ALSSI Newsletter
October 2024
Hello!
Let’s kick off this month’s newsletter with a message from Cynthia:
There’s been lots of buzz lately about the new garments
slowly becoming available. One of the favorite comments Susan and I laughed about for days was one from a woman on a Facebook post shouting out ‘FAKE NEWS’. I guess in a church that has harped on women for decades about sleeveless tops, it just seemed too out there, too fake, (too good?) to be true. Sleeves exemplify sacredness, and sleeveless is profane. Why do we ‘strain at gnats’, disguised as sleeves?
It reminded me of an older podcast episode from ‘Another Name for Everything’. This particular season in 2020 was going through Richard Rohr’s seven themes of ‘alternative orthodoxy’. (I highly recommend that whole series!) The episode I listened to was about the third theme, the sacred and profane. (PDF transcript here.) Basically, when you’re living life to the fullest there is no difference between sacred and profane anymore. You see the sacredness in every moment of life. For me, this week, that would be rustling wind in my vibrant yellow Aspen trees. Or this week’s fresh Honeycrisp apples from the local orchards. Holy experiences to be sure.
Richard Rohr, quoting the Franciscan theologian St. Bonaventure describes my moments with trees and apples as finding a “partially hidden God, and how to honor those footprints everywhere once they are seen.”
While listening to the podcast it reminded me of another speech contrasting the sacred and profane. Unfortunately, this speech isn’t one that creates love and expansiveness for me but heaviness and sadness. In this speech, specific descriptions were given to BYU students of what is sacred and what is profane. I will never forget these words from the speech, where he starts out describing a young woman who visited a different ward. She was dressed “modestly” and the girls in that ward were not:
“Unfortunately, she immediately felt out of place. It seemed like all the other young women her age or near her age were dressed in casual skirts, some rather distant from the knee; tight T-shirt–like tops that barely met the top of their skirts at the waist (some bare instead of barely); no socks or stockings; and clunky sneakers or flip-flops.”
Some say dress and hair don’t matter—it’s what’s inside that counts. I believe that truly it is what’s inside a person that counts, but that’s what worries me. Casual dress at holy places and events is a message about what is inside a person. It may be pride or rebellion or something else, but at a minimum it says, “I don’t get it. I don’t understand the difference between the sacred and the profane.” In that condition they are easily drawn away from the Lord.
Let me just put aside the strong feelings I have about older men commenting on young women’s attire, and instead focus on what I saw was a huge difference between Father Rohr’s perspective on the sacred, and the sadly, all-too-common perspective in our church. Rohr focused on everyday moments of sacredness. That BYU speech zeroed in on stomachs and sandals.
I so appreciate Rohr’s perspective on what is sacred instead. The idea that sacredness is all around me has given me a desire to search daily for those everyday sacred moments. Moments that have nothing to do with the scrutiny of women’s bodies. In fact, I would go so far as to say that zeroing in on women’s fashion choices is the real definition of profane.
I can’t control what our church leaders choose to speak about, but I am grateful I have found other definitions that have helped me redefine what is sacred in my evolving faith. Over the years it has helped me to take a more macro view of sacredness, and less of a micro view. It’s made all the difference in letting go of moments that simply make me want me to bang my head against a wall.
Garment styles will come and go. “Modesty” rules will come and go. But crisp fall apples, the changing leaves, the crinkly-nose smile on my grandson’s face? Those are the “partially hidden god” moments, but not hidden too much if we can make awe and wonder our goals.
— Cynthia
“You don’t need churchy language to be brought to awe and wonder. And for me, awe and wonder are the foundational religious instincts. If you’ve never had a moment of awe, never had a moment of wonder where you want to figuratively kneel and kiss the ground, I would doubt the depth of your religiosity.”~Richard Rohr
What’s next?
Glad you asked! A whole bunch of things, actually, as we enter a busy season in everyone’s calendar … including here at ALSSI. Please make note of these dates and plan to join us when you can!
A few notes:
Our new season will begin November 12. Hard to believe, but we’re also coming up on our 200th podcast episode! 🥳 Both those things surely call for a whole lotta cake.
