Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye & Marion Bishop

THUR, JUL 13, 2023   |  7:30-9:00 pm MDT

Explore the scriptural injunction to “prepare every needful thing” in the context of current challenges and while navigating a patriarchal church.

IN-PERSON GATHERING:

THE CONVERSATION:

What is every needful thing? How can the pursuit of every needful thing help us, those we love, and the rest of the world flourish and become a more Zion like people? We will explore how a group of remarkable Latter-Day Saints from all over the world wrestle with this question in their professional, personal, cultural, and religious lives. Scholars Kate Holbrook and Melissa Inouye sought, collected, and edited accounts of exceptional women pursuing this scriptural injunction found in D&C 88:118.

An introduction to their book, Every Needful Thing: Essays on the Life of the Mind and the Heart, states: “Instead of pushing us to choose between faith and reason, love and law, truth within the restored gospel and truth in the wider world of God’s children, (the) writers urge us to seek “anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report” and learn to live in a world of complexity and abundance.”

If there has ever been a need to learn to live well in a world of complexity and abundance, it is now. How do we discern with our minds and hearts what is worth our attention and energy and what isn’t? Come and dive deep into this subject and share your thoughts with Melissa and Marian and our group of seekers.

ABOUT MELISSA:

Melissa received AB and PhD degrees from Harvard University. She is a senior lecturer in Asian studies at the University of Auckland and a historian at the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. An accomplished and appreciated writer in her own right, Melissa has written two other important books: Crossings: A Bald Asian American Latter-day Saint Woman Scholar’s Ventures Through Life, Death, Cancer, and Motherhood and China and the True Jesus: Charisma and Organization in a Chinese Christian Church.

ABOUT MARION:

Marion Bishop is an ER doctor and writer who practices in the Intermountain West. Before going to medical school, she earned a PhD in English and taught college English for eleven years. She writes and speaks regularly about intersection of medicine and the Humanities and has been interviewed frequently about the pandemic. She has published op-eds, written academic articles, and had essays included in medical journals and book collections. She is a frequent guest on television and radio programs, as well as a speaker to student and other groups.

Melissa Inouye Photo by Ellie Alder/BYU

EXPLORE BEFORE WE MEET:

From Jay:

• D&C 88:118
• Every Needful Thing: Essays on the Life of the Mind and the Heart
• Faith Matters interview about Every Needful Thing
• The Call To Be in the World — A Conversation with Astrid Tuminez (one of the essayists in Every Needful Thing.)
• Exponent II podcast: Coping with Contradiction with Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye
• About Kate Holbrook

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE RECORDED ZOOM CONVERSATION

• Click on the Zoom link above for either last month’s recorded conversation (if the event date has passed) or the live conversation now. If you are participating in the live conversation keep reading.
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ZOOM ETIQUETTE: 

• Please mute your microphone before entering and when you are not speaking so noises are not heard by everyone else.
• Rather than have the whole group watch you try to get your camera or screen positioned, or play with funky green screen backgrounds, feel free to get that figured out prior to when we meet.
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• If you are having difficulty with the technology, don’t hold up the meeting by distracting other participants for solutions. Try Googling your problem. I do that with most of life’s problems.
• Speaking of distractions—just as when we used to meet in person in the good old days, let’s be cautious about using the chat for side conversations that may distract others. You can always ask for people’s contact info and continue your conversation—I’d love that to happen. Or, let me know, and I’ll do my darndest to give you a chance to share to the group.
• Please share air time and follow the guidelines under “Intentions” on this website.