Exponent II's Blog, page 38
February 26, 2025
Judy Dushku at 83: Why She Wrote a Novel About War, Survival, and Healing
Judy Dushku is a political scientist, writer, and lifelong feminist activist. She is best known around here as one of the founding mothers of Exponent II.
After a 47-year career as a professor of comparative politics at Suffolk University—specializing in African politics and women’s studies—Judy continued her humanitarian work in Gulu, Uganda. In 2010, she founded THRIVE-Gulu, a woman-led nonprofit dedicated to helping survivors of the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency and refugees from South Sudan heal from trauma, with a special focus on female survivors of violence. Now, at 83, she is publishing her debut novel, Is This The Way Home?—a powerful fictional account of one Ugandan woman and her family, offering a window into the struggles of thousands: war, abduction, marginalization, and the challenge of raising children born in the bush. Through her writing, she hopes to raise awareness of these survivors and inspire readers to seek their own paths to healing.
Judy sat down over Zoom with Katie Ludlow Rich to discuss the launch of her novel for the Exponent II blog. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Interview with debut novelist Judy Dushku:Exponent: You had a long career as a professor at Suffolk University, and now you are launching your debut novel the month you turn 83! That’s so inspiring. What led you to try something this big?
Judy: As we near 80, most of us feel so bored with what is left for us and what is ahead of us that we are driven to do something unusual. Approaching 80, I was widowed, I was retired, I had stepped down as Stake Relief Society President, and there I was. It was this sense of, who are you, Judy? I was kind of floundering, but I felt like I still had something to offer the world, and I wanted it to help someone.
Exponent: Did you always want to write a novel?
Judy: No, it had never occurred to me. I wanted to honor the women I worked with in Northern Uganda [the survivors of the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency and refugees from South Sudan]. I didn’t know if it would mean traveling there more, or fundraising more, or what, and then COVID happened. I began the novel before then, but with international travel not an option, I felt that I had stumbled upon the right choice to help draw attention to these women. Even after 20 years of fighting, leaders of international organizations said that the war in Northern Uganda was the most forgotten war in the world, and it really was forgotten. There were flashes of attention, like with the viral film “Kony 2012,” but then it was gone. I felt like, why isn’t the world not only taking a look at what people up there went through but what they’re now trying to accomplish, which is to come out of this horrible war and heal from the abuse and violence and really make something of their lives? How can people just ignore them?
Kate Holbrook gave a talk at the Maxwell Institute about the weight of legacy. I called Kate up and asked, “Should I be writing about Ugandan women, or should I be writing just about my family and my ancestors who joined the church in Denmark?” Kate said, “You never know whose stories you are intended to celebrate and bring to life. Sometimes, we are called to be caretakers of other people’s legacies.” And I felt like it was a calling—which is not something I say very often—but I felt called to celebrate the women I know in Uganda. To shine a spotlight on them to help people gain an interest in listening to their stories and lives directly.
Exponent: What inspired the story you tell in Is This The Way Home?
Judy: The novel tells the story of a fictional character, Adong Agnes, who was abducted at age eleven, forced into “marriage” with rebel commanders, and escaped after fifteen years, but it is inspired by the real-life stories of women I know there. There are academic articles about the rebuilding that has taken place, but the stigma against the women who were in the bush with Kony and the LRA is tremendous. There is a Ugandan woman whose children I have supported through their education, and she is the same age as my own daughter, and over the years I’ve come to know the complicated intricacies of her healing journey. Westerners know the complications of their own lives, but too often, they think people in developing countries don’t have that same kind of personal complexity. It’s hard to capture a person’s full humanity in an academic article because you can’t speculate in an article. But in a novel, you can speculate about what someone was thinking, and you can show a more complete picture of the challenges and complexities of a person’s life.
Exponent: What do you want readers to take away from reading the novel?
Judy: I want everyone to know that healing from sexual violence, trauma, and war is very hard, but it is possible. And of course, the people who have been involved in these horrible experiences cannot wait for perfect conditions and a trained psychologist to rebuild and heal. There are women all over the world who need to rely on the help available to them—a neighbor, a friend, a doctor, a religious leader. You have to count on who is around you. I want to add to the effort to dispel the idea that help has to come from the West.
The other message is that African women’s lives not only matter, but that they are also complicated and real. I don’t want readers to assume that they have a simple life. Everyone’s life story is complicated and fraught, but people grow and can heal.
