-
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
Latest Headlines
-
[Mormon] Mother’s Prayer for Its Child
Posted on May 9, 2013 | 22 CommentsIt’s a week long homage to Bossypants by Tina Fey this week, for the backstory, check out Heidi’s explanation. Alongside her witty talk of feminism, work and spirituality, Fey coins a version of a “Mother’s Prayer for Its Child.” We all have these hopes and […] -
A Celebration of Motherhood
Posted on May 7, 2013 | 1 CommentLast night while I was running, I had the idea that we should put together a slideshow of pictures of mothers or grandmothers or other mother-figures. Or of ourselves as mothers. And run it on Sunday to celebrate all the women out there […] -
Mama Drama
Posted on May 7, 2013 | 34 CommentsAs Mother’s Day approaches, it’s the usual time I psychologically rent a limo so I can take my inevitable guilt trip in style. Leading up to this day of celebration, stories of the women who gave all they have for their children seem to come […] -
“Motherhood” in six short words
Posted on May 6, 2013 | 15 CommentsA few months ago, I was lucky enough to spend three blissful days reading, writing, walking, jogging, eating, and mostly gabbing for hours with four amazing women. (Before this weekend, I had never met these women in real life-only virtually–which kinda makes it one of […] -
Parenthood Juggle: I Have to Be Me
Posted on May 6, 2013 | 2 CommentsIn the next few weeks, I will turn 40. I know it is very cliché to have a mid-life crisis at 40, but apparently there is something to it. I guess I have been moving toward this moment from the moment I was born, but […] -
Grondahl Restored 58
Posted on May 5, 2013 | No CommentsThis cartoon, as always, is posted with the kind permission of The Sunstone Foundation and Calvin Grondahl. -
Mormon Moms Meet Yale
Posted on May 4, 2013 | No CommentsFor the past few years, I’ve been a part of a wildly ambitious ward project that my friend, Lia Collings, spearheaded. It started out as a modest collection of essays, one that was doomed to remain un-read by anyone but our immediate families, and now […] -
The Won’t To Believe
Posted on May 3, 2013 | 14 CommentsI could do it. I could choose to believe. -
58 Psaltery & Lyre: Annaliese Wagner, “The Pathway to the Sun”
Posted on May 2, 2013 | No Comments"I am running away / from my new home, / past the blue green / chlorine pool where / the big kids play. Away / from the rat faced girl / who made fun of my accent . . ." -
Modesty for Men
Posted on May 1, 2013 | 17 CommentsThe ward modesty committees determined, however, that these inconveniences were worth it if they helped the women of the ward maintain virtuous thoughts. -
Parenthood Juggle: What Gives?
Posted on April 29, 2013 | 2 CommentsFor better or worse, I think I’ve become a legend in my department amongst graduate students. I’m in my 7th year of a graduate program. I met my husband a week or two before it started and we were married the following summer, […] -
57 Psaltery & Lyre: Elizabeth Pinborough, “The Egret and the Faun”
Posted on April 25, 2013 | No Comments"Her dress is white, scored with black squares. / There is matter in the pattern. / The pattern matters-" -
Parenthood Juggle: Only by Working Together
Posted on April 24, 2013 | 3 CommentsIn order to tell my story properly I have to jump quite few years back before I was even born. My parents grew up in poverty in the Philippines. My mom was particularly affected by this. Her parents could not afford to put all 10 […] -
Guest Post Invitation: Feeling “Less-Than” at Church
Posted on April 22, 2013 | 6 CommentsThis boy wasn't mean. But he was very clear that I, as a woman, had no place in any part of that Sacrament ritual or preparation. That it would be wrong for me to be. He seemed frightened that the very fact of my touching that cloth might have destroyed the sanctity of the Sacrament. -
Grondahl Restored 57
Posted on April 21, 2013 | No CommentsGrondahl gives a little shoutout to D. Michael Quinn. 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. -
Ride to Church in Tokyo, Japan
Posted on April 21, 2013 | 3 CommentsWe spent 10 days (our spring break plus both weekends on either end) in Tokyo visiting our dear friends who are living/working there and taking in as many sights as we could! They moved there in January 2012 and we’ve been stewing about getting […] -
