-
Welcome to Arras Theme!
Arras Theme is a WordPress theme designed for news or review sites with lots of customisable features.
-
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
-
Tag Cloud
Book of Mormon books children church Cipher on a Wall creative death epistemology equality faith fakebook families family fear female ordination feminism gender Grondahl homeless humor Joseph Smith kids lds life love marriage memories mind mormon mormonism motherhood music nature ordain women parenthood parenting photography poetry priesthood religion service sex sexuality spirituality women
Columns Archive
-
Single Experiences: I, Me, Who is That? Identity and Emancipation as a Single Mormon
Posted on November 9, 2012 | 6 CommentsOccasionally older married folks attempt to throw lifesavers, but their attempts at rescue simply don't work, because the reality is, we are not drowning. We are not invalids. You think we are crazy, desperate, unhappy people. You are wrong. -
25 Psaltery & Lyre: Ed Snow, “By the Relish”
Posted on November 8, 2012 | No CommentsBy the relish apparent in the eyes of patrons at Bottega's pearl café, I expect to see, barely in disguise, a celebrity alight this bright day. . . -
Our Favorite Mormons Show: Empty Chair Without Jon Huntsman
Posted on November 6, 2012 | 2 CommentsEd: Um, hi! Welcome to the . . . um . . . “Our Favorite Mormons Show.” I’m Ed . . . and, my guest today is . . . one of the . . . greatest musicians, I mean .. prog-rockers, ambassadors, I mean, […] -
24 Psaltery & Lyre: Kris Bluth, Two Poems
Posted on November 5, 2012 | 2 Comments"he likes to say that our heavenly mother is so sacred we shouldn't even talk about her . . ." -
44 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: Mormonism, Utah and Equal Opportunity
Posted on November 5, 2012 | 19 CommentsUtah is a state where, if you're poor, your neighbors will bake you cookies, and then cheerfully go the ballot box and vote to take away any hope of your children having the same opportunities as their children. -
An Outsider’s View of the US Election
Posted on November 5, 2012 | 6 CommentsToday’s guest post comes to us from Geoff in Australia. Many Americans live in isolation from the world because your media does not cover stories from the rest of the world, only your local area, and during elections, perhaps the rest of the country. […] -
Grondahl Restored 42
Posted on November 4, 2012 | No CommentsFor other cartoons in this series, click here. This cartoon, as always, is posted with the kind permission of The Sunstone Foundation and Calvin Grondahl. -
What Teaching Argument Taught Me About Talking Politics
Posted on November 4, 2012 | 4 CommentsAlthough I fancy myself an amateur city planner with dreams of working in the professional back-up dancer field, I actually spend ten months of each year teaching writing for a living. In my fourteen years in the classroom, I’ve presented hundreds of lessons on principles […] -
Election Week Musings
Posted on November 2, 2012 | 6 CommentsIf we are supposed to be a Christian nation, as so many claim, let us behave today as Christ would. We are only as strong as our weakest link. Let us strengthen our brethren, as Jesus bade. When we make a feast, let's not invite our friends, kinsmen, or rich neighbors but rather the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. When they are strong, they will be capable of helping lift up others as well, and cycles will be broken. -
Though Hard to you, this Journey may Appear. . ..
