These are among the final words written by my great grandmother, Alsina Elizabeth Brimhall Holbrook: Dearest Children, Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren and more— Be true to your faith, live the Gospel and remember the Lord never requires anything of you that He does not prepare a means whereby you can accomplish it. The art of glorious living here and throughout all eternity is within your reach. . . Your needs will be of great concern to us. If we have power... Read more
I don’t understand how these little miracles happen. I have had some jaw-dropping right time/right place miracles, but more often the little ones—which I might miss if I weren’t committed to noticing them. A couple of months ago, I met a lovely redheaded woman—age 27—in the local gym’s hot tub. Her smile was magnificent. I thanked her for being a redhead, something I say to most redheads because there are too few of us and we need to appreciate one... Read more
Luke 10 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to thehost, and said unto him, Take... Read more
This is a guest post by my brother, Dell Blair. Beneath the haze of an induced coma a glimmer of awareness illuminates a single ray of reality penetrating the heavily medicated fog and compelling my eyelids to part. Through a filter of lashes and desiccated tears an image emerges more dreamlike than real with impressionistic strokes smeared and rippling across the panorama. There are shadows. There are lights. There is a woman with dark hair standing in the threshold of... Read more
April 1, 1949: My dad is taking a shorthand class at BYU. His sister, Carolyn, appears at the class door asking him to come out. He hesitates because he’s not yet finished with the assignment. She beckons more urgently. When he steps into the hall, she says, “Bobby, Daddy has died.” They go to Santa Barbara, their hometown. My grandmother has been put on tranquilizers. Grandpa had died of a heart attack. Dad takes care of funeral details and late... Read more
My brother, sixteen years my junior, is one of the funniest people I know. It’s dry wit, and reminds me of my youngest son’s humor. Actually my youngest son is Ben’s doppelganger. Take a look at the photo on the side and compare with this one: Ben was once driving through Island Park, which was full of wild flowers, with an uncle of ours, who said, “I’ll give you a quarter for every flower you can name.” Ben was on... Read more
Several people have asked that I publish this poem, which I wrote as part of I am Jane. The poem is set up by Jane asking Elijah about all the talk she has been hearing of curses, Cain, Ham, etc. She says, “I’ve never felt cursed by God, only loved so deep, seemed my bones might melt.” Elijah replies, “I feel, Sister Jane, that ours is… Not a curse but a gift t’us, The best path we could seek A... Read more
Note: I give my creative writing students an exercise in telling “untold” scripture stories, such as Leah’s or Bathsheba’s, imagining what their version of the story might have been. It is an imaginative experiment. This is my own exercise imagining Sarah. He thought I was sleeping, but I had awakened hours before. I knew his mind. He thought he could predict me. He considered my gasp a sign of naivete, at the time when the stranger said I would bear... Read more
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
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
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