Women and the Priesthood

Last night, we drove by the temple.  We do that periodically. The girls love to see it.  This sparked a conversation with Anna about her baptism (that will come in a few years).  Scott asked her if she wanted Daddy to baptize her when she turned eight.  She said she did and was really excited.  She then piped up a question that I knew would come up at some point.  She asked us why only the daddies baptized kids and not the mommies. 

Scott explained that you get baptized by the power of the priesthood and men have the priesthood, not women.  Anna wanted to know why.  This really struck me because this has been such a big issue in the news around Utah lately.  A lot of women are petitioning, protesting, etc. to be considered 'equal' and be given the priesthood.  Anna's question wasn't questioning the practice but simply asking why.  She is too little to understand those bigger complaints and fight about it.  But for me, the question was the same, and I wanted to make sure she understood this concept.

You see, people who think that it is inequality that men have the priesthood and not women don't understand the priesthood or the role of women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  This makes me sad, as it is often very faithful members who raise this question.  Just a month or so ago a woman in the news was excommunicated because she has been leading rallies and petitions and protests trying to get the priesthood given to women.  She was described as someone who went to church every week, had faith in the gospel, etc.  I have to admit that I wondered how much of the gospel she truly understood.

Men and women are equal.  You see that everywhere in the church.  But they are also different.  Men have one set of responsibilities and women another.  The roles are equal.  Men have been charged with protecting and leading.  Women have been charged with nurturing and uplifting.  In order to protect and lead, men need the priesthood.  Women don't need the priesthood in order to fulfill the duties they have been given.

Scott explained it to Anna this way.  He asked her if she owned a car.  She said no.  Then he explained that he needed the car to get to work.  She didn't need a car to get to the places she needed to go.  Then he continued that a person can't use the priesthood to bless himself.  The priesthood is used ONLY in the helping of others. 

I think the problem is that people look at the roles given to each gender and say that the roles given to men are more important.  As I said above, men protect and lead.  That isn't more important. It's more VISIBLE.  Women are charged with nurturing and uplifting.  That is equally important as protecting and leading.  A person can be protected and led, but if they have never been nurtured or uplifted, they still don't come out happy and fulfilled.

For example, in the church, the bishop is always a priesthood holder.  The bishop leads the ward. That means he leads church meetings and makes sure the ward runs the way it should organizationally.  The Relief Society president is always a faithful woman from the ward.  One of her duties is to make sure the members in the ward have food.  If they don't, she helps them get food orders to get food from the church's local food pantry.  People SEE the bishop do his duties.  No one sees the Relief Society president give out food orders to those who need it.  But both are equally important.  (This is just one duty of many from both callings that I used as an example, of course.)

Look at a family.  In a family, the father is charged with protecting and providing.  The mother is charged with nurturing.  This brings to my mind the old tv shows from the 50s and 60s where Dad is visible and loud and Mom is more in the background.  But the reality is this:  Children need the things the father provides- they need protection and the monetary provisions.  However, equally important is the nurturing- the caring, educating, etc. 

Where would society be if we didn't have both sides?  In many families, one parent does both jobs, and does it well.  That is very true.  But studies have proven that the children who are more likely to adapt and succeed are the ones who come from families with two parents, each doing the duties assigned to him/her.  In areas with few two parent households, crime is higher than in those areas where it is more common to see the traditional family.

In the bible, Adam is created.  Then Eve is created as a helpmeet for him.  Helpmeet is defined as a helpful partner or companion.  They were helpmeets to each other. It says in the scriptures over and over again that men and women are equal.  Yet still some argue that women not having the priesthood is inequality.  Let's look at it this way.  Moses was given the Ten Commandments.  He was a prophet.  The prophet Isaiah was NOT given the Ten Commandments.  Why?  Moses needed them to fulfill his duties to his people then.  Isaiah didn't.  It doesn't mean that Moses was a more important prophet than Isaiah.

