el

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in between

abditive* abracadabratic adumbrated afflatus alethurgic alterity amanuensis* Augean Stable begirt betokened* brachygraphy bête noire* carve [reality] at the joints cathexis chiliastic* convoked cosmogonic damnatio memoria depredations desiderata dog's breakfast dog-in-the-manger efflorescence* emically
A pot of spaghetti not boiling over on the stove because I put butter on the rim with a paper towel before I turned the heat on
An unironed cross stitch featuring left-justified bright blue text reading "It's okay to be scared." A Bad-eline and Madeline sprite from the Celeste video game face each other to the left of the text. Above and below the text are the same motif of a strawberry, golden feather, and strawberry again.
A screenshot of some advice forum: "Atheists, imagine you're a famous baseball player and are about to bat the winning hit. Accidentally, the pitcher tosses a Christian baby at you. Would you still hit the baby out of the stadium and win millions, or spare the Christian baby?"
They don't know meme image. Guy in the corner is saying "they don't know I play the organ and want to be an organist." Right dancing couple says "We know." Bottom left dancing couple says "both you and your husband mentioned it so many times in your talks"
a sign from futurama that has been altered to read "0 projects finished without picking up a new hobby"
From a HelloFresh box insert about vegetables, a section of the text reads: "Trying to get your kids to eat more veggies? A Stanford University study found that diners were 41% more likely to choose a veggie when it had a more creative name. Wouldn't we all prefer to eat things like X-Ray Vision Sticks (aka carrots) or Superpower Orbs (aka peas)? We think so. Oh, and did we mention, 3 out of 4 parents say their kids eat more veggies with HelloFresh? That's a fresh win!"
a tumblr screenshot of a behind-the-scenes video for a Dropout Game Changer episode. the video is paused on a picture of a man (Kurt Reynolds) in glasses, white button-up, and tie with what looks to be a fake LDS missionary name tag, standing next to a character played by Jacob Wysocki
Two possible answers in an online quiz. Option one: "Inspired human document, valuable for spiritual wisdom, but not inerrant or infallible; subject to critical interpretation and discernment." Option two: ”The Bible is inspired, but so are our church's additional scriptures, which clarify and expand upon biblical teachings.”
Screenshot with the following text: "This home is equipped with in-home laundry appliances, which Tricon will provide and maintain. We charge $35 per month for homes with in-place washer/dryers."
A purple John Green signature in his new book Everything is Tuberculosis
YOUR QUESTION ANSWERED BY JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH, president of the council of the twelve DIFFERENCES IN BODIES IN THE RESURRECTION Question: "The Lord has revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith that there will be no marriage outside of the celestial kingdom, and even there, only among those who have been faithful to all covenants in mortal life and have been married according to divine law in the temple of the Lord. The question was raised in our class in regard to men and women who are assigned to other kingdoms, also those who are in the celestial kingdom and who are unmarried; what will prevent them from living together outside of the marriage covenant? We assume it to be a fact that females, as well as males, in great numbers will inherit places in these other kingdoms. ''Will you kindly discuss this problem for us?" Answer: We may well believe that our Eternal Father has fully considered this point and made ample provision to meet the situation. In the Doctrine and Covenants, section 88, we are informed that there will be differences in the bodies of inhabitants of the several kingdoms to meet every need and restriction. "And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom. "For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory. "And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory. "And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory." (D&C 88:22-24.) [continued in next image]
Would you care to comment on the JFS article in the January Era? I have been counting on a satisfactory love life even in the Telestial, but if he is right it is enough to make a man repent. Can you reassure me?
VII. CHURCH SCHOOLS It has been assumed without extensive consideration on the part of the Committee that the scope of the Church School System is to provide: 1. Religious, moral and secular instruction in its schools and classes. 2. Training teachers and leaders for Church and State school service. 3. Research in Church Work. and is advised that for many years the Religion Class organization has been considered in a general way at least, a part of the Church School System; that funds from that system have been provided for its support, and that the General Church Board of Education has also taken some part in the direction of its affairs.
program for the family should be carried cut. It is felt also that two other evenings in the week should be left open for the use of the home, one of which might well be devoted to entertainments given in the home, thus tending to stimilate a form of entertainment that is regarded as of great importance in the promotion of culture and desirable social relationships. It is also suggested that, with the exception of the fast day and such other necessary exceptions as will come to stakes and wards, Sunday afternoon be designated as another home or family period. While a large number of wards now hold sacrament meetings in the afternoon, it is believed that with comparatively few exceptions sacrament meetings could be held with greater advantage to the people on Sunday evening. A few of the older people might prefer the afternoon, but it is regarded as being essential to the welfare of the young that the meetings be held at the time that will most likely secure their attendance. The worship and the spirit of the sacrament meetings should become a great factor in developing the faith of our young people. Furthermore, Sunday evening is not a very good time for the holding of regular Mutual Improvement Association meetings, principally for the reason that much of the work cannot with propriety be carried out on the Sabbath day. After much deliberation on the subject, it is suggested that community recreation be provided on Saturday evening. This recommendation would seem to be contrary to advice that has gone forth from a number of the Church institutions to the effect that Saturday evening should be used as a preparation period for Sunday.
