milk & honey mamas

Theological Background by Kristen

This week, two of my favorite people died. Both have influenced me deeply and both died far too young. One was a well-known scholar and the other was famous among her vast network of friends and family. Both were pillars of insight, wisdom, faith, humor, kindness, and life. I find that everything I read or think about this week is somehow about them. Reading King Benjamin’s conclusion and the memory of a covenant-making people in Mosiah 4-6, I found myself speaking to Christy and Melissa, speaking to myself carrying on their legacies, speaking to my children who will inherit the world their lives made more beautiful. The song I wrote for them is my accompaniment for this week’s study. 

Salvation Song (Mosiah 4-6) 

For Christy and Melissa

Are we not all beggars,

some days more than others.

Today I am railing at the dice of it all,

furious, frustrated, futile in my rage against the toss

the tides, the terror of faceless time.

Are we not all beggars, 

hoping in the soft landing beside you

eager to stay beside you,

miserable that you are not beside me,

wondering what to do inside me, 

sight green with grief alongside your

death. 

This is the means whereby salvation cometh,

the open chasm of earth, green and black and red,

the taste of Thai food, our delighted bodies fresh from the train,

sardines to salmon, swimming upstream for a good meal.

The means: your laugh settling every corner of the room.

Salvation: that we were there, touching, warm and supple and smiling, 

for enough time to shake salt over.

That I landed alongside you is enough grace to stem the tides

as though I was plucked, wriggling, to be planted in starry mycelium

to turn my veins gold, shimmering, nourished with the rich soil.

Not the stuff from the organic aisle, but the stuff mama makes at home,

right there in the kitchen, where the whole world spins.

Crying with one voice,

we sing it out,

we pour oil on our heads till it runs over our tummies and thighs, 

warbling down our legs,

and belt out the blessing,

the mystery of salvation not one step removed from this holy note,

become community, become sisters, become rooted here, 

in the kitchens and the theaters and the churches,

the soft grace of your body, never once still until now.

And now, breathless, burdened, blistered with sorrow,

I thank you for the singing,

for the melting voices that are the whole of salvation.

Afterward, we’ll find something to eat,

hold each other’s babies,

and let the day rest. 

It will shine on. It has been saved.

Ideas for Play

Contributed by Kristen

Read the Book of Mormon storybook

• Watch the Book of Mormon video about the people making a covenant

• Watch this video about taking upon ourselves the name of Christ

• Play taking names on yourselves. Write out different names (they can be goofy like Giraffe, Captain Hook, Cinderella, etc.) and act out taking that person’s name upon you. Then take Jesus’ name. What does it mean to take the name of Christ on yourself?

• Role play different scenarios. How would different characters act?

• If you have missionary name tags, show them to your kids and discuss what it means

• Act out the story of King Benjamin’s people!

Art

Compiled by Caroline

Music

Compiled by Caroline

No More Sorrow, Will Todd, Tenebrae