Sabbath Study

Guys! I just missed two days of blogging in a row and didn't even think about it once on either day. A past version of myself would have composed three blog posts tonight and retroactively timestamped the ones for the last two days to create the illusion of perfection. I'm glad that past bit of self has died. So...as if it never happened:

I try to spend Sundays combing through more of my 2020 church study materials than I usually read on a regular day of the week. It requires me to surrender Harry Potter for a day and I feel it is a healthy exercise for me to do so. (Plus, during COVID, it helps me keep track of the Sabbath.)

Anyway, here's what I worked on today.

1) I listened to @thefaithfulfeminists Q&A video on Instagram while driving around to family engagements. Surprised myself by not agreeing with much of it, but I was happy to listen to their perspectives and always appreciate conversations about women and church coming together.

2) I participated in a Relief Society Zoom meeting with my ward. We discussed a talk that I thought I loved but the conversation landed in a direction I didn't love. I plan to reread the talk tonight before bed.

3) I read the next article in the spring 2020 edition of Dialogue, but I'll link you to the one I've thought about most from this week of reading. (I'm about halfway through now.)

4) I began reading through Ben Spackman's free course "Interpreting Scripture, History, Science, and Creation." His first link was to an essay I had previously read, so I skimmed it and then read the next section of articles as well. I may expand and then share a comment I posted on one of them later in the week.

5) I studied my scriptures. Tried to read closely through Mosiah 23-24. Pondered a bit of the material in the Come Follow Me manual that accompanies this week's study.

6) I skimmed the self-assessment tool for faith crises created and shared by a Facebook group I'm currently lurking in (it's called Uplift Community of Faith if that resource is something you'd like to see more of). I don't consider my 2020 studies to be a faith crisis, and I didn't personally relate to more than a few of the self-assessment statements, but I'll probably click all the links there eventually and sift through their coursework.

And normally I would have had time to watch this week's edition of Don't Miss This and/or reach a chapter of Planted, but I spent extra time with family today instead (worth it). 

I share this linked-up list (which now seems overwhelming and probably over-the-top) for a couple reasons. One of them is to corral a few links I'll be returning to later. I mentioned earlier that my blog may become a church-y spot after 100 days have passed and that I need to find a system for collecting and sorting links I don't have time for in the moment I discover them. This is my first attempt at building a collection to reference later (and thereby being able to close a few near-permanent tabs, whew!).

A more significant reason, however, is my hope that this could be helpful to someone else. If you have church questions, some of this is gold! If you have some free time but no questions, perhaps I may introduce you to topics you haven't considered but that will ultimately be faith-promoting to you. If you have a moment of free time, click the link that sounds most interesting and then holler at me about it! I would love to have an actual conversation about any of this with someone beyond my spouse (I am afeared that I shall eventually tire him with my searchings and findings).

So there is today's curriculum. Don't be too surprised to see more along these lines in the future, but I will try not to make it be every single post. At least....I will try that for now ;) Happy Sabbath, all!