Exponent: When does the novel come out, and where can people order it?
Judy: Is This The Way Home? is being published by BCC Press in March 2025 and will be in both paperback and eBook formats. It is available for pre-order on Amazon and other online retailers like Barnes and Noble.
Novelist Judy Dushku and the cover of Is This The Way Home? Save the date for book launch events:Saturday, March 15, 2025 at the University of Utah is a one-day conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the book Mormon Sisters and the work of Claudia Bushman. Judy Dushku is among the speakers at the event, and copies of Is This The Way Home? will be there for sale by Benchmark Books. Register for free admission to the event.
Tuesday, March 18, at 7 pm MT, join Judy at The Compass Galley in Provo, Utah, to celebrate the launch of her debut novel with an author discussion and book singing.
Thursday, March 20, at 7 pm MT, join Signature Books and Exponent II in celebrating Women’s History Month at Signature Books’ office in Salt Lake City. Fifty Years of Exponent II authors Katie Ludlow Rich and Heather Sundahl will talk with Exponent II founding mother Judy Dushku about her decades with Exponent II, her global feminist activism, and her humanitarian work in Uganda that inspired her novel, Is This The Way Home?
Sunday, April 6, 3 pm ET, book launch and discussion at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, Massachusetts. The event will be held in the Amalie M. Hecht Kass Rehearsal Hall, 3rd floor.
Monday, April 14, at 6 pm MT / 8 pm ET, join Judy for a virtual book launch event on Zoom. Free registration.
Vol. 44 No. 3 — Winter 2025
This is a Collaborative Issue Between Exponent II and At Last She Said It.
Cover ArtDo I Contradict Myself? (I Contain Multitudes)
Quilt, cotton and linen, reflective polyester thread; 44 x 48 in., 2022
Inspired by Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself, 51,” this quilt explores freedom and self-expression within the constraints of an assigned color palette. Each design choice was spontaneous, sometimes requiring the mastery of new techniques to give it form. This quilt celebrates the interplay of concealment and revelation, embracing the beauty of unrestrained creativity. Within the seen quilt lies an entirely different quilt, glimpsed only from certain angles and bursting out of its layers in places. It is imbued with the insecurities, pride, despair, and excitement of a 40-year-old woman carrying a lifetime of complexity with her into graduate school and a new career. It is dedicated to the human longing to be seen. This piece is quilted with reflective thread, revealing a new layer of poetry and design when a photo is taken with a flash.
Melissa de Leon Mason
quiltallthethings.com | @quiltallthethings_
Editor-in-Chief – Rachel Rueckert
Managing Editor – Carol Ann Litster Young
Contest Judges – Susan Hinckley & Cynthia Winward from At Last She Said It
Art Editor – Rocio Cisneros
Layout Designer & Editor – Rosie Gochnour Serago
Fiction Editor – C. Chanel Earl
Blog Feature Editor – Natasha Rogers
Book Reviews Editor – Ynna Padilla
Poetry Editor – Abby Parcell
Women’s Theology Editor – Eliza Wells
President – Lori LeVar Pierce
Vice President & Secretary – Lindsay Denton
Treasurer – Jeanine Bean
Members – Julia Bernards, Carol Ann Litster Young, Jessica Grant Gray, Natasha Rogers, Nancy Ross, Rachel Rueckert, Rosie Gochnour Serago, Heather Sundahl
Proofreaders – Kami Coppins, Hannah Mortenson, Cherie Pedersen, Karen Rosenbaum
Readers Committee – Linda Andrews, Kif Augustine, Sherrie Gavin, Hinckley Jones-Sanpei, Ashley Mackay Lewis, Natasha Rogers, Karen Rosenbaum, Eliza Handley-Wilcox, Kimberlie Young
Author Editors – Pandora Brewer, Kim Ence, Megan Eralie, Emily Gray, Linda Hamilton, Hailey Hannigan, Caroleine James, Dani Blatter Macarthur, Katie Ludlow Rich, Natasha Rogers, Eliza Handley-Wilcox
Art Community Ambassador – Page Turner
Social Media Content Manager – Linda Hamilton
Subscription Manager – Liz Johnson
At Last She Said it
Contest Judges from At Last She Said It: Susan Hinckley & Cynthia Winward
There was a library in the giant old house I grew up in: a dark wood-paneled room with antique bottle glass windows imported from Italy, gold-leafed moldings on the ceiling, a forbidden wet bar hidden in a cabinet, a button on the wall to summon some long-ago maid, and thick, muffly carpets on the floor. A Geochron World Clock and Atlas glowed, marking the position of the sun high on the wall above my father’s desk. Day and night its blue light beckoned through the open door at the end of an echoing hall.
