Birthday

Thirty-one years ago on this date I turned thirty. That evening, although it was my birthday, I must have left Shelley and Amy at home and gone to a priesthood meeting at the church in Twin Falls, Idaho. I was so faithful then. I suppose I was a little more hopeful and a little less jaded. Or perhaps, I was more naïve than. In any event, I was surprised to hear an announcement from the pulpit that day. It was an announcement confirming that what I had been praying for had happened. The LDS church was extending its priesthood to black men.

I can't remember where I stood on feminism or on homosexuality back then. I know I was for the ERA --- the equal rights amendment. However, those issues weren't as ever present as they seem to be now in our culture back then. Racism and the black issue had been in the media for years during the civil rights era and whatnot. Civil society had, to a very substantial degree, come around, and great progress had been made. It almost seemed that the time for the LDS church being shamed into the change had come and gone. But, according to the news that night, a revelation had been received, and a change was being made. Hallelujah!

It was a nice conclusion to a lovely thirtieth birthday. The next year, again on my birthday, we received a telephone call from LDS social services that they had a new baby for us. So, on that birthday, we drove to Boise and got a new baby boy. His birthday was May 30, 1979. My oldest son. Hallelujah!

For many years since then, I have been praying that the priesthood would be extended to women. And now in more recent times, I pray for same-sex marriages for all who desire them. It is not unrealistic to hope justice is done and to have faith that changes can be made. It doesn't even have to be on my birthday.