacks hold the Priesthood. They could join only.

We heard it right up until 1978 – how curses and linage were the reasons Blacks could not hold the Priesthood.

Dallin Oaks insists, “We don’t apologize. We look to the future.”

“The leaders are responsible for upholding and protecting the institution, they are not necessarily truth tellers,” Max Mueller explains.

That is my question. Is that OK?

Additionally, do we honor our scriptures?  For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen, and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile. 2nd Nephi 26:33.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sleeping like a baby. . .