Friday, April 5, 2013

What Do LDS Women Get?

The recent debate about LDS women being ordained to the priesthood has made me think, and I feel like I need to comment.  I feel completely at peace with being a woman in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and not being able to hold the priesthood.  I personally believe that women do not need to be ordained unto this power, for the power is already within them.  What is the priesthood?  It is the Power of God.  Who is God?  He is our Father, a powerful and loving being.  Who are we?  We are His daughters, created in His image, patterned after Him, in our mortality and nature.  If this is true, that we are His daughters, and that we are like Him, then we inherently have the Power of God within us.  We might use that power differently than our priesthood brothers, but it is there, nonetheless.  We are still privy to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, we are still entitled to revelation, and we are still able to move that mountain.

We squeak and squawk about equality in life.  Equality in the work place.  Equality in the military.  Equality in religion.  But women and men are never going to be equal.  Until we become a biological androgynous species, there will always be a difference between men and women.  We were created differently for a reason.  We have different roles and responsibilities, different purposes that we are on earth to fulfill.

Sister Sheri Dew explains the roles and rights of women in the Church perfectly, answering the question of equality and ordination. She, of all people, knows the privileges of being a woman in the gospel, as she has served faithfully beside the priesthood leaders of the Church for years.


I am so grateful to be a member and woman of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I am grateful for the difference between men and women and the chance I have to righteously fulfill the measure of my creation.  I know that, even though I have never been ordained to the priesthood, that the Spirit and Power of God reside with me.  And I can call upon that power when needed.  I am grateful for the opportunity we have to listen to living prophets this weekend during General Conference. They are led by God and speak with His voice.  We can feel God's love and know of his will and plan as we listen with our hearts and spirits.  He will direct and guide us.

Happy Conference Weekend!

3 comments:

Lauren Donna said...

Don't forget our Heavenly Mother! :)

I hadn't ever considered women wanting the priesthood as a legitimate movement, but within the last year I've realized how widespread it is. I was shocked because it was something that hadn't ever occurred to me. Was this because I've spent my life believing in a patriarchy that had me brainwashed into believing I was not a valuable and relevant child of God? - NO.

That said, I do think the sum of our parts (men and women) is equal, but those parts are not all identical. Otherwise, why would men and women need each other at all except for procreative purposes?? That's not to say there aren't men who are more nurturing or that there aren't women who step up as the family breadwinner. One does not submit to the other, they both submit to the Father and honor the respective powers given them.

Erin said...

I like, I like, I like. Well said!!! Even as a liberal democrat feminist that I am (shocker right?) I am just fine with men having the priesthood.

Chelsea H. Huffaker said...

What a great video! It makes me sad to hear and read of so many women in the Church who are part of these crazy movements such as wearing pants to church, women praying in conference, and wanting the priesthood. If only they would search the scriptures and seek the Spirit they would not need to question the Church as they do.

I love how Sheri Dew pointed out that the Church has been forward thinking about the roles of women long before the world. How true and what a great blessing it is to be part of it.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true!