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Recent Posts
- Psaltery & Lyre’s New Site
- 123 Psaltery & Lyre: “Agricola Dreams of Flying” by J. Rose Lara
- 122 Psaltery & Lyre: “Communion: a love poem (a villanelle)” by Rachel Bollinger
- Book Review: Philip Metres’s Sand Opera
- 121 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Horsehead Nebula”
- Book Review: Monica Ong’s Silent Anatomies
- 120 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Return, pt. III” and “Gaia”
- Book Review: Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely
- Book Review: Matthea Harvey, If the Tabloids Are True What Are You?
- Book Review: LoterÃa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives
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Tag Cloud
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Columns Archive
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Humane Day: Mormonism’s Forgotten Moral Conscience
Posted on November 3, 2011 | 16 CommentsAs we continue Animal Week, today we have a guest post from Claudia. A few years ago, I came across a gem of a little book which I wish would be a standard work in the book collection of any Mormon. Kindness to Animals […] -
True Confessions
Posted on November 2, 2011 | 36 CommentsIn August, I underwent a 40-hour training to become a CASA and wrote about it here. There were about eight of us in the training from a wide range of backgrounds-younger, older, retired, recently graduated, middle-aged (me!), young professionals, etc. It was a […] -
Brother Dog and Sister Cat
Posted on November 1, 2011 | 5 CommentsIn certain Republican circles, when Rick Perry says he believes in capital punishment you hear wild applause, but when Jon Huntsman says he believes in evolution you hear … crickets. Well, I’m clapping with the crickets on this one, although this was not always the […] -
Walk to Church in NYC
Posted on October 30, 2011 | 7 CommentsIn September, Brent and I and my siblings all flew to New York City for a whirlwind trip to attend a party celebrating my aunt’s wedding to her partner of more than forty years. The party took place at the Unitarian church my aunt attends–All […] -
16 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: On Owning It
Posted on October 30, 2011 | 11 CommentsIs intellectual honesty still a virtue--even when it's not convenient? -
03 Dear Jack: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Posted on October 28, 2011 | 14 CommentsDear Jack, I’ve been struggling with my Mormon-ness for about five years, but have been attending weekly and fully participating. I just got released from a calling that I love. It was truly the only thing keeping me attached to the church. Now that I […] -
Family Ties
Posted on October 27, 2011 | 5 CommentsWhere is the line between serving your family and loosing yourself in it? -
Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Posted on October 26, 2011 | 16 CommentsAnyone who knows me even the least little bit knows that I’m quite open and honest about my failings as a parent. The list is long. Embarrassingly long. Nothing about parenting has come naturally to me and I have not enjoyed much of it (ouch, […] -
Heidi and Jared Talk About Beavis and Butthead
Posted on October 25, 2011 | 10 CommentsWith Beavis and Butthead starting again this week, Heidi enlists Jared to discuss the original and the world needs more Beavis and Butthead. -
Haute Halloween
Posted on October 24, 2011 | 4 CommentsHalloween is a high holy holiday at my house. There’s something about planning a great costume, from the brainstorm of potentials to the final touches of makeup on Halloween night, that I love. It’s the one night a year we decide what we want to […] -
Ride to Church in Boise, Idaho
Posted on October 23, 2011 | 7 CommentsToday’s (bike) ride to church comes to us from Michael C., who writes: “My family and I have lived in Boise, ID for almost 16 years. We’ve been in the same house for the entire time. We love our neighborhood and our location; close to […] -
15 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: The BEST Talks Ever
Posted on October 22, 2011 | 14 CommentsBased on an informal poll of cheap seaters, these are the 10 BEST talks ever. -
