FHE: Heavenly Mother

The topic: A few weeks ago, El-ahrairah chose to have a lesson about Heavenly Mother because of the new "Mother in Heaven" Gospel Topics Essay that the Church released recently.

Resources: Along with reading the Gospel Topics Essay, we looked at this article that was one of my readings for the Marriage Prep class I took at BYU: “A Mother There”: A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven. I also referenced it in Board Question 79478. I highly recommend reading the entire article, but here's an overview:

In this paper, we will share important historical accounts that cast serious doubt on the specific claims that, first, a sacred silence has always surrounded this treasured Mormon doctrine and that, second, Heavenly Mother’s ascribed roles have been marginalized or trivialized. With respect to the second claim, we will share historical portrayals of Heavenly Mother as procreator and parent, as a divine person, as co-creator of worlds, as coframer of the plan of salvation with the Father, and as a concerned and loving parent involved in our mortal probation.

Also, during our discussion I was reminded of this quote from Elder Erastus Snow that we discussed in that same Marriage Prep class:

“What,” says one, “do you mean we should understand that Deity consists of man and woman?” Most certainly I do. If I believe anything that God has ever said about himself, and anything pertaining to the creation and organization of man upon the earth, I must believe that Deity consists of man and woman. ....

... I sometimes illustrate this matter by taking up a pair of shears, if I have one, but then you all know they are composed of two halves, but they are necessarily parts, one of another, and to perform their work for each other, as designed, they belong together, and neither one of them is fitted for the accomplishment of their works alone. And for this reason says St. Paul, 'the man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord.' In other words, there can be no God except he is composed of the man and woman united, and there is not in all the eternities that exist, nor ever will be, a God in any other way. I have another description: There never was a God, and there never will be in all eternities, except they are made of these two component parts; a man and a woman; the male and the female.

What we learned: Overall, it was just great to review what we know about Heavenly Mother and specifically her nature as a divine being. We talked about how that relates to the divine roles of women. And I thought about how all women are mothers—Eve was named "the mother of all living" before she even bore any children.

Challenge: Remembering the eternal nature and purpose of our lives and our marriage helps us to treat each other nicely. It puts our problems in perspective. If I want to complain about something or pick a fight, considering how my problem fits into the grand scheme of things helps me to approach El-ahrairah more charitably and reasonably.