The room was lined with books. On the top shelf, 40 years of National Geographic magazines paraded around the perimeter in chronological yellow. To a small Mormon girl, the library felt like a portal to the whole exotic world. By about fourth grade, I had begun pulling books from the shelves I had no business reading, sinking into the black leather sofa for entire afternoons. I couldn’t always understand the words I read, but I knew they were important. From Tolstoy’s tomes to the yarns of O’Henry and limericks of Ogden Nash, I sensed between the worn covers propped against my small knees the secrets of grown-up life. I intended to know them all.
At Last She Said It and Exponent II invite you — whether a long-time reader or new subscriber — to honor these experiences in an atmosphere of trust and respect.
I believe my reverence for story was born in that magical room. I learned I could see much further, standing on the shoulders of someone else’s words. As I grew, the stories of others explained things I didn’t understand — including myself. It soon became clear that writing would be a key to surviving my own life experience. Through story I could repackage even the most unwieldy truths into something easier to hold. I could invite others to help me carry the things I didn’t know how to bear myself.
I’ve experienced the At Last She Said It project as another magical, meaningful portal. The moment I stepped into it, I embarked on an unanticipated healing journey. As we share words, ideas, and experiences, the connection I feel to women from around the world continues to lead me toward a wholeness I didn’t think was possible. I know I speak for Cynthia when I thank the women of our podcast community for every word you have shared with us — and each other — these past five years. We’re deeply humbled by the sacred gift of your stories.
The writers in this issue bravely, boldly, and beautifully, speak their deepest truths.
We were thrilled to partner with Exponent II for this special issue. Contributors were invited to “say it at last,” and as Rachel Rueckert beautifully describes it, “They showed up with sharp pens and open hearts. The truths pop and the metaphors linger on the tongue long after the story ends.” With so many submissions, the editorial team had to make difficult selections for publication, settling on seventeen essays, one fictional piece reimagining scripture, and six stunning poems. Themes range from adultery to menstruation, witches to the pain of a partner’s faith transition, attending Relief society as a trans woman to navigating the challenges of church, trauma at the temple to the power of a found family. We have pieces rooting out abuse, wrestling with theology, and expressing profound spiritual experiences. The stories are shared alongside incredible artwork by Mormon women and gender minorities in this vibrant community.
You’ll find a range of spiritual experiences in this collection. As we enter this feminist publication’s 51st year, At Last She Said It and Exponent II invite you — whether a long-time reader or new subscriber — to honor these experiences in an atmosphere of trust and respect. May we listen deeply and make time for the long version of the story. In return, may our own stories be heard and held. The writers in this issue bravely, boldly, and beautifully, speak their deepest truths. No matter where we find ourselves, may we find the courage to do the same.
Learn more about At Last She Said It:
One Eternal Round: An Essay on Belonging
The church literally saved my life. I don’t mean this in a trite way.
The full content of this post is available to subscribers. Subscribe now or log in!Too Good to Waste
The cookie jar offered Chips Ahoy and ginger snaps
Like the cruse of oil that never failed
The full content of this post is available to subscribers. Subscribe now or log in!Whose Needs Matter Most? What is Fair?
“Moral talk is often rather repugnant. Leveling moral accusations, expressing moral indignation, passing moral judgement, allotting the blame, administering moral reproof, justifying oneself, and, above all, moralizing- who can enjoy such talk? And who can like or trust those addicted to it? The most outspoken critics of their neighbors’ morals are usually [people] who wish to ensure that nobody should enjoy the good things in life which they themselves have missed and [people] who confuse the right and the good with their own advancement.”
The Moral Point Of View: A Rational Basis Of Ethics by Kurt BaierI have been fascinated by the political events that recently happened in New Zealand. Social media planted clips of Members of Parliament giving powerful speeches and performing the Haka in my feed. Chloe Swarbrick’s speech is moving. One of the creators of the bill these Maori or pro Maori MPs are against, is part Maori himself. To my understanding the bill is dead, but what it was trying to do is similar to what we see in U.S. politics and in our religion.
