Pioneers

With the coming and going of another pioneer day celebration here in Utah, and with fleeting thoughts of our stakes' pioneer trek this week up at independence rock, martin's cove and rocky ridge (which my teenagers adamantly decided not to attend), pioneers have been sort of on my mind.

I have much Mormon pioneer ancestry but my favorite modern pioneer is Carol Lynn Pearson.

I've been listening to bits of her Mormon Stories podcast with John Dehlin. The last podcast ends with her answering the question of how she has been able to stay active in the church.

Memorable phrases and ideas from this amazing woman:

Where love is, there God is also. Love, and therefore God, can be found in pretty much any church.

God is bigger than any church, including the Mormon church.

It is essential to be out of all closets with regards to feminism and gay rights, etc.

Then she ends the podcast with her poem titled "pioneers". It gives me much to think about, to ponder:

“Pioneers,”
by CAROL LYNN PEARSON

My people were Mormon pioneers.
Is the blood still good?
They stood by in awe as truth
Flew by like a dove
And dropped a feather in the West.
Where truth flies you follow
If you are a pioneer.

I have searched the skies
And now and then
Another feather has fallen.
I have packed the handcart again
Packed it with the precious things
And thrown away the rest.

I will sing by the fires at night
Out there on uncharted ground
Where I am my own captain of tens
Where I blow the bugle
Bring myself to morning prayer
Map out the miles
And never know when or where
Or if at all
I will finally say,
“This is the place,”

I face the plains
On a good day for walking.
The sun rises
And the mist clears.
I will be alright:
My people were Mormon pioneers.