Doves and Serpents | With open minds and Mormon hearts.

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3April 28, 2011
Twelfth Lunch

November 11th, 2010 I gave away the last lunch (somehow, the story of the eleventh lunch was never recorded and...
33April 27, 2011
The Joys of Parenthood

Why do we have such a hard time admitting to the realities of parenthood? This morning a dear friend of...
6April 26, 2011
Get Lost

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what we mean when we talk about “losing ourselves in a good book.”...
7April 25, 2011
Pausing for a Moment of Silence

When my children had outgrown their need for a nap, but I had not yet outgrown my need to have...
2April 24, 2011
Ren’s (former) Ride to the Winter Quarters, Nebraska Temple

Today’s Ride to Church post comes from Ren (who now lives in Minnesota): I used to live in Omaha, Nebraska...
6April 24, 2011
Earn This

By Dan A long favorite movie scene of mine comes near the close of “Saving Private Ryan.” Capt. John Miller,...
3April 23, 2011
The Good Book

I love getting books in the mail. No seriously: I feel like no one could possibly understand how much I...
7April 22, 2011
A Spoonful of Sugar

Or how the ‘Making of Mary Poppins’ documentary included on the 25th Anniversary DVD restored my hope and sweetened my...
1April 21, 2011
Emergency: Lunches 9 and 10

On a drizzly day last fall, at the familiar corner near the Carter Center where I gave away the very...
14April 19, 2011
Book Worm Love

The books people love and the way they talk about them can be quite revealing about the way they view...
0April 19, 2011
Fff… family

I just read this today and loved it: http://www.literarymama.com/columns/perfectlynormal/archives/2011/ffffamily.html A great reminder that not all families look alike (which clearly...
4April 18, 2011
Worshipping WITH the World

Last Sunday I was in New Orleans for a conference. As much as I love the volunteer work I do...
1April 17, 2011
Surely We Were Blessed

We were a wreck. The basses and tenors were supposed to be singing a unison line-yet I kept hearing a...
17April 17, 2011
Paula’s Prius Ride to Church

Today’s Ride to Church hails from Paula in Encinitas, California. ; The LDS Chapel on Lake Street in Encinitas, CA...
10April 16, 2011
“Come to Zion”

‘Zion’ has become a dirty word in our world: now it is shorthand for the displacement of native peoples from...
1April 15, 2011
Natural Coastline Ecosystems

This is a photo I took on a short (half a day) trip to the beach over Spring Break. ...
9April 15, 2011
Before Sunset

For Jesse and Céline these questions are embodied in a single night and in each other. But the question of...
0April 14, 2011
Helping an Orphanage in Ethiopia

One of my dearest and oldest friends (one of two friends without whom I would not have survived high school)...
4April 14, 2011
Find Your Tribe

Over a decade ago I read this article in Mothering Magazine about a woman who is far from family and...
1April 14, 2011
Bayou Courtableau, Louisiana

Alina Taylor writes: These images were taken on Bayou Courtableau in St Landry Parish, Louisiana near Port Barre right off...
4April 14, 2011
Mormon Matters Podcast 27: Mormons and their Leaders

I really enjoyed getting to be a part of this dialogue with Joanna Brooks, Dan Wotherspoon, and Charles Randall Paul...
12April 13, 2011
The Grass is Always Greener

I just got back from a fancy schmantzy conference for educational researchers in New Orleans. I submit proposals every year...
0April 13, 2011
MM 23: The KJV and Changes to Race-Related Book of Mormon Chapter Headings

I spent 15 hours driving this weekend and so had a lot of listening time. I enjoyed this Mormon...
3April 12, 2011
Just Too Good to be True

Context can be everything in art. Hearing those songs again, in a fresh context, I was actually listening to them...
8April 12, 2011
Salvador, Brazil

I gotta love Facebook because it allowed me to re-connect with Kim Allen, who was my roommate while I was...
30April 10, 2011
Cafeteria Style

In last week’s LDS General Conference session. Elder Nelson, a prominent priesthood leader, said,“ Teach of faith to keep all...
7April 10, 2011
Sterling’s Taiwanese Ride to Church

Today’s Ride to Church comes to us from Sterling Swallow–all the way from Taiwan. Sterling writes: Taoyuan, Taiwan is not...
4April 9, 2011
Time’s Fractal Line

‘I wish I had more time in my life.’ A friend wrote this on his Facebook wall yesterday. It’s a...
24April 8, 2011
Before Sunrise

An American man meets a French woman on a train in Europe. They connect and get off together in Vienna...
4April 6, 2011
Delousing the Kids

This beautiful poem was written by my dear friend, Dayna Patterson, after patiently listening to me whine about our 2010...
9April 6, 2011
An Unlikely Prayer of Thanksgiving

Last summer, Brent and Stuart went to get a haircut. While there, the stylist discovered that Stuart had lice (gasp!)....
1April 5, 2011
Bicycle Playlist

“Bicycles move with the flow of the earth …”
6April 4, 2011
Cleared for Take Off

“Does anyone smell smoke?” Not exactly the words you want to hear at 36,000 feet in the air halfway through...
6April 3, 2011
James’ Bike Ride to Church in Suffolk and Essex

Come see James’ bike ride to his favourite church just outside Suffolk, England, where James grew up and now works...
7April 3, 2011
Reach Out and Touch Someone

He blazed up the wide middle aisle of our repurposed Presbyterian sanctuary, passing the stained glass depictions of Biblical scenes...
3April 2, 2011
The West

Yesterday on ‘Rogue Cinema’ I wrote about one of my Granddad’s favourite films, the 1955 version of Oklahoma!, and pondered...
2April 1, 2011
Boise Trees

DaLyn took these beautiful pictures in or around Boise, Idaho. Thanks for sharing them with us, DaLyn. ;
8April 1, 2011
Oklahoma!

The first part of a two-post analysis of the dream of the American West, through a particularly successful 1955 movie...
6March 31, 2011
Glastonbury Tor

When we lived in Bristol, we went a few times to the nearby and ancient town of Glastonbury, where, on...
11March 31, 2011
Woman can’t close eyes due to plastic surgery

I just read this sad article about a woman who can no longer close her eyes due to a plastic...
12March 31, 2011
Kids and Calamities

I watched the Twin Towers fall on TV, my oldest child safely ensconced in her kindergarten class. My toddler...
0March 31, 2011
More college “hookups” but more virgins

I just read this article re: the sexual behavior of college students. This article reports on research done by Mark...
15March 30, 2011
Fancy

The willingness to spend tons of money and time grooming or getting surgery is born of a desire to control...
52March 29, 2011
I’m Not Fancy

; “At fifty, every man has the face he deserves. To erase the lines and change the contours of...
2March 29, 2011
An interview with Bobby Lopez, co-creator of the Book of Mormon musical

I thought this was a great interview. I loved it when he said he liked the Mormon practice of...
10March 28, 2011
Pay to Pray: Going Green for God

The flickering of the candles drew me in as if they were the wish at end of a birthday celebration....
5March 27, 2011
As is the atom, so is the universe…

Part 1: My poor kids have a Yogi-Buddhist-Pacifist (and Christian leaning) Mom. This does not bode well if you are...
4March 26, 2011
Let’s Walk Together

It’s easy to be unconscious about our consciousness. The stories that we tell ourselves make up our world, but it’s...
9March 25, 2011
My Oldest Possession

Forty years ago today I received a gift, an item I’ve owned longer, and used more often, than any other...
2March 25, 2011
Rural Washington

This beautiful picture is a shot of the view Brent (married to Doves-and-Serpents-Heather) woke up to every morning growing up...