People want what is fair for everyone across the board…or do they?
It takes a very disciplined, humble person to put aside personal wants for the greater good. It goes against our instincts of survival actually. I find that these deeper instincts to survive…avoiding scarcity for ourselves and our immediate family is what drives our decisions.
I’ve been reading Mormon Women At The Crossroads by Caroline Kline. I’ve been trying to see where I am putting my desires for fairness above others and have come up with some conclusions.
People seek safety.
Like Maslow and what he points out in his “Hierarchy of needs”, people seek safety for their bodies, then their surroundings, relationships, and their minds until they have such actual physical comfort and true social and mental stability, that they are capable of handling all negative and positive encounters with a sound mental frame of mind, the nirvana or “self actualization”.
If we encroach on a need that someone else has not had fulfilled, we should expect backlash. If we already have a need met, but then through our laws or religion, make it harder for someone else to obtain a baser need, we should expect backlash from those we are harming or hindering.
How we hold people back from baser needs:The bill in New Zealand I mentioned earlier is an example of this. In an attempt to make laws of the land more “equal”, David Seymour proposed a bill he said would help everyone. Those who lived and saw inequality more acutely disagreed.
The Moari have designated seats in Parliament. They do not have to compete against other New Zealanders, just other Maori-which some find unfair-because it creates less spots available for the general public, who are not Maori, and are the majority. The Maori then feel that taking away their guaranteed spots will lessen the amount of Maori in government and take away their representation. (Remember, the majority colonized the Maori…forced them into their governance.)
I could cite many bills in the US that demonstrate this as well, such as how voting districts have been drawn, abortion rights, any proposed LGBTQ right, the Equal Right Amendment, the rights that will be challenged in the “Project 2025” proposal (this is skirting the issue of America’s colonization and how there is next to zero representation in government by those indigenous to what is now The United States).
All the recent “Executive Orders”……
What some lawmakers deem as fair and good for all, can be a literal attack on someone’s baser physical need or an attack on someone’s feeling of safety in a next level mental/social need. It is a way to ease an idea that is not making sense in their own mind (yes it goes both ways).
Examples of baser needs:-Basic K-12 Education
-Abortion for survival of physical body, and economic survival
-Employment/minimum wage
-Access to a bathroom
-Housing affordability/availability
-Gun safety laws (including stopping the sale of assault weapons)
Examples of mental needs when personal base needs are met:
-Segregation (however you choose to approach it: charter schools based on “Christian” or “American Values”)
-Abortion for mental survival or limiting other women’s abortions for your peace of mind
-Tax exemption laws
-Second amendment (including owning what ever gun you want and stock piling them)Religion dictates to us what our next level needs are:
I think the church gave me a different pyramid. It told me that my feelings of safety and security were only secure if there were temple sealings making them so. I gained self esteem by checking boxes people were watching me check and my future self actualization could only be achieved through highest degree celestial glory…
I have been fighting these mental battles trying to gain my own personal authority back and speaking out against what I feel is an attack on my mental and spiritual well being while other people of my faith hold onto some of the same things because it gives them that stability mentally and even physically.
Caroline, in her book, mentions that some women in our faith, particularly outside of the USA, gain physical safety in what the LDS church teaches. Their husbands were abusive until they encountered the tenants that helped them espouse benevolent patriarchy.
When I attack what benevolent patriarchy has done to me mentally, I am attacking what is keeping these women safe physically.
What I want to fix and change and even throw out of existence, is keeping my fellow sisters safe.
The system within the LDS framework is hurting other people, other minorities in and out of the US; LGBTQ people for example. But the argument could be made that their needs are not base needs of survival, but then again they could be argued that they are.
So we are back to square one, I have solved nothing, but recognized something.A commenter (@puttingupwitha) on an Exponent Instagram post said, “Mormon feminism highlights inequities within the church, but often lacks a clear path for correcting them. Raised awareness without a way to change the structure can create heavy burdens. I think it is still necessary, but then what? Stay and live with cognitive dissonance, stay and voice concerns with little change, or leave?”