This is my explanation of the question about women and the priesthood.  Women don't have it because they don't need it.  Men have it but can't use it to help themselves.  Every man still needs to ASK someone for a priesthood blessing.  And, in the end, you need a COUPLE to reach the highest degree of glory.  Rather than fight over not being the same, let's celebrate our differences.

Just a thought.

I Will Go, I Will Do

I am the primary pianist in my ward.  That means that during the time block during our church meetings designated for classes, I play the piano for singing time for the kids 3-11.  The primary is divided into two groups - Junior Primary (kids ages 3-8) and Senior Primary (kids ages 9-11).  Both groups love the song I am about to talk about and sing it louder than any other song I have heard them sing.

The song I just referenced is called Nephi's Courage.  This was one of my favorite songs growing up, as well.  It goes over the story of Nephi, a prophet in the Book of Mormon.  God told Nephi's father, Lehi (also a prophet), to take his family and leave Jerusalem because it was going to be destroyed.  (In the bible, this would be the time of the prophet Jeremiah.)  Lehi had four sons.  Nephi and Sam were faithful to the Lord and obeyed their father.  Laman and Lemuel were not.  They constantly had to be reprimanded and chastened in order to be 'motivated' to keep the commandments.

One of my favorite scriptures is 1 Nephi, 3:7:
 7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

This scripture has so many applications to life.  It's why Nephi's Courage is one of my favorite songs.  The course says: I will go, I will do the things the Lord commands. I know the Lord provides a way; He wants me to obey. 

As the kids in our primary sang this song, they really called it out during the chorus.  They were pounding their fists in the air to accent the words, I will GO, I will DO.  It is so awesome to see kids with such faith and determination to go and do the things the Lord commands them to do.  Listen to the song, and I guarantee it will touch you as well!

We've all been commanded to do things that are hard, just like Nephi was.  It isn't easy to keep high standards anymore, and the more time passes, the harder it gets.  But the Lord doesn't ask us to do anything that He hasn't made possible.  We can all succeed in following the Lord.  Otherwise He wouldn't ask us to follow Him.  Just a thought.

Here is a link to this song:  https://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/nephis-courage?lang=eng

Lessons from a Book

When I was just graduated college, I decided that I was going to read the classics. I chose to read the unabridged versions, too- mostly just so I could say I had.  I read quite a few of them, too.  Most of them I really liked.  However, one of the ones I read was Moby Dick, and I HATED it. 

As I read Moby Dick, I wondered why on earth it was a famous classic.  It was long and boring, and a lot of the book had nothing to do with the story. (There was an entire chapter on the history of whales, their anatomy, and a lot about whaling.  The only thing it had to do with the story was that it had to do with whales.)  I came to the conclusion that it had to be famous strictly based on how it was received when it was originally written and the impact it had on future works of literature.  It could not possibly be the actual story.

Why? Because there really wasn't a story.  Let me tell you the story.  They chase a whale.  They all die.  The end.  1800 pages, and that was all that happened.  And the main guy- the only one to survive?  He doesn't have a name. People ask what his name is and the answer is always, "Ishmael."  WRONG.  He starts out the book, "CALL me Ishmael."  He is never addressed by name in the book.  Ishmael is a biblical reference that means wanderer- it isn't actually his name.  (Captain Ahab is also named after a bad guy in the bible, if anyone wants to look it up.)

My point?  I can say that I have read the unabridged version of Moby Dick.  And just because history books and literature courses told me I should love the book because it was awesome, I did not agree.  I hear a lot of marketing schemes that say things like, "Ten million Americans can't be wrong."  You know what, yes they can.

There are a lot of moral issues facing our country today.  And you know what, just because the majority of America says one thing, it doesn't make them right.  Yes, ten million Americans CAN be wrong.  I thought about this the other day while watching a tv show that talked about immorality, as if it was 'weird' or 'backward' to wait until marriage for intimacy.  Just because immorality has become common place does not make it right.  God's law is clear, about this and many other things.  We still have the Ten Commandments, the scriptures, and the teachings of the Savior to follow. 

Just because righteousness isn't cool anymore doesn't mean we don't need to do our best to keep the Commandments.  Just a thought.