Prophets

I'm a Mormon. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What exactly does this mean? Well it means several things, one of which is I believe the Lord has always, and will always call prophets (Old Testament, Amos 3:7) and that the Lord has called a prophet in the latter days.

So what is a prophet? A prophet speaks for God. "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken... whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same" (D&C 1:38). The prophets speak for God and God's laws do not change due to peer pressure, petitions or a vote. God will remove a prophet if He is no longer saying what God wants us to hear. They are human (we believe Christ was the only perfect being to come to earth) and can make mistakes, but if something is brought to their attention and they pray about it, the prophet will know what is right.

I'm going to go on what may seem to be a tangent. What if we have questions? Good. We are supposed to question things and gain a personal testimony of things. If, through what seems like human error, we see something that looks amiss we have the right to address it. So what if women want the Priesthood? Say someone gets the attention of the First Presidency with this matter? Well then it's their turn to pray and seek an answer. They did. They told an individual not to publicly protest. Instead she publicly protested and put out a petition for Pele to sign.

Here's the problem. We know God is perfect, this is perfect in all things. He has perfect love for us, and has a perfect knowledge of what is right for us. And if God is perfect, then we shouldn't petition Him to change to be less perfect (He already is perfect and can't be more perfect). Do we presume to know more than God? You may say, she was petitioning the prophets, not God. But we believe the prophets are called of God and speak and act for God. A public protest shows we do not believe they are prophets any more. A petition mocks both their calling and even God Himself. If they are not prophets any more, then we do not believe this Church is led by God any more. And if this Church is not led by God, why would we want to be a member of it? She was excommunicated. She pretends like she cares about that but why should she? The whole basis of this Church depends on believing in living prophets. Her actions show that she did not believe in the prophets. After the matter was brought to their attention, things still did not change. If we believe this Church, then we must believe in living prophets which means we believe they speak for God. So in essence,  God says women will not be ordained to the Priesthood. Are we going to persist in knowing better than God with His perfect knowledge and His perfect love for us? And if we believe the prophets are no longer prophets, then this living Church is no longer true, and we shouldn't care if we are members still or not.

This being said, God through His prophets (and I believe they are prophets) has said,  "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." Men and women are created equally in God's image, but our gender is divine and we have different but equal roles in life. To use race as an example of being different yet equal. A black person is equal to a white person, but they are still different. A white person does not need to tan to try to become black in order to be equal. A black person does not need to bleach their skin to try to be equal, we are different but equal. As for different roles, people pursue different careers based on our characteristics of what we're good at and what we're interested in. I was not meant to be a doctor, I feel sympathy pains too easily for me to be any good in that line of work. But that does not mean I'm less than a doctor in value or purpose to God and the world. I will reiterate, God through His prophets had told us, "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." Gender is a characteristic. It helps determine our roles based on different talents, not because one is better than the other.

We should be proud to be women. We don't need to dress like men to prove we're equal, this would be like a man trying to change the color of his skin to become equal, but he is already equal and changing the color of our skin does not change that. I wear a skirt to church to show God that I am proud to be a woman and do not feel the need to change my gender to feel His love for me or to feel equal to men. (I also believe that pants, in the every day world are not exclusively men's clothing anymore.) I believe that me being a woman gives me unique characteristics, which give me a certain role and purpose.

So what if I will not be ordained to the Priesthood? I believe in some ways, I already have it. There are different callings within the Priesthood. I will never be a deacon, priest or elder but maybe I do have a different calling. One definition of the Priesthood is the power of God given to man, or permission to act in His name. With this permission, ordinances are performed. In the temple, women perform the ordinances for other women. I have been a temple worker, and although I was set apart, I was not ordained to the Priesthood, therefore, I must have already had some level of it. We also know that the power of God created this earth, therefore creation is a power of God. We receive God's permission to create life (with a man) when we get married. In addition to creating life, women have a knack for creating things, and I'm not just talking about crafts (not my strong point). Women are good at creating a peaceful environment. They are good at making a house into a home with a 'woman's touch'. This all falls under the ability to create and serves others, which is the purpose of God's power. Also women are good at leading by example. There may not be as many women mentored in the scriptures as men, but if you read the Old Testament looking for the women you will find them.  You will also find that when a woman is righteous, those she has influence over are also righteous. When she is wicked, those she had influence over are also wicked. Women can lead with their influence. Don't we associate the Priesthood with leadership? A Bishop must be married, doesn't his wife have some influence over him? Maybe it's recognition then that people want. Maybe women don't like being a mere influence and leading by example. Are we seeking worldly recognition but claiming to be following God? The whole point of the Priesthood is to serve God's will. His will is not to pursue man's recognition. Women have power given to them/us. We have a role to play, whether it's actually the Priesthood or not, or role is not less than a man's duty in the Priesthood. We are not less because we're different. They don't talk of the importance of mothers at home with kids because we are not capable in the work place, but because we have a natural talent to influence children and create a home. In my marriage, I was the bread winner for a year. My husband gained a better understanding of how much work is done at home. The work done at home is not meant to belittle women because it's not bringing in the paycheck. If a woman's different role is belittled, it is not God's way. Not every woman stays at home, or is able to, but our differing roles in the church are different because of our talents, not because we are less than men with the Priesthood. Women are equal to men in the church and to God, despite having different purposes and sometimes different callings which enable us to grow.

(And as one final side note. Women do not go to the Priesthood session, because it's for men. It is not secret-it's messages are recorded and we can read them. Men are not also, in like manner, not invited to enrichment nights, RS book clubs, the general women's meeting, and other such activities. But you don't see them standing outside saying is unfair that they weren't invited and demand to be let in. The one exception is when a Priesthood member is asked to preside our attend a meeting, just in case the Priesthood is needed. Or to speak fondly of us as is done in the general women's meeting.)