Do yourself a favor and read this letter from Hugh B. Brown, the former member of the First Presidency.

A highlight:

First, I have found that periods of doubt and skepticism, of negative reactions and disbelief have always been characterized by darkness, refrigeration of spirit, pettiness, cynicism, and general misery, even to a point of wishing for oblivion. Whereas, periods of faith, hope, and positive reactions have been times of buoyancy and cheerfulness filled with a desire to be and to become, to lift and encourage, and to point with confidence to something even more about to be. Here, life had cadence and lilt and zest and value, and I gloried in the thought that I could extend these benefits and joys and possibilities to my children.

From the selfish standpoint of personal satisfaction then, I have chosen to swim in the clear, cool stream of faith rather than wallow in the turbid, enervating, stagnant swamp of doubt and cynicism. In other words, faith pays dividends of joy as we go along.

Recently, I responded to an article, “How to Stay Mormon when You Are Tired of Mormons,” in an article of my own, “Some Thoughts on Discipleship and “Staying Mormon.” In response to my response, Rational Faiths has posted an article, “Of Pride and Prophets.”

First of all, I think this is the way conversations should happen in the LDS blogging world — blog “cross talk”, where we can productively respond to each other in thought out articles. It’s much better, I think, than long, contentious comment threads. I’m making my response on my own turf, and thus not “trolling” their site, and they’re making their response on their turf, and thus not “trolling” our site. We welcome comments that disagree, and so do they — but when people get into drawn-out contentious comment threads (as I do on a regular basis), civil discussion often breaks down and those dissenting in the comments sometimes overstay their welcome and become trespassers (metaphorically speaking). Anyways, sorry for the tangent.

Anyways, Jeff Swift praises me for aptly summarizing the article I critique. But then he presents me as saying things that I never say, nor will ever say. In short, he gets me wrong, and in ways that are plainly obvious to those who read my article in great detail. Continue reading →

This past week my family traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, to spend time with my husband’s father, who was born and raised in Edinburgh. Though we hope to have many more years associating with “Brother Stout,” he is in his eighties now. So with camera and tape record in hand, we toured the tenements where his people lived, the fields in which he would play as a boy, calling up to his Mum for “a piece” with jam or cheese, and the illustrious prep school where a scholarship allowed him to attend classes past age 14.[ref]This prep school was George Heriot’s School, formed in 1628, and believed to be the institution on which J. K. Rowling modeled her fictional Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.[/ref]

In addition to these spots of interest primarily to the family, we toured the rest of the city – a delight for various reasons, providing insight into both general history and Mormon history.

Continue reading →