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, there will only be one Say More issue in November. Huge shout-out to ALSSI Team member Blakelee for continuing to curate your words and ideas into something so consistently beautiful and powerful. Keep submitting your work and we’ll keep publishing it!
For our November 15 Live Chat, we’re going to try something different. We’ll drop a Zoom link in our regular Substack chat that morning, then we hope you’ll drop in over there so we can all see each other and talk-talk for an hour. If we all like it, we’ll add these video chats to the future mix.
By December 17 we’ll already be 1/4 of the way through the new season (whew!), so we’ll take two Tuesdays off (December 24 and 31) to catch our breath and enjoy the holiday. We’ll return with new episodes January 7!
Also coming up:
Introverts … we know you’re out there! Susan is counting on you to remind her she’s not alone when it comes to her experiences as an introvert in our extrovert-y church. Please leave us a voicemail by clicking here (or on the red phone on our website) and we’ll use it in putting together our upcoming episode exploring this topic. Please send all messages by November 1. If you’re uncomfortable leaving us a voicemail, feel free to send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks in advance!
Too soon … ?
For another reminder about our new season coming November 12? Nope. We want to be sure this one gets on your calendar!
We’re hard at work putting together a list of topics we hope will make this our best season yet. And we have at least one guest in mind who will probably surprise you … so stay tuned!
Have you talked/thought/heard enough about the new garment designs yet?
If not, Cynthia recently recorded an episode of Dan Wotherspoon’s Latter-day Faith on the topic that you might have missed. In case you did and want to listen, you can find it here!
We enjoyed getting to see each other (and some of you!) this month as we got together at Cynthia’s house to broadcast our recent event.
Our virtual Fall Gathering was a big success, and we owe many thanks to ALSSI Team Members Tiffany, Katie, and Blakelee for registration, tech support, and emceeing the event. If you registered, by now you should have received a private YouTube link to the recording. Thanks to everyone who participated, either live on that day or later. And our special thanks to Aubrey Chaves and Mer Monson, whose presentations were too good to be missed!
Pssssst! If you didn’t register but would like to watch the recorded event, it’s not too late! We’ll be making it available for purchase beginning November 15. You’ll receive the full video with presentations by Aubrey, Mer (including separate Q&A sessions), Cynthia, and Susan. At the end, C and S host a joint Q&A. More purchase info to come!
Didn’t someone say cake upthread somewhere?
Here’s a favorite I’ve been eating this week, sometimes straight out of the pan with a fork. So easy, so fast, so yummy, so fall! —Susan
Quick Spice Cake with Browned-Butter Frosting
1 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves (optional)
Stir together dry ingredients in large bowl. Set aside.
2 large eggs
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c oil
1/2 c applesauce
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Whisk eggs and sugars until well combined. Add oil, applesauce, buttermilk, and vanilla and mix well. Pour into flour mixture and stir just until smooth. Pour into greased 8x8” pan. Bake for 35 mins at 350°. Frost when just shy of completely cool.
Frosting:
3 Tbsp butter, melted and browned (be careful not to scorch—pour into bowl and allow to cool slightly)
approx 2 c powdered sugar (more if needed for desired consistency)
2 1/2 Tbsp milk (more if needed for desired consistency)
1 tsp vanilla
Mix all ingredients well until smooth. Frost cake immediately. If icing becomes too stiff, add a few drops of hot water.
Enjoy!
That’s it!
We’re hard at work on our book and also on Season 9, so thanks for being willing to largely talk among yourselves this past while on social media. Whenever we do find time to drop in, we’re amazed and humbled by the amount of grace and ongoing support you all extend to us and to each other! Thank you, thank you, 1000x thank you.
—Cynthia, Susan,
and the ALSSI Team
Thank you Cynthia for your words on the sacred and the profane. I'm loving defining more things as spiritual practices in my life and I love seeing the spiritual in everything. Can't wait for Season 9!
Hi! What email address did the Virtual Fall Gathering replay get sent from? I haven’t seen it yet, so I’m wondering if the spam filters snatched it.