This week we welcomed special guest Maria!
Sunday school this past week dealt with the story of Jonathan and David. Full disclosure: Jonathan is actually my first name. I hardly ever use it to the fullest though. Too many syllables. Fun fact: Jon Stewart was also named Jonathan when he was born. True story.
Priesthood meeting was taught by Rhett this week and we do a mild re-cap of that.
Of course the big highlight of the Rodcast is Maria's take on women in the church. Certainly the Rodcast deserved to be named "Women" this week, but it's sort of Rodcast tradition to be named after the Sunday school lesson (plus I can never pass up an opportunity to promote my own name). It went a bit long, but quite informative and engaging. As an added bonus we discussed why we tend to leave the room when women speak in General Conference.
As mentioned earlier, this one is really long. Apologies to everyone who prefers them short. Hopefully you'll be able to listen in shifts and eventually hear the whole thing.
Comments are welcome and expected (and also slightly feared, but don't worry about that)!
Download this week's Rodcast right here!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
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Good to hear Maria on the podcast, and I really liked her point about knowing that your life is going to change when you get married and seeing it as a fact and not something that should be avoided or feared. Maybe when married people talk like "Dude...just you wait, enjoy your life now because man, you can never go back" or whatever people say...maybe they're just warning you to be prepared for the change because they weren't? I don't know.
ReplyDeleteOn Sunday I walked into church, the greeter shook my hand and turned to the man next to him and said, "She's always smiling, why is she so happy all the time?" and the guy mumbled "It's because she's not married." I know he was kidding, but seriously, I would hope that's not why I smile.
Sigh. Women speakers. What can I say? It's sad but I have a hard time with the women who speak in General Conference. But what's weird is that it's specific to General Conference. I'm not biased to men when it comes to speakers in Sacrament Meeting, so why is it different in these big, "official" conference sessions? Do they speak differently to a general audience than they would to a smaller one? Is that how they speak at firesides? I haven't attended enough to know. I wonder if it's a generational thing, something we're "growing" out of.
I do have to say, a couple weeks ago in my ward an older lady (75-ish) spoke and she spoke in the General RS Meeting language and tone. She had the manner down perfectly. She had the sing songy voice, her phrasing was similar, she read as if she was reading from a prompter and the smile was there. And it bothered me. I thought, "Why does she feel like she needs to talk like that?" She's much more casual when I talk to her. Sweet? Yes, but not so rehearsed.
I know we tend to emulate those we admire, and we admire the leaders in our church, but we shouldn't have to fit a mold in order to be "worthy" or "accepted" or trusted. This harks back to something Rhett mentioned in one of the first podcasts...and that is that God has called YOU for a specific purpose. He wants you to be you. He doesn't expect you to be like everyone else.
I haven't heard many women my age adopt the General RS manner of speaking. I can't say why that is. I like to hear people be real. One of my favorite talks was by a sister in the 41st ward that began with something like "I hate pioneers."
Of course she doesn't HATE the pioneers (she went on to explain), but it was honest, it was candid, current and real.
"They smile in yo' face...all the while they wanna take yo' place...backstabbers...baaackstabbers" Gotta love the O'Jays.
ReplyDelete"Friends are there to help you get started, to give you a push on your way"...it's from "Garfield and Friends". There ya go, Rhett. I recognized it right away.
Rhett, though, if you would have said "ironical" in my presence, I would have slapped you across the mouth. That and "romantical" are awful Utah-ese. I hear those words far too often around here. Don't get me started on "proselyting". Shameful.
"And so...Jesus comes in the helicopter"...dang, I love this podcast. Great comment and analogy, though.
Chuck Norris doesn't get out from behind enemy lines. Enemy lines get out from behind him.
Regarding marriage, the change that would be wrought in my life by being married is something I would look forward to if I thought marriage was in my future. I WANT it to be different. I want those changes, hard as they would be in some respects. The blessings of it have to outweigh the struggles and whatnot...I can't imagine the Lord letting it be any other way. Maria elucidated it beautifully.
I, however, am not her. I am too prideful and too selfish to say I would give up my independence and all the pluses of singleness so quickly to take on marriage and family responsibilities. And that is probably part of the reason why I don't expect to get married.
And Jon's half-asleep statement about true partnership in marriage was great.
You may know I don't love Julie B. Beck, the General RS Prez. However, I have to admit that her talk in Conference this last time was solid (I was there Saturday morning in the Conference Center to hear it and it was solid...glad Maria enjoyed it too). The exception and not the rule, of course, but credit given where credit is due. I DO NOT watch General RS Meeting. For me, it is like it doesn't exist. I'm not interested in two hours of girl power talks. Weekly RS meeting is hard enough for me to tolerate...I don't need it multiplied by hundreds (attendance-wise), let alone the talks.
Mary Ellen Smoot was the Gen RS Prez when I joined the Church and let me just say...she drove me nuts. There's a specific talk I remember...maybe it was a CES Fireside...when she talked about wanting to take each individual young sister and hold that sister's face in her hands and blah blah blah and how she knows how hard it is to be a young married with children...angering. She had "the delivery" in addition to the pukey content, of course. Maybe I'll be better about it someday...but not now/not yet. I agree that it is getting better, though. Elaine Dalton (General YW President) is amazing, for example.
"Best" syrupy talk I can remember? Susan Tanner, the former YW prez, talking about the cinnamon rolls that were "thick and rich and yummy" but made her sick ultimately. Forget cinnamon rolls, Sis. Tanner...this talk was more of an eye-roll to me. Look THAT one up. Ugh.
Yes, I think subservient is a cop-out. I think it comes from girls who while away their lives waiting to get married and not develop their educational or professional skills. They basically wait for their man to come along and take care of them for the rest of their lives in exchange for the adoration, adulation and total service in every respect they'd give him. That's not filling the measure of your creation.
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