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Welcome to Arras Theme!
Arras Theme is a WordPress theme designed for news or review sites with lots of customisable features.
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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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Latest Headlines
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Mormon Matters Podcast
Posted on March 6, 2011 | 1 CommentI don’t know what I was thinking, but I (Heather) accepted John Dehlin’s invitation to participate in his first re-tooled Mormon Matters Podcast. Check it out here and let me know what you think: Mormon Matters Podcast 21: Sex and Immigration ; -
Reuben’s (Bike) Ride to Church
Posted on March 6, 2011 | 8 CommentsMy name is Reuben Collins, and I’ve lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for 5 years. My local LDS chapel is only about two miles from my home, but there’s a lot to see along the way. Most weeks, I grab my headphones and the […] -
Brandon Davies and not-so-short shorts
Posted on March 6, 2011 | 27 CommentsThis week, Brandon Davies was suspended from playing on the BYU basketball team for violations of the Honor Code. (ie: he had sex with his girlfriend) The responses have surprised me — Mormons everywhere have strong opinions about Davies’s suspension. The reactions usually fall in […] -
Tarkio Balloon
Posted on March 5, 2011 | 4 CommentsA special guest post today featuring the short documentary ‘Tarkio Balloon. The film is the first in ‘The Lost and Found Series,‘ a series of five documentary films by a collective of filmmakers “exploring what it means to lose something and what we can potentially […] -
The Fountain
Posted on March 4, 2011 | 15 CommentsHow much recompense can mythology -- or even the scientific comforts of persistence of the body -- provide in the face of human yearning? -
The ‘R’-rating Prohibition and ‘The King’s Speech’
Posted on March 3, 2011 | 10 CommentsOver on her weekly column ‘Salt and Seed’, Rosalynde Welch discusses the move away from the LDS Church teaching that ‘R’ rated movies (for it’s US members) are forbidden. She focusses on how, specifically, ‘The King’s Speech’ this year marked the demise of this former […] -
Celebrating the Man As Well As His Cause
Posted on March 3, 2011 | 13 CommentsA guest post from a reader, Debra. Names matter. They do. My life experience has taught me this. Names are important as they are references — signs – that direct us to meaning, and often to a particular point in time – in history. In […] -
Family Home Evening at “God’s Favorite Musical”
Posted on March 3, 2011 | 23 CommentsGuest Post: by Ian – An Early Review of The Book of Mormon Musical. This past Monday I had quite the Family Home Evening-I saw a preview performance of the new BOM Musical. I was in NYC for work and wasn’t going to miss my […] -
Laying it on Thick
Posted on March 2, 2011 | 21 CommentsThis is the fifth post in a series regarding sexuality, religion, and teenagers. You can see the other posts by clicking here. The first one was January 26, 2011. ; Guilt. Apparently religious kids-especially Mormons and especially girls-have got it in spades. If/when […] -
Rock of Ages
Posted on March 1, 2011 | 6 CommentsIn the last few years I've become a fan of Swedish death metal. There, I said it. -
Ms. Goody Two-Shoes Lives On
Posted on February 28, 2011 | 12 Comments“A Mormon Mother” was the way I was described as my Prop 8 video was linked around the internet. I can’t blame them, I am the one who introduces the topic of gay marriage with mention of one of my children, and when I identify […] -
If Jesus were to write an opinion piece directed at Mormons …
Posted on February 27, 2011 | 16 Comments… he’d probably write for The Salt Lake Tribune (and work in community radio): The case for Book of Mormon socialism Though redistribution is the highest economic order in Mormon scripture, Sen. Chris Buttars vehemently denounced Alpine School District for allegedly advocating “democratic socialism.” He, […] -
Clapping for God
Posted on February 27, 2011 | 8 Comments; ; ; ; ; ; ; What a treat! Mel spilled over to Sunday this week to bless us with a guest post. Enjoy… I was once asked to teach the Gospel Doctrine class, and I seriously wondered if maybe I would be teaching […] -
Zachary’s Ride (Walk) to Church
Posted on February 27, 2011 | 17 CommentsCome see Laura and her son Zachary’s walk to church in the Bay Area. Laura writes: Our kindergartner loves photography, and this was the perfect opportunity. We headed out on the first sunny morning we’ve had for a week or so, and as we […] -
A Prophet at Wartime
Posted on February 26, 2011 | 6 CommentsWhat does this Prophet deplore in war? The actions of the enemy? The actions of the US-led coalition? War in general? It's hard to tell and this appears to be by design and consistent with the LDS church's oft-stated mantra that it avoids making political statements. -
Hipster or Jesus?
