In the grove in the evening, the lion heard a great racket from a father robin and his brood and went to investigate.

“Friend Robin,” the lion said, “why do you make a fuss?”

“Look at this nest, O Lion. All my work on it is ruined.” The nest was a ring of thorns the robin had woven to keep the young away from the edge. But in the middle of the ring at the bottom of the nest there was little. The pine needles and other such stuff the robin put here had mostly fallen away.

“Do not fret, friend Robin,” the lion said. “As I walked here, I saw several empty nests. I will lead you to one. Then it will be as if your mistake never happened.”

“O Lion,” the robin replied, “what a piteous state would be mine if all my work for my brood were meaningless. I cannot bear that they go to another nest as if all my work had never happened.”

“Then you will have your brood sleep in this nest?” the lion asked.

“No,” said the robin, “they would fall. It is not fair to them to suffer for my mistakes.”

“And you see no way for the nest to be repaired?” the lion asked.

“Oh no,” said the robin, “I built it wrong from the start.”

Then the king of beasts took the ring of thorns and placed it on his own head. “Let your brood nest in my mane, walled in by you’ve the ring you made.”

Someone must bear the consequences.

His Majesty is somewhat particular.

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His Majesty has continued to ruminate on crime and punishment.

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The most powerful image of covenant in the scriptures for me is the image of marriage. Israel, we are told, is like the (often faithless) spouse of God.

A marriage is a relationship that is defined by reciprocal promises, but it isn’t just defined by reciprocal promises. It is also defined by love, passion, and what I think of as habits of affection. We often think of love as a kind of Dionysian force that assaults us, but married love is more than simply Dionysian. It is also agricultural, something that one treasures, cultivates, and seeks to protect. I think it suggestive that in English “husband” can denote both a spouse and a farmer.

-thus Nate Oman.

Coincidentally, or perhaps not coincidentally, my poppets, I was thinking on the same subject this morning.  (more…)

Encountered in an LDS building in Waukee, Iowa: (more…)

While once trying to explain to a non-Mormon friend why missionaries had such a strict dress code, I talked about showing respect for others, about norms of economic equality between rich and poor missionaries, but none of it seemed to register. Finally I said, “Look, becoming a missionary is like joining the Army. They have a collective goal, and everything is focused on that goal, to the point where things that you might otherwise find bothersome really don’t matter. If you are so concerned about individuality that you resent having to wear a uniform, then you are probably out of place there.” That made sense to him.

That sparked a years-long reflection on my part about how many aspects of Christianity in general, and Mormonism in particular, make more sense if you remember the words of the hymn, “We are all enlisted ’til the conflict is o’er.” As I’ll explain in more detail below, points of doctrine or Church history that might be troubling and confusing become less so when one realizes that we are in a spiritual war.

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I must obey my master.

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I woke to the sound of His Majesty cackling happily. He was up early and feeding nips to the cats.

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His Majesty has been awfully quiet lately, but I could feeeeel the sourness swelling within him.

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One of the hard teachings of the LDS church is that God will accommodate the weaknesses of his people. One standard example of this is Samuel ordaining Saul as king for Israel, and another is that the higher priesthood was withdrawn with Moses, leaving ministry only through the Aaronic priesthood. One can imagine being taught the gospel by the ancient apostles, embracing it and teaching it to one’s children, but ultimately unable to pass the blessings of the priesthood on to further posterity, not because of any lack of desire or seeking for them, but because the priesthood has been withdrawn from the earth until times of restoration.

This pattern allows one to fully accept the authority of the LDS church’s president to enact changes in the church’s ministry, and to believe him a prophet acting as God has directed him, and to still wonder if a given change is a good change, a further unrolling of gospel fullness, or a necessary change due to the latter-day saints’ weakness in a fallen world, much to be lamented as we correctly submit to it.

For the last few years, I’ve mused that the Church was inevitably going to have to separate from the BSA, and create the “Mormon Scouts of America.” Of course recent events have brought that possibility to the fore. But “MSA” would be a terrible name, so let me be the first to broach the subject of what to call the Mormon Scouts. (more…)

I happened to notice a piece in the local paper about two Virginia cousins playing on the state champion high school baseball team who have decided on Brigham Young University as their college (link). It’s interesting in what it says about family ties and the place of BYU as part of those ties for some families.

Just before Matt Favero pulled the trigger on his college commitment Wednesday afternoon, the Madison rising senior pitcher had to make one call.

On the other end was Pete Nielsen, his cousin and fellow Warhawks rising senior. The two had played baseball together their whole life, and with Nielsen having narrowed his own recruitment to Brigham Young and Virginia, Favero thought his close relative would be interested to hear his college choice.

“I called him and said, ‘Hey Pete, I’m about to commit to BYU,’” Favero said. “I think maybe he was waiting for me to do it; I don’t know.”

In some ways, Favero was right. Even after watching Virginia hoist its first College World Series, Nielsen still felt a stronger tug on his heartstrings from BYU, the same school for which his father, Mike, once suited up and where both his and Favero’s older brothers currently play.

“When Matt told me he was committing to BYU, I was like, ‘Sweet,’” Nielsen said.

Even the Washington Post sports section is running a piece on the sweetness of Mormon life?

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The other day I installed a cloak hook near the entrance of the domicile I share with His Majesty.

My cloaks can be heavy, and I also thought it might be prudent to be sure the hook could support the weight of His Majesty’s winter jacket, so I took some time to install the hook securely. I located the stud (much easier with the Force than with a stud locater, by the way) and made sure the hook was screwed firmly through the drywall into the stud. I figured it would easily hold a couple of cloaks and winter jackets.

I stood back to admire my work (funny; don’t you always do that when you finish any handyman project?) and just then His Majesty came storming through the door in a frightfully sour mood. He glanced at me, glanced at the hook, and without a moment’s hesitation he grabbed the hook and tried to swing from it. That was too much weight, of course; there was a loud crack and the hook came out of the wall, doing serious damage to the stud and drywall. In fact, since this is a load-bearing wall, the damage to the stud could wind up being a significant problem.

My jaw hit the floor, or would have, if the vocorder wasn’t in the way.

It turns out His Majesty has been thinking about original sin.

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I couldn’t let some choice nuggets from this Kate Kelly interview pass without comment, because I don’t think even Kelly realizes just how damning they are. Kelly, as you will recall, is the former leader of the activist group, “Give Women the Priesthood Or I Swear I’m Going to Hurt Myself And It Will Be Your Fault.” (I’m pretty sure that was the official name, maybe someone can look it up for me). They cast themselves as faithful Mormons who just wanted the Church to correct this one little, historically contingent error in doctrine. They’re not the first group to portray themselves as such, but they were probably the most aggressive; the only people more aggressive than them have been openly apostate.

 It’s been a year since Ms. Kelly was exed, let’s see what she has to say: (more…)

The tragic vision of Mormon Christianity has four dimensions.

The first tragedy is that growth can only come through suffering and death.

The second tragedy is that free will means people can choose with finality to reject God and damn themselves.

The third tragedy is the tragedy that those we love can only grow through suffering and death and sometimes choose not to grow. Love holds us hostage to them, and it has to, or else it wouldn’t be love.

The fourth tragedy is that people miss out on growth that they are capable of, because they refuse to take the steps that would get them there. And perhaps nothing can be done about this.

That fourth tragedy deserves a little explanation. (more…)