Stand for Something

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Like the apostle Paul in the New Testament said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." I'm proud to belong to a religion that fills the world with so much good, and I don't mind people pulling a South Park and poking fun at us for being different. Because we are different. I am different. And I like it.

I like that when I stub my toe, a hundred words come to mind, and none of them are curse words. I like that the very idea of a cashier giving me back too much change makes my soul itch. I like that when I go to karaoke night, I don't have to be tipsy to work up the nerve to sing...I just wait for everyone else to be (so they won't remember me, or will at least remember me far more favorably than I deserve). I like having Family Home Evening on Monday nights with Hubsters and Baby Girl, even though our lessons are currently two minutes long and consist of a single scripture related to loving our neighbor (the subtext is "please don't hit people," which, at 20 months, Baby Girl is totally picking up on. Totally.). I like that even when I don't want to go to three hours of church on Sunday, by the time those three hours are up, I always feel better and closer to my Savior. I like that almost nothing makes me feel the Spirit more than serving others.

I like that many of the good things about Mormons aren't at all exclusive to Mormons. And I like belonging to a church that teaches its members to embrace the good in EVERYONE (whether or not we do it as well as we should...but then, that's not exclusive to Mormons, either).

What I don't like is when other people are leading a conversation about Mormons that has nothing to do with who we actually are, especially Mormon women.

In a culture increasingly confusing "equality" with "exacting sameness," many will look at our church and question why we have different groups for men and women. Why a Relief Society president has a different scope than a Bishop. Why so many women sacrifice successful careers to stay at home with their children when their husbands bring home the bacon and the glory (ha!). These questions, among others, were on my mind when a friend asked me recently to join Mormon Women Stand. I jumped at the opportunity.

I love that this group doesn't stand against anything. Those who've liked the page have done so because we want to help lead the conversation about what it means to be a Mormon woman. We want, as Elder Ballard said, to "Let (our voices) be heard in this great cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Not everything I post has been or will be about my faith. I don't feel like it needs to be. Rather, my faith should influence everything I write. And when I inevitably fail by being too jaded or too snarky or too harsh about something, my faith will remind me that I can do better and try harder to love others--and myself. My faith will motivate me to be my best, just like your faith or belief system or core values motivate you.

We all make mistakes (and mistakes aren't the same as hypocrisy, no matter your religion). I believe a huge purpose of the mortal experience is to strive to make less and less mistakes and do more and more good. As Henry David Thoreau said, "Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around."

Let us all stand for something.