Posted on February 25, 2011 | 2 CommentsThe Eternal Question now has its own website: a place to study whether the wide variety of people who could play Jesus’s stunt double in an upcoming movie. Probably not by the LDS Church, though. -
American Beauty
Posted on February 25, 2011 | 13 CommentsRecently ‘Rogue Cinema’ took a foray into the dark world of David Lynch’s films, to explore his disturbing presentations of the decay of the body and inherited contortions of the mind. For all of you who joined me on that journey: thanks. It was a […] -
Hate
Posted on February 24, 2011 | 7 CommentsAs an antidote to all the love around here lately, I thought I’d offer up a little bit of good old-fashioned hate. I grew up in a very low key household where strong feelings didn’t really have a place. My typical toddler tantrums were […] -
Allaho: An Afghan Lullaby for Daughters
Posted on February 23, 2011 | 4 CommentsI just got this video in my inbox from a listserv I’m a member of. I loved seeing all the Afghan girls playing and learning to read. And I loved the beautiful lullaby. Does anyone know anything about Samar Minallah (the maker of the video)? -
Heroic Aspirations, Gay Marriage, and the Mormon Church
Posted on February 23, 2011 | 73 CommentsThis guest post is written by Brent D. Beal, whose marriage to Heather Olson Beal is not at all threatened by the idea of same-sex marriage. My name is Brent Beal. I’ve been married for eighteen years. My wife and I have three […] -
Awakenings
Posted on February 22, 2011 | 15 Comments"True spirituality is not a defense against the uncertainties, pain and danger in life, not an 'an inoculation,' as Joseph Campbell called popular religion, to avoid the unknown. It is an opening to the entire mysterious process of life." -
The Sound of Silence
Posted on February 21, 2011 | 20 Comments“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” Abraham Lincoln On New Year’s Eve, I ceremoniously drew my approval whore, thanked and then released her: I welcomed a new year after a glorious hike and a fish and chips meal on […] -
A Ride to Church – York
Posted on February 20, 2011 | 19 CommentsThis morning I got in my ‘ride’ (a pair of size 11 Mizuno running shoes), and went to church. If you’ve read some of my other posts and comments around the site, you may have guessed that I don’t attend a church at the moment. […] -
Wide Eyed
Posted on February 20, 2011 | 12 Comments*Please note: This post addresses rape and violence to women. Buddhists use the word interdependence, and it’s one I resonate strongly with. I see the softness of my own edges and those of others. I notice that we are all intrinsically linked and connected on […] -
Georgia Lee
Posted on February 19, 2011 | 3 CommentsPerhaps my favourite Tom Waits album is Mule Variations (1999). This simple song really stuck with me: for the honesty of its question. We all live different lives, and have different struggles: and, I think, sometimes all feel a longing for the kind of God […] -
Adam-God Theory
Posted on February 19, 2011 | 11 CommentsWhat we believe truly matters. Most of what we believe has its roots in what we were taught as children by people who we once rightfully worshipped as demi-gods; [...] These are the source of our own private Adam-God Theory. -
Joanna Brooks: “Is there a place for individual conscience in contemporary Mormonism?”
