Article Re Dan Reynolds

[Analytics]

9 hours ago, let’s roll said:

Thanks for following up with, as I’ve come to expect from you, a thoughtful response.  A couple of thoughts.

If all religion was able to offer are the two things you believe are offered, I suspect I’d be, at most, a participant only when it was convenient.  I have plenty of community in my life apart from Church relationships.  But if one has experienced divine communion, religion takes on new meaning.  Divine peace and grace help one view religion not as an end, but as a vehicle to invite and assist others to come to know Deity.  Instead of understanding what your investigator experienced as the Mormon message resonating with her, what if it was her having an experience with the Divine.  By your own description, you state she independently came to her own conclusion about the meaning of her dreams and experiences.  Perhaps religion provided the concept of eternal families and her experience with her husband and the Divine confirmed to her the truth of that concept.  My experience has been that if you seek and receive Divine wisdom/guidance and act on it, the Divine wisdom/guidance continues.  I trust if she continued to seek guidance and acted on it she will have had the same experience.

One would hope that both missionaries and priests (as well as the Moonies in your hypothetical) would all be inviting her to do the same thing…seek Divine comfort and peace as well as the Divine wisdom and guidance promised to ALL who seek it with the requisite intent and then follow that guidance.  To me that invitation is the sin qua non of any religion.

Best regards.

You might be interested in knowing that I was raised in a part-member family--my mom was a Latter-day Saint, and my father was a Quaker.

I’m very sympathetic to your quest to seeking a direct connection with the divine, and that makes me think you’d be a great Quaker. I don’t have a promise with that, at all. What does offend my internal sense of intellectual integrity are the claims, practices, and requirements that certain religions pile on top of that. For example, [insert laundry list here].

In any case, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.

[ZealouslyStriving]

25 minutes ago, Analytics said:

my father was a Quaker

Ah, now I get you profile pic. 😄

[Analytics]

11 minutes ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

Ah, now I get you profile pic. 😄

Bingo.

George Fox was the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, in the 17th century. Quakers believe in the "Inner Light," the idea that there is something of God in everyone. They emphasize direct, personal experience of God without the need for clergy, and their practices include silent worship, pacifism, social justice, and equality. Quakers are known for their commitment to peace, simplicity, integrity, and community. They played significant roles in social reforms, including the abolition of slavery and the promotion of women's rights.

[ZealouslyStriving]

14 minutes ago, Analytics said:

Bingo.

George Fox was the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, in the 17th century. Quakers believe in the "Inner Light," the idea that there is something of God in everyone. They emphasize direct, personal experience of God without the need for clergy, and their practices include silent worship, pacifism, social justice, and equality. Quakers are known for their commitment to peace, simplicity, integrity, and community. They played significant roles in social reforms, including the abolition of slavery and the promotion of women's rights.

BTW, if you ever write an autobio, "My Father Was A Quaker" would be an excellent title.

[Tacenda]

3 hours ago, Analytics said:

Bingo.

George Fox was the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, in the 17th century. Quakers believe in the "Inner Light," the idea that there is something of God in everyone. They emphasize direct, personal experience of God without the need for clergy, and their practices include silent worship, pacifism, social justice, and equality. Quakers are known for their commitment to peace, simplicity, integrity, and community. They played significant roles in social reforms, including the abolition of slavery and the promotion of women's rights.

I want your avatar now!

[let’s roll]

12 hours ago, Analytics said:

Bingo.

George Fox was the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, in the 17th century. Quakers believe in the "Inner Light," the idea that there is something of God in everyone. They emphasize direct, personal experience of God without the need for clergy, and their practices include silent worship, pacifism, social justice, and equality. Quakers are known for their commitment to peace, simplicity, integrity, and community. They played significant roles in social reforms, including the abolition of slavery and the promotion of women's rights.

FYI, you might find interesting in the Church News article about the Preston, England Ward being the longest running congregation in the Church a story about a man from Botswana who, as a young man, had an experience after his mother died similar to the one you related about the woman you baptized in Argentina.