Did you know about the crazy backlash against her talk last October? The talk (that was in my top five--awesome!) definitely struck a (guilty?) chord in many sisters and I felt so sad about that. I LOVE Sister Beck, always have, and not just because her haircuts rock. Here is the text of the SUPPORT SISTER BECK email I got--please follow thae links if you agree. I think my own email list could fill the list of 2000 comments, and that would be a nice Christmas present for the GRSP :
An Answer to support: Tonight when President Hinckley said, "It's Christmastime. What can I do to lighten your burden?" I thought of Sister Julie Beck, General President of the Relief Society. I think her responsibilities as General President must be heavy indeed. Especially when recently, there was a lot of unfortunate and unnecessary controversy about Sister Beck's general conference talk It has bothered me that so many people have been so vocal about their displeasure with her talk. There have been websites and blogs dedicated to tearing her apart as well as her words of guidance and wisdom. It seems that sometimes liberal voices are the only ones that make themselves heard. We can change that!
Wouldn't it be great if we could get 2000 women to send their support to Sister Beck this Christmastime?Like the 2000 mothers of the Stripling Warriors - we could stand united and strong and let Sister Beck know we stand beside her! If you would like to let your voice be heard, please send an email (or forward this email) to:
motherswhoknow@gmail.com
Put your name and city and state in the subject line. You can include a message to Sister Beck and her counselors if you'd like. Once we reach 2000 emails - from women or men - I'll send Sister Beck the password to the email account so she can see all those who support her and read the messages if she'd like. It's a quiet way to let your voice be heard. Please forward this on to all you know, who know.
President Hinckley's words will hopefully encourage us to band together and stand strong and immovable for what we know to be right. Sister Beck quoted him saying, " If [the women of the Church] will be united and speak with one voice, their strength will be incalculable... It is so tremendously important that the women of the Church stand strong and immovable for that which is correct and proper under the plan of the Lord." Sister Beck said, "As a disciple of Jesus Christ, every woman in this Church is given the responsibility for upholding, nurturing and protecting families. Women find true happiness when they understand and delight in their unique role within the plan of salvation. There is eternal influence and power in motherhood."
PS: My top five conference talks, at least right now, are Good, Better, Best (Oaks), O Remember (Eyring), The Only True God (Holland), By Faith Not Fear (Cook), Mothers Who Know (Beck). All of these spoke to issues I 've had lately, especially defending my decision to strictly limit the activities in which my kids participate, just because I want our family and our time together and influence on eachother to remain foremost and strong.
Also, I have a hard time with the women arguing that Sister Beck's talk was insensitive to women who don't have children or have to work, etc...HELLO! The talk is called "Mothers who know"--implying it's addressed to Mothers. As in, IF you are a mother, and IF you want to raise sons (and I think it works for daughters, too! ;) like modern day stripling warriors (aka good missionaries, covenant-makers & keepers, etc.), THEN these are the things you know and do. It never said, "LDS women should..."--no shoulds, just knowing and doing. Believe me, after spending 12 years of my adulthood as a SINGLE, CHILDLESS member of the church, I know that there is a lot of focus on homemaking, motherhood, and wifehood in the church and it can get uncomfortable. But I knew for certain I was doing all I could do to live the gospel and I was at peace with my life and my decisions. I could speak up in lessons and conversations and find ways to apply the discussions to myself and other women who were not mothers or wives, but faithful LDS women all the same. These kinds of talks were not offensive to me because they are true--there are lots of good ways to do things, but there is a best and right way (like Elder Oaks said). I knew that I would strive to live those standards the best I could when I finally was in that situation (and I do). I also have a testimony that Heavenly Father will help us sift through the cultural expectations of Mothers and Wives and find our priorities. It's not one size fits all, but the church and mother/wifehood offer a smorgasbord of opportunities and ways for us to develop the essential attributes of Faith, Hope, and Charity. I think some detractors would benefit from Elder Bednar's "It Mattereth Not" talk from last year!
4 comments:
Rock on Jamie! BJay and I also LOVED Elder Oaks talk about limiting activities, we actaully rewound the talk and watched it again (horray for dvr's) because it was something we'd felt as well. You always know exactly how to say things that need saying. Thanks!
Hi Jamie--
I'm one of the bloggers from the "crazy" blog and saw the pingback. I actually generally really like President Beck as well (and yes, part of it is the good haircut!) even though I had a few concerns w/this particular address. I adored Elder Oaks talk--fave from this conference, I think. It got me to quite my *Grey's Anatomy* habit.
But what I'm really saying is this: your kids are ADORABLE. Really, really adorable. I'm finally a mom after a zillion years of waiting so of course I think my boy is the cutest thing ever, yet yours got a second, third, and fourth "awwwwww" out of me. Quite the accomplishment.
I so agree with what you had to say and even more so with Sis Beck. I think she said a lot of things that WE (as a society) need to hear and heed! There is a reason why HF set things in motion the way He did!
I'd love to be a member of the fan club! Count me in!
It's hard and sometimes lonely being a leader at any level. I try to imagine what it would be like to be the leader of the Relief Society, knowing that you speak for and to women from every part of the earth and in every situation and attitude. It gives me the shakes just considering the weight that must be on those shoulders. I feel intensely grateful to Sister Beck and other leaders of our church who give and give and give, and who find themselves in these positions not as a result of ambition, but in faithful answer to the Lord's call. I am willing to stretch my mind and sometimes my patience to try to absorb the essence of messages delivered by these individuals who devote themselves to the work. Some of their words are challenging; some are easy; some require a lot of work as we personally plumb the depths of their meaning. I don't have a particular point to make here, other than to say that I love and appreciate Sister Beck, and have felt satisfied as I have studied her message and found so much that speaks even to me, a childless woman.
I'm reminded of a quote by Abraham Lincoln: "I don't like that man. I must get to know him better." I think there would be much less of a heated debate over this so-called controversial talk if people used the energy spent in taking offense to invest in study and comprehension and the testing of truth. We waste so much time and effort complaining and criticizing. We could all have the answers we want without the nasty nitpicking.
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