Posted on February 19, 2011 | 4 CommentsReligion Dispatches’ Joanna Brooks reports on events before and since our own “Mel” re-published her earth-shaking Playing Valentine video: Pro-Gay Marriage Mormon Keeps Faith Despite Church Pressure It’s a great summary of all the pieces that harmonized into just the right note; one that so […] -
Moon
Posted on February 18, 2011 | 12 CommentsToday’s post on ‘Rogue Cinema’ is a collaboration between Matt and Andy. “WHERE ARE WE NOW?” If you’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey you’ll find many similarities between the mood, the sets, the characters, the landscapes and even the plot devices found in Moon; so […] -
Angela Ellsworth Explores Her Mormon Past at ASU Art Museum
Posted on February 17, 2011 | 1 CommentMAN, I wish geography weren’t part of reality because I really want to go see this performance by Angela Ellsworth, a woman who was raised Mormon but is no longer practicing. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Lorenzo Snow, the fifth president of the Church […] -
Business Lunch
Posted on February 17, 2011 | 12 CommentsToday, a guest post from Jacque. I wasn’t driving. My boss had borrowed her husband’s SUV for the day so the four of us could ride together. . .. . .. . .along with all the food. We were a car full; four professional women, […] -
In God we Trust
Posted on February 16, 2011 | 24 CommentsThis post is the fourth in a series of posts regarding religion, teenagers, and sexuality. You can see the rest of the posts here. One little snippet in Regnerus’s book (Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers) that has implications […] -
DRY Ink Photograph’s Project 365
Posted on February 16, 2011 | 6 CommentsErika over at DRY Ink Photography keeps posting amazing pictures on Facebook as part of her Project 365 for this year. She said I could steal this latest one so all of you could see it: -
Myo
Posted on February 15, 2011 | 8 CommentsI am a Sunday Painter, an I-storyteller, a blogger with a miniscule audience in a big, noisy world. Oftentimes, I feel a mild sense of despair over my lack of talent or panic with each approaching deadline. I'm not going to set the world on fire with my musings on Miss Piggy or Liz Phair, but I am keeping something lit within me. -
Valentine Crush
Posted on February 14, 2011 | 1 CommentValentine’s Day is for amore and what more perfectly embodies amore than a crush? Our friend Course Correction channels the sweet innocence and lasting, life-altering experience of that crushing moment. Happy Valentine’s Day to you too, CC. [Image credit: Antonio Canova – Amore e Psiche. […] -
Happy ‘Day of Purity’, Everyone!
Posted on February 14, 2011 | No CommentsOver on the Guardian website, an article tracks the history of Valentine’s Day, from an ancient Roman festival of sexual love, to the Christian Party of the UK‘s celebration of abstinence. -
Playing Valentine
Posted on February 14, 2011 | 213 CommentsLegend has it that one of the roots of Valentine’s Day stem from a third century ban on marriage passed by Roman emperor Claudius II who thought married men made poor soldiers. A priest named Valentine continued the marriage tradition by marrying couples in secret, […] -
Elaine Bradley: ‘Marching to the Sound of Her Own Drum’
Posted on February 13, 2011 | 3 CommentsFor the most recent addition to the ‘Mormon Women Project’, Krisanne Hastings has interviewed Elaine Bradley, the drummer and backing vocalist for Billboard top #100 alternative rock band ‘Neon Trees’, and an active member of the LDS Church. Her story takes her from sixth-grade ‘New […] -
A Ride to Church – Nacogdoches
Posted on February 13, 2011 | 9 CommentsWe moved to Nacogdoches (pronounced Nac-a-do-ches), a small town of 30,000, in 2008. On your way into town, a big billboard proudly announces that Nacogdoches is “the oldest town in Texas.” [I’m not sure what this means–does it means it’s the oldest white […] -
Hosanna in the Highest
Posted on February 13, 2011 | 22 CommentsThis week on ‘The Sanctuary’: a guest post from Andy. One way of characterising my spiritual journey over the last four years would be to say I’ve gone from functioning within an inherited culture, towards a more critical outlook and need for rationality in assembling […] -
Leaving
Posted on February 12, 2011 | 33 CommentsI'm in the process of choosing to leave. I'm almost there. There's only a consideration of the cost. -
Black Swan
Posted on February 11, 2011 | 7 CommentsToday’s post is from a guest that we’ll call ‘White Cygnet’. I didn’t expect Black Swan to strike at my Mormon roots. I found the film both disturbing and moving (once I could calm down from its “thriller” effect), but surprisingly the part that spoke […] -
Utah Panoramas
Posted on February 10, 2011 | 2 CommentsThe Utah 3D project has a stunning set of panoramic views from different parts of Utah, accessible here. Some of our favourites are Temple Square and beneath ‘Double Arch’ at Arches National Park. (Now you can make out with your same-sex partner in virtual view […] -
Bearing a Burden
Posted on February 10, 2011 | 6 CommentsIt sounds corny, but by carrying around her belongings (two pairs of sturdy shoes, a box of office supplies, a blanket, and a black garbage bag full of what I assume was clothing) I felt like I was literally bearing her burden, whoever she was. -
Joanna Brooks, Elder Oaks and the ‘Battle’ for ‘Religious Freedom’
Posted on February 10, 2011 | 13 CommentsIn her post today, Joanna offers an insightful analysis of Elder Oaks’ recent address, in context of the larger campaign he and other church leaders have been waging to call orthodox LDS members to ‘battle’. For links to the addresses by Elder Oaks, and other […] -
The Trouble with Immaculate Contraception …
Posted on February 9, 2011 | 8 Comments… is that there are always exceptions. Love to Jesus and Mo. -
What do a burger, a rare steak, and a gift all have in common?
