ALSSI Newsletter
April 2024
Hello!
We’re almost through April already, which means spring and ALSSI Season 8 are both well underway. This month’s newsletter kicks off with a message from Cynthia:
1984 Cynthia Knew
I grew up in a post-war home in Southern California. The home was small, as most were in the 1950s when people were flocking to the Los Angeles suburbs to live their American dream. It was 1978 when my family bought our pink stucco home on Taft street in Chino. Although small, this home had a very large lot. At the far end of our yard, against the fence, grew a Meyer lemon tree, partially hidden by a guest house. It was the perfect place to play where no one could see me. For some reason around 1984 we had an old large tractor tire next to that lemon tree. I remember the year because it was an Olympic year and the gymnast Mary Lou Retton was America’s sweetheart.
Day after day I pretended to be Mary Lou on that tire. I would take my long, spindly-spider legs (I was already the tallest girl in 4th grade) and would jump across that enormous tire. Forward jumps! Backward jumps! Scissor splits! And always with a toothy-grin-arms-to-sky-dismount, just like Mary Lou.
I knew my family could never have afforded gymnastics lessons, so I never bothered to ask. No matter. I had my 10-year old imagination and a tire that really could’ve been the perfect apparatus for a gymnastics event, in my mind anyway. Add to that all the free lemons of that nearby tree that a girl could want and I was in heaven. I would cut those gorgeous Meyers in half, dip them in sugar, and suck on them until they grew sour, then repeat until my puckered cheeks ached. After the lemon-sugar rush and daily ‘gymnastics’ practice, I’d collapse to the ground, lay in the cool but pokey St.Augustine grass, staring up at the sun, sticky with lemons and proud of my ridiculously fake gymnastics routine. I never thought I was anything special in Mormonism back in those days, still don’t, but looking back I can see those childhood moments as completely God Filled.
“If you are awake and connected in your life, that is spiritual.”
~Brittney Hartley, episode 178
We’re talking a lot about women’s spirituality this season on the podcast. I can’t help but look at 1984 Cynthia and see this scene by the lemon tree as anything but a spiritual practice. It was my 10-yr old spiritual ritual. The pure enjoyment of lemons, sun, cool grass, and imagination.
“I have been thinking lately how the search for God and the search for our deepest selves ends up being the same search.”
~Richard Rohr
I marvel at children and their ability to just 'be' in the moment. Why is that so hard once we become adults? I abandoned the mindful/spiritual activities that came so naturally to me—sun, movement, taste—and tried so hard to cling to spiritual practices not designed by me, like bedside prayer and temple attendance. To be clear, I am not saying there is anything wrong with the latter, but they never filled my soul the way those warm afternoons alone in my yard did. Those formal spiritual practices didn't create an expansive feeling in my soul; therefore, I’ve assumed for my most of my teens and adult life that I just wasn't a spiritual person.
I’m trying so hard as an adult to search for my deepest self, to be honest with myself about the activities that do foster expansiveness. I want to re-cultivate the ritual and spirituality that once came so naturally to me. 1984 Cynthia knew. I think I’ll look to her more often.
—Cynthia
“If we minimize our gifts, hush our voice, and stay small in a misguided attempt to fit a weak and culturally conditioned standard of femininity, we cannot give our brothers the partner they require in God’s mission for the world.”
― Sarah Bessey,
Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women
Now … have you registered?
You may notice some quotes in this month’s newsletter from Sarah Bessey’s book, Jesus Feminist. We hope they’ll whet your appetite for our next At Last She Read It book club discussion!
Thursday, May 16
7:00 pm Mtn
Register here or on our Events page to receive a Zoom link via email
There’s still plenty of time to pick up the book and dive in before this discussion. Happy reading!
“Speak, breathe, prophesy, get behind a pulpit and preach, mark exam papers, run a company or a nonprofit, clean your kitchen, put paint on a canvas, organize, rabble-rouse, find transcendence in the laundry pile while you pray in obscurity, deliver babies for Haitian mothers in the midwifery clinic—work the Love out and in and around you however God has made you and placed you to do it. Just do it. Don’t let the lies fence you in or hold you back.”
― Sarah Bessey
Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women
Also for your calendar:
Speaking of dates, women are asking —
so here’s the answer! Yes, there will be an ALSSI fall gathering this year. We’re looking for a new venue (so we haven’t pinned down the exact date), wanting to increase the number of women we can accommodate. If anyone has a lead on a nice place that won’t break the bank, please send us an email! atlastshesaidit@gmail.com
In the meantime, start looking forward to October. We are!
At last—the new season is finally here!
We’ve already dropped the first 2 episodes of our 3-episode intro to the theme for Season 8: Women’s Spirituality. If you haven’t had a chance to listen, we hope you’ll pick up these first 2 episodes in preparation for the third, which will drop this coming Tuesday, April 30.
We’re looking forward to upcoming episodes with Jana Spangler, Valerie Hamaker, CA Larson, women from the ALSSI community, and more! This may be our favorite season yet. Hope you’ll join us!
Episode 177
Going Off-Brand
Episode 178
Women's Spirituality | A Conversation with Brittney Hartley
“The Chinese proverb says, when sleeping women wake, mountains move.”
—Sarah Bessey
Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women
Say More
Our two April issues were so good! Thank you to everyone who is submitting writing and/or artwork. Blakelee Ellis has taken over curation and editorial duties, and we think you’ll agree she has a real gift. She’s working on a Mother’s Day edition that will drop May 9, and our 2nd May issue will be available May 23. (Good news! We’ll make the Mother’s Day issue available to all subscribers, so watch for it in your inbox!)
“But I do want to take my life's work right now, today—whether it's a book I'm writing or a phone call I'm making or a meal I'm cooking—and I want to hold it all in my open hand with a Spirit-breathed prayer and intention. I want to be filled with the knowing that we are all a fragile universe needing love in this moment before I lay my gift on the altar and ask for holy fire to descend.”
― Sarah Bessey, Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women
Who else wants dessert?
I wish I had some of Cynthia’s Meyer lemons, but now that I’ve seen them, I can’t stop thinking about them, so I guess it’s time to make my favoritest, easiest, lemoniest snack cake.
—Susan
Easy Lemon Snack Cake
1-1/4 c flour
1 c sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tsp lemon zest
1/4 c butter, melted
3/4 c milk
Stir together dry ingredients. Add egg, zest, butter, and milk and mix well (some lumps may remain). Pour into lightly greased 8x8” square baking pan. Bake at 350° for 30-35 mins, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.
Glaze:
3/4 c powdered sugar
1 Tbsp butter
2-3 tsp lemon juice (to desired glazing consistency)
Mix well; spread over cooled cake.
Thanks for being here! We’ll be looking for you in all the places there’s conversation going on among the amazing women of this community. Happy spring!
Warmly,
Susan, Cynthia,
and the ALSSI Team
