Deseret Book occasionally hosts round table discussions with the author of books they have published in order to help publicize. This morning I met with bloggers and journalists to discuss the book Planted: Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt and ask the author, Patrick Q. Mason any questions we had.
Up front- I really enjoyed this book. I started reading it just before Elder Nelson’s BYU Hawaii talk which elevated the unfortunate handbook policy to revelation from God. As I wrote about in my last post, Patrick Mason’s words on forgiveness resonated with me, and provided a measure of peace to calm my anger and frustration. My feelings about the policy haven’t changed, but my heart has let go of the anger and holds only sorrow that we can’t do better right now, and that so many people are hurt by something that should be healing.
I think Planted is useful in a couple of ways. First, it is useful for those who find themselves teetering on the edge of a faith crisis, particularly for a crisis involving church history. If you are looking for a way to make things work at church, you will likely find this book very useful.
Second, this book could be helpful for leaders and devout church members to read to gain a better understanding of some of the reasons people doubt and how to best connect with and support them, whether they be family, friends, or ward members. This concept of space-making is one that has always felt important to me, so I appreciated that Patrick included it in his book. I’ll come back to this topic later.
The fact that the book was co-published by Deseret Book may be one of it’s greatest strengths. Deseret Book makes it a “safe” book to read about why people might have doubts, and how to best support them, and Patrick is fairly straight forward and accepting of the facts of doubt- that the pain people experience is real and valid. Because the book says “Deseret Book” on the cover, it’s easy to recommend it to ward members or leaders and not have them resist reading for fear of it containing “anti” material.
During the round table discussion, one of the representatives from Deseret Book spoke up about how Deseret Book has been pleased to begin facilitating discussion on more substantial or difficult topics, with books like The God Who Weeps, and Crucible of Doubt, by Fiona and Terryl Givens, and now Planted. She said that they, at Deseret Book, feel a desire to “facilitate discussion among the various tents” rather than being up on “King Benjamin’s tower”, but that books like Patrick Mason’s or books by the Givens’ don’t come to them very often (so if anyone out there is thinking about writing a book- take it to Deseret Book and see if you can help further the discussion).
In addition to the quote on forgiveness that I used in my last post, I found quite a few other quotes that stood out to me. First, is actually a quote from Eugene England, talking about why the Church is as true as the gospel.
The Church is true because it is concrete, not theoretical…In the life of the true Church, there are constant opportunities for all to serve…especially to learn to serve people we would not normally choose to serve- or possibly even associate with- and thus opportunities to learn to love unconditionally.”
I have found value in my own church interactions in working with and learning to see the value and strengths in people who I might not otherwise seek out because of our different life views.
Patrick finishes up the chapter with the following (emphasis mine):
Along the way many of us will have our doubts, our conflicts, our moments of exasperation, and genuine crises of integrity when we seem to be at our limit with this imperfect organization and its less-than-celestial leadership, membership and history. Believing that the church is true and that it transforms me in ways that I sincerely doubt would happen in any other way doesn’t make it much easier- and in fact may make it harder when I expect more and better from an institution I know has done so much to bring me to Christ.
I think this is an important statement, because many of us feel so hurt *precisely because* we feel that a church, led by prophets of God should be ahead of the times when it comes to certain issues, and we are hurt or disillusioned when it is not.
In the next chapter (When Church is Hard), Patrick describes an experience of moving into a new ward and not being given a calling for some time. When he did finally receive a calling, he was told that the bishop had been concerned with giving him a calling because of fears that he might bring his political views to church.
What troubled me was that the very men who had signed my temple recommend also apparently doubted my fitness for service in the kingdom. I was hurt and left with a feeling I never had before- the impression that this was not really my church…
I think many of us can identify with this experience, where we want to serve and be part of our ward family, but because others have judged us as dangerous in some way, we are not given the opportunity. Patrick took this experience and used it for his own growth:
How many times in my own leadership callings had I overlooked someone’s capacity to serve because of some arbitrary set of criteria that said more about me than about them?
During the round table, Mica McGriggs pointed out that this experience of having your fitness to serve in the kingdom judged, and of being marginalized for questioning is largely a white Mormon issue (perhaps somewhat of a white Utah Mormon issue). The experience of marginalization among white mormon progressives shouldn’t be quickly soothed away, which admittedly, this book is aimed at doing. Perhaps instead we should sit with the pain a little longer and recognize that the small scale we might be experiencing can give us insight into the marginalization that other groups face within the church and within society.
This leads us back to the concept of space-making that I brought up earlier.
We are marvelous at mobilizing when someone faces challenges to their physical health… Those exact same resources can be brought to bear, though more quietly, for those with doubts… This is the baptismal covenant of every member of the Church of Jesus Christ- “to bear one another burdens, that they may be light;…to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort”.
Patrick encourages those who have solid footing at church, to reach out to those who may be struggling with issues, to make sure there is a space for everyone at church, regardless of doubt or questions. At the round table discussion we talked about how this space-making can go both ways. Just like I want space made for me to question at times, those of us who question need to make room for those who do not question, or who do not question in the same way that we do. Labeling someone a TBM in a derisive way, or scoffing at the way they bear their testimony, though maybe temporarily satisfying, does nothing to strengthen the body of Christ. Perhaps it is time for those of us who can, regardless of our belief, to reach across the aisle and make space for those with whom we disagree, those whom we don’t understand, or feel misunderstood by. Perhaps it’s time for all of us to be okay with loving and serving people who express their belief differently than we do.