#elder oaks

[obsessingoverl]

oh boy

Seminary is fun today

I actually think the overall principle is good and kinda queer positive (don't judge except when it is appropriate and it gives context) but I don't like way oaks says it

[nerdygaymormon]

Any thoughts about last night's devotional? I've heard some stuff about it but didn't watch it so I was hoping you could provide some insight and opinions (if you saw it).

Elder Oaks encouraged young adults to get married...soon! He lamented that the average age of marriage has gone up significantly since 1970 and that people are having fewer children.

He acknowledged that the cost of education and housing have increased tremendously (and wages haven't kept up), but reminded everyone that pioneers left their homes and possessions and encouraged young adults to forego material comfort and start a family.

Sister Oaks, who didn't get married until she was age 53, chimed in with some better advice. "Prepare yourself for life — by education, experience and planning. Don’t wait for happiness to be thrust upon you. Seek out opportunities for service and learning. Most importantly, trust in the Lord."

As a queer Latter-day Saint, let me point out that he put a lot of emphasis on getting married, he put it as the first thing he chose to speak about. He will later say marriage is only between a man & and a woman, which excludes many queer people. This is a typical example of what queer members of this church experience, having marriage praised but also that it's denied to us. There is a dissonance.

—————————

Honestly, I am tired of commenting on Elder Oaks' queerphobic statements, but he keeps choosing to make them and so I keep responding.

Elder Oaks decided to share a letter he received. He receives thousands of letters a year, and instead of choosing any that express their discomfort at his queerphobia (I guarantee he gets many), Elder Oaks chose one complaining that church members aren't queerphobic enough.

I honestly thought Elder Oaks was going to use this to agree, I mean, why else would he choose THIS letter to share. He didn't agree or disagree (although choosing this letter was quite a choice).

Elder Oaks reiterated that the church only approves of marriage between a man and a woman and encouraged trans people to follow the church's rules.

He used the story of the woman caught in adultery who was brought before Jesus. Jesus refrained from judging the woman. Likewise, we should refrain from judging others and instead should examine ourselves.

Let me point out that adultery betrays the person to whom they've made a commitment and is called out as a sin repeatedly in the scriptures. Gender diversity is not a sin and there's no scripture saying that it is. Therefore, I don't think it's a great use of this scripture story, but I appreciate that Elder Oaks is saying even if we think the other person has done something wrong, we don't condemn them, but treat them with love. Unfortunately he also added we should tell them about God's law and then to "Go, and sin no more."

A few years back, Elder Oaks came up with a novel approach by saying the 1st and 2nd great commandments were in conflict and encouraged us to prioritize love of God by being careful not to love our LGBTQ neighbors too much. But at the 2023 young adult broadcast, he changed this.

Elder Oaks admitted that his tendency is to emphasize keeping the commandments and he gives less attention to loving his neighbor. He finds it easier to judge someone by how well he thinks they keep the commandments.

"I now believe that goal to be better expressed as trying to live both of these commandments in a more complete way. Anyone who does not treat individuals who face gender identity challenges with love and dignity is not aligned with the teachings of the first and second great commandments."

I'm not thrilled that he refers to this as "gender identity challenges" or as "issues of confusion of identity," because that implies challenges can be overcome and identities can become unconfused. However, saying saying that loving your queer neighbor is not in conflict with loving God does seem to be progress. In my opinion, he could have apologized for his past statements and the consequences they had, but he didn't take that opportunity.

Then he followed that up by saying "we need to remember that God has revealed again and again that He created male and female." Elder Oaks just can't help himself. Let me add that God also created the transgender, genderfluid, nonbinary, and intersex people.

Now that he addressed trans people, time to move on to people experiencing same-sex attraction. He warned that we should be careful not to label ourselves (in other words, probably avoid calling yourself gay, lesbian, or bisexual) because these labels won't lead us to eternal life in the Celestial kingdom.

What I find from this broadcast is that mere crumbs are being offered to queer people by Elder Oaks, when Christ would offer us a seat at the feast in the banquet hall.

[mormonmew]

TIL that apparently Elder Oaks was a lawyer before he became an apostle. That... Explains a lot about his talks and the way he gives them.

