Hark!

It's been a while since I've posted here, and this isn't related to Heavenly Mother at all, but it is related to being gender inclusive in our hymns.

We've sung Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! a few times this Christmas season and I thought I'd change the lyrics so that women no more may die as well.


1. Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!
Joyful, all ye nations, rise;
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th'angelic host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem!

(Chorus)
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!

2. Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Ris'n with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that we no more may die;
Born to raise the souls of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Linkage

I know it's been a while since I've posted here, but I have a few links that I thought I'd share.

First, over at the Exponent, Rachel shares things she learned while as a research assistant doing research for what eventually became A Mother There. It's a good one, not to miss!

On Feminist Mormon Housewives Podcast, I just finished listening to their "book club" review of Carol Lynn Pearson's Mother Wove the Morning. I thought that would be interesting to share.

 Also, Feminist Mormon Housewives has been doing a series about Connecting to Heavenly Mother. Here's the search, which I think links to most of the posts.

A Mother There

My friend, Jerilyn, made a video of all the references to Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Parents in General Conference. Enjoy! Also... the "Heavenly F.. Parents" still get me. Love it!

Heavenly Mother Poetry and Art Contest

Martin Pulido, who coauthored the BYU Studies article, A Mother There, is hosting, along with other groups such as the Exponent, a contest.

From the contest announcement:

ABOUT: This contest celebrates the wondrous truth that we have “a mother there” in heaven overseeing our spiritual development. But while in heaven, our Heavenly Mother is present to us now. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland observed, our “heavenly parents are reaching across... streams and mountains and deserts, anxious to hold [us] close.” This art contest aims to express the nearness of our Heavenly Mother. We welcome visual and literary arts submissions that communicate this theme, as well as other submissions that focus on Heavenly Mother.

ELIGIBILITY: The contest is open to all artists and poets. All works must be original and appropriate for public display. Each person is limited to 5 submissions. Each contestant can only win 1 award in each category. There is no entry fee.

PREPARING YOUR ENTRY: Entries should be e-mailed to contest@amotherhere.com. Art entries should be sent in a high resolution (300 dpi) JPG format, but file sizes should not exceed 15 MB. Only 2-dimensional arts submissions will be accepted. Poetry entries should be in English, not exceed 800 words, and be sent in a PDF (preferred), DOCX, DOC, or RTF format. Names or other identifying information must not be on the poems. Please include inside your e-mail your name, address, phone number, the name of your entry, and a short description of your work (150 words max).

JUDGING: An initial round of judging will be conducted by a panel. After that, the art prize winners will be chosen by Herman Du Toit and poetry prize winners will be selected by
Susan Elizabeth Howe.

There will be cash prices of up to $500 for first place. Deadline is March 4, 2014.

The contest is generously being sponsored by Exponent II, Peculiar Pages (publisher of literary anthologies like Fire in the Pasture and Monsters & Mormons) and LDS WAVE. However, to fully fund the prizes and pay judges, the contest is still looking for donations. Visit www.amotherhere.com to contribute or to find out more information.

Check it out!

Symbols of Heavenly Mother

Last week I blogged at the Exponent about symbols of Heavenly Mother. I had to cut off my blog post early because it was just going to keep going and going. I think I want to make a regular sort of column like that based on different goddess myths. Of course, that means I'm going to need to read some goddess myths. To the library webpage for reserving books!

This blog will get more love soon. <3 nbsp="">

Retreat

Last month I went to a retreat with other Mormon feminists. One of the speakers was Margaret Toscano and she gave her powerpoint presentation about images of the Goddess in ancient times and today. She had some slides great artwork by modern Mormon artists- if I get the names, I'll share them here.

Ooh... powerpoint...

A couple of the other attendees of the retreat had studied some Pagan traditions and led a popular Pagan Goddess chant.

We all come from the Goddess
And to her we shall return
Like a drop of rain
Flowing to the ocean.

It was new to me. The first line "We all come from the Goddess," made do an inner nod, "Yes we do all come from Heavenly Mother." But the second line made me start tearing up, "And to her we shall return."

Part of it is that I don't handle death well. I don't like to think of me or the people I love dying in the future. But this stanza is right- we all die. And we all go back to our Creators. And Heavenly Mother will be there along with Heavenly Father. It's not something I think about often, but it was very powerful for me at that moment.

In the next month or so I'm going to be doing a post at the Exponent about Heavenly Mother and I'll cross post it here for you all.

Mother's Day Re-cap

For the past few years with this blog, I've noticed a resurgence of Heavenly Mother in Mormon blogs during the Mother's Day season. On the Mormon Facebook groups, I saw many reports of Heavenly Mother being mentioned in talks and lessons for Mother's Day.