On Holland’s Epistemology
Posted on April 20, 2013 | 21 CommentsThere is a wide chasm, however, between choosing to live a religion and claiming to have absolute knowledge that one's religion is the only "true" or "valid" path to God--and this chasm can't be crossed based solely on one's own experiences. -
Parenthood Juggle: I Wouldn’t Change Any of It
Posted on April 19, 2013 | 2 CommentsI met my husband at law school. We got engaged the summer before my final year but at my husband’s insistence did not get married until after my final exams (he had already graduated and did not want anything to interfere with me doing so). […] -
56 Psaltery & Lyre: Jeremy Windham, “Boy Raised Gorgon”
Posted on April 18, 2013 | 1 Comment"But if our strengths are measured / with a gaze, observe the statues / our beholders will become, / wide-eyed and petrified . . ." -
55 Psaltery & Lyre: Dayna Patterson, “When She Prayed”
Posted on April 16, 2013 | 5 Comments"I heard the angels' joyous song / An ancient temple's brassy gong / Bagpipes, trombones sang along / When she prayed" -
Ride to Rocky Mountain Retreat
Posted on April 16, 2013 | 5 CommentsIn honor of the Rocky Mountain Retreat XX anniversary, we’re rerunning this Ride to Church which originally ran in June 2011. This year’s Retreat is May 31-June 2. Our speakers are Fiona Givens, co-author with Teryl Givens of The God who Weeps, and Tresa Edmunds […] -
On Men and Heavy Lifting
Posted on April 15, 2013 | 153 CommentsBeing in charge of everything isn't about power or control, it's about service. Men should be grateful that women create space for them to concentrate on doing what God expects of them. -
Parenthood Juggle: It’s Enough for Me
Posted on April 15, 2013 | 5 CommentsAt the party store yesterday, my son was choosing decorations for his fifth birthday bash, coming in just a few days. I quit my job without a backup plan in December, and my husband is a stay-at-home dad, so it’s been a tough few months […] -
Grondahl Restored 56
Posted on April 14, 2013 | 1 CommentAfter a partially unintended hiatus on Grondahl cartoons, I’m starting again with Marketing Precedes The Miracle. This week’s cartoon is the cover to that book. Published in 1987, this one was produced in the thick of the post- Mark Hofmann era, and in the middle […] -
A Street-Legal Version of the Beatitudes
Posted on April 14, 2013 | 7 CommentsI am reading The Street-Legal Version of Mormon’s Book by BYU music professor Michael Hicks (and recently did a Mormon Stories Book Club podcast with him . . . stay tuned for its release). The book is not a translation of the Book of […] -
Ride to the Little Ethiopian Orthodox Church at the Camp in Norway!
Posted on April 14, 2013 | 3 CommentsToday’s stunning Ride to Church comes to us from Claudia, a RtC veteran. This Easter Sunday, I had the opportunity to visit a very humble church that very few people in my Norwegian town of 5000 people know about. My good friend Tadesse from […] -
Parenthood Juggle: We Co-Get-It-Done
Posted on April 12, 2013 | 4 CommentsWhen I was a young mother, a series of events occurred that changed my life. In 1995, a woman the same age as me became a widow. She had three children, roughly the same ages as mine. One day, her husband took a nap and […] -
54 Psaltery & Lyre: James A. Clark, “Succession”
Posted on April 11, 2013 | No Comments"I used to stand with him / among the budding clover. / I was King of the Park / and the young prince / rode my shoulders." -
Ritz Crackers (& Other Debacles)
Posted on April 10, 2013 | 4 Comments“Raul’s mom brought fruit kabobs.” This revelation comes to me from the back seat. I immediately hate Raul’s mom. I imagine her creatively shaping mangoes and pineapples in her immaculate kitchen and I silently fume. This disguised condemnation has been issued by […] -
Our Nonstandard Work: Nailing It Like Jael
Posted on April 9, 2013 | 4 CommentsAs part of our celebration of Poetry Month, it is my pleasure to remind us of that wonderful poem in the Hebrew Bible known as the “Song of Deborah” contained in Chapter 5 of Judges. It is fabulous not just for its poetic qualities, but […] -
Stages and Flexibility: My Communications Career Juggle
