Relationships

The first time I was diagnosed with breast cancer was in 2011. I was fortunate to have access to excellent medical care in a...

I was praying recently for help with cynicism and hopelessness that challenged my faith in God . Two things happened that encouraged me to...

If we won't acknowledge the very real pain our missionaries cause other families as we proselytize to their doorsteps, we need to stop complaining about our own sadness when someone we love has a faith crisis and leaves the LDS church. It's either okay for people to change their beliefs to match their own circumstances and desires in life, or everyone needs to stick with the religious system they were born into. We can't have it both ways.

Whether you come whole or in pieces your offering is needed..

“Why don’t you just leave?”

I do hope, however, that this call to civility and love does not encourage people to avoid all difficult topics or advocacy. It's far too easy to say, "I am not political," or "I don't care about politics," or "I only focus on the good" to achieve peace. This peace comes at a great cost, however. And the people who pay that cost are often those who experience the daily costs of systemic racism, sexism, bigotry, and classism.

But we don't have to fully understand it/get it/agree with it to love our neighbor, child, friend, relative, or classmate. Studies show that young people's lives are literally at risk when they are not acknowledged and loved as they are in their communities.

When the instructions for carving out my femininity, written in the language of kindness, eluded her, she substituted cruelty and criticism. When the controls for the oven from which she came proved too complicated to operate, she toughened my dough with impossible expectations.