I was standing on the beach with one of my mentors, a professor who forecasts much doom and destruction awaiting the human race. My children were playing in the tidepools in front of us. His wife was at home, nine months pregnant with twins, his beloved other two children halfway across the globe […]

When John and I started letting people know that we were no longer active in the church, many people replied that it wasn’t much of a surprise. They knew we were active in Sunstone, and in Mormon feminism, and that we didn’t believe in the version of church history espoused in church manuals. […]

In my previous post, I discussed how language limits our ability to describe our spiritual experiences. I appreciated the responses to my initial query. After I posted my thoughts, I had one of those Doh! forehead-hitting moments where I realized that what makes an event spiritual is its ineffability. If it was […]

When I was a younger the phrase “burning in the bosom” always made me giggle. I mean, it was hard to say the word ‘bosom’ without thinking of large-breasted great aunts with names like “Deloris.” As I got older and realized the difficulty of using language to describe my own spiritual experiences into […]

A rather random comment from my not-Mormon brother-in-law was a catalyst in changing my feelings about raising my children in the church. He said something to the effect of: “I would never allow my daughter to participate in an organization or an institution that discriminated against her because she’s a girl.” What […]

An LDS friend showed me his shot glass collection recently, glowing with pride as he pointed to the Nauvoo Temple glass that sits front and center. The shot glasses reflect his travels and hobbies, and don’t appear to be used for imbibing hard liquor. I wondered at the irony of his prominent display, musing about […]

I think about dying a lot. In fact, I am downright terrified that I will die soon.
I suspect that my fear is amplified by the fact that I am a cancer survivor (osteosarcoma ’84) and that my family has a rather unnatural history of cancer occurrence. I’m not necessarily afraid of a slow and […]

Each time I get a new sister on my Visiting Teaching route, I cringe. I look at the name and piece together anything I know about the unfamiliar woman. I look at her address and calculate whether she lives in a wealthy neighborhood, in student housing, or in the new hi-rise apartments that were just […]

How many of you put your latest copy of Sunstone out on the coffee (postum)table along with the Ensign? Or do you hide it away on your nightstand? Does your spouse or someone else in your household read your Sunstone, or is your subscription a private indulgence?
I started thinking about this as I was reading […]

I’m a big fan of the Sabbath.  A day without the hectic pace of work, heavy household duties, and the school carpool.  And there’s nothing like a good Sunday afternoon nap.
I grew up in a family that was rigidly observant of the Sabbath, which meant no swimming, no friends’ birthday parties, and no Saturday night […]