A table with four columns and four rows. The first column lists days of the week, Sunday - Wednesday. The second col has the heading of A.M., and the third col is P.M. The fourth col does not have a heading. The Sunday row has "Sunday School [new line] Choir Practice [number sign, with info on next image]" in col 2, "Home [new line] Monthly Fast [new line] Meeting" in col 3, and "Sacrament Meeting [new line] Conjoint MIA [new line] (Monthly)" in col 4. Mon has no text in cols 2 or 3, but "Home Evening" in col 4. Tues has no text in col 2, but has "Primary [new line] Relief Society" in col 3, and "YMMIA [new line] YWMIA" in col 4. Wed has no text in col 2 or 3. In col 4, the text is "Home [new line] Ward Teaching"
Photoshopped image of Obama (right) putting a medal around Obama (left).
Reddit response by user Lephera: "No expert here, but this is my best effort.... Knitting is basically row of loops. sometimes you twist them or go through them the other way or drop them or whatever, but when you really look at it, you just get row after row of loops. If you have ever loom knit, you know how a knitting machine works. It makes a row of 50 loops, then makes 50 more loops above those and slides the first 50 over the second 50 and yay! knitting! (yes, i know it can be more complicated, but still just loops) Crocheting on the other hand, even the simplest stitch isn't just a loop. Each stitch in crochet has to be made independently. If you cut one stitch in the middle of knitting, the whole column of stitches can come out, if you cut a piece in the middle of crochet, you get a hole, but it does not run. If you had a machine that was capable of manipulating the hook correctly, you wouldn't be able to guarantee that the yarn would be precisely where you needed it. I think the hook would constantly be snagging up the yarn and the machine wouldn't be able to do anything about it. tldr: we are awesome and have magic. and machines don't."
A screenshot of a spreadsheet. The first row in the cell reads "Handmaid's Tale inspired AU" while the row in the next column reads "Eh. It was pretty dark."
A digital painting of Adolin Kholin from Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive book series. He is looking off to the left, wearing blue armor and holding a white sword shape in the foreground. There is a yellow ring shape circling his head and upper body. Art is by taratjah.
A close up of a crochet blanket. There is an untied knot between a change of yarn colors.
A half-finished crochet blanket. It is a pattern of multicolored cats.
A screenshot of two skeets. The first is from user @jblainefoster.bsky.social: "what do I want for Christmas. help me." The second, not in response to the first skeet, is from @ashrowan.design: "guys only care about TWO things:" followed by a picture of two countdowns. The first countdown is to Winter solstice on Sat Dec 21 2024 and has 11 days left. The second countdown is to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on Fri Dec 20 2024 and has 10 days left.
A screenshot of a Spotify playlist "All Pokemon theme songs 1996-2024" A line of three horizontal dots next to the download playlist button is circled in red
A small child with an obscured face wearing a crochet hat with a dark red brim, a bright red middle, a dark red top, and a bright red pompom.
A picture of the Tortured Poets Department snow globe
A black and white shih tzu is sitting on a 6 year old's lap while he holds a PlayStation controller
A crochet cat blanket in progress
Clearly, the African cultural equation runs differently than the North Atlantic one, which is based upon individualism, achievement, and the separation of the three forms of capital (economic, social, and symbolic). In the Euro-American system the family is a nurturing base for the individual, a springboard from which one makes it in society. In Africa the family is the ultimate value; the measure of the individual is his contribution to the well-being of his family, not to society. And, it should be noted, the definition of family is much larger and more complex in Africa than in the Western world. In the United States and Europe the insistence is on the nuclear family first; attention for the wider circle of kinship is secondary, and even then this wider circle rarely transcends the borders of aunts, uncles, and first cousins. In Africa extensive lineages and second cousins are routinely considered part of the larger family unit. Africa has an intense discourse on the family, and its idiom is used in many sectors of life; the family is more or less the model for society. “We are all brothers” is a common expression, though that does not always preclude these brothers from harming one another. The LDS Church cherishes and promotes family values, but of a type that makes sense only in a specific cultural setting. Here the church’s monocultural heritage shines
We have seen that much of the cultural misunderstanding between Deseret and African culture is based upon the African celebration of life, in its abundance and its fragility, as shown in its rites of passage. But these rituals of transition are not very elaborated in the LDS Church, at least not nearly in the same intensity and passion. The “ordinances”read “rituals”—of the Mormon Church are not geared at the actual celebrations of life: birth, marriage, and death receive very little ritual attention. The manifold rituals of restoration are mainly directed at the individual and his or her relationship with the divine: the sacrament, ordination, baptism, endowment. Even the temple marriage, which often follows an existing civil marriage, is less concerned with creating a union in this life than with sealing an existing union for the eternities. We might say that the LDS Church does not “do life,” it “does eternity”—which would help explain why it does not “do culture.”
