Consider

“I so often feel unconventional and, well, lonely in my faith community. This conference made me feel like there's a place for non-traditional me at church.” — Christy Spencer   September 24-26 in Orem, Utah  (See Epilogue Below)   Restore Connect is for you if: You want to be inspired and lifted through Christ-centered engagement with exceptional thinkers, doers, musicians, poets, pray-ers, and good-hearted people like you.  You are a…

“I want to keep following Jesus Christ every day. I want to be kind, help other people, forgive others, and have more faith.” — Jimmy Mwemedi   A young man and I were recently asked to speak in the Latter-Day Saint Parley’s Creek African Refugee Branch. I have served there for over 10 years—mostly with the youth. Jimmy, who is 16, has been in the US for over three years…

“Plural marriage... is calculated in its nature to severely try the women even to nearly tear their heartstrings out of them...” — Journal and Autobiography of Joseph Lee Robinson, p. 50   Mormon polygamy is a fraught subject. Not too long after Carol Lynn Pearson published her book, The Ghosts of Eternal Polygamy, Jane, my wife, and I spoke on a panel with her at a Sunstone Symposium. Our story,…

“Do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous things ...as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value.” — Teilhard de Chardin   To begin our conversation with Aubrey and Tim Chaves in June, I offered the invocation by reading a prayer I had been creating. Afterwards, several people asked if they could have a copy of it.…

“…and ye shall be as the gods, knowing good and evil.” — The Serpent, Genesis 3:5   Recently, Jane and I were camping with her brothers and their wives in Bears Ears. Jane’s brother has become quite conversant with the many native dwellings and granaries often built high up on cliffs, as well as the landscape and lifestyles of the remarkable peoples who once lived there. It is a yearly…

“I’m not trying to change your mind. I just want to understand what you think.” — Dana Epstein   My friend, Joan Blades, recently texted me an article about a group of people coming together and building relationships across different political opinions. I found it hopeful and inspiring. Especially given the apparent difficulty we have in communicating with each other over our differences across America. "Apparently" is a key word…

“Rituals keep us from forgetting what must not be forgotten and keep us rooted in a past from which we must not be disconnected.” — Tony Campolo   The March Equinox brings Easter and a dense collection of rituals that significantly eclipses any other Christian holiday. Which made me think of rituals that have made a difference in my life. Especially one that I remodeled to be more consistent and…

“Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.” — Eleanor Roosevelt   Jane and I had dinner with some long-time friends the other night. They asked if…

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” — Jesus   This is not a left or right post. It’s not a political statement. It’s an ask. A query. A sincere attempt to understand and know what to do.  I have friends across the political spectrum whom I love and respect. Whether on the Right or Left, I’ve witnessed them say and do good things. Some of them…

“...Grace is asymmetric, parabolic, skewed to love, Immanent and absolute, but also unpredictable As quantum particles...” — Orlando Ricardo Menes   Jane, my wife, happened to capture this moment of companionship with our rescue dog, Camino, and our rescue cat, Loki. We've had Camino for over a year now, and she's settled in nicely. But it took some serious time and effort. And Loki, who we rescued as a kitten…