Posted on April 8, 2013 | No CommentsBefore becoming a mom, I spent three years in magazine editing and high-tech public relations. The birth and adoption of our first son coincided with a move across the country for my husband Glenn to begin doctoral studies. It made sense for me to stay […] -
Book Review: Her Side of It
Posted on April 7, 2013 | No CommentsIn honor of national poetry month (hooray for April!), we will be featuring a poetry book review once a week. This week's pick: Her Side of It, by Marilyn Bushman-Carlton. -
Ride to Mosque in Abu Dhabi
Posted on April 7, 2013 | 5 CommentsToday’s Ride to Mosque comes to us from Norm, who recently visited Abu Dhabi, the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Norm […] -
Parenthood Juggle: Wanting it All
Posted on April 5, 2013 | 1 CommentI was intent on having career (not just job) options with my humanities degree, no matter what educational step I took next. -
53 Psaltery & Lyre: Annaliese Wagner, “Arizona Is Built On Geometry”
Posted on April 4, 2013 | 1 Comment"The rectangles and squares of adobe houses / bake under blazing heat. The perpendicular / lines of crucifixes are etched with names / lost and ignored . . ." -
Redeeming Asherah
Posted on April 4, 2013 | 8 CommentsBy Michelle Wiener (aka, Michelle Mormon) Today at work, the question of God’s gender came up, and I replied that I believed God has both a male and female persona. My colleague proceeded to ask me what the female persona’s name was. I replied, “I […] -
Parenthood Juggle: “You Don’t Need to Go To College”
Posted on April 3, 2013 | 8 CommentsSeek an education, but FIRST seek to get married and have children. Of course there was also the underlying suggestion that the husband's education would take priority. -
Parenthood Juggle: Depression and Poetry
Posted on April 1, 2013 | 25 Comments"I started writing poetry before I had kids and was struggling with infertility. [ . . . ] Poetry became increasingly important as I grappled with the strong emotions of being a mother. Writing poetry helped me navigate days when, within minutes, my feelings would swing between euphoric and frighteningly negative." -
The Pharisee Within
Posted on March 31, 2013 | 7 CommentsToday, I gave a talk in church about the last week of Jesus’ life. In the course of my talk prep, I was struck by the multiple warnings and chidings Jesus gave in his final days concerning the Pharisees, that sect of Judaism that focused […] -
Ride to Church in Acoma Pueblo
Posted on March 31, 2013 | 4 CommentsToday’s Ride to Church comes to us from Joanna in New Mexico, who writes: My family recently visited Acoma Pueblo, one of New Mexico’s 19 pueblos, with intertwined yet distinct histories, cultures, and languages. Acoma is home to the mesa-top Sky City (Old Acoma), […] -
Excerpts from John Dehlin’s Reactivation Podcast
Posted on March 29, 2013 | 3 CommentsA few years ago, John Dehlin started the Mormon Stories podcast (http://mormonstories.org/). A couple months ago, he posted a lengthy podcast in which he discussed his struggles over the years with the church and explained his recent return to activity. Here are some excerpts: […] -
50: A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: What’s Real, Deconstructing John Dehlin, and My Thoughts on Religion, Part III
Posted on March 29, 2013 | 9 CommentsHow we answer that question will largely determine how much control over our beliefs and behaviors we're be willing to surrender to a religious institution, and that, in turn, will largely determine the degree to which we'll be able to find fellowship and communion within it. -
49: A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: What’s Real, Deconstructing John Dehlin, and My Thoughts on Religion, Part II
Posted on March 29, 2013 | 12 CommentsThe first challenge is an exercise in epistemology; The second is an exercise in phenomenology. The first asks what is "true," while the second focuses on what is "real." -
Parenthood Juggle: I Never Had to Ask For Permission
Posted on March 29, 2013 | 3 CommentsMy dad got teary with pride every time; my mom sported her corsage in the colors of whatever institution I was graduating from at the moment. -
52 Psaltery & Lyre: Dayna Patterson, “There is a certain comfort”
Posted on March 28, 2013 | 5 Comments"There is a certain peace / to feel your feet planted / in the place where they will stop / the hop skip jump of life . . . " -