[white-guy-energy-swag]

Okay. I am soon changing this blog to "white guy energy" tournament as you may know. But I still don't have a pfp. So I think y'all should vote for which white guy should be my pfp for this white guy energy bracket. AKA

WHICH OF THESE FICTIONAL WHITE MEN HAS THE MOST WHITE GUY/MAN ENERGY?

And after you have voted. Feel free to submit which drink has the most white guy energy

[lailoken]

Inducing the Aid of the Oak Tree Lord

I had to run some errands that took me a ways away from home today, and while I was there, I realized I was actually fairly close to a butte that I occasioanlly visit in order to propititate a great, hollow-bearing Oak Tree which grows there. Since I've done some potent and highly effective magic with the help of the Oak Tree Lord recently, I thought I would go to him again with another request. Specifically, my stores of Hollow Water have begun to run low, and I've been needing to replenish it. We had some very wet weather not long ago, which made me think I would be easily able to retrieve the water I needed from another tree hollow I've drawn from before, but following a sudden spell of hot and dry weather, I was chagrined to discover a hollow that was very wet, but not full enough to retrieve water from. I was worried I might have missed my chance to get more for a while, but given that the Oak Tree Lord helped me find the last source of Hollow Water I drew from, it seemed worth going to him again.

Being an unplanned visit, I didn't have any of the normal tools I would have with me for such an endeavor—such as a flask for collecting water, a lance for drawing blood, or anything on hand for me to offer the Oak Tree Lord—but a mage must frequently make do. In the end, I collected 13 Galls from other Oaks around the butte, each of which I painted with my blood (thanks to the help of a nearby Hawthorn copse) and then fed to the Oaken Mouth of the tree I came to propititate. I also gave a wreath that I wove from dandelion flowers.

Literally minutes later, I was overjoyed (and a little astonished) to stumble upon exactly what I was looking for. The natural font was deep and pungent, and what's more, the tree which bore it was an old Oak itself. I carried out the necessary ritual actions and gathered the water using my emptied water bottle (which I will be cleaning very thoroughly after this.)

What I gathered has since been transferred into an old glass vessel that I found once I was done, being sold for only $6 at a nearby junk shop I'd never noticed before. This should definitely last me a good while.

The Grove Elders—an assembly of tutelary tree deities possessing immense wisdom and power—are a truly amazing group of entities to work with.

[nat-without-a-g]

The message about Henry being the unsung hero possibly appearing in front of Lark during the final battle of season 1 is a little funny to me because Terry Jr. and Grant were both sitting near Lark to act as the navigator and backseat driver.

“… Hey Lark, what’s that about—“

“I’m sure it’s nothing! (Slams foot on gas)”

[bellatheinkdemon]

Grieving is hard...

(Aka, Faerie Guard/Silver Oak comforts his little half-sister, Blue Stargazer Lily, after the death of their Dad)

[arthistoryanimalia]

We don't have an exact birthdate for Flemish artist Jan van Kessel the Elder, but he was baptised #OTD (5 Apr 1626 - d. 17 April 1679) so here are three versions of his caterpillars and snakes signature (+some bonus spiders for #BeKindToSpidersWeek):

Jan van Kessel the Elder (Flemish, 1626–1679) "Garden and house spiders with grass snakes and caterpillars contorted and entwined to spell the artist's name" 1657 oil painting on copper H 15 cm (5.9 in) x W 20 cm (7.8 in) Sothebys

Jan van Kessel the Elder (Flemish, 1626–1679) The Four Continents: The Continent of Europe [detail of the signature panel] c. 1660s oil painting on copper H 48.4 cm (19 in) x W 67.1 cm (26.4 in) Alte Pinakothek

Jan van Kessel the Elder (Flemish, 1626–1679) "Seventeen panels depicting snakes, lizards, flowers, caterpillars, beetles, butterflies and other insects" [detail including the signature panel] 1658 oil painting on copper, 39 x 56 cm (15 x 22 in) and 14 by 19 cm (5.5 x 7.5 in) Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Upperville, call no. NW-UL-NW

You can read more about this creative signature, and see his son Ferdinand's version too, here:

[greenmansgrove]

Time passes faster and faster for me. I haven’t visited Newell Park since September of last year, and it seems the park managers have taken down a couple of the dead/dying trees I’d come to know and love.

