My point, though, is that this bittersweet year has got me thinking about who I am as a woman and what marriage means and what is my place in it. Believing my marriage to be an eternal bond, what does this say about my situation/life in the eternities? I appreciate that in the eternities I will be a better person, a complete and holy person, and so will my husband. Perhaps that will make all the difference. But I am still uncertain as to what that means.
I feel as though when I contemplate the next life, I can glean some information from my Heavenly Father and from Jesus. But at the end of the day, they are men. They hold the priesthood. They are the kings of a patriarchal setup.
So where does that leave me since I definitely don't have a penis and have no desires to acquire one?
I have been wondering about my Heavenly Mother and wondering about what she does. It seems so counter to the spirit and to who I believe Heavenly Father to be that Mother would just be a spirit child making shadow, flitting about in the background but never doing anything of substance for Her children. My heart despairs of that being my eternal lot.
And yet I find it hard to combat the fact that, from my belief's standpoint, the heavens are so silent as to who She is and what She does. All the prophets have said is that She exists, which in and of itself is a great comfort to me.
And I sorrow at the fact that She seems to have no investment in my mortal pains. My Savior is here and so is my Father, but where is my Mother?
Am I doomed to be as silent as She?
The fact that Mormons HAVE a Heavenly Mother is -- I suppose -- a step ahead of most Christians. But I'd never considered until you pointed out here that she does end up looking a lot like the Deist Creator -- someone whose only role in the plan of salvation is at the beginning. (And that role is only inferred.)
ReplyDeleteBut one thing occurs to me... Joseph Smith taught that the same sociality that exists in this life will exist in the next life, only glorified. Consider the watchful, active, constant care that an earthly mother plays in raising her children. If that same sociality exists in Heaven, then our Heavenly Mother may play a much more central, active role in watching over and caring for us than we realize...
John - I agree with you and I tend to think that She is involved but along with that thought (and here I may just be whining) I wonder why, if She is involved and loving and caring and all those things I would ascribe to God whether male or female, why don't we ever hear about Her or from Her? Why is it so imperative that we have an intimate relationship with God the Father and the Son but our relationship with our Mother is so neglected to the point that the majority of Christianity doesn't even believe in her? And, as Mormons, we are actively discouraged from having a relationship with her.
ReplyDeleteAnd again, because everything is about me, what does this mean for me as a potential goddess in the next life?
As President Joseph F. Smith said, “The love of a true mother comes nearer [to] being like the love of God than any other kind of love” (“The Love of Mother,” Improvement Era, Jan. 1910, 278).
ReplyDeleteI have carried this with me from the time I heard it. We are mothers and with this gift, we are strong, spiritual beings...we have no need to worry, because heavenly father made us and knows we are almost perfect. We are wonderful in his eyes =0)