By Alan on Aug 16 in Blog tagged Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elaine Anderson Cannon, eternal family, Father & Mother, God's wife, Heavenl Mother, image of God created he him, Leo Buscaglia, life before, Male and female created he them, most caring child, O My Father | Comments Off

God’s  Wife

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was  asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the  most caring child.

The winner  was:

1.  A four-year-old child, whose next  door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost  his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the  old Gentleman’s’ yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat  there.

When his mother asked him what he  had said to the neighbor, the little boy just said,

‘Nothing, I  just Helped him cry.’

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The Runners-up were:

2.   Teacher Debbie Moon’s first graders were discussing a picture  of a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair  color than the other members. One of her students suggested  that he was adopted.

A little girl said, ‘I know  all about Adoption, I was adopted..’

‘What does it mean to be adopted?’, asked another  child.

‘It means’, said the  girl, ‘that you grew in your mommy’s heart instead of her  tummy!’

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3.       On my way home one day, I stopped to watch a Little League base  ball game that was being played in a park near my home. As I  sat down behind the bench on the first-base line, I asked one  of the boys what the score was.

‘We’re behind  14 to nothing,’ he answered With a smile.

‘Really,’ I said. ‘I have to say you don’t look very  discouraged.’

‘Discouraged?’, the boy asked  with a Puzzled look on his face…

‘Why should we  be discouraged?

We haven’t Been up to bat  yet.’

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4. Whenever I’m disappointed  with my spot in life, I stop and think about little Jamie  Scott.

Jamie was trying out for a  part in the school play. His mother told me that he’d set his  heart on being in it, though she feared he would not be  chosen.

On the day the parts were awarded, I went with her to collect  him after school. Jamie rushed up to her, eyes shining with  pride and excitement.

‘Guess what, Mom,’ he shouted, and  then said those words that will remain a lesson to me….

‘I’ve  been chosen to clap and  cheer.’

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5.    An eye witness account from New  York City, on a cold day in December, some years ago:

A little  boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on  the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and  shivering With cold.

A lady  approached the young boy and said, ‘My, but you’re in  such deep thought staring in that window!’

‘I was  asking God to give me a pair of shoes,’ was the boy’s  reply.

The lady took him by the hand,  went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a  dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could  give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them  to her. She took the little fellow to the  back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down,  washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

By this time, the clerk had returned with the  socks..

Placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she purchased him a  pair of shoes..

She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him.

She  patted him on the head and said, ‘No doubt, you will be more  comfortable now.’

As she turned to go,  the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into  her face, with tears

in his eyes, asked  her:

‘Are you God’s  wife?’

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From the Publisher:

Latter-day Saints (Mormons) infer from authoritative sources of scripture and modern prophecy that there is a Heavenly Mother as well as a Heavenly Father.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rejects the idea found in some religions that the spirits or souls of individual human beings are created ex nihilo. Rather it accepts literally the vital scriptural teaching as worded by Paul: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” This and other scriptures underscore not only spiritual sibling relationships but heirship with God, and a destiny of joint heirship with Christ (Rom. 8: 16-18; cf. Mal. 2: 10).

Latter-day Saints believe that all the people of earth who lived or will live are actual spiritual offspring of God the Eternal Father (Num. 16: 22; Heb. 12: 9). In this perspective, parenthood requires both father and mother, whether for the creation of spirits in the premortal life or of physical tabernacles on earth. A Heavenly Mother shares parenthood with the Heavenly Father. This concept leads Latter-day Saints to believe that she is like him in glory, perfection, compassion, wisdom, and holiness.

Elohim, the name-title for God, suggests the plural of the Caananite El or the Hebrew Eloah. It is used in various Hebrew combinations to describe the highest God. It is the majestic title of the ultimate deity. Gen. 1: 27 reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them” (emphasis added), which may be read to mean that “God” is plural.

For Latter-day Saints, the concept of eternal family is more than a firm belief; it governs their way of life. It is the eternal plan of life, stretching from life before through life beyond mortality.

As early as 1839 the Prophet Joseph Smith taught the concept of an eternal mother, as reported in several accounts from that period. Out of his teaching came a hymn that Latter-day Saints learn, sing, quote, and cherish, “O My Father,” (Click to Hear) by Eliza R. Snow. President Wilford Woodruff called it a revelation (Woodruff, p. 62).

“In the heav’ns are parents single?

No, the thought makes reason stare!

Truth is reason; truth eternal

Tells me I’ve a mother there.

When I leave this frail existence,

When I lay this mortal by,

Father, Mother, may I meet you

In your royal courts on high?” [Hymn no. 292]

In 1909 the First Presidency, under Joseph F. Smith, issued a statement on the origin of man that teaches that “man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father,” as an “offspring of celestial parentage,” and further teaches that “all men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity” (Smith, pp. 199-205).

Belief that there is a Mother in Heaven who is a partner with God in creation and procreation is not the same as the heavy emphasis on Mariology in the Roman tradition.

Today the belief in a living Mother in Heaven is implicit in Latter-day Saint thought. Though the scriptures contain only hints, statements from presidents of the church over the years indicate that human beings have a Heavenly Mother as well as a Heavenly Father.

by Elaine Anderson Cannon

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Gen. 1: 27

Kirk Matson
For The Family