First, probably the most passed-around Heavenly Mother article was Peggy Fletcher Stack's Tribune article, "A Mormon mystery returns: Who is Heavenly Mother?" Great quotes in the article. Read it!

Real Intent has a post, "Truth Eternal Tells Me I've a Mother There."

As for myself, yesterday in church, I decided to change the hymn lyrics, not just from "Father" to "Parents" but to "Mother" just for the day. Our opening and closing songs were Sabbath Day and Lord, We Ask Thee Ere We Part, which I've already re-written here, but I wanted to share Sabbath Day with "Mother" here.

In sweet remembrance of thy Son,
We gather in thy house as one
To join in prayer, to sing thy praise,
To worship thee and learn thy ways.
Mother, on this the Sabbath day,
Be with us gathered here, we pray.

And may our thoughts still turn to thee,
With loved ones, friends, and family.
In all we do till day is gone,
May worship still continue on.
Mother, on this the Sabbath day,
Be with us in our homes, we pray.

Help each to seek a quiet hour
To read thy word and feel thy pow’r,
To hear thy voice, though small and still,
Renew our strength to do thy will.
Mother, on this the Sabbath day,
Be with us in our hearts, we pray.

Happy Mother's Day!

Heavenly Parents, Conference Edition

Remember when I looked at how often "Heavenly Parents" was mentioned in church materials? Well, this past weekend in Conference, it seemed like there was unprecedented mention of "Heavenly Parents" in talks.

Most fun was Elder Ballard's mention of "Heavenly Parents." His talk is here, and at 10:55, you can here him start saying "Heavenly F... Parents." He changed his mind mid-word!

Here are the quotes I found:

Elder Ballard, "And the primary purpose of this priesthood power is to bless, sanctify, and purify us so we can live together with our families in the presence of our heavenly parents, bound by priesthood sealings, participating in the marvelous work of God and Jesus Christ in forever expanding Their light and glory."

Elder Christoffel Golden Jr., "Seen in its true light, the doctrine of the Father and the Son is the doctrine of the eternal family. Every human being has existed previously as a spirit child with heavenly parents, with Christ being the Firstborn of the Father in this heavenly family.

Elder Bednar quoted the "Heavenly Parents" line in the proclamation.

Elder Oaks, "Under that plan we are all heirs of our heavenly parents."

That's all could find- it seems the Church has changed their "search" feature on their website and now it's more difficult to find what I'm looking for! Alas!

Interesting to note: when speakers refer to "Heavenly Father" the words are considered proper nouns and are capitalized. "Heavenly parents" is not considered a proper noun in these talks. I'm not sure I like that.

Behold the Great Redeemer Die

I thought about this song on Easter Sunday, but forgot to put it up. I changed "Father" to "Parents" as well as "man" to "all".

1. Behold the great Redeemer die,
A broken law to satisfy.
He dies a sacrifice for sin,
He dies a sacrifice for sin,
That all may live and glory win.

2. While guilty men his pains deride,
They pierce his hands and feet and side;
And with insulting scoffs and scorns,
And with insulting scoffs and scorns,
They crown his head with plaited thorns.

3. Although in agony he hung,
No murm'ring word escaped his tongue.
His high commission to fulfill,
His high commission to fulfill,
He magnified his Parents' will.

4. "Parents, from me remove this cup.
Yet, if thou wilt, I'll drink it up.
I've done the work thou gavest me,
I've done the work thou gavest me;
Receive my spirit unto thee."

5. He died, and at the awful sight
The sun in shame withdrew its light!
Earth trembled, and all nature sighed,
Earth trembled, and all nature sighed
In dread response, "A God has died!"

6. He lives--he lives. We humbly now
Around these sacred symbols bow
And seek, as Saints of latter days,
And seek, as Saints of latter days,
To do his will and live his praise.

Joseph Smith History 1:17

Earlier this year I thought, because we are studying the Doctrine and Covenants, it would be interesting to read the First Vision story including Heavenly Mother as the first personage. I discovered, I didn't need to change pronouns at all. More about it at the Exponent.

17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!

Heavenly Mother in the Bloggernacle

Heavenly Mother has gotten more "screen time" these past few months. The Mormon feminist corridor of the Bloggernacle exploded! In January, I posted about the Finding Heavenly Mother Project. It's still going on if you want to read the posts or contribute one of your own.

Also of note is the "We Are Daughters" project. Their Facebook page is here, and their blog is here. They are compiling recordings of people reciting the beginning of the YW Theme with the words,

“We are daughters of our Heavenly Parents, who love us, and we love Them.”

I think it's a great project and you should all participate!

Recently the Exponent did a poll asking everyone when they first heard about Heavenly Mother. There were a lot of comments and were very interesting. Check them out!

I hope everyone's Easter is beautiful this weekend. Happy Good Friday!