Posted on November 1, 2012 | 17 CommentsToday’s guest post is written by Marilyn Mehr. One year ago today, I stood on the steps of the Bronx County Courthouse with my spouse, Betty Walker, celebrating our marriage. Filled with pride and wonder, I threw my wedding bouquet to the small party of […] -
23 Psaltery & Lyre: Bennett Durkan, Two Poems
Posted on November 1, 2012 | No Comments"You hope these ghosts / know how to respect your privacy." -
Single Experiences: A Little House Just For Me
Posted on October 31, 2012 | 8 CommentsWe've all heard of stories where the husband is asked whether or not the wife could hold a calling or would be interested in doing xyz. -
Lena Dunham’s Sex Joke: A Missed Opportunity
Posted on October 30, 2012 | 3 CommentsDunham's points about women's issues are worthy of serious discussion and consideration. But she undermines her credibility in the way she presents them. We still have a long way to go until women can be perceived as powerful without the cover of sexuality to make it "palatable." -
22 Psaltery & Lyre: Kris Bluth, “Pumpkin”
Posted on October 29, 2012 | No Comments"If we had carved / that jack o'lantern, / it would have been / pudding . . ." -
My Own Personal Canon: Desdemona’s Honeymoon from Hell
Posted on October 28, 2012 | 4 CommentsThere are a few things I know really well in this world. I know how to make a delicious marinara sauce, I know the second soprano part of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” by heart, and I know Shakespeare’s play “The Tragedy of Othello, Moor of […] -
What to Do with Regret
Posted on October 28, 2012 | 3 CommentsI believe that as we spend quality time with love ones, stretch ourselves to live up to our potential, and allow ourselves to be happier, we may not have zero regrets, but we will certainly have fewer of them. -
Grondahl Restored
Posted on October 27, 2012 | No CommentsFor other cartoons in this series, click here. This cartoon, as always, is posted with the kind permission of The Sunstone Foundation and Calvin Grondahl. -
Our Favorite Mormons: Helmuth Huebener and The Hamburg Three
Posted on October 26, 2012 | 8 Comments[A guest post from our friend Mark B]: This week we mark the anniversary of the death of Helmuth Gunther Huebener, a Latter-day Saint young man who was executed by the Nazi regime for treason on October 27, 1942, at the young age of […] -
21 Psaltery & Lyre: Cheryl L. Bruno, “Severed Savior”
Posted on October 25, 2012 | 2 Comments"his love slashing / a cross-hatch in my / heart . . ." -
A Review of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity Worldwide
Posted on October 24, 2012 | 6 CommentsToday’s guest post comes to us from Andy Richardson. I count myself among the minority of viewers who walked away more troubled than inspired by Half the Sky. This may sound strange coming from someone who not only considers himself an ally to vulnerable women […] -
Why This Mormon Woman is Voting for Barack Obama
Posted on October 23, 2012 | 17 CommentsToday’s guest post comes to us from Karin Olson of Huntsville, Texas. Yesterday I cast my vote for Barack Obama for president on the first day of early voting in Huntsville, Texas, wishing I lived in a swing state. I see him as the […] -
I Am An Outsider
Posted on October 22, 2012 | 19 CommentsFor a time, the work of my spiritual life was about separating and letting go of the things I didn't believe. Now, I face a different work. -
Single Experiences: Cost-Benefit Analysis from a Single Gay Mormon
Posted on October 21, 2012 | 6 CommentsOf course, there is a third way, which is to stay single and celibate forever. Here again, I'm fulfilling my need to stay in the lines drawn by the church, because this is the church-approved model for gay people right now. -
Ride to our Sign Party
Posted on October 21, 2012 | 16 CommentsDisclaimer: This series of photos did not take place on a Sunday and they were not part of any type of official religious institution or spiritual observance. And yet, this was the most spiritual experience I have had in years, so I figured […] -
Grondahl Restored 41
Posted on October 19, 2012 | No CommentsDeer hunting season in Utah. ; Do you know why you should always take at least two Mormons with you when you go deer hunting? Because if you take only one, he’ll drink all your beer. For other cartoons in this series, click here. […] -
20 Psaltery & Lyre: Joshua Lyons, Two Poems
Posted on October 18, 2012 | 1 Comment"I lay down in my bed, nobody / beside me tonight because / I have the boy." -
Another Look at the YM/YW Manuals
Posted on October 17, 2012 | 26 CommentsUnfortunately, this side-by-side comparison similarly shows that there are differences in the way we speak to both YM and YW and their teachers, and those differences appear to be deliberately chosen and inserted. -
