Last night I finished reading a memoir that left me reeling. I lay in bed for several hours afterward pondering my place in the world. I evaluated the way I spend my time, my abilities (or my perception of my abilities), my dreams, my circumstances, and I prayed solemn prayers for direction. My mind felt…
Happy New Year! My family New Year’s greeting is often, “May the New Year be filled with health and prosperity.” The ozone soup that we eat first thing on New Year’s Day is filled with ingredients cut in a round shape to symbolize coins. Eating plenty of symbolic coins assures us that the New Year…
https://youtu.be/Ve0X6qSHIqI
A few years ago, my husband and I embarked on a mission to share our faith with the people of Eastern Canada. We came to love and value many people we met, whether or not they had any interest in our particular brand of faith. One of these wonderful new friends was Blanche Moyaert. She…
According to the Pew Research Center, 83.4 percent of women around the world are affiliated with a religious tradition. This figure alone implies the importance of religious freedom for women, but in practice religious freedom and women’s rights are often viewed as competing interests. This view is likely derived from the idea that religion is…
In November 2017 a book called Walking with the Women of the Old Testament was published by Cedar Fort, an independent small press publisher in Utah. Almost immediately the book was sold out—something that seemed surprising considering the topic and time frame of the book, a collection of profiles of Old Testament women such as…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwoK6KzM7Yg
I met Dayo Benjamins-Laniyi, on my first day at the Conference on the Status of Women, at the UN this year. Her first name, Adedayo, meaning “the crown that brings joy to the community”, and she certainly lives up to her name. She treats everyone as if they are the most important person in the…
Our internal compass doesn’t require handbooks and hours of training to operate. We needn’t navigate difficult trails. In fact, we may become lost in life if we try to take direction from every good impulse or idea that comes to us. After viewing a discussion by two very wise women, I decided to follow their…
June 28, 2018 Yesterday I woke up in the middle of the night. Insomnia. I was awake and worrying about drought. The local water board asked all of the church congregations in our area to talk about water cutback issues due to drought. Bishop Watson is a man of few words, a traditional sheep farmer,…