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January 26–February 1 ❘ Acceptable Offering

Poem and discussion centering on what constitutes an acceptable offering to the Lord, inspired by Moses 6:3; Psalm 23.

Acceptable Offering

Scripture means little
till you’ve lived it,
inhabited its words
like a way-house,
wrapped yourself in sorrow
like a second-hand jacket.

In the midst of affliction,
my table holds
one broken heart laid out,
one contrite spirit sliced thin.
I taste only ashes
of this single sacrifice.

I know it isn’t good to focus
so wholly on one need
to the hollowing out
of all others, but I feel
like a foolish child, slow to speak
and slower to understand.

Perhaps if I give
every open wound,
every raw nerve and scrap of hope
within me, it will be enough
and my offering will be
acceptable to the Lord.

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January 19–25 ❘ Cain

Poem and discussion centering on Eve’s relationship with her son Cain, inspired by Genesis 4:1–16 and Moses 5:16–41.

Cain

From the beginning,
he was willful and always
wanting more.

Gardener that I am,
I hoped to train his nature
toward stubborn love of God
and desire for growing good.

At first, it seemed to take—
his arguments with Abel ended.
He worked the land, married well,
made outward offerings to the Lord.

But something inside was amiss,
something no mother imagines
when she gazes into newborn eyes
and heaven binds her heart
with love’s first green tendrils.

I thought I’d learned all about hard
choices and the sorrow
consequence
can deliver, but now

I am as God,
knowing good and evil
offer boughs of heavy fruit
to every hungry heart.

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January 12–18 ❘ Spiritual Creation

Poem and discussion centering on spiritual versus physical creation, inspired by Genesis 2:4–5, Moses 3:4–5, and Abraham 4.

Spiritual Creation

When darkness blurs hard lines
before dawn brings all to focus,
I counsel with God
to create in spirit a new day:

          eat good food
          keep home clean
          speak in kindness
          follow Christ

Then I go and do
half the plan:

          eat what I shouldn’t
          don’t sweep up all that falls
          lose heart and mind to moment
          reach breaking point and cry

Jesus, Son of God,
have mercy on me!

Day sinks again to dusk.
I return and report my chaos.
Hard line upon line upon line
I lay at Father’s feet.

He takes each stripe and heals
what I have done. He gives
another day for me to rise
and create in spirit and body.
He names me Good.

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January 5–11 ❘ Jochebed

Poem and discussion centering on Moses’s mother Jochebed and Moses’s vision of God, inspired by Moses 1:9–22.

Jochebed

I follow Moses too closely—
a mother who watches secretly
from across a great distance
will sometimes hover.

The night I saw him in midst of vision,
God’s glory was veiled from me
though it burned like reflected bonfire
from my son’s face,

but I saw the shining man afterward,
gilded pharaoh in painted pomp.
I feared Rameses had found him
at last. Hands pressed to mouth,

I cried in my mind,
You cannot have him!

The being sprouted claws and tore
like furious falcon-headed god
screaming for blood.
Such bitterness I hadn’t seen

since the day I set my baby in the river
in desperate last effort to save him.
Knee-deep in mud and obscured
by whispering reeds,

God heard every word I drummed
unceasingly at heaven’s door.
He answered then
as He does now.

I suppose He knows well
how to watch and hover
and wait for the moment when
a child finally cries out.

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December 29–January 4 ❘ Another Exodus

Poem and discussion centering on how the recurring theme of exodus has formed the character of God’s chosen people down through the ages, inspired by Exodus 14–17.

Another Exodus

Maybe Laman and Lemuel thought Moses
was a founding myth or metaphor
for Israel’s will to live free.
Maybe they believed he really had lived—
a trickster who twisted free of Egypt
to become ruler by dint of cunning—
but who can divine embellishment
from truth after centuries of retellings?

          So in the wilderness,
they mourned flesh pots of home
and wondered that Jerusalem
should lack graves enough to hold them.
They murmured at every setback,
grew complacent in success.

Nephi took manna literally.
When he hungered, he made a bow
and hunted. When he reached the sea,
he dug for ore, forged tools, built a boat.
He believed and went and did

          as though he could part water
and make a highway to the promised
land by filling the ocean spoonful
by spoonful with dry earth
at the Lord’s command.

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December 22–28 ❘ Like a Fire Burning

Poem and discussion centering on the growth of great things from small beginnings, inspired by The Living Christ.

Like a Fire Burning

All great things grow from small—
crackling flickers fed with tinder
and sheltered from crosswinds,
embers blown back to life
after rain,

               a swaddled child born in a cave
who grew in stature,
received grace for grace
unto fullness of light in one short
mortal life seemingly snuffed out,

               but not really. The Lord
does not simmer on a back burner.
He gains, gathers, restores.
His eyes are like flame,
countenance like noonday.

               I am as yet blind,
but I’m feeling the way forward,
following His heat.