A Screed: Random Drug Testing for High School Students
Posted on March 27, 2013 | 7 CommentsI learned a painful civics lesson tonight: go to school board meetings. I went to a meeting tonight to sign a mandatory “consent” form that will allow my daughter to be randomly drug tested at school in order to either participate in extracurricular […] -
48: A Mormon in the Cheap Seats: What’s Real, Deconstructing John Dehlin, and My Thoughts on Religion, Part I
Posted on March 26, 2013 | 26 CommentsI sometimes wonder, if given the opportunity, whether my 40-year-old self could talk any sense into my 19-year-old self. I don't know the answer to that. -
I am the Law, and the Law is not Mocked
Posted on March 26, 2013 | 6 CommentsLast night I saw Les Miserables. Hugo’s work has endured because ideas and principles pulled from the story still apply today. This movie made me think. This movie made me question. Javert. Such a beautifully conflicted character. To him, life is black and white. Everything […] -
Parenthood Juggle: How I Became a (Mormon) Female Executive
Posted on March 25, 2013 | 13 CommentsWhen I was nine years old, I decided that the most important things to me were figuring out how the world worked, and developing true self-awareness (figuring out how I worked). I had a vague idea that there were systems that governed human behavior: […] -
Ride to Church in Parker, CO
Posted on March 24, 2013 | 4 CommentsToday’s snowy Ride to Church comes to us from Tiffany and Michael in Denver, CO: When I visited Denver for the first time one of the things that stood out to me was that there was a different church on every street corner. I […] -
Thanks (but no thanks) for the Sabbath School
Posted on March 23, 2013 | 8 CommentsI’m halfhearted about Sunday School. Okay, less than half. I feel like a boy who’s been held back in, say, fourth grade. A year goes by, then two, then three, and on and on for decades and he’s still stuck in fourth grade. The only […] -
Parenthood Juggle: Piano Lessons are Worth It
Posted on March 22, 2013 | 5 CommentsI didn’t yearn for a career. Sometimes it feels like-looking back-that I just fell into it. I was an excellent student in high school, but never felt like I knew what I wanted to do one day when I grew up. One […] -
51 Psaltery & Lyre: Murray Alfredson, Two Poems
Posted on March 21, 2013 | No Comments"She stood short of the ford, / dainty footed, silken kimono / splashed red against the mud and autumn dun." -
Our Nonstandard Work: Falling in Love with the Old Testament
Posted on March 19, 2013 | 9 CommentsEver since I took Steve Walker’s Bible as Literature class at BYU in the early 80s, I have been smitten with the Old Testament (OT). Here at D&S I’ll be starting a column focusing on the Hebrew Bible and its peculiar charms, not as a […] -
Parenthood Juggle: Only One Body
Posted on March 18, 2013 | 4 CommentsIf I'm honest, I was more ecstatically happy the day I found out I was accepted to school than the day I found out I was pregnant. -
Rain or Shine
Posted on March 17, 2013 | 4 CommentsWhen my then six year old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes six years ago, I heard someone close to me asking the question, “Why him? Why us? Why me?”, but I genuinely didn’t feel that way. Instead, my response was “Why not him? […] -
Parenthood Juggle: I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself
Posted on March 15, 2013 | 14 CommentsNow it's time to stop waiting and get to work. -
50 Psaltery & Lyre: Ed Snow, “On Hearing ‘God Willing’ by the Dropkick Murphys for the First Time”
Posted on March 14, 2013 | No Comments"Twelve Irishmen scream / from gastrointestinal pain, / thrash splintered guitars, / race headlong down dark stairs . . ." -
Parenthood juggle: A view from 50 years out…
Posted on March 13, 2013 | 5 CommentsMy mother and I started school in 1965. I went off to 1st grade at our little town’s three room elementary school, and my mother went off to college, at the ripe old age of 31. She’d come to realize, after 11 years of marriage […] -
Parenthood Juggle: It Takes a Village. . .
Posted on March 11, 2013 | 9 CommentsPerhaps it was my cheerless state of mind that caused the tone of quiet desperation in The Feminine Mystique to stick with me