RWW - This one's for you!

... and for the rest of those who have been wanting to hear from me again. Thank you all for your concern, your prayers, and your support. For better or for worse, I have found that blogging specifically to a Mormon audience is utterly not worthwhile. The Mormonism of today has its truth already, and is not looking for any innovation whatsoever. Innovation would separate it from mainstream Christianity, and favor with mainstream Christianity is that which the Saints of today most deeply covet. Strong words, perhaps, but true: If not individually, then collectively.

I am forever the heretic because I believe that Jehovah is the Father, as Joseph Smith did, and because I side with Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff on certain issues which, according to Bruce R. McConkie, implies that I "have the intellect of an ant and the understanding of a clod of miry clay in a primordial swamp" and that I "do not deserve to be saved." Why won't "our" apologists apologize for statements such as this?

(Side note: 2,555,000,000 years old. Hmm.)

And yet I believe! Well, I believe in something, and my beliefs are deeply intertwined with Mormonism. They may not be the Orthodox religion, but they are Godly, or, if they are not, then I have been deceived. But, I choose to believe that the Holy Ghost I have felt is real, that the answers to prayer I received about Joseph Smith are true. But I am not part of mainstream Mormon culture. They look at me funny. I scare some of them. They just don't know how to deal with me. And the more I endure, the more sick I feel when I hear their teachings. I mean their pet teachings, their naive teachings, not the truth. When they preach the truth it is still sweet, but the other things, the naive assumptions and philosophies of some of their most prominent men which they have blended with the gospel offends my spirit in subtle ways, and I would rather be in an environment more facilitative of my spiritual growth.

Is this selfish of me? I'd like to help them grow. I'd like to pitch in and teach, but I can't. My teachings are not permitted. So I feel saddened by it all.

If you like my posts, my thoughts, and want to hear more from me, or speak with me, please consider reading and commenting on my Masonic blog: Lodgical. Nearly everything I write there and elsewhere has personal religious significance to me. Even the articles I write for other organizations. If you have comments or questions to share with me of an overtly Mormon nature, or just want to chat, please contact me directly by email at jeffREMOVE_THIS_PART@storago.com

I want to talk. I have very little religious fellowship now. I am currently accepted as a sort of sojourner ("on the path") in the Jewish community, but that is not a place to deeply discuss my Latter-day Saint beliefs.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Jewish Burial Shrouds

I just put together a Google Notebook on Jewish Burial Shrouds. They are more than just a big sheet! Interesting to compare it to the Mormon burial customs.

Kashrut Status

In Jewish Kosher law, the Kashrut status is basically the "type" of food or utensil. For example, if I cut a steak with a knife, that knife becomes a "Meat" item. If I slice cheese with a different knife, it becomes "Dairy." If an item is neither meat nor dairy, it is considered "Pareve."

The Jews, especially women, have a special ceremonial bathing that is done to become "clean" after menstruation as well as a special preparation before certain life events. The water they bathe in must be a natural body of water, however, they abide by the law by taking a certain amount of rain water and combining it with tap water. The tap water, therefore, picks up the symbolic status of rain water.

If a man comes into contact with a dead body, he also picks up the status of unclean, the status of the dead body, and must be cleansed before he may go about his regular business.

Interesting... I notice items picking up properties from the things they come into contact with. A useful idea. What I also notice, that I find humorous, is that both good and bad traits can be picked up. Rain water (good), mixed with tap water (bad) turns the tap water Good, not the other way around, while a dead body (bad), coming into contact with a live body (good) turns the live body bad. I just muse over this observation, how curious it seems.