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December 15–21 ❘ Proclamation to the World

Poem and discussion centering on the centrality of family in our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness, inspired by The Family Proclamation.

Proclamation to the World

Children’s children are the crown of old men;
and the glory of children are their fathers.
          Proverbs 17:6

The glory of God is intelligence:
element organized before the world was,
begotten spirit offspring birthed
from darkness to light.

The glory of God is immortality, eternal lives:
brought to pass by Savior turning hearts
from inward search to outward reach,
parents and posterity gathering close.

The glory of the Lord is a heritage:
a quiver full of children brighter than steel,
sharper than arrows flying
to world’s uttermost part with purpose.

The glory of the Lord fills the earth:
His family fills the whole earth
from eternity to eternity,
worlds without end.

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December 8–14 ❘ Stubborn

Poem and discussion centering on the importance of remaining humble enough to do whatever the Lord asks of us, inspired by Official Declarations 1 and 2

Stubborn

It’s hard to be humble
with enemies who hate
when you know you’re right
and to cooperate feels like cowardice,
like lying prone under a drawn sword.

It’s hard to be humble
with friends who love
when they claim you’re wrong
and to listen feels like faithlessness,
like letting go of the iron rod.

Thank God for prophets,
patient breakers of dams
who risk inundation to set free pure,
rolling waters that lift us higher,
push us nearer to the kingdom.

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December 1–7 ❘ Disembodied

Poem and discussion centering on why we might miss our physical bodies in the spirit world, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 138:50.

Disembodied

For Mom

How long was it before you missed
the pain-wasted shell you left at death,
that vessel you pushed through years
propped by walker and wheelchair
and tried to drag from bed to finish up
your sewing the day you slipped away?

When Dad met you at the threshold,
did you long to fill your arms with his familiar warmth
and hear his heart thumping under your ear?
Do you now wish for the smell of pies baking
or miss the prickle of salivation in reply?
Can you sing hymns without vocal cords,
play preludes without fingers,
do anything but silently hope?

Maybe you are already risen,
well-rested and refreshed, chatting
with Mother Eve’s other faithful daughters.
Maybe you accompany angel choirs
or offer to hem new white robes
for anyone who asks.

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November 24–30 ❘ Blindsided

Poem and discussion centering on how fulfilment of prophecy can take us by surprise, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 135:1.

Blindsided

I am surprised
by predictable things.

Christmas washes over me
like an annual tsunami.
Daylight saving time ends
and bewilders me with darkness.
Old age creeps up and yells boo
from my mirror. When death
strikes even the elderly,
I am stunned by a life cut short
too soon.

Joseph went like a lamb
to the slaughter and Saints
grieved at his unexpected end.
Disciples of Jesus were shocked
by direct fulfillment of prophecy.

I will probably stare slack-jawed
when He comes again,
scarcely able to believe
what I was told all along.

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November 17–23 ❘ Glossary

Poem and discussion centering on the persecution of the Saints in Missouri, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 101:1–2.

Glossary

Zion:
rolling green hills bought
for a price, waiting still
to be redeemed;
the clean; the worthy;
the pure in heart, yet
not all

Saints:
just people who are
(1) ecstatic with hope
(2) torn by trial
(3) riddled with sin
(4) purified by fire

Neighbor:
one whose children played
with yours in town, but
who with the mob now
kicks in your door at midnight

Persecuted:
to scrape pine tar and blood-
specked feathers from raw,
naked skin shedding
blistered top layer

Expelled:
to sit on the riverbank wrapped
in sheets of rain and curling
smoke amidst gutted innards
of your former home; to scramble
from fire to fire seeking lost family

Prophet:
one who worries over the future
but sees only as far ahead
as God appoints; child
who trusts his Father’s call
and walks forward into the dark

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November 10–16 ❘ A Man Like Ourselves

Poem and discussion centering on how Jesus Christ is a real, physical being, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 130:1.

A Man Like Ourselves

If Jesus had no form or beauty
for me to desire—if he had
imperfect teeth and a wide-
gapped, crooked smile,

if he were plain, slight,
or bald, with a freckled
complexion, sunburnt nose,
and distinguishing mole—

he’d still have ears and eyes and limbs,
laugh lines and forehead wrinkles,
skin that’s bled and healed,
scars inside and out.

If he met me at the front gate
with a face I’d mistake for the porter,
it would only seem more natural for him
to unburden me of baggage

and walk with me to the door
asking after family,
how was my trip,
would I like a bite to eat.

If his appearance were as common
as dandelions in summer,
as unremarkable as clean linens hung
fluttering in the yard to dry,

he’d still be more than just like me,
with an understanding
that vivisects hearts
and love that knits them new again.

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November 3–9 ❘ Linked

Poem and discussion centering on the link between living and dead family members, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 128:18.