43 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: Why the Church Changed the Missionary Age
Posted on October 16, 2012 | 32 CommentsIt would be nice, of course, if the church would provide a measure of organizational size that more accurately reflected real growth (e.g. the number of full tithe payers or the number of temple recommend holders, for example), but it doesn't. -
42 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: The Only Thing I Know
Posted on October 15, 2012 | 15 CommentsThe faith that had once seemed so unshakable in my youth had dissipated. Instead of warmth and hope, I felt hollow. -
Ride to a Corn Maze
Posted on October 14, 2012 | 5 CommentsToday’s stunning Ride to Church (=corn maze) comes to us from Nicole in New Brunswick: I’ve been looking forward to sharing my pretty neck of the woods in all its autumnal splendour and had been planning to do a “Ride to Conference” series, complete with […] -
Single Experiences: I Just Want to Date Myself
Posted on October 13, 2012 | 5 Comments[Note: This is one of a series of posts about being single in the Mormon church. Here’s a link to the guest post invitation Here’s a link to the archive for this series.] You know how some people – adults, parents, mostly – […] -
Grondahl Restored 40
Posted on October 13, 2012 | 1 Comment -
Why Language Matters: A Side-by-Side Look at a Lesson from the New YW/YM Manuals
Posted on October 12, 2012 | 79 CommentsText in pink is only in the YW version; text in blue is only in the YM version. It's more than just taking one lesson and adding/subtracting priesthood to it. The language differences are subtle, but telling. -
Single Experiences: More Welcome as Half
Posted on October 12, 2012 | 1 CommentMy husband was upset but understood. When his affair came to light later on, I was thankful that I stood my ground. -
I’ve Let Go . . .
Posted on October 11, 2012 | 40 CommentsIt's not that I'm immature or captive to black-and-white thinking. I see the complexity; I see the nuance. But I do not find it compelling. -
19 Psaltery & Lyre: Tyler Chadwick, “Upon Hearing Elder B– Bear Witness that ‘Satan is Real’ to a Mormon Congregation the Second Sunday of 2011”
Posted on October 11, 2012 | 1 Comment" . . . I imagined [God's pew] empty, imagined him out fishing the Snake, waves lapping at his waders like a dog left alone all day . . . " -
41 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: Progress?
Posted on October 10, 2012 | 34 CommentsRecently, men have served at 19, women at 21. No one claimed there was anything magical about these numbers. No eternal principle was at stake. It was just policy. -
First Lady Cookie Bake-Off
Posted on October 10, 2012 | 5 CommentsSome people have Superbowl parties. Others have March Madness parties. We have a presidential election party. We love politics. We love to talk about debates, polls, and pollsters. We roll our eyes at the crazy that is Fox News (and […] -
Single Experiences: We Can Do Better
Posted on October 8, 2012 | 17 CommentsIn a culture where women are given the most power in roles defined by who they are attached to, mother and wife, single women are virtually powerless. -
Mutual Improvement Associations: Singing Together
Posted on October 7, 2012 | 3 CommentsOne week ago, I had just sat down on the piano bench in the Primary room and started to play some wiggle songs while the junior primary children galloped in, restless from an hour spent on church pews, when a fellow ward member scared me […] -
Christ Within
Posted on October 7, 2012 | 12 CommentsToday’s guest post comes to us from Bill. On a recent business trip to San Francisco, while on a walk with some coworkers to find food, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of this man sitting with his dog, panhandling […] -
Grondahl Restored 39
Posted on October 6, 2012 | No CommentsFor other cartoons in this series, click here. This cartoon, as always, is posted with the kind permission of The Sunstone Foundation and Calvin Grondahl. -
The Golden Question
Posted on October 5, 2012 | 6 CommentsI do not get to travel as much as I would like. My work doesn’t require much travel, which I know is a blessing, but seeing new and interesting places is the one luxury I would like to afford. I would guess that my wife […] -
Happy Birthday, Doves and Serpents
Posted on October 4, 2012 | 2 CommentsTo celebrate, here are the Top 24 posts from our first two years (one for every month, by page views): -
18 Psaltery & Lyre: Aaron Michael Kline, “Texas Bamboo Summer”
Posted on October 4, 2012 | 2 Comments"I'd thought bamboo / was a symbol of peace, but my young / cousins proved me wrong . . ." -
Tired of the Mormon Moment?