The first is a pin oak that I believe died sometime before May 2023. It had a big ol’ burl on it that made it look like a dryad with a fat tummy. She was the second-to-last pin oak I’ve identified in the park.

The second is an oak that was dead before I ever started visiting the park, leaving me unable to identify it, but which I’ve noted grows a small red elderberry shrub — with symbolic associations of regret and arrogance, as well as healing and the summoning of spirits.

I left some offerings with both trees (and it seems I’m not the only one who does — note the wilted dandelions).

[lincolnmkicks]

actually fuck it hero oak is my favorite character now norm was already my favorite doofus but this episode. ohghggghgh hero.

okay. wow. where in the actual FUCK to begin?

although i said in my previous hero post that hero wasnt intentional and that could arguably have been disproven by this recent episode i still think maybe there's an argument to be made for hero not being intended in that MOMENT. maybe sparrow and rebecca were trying for kids and then larks magic seed was enough. idk.

so anyways. hero. makes WAY more sense being lark's kid than sparrow's. makes a way better narrative if sparrow "i have to be the one to fix it" oak-garcia's son NORMAL (who couldn't even do being a normal kid right to sparrow) proves his family wrong and not only does what needs to be done but does it BETTER by stopping the doodler with the kindness and empathy they couldn't spare him.

way i see it. it happened. sparrow wasn't comfortable talking about it. rebecca got pregnant. fuck it the kid's gonna practically be raised by both of them anyway. just lie by omission. nick mentioned something about "them only wanting the one" but doesn't elaborate on who THEY are. sparrow and rebecca? lark and sparrow? the kiddads? whoever it was saw a child with oak-garcia blood and said "alright thats good we did it."

NORMAL. arrives. unexpected. hm. howd that happen? sparrow just wants to forget the kid exists, hope he has a nice, easy life where he's not mocked or made fun of. pile everything onto hero. but normal's so LOUD. not just noise-wise, just... everything.

so sparrow spends more time focusing on norm, judging what norm does. he loses focus on the mission. hero. THE hero. hero goes to a different school. we know nothing about her relationship with her parents, if she even has a good one with them. im placing my money on eldest daughter syndrome for sure.

and to her credit she stepped up. she's fighting the mayor. she's off doing badass shit despite being like a senior in high school. but i need to get into her brain, anthony please let hero and the twins show up next episode please please please please please please please please please

[demigirlvioletshine]

[nerdygaymormon]

[wasmormon]

Jeffrey R. Holland, Logical Fallacies, Manipulation, Guilt, and Fake Testimonies

In his MTC address, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s statement is filled with logical fallacies that manipulate emotions rather than provide actual evidence for the LDS Church’s truth claims. “If there is anyone in the room who’s struggling with a testimony, you have one — mine! I’m giving my life to this. You’re giving two years. I’m giving my life! Everything I own, everything I possess is on the…

[parafrazerofhistory]

Tree-Worship among the Old Prussians

"The old Prussians believed that gods inhabited tall trees, such as oaks, from which they gave audible answers to enquirers; hence these trees were not felled, but worshipped as the homes of divinities. Amongst the trees thus venerated by them was the elder-tree."

—J. G. Frazer, The Magic Art & the Evolution of Kings, part 2 (The Golden Bough, vol. II, 1911, p. 43)

A 1584 woodcut of the Prussian (Baltic) Gods, by Caspar Hennenberger (after Simon Grunau). L-R: Peckols, Perkunas, Potrimpo.

(Source: Caspar Hennenberger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

[oakthefrog]

TO ALL MY MFS IN THE UK

WICKED IS OUT ON STREAMING NOW GO LOCK IN AND WATCH IT /SILLY /NF

(im getting takeout with my family and watching it again (first time in almost a month))

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Counting-Out Rhyme

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Silver bark of beech, and sallow

Bark of yellow birch and yellow

Twig of willow.

Stripe of green in moosewood maple,

Colour seen in leaf of apple,

Bark of popple.

Wood of popple pale as moonbeam,

Wood of oak for yoke and barn-beam,

Wood of hornbeam.

Silver bark of beech, and hollow

Stem of elder, tall and yellow

Twig of willow.

"Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle... And Other Modern Verse" - compiled by Stephen Dunning, Edward Lueders, and Hugh Smith