See the previous discussion on this chapter here.
Finally, a topic rarely written about on this site, women and priesthood…
It’s not like it’s here, here, here, here, and here, and that’s just like, yesterday… So, it’s obviously not a big deal. Right? Bueller?
Hmm, tossing this subject about brings a word to mind…but we can’t seem to think of it now..
There are many rippling effects surrounding this topic, but we’d like to discuss the fascinating main points that stood out in this particular chapter, and its even more descriptive companion, without transfixing ourselves on the last four paragraphs lest we gouge our eyes out accidently with red hot flaming poker sticks.
What do you think Stephanieeeee?
Hmm, I particularly like the Arabian Nights/Birdie motiff.
Yes, me too, and I wonder if Aladdin is missing his shoes yet..
Lula’s thoughts:
After reading this article, a dumb question may be, which statement do you prefer: “I turn the key to you” or “I now turn the key in your behalf. ” Reading this made me want to look at pictures from the time period, and while I sought out this old family photo below taken sometime in the 1860’s, my thoughts wandered, not about my great-great grandfather who happens to be at the top right, but about his sisters, my great-great aunts. What were these women like I wonder. Other than the fact that it must have been a major pain getting dressed every morning in those long, heavy, plain get-ups, their faces reveal little, maybe a tiny fraction of their true selves. One looks bored, one tired maybe, one looks as though she’d holding back a smile, and of course, there’s the daydreamer. Separate, yet together.
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As I continue to learn more about the almost forgotten, now almost completely eroded practice of washing and anointing before childbirth or illness, I look to these women and wonder again – what was that like. What a sense of community and togetherness it must have created in times of extreme trial. So according to this article, at first, we indeed did have the keys to the doors of healing, and now instead of being fully open it remains only partially so, and I feel like I’m maybe missing out on something important. And let’s be clear: I still think that more than ever. But now I realize that gathering women for support and comfort can exist today in its original or up-to-date forms, be it on kids playdates, long phone calls with a sister, a quick bite of barely digested lunch, taking dinner to a sick friend, enjoying a kissing book and talking about it, sewing a pink skirt from one awesome mother skirt party, or a Buffy buffet where vampire slaying helps the food go down.
We can dust off each other’s shoes, if needs be. So, no doormat needed here, thank you very much. Unless you need its rocky surface to massage your worn out feet. Just like the old picture – separate, yet together. I guess I’ll take whatever I can get.
Stephanieeeeeee’s thoughts:
For me, most of the time, I don’t miss these gifts (although I’m really bugged that we had these privileges, and then they were taken away). I feel like my prayers are sufficient, and I’ve been lucky enough to find a community of women that really supports me.
But there are times when I find myself wishing for the gifts that we are no longer allowed to exercise. I am an active member, married to a non-member. My family lives far away. When my children need blessings, it would be so much easier to bless them myself. Barring that, I would feel much more comfortable calling on the women I know, really know, instead of the semi-anonymous men from my ward. (Don’t get me wrong: the men in my ward are wonderful, but I’ve found it difficult to get to know them at church without my husband around.) And admittedly, it would have been nice if I could have joined in the circles as my children were blessed, a representative of our immediate family.
At the same time, the thought of doing washing and anointings and blessings feels a little odd to me. I’m not sure if this is because they’re just not right for me or because I’ve lived my whole life without them. And if I’m completely honest, part of me shirks a bit at the responsibility associated with performing blessings, etc.
How about you? How did you feel as you read about the women performing washings and anointings and blessings of healing and participating in baby blessings? Did you know that these practices existed in the early church?
Would you like to exercise your spiritual gifts in such a fashion today? Do you know anyone who does so in spite of restrictions?
How did you feel as you read about how those practices were ever so gently and gradually eroded away?
Next week’s discussion on Chapter 3: Empowerment and Mormon Women’s Publications by Vella Neil Evans