Posted on October 3, 2012 | 4 CommentsThe year I turned eight and was baptized a member of the LDS church, I began fasting on the first Sunday of each month. I still remember the first time I chose to skip two meals instead of one. I was a child. My body […] -
Babies and Grad School
Posted on October 3, 2012 | 16 CommentsToday’s guest post is written by Caitlin. My first week of grad school ended in an emotional break-down, not unlike one of an adolescent who came to a new school and had no friends. I sobbed to my husband that now that we left Utah […] -
Objects of Faith and Desire: Tears in a Bottle
Posted on October 1, 2012 | No CommentsPoets like to sing about things in bottles. Jim Croce pined after time in a bottle, Audra Mae claimed a recipe for lightning in a bottle and Sting sent an SOS to the world … in a bottle. Although not as celebrated, the biblical […] -
Iraq, Integrity, and Anti-malarials
Posted on September 30, 2012 | 2 CommentsThis guest post comes to us today from Nik Rasheta. In January 2003 I was deployed to the Middle East for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I was going to war. One of the many steps of our deployment was having our whole unit get a […] -
Grondahl Restored 38
Posted on September 29, 2012 | No Comments; For other cartoons in this series, click here. This cartoon, as always, is posted with the kind permission of The Sunstone Foundation and Calvin Grondahl. -
Leaving The Paved Road
Posted on September 28, 2012 | 2 CommentsI have a seemingly insignificant memory from my early teenage years of walking through the grocery store and spying the front cover of TEEN magazine with Lindsay Lohan on the front cover. I remember the feeling of inferiority that followed and the inner monologue […] -
17 Psaltery & Lyre: Sarah Dunster, “Recovery”
Posted on September 27, 2012 | 1 Comment"You've kissed a / wolf before; his black lips curled . . ." -
I’m Hanging On . . .
Posted on September 26, 2012 | 21 CommentsA high school friend recently messaged me to say that-after reading my Facebook posts and my blog posts (as well as other Doves and Serpents posts)-she wondered why I stay in the Mormon church. If it’s such a source of pain and frustration, why […] -
Mutual Improvement Associations: Pinewood Derby
Posted on September 23, 2012 | 5 CommentsHere is an example of just how swell my post-divorce home teachers were. During one Sunday afternoon visit, they asked for and each ate a large bowl of spaghetti and homemade vegetarian sauce made with soy instead of meatballs – and they claimed they COULD […] -
Grondahl Restored 37
Posted on September 22, 2012 | 1 CommentFor other cartoons in this series, click here. This cartoon, as always, is posted with the kind permission of The Sunstone Foundation and Calvin Grondahl. -
Diversify your Spiritual Identity Portfolio
Posted on September 20, 2012 | 5 CommentsToday’s guest post comes to us from Nik Rasheta: About a year ago I read a book that helped me gain some needed insight in order to survive my career as a law enforcement officer, a very psychologically demanding career. One of the biggest […] -
16 Psaltery & Lyre: M. Brett Gaffney, “Communion”
Posted on September 20, 2012 | 3 CommentsM. Brett Gaffney graduated with a BA in English from Stephen F. Austin University and is currently pursuing an MFA in poetry at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. -
Don’t You Want Muffins?
Posted on September 19, 2012 | 9 CommentsI was born with a seemingly infinite number of machine parts in my head — springs and sprockets and gears and levers and wires and nuts and bolts. They were mostly unassembled at birth — just random parts jangling around as I rolled and crawled […] -
Driver’s Ed
Posted on September 19, 2012 | 7 CommentsOur oldest daughter is approaching the magical age of 16. When I was her age, I took a semester-long course at school during which we learned all the rules and even practiced driving. If that were still an option, I would’ve signed up […] -
40 A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: “A Public Meeting, or Feast”
Posted on September 18, 2012 | 17 CommentsBrigham Young later removed this passage. A combined wedding and sealing, apparently, had certain operational advantages when it came to keeping early polygamous marriages a secret.