Thursday, March 20, 2014

No Priesthood for me, thanks!

I have read a little about the Ordain Women movement going on in the LDS Church. I confess up front that I am not extensively informed on all the reasons behind the desire some women have to stand on equal ground with our brothers in the church and have the privilege of being ordained to the same offices of priesthood authority. I am not trying to downplay their very strong feelings or discredit any of their arguments. I just want to say for myself, no thank you. I do not want the priesthood.

If the Lord really opened it up and allowed that women be ordained to the priesthood, would it be optional? The brethren are expected to receive the priesthood at a certain age, and if they have not, they are not considered to be spiritually "on track" until they have. Their leaders work with them patiently and persistently until they are worthy of ordination. If I said I didn't want to opt in, would I be frowned upon as a less faithful member of the church? Would I be shirking my responsibilities to excecise all the blessings afforded me by the gospel? I hope not, because I would not want that responsibility. I would NOT want the possibility looming over me that I might be called to be a bishop, a stake president, an area authority. My hands are full enough already. I believe in obediently accepting every call to serve that comes through my leaders. If I had the priesthood I would have to be ready and willing at any moment to accept calls like that, even if it meant doing it while my children were still young. Of him unto whom much is given, much is required. I don't think having young children would be any excuse to not be given such duties. If God were to say, okay it's time, we would have to shoulder every call without complaint. I would do it, but please, I'm not ready!

And I don't think I will be in this lifetime. My motherhood responsibilities will not end when my children leave home. I expect I will be a grandma, and my kids will still need my advice, and my babysitting help, and want to have visits from grandma. I know my mom took no greater delight in anything than from doing all those things for us. If I had heavy priesthood duties, I would not be as free to do all those things. I know our families often have to make sacrifices when mom or dad have demanding callings, but really, can't we at least be guaranteed some kind of relief from how demanding it can get?

1 comment:

  1. bah! i wrote a comment and it disappeared. that was weird. what i said was . . .

    i feel the same way! i trust in God, and that means i trust in his plan for perfecting us. is it surprising that how he goes about perfecting men versus women is different? not at all! we have inherent strengths and weaknesses, and He knows what responsibilities are most fitting for our strengths and what ones will help us overcome our weaknesses. i'm happy with the responsibilities he's given me and I can see how the ones he's given my husband, dad, and brothers are helping them.

    BTW - i have loved reading your blog. i don't often comment, but your posts lately have made me cry and made me think and made me want to be try harder in a lot of areas. thank you for sharing your thoughts!

    ReplyDelete