Everyone knows that nylons and heels are part of my uniform, but the loose tie is every bit as important.
It’s a nod to my days as a Mormon missionary and my heritage- the Mormon pioneers who left everything behind and risked it all to create a new life on their own terms, building a city in the desert for me, my kids, my grandkids. The looseness of the tie represents my connection to the faith. I am a retired Mormon- not an “ex Mormon”.
An acquaintance by the name of Daniel chimed in with a fun question.
Great question Daniel – here are a few things that might inspire me to come out of retirement and into more active participation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ie, the LDS church, ie, the Mormons:
1. The church stops obsessing over being the only “true” church, and accepts it’s role as one of the many good ones on the earth. Focus on being a truly GREAT church. The “one true church” thing is an obvious ploy on the human addiction to certainty and tribal identity.
2. The church stops worrying about if the Book of Mormon is “true”, and focuses on the stories being *useful*.
3. Take seriously the idea that Joseph Smith’s first vision laid out – that all people can commune directly with the Creator, no intermediary needed – and restructure the clergy and church practices accordingly. Along with this – Acknowledge that all humans are equally endowed with access to their creator – given equal access to “the holly spirit” and equal access to personal revelation – no memberships or rituals or needed. Admit that The Church does not have any special dispensation over giving people a special measure of “the Holy Ghost”.
4. Acknowledge that just as in times of old, there are many prophets on the earth at the same time, in different places and cultures, and they have nothing to do with each other – and, as in times of old, they are often overlooked & misunderstood because they don’t look like people expect them to look.
5. Stop engaging in Priestrcrafts – selling salvation for money – ie, stop selling access to the Temples. Take seriously the idea that salvation is free to all those who will accept it.
6. Stop building so many temples and focus vast resources on humanitarian endeavors.
7. Speak more openly about the Temple rituals – there are some beautiful concepts contained there, keeping them secret is just a form of artificial scarcity that entices people to purchase access to them and become part of the in-group.
8. For those who do want to pay tithing…. Stock options. 😎