An American Eden is an evident problem for Africa, as Africans usually are quite proud of their deep human history and the global recognition of their continent as mankind’s cradle. But then, the notion of American exceptionalism is gradually disappearing from LDS discourse (though of course many American Mormons, including among the leadership, still harbor substantial exceptionalist views). On the official church website the American location of the Garden of Eden is not mentioned under “Basic Doctrine,” and is in fact hard to find at all. The notion of America’s chosenness has disappeared from the missionary lessons. It is, in fact, characteristic of doctrinal development inside Mormonism that such notions deemed untenable or no longer useful simply fade out and no longer are openly discussed, usually without ever being formally repudiated. Africans are used to colonial churches and their claims to exclusive truth and/or authority, and here Mormonism comes in as no surprise. One standard African response is simply to accumulate religions. In the North Atlantic region, one’s religious denomination is part and parcel of one’s identity; someone is Roman Catholic, Reformed, Mormon, or Jehovah’s Witness, one’s denomination serving as a crucial part of identity. In Africa identity is primarily wrapped up in the family and ethnic group; the tribal function of religion is absent. A common reaction by families to religious diversity is to diversify and accumulate religions within their own ranks, in two ways.
The first issue, of course, is polygamy—technically, polygyny. In Africa polygyny, the marriage of one husband with more than one wife, is completely normal. Though in all polygamous societies the majority of the marital unions are actually monogamous due to simple demographics, all African countries allow polygamous unions as well, and in no country is monogamy enforced. As Africa is the continent of polygamy, and as Mormonism for the outside world is the religion of polygamy, one would expect a happy match here. The stern antipolygamy stance of the present church comes as a surprise for many Africans, as they see little reason why the church is trying to out-monogamy all the other colonial churches. Polygamy is thus a Deseret (and broadly Euro-American) hang-up, not an African one. Africans are used to the fact that colonial mission churches are against polygamy, so for them Mormonism is just another colonial church, hardly distinguishing itself from the other “official” Christian churches. As Philip Jenkins noted correctly, “In an African context . . . Mormonism looks absolutely mainstream.”
Wonderful! But why do I have some difficulty visualizing this ever happening? Because in the current LDS arrangement, gospel culture, whatever Oaks intends it to mean, will never be allowed to stray too far from the Deseret patterns, and this example is quite different in cultural form. The fact is that no cultural variety in worship is allowed at all. African LDS wards are not allowed to play drums, may not dance and clap, and may not even sing the typical African exchange songs between men and women. The LDS choice for the organ and piano has nothing to do with any gospel principle—the Bible is full of other and very interesting musical instruments—but everything to do with the puritan heritage of the Restoration. If anything, scripture points at trumpets, not pianos, and highlights shofars, not organs. For Africans the lack of song and movement is a definite minus in LDS worship; using drums would be so much easier—and they would be played so much better! But instructions seem to be clear: “No more dancing, no more clapping, since our brothers in America don’t do it.” As most African converts stem from other Christian denominations, they are used to this lacuna (although most other colonial churches now allow drums and dancing).
Death is the ultimate celebration of African life, and if anything death rituals are a way to show the collective values of the community. They are exuberant, with much drumming, dancing, and singing that emanate the thrilling African gist for life; the funeral is a feast that recharges the positive, creative, and especially fertile forces of the society. In Africa a funeral is considered the best day in one’s life, for two reasons. First, in Africa the dead are part of life, as they are all around, never far away from the living. So a funeral is part of one’s life, just as it is very much part of the community’s life. Second, unless it is an untimely death—of which there are many—at the moment of one’s death one can look back at the accomplishments of a lifetime, a moment to be savored. Let us have a look at one particular African death feast.