So what do we do?Food for thought on this subject: Why Women of Color Are Exhausted
February 25, 2025
Altared
I realized that afternoon that my children and I had been repeatedly sacrificed on the Altar of the Eternal Family
The full content of this post is available to subscribers. Subscribe now or log in!The Serial Ward Creeper
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
During this month that boasts a holiday focused on love and relationships I found myself reflecting on LDS dating which then led to me thinking about the serial ward creeper of my youth. I have a feeling most of us have a ward creeper story and if you’re open to sharing, I’d like to hear about yours so we can compare red flags and hopefully help some of the LDS youth of today avoid having experiences like this.
It’s not easy to date as an LDS teen and it’s definitely not easy to figure out how to navigate romance. In my youth, our young women’s group saw romance through the lens of the movies we watched together like “The Princess Bride” and “The Cutting Edge” but also through the lens of eternal companions and the couple from Saturday’s Warriors. To say we weren’t exactly seeing reality modeled is an understatement.
Admit it if it’s true, you’d loudly sing along to Feelings of Forever from Saturday’s Warrior while dreaming about your eternal companion too.
Todd: I’ve seen that smile somewhere before.
Julie: I’ve heard your voice before.
Both: It seems we’ve talked like this before.
Todd: Sometime, who can be certain when?
Julie: But if I knew you then…It’s strange, I can’t remember.
Both: Feelings come so very strong, like we’ve known each other oh, so long.
Todd: The circle of our love is found
Both: In every warm and tender thing
Todd: In God’s eternal plan
Julie: it goes
Todd: forever.
Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash
Was I naive to believe that I could have an experience like this? Yes. Yes I was. I imagine a lot of us thought we’d hear a voice and somehow the veil would become thin enough for us to almost remember each other from the pre-existence. Judging from how popular it was, a lot of the young men also held the same naive belief. Coupling that naivete with the concept of personal revelation complicates romance for some youth.
A young man who started attending stake dances became quite infatuated with a young woman in my home ward. He began showing up occasionally on Sundays to join Sunday School and before long he was regularly in attendance. The young woman had not welcomed his attention and let him know that she wasn’t interested in dating him. He then showed up at her front door dressed as the Phantom of the Opera thinking it was romantic. When she told me about it I thought of the kidnapping scene as Christine is led to the dungeons of the theatre. When that “romantic” gesture didn’t give him the results he expected, he showed up in fast and testimony meeting. He stood at the pulpit and proclaimed that Heavenly Father revealed to him that he was meant to marry this person. Since the young man refused to accept that the young woman was not interested in marrying or dating him, an Elder in the ward pulled him aside in the foyer and asked that he please leave the young woman alone and not return to the ward again. He was rarely seen after that but rumors swirled that he continued to find his eternal companion over and over again in numerous wards.
Photo by Erika Giraud on Unsplash
Manipulation can be difficult to recognize in secular settings but I find it to be especially difficult to recognize when it’s used in religious settings. When it’s used in a religious setting and involves 2 people with a power imbalance, it feels scary to me. That’s what I felt when I heard that young man proclaim Heavenly Father revealed the eternal plan for him and the young woman he terrorized. There was also the smallest but noticeable thought in my mind of “what if he’s right though and she’s not able to recognize it?” I pushed that thought away but found myself wondering when exactly priesthood holders/men can get revelation for others. I was taught that priesthood leaders can receive revelation for women because of stewardship. Bishops for their ward members, male spouses for their wives, and father’s for their children. The most logical reason would be once they are married or set apart in their calling.
I’ve read accounts of Joseph Smith’s proposals to numerous wives containing revelation. Eliza Partridge writes “”While [living with Joseph Smith] he taught to us the plan of Celestial marriage and asked us to enter into that order with him. This was truly a great trial for me, but I had the most implicit confidence in him as a Prophet of the Lord and not but believe his words, and as a matter of course accept of the privilege of being sealed to him as a wife for time and all eternity. . . . Times were not then as they are now in 1877, but a woman living in polygamy dare not let it be known, and nothing but a firm desire to keep the commandments of the Lord could have induced a girl to marry in that way. I thought my trials were very severe in this line, and I am often led to wonder how it was that a person of my temperament could get along with it and not rebel. But I know it was the Lord who kept me from opposing his plans, although in my heart I felt I could not submit to them. But I did, and I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for the care he had over me in those troublous times.”[246]”
I cannot imagine what it felt like to be in this position but I worry that there’s a young woman who once opened a door to the phantom of the opera who might.
Do you ever get confused on if it’s a matter of faith or a matter of “run” and how do you combat doubt? Submit a guest post.