Linked

I wonder why
in all their post-earth existence
my parents have never visited
to seed my dreams with counsel
I would seek from them
if they still lived.

They wonder why
in my embodied state
with hands that feel and are felt
I don’t get to work heeding
words they poured into my ears
when they still lived.

We feel after each other,
hearts welded in mutual need
to meet again. We think
if it can’t be so, this world
is an utter waste.

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October 27–November 2 ❘ Nauvoo House

Poem and discussion centering on the construction of Nauvoo House, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 124:4.

Nauvoo House

I’d like to buy stock
in a boarding house of the Lord
somewhere safe and secure,

a stake in a perpetual timeshare
to be recorded and remembered
from generation to generation,

a sanitarium to rest from all toil
on the healthful banks
of a slow, winding river

to be no more a vagabond
seeking the bread of life
but take up the work of Forever

if such a place exists to welcome
a stranger in a strange land.

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October 20–26 ❘ Hiding Place

Poem and discussion centering on times when we seek God but feel like we can’t find Him, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 121:1.

Hiding Place

I see your pavilion’s faint outline
pitched in open field,
banners flicking and flashing
in the sun, hitched horses at ease,
the camp milling about
on important errands.

I try to move forward,
but the ground gives way
and I find myself slogging
through a nightmare mire,
never progressing toward
a goal I can’t quite remember.

When I call for help,
the quartermaster perks up
and turns—but where are you?
Your tent flaps never part.
I cannot see you, though I know
you are somewhere.

Maybe you are hiding in wind and sun,
or in concerned eyes of camp followers.
Maybe you have descended below,
beneath the mud, and only wait
to receive my feet.

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October 13–19 ❘ Tithing

Poem and discussion centering on the law of tithing, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 119:3–4.

Tithing

One-tenth of my interest annually
is 876 hours per year—

attention paid during meetings,
scripture study, family home evening,
ministering assignments, callings,
activities, service projects,
temple sessions—
even rounding up,

all my time spent in worship
tallies to a deficit.

Yet at annual settlement
I declare my balance paid in full,
having padded my little pile
of minutes with a heart overdrawn
in prayer, ever pestering the Lord
for more of His Spirit,

beggar that I am.
Are we not all?

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October 6–12 ❘ Treasure Trove

Poem and discussion centering on where the real treasures in life are to be found, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 111:10.

Treasure Trove

My parents paid for Sunday shoes
and music lessons, children’s
encyclopedias and youth trips,
New Year’s Eve breakfasts
and offerings to the church
subsidized by selling scrap gold.

They patched together dollars
like a quilt to spread over multitudes.
Some monetary investments withered,
but their garden multiplied tomatoes
and spun off subsidiary zucchini
to feed the neighborhood.

They sometimes worried
they would outlive their means,
but there was always treasure
in their home—jewels cut and polished
by education, love, and discipline
held to catch the Light,

eternal increase willing to spend
and be spent in the cause of the Lord.

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September 29–October 5 ❘ Rushing Waters

Poem and discussion centering on the sound of the Savior’s voice, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 110:3–4.

Rushing Waters

His voice is in
the constant flow of rivers
running through, over, around

surge of waves
in endless sift of shell,
stone, sand

rattle of rain,
clipped and clean,
punctuated by thunder

crash of geyser
erupting revelation
held back too long

splash of startled lake
when skipped stones ripple
and shiver out new visions

rush of blood pulsing
in ears that hear
echoes of a great heart

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September 22–28 ❘ Overtaken

Poem and discussion centering on God’s unchanging nature, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 106:4–5.

Overtaken

Though unchanging as a mother
with hands stretched out
to a child testing first steps,
God is adaptable.

He suffers us gladly, tinkers
new ways to treat old complaints,
tweaks a way for us to accomplish
what He commands,

while we who waffle between day
and night are rigid, impatient in pain,
freezing each other in place for past wrongs,
determined not to heal or be healed.

He wants to remake us in His image,
to imprint us like fresh clay,
but we are brittle. We have snuffed
the lamps and huddle under blankets,

unable to tell our own Father
from a thief in the night.

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September 15–21 ❘ Stewardship

Poem and discussion centering on centering on what stewardship means to me, inspired by Doctrine and Covenants 104:14.

Stewardship

This flower-print dress with ruffled trim
belongs to God, as do these red ballet flats.
All my attire is His—whether I plan or buy
on impulse, I use money He lends
to clothe myself.

The dishes in my cupboards
and food in my fridge are all His.
He lets me decide what to stock,
how much to eat, who to invite
to dinner or give a plate of cookies.

Everything I provide for my children,
whether bed or book or toy,
is a gift from Him. I represent
the Lord by what I choose to impart
or withhold—education, advice, attention,
patience in the face of anger,

beauty for ashes,
joy for mourning,
faith instead of despair.
God keeps meticulous books,
fulfilling every jot and tittle,
holding all to account
down to the last mite.

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