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I love my kids. I know their strengths and weaknesses really well by now. (They range in age from 23-9.) I have experienced incredible joy, pride, love, etc. as their father – and I have experienced some of my most intense fear, concern and even anger as their father. I have felt those extremes largely because 1) I know them so well and want so much for them to be “true” / “good” / whatever, and 2) I spend so stinking much time with them (they are constantly before my eyes, so to speak). I love them dearly, but they drive me nuts often, as well. I just described how I feel and have felt about the LDS Church. It’s worth considering, I think, in that light – that it’s totally fine to have a complex, contradictory, “real” relationship with the Church.
Anything else (anything more “simple” or “consistent”) just wouldn’t be “real” – at least not for me.I think that is fair. I would add that my children provide endless amusement to my husband and me because of their crazy behavior, outlandish claims, and questionable manners. Same goes for my fellow saints! (Hey, works for my co-workers, too!) It is easy for me to see the metaphor with my children & now the grandchildren. The hard part is looking backwards.
I was a HUGE problem growing up for my parents.
Now, I’m in my 60’s, my parents are dead & I still feel guilty.
Maybe that represents the “Darkside of the force” (church)?
Mike from Milton.
Maybe the problem with this analogy is…. kids eventually do grow up, move out and find their own lives. Eventually they evolve and become adults. Does the church? Will the church ever evolve and mature?
Quote:I love my kids.
I kind of gathered that from your avatar. Either that, or you’re using the best in anti-ageing products.
😆 I have to admit that it’s not something I relate to from the parent end. I’ve never had any of my own.
There are a number of metaphors you could use: ** My company (or business) as a metaphor for the church.
** My school as a metaphor for the church.
** My neighborhood as a metaphor…
You get my drift.
My children or my family is the easiest to visualize.
Mike from Milton.
Yeah, Mike, I took the title of this post from another post I wrote about my marriage. If anyone hasn’t read it: http://forum.staylds.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=238&hilit=my+marriage+as+a+metaphor Quote:Will the church ever evolve and mature?
Probably not fast enough at any point for the people who struggle at that particular point, but it certainly has “evolved” (progressed in some ways and regressed in others) and “matured” (aged, developed and stabilzed) in many ways.
Personally, I see it more as a pendulum-like movement. It started out near one extreme (incredibly liberal in its time), swung toward the other extreme (very conservative in its time), and now is moving back toward somewhere between the two extremes. I think the ship actually has turned (even with some of the pilots fighting the turn in some areas), but the initial movement when a ship turns against the former wake always is slower until the wake passes.
Quote:Will the church ever evolve and mature?
I think it has to some extent already. Not completely, but certain things are already behind us. I just wish other things were.
Perhaps another metaphor that works is the church as my parents. My parents teach me, and keep me safe when I’m young and immature. It provides stories and experiences and metaphors to guide me in my life as I make choices and find out who I am.
But at some point, I grow up, and realize it is not right to live my life based on what my parents think…at some point, I must be ready to experience and learn through seeing the world outside my parents home. They will always have authority over me, but I must now take responsibility for myself and spect authority without blindly obeying it.
I am grateful my parents teach me to be prepared for that step, but they can only prepare me so long, then I must be able to venture on my own. It is just the order of things. Then I find I must return, keep good relations with my parents while taking ultimate responsibility for myself, and at some point, be ready to help and take care of my parents after I have matured enough to do so, and they need my help.
I think the church has prepared me for a long time. But at some point, I must let go of dependence on it, even while always honoring and respecting it as a critical influence in my life. While venturing out on my own, I hope to keep that relationship special and healthy, and be willing to sacrifice to take care of it. Relationships and connections to people in the church are more important than whether the stories they told me when I was young are all true and accurate. Love binds me to it, but I am no longer dependent upon it.
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