Posted on February 9, 2011 | 48 CommentsA couple years ago, I sat in a Relief Society lesson at church about modesty. According to the rumor mill, this lesson was necessitated by the fact that some women in our congregation were dressing immodestly, a most unfortunate reality that was making it difficult […] -
An Unlikely Escape
Posted on February 8, 2011 | 4 CommentsIs meditation ‘unChristian?” I am wholly unconvinced it is. I heard this story of death row inmates engaging in an intense Vipassana meditation program today on NPR. I love how it details the process of lowering defenses when you choose to be answerable […] -
Blood of Eden – Part 1, Metaphor
Posted on February 8, 2011 | 3 CommentsMadame Curie engages with the Garden of Eden story over on Sapphic Soliloquies, exploring a role-reversal where Adam stands as a mother figure to Eve that came from his side. The myth of Adam and Eve has always seemed to me to be one of […] -
Detroit in Ruins: Urbex
Posted on February 8, 2011 | 4 CommentsI always love views into the unseen, decaying side of our urban existence. They speak to so much of our psychology: the fallout from the excesses of modern living. These photos from the Guardian website are just stunning. ‘Detroit in Ruins’ at the Guardian -
Foolish Love
Posted on February 8, 2011 | 7 CommentsMy husband likes to attribute a lot of our personality quirks to generational influences. In his eyes, we are deeply earnest, but pathologically afraid of cheesiness or sentimentality (to such a degree that almost all of our shows of affection tend to be in joke […] -
Commercial Appeal
Posted on February 7, 2011 | 16 CommentsYou may have been watching the Packers and Steelers last night, but since I don’t care for pro football and typically pick a favorite based on the fashion statement the uniforms make (saw two sets of yellow pants yay!), I watched the ads. I learned […] -
C’mon, get happy
Posted on February 6, 2011 | 7 CommentsIf you asked a Mormon what the purpose of this life is, you would probably get an explanation of the Plan of Salvation. Something along the lines of coming to earth to get a body, to learn and grow, and to be tested in this […] -
Mirror
Posted on February 5, 2011 | 9 CommentsWhen the Universe ends-or re-begins?-how will we know? Who will write the history of it? And what is the basis of any hope that anyone would care to read it? -
David Lynch: ‘Inland Empire’
Posted on February 4, 2011 | No Comments‘What time is it?’ ‘It’s after midnight.’ In one of the key, echoed scenes of Inland Empire (2006), Laura Dern’s character ascends a dark staircase to a strange office, where a man with glasses listens to her tell her story: of a dark time recalled […] -
Number 8
Posted on February 3, 2011 | 2 CommentsI gave him an out, saying something about maybe he'd already had lunch. "Yeah, thanks anyway, I'm not hungry, I already ate," he said. -
The Birds and the Bees, Mormon Style
Posted on February 2, 2011 | 31 CommentsDid you have a birds-and-the-bees talk when you were a kid? Mine occurred in fourth grade the night before they showed the puberty video at school. My dad came up to my room, pulled out a legal pad, drew a very simple drawing of . […] -
The Golden Rule
Posted on February 1, 2011 | 5 Comments[UPDATED] I am bound and cannot escape. I live in shadows and mists along the edges of that magical world of my childhood; a realm where all of humanity is enslaved by unhappiness and fear of certain destruction ... unless ... -
Going Green
Posted on January 31, 2011 | 6 CommentsOne of the most profound ideas from my big Christmas trip was how it affected my relationship with my wallet. Taking a family of 6 that far for that long went beyond the normal vacation budgets and into spending money that could/should have been saved […] -
Scenes from Colorado
Posted on January 31, 2011 | 4 CommentsThese photos were taken in Colorado by Rhonda Nasuta Swanson, a great photographer. You can see more of her work at her website. -
Smart-Asses Welcome
Posted on January 30, 2011 | 5 CommentsToday at the yoga studio we offered a day of full retreat complete with restorative yoga, meditation classes, clean vegetarian meals, and dharma talks. It was a day to rejuvenate and draw within. During one of the dharma talks we were discussing the mind, and […]