February 24, 2025
Letter to a Friend, Whose Friend is Leaving the Church
You are dizzy from the height you think
you could fall, the jagged rocks
Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 19: “Learn of Me”
Doctrine and Covenants section 19, given through Joseph Smith as a revelation for Martin Harris in the summer of 1829, can be a difficult text to grapple with. Verses 23, “Learn of me,” and 38, “Pray always,” are among the most beautiful and most quoted fragments of the D&C, but other verses are harsh. Martin receives stern warnings to repent and obey, which reach a troubling pinnacle in verse 15:
“Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.“
Martin doesn’t appear to have had grievous sins of commission to repent of and hadn’t made any formal covenants yet. It is hard to imagine a Church leader today relating a revelation that threatens an anxious donor with God’s wrath or punishments. It is difficult for readers who have felt the Lord’s love and experienced peace through priesthood blessings during difficult times to relate to the tone of some of this revelation.
The situation Martin faced that sparked this text was unique, high-pressure, and difficult. He was the only one among Joseph Smith’s early adherents who had enough wealth to finance the Book of Mormon’s publication. “Martin was asked to make a huge sacrifice, more than anyone else had yet been asked in the new dispensation.” He had verbally promised to pay for printing in 1828. In the summer of 1829, the translation finished, he and Joseph worked together on finding a printer. More than one printshop owner they spoke with tried to dissuade Martin out of his willingness to fund the project. Martin and Joseph settled on working with E. B. Grandin, who required that $3,000 (the equivalent of about $102,000 today, even much more when you consider this was the bulk of one wealthy man’s accumulated wealth at the time) of 5,000 copies be paid upfront. This would require Martin to mortgage virtually all of his farm.
Due to consistent opposition from his family and the greater community, Martin Harris hesitated to follow through with his promise. He probably had not realized how much the publication would cost in reality. Sacrificing his farm was especially difficult since 1829 was an economically harsh year for farmers in the region. Both he and Joseph must have been highly stressed. A compassionate reading of this chapter may acknowledge the ways anger, strained relationships, stress can bias and block the inspired voice of a priesthood holder or revelator. It makes good sense that the Lord was desirous for Martin to sacrifice in the cause of the Book of Mormon, yet many of us today would like to hear a more nuanced and understanding voice speak to Martin’s unique, difficult situation.
Possible discussion questions to be addressed in small groups or with the whole class if it is small:
If a person in a comparable predicament were given a priesthood blessing to help and guide them in our day, what kind of message or guidance do you imagine could be most encouraging or insightful?If you could travel back in time and give Martin Harris support in the summer of 1829 during his difficult dilemma, what might you say to encourage him and/or show compassion for what he was going through?What might you share about the Book of Mormon’s impact on your own life to encourage him in the road ahead as he became the first major financial founder of the Book of Mormon and the Church?Reframing Martin’s Sacrifice as a Turn Toward a Courageous, Spiritually Focused “Second half of life”One possibility for taking inspiration from D&C 19 is to interpret Martin’s experience as an example of what many spiritual thinkers have described as the entrance into the “second half” of spiritual life.
Jungian analyst James Hollis has written about how for many individuals, middle age is a time when longings to live a more spiritually meaningful life awaken. Even when life has gone according to plan, and a person arrives at a point when they anticipated enjoying great contentment, they might unexpectedly realize that it feels something vital is missing. Life is much emptier of meaning and growth than they expected. Unexpected urges to take a new path might be signaled through unexpected depression, dreams, or divine interventions.
In 1829, Martin Harris was 46 years old and had lived a successful life. As a young man, he served in the war of 1812. He was married for 21 years, had four children, and was a prosperous farmer. He was a respected neighbor and had lived up to conventional expectations. But his friendship with Joseph Smith and experience with Book of Mormon disrupted this smooth sailing. Suddenly, a door opened for Martin’s life to become something quite different and impactful. As we find in D&C 19, he was asked to give up virtually everything and devote his time to becoming a spiritual leader in the cause of Jesus and his gospel.
Have you ever faced a crossroads like Martin Harris did, when an opportunity opened for you to make a great sacrifice or major decision for the sake of spiritual desires and/or spiritual growth?How have you been blessed, or how has your life become more impactful as you have sacrificed in order to serve spiritual causes and needs?Have you ever experienced unexpected desires or inspiration to grow spiritually or help others? If yes, what obstacles did you face?And in his case, as in many other “second half of life” spiritual transitions, Martin’s desires conflicted with others’ expectation for him and even common sense. (see James Hollis’s Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life and Between Worlds).