God is Love

For this one, I changed "God" to "Goddess" in the second verse (using quarter notes instead of a half note and "God" to "They" in the third. You could mix it up if you like.

1. Earth, with her ten thousand flow'rs,
Air, with all its beams and show'rs,
Heaven's infinite expanse,
Sea's resplendent countenance--
All around and all above
Bear this record: God is love.

2. Sounds among the vales and hills,
In the woods and by the rills,
Of the breeze and of the bird,
By the gentle murmur stirred--
Sacred songs, beneath, above,
Have one chorus: Goddess is love.

3. All the hopes that sweetly start
From the fountain of the heart,
All the bliss that ever comes
To our earthly human homes,
All the voices from above
Sweetly whisper: They are love.

God's Daily Care

Tomorrow our Sunday School lesson will be on Doctrine and Covenants 25. This is the section given to Emma Smith which asks her to compile hymns for the Church. I've been thinking about the hymns and realized it's been a while since I've included hymns here so the next few posts will be hymns. This first one is God's Daily Care. All I had to do was change "Father" to "Parents."

1. As I watch the rising sun
When the day has just begun,
I am thinking of the love
That comes daily from above.

2. Parents, turn thine ear to me;
Let me offer thanks to thee
For thy wise and tender care
Of thy children ev'rywhere.

1 Nephi 9:6

I added the Lady and made the language gender-inclusive (men to all).

6 But the Lord and Lady knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, they prepareth a way to accomplish all their works among the children of all; for behold, they hath all power unto the fulfilling of all their words. And thus it is. Amen.

Doctrine and Covenants 6:15-16

 Here I added the Goddess. While adding it, I thought about what it would mean for me to leave it at just the Goddess, that only She knew my thoughts and intents of my heart. It was a lovely thought.

15 Behold, thou knowest that thou hast inquired of me and I did enlighten thy mind; and now I tell thee these things that thou mayest know that thou hast been enlightened by the Spirit of truth; 

16 Yea, I tell thee, that thou mayest know that there is none else save Goddess and God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart.

John 14:26-27

For this scripture, I changed "Father" to Parents and I removed the gender reference to the Holy Ghost. That is a bit of an experiment on my part: some people feel the Holy Ghost does not have a gender, or couple possibly be feminine. I left it so you can choose your favorite theory.

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Parents will send in my name, shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

2 Nephi 31:20

Here, I added the Goddess and changed "Father" to "Parents" and made the passage more inclusive by changing "men" to "people." 

I found this scripture as a reference in the Lorenzo Snow manual and when I went to look at it, I found it rather resonates with me at the moment. Press forward, have hope, love God and Goddess.

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of Goddess and God and of all people. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Parents: Ye shall have eternal life.

Doctrine and Covenants 82:19

Happy Valentine's Day! Love your neighbors, it's what the church is about! I added the Goddess here.

19 Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God and Goddess.

Doctrine and Covenants 8:7-8

Sorry about the unexplained absence. I had a baby last month. But since most wards had Sunday School lesson 5 last Sunday, I thought I'd share this scripture from it. I added the Goddess. My ward had stake conference, so we'll be behind the rest of you.

7 Behold, there is no other power, save the power of God and Goddess, that can cause this gift of Aaron to be with you. 

8 Therefore, doubt not, for it is the gift of Goddess and God; and you shall hold it in your hands, and do marvelous works; and no power shall be able to take it away out of your hands, for it is the work of Goddess and God.

Alma 33:16

In Relief Society this past week, our counselor gave a lesson on keeping the Christmas Spirit with us throughout the year and used President Uchtdorf's talk from the Christmas Devotional. This scripture is one that is referenced in his talk, and is about being grateful for the gifts we receive. I added the Lady.

16 For behold, he said: Thou art angry, O Lord and Lady, with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son.

Doctrine and Covenants 1:24

This year we start in the Doctrine and Covenants for Sunday School. This is from the first lesson. I added the Goddess.

24 Behold, We are God and Goddess and have spoken it; these commandments are of us, and were given unto our servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.

In addition to the adults studying the Doctrine and Covenants, the youth have a new curriculum this year. The first month is focused on the Godhead. If you teach the youth, don't forget to include our Heavenly Mother.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

December 2012 in the Bloggernacle...

Joanna Brooks responded to a question about a concern about gender concerns in the church, including Heavenly Mother, among other issues in her Ask Mormon Girl column.

Nickel in the 'Nacle wrote about reading "A Mother There."

The biggest thing this past month is that over at Poetry Sans Onions, Julia, has started a "Finding Heavenly Mother Project" and is welcoming posts about people's thoughts or creative writing like poetry about Heavenly Mother. I thought some of you readers would be interested in contributing or reading there.

And as we start this year, don't forget the Mother Fast every 3rd Sunday.

If I missed a post, please link in the comments and I'll add it here.