Latter Day Struggles

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 Series Title: Analysis of E. Corbridge's BYU Devotional “Stand Forever [Part II of II]


In this second half of a series tackling E Corbridge’s talk titled “Stand Forever”, Val and Nathan’s address the following: 

• How in their opinion scientific and other academic inquiry IS spiritual in nature 
• Why all questions are viable, valuable, and ought to be welcomed 
• How doubt is evidence of spiritual questing and courage
• A proposal that if there *were* only one question guiding our discipleship, it ought to be centered in how aligned are we with Christ’s embodiment of love 

Helpful links for listeners:

• Stand Forever, Elder Lawrence E Corbridge, BYU Devotional
• The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More than Our "Correct" Beliefs, by Peter Enns

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 Series Title: Analysis of E.Corbridge BYU Devotional “Stand Forever [Part I of II]


In the next two episodes Valerie and Nathan respond to a BYU address titled “Stand Forever” by E. Corbridge, where he proposes to university students that there are only four questions that even matter in one’s quest for spiritual knowledge in the LDS church. 

According to him, once these “primary questions” are answered, no “secondary questions” need be asked. 

In this series Valerie and Nathan challenge both the proposed four “primary questions” themselves and the premise that it is wrong to enquire about anything related to our unique faith journeys. 

FRIDAY’S episode tackles Val’s and Nathan’s responded to E Corbridge’s proposal that scientific and other academic inquiry is not spiritual in nature and explore why the experience of doubt is evidence of spiritual questing and courage.

Podcast-related resources:

• Stand Forever, by Lawrence E. Corbridge, BYU Devotional

Info on how to subscribe to listen to Friday’s episode is directly below.  See you there!

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Series Title: “On the Inside of the Edge” Exploration w/ Christian Kimball [Part IV of IV]

In this final episode in this mini-series featuring Chris Kimball’s book ⁠Living on the Inside of the Edge, Chris and Val close with a sensitive topic of so many of us on the peripheries of the LDS faith tradition.  

Both parents to children ranging from adolescents to mid-adulthood, Val and Chris share thoughts about the “Mormon Scoreboard” and how this scoring system hurts both parents and their children.

They share their own tender experiences navigating parenting, realizing that while their faith journeys complicated their parenting identities, ultimately they had no choice in the matter and their deepening faith was something that strengthened their ability to love their children and allow their children their own beautiful journeys too.

Chris and Valerie talk about fears that they have or have overcome in raising their children on the edge, knowing that others may well see them and/or their children as failures on the Mormon scoreboard.

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Series Title: “On the Inside of the Edge” Exploration w/ Christian Kimball [Part III of IV]

In this episode Chris and Val talk about dangers of MAGICAL THINKING and how pervasive this is in the LDS church.  They discuss how compelling a transactional understanding of life might feel (as all people crave certainty) but how damaging this is when churches offer simple if/then promises that crumble for many of us when things fall apart. 

What follows failed promises made by well-meaning loved ones and churches?  Not only the despair of the loss (the death, failed marriage, etc.) but also the despair that the whole system upon which one believes in God does not work.  

Friday’s closing episode of this series is a tender conversation about parenting on the edge.  Chris and Valerie talk about fears that they have or have overcome in raising their children on the edge, knowing that others may well see them and/or their children as failures on the Mormon scoreboard.Info on how to subscribe to listen to Friday’s episode is directly below.  See you there!

Helpful podcast-related resources:

• ⁠Living on the Inside of the Edge: A Survival Guide⁠⁠, Christian Kimball

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Series Title: “On the Inside of the Edge” Exploration w/ Christian Kimball [Part II of IV]

In this second episode in the mini-series featuring Chris Kimball’s book Living on the Inside of the Edge, Chris and Val talk about the crucial role that personal differentiation plays in having a healthy relationship with the LDS church.  

Put simply, we must all grow up and practice having an adult-to-adult relationship in a culture that sometimes encourages more of a child-to-adult relationship.  They cover everything from Bishop’s interviews to managing the anxiety of breaking benign but significant social codes of this faith community, and doing so from a place that honors the ongoing tension that humans long for both belonging to a community and belonging to themselves. 

Helpful podcast-related resources:

• ⁠Living on the Inside of the Edge: A Survival Guide⁠⁠, Christian Kimball

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 Series Title: “On the Inside of the Edge” Exploration w/ Christian Kimball [Part I of IV]

Welcome to the first of a WONDERFUL four-part mini series with guest Christian Kimball, author of the beautiful book Living on the Inside of the Edge.   

In today’s episode Chris and Val will focus on the topic of how prone we as Latter Day Saints (as are others in early stage spiritual and psychological development) are to think in BINARIES:  good/bad, right/wrong, in/out. 

Their invitation is to break out of binary-thinking and begin to see your relationship with the church on your own terms, emphasizing that your relationship with your current spiritual practice WILL CHANGE, because our life’s experiences change us all.  

In Friday’s episode Val and Chris focus on finally *truly* growing up in our relationship with the church! This episode digs into the concept of obtaining a differentiated [read: adult-to -adult] relationship with the church and how this adult-to-adult dynamic might look on the ground in real life relationships, especially with your bishop. 

Helpful podcast-related resources:

• Living on the Inside of the Edge: A Survival Guide, Christian Kimball⁠

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Series Title: Valerie’s 2023 Sunstone Symposium Address [Part II of II]

In this episode Valerie shares the second half of one of her  2023 Sunstone Symposium  addresses focused on her findings following hundreds of intense hours working with members of the LDS church in faith and trust crisis this past year.  

