What does the [Silver] Fox Say?

Last updated on: March 4, 2014 at 11:12 am By Margaret Blair Young

They came to the play. President and Sister Uchtdorf came. What a joyous surprise! Afterwards, President Uchtdorf, LDS apostle, said to me (among other things), “The restoration continues.” I love those words. For those who question the changeable policy of the priesthood restriction by saying, “I thought God never changed,” I suggest Elder Uchtdorf’s words. The restoration continues. God never changes, but who said we were on God’s level? We come to understand principles, to live them, and eventually to... Read more

The Play: More Important Now than Ever Before?

Last updated on: February 23, 2014 at 4:07 pm By Margaret Blair Young

I think I slept for a month after the first production of I Am Jane. I was completely exhausted. I was the playwright, costume designer, set designer, and director of this play about black Mormon pioneer Jane Manning James. I have since learned to delegate. We filled the chapel and more for that production, and in some ways it marked the time when the Genesis Group got big and started getting attention. In the audience was one of Jane’s descendants,... Read more

It Exploded (and other adventures in the saga of Jane Manning James)

Last updated on: February 17, 2014 at 3:57 pm By Margaret Blair Young

A few years before her death, Black pioneer Jane Manning James dictated her life story to Elizabeth J. D. Roundy, concluding it with these words: [M]y faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints is as strong today–nay it is if possible stronger–than it was the day I was first baptized. I pay my tithes and offerings, keep the Word of Wisdom. I go to bed early and arise early. I try in my feeble way to set... Read more

If you’re in Utah, you’re invited! February 12!

Last updated on: January 18, 2017 at 5:51 pm By Margaret Blair Young

Announcing my guest speaker, Darius Aidan Gray A brief timeline of his life: Timeline: 1964: Darius Aidan Gray becomes LDS, learning the night before his baptism that he won’t be able to be ordained to the priesthood. 1965: Darius attends BYU and is told that he must not associate with white women. He lives in poverty. His boss refuses to pay him, and friends take him to Salt Lake City to sue the man. They do, successfully. He leaves BYU... Read more

Daughter of Jairus

Last updated on: February 4, 2014 at 2:23 pm By Margaret Blair Young

I have a fertile imagination. That is, perhaps, an understatement. I wonder if each of us lives life differently, sees our life events differently. I am usually in a poem, composing a poem, and reading a poem simultaneously. I say that metaphorically. When I played Nora in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, I said the lines, acted the part, and also recognized the unity of the script. My imagination follows trajectories. I am, as my husband has said, “leapingly intuitive.” I... Read more

Virtual quiz–answers

Last updated on: January 27, 2014 at 8:50 pm By Margaret Blair Young

Correct answers are bolded. 1: In the Gnostic poem “Hymn of the Pearl,” a young man is sent off by his ________ to pursue a quest: A) overseer B) father C) parents D) twin 2: Who wrote these words: “If the image of a thing is imprinted on the memory, the thing itself must first have been present, for the image to be imprinted.” A) Boethius B) St. Augustine C) Joseph Smith D) Percy B. Shelley (more…) Read more

A Quiz for my Virtual Students

Last updated on: January 25, 2014 at 10:00 pm By Margaret Blair Young

Quiz on King Follett and Pre-existence literature NAME:______________________________ 1: In the Gnostic poem “Hymn of the Pearl,” a young man is sent off by his ________ to pursue a quest: A) overseer B) father C) parents D) twin 2: Who wrote these words: “If the image of a thing is imprinted on the memory, the thing itself must first have been present, for the image to be imprinted.” A) Boethius B) St. Augustine C) Joseph Smith D) Percy B. Shelley... Read more

I Speak to Dead People

Last updated on: January 17, 2014 at 6:46 am By Margaret Blair Young

Part III of Caves, Cloisters and Temples Part I is here. Part II is here. I am an ordinance worker in the Provo Temple. I get to work with young women, and sometimes older women, who are going through the temple for the first time. I explain to them the meaning of their garments, and promise that they will be protected if they wear them. (I consider this protection to be more spiritual than physical.) I also pronounce supernal blessings... Read more

A Gift for my Readers

Last updated on: January 16, 2014 at 5:14 pm By Margaret Blair Young

I recorded this story, one I made up and told to my son on a cabin porch, as a “perk” for donating to the Heart of Africa film. I offer it here as a gift and/or an invitation. Feel free to download it or listen to it (best done on a cabin porch). If you choose to donate to the film, we will happily accept that. Donations are tax deductible. See the link above. Read more

Tamu Thomas-Smith: Speaker for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Last updated on: January 14, 2014 at 6:37 am By Margaret Blair Young

She was raised by her grandmother, Susie Mae Young Thomas, who was a civil rights leader. She grew up knowing Susie’s history–of being denied classes other than those in domestic service, and knowing that a “sea of brown”–Hispanics, blacks, others who knew prejudice far too well–finally protested in favor of Susie and the others who were determined not to be held back. She raised her five sisters as well as the children she and her husband had. She portrayed Jane... Read more