Despite the brilliance of Elder Uchtdorf's talk at conference yesterday, I have to accept that next Sunday the 3 hours at church will be no different to last week. Most people will not have watched the talk and even if they did will have tuned out the bits that cause cognitive dissonance. Of course people make mistakes, they might say (assuming the prophet occasionally eats a bit too much or acts impatiently). Many members will continue to make the same assumptions about other members with doubts or who don't attend.
For today, I don't care. I'll deal with that next week. I'll even ignore some of the divisive messages that other apostles said during the same conference weekend. Because I'm still in my bubble.
And for tomorrow... I'll accept that the church is a huge and immobile ocean liner. It will not be able to do a U-turn in a few months or even years. It will be nudged, slowly, by degrees towards a more inclusive and universal place. I believe it needs to or it will eventually sink on the iceberg of obstinance and irrelevance. It may not do it soon enough for many of us. Some of us will simply have to accept that, as ships pass in the night, we give out an SOS and change vessels. A different ship but still heading for the same port.
“God operates among his children in all nations, and those who seek God are entitled to further light and knowledge, regardless of their race, nationality, or cultural traditions.”
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/1991/10/the-gospel-a-global-faith?lang=eng
“While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is established for the instruction of men; and it is one of God’s instrumentalities for making known the truth yet he is not limited to that institution for such purposes, neither in time nor place. God raises up wise men and prophets here and there among all the children of men, of their own tongue and nationality, speaking to them through means that they can comprehend. … All the great teachers are servants of God; among all nations and in all ages. They are inspired men, appointed to instruct God’s children according to the conditions in the midst of which he finds them.” http://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/08/a-latter-day-saint-perspective-on-muhammad?lang=eng
So here's the question: If Mormonism is not the only ship headed towards the divine port; if the Mormon ship is going to take a long time to turn and take our preferred route, then why stay? My answer today is in part an echo of the answer from President Uchtdorf yesterday: because being on this particular vessel persuades me to do good and even more because I have a particular fondness for many of the passengers on the Mormon ship.
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