In an effort to regain some needed peaceful feelings towards the Mormon Church I decided that I was going to compile a list of my top 10 favorite things about it. I have to clarify up front that I don't feel a need to do this out of guilt or feeling bad about things I say and feel. Peace just feels better than turmoil. I am convinced that we are here on this planet to have a joyful experience. To feel good. To create, and live in, as happy a place for ourselves as possible. I have, thus far, been unable to make the list. Not that the ten things are not there, and not that I am giving up, but right now, off the top of my head, I have only one. And that one thing, that is my very favorite thing about the entire Mormon church, is, without question, my aunt Susie.
A descendant of Willard Richards, you can't possibly get more Mormon than my aunt. Susie is the very personification of all that is wonderful and beautiful about the church. She lives it, breathes it and glows it - in every way that a true follower of Christ should. She believes fervently and faithfully and manages to do so in a way that is so totally un-assuming, non-judgmental, non-pushy and non-all the things that make me nuts about it all. I have never met a person who is more graceful and kind and tender and gentle than Susie and it is precisely because of her belief in her church. Without a doubt, she would still be all these things if she weren't Mormon, but the way she lives her faith magnifies these qualities a hundred times and I would never want it to be any other way.
Susie has loved me like a mother and helped me pick up my broken pieces more times over the years than I can count and yet, here is the best part, she did not skip a beat in her love for and devotion towards me when I left the church that means everything to her. I'm sure it broke her heart, and I'm certain that she has spent much time kneeling by her bed on my behalf, but she has never rejected, judged, lectured or tried to re-convert me. Not even once. And because of that, she is the single individual on this planet I care about hurting with my opposing feelings and beliefs. Everyone else just has to deal with it and decide to love me or not, but Susie I will protect from anything - including me. We don't talk about how I feel or what I think regarding the church (she certainly doesn't read this blog) and we don't need to. There are hundreds of other topics to discuss and millions of things to enjoy together.
Jesus taught to love. She does. Jesus taught not to judge. She doesn't. Jesus said to let our light so shine and Susie shines brightly. If every member of the LDS faith lived it like she does the world would be stunningly better for it.
Happy Birthday Susie.
I love you.
5 comments:
I have been a bit of a silent reader of your blog for a while. I received this email from my younger sister and I wanted to pass it on to you. It made me sick and angry while reading it. You'll understand why...
I just received this from friends who worked at the Oakland Temple and received this first hand. A real eye opener.
Picketing the Oakland Temple! 10/21/08 GT
I received this email and thought I would pass it on. Oh, there are other scary things in this election in addition to voting for the President.
This election is an extremely important one for many reasons.
Dear family and friends,
I had a very disturbing experience yesterday that I would like to share with those of you that live outside of California (or outside of the San Francisco Bay Area).
This weekend we have stake conference. Our stake conference always begins with a stake temple session on Friday or Thursday night. Early Friday morning I received a call from the second counselor in our bishopric to
me know that there would be numerous protesters outside the temple, and to remind everyone to stay calm and to drive carefully. The beautiful Oakland Temple is located right across the bay from San Francisco, very close to the city of Berkeley. Apparently the opposition to proposition 8, the amendment that seeks to make marriage in CA between a man and a
woman again, has realized the deep involvement of the church and begun to protest right outside of the temple and harass temple patrons. The fastest way to get to the temple from our house is to take the 680 freeway, but the exit is a bit tricky. The off ramp is extremely short and straight uphill. You then make an almost blind left turn, an immediate right and another left into the parking lot. As we approached the off ramp, I realized there would be trouble. There was a backup onto the freeway from cars stalled on the off ramp. As we moved forward inches at a time, we realized this was due to a large group of loud protesters who were standing on both sides of the street, yelling, screaming and waving signs. When we got to the top of the offramp, ready to make our turn, one protester jumped out right in front of our car. It took my husband all his self control to carefully maneuver around him to the left and proceed to the temple. I tried not to listen to all they were shouting at us, but I was shaking as I got to the temple front door. Several of the sisters, especially the ones driving on their own, were
crying (which made me snap out of it and go into RS President mode to comfort them). Later, as I was sitting in the perfect quiet of the chapel, I couldn't help but think of Lehi's dream, and the people who mocked the Saints from the big spacious building but !
"we heeded them not." It was a truly surreal experience, I'd !
never thougth that I would have to go through an angry crowd to get to the temple. As we left late at night, the protesters had dispersed, temple security (who all looked very large and Tongan) stood by the gates. I never saw a single police man. Please pray for those of us in California fighting for prop 8--it's getting kind of scary out here! Susanne
Your aunt sounds great.
What does she think of Prop. 8? Is she close to any gay people?
Thank you for sharing. Yeah, I'm aware of this going on. It is getting intense. It's not clear which side of the issue you stand on - but I'm assuming you were sick and angry because of what happened to your sister and I am, actually, sorry for her distress.
I do have to say though, I would probably have been one of the protestors there. But, I would have stopped angry people from jumping on cars and would never have done so myself - except to offer the drivers some chocolate chip cookies.
MoHo:
She is the one person I won't get into the whole Prop 8 discussion with. In this instance, my love for her is greater than my anger towards Prop 8. She has grown to understand homosexuality more, obviously, due to me and my life and is an interior decorator so she has gay men she works with that she adores.
If only all of us had an Aunt Susie.
If only all of us were an Aunt Susie.
Thanks, Em
(no on 8)
p
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