So, with that, let’s get back to our original question: what can be the subject of humor and what can’t? It seems to me that a good term to use for that which cannot be the subject of humor is “solid ground.” But when I say solid ground, I don’t mean “the parts of a …
As with the Egyptians, it begins by removing the brain. Gray matter caught on the hooked edge of a new name, then pulled through the nose. They leave the heart. It is easily bruised by new and everlasting covenants battered by promises to hearken, to serve, priestesses dressed in their burial clothes, given unto him. …
Today I showed my wife this picture and asked her what came to mind. “It kind of looks like a Mormon temple pagoda,” she said. “I think so, too!” I said. “But why does it look Mormon?” The image is from a book called Temples of the Imagination: AI-generated Temples, Human-generated Insights, by Jeffrey Thayne …
By Eric Freeze Eric Freeze is author of the short story collection Dominant Traits (2012) and a collection of creative nonfiction Hemingway on a Bike (2014). He has published stories, essays, and translations in numerous periodicals. He teaches creative writing at Wabash College and lives in Crawfordsville, Indiana and Nice, France. Sandra had …
By Dan Wotherspoon Dan Wotherspoon is the host of the Mormon Matters podcast and former editor of Sunstone. He has a Ph.D. in religion from Claremont Graduate University. Or download the audio here: Why Ritual “Makes Sense” At first blush, the word “ritual” doesn’t usually conjure much excitement. We often connect …
By Gina Colvin (An earlier version of this article was posted 9 September 2013 at Patheos.) THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of Mormons all over the world attend temple services on a daily basis, all of them watching a metaphorical reenactment of the creation story. Included in this drama is an exchange between God and Satan. …
By Alan Barnett Or, right-click here to download the audio file: Lessons in Mormon Modernism: Or, How I Learned to Love the Ogden and Provo Temples In 1892, the long task of completing the exterior of the Salt Lake Temple culminated as workmen placed the round capstone on the central east tower …
The next time someone asks me why Mormons don’t discuss the specifics of temple ceremonies, even amongst themselves, I am going to say this: “To leave each of us free to interpret the temple in our own way; to protect it from correlation.” I used to crave more open discussion about temple rituals so that …
By Jack Harrell Claude Winn was in the garage changing the oil on his motorcycle when he heard the message on the radio. Claude was a big man with a gray and black beard and a sun-browned baldpate on the top of his head. The hair he had left was long and tucked behind his …