These observations might be of particular interest as they come exactly 10 years following the creation of an exhaustive report (linked in full below) created for (then) President Dieter F. Uchtdorf as a way to help LDS general authorities better understand the nature of the suffering of so many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in faith and trust crises.  

Valerie’s analysis in today’s episode covers the following (among other things):

• The typical internal traumatic experience of individuals in early LDS faith and trust crisis.
• The relational/interpersonal struggles of those in LDS faith and trust crisis. 
• The psychological interventions that Valerie uses to help people heal from the trauma of faith and trust crisis. 
• How people look and feel as they heal from this experience both in relationship to themselves, others, and the LDS church.

Please feel welcome to join one of Valerie’s space-limited Faith Crisis and Expansion support and processing groups.  As a trauma therapist she continues to help our LDS faith expansion community become psychologically healthier and spiritually well in and around the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Enroll at latterdaystruggles.com. 

Helpful podcast-related resources:

• Faith Crisis Report: https://faenrandir.github.io/a_careful_examination/documents/faith_crisis_study/Faith_Crisis_R28e.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0HEjV8dDVB9J1__x6ISIgHBRFw5TL06l-mr38edrjdAqbVZbp7Ox2ZvuU&fse&s=cl&fs=e&s=cl

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Series Title: Valerie’s 2023 Sunstone Symposium Address [Part I of II]

In the next two episodes Valerie will share with you her findings following hundreds of intense hours working with members of the LDS church in faith and trust crisis this past year since she opened up her first growth, processing, and support groups as a trauma therapist serving her own faith community.

These observations might be of particular interest as they come exactly 10 years following the creation of an exhaustive report (linked in full below) created for (then President) Dieter F. Uchtdorf as a way to help LDS general authorities better understand the nature of the suffering of so many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in faith and trust crises.

Valerie’s analysis in this episode and Friday’s episodes covers the following (among other things):

•  The current main causes of LDS faith and trust crisis
•  The emergence of some issues in 2023 that were less prominent in 2013
•  What people in faith and trust crisis generally are experiencing from a psychological perspective
•  The relational suffering of those in LDS faith and trust crisis due to the standard rhetoric about “those who doubt”
•  The psychological interventions that Valerie uses to help people heal from the trauma of faith and trust crisis
•  How people look and feel as they heal from this experience both in relationship to themselves, others, and the LDS church

Valerie feels a deep personal commitment to help each person who comes to this platform.  Thank you for trusting this platform as you work through this challenging but ultimately rewarding experience of spiritual growth! 

Faith Crisis Report: https://faenrandir.github.io/a_careful_examination/documents/faith_crisis_study/Faith_Crisis_R28e.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0HEjV8dDVB9J1__x6ISIgHBRFw5TL06l-mr38edrjdAqbVZbp7Ox2ZvuU&fs=e&s=cl&fs=e&s=cl

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Series Title: Tribute to Carol Lynn Pearson's Groundbreaking Play "Mother Wove with Morning" [Part II of II]

In this episode Valerie is joined by feminist and queer rights author, poet, and activist Carol Lynn Pearson honoring women throughout time who have sought the feminine divine.  

Carol Lynn’s classic one-woman play “Mother Wove the Morning” is an invitation to walk back in time and learn how women always have sought their Mother. 

Carol Lynn feels that perhaps a most sacred “work for the dead” we can each do is honor and follow those who have gone before us in their search of the lost feminine divine.  

She does this very thing with a dramatic flare in both her full length play (linked at the bottom of show notes for purchase on her website) and through her performance of a part of this theatrical work right here on today’s episode.  

If you have ever loved the creative flair of Carol Lynn, this episode will having you smiling with love and gratitude for her passion, talent, and feminist ministry. 

Please enjoy the ENTIRE PLAY and SCRIPT available for purchase at carollynnpearson.com where she also has a myriad of other books that will delight and educate you about many important issues of our day.

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Series Title: Tribute to Carol Lynn Pearson's Groundbreaking Play "Mother Wove with Morning" [Part I of II]

Following last week’s deep dive into the talk “To the Mothers in Zion”, you are likely struck by the need to better understand the fraught roll of women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the 20th and 21st century.

However, the struggle to understand the unequal status of women is not just an LDS in nature.  It is MUCH bigger than that.  And it is deeply connected to the loss of our collective knowledge of the feminine divine.

This is what this week’s Latter Day Struggles episodes plans to explore.

And who better to take us on this journey than own beloved poet laureate, author, and feminist extraordinaire—Carol Lynn Pearson.

The specific topic of this two-episode series is Carol Lynn’s one-woman play titled “Mother Wove the Morning”.

In Carol Lynn’s typically beautiful and dramatic way, we learn all about women throughout the ages their ongoing search for the divine face of God.

Monday’s episode offers context to the creation of this play—her personal experiences that led up to the realization of this idea, where, how, when it was performed and how it was received.

She shares her experience deciding to address the feminine divine in an era where feminist and heavenly mother scholarship was under the critical scrutiny from the leadership of the church and how she decided to answer the call notwithstanding the risks.

In Friday’s episode Carol Lynn will delight us all with an overview of the cast of characters whom she selected to perform through her and actually performs a portion of the play for us all to enjoy!

If you loved the little portion that you heard on the podcast, don’t hesitate to go to her website carollynnpearson.com and buy the entire play and the book that goes with it.  It is time for a resurrection of this amazing one-woman play in the ongoing celebration of the feminine face of God with whom so many of us are finding deep connection.

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