02 Dear Jack: How Much Coffee?
Posted on October 21, 2011 | 13 CommentsDear Jack, How much coffee is too much? How much alcohol is too much? Those sound like lead-ins to a joke, but I am asking in earnest. I don’t drink coffee or alcohol at all, but I grant there is nothing particularly unwise about sharing […] -
The Peace Project
Posted on October 20, 2011 | 7 CommentsThe Peace Project is meant for peace -- that's it. While most of us disagree with Westboro's actions, we are not a group standing in front of them, yelling counter remarks at them. This project is meant to be a peaceful reminder that as a church, Westboro should be loving and caring, welcoming and forgiving, not angry and spiteful. -
The Santos Family Guide to Complete Family Interestingness
Posted on October 19, 2011 | 11 CommentsToday’s post comes to us from Colin S., who writes: Disclaimer: I am fixing to brag on my kids. It will be tasteful and concise. On December 3, 2004 my fantastically pregnant wife and I checked into one of our fine local hospitals for what […] -
October Staff Stacks
Posted on October 18, 2011 | 10 CommentsWhat the D&S writers are doing this month. -
Life in the Major Leagues
Posted on October 17, 2011 | 3 CommentsI’d like to welcome Shellie as a contributor to the Wayfarer. Shellie’s travelogue is full of humor and heart, and I can’t wait to share her journey. A couple of years ago I signed up my 6 year old son Dallen for T-ball. This was […] -
Rotten to the Core
Posted on October 16, 2011 | 84 CommentsThe Sanctuary may seem like an unusual place to discuss Facebook status post trends, but recently, I was so disturbed by a word art image being shared and “liked” on FB walls that I wanted to analyze the harmful subtexts of this image in light […] -
Ride to Church: Hike to Diamond Fork Hot Springs
Posted on October 16, 2011 | 9 CommentsToday’s Ride to Church (=Diamond Fork Hot Springs) comes to Doves & Serpents from Chris, who writes: I currently live in Orem, Utah. Every Sunday for “church” I travel either up the mountain or out into the desert. It is a religion for […] -
14 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: Uchtdorf Steps In It
Posted on October 15, 2011 | 92 Comments"But PLEASE, for the love of God, don't tell us that God hasn't forgotten us. We're not that small. Or stupid." -
01 Dear Jack
Posted on October 14, 2011 | 2 CommentsBeing Mormon is more than just BEING MORMON, you know. -
Moral Issues
Posted on October 13, 2011 | 2 CommentsToday on our local NPR affiliate, a local Stake Presidency member was interviewed about the roll-out of the "I'm a Mormon" PR campaign in our metro area. -
General Conference Word Clouds 2.0
Posted on October 12, 2011 | 11 CommentsThanks to fab commenter geoffsn, we now have four additional word clouds to compare to my original post from this morning. Please forgive the formatting until I can get it fixed . . . Word Cloud One: just the four general sessions (two from […] -
General Conference Word Cloud
Posted on October 12, 2011 | 33 CommentsFor starters, a definition of “General Conference” for our non-Mormon readers. General Conference occurs once in April and once in November–and it’s a series of meetings that occur on Saturday and Sunday in lieu of our regular local church services. The meetings take place […] -
Serious Concerns
Posted on October 11, 2011 | 6 CommentsI think I had, in some way, consigned poetry readings to the territory of performance art and local avant garde theater -- embarassingly earnest and unintentionally hilarious events featuring Very Serious Artists. -
Back to the Drawing Board
Posted on October 10, 2011 | 6 CommentsIt hurts to think we can do so much good as a church, yet be looked upon so badly. It's painful to know we have so much in common -- not just a belief in Jesus Christ, but in being good parents, raising moral children and offering service to our communities, yet the circle is still drawn too narrow. -
Do You Realize?
Posted on October 9, 2011 | 1 CommentTwo powerful iconic men – Steve Jobs, technology visionary, and Fred Shuttlesworth, Civil Rights movement activist – died this week. While Shuttlesworth’s death was certainly mourned and reported on, it was Jobs’ death at age 56 that received the lion’s share of global attention. Over […] -
Favorites: Heroic Aspirations, Gay Marriage, and the Mormon Church
Posted on October 9, 2011 | 8 CommentsThis is a guest post I wrote nearly a year ago. . . DHO is still running around arguing that the proper practice of our religion requires us to work to prevent marginalized groups from exercising their basic civil rights. . . -
Ride (Walk) to Church in Madrid, Spain
Posted on October 9, 2011 | 3 CommentsToday’s Walk to Church comes to us from Dayna, who has been kind enough to let us publish a couple of her poems: My husband and I spent a month in Spain this past summer leading a study abroad group. We were situated in downtown […] -
Favorites: Farenheit 451
Posted on October 7, 2011 | 3 CommentsExistentialism, beauty, truth, censorship — in Andy’s hands, Rogue Cinema was never about spending a few entertaining hours in the dark, it was about exploring life’s big questions through film. Rogue Cinema is going to go through some changes in the future, moving from a […] -
Favorites: Business Lunch
Posted on October 6, 2011 | No CommentsI asked a group with an empty chair if I could sit with them. A young man's smile put me at ease and I settled in for lunch. I wasn't sure what to say, but I needn't have worried. -
Favorites: “Aren’t you afraid you’re going to turn him gay?”
