Comments/Posting Misunderstanding

In any case, you appear to have scrubbed my comments from your blog, just as Joseph Smith had the printing presses smashed in Nauvoo ;-)I'm not sure I understand why we are not having this exchange in the forum that you created, unless there's some aspect of your church or your belief that simply can't bear the light of day.

I apologize for deleting the previous post and its comments and then posting a private email discussion. I was trying to rectify the situation by illuminating the conversation and did not intend for it to be offensive to the original author.

Finding Common Ground as Family

My last post was as follows:

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How does one balance family unity and religious choice?

Specifically, in a case like mine, where you have young children who aren't interested in participating in your chosen religion anymore.

It just feels wrong to be sitting by myself on Sunday mornings when that is time I could be with my children.

What are your thoughts? Is it better to nurture my own faith and sacrifice time with them? Is it better to find a church where we can all worship together?

I know that the responses I get will be as varied as the people that you are....I am truly interested in your perspective on this one. How do we honor our own beliefs while honoring our most important priority?

Thoughts?

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As I have reflected on this and heard from several of my family members and friends off-site who all had different perspectives, I realized that I fell into my old habit of looking at differences instead of focusing on common ground.

In our world we tend to look at differences first instead of seeing how much we are alike.

So let me turn this question around...

How can I build unity in my family and focus my attention on the common bonds we share? How have you done this in your family? What are the benefits of focusing on commonalities vs. differences?

Just for fun...

Check out www.beliefnet.com if you have never had the opportunity. It is fun to explore the different religions, try your hand at the belief-o-matic, and discover just how much we all have in common.

Thoughts for the Day

"Beautiful faces are those that wear whole-souled honesty printed there." Ellen Palmer Allerton

"Find out who you are and do it on purpose."

Multicultural Mormonism

One of the fascinating things I have learned (and continue to learn) during my cultural journey of the past several years is that there are many of us who have become adept at operating in bi-cultural or multi-cultural contexts. Life in suburban America (at least in my area) is dominated by the white, Christian modus operandi. There is nothing wrong with this per se except that we need to consider what it means for others who do not "fit" this profile. Since mormons have their own culture, I have learned what it means to operate both inside and outside of that culture as part of my daily life. This is nothing compared to the much bigger challenge of those who face more obvious "labels" such as being a person of color or a person with different abilities. I like learning about how others operate within their different cultural contexts and how they "make it work" in foreign territory. There are some great articles on this subject by Dr. Ella Louise Bell who hails from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. YOu can read more about her at http://www.womensleadershipexchange.com/index.php?pagename=gurus&speakerkey=186.

I am fascinated by individuals who develop the art of being cultural brokers. Have you ever found yourself playing the part of "cultural broker"? Helping others of different "cultures" learn how to communicate better and find common ground? If so, I would love to hear of your stories.