I love my mother very much. She taught me so much that I’m not even
sure she is aware of. I remember her saying often, “never be afraid to stand up
for what you believe”, “follow your gut”, “a phone call home will save you a
hell of a lot of trouble”, “there’s nothing more important than your
education”, “don’t lose your faith in God”, and my personal favorite, “you
don’t have to put up with other people’s crap”.
The majority of my life I’ve watched my mother have a humorous
on-again-off-again relationship with Pepsi. I can still remember countless times as a child walking by her craft
room to see her sitting at her sewing machine with an ice cold Pepsi sweating
beads of condensation on the sewing desk my dad made for her. They were very
happy memories.
In the 90’s there was quite a fuss among members on the specific
doctrine of the Word of Wisdom and caffeinated sodas. The debate seemed to
never end, and our bishopric at the time had a strict interpretation.
When my mother went in for her temple recommend interview the questions
came.
The bishop asked, “Do you obey the Word of Wisdom?”
She replied, “Yes.”
He pressed, “Do you drink caffeine?”
She casually replied, “I drink Pepsi and I don’t give a s*#t.”
She finished the interview and walked out with her temple recommend.
For better or worse she has had some influence in shaping my perceptions of authority. I learned at a very young age not to allow religious figures to overstep
their bounds.
*Published at Rational Faiths on Tuesday, March 21, 2017
*Published at Rational Faiths on Tuesday, March 21, 2017
