Transforming...with
 Carol Lynn Pearson

Apr

2012

 

 

Dear Friends,

 

So here's what I've been thinking about....
 

 

WHAT HAVE YOU GOT -- A GRIEVANCE OR A DREAM?

 

In response to the many comments of appreciation for my thoughts in the last newsletter about "Don't be against something...be for something..."  I'm continuing that theme.

 

Last weekend I was in Washington D.C., where I spoke at the "Circling the Wagons" conference for gay LDS people and their families and allies.  My talk and other sessions will soon be available at www.mormonstories.org.  (The 2011 talks already are.)  What a fun and, well, faith-promoting time I had with all these great people.  

 

From John:  "I'd been out of the church for a couple of decades.  Decided I wanted to go back and see what it felt like.  Dropped in.  Spoke to the bishop.  He said, 'Tell me a little about yourself.'  'Well,' I said, 'I'm an apostate, I'm excommunicated, I'm gay, and I'm an atheist.'  He said, 'Welcome to the Kensington Ward!'"

 

And my new lesbian friend Tina in Brooklyn told me, "Years ago I left the Mormon Church to become a Buddhist.  My Buddhism insisted that I make peace with my roots, so I went back to visit the Mormons, and I loved what I was feeling.  I’m now a Mormon-Buddhist, and I’m appreciated in my stake for helping parents learn how to respond when they learn they have a gay child."

 

But back to what I was saying about being for something.  Here's a bit from my talk:

 

"Yesterday I got to go visit the really impressive Martin Luther King Memorial.  I so love that man.  And you know, we don't love and honor Brother King because he said, 'I have a grievance!'  We love and honor him because he said, 'I have a dream!'  And because he articulated that dream -- and he lived that dream.  And he was irresistible!

 

"If we can, on every subject, transform our grievance into a dream -- and then live as if our dream is already realized -- it will be!  If we celebrate in front of people instead of complain in front of them -- we will serve our cause well.  Whining is never attractive.  Joy is irresistible!"

 

 

IT GETS BETTER AT BYU.  In case you have not yet seen this, you will definitely want to.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym0jXg-hKCI  This excellent, short video has received 400,000 hits in three weeks.

 

 

 

CELEBRATING OUR MOTHERS.   Here's one of my favorite CLP poems --

 

THE NINTH MONTH

 

Being a duplex

I have been happy, my dear,

To loan you half the house

Rent-free and furnished

As best I could.

 

You have been a good tenant, all in all,

Quiet, yet comfortably there

Tapping friendly on the wall.

 

But I hear you have outgrown the place

And are packing up to move.

Well, I will miss the sweet proximity.

But we will keep in touch.

There are bonds, my dear

That reach beyond a block

Or a mile or a hemisphere

Born of much love and labor.

 

I approve the move

And gladly turn from landlady

To neighbor.

 

  

AND ABOUT THAT MOTHER'S DAY GIFT...FREE COPY OF NO MORE GOODBYES to give to the mother of a gay child (or anyone else) with orders of $30 through May 4th at http://www.clpearson.com/personal_gifts.htm  The compilation of poems, Beginnings and Beyond...Embracing Coincidence... I'm Still a Hot Babe, but Now it Comes in Flashes...Mother Wove the Morning (DVD of one-woman play, historical search for God the Mother)...or other of the many offerings there, signed to your mom or wife if you send an email giving her name.

 

 

Yay for May!  May spring be in all our hearts.  May our sorrows, our grievances be refocused into dreams.  And let us celebrate the dreams into being.


"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions."  ~ Albert Einstein

 
Love and blessings from your friend,

  

     Carol Lynn