Posted on October 5, 2011 | 23 CommentsI’ve really enjoyed sharing snippets of our family’s life in Knit Together this year. So I decided to re-run this post about my Stuart, who is one of the bravest kids I know–despite his fears of fast things, new places, and new people. Update on […] -
Favorites: Fancy
Posted on October 4, 2011 | No CommentsIt was hard to choose a favorite post for the Doves & Serpents one-year anniversary celebration this week. I thought I should choose the post that was most representative of Stacks and my idiosyncratic personal approach to reviewing and talking about books and music, something […] -
Favorites: Will you be my Valentine?
Posted on October 3, 2011 | 5 Comments[My parents] have taught me to be aware of the world and to care about what's going on even if it doesn't impact your life. They have taught me to stand up for myself and my beliefs. They have helped me be more open to different types of people. They may be crazy, but they are my parents -
The Go-To Goddess
Posted on October 2, 2011 | 9 Comments“What does God look like?” I asked my little girl as I tucked her into bed. “Well, he is old, and he has a beard, and wears a. . ..a white dress,” she said. “A-ha,” I answered. “How do you know that?” “That’s what they […] -
And Wiser Too
Posted on October 2, 2011 | 4 CommentsI’ve taken to describing Doves and Serpents as a “blog about religion and culture where I write a column once a week about books and music and work with a team of eight amazing writers.” I’ve come up with this concise definition because occasionally people […] -
Walk to Church in Arlington, Virginia
Posted on October 2, 2011 | 5 CommentsToday’s Walk to Church comes to us from Elizabeth, Erin’s dear friend, who lives in Arlington, VA. ; My husband and I, pre-children, actually chose our first church based on its proximity to our house, and our ability to walk to it. We were unhappy […] -
13 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: My Journey to the Cheap Seats (Guest)
Posted on October 1, 2011 | 12 CommentsI was struck by how much I needed to hear that there were other people in my section. I wasn't alone. -
Good Eye
Posted on October 1, 2011 | 10 CommentsToday’s Cipher on the Wall comes to us from Corktree, today’s guest for The Exponent and Doves and Serpent Blog Swap. Does a camera see the world as it really is? Do physical filters and lenses distort reality just as much as our completely […] -
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Posted on September 30, 2011 | 9 Comments[Guest Post from Starfoxy, as part of the Doves & Serpents and The Exponent Blog Swap. Starfoxy blogs at The Exponent, and has terrible taste in movies.] After I signed up to take on the Rogue Cinema spot for our D&S/Exponent blog swap I found […] -
Assertiveness Training
Posted on September 29, 2011 | 14 CommentsI knew that even small acts of assertiveness would be important. Maybe it didn't change the world but for that individual woman, it was world-changing. -
The Genetics of Love
Posted on September 28, 2011 | 16 CommentsGuest Post from Whoa-man as part of the The Exponent and Doves and Serpents swap. Hi, I am Whoa-man from Exponent. My husband and I are both PhD students trying to figure out equally-shared parenting with our 18 month old. When I heard about the […] -
My Favorite Mormon Feminist Texts
Posted on September 27, 2011 | 12 CommentsToday’s Stacks comes to us from EmilyCC, today’s guest for The Exponent and Doves and Serpent Blog Swap. Every so often, the bloggernacle has a discussion about the essential texts of Mormon Feminism. I figured it might be time to have another one. I’m listing […] -
And It Was All Yellow
Posted on September 26, 2011 | 18 CommentsWhen I was 27 I met my first orphan. She lived in Brazil. She was in a bare room with dank yellow walls. She was in a yellow crib. She had a yellow t-shirt. She had a yellow cloth diaper. She ate yellow milk. She only had yellow. -
Ride to Church in Macedonia
Posted on September 25, 2011 | 12 CommentsToday’s Ride to Church comes to us from Jessawhy, today’s guest for The Exponent and Doves and Serpents Blog Swap. “Hi, I’m Jessawhy, I live in Mesa Arizona with my husband and three sons and I blog at The Exponent. Two weeks ago I went […] -
