strappinglad Posted September 30, 2015 Posted September 30, 2015 I'm going to generalize here. A man goes to conference and hears a talk about doing more to become Christ -like . He listens carefully and resolves to do better. Before he leaves the room, he speaks with a couple of friends and comments about how good Pres. Xs talk was and brings up how it was like a half-time coach .The talk moves to the previous night's ball game and off it goes. On the way home he thinks about that odd noise coming from the front of the car and resolves to have it looked at soon. Any guilt he had from listening to the talk is swept away by other pressing matters of life. Am I to believe that the average woman hears the same talk and beats herself up for at least a week? How could we take a page from each other's play book and both be edified?
bluebell Posted September 30, 2015 Posted September 30, 2015 I'm going to generalize here. A man goes to conference and hears a talk about doing more to become Christ -like . He listens carefully and resolves to do better. Before he leaves the room, he speaks with a couple of friends and comments about how good Pres. Xs talk was and brings up how it was like a half-time coach .The talk moves to the previous night's ball game and off it goes. On the way home he thinks about that odd noise coming from the front of the car and resolves to have it looked at soon. Any guilt he had from listening to the talk is swept away by other pressing matters of life. Am I to believe that the average woman hears the same talk and beats herself up for at least a week? How could we take a page from each other's play book and both be edified? I don't think anyone on this thread has said that the Women's session makes them feel guilty. OK, please know I am not trying to be argumentative. I'm curious. I like numbers. I like to analyze. I decided to sort of take up your challenge. I started looking at last springs priesthood and women's sessions. I started wondering if it would be more noticeable if I looked at past years? So I started looking at those too. I was expecting to see more of what you were talking about. There was definitely an emphasis on home last spring for the women, but then I remember also noticing the "family" theme was all through conference (for the general population as well) so maybe that conference time wasn't a good one for comparing for this kind of thing. So that's one of the reasons I started looking in past years. And yes, much more of an emphasis on home and family for the women than the men. One talk was about being full of light so I thought - "there's the passive that Juliann was talking about"! But then I found it (the passive) running through the men's talks as well. One difference I found was that power was talked about twice (probably more, but I didn't look farther at this yet), but it was power through the priesthood for the men and power through the home for the women. Both talked about gaining spiritual knowledge to gain that power. I'm finding that the active part is more woven in through the passive part for the women. It wasn't till I was actively looking for it that I saw it hidden in there. It's more nuanced than it is for the men. I was just about to press submit, but then decided to read the "cause" talk. It wasn't ringing a bell with me. Now I'm sticking it in the middle of what I have written. Why? Because I found again that much of the active part of the talk is hidden in the passive part. It starts out strong with "cause" (and I think the voice of Sister McConkie helps) and then it reads like many of the other talks I have been reading tonight. I think the word helps point out that there are active roles we should take where as in other talks there is not much to point out the hidden "active". So the question becomes - are most women picking the "active" part up up? And why is the nuance there? Is it because as a group we haven't shown a readiness for it yet? Despite the fact that the talk was about motherhood and the title of the talk belies it, "Mothers Who Know" was quite an active talk and it had boatloads of controversy over it. I'm not talking about the working mother controversy. I'm talking about the "I'm overwhelmed and you are telling me I'm not doing enough?" controversy except that many who heard the action words took it as a judgment. So is this why the action words are hidden or is there some other reason? Perhaps some of it it just tradition? If we are not ready how can we help each other to be ready for clear as a bell active talks? I think you make an interesting point. Are we as women, in general, so sensitive that anytime anyone actually does say something specific we freak out? I remember the 'mothers who know' talk and it had some pretty big back lash.
juliann Posted September 30, 2015 Posted September 30, 2015 Good observation, Rain. Here is a side by side comparison of changes made in the YW manual that shows how much they have changed to a more active voice. So it is getting better. (I think this was done by Laura Compton.) You can see how much they used to have the YW talk about men/priesthood holders and what men do and feel as if they were bystanders. Now it is more about them...what are the YW's responsibilities instead of what are the duties of priesthood holders.https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5IILxCHTVLueHpLbld5SVU5N0E/edit 2013: What is the priesthood?What are the duties of priesthood holders?What are the keys of the priesthood?How does the priesthood bless me?How do I honor and uphold the priesthood? Changed to..... What is the priesthood?What are my responsibilities in the work of the priesthood?What are the keys of the priesthood?How do I receive the power and blessings of the priesthood in my life?What does it mean to sustain my Church leaders?
Tacenda Posted September 30, 2015 Posted September 30, 2015 (edited) http://www.ldsliving.com/15-Conference-Moments-No-One-Saw-Coming/s/76952?page=1#story-content 15 Conference Moments No One Saw Coming I'm sorry to put this here, didn't see a General Conference thread. Hope it's ok. Edited September 30, 2015 by Tacenda
bsjkki Posted September 30, 2015 Posted September 30, 2015 I finally watched and read the talks from women's conference but skipped the videos. Maybe I should go check those out too. I preferred reading the messages over listening to them mostly because I am not an auditory learner. I cannot complain about the messages. My personal emphasis in my gospel journey this year is the two great commandments of loving God, loving my neighbor and learning how the Holy Ghost speaks to me and following the promptings received. In the past, I have been to caught up in the to do lists and checklists and felt overwhelmed in all the things we are supposed to do each day as Mormon women that I personally, had to pull back and focus on the big picture. I was missing the "forest through the trees." When I served in Young Women's, I felt overwhelmed because of "challenges" issued every week to the youth. As a mother, I thought it was my duty to make sure my girls did all that was asked of them until it became impossible. How can I then complain if our leaders are focusing on the big picture? How should our leaders speak in order to inspire (not overwhelm) but still bring the big picture down to level it sinks into the hearts of the sisters. Listening to the speakers, I still had a hard time focusing on the messages and it seemed to be a lot of the same old stuff but reading them, I picked up on a lot more. In talking with others, this was a bit of a problem. How do you take lofty themes such as divine nature and having our "cause" be Christ and then internalize those themes into action in our daily life without adding to the "checklist' of to do's. Thank you Juliann and Rain for your discussion of active vs passive. Very enlightening. One other question-is Uchtdorf's parable meant to be taken pretty straight forward or do you think their is deeper meaning and more layers to it? I enjoyed http://bycommonconsent.com/2015/09/29/uchtdorf-at-the-womens-session-something-for-everyone-ldsconf/ Thank you Ginger Snap. Make sure to read the captions with the photos for a good chuckle. 1
Ginger Snaps Posted September 30, 2015 Posted September 30, 2015 Oh haha! I completely forgot about the captions!
Jeanne Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 I don't think anyone on this thread has said that the Women's session makes them feel guilty. I think you make an interesting point. Are we as women, in general, so sensitive that anytime anyone actually does say something specific we freak out? I remember the 'mothers who know' talk and it had some pretty big back lash.I remember that talk...ouch! There was a lot of women in my old ward and area in all levels of the faith that really got ticked off.
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