Cost is one argument. Africa is a continent of relations, of lasting links between human beings, kinsmen, friends, and group members. The exuberant rituals bind people together and show off the celebrated individual in the best possible light, cementing and generating relations that will position the feast givers solidly within their community and culture. Costly they can be, these feasts, but not always and not inevitably so. Traditional funerals, the ones belonging to the indigenous religions like I sketched above for the Kapsiki, are community affairs, where one just has to feed one’s guests, bearing no other costs (American funerals, using professional mortuary services, are in fact much more expensive). And even then, hosting guests will eventually be reciprocated, so the feast is more an investment than an expenditure.
As for African culture, Oaks lauded the strong African family as well as modesty, and then zoomed in on what he called “negative cultural traditions,” with special attention to the practice of lobola, or bride price. His problem with bride price was simple: it delays marriage for returned missionaries and as such presents a moral hazard. He went on to warn against excessive debt incurred by weddings and funerals.
From an initial acceptation of culture in its innocuous forms, the LDS Church leadership has moved toward culture as a hindrance. “We do not do culture here,” was an expression heard at church headquarters in the 1990s, and in correlated material little is found on cultural diversity. But of course, not only does everybody “do” culture, we “are,” to a large measure, our culture, in most of what we collectively do, speak, and think. In an address to the African church leadership in November 2010, Dallin Oaks tried to sidestep the quandaries of cultural diversity with the notion of “gospel culture,” which he defined as “a distinctive way of life, a set of values and expectations and practices common to all members. This gospel culture comes from the plan of salvation, the commandments of God, and the teachings of the living prophets.” What it entails is not specified at all, other than the Proclamation on the Family, but surely that is but one sector of culture among many, and as far as culture is concerned, just underscores traditional gender relations.
As an opening example of how culture can impinge on organization, let us look at job rotation within the church. This is an integral part of church administration and has been shown to fit well into an American culture, with its role segregation: the individual in American culture stands relatively loose from his job and his position, even more so now when individuals frequently change not only jobs but also careers. If a man becomes bishop, that means a calling with a lot of work, but not a change of personality—he does not become someone else. So when he is released he will fit himself into another role, without necessarily feeling truncated in his existence. In other cultures this is different. Job rotation does not at all fit in the cultural definitions of power in Africa. In this part of the world the idea that a powerful position is for a limited time only is hard to swallow. People called to a position of power or authority integrate the position into their personality, as part of their view of self, and so do the people around them. So a release implies partial loss of personhood, which adds significantly to the cognitive and emotional costs of membership. As Jennifer Basquiat remarked on Haitian Latter-day Saints (mostly of African descent): “I still have to see the first active ex-branch president.” Furthermore, none of the original leaders of the Nigerian independent Mormon Church made the transition to the regular LDS Church—nor, for that matter, did those in Zaire. For many of them it meant that through loss of power they lost income as well, illustrating the intimate combination of symbolic and economic capital in Africa.
In 1978 a BYU publication defined Mormonism as “A Faith for All Cultures,” in which cultural diversity was hailed as a human endowment, all the while stressing that the gospel as such fit comfortably into all of the cultures present on earth.
Unitary organization is considered as one of the major hallmarks of LDS Mormonism, operating under the assumption that this blueprint is applicable to any kind of cultural background, a one-size-fits-all model. This organization is more than a solution of practical administrative problems: it is considered to be the result of revelation. In Mormonism the restoration of the gospel immediately implied a restoration of the pristine organization of Christ’s original church; the two, message and organization, can hardly be separated. Mormon ecclesiastical discourse is replete with notions of unity intimately associated with a unitary organization. From hierarchical priesthood structures to meetinghouse plans, and from priesthood ordinances to Sunday School lessons, unity shines through, but always in the form of uniformity. Even grooming is standardized, as is the male “uniform.” The idea is that anyone visiting a ward other than her own will feel immediately at home, recognizing the basic church architecture and layout as well as all pictures in the corridor—taken from a relatively limited range of official options—and attending a lesson that will be taught on the same day (give or take) with the same curricular materials everywhere in the church.
Elder Pinegar noted, "The whole effort is to make a curriculum that can be used anywhere in the world, under any cultural or political circumstance, so that the only culture we're bound by is the culture of the gospel."
cross stitch ornament from the taylor swift store
The wrong side of a crochet cat blanket with hundreds of strands not woven in
Cross stitch version of the debut album cover
Cross stitch version of the midnights album cover
Cross stitch version of the ttpd album cover
Two black and white shih tzu asleep in the shape of a heart
Photo of a young Harold B lee
A 4 inch by 4 inch cross stitch of the (original) cover for the Taylor Swift album 'Speak Now'