On Saturday our stake hosted a fireside with Terryl and Fiona Givens, the authors of The God Who Weeps, The Crucible of Doubt, and The Christ Who Heals.

One of the delightful visual points they made was based on a recent trip to France. They had a picture they’d taken of one of the rose windows at Chartres cathedrale, showing glorious color. Then there was another picture of the same window, taken from the outside. While beautiful, it was void of color.

They suggested that if we have experienced the glory of spiritual conviction in the past but now find that spiritual conviction lacking, that perhaps it is not the Church that is different. Perhaps it is where we have positioned ourselves that has caused the change.

The world of Hawkins, Indiana, gained its first overt Mormon character on July 4th. Suzie is perfect and prettier than Phoebe Cates.

Or so reports Dustin.

Is she the classic “Canadian girlfriend,” an imaginary person a bachelor speaks of to friends to fend off pity? Or is the adorably cute Dustin actually in love with a Mormon girl from Utah?

I spent 1984-1985 in Italy as a missionary, so it’s been delightful to see a culture I didn’t participate in through the incredible lens of the Duffer brothers.

Like many others, we binge-watched Season 3 this weekend. We laughed, we cried.

If you don’t yet know whether or not Suzie is real, feel free to find out. If you don’t know what Stranger Things is, you might have the delight of experiencing all this for the first time.

One could dismiss Stranger Things as fiction or “horror” or 1980s kitsch. But I submit it tells a story that resonates with deep truths.

So, Suzie, do you copy?

When we contemplate our lives, we often feel as though we are failing to hold to the plan. We’re early, we’re late, we’re not where we expected to be.

This dissonance between where we think we should be and where we are can cause pain.

I was at the 2019 Mormon History Association Conference earlier this month, and Friday night the program included a screening of the 2018 film Jane & Emma.

The movie is powerful, and I recommend it. But as is often the case, the film sometimes chooses art over accuracy.

As we’ve mentioned, the Church is developing a new hymnal and Children’s Songbook. The final due date is 1 July 2019, but yesterday the Church issued additional information about what they’re looking for and final call for your opinions about current content.

As mentioned in the May 9 announcement, here are ways to participate:

• Read about the revision process and FAQ.
• What hymns or songs are your favorite? Which do you think should be taken out? Are there any things about Church music you would change? Give input by taking the revision survey.
• When writing and composing works, consider this list of doctrinal points of emphasis provided by the Hymnbook Committee and Children’s Songbook Committee.
• Submit music, lyrics, or complete songs before July 1, 2019, to be considered in the revision process.

As for me, I think I’ll take a bit and leaf through the hymnal to prepare for the revision survey. Then I’ll review the doctrinal points of emphasis and decide whether I have anything worth submitting by July 1.