12 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: Moral Imagination (Guest)
Posted on September 24, 2011 | 8 Comments[Heidi, a fellow cheap-seater, still has the floor.] In an earlier Cheap Seats post, Brent asked “Why do we spend so much time telling each other what spiritual experiences mean?” I think it’s an important question and it’s one I keep coming back to. […] -
Finding Peace
Posted on September 22, 2011 | 4 CommentsForgiveness. As babies and young children, we can’t help but forgive those that wrong us. We have no choice…. we are too dependent. But somehow along the path to adulthood (and independence) we lose that. Maybe rightly so- I think there […] -
The Worth of a Soul
Posted on September 21, 2011 | 11 CommentsI grew up in Huntsville, Texas-the city where death row inmates are ultimately executed. Growing up, lots of people I knew worked for the Texas Department of Corrections, or “TDC” as locals refer to it. People at church often showed up on Sunday in prison […] -
Screenplays as Literature
Posted on September 20, 2011 | 10 Comments“Novelists, poets and playwrights make literature; screenwriters make changes.” So jokes Scott Burns in a recent column titled “From Script to Screen with ‘Contagion,'” appearing in the 9-10-11 Wall Street Journal. But, in spiteof Burns, do any of you read screenplays as if they […] -
Coming Soon
Posted on September 19, 2011 | No CommentsWe are pleased to announce ... -
My Only Hope
Posted on September 19, 2011 | 1 CommentA very wise woman told me recently that part of loving someone was giving them the room to be disappointed in my decisions. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. It seems I’ve spent the better part of my life trying to avoid […] -
Our First Speaker? Me!
Posted on September 18, 2011 | 2 CommentsLast Sunday, I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting. It had been four years since I had been asked to speak, so believe it or not, I was excited about the assignment. Even better? My topic was “Getting the Most Out of Sunday School.” I […] -
Ride to Rocky Mountain Retreat
Posted on September 18, 2011 | No CommentsToday’s ride to church comes to us from Paula, our favorite Ride to Church veteran. ; I have one last Ride to Church, a ride to The Rocky Mountain Retreat, a yearly ritual for me. Eighteen years ago, a group of my friends and I […] -
11 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Modesty? (Guest)
Posted on September 17, 2011 | 14 Comments[This week we pass the microphone to Heidi, a fellow cheap-seater. Heidi, it’s all yours. . .] Like many cheap-seaters and feminists, I’m not a fan of the modesty discourse at church. There have already been many great conversations about what’s wrong with four-year-olds […] -
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren . . .
Posted on September 16, 2011 | 3 CommentsEvery once in a while, I meet someone who is just plain old good. Without guile. My friend Rebecca is one of those people. And so are her kids. Rebecca and her family have a great tradition of family service that she […] -
The Wish Tree
Posted on September 15, 2011 | 1 CommentI had my five year old daughter with me and I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't get her very interested in the bronzes. Then we turned the corner and beheld the Wish Tree. -
GradeSpeed: Friend or Foe?
Posted on September 14, 2011 | 16 CommentsI think I was a freshman in high school when I got my first C-in Algebra II-on my report card. I was sick about it. I knew I had been struggling, but I guess had foolishly hoped that when all the final grades were […] -
A Chronology of Pop Culture Heroines
Posted on September 13, 2011 | 17 CommentsPart One, ages 6 to 18 -
Like a Rolling Stone
Posted on September 12, 2011 | 8 Commentsby Randy B “[S]eek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Matthew 7:7 A few years ago, I had become all but convinced that nobody was making any new music worth listening to anymore. I still had my […] -
Meditation Station
Posted on September 11, 2011 | 4 CommentsIf you were to open your green hymnbook emblazoned with that nifty gold Tabernacle organ icon to page hymn #144, you’d find this ode to solitude, a song about the necessity of quiet, private places in one’s spiritual life, “Secret Prayer”: There is an hour […]