Interesting list

I think most people that choose to stay are in some way doing what is being suggested by the author, “Mormonism was meant to be a grass roots practice. Stop putting other people in charge of your spirituality. Just BE these things and let the chips fall where they may.”

In other words stop waiting for the church to change and start living how you want Mormonism to be.

An oversimplified and more “temporal” example of this might be how many feel about the infamous 3 hour block. If you don’t like the 3 hour block, perhaps you feel PH and RS are redundant/superfluous, make church 2 hours. Attend SM and SS, skip PH and RS with no grand announcement and no levied guilt. I.e. if a meeting isn’t contributing toward my spirituality why should I feel guilt or anxiety over not attending the meeting? To keep up appearances?

Of course (IMO) all of the suggestions are easier said than done. Just be what you want to be nibbler, how hard could that be? Well none of us live in a vacuum. I’ve got a spouse, children, parents, siblings, friends, etc. that all play a part in my spirituality. It’s important for me to find a balance because it’s almost never only about me. Also I believe that if not handled with wisdom I’d quickly find myself outside looking in… at least in a more official capacity than I currently enjoy. Maybe I over complicate things, I don’t know.

I also recognize that some people need a lot more structure in their approach to spirituality. God’s house is a house of order and it’s the order, the structure that helps many people connect with the divine. The LDS church isn’t unique in that regard. I attended a Buddhist temple and everything about their service was structured… to the nth degree. DW and I got to talking about it afterward and determined that the prescribed rituals helped set a mood that was apart from the everyday experience so people could better channel the spirit. When performing the rituals it helps people be in a familiar state or place. In that context the rituals only set a mood to facilitate making a connection, once the connection is made it can be a very personal experience. It was interesting, I digress. My point is that there can be a benefit to structured things, maybe not in the structure itself but something beyond.

I think it’s important to recognize that many of the changes mentioned in the article aren’t things that will change over the course of one Sunday or even a year’s worth of Sundays. I don’t have a calling where I’m teaching a class, my influence is extremely limited if not nil, but if I make one comment it might carry forward to other hearts. Usually I balk at placing myself under such pressure and keep my mouth shut. I’d only hurt “the movement.”

No time, but I think a lot of it was good — this one resonated with me:

We regard and respect the leaders of the church because they have a hard job to do, not because they are perfect men. We respect any human who has a hard job and does it well. We do not expect perfection from the leaders of the church, at any level.