Are there ways in which you, as a disciple of Christ or person of faith, have been required to go against the grain of social norms and expectations? What challenges came with this? What growth had this enabled for you?Something in Martin was open to the possibility of living life for more transcendent motivations. He did not have to respond to the call to live a new kind of life, but he did. In response to D&C 19, he chose to give up nearly everything for God’s purposes, and went on to become an important spiritual voice and witness. He made a lasting impact and left a legacy and history for us to learn from.
How does choosing spiritual paths and priorities add meaning to life or fundamentally change how we experience of life?What kind of legacy or impact do you want your life to have?Reframing vocabulary in D&C 19In All Things New by Terryl and Fiona Givens, we learn we may reap spiritual benefits from redefining traditional religious vocabulary such that it can better speak to contemporary experiences. The redefinitions for terms in D&C 19 below are inspired by Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, in which he describes middle age as a time of tension between a life that is more stagnant, or self-focused and disconnection, and a life that is generative, focused on connections, creativity, and making useful contributions.
Sin = stagnation This encompasses decisions to not sacrifice, help others, or contribute spiritually. Stagnation is living only for yourself and meeting conventional expectations without trying to change the world for good or fostering deep connections.
Repentance = generativity To repent is to follow our noblest spiritual desires. To take the path of authentic spiritual generativity and generosity, prioritizing spiritual growth and our souls’ deepest and most noble desires over the other less pure forces in our lives.
Human pain and suffering caused by sin = the spiritual consequences of choosing stagnation Spiritual suffering can stem from failing to choose to grow and contribute. This suffering is the misery caused by prioritizing comfort, our egos, and more material and superficial things that can’t nurture our spirits or help us grow.
These definitions can’t replace what’s in the text in a fill-in-the blank way, and they certainly don’t solve all the spiritual and theological challenges in the chapter, but it could allow the revelation to be interpreted partly as a matter-of-fact explanation of the consequences of the paths we take. If we attend to our responsibilities to growth, connect, and contribute spiritually, we will find peace and fulfillment. If we prioritize superficial things and a self-serving life, we will suffer from a lack of spiritual sustenance, light, and connection. The latter could be a miserable choice indeed, without any active divine punishment at play (see Adam Miller’s Original Grace for innovative and compassionate thoughts about divine punishment).
What might be some other ideas for redefining sin and repentance (or perhaps other words in the chapter) that speak to you?What are some ways our lives might move out of stagnation and into greater spiritual generativity?Prayer is a Powerful Tool for Fostering Spiritual and Emotional Well-beingRead verse 38:
“Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof.“
How might we interpret the exhortation to “pray always?” What does this mean for you in everyday life?What have you experienced during periods of your life when you have tried to pray more frequently or more earnestly?Have you ever struggled to find approaches to prayer that have worked for you?On a recent episode of Faith Matters’ podcast, happiness expert Arthur Brooks taught that prayer can help us fight depression and anxiety and foster joy. He said “the most effective metacognitive technique is…offering up prayers of petition.” Prayer is healing healing the mind partly because it moves fear, anxieties, and desires from the body into the conscious problem-solving part of the brain, where they can be recognized and expressed. Prayer is more beneficial than journaling alone because in addition to listing our troubles, we also seek help from someone much greater than ourselves. Prayers are an active assertion of trust that help and relief will come. Brooks explains, “The ideal formula for prayer, according to Christian tradition…is glory to you, thank you, sorry, help me more. It is those four things. When you [pray]…you’re bringing your concerns to God…you’re articulating them, and they’re no longer ghosts in the machine, you’re bringing them to your prefrontal cortex… and then offer[ing them] up to heaven. And this is really, really, powerful. People say, “I feel so much better after I pray.” Well, duh! Neuroscience, man!” Brooks brings a scientific lens to prayer in no way to deconstruct or diminish the spiritual side of prayer. He has faith in the power of prayer himself and seems to enjoy how his scientific and faith perspectives can line up in harmony with each other.
Based on Brooks description, are there ways you might like to try to better optimize the benefits of prayer in your life?What could it mean to “pray always” and receive the blessings promised in verse 38 in light of the immense wellness benefits of prayer?
