Deseret Book President Laurel Day on the power and personalized process of revelation
Nov 26, 2024
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Laurel Day, President of Deseret Book, shares her inspiring journey and insights on faith and personal revelation. She discusses the power of divine guidance in navigating life's challenges and the importance of individual agency. Day emphasizes amplifying women's voices within the church and fostering unity in diversity. She also reflects on the legacy of influential leaders and the need for inclusivity in spiritual communities. Listeners will discover how embracing faith can lead to unexpected blessings and fulfillment.
Revelation acts as a personal growth tool, guiding individuals through unexpected life paths and offering clarity in decision-making.
The importance of amplifying women's voices within the faith community fosters inclusivity and inspires future generations through shared experiences.
Deep dives
The Role of Revelation in Personal Growth
Revelation serves as a vital tool for personal growth by helping individuals fill the gaps between their expectations and their actual life experiences. A key insight is that revelation often comes to guide one through unexpected life paths, providing clarity on choices and decisions. This understanding emphasizes the importance of recognizing the enabling power of the atonement of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life, transcending traditional expectations of what life 'should' look like. As individuals make choices aligned with their unique paths, they can trust that divine guidance will be present to support them along the way.
Agency and Making Informed Choices
The significance of agency in decision-making is highlighted through personal experiences of navigating life's paths. Individuals may feel pressured to adhere to a prescribed plan, but understanding that God values agency over mere happiness can empower them to make meaningful choices. An example of this realization comes through a dream that illustrated how different paths can lead to the same destination, emphasizing the idea that personal choices matter. This perspective encourages individuals to embrace their agency, allowing them to live authentically while trusting that their choices will align with a greater purpose.
Experiences of Identity and Unity
In exploring identities within a faith community, it’s essential to recognize the multiple layers that define an individual beyond their spiritual beliefs. The Church emphasizes three core identifiers: being a child of God, a child of the covenant, and a disciple of Jesus Christ. This framework creates a foundation for understanding and unifying diverse lived experiences among members. By amplifying various voices, including those of women and underrepresented groups, the Church fosters a more inclusive environment where unity can thrive against the backdrop of individual uniqueness.
The Importance of Women’s Voices
Sharing and elevating women's voices is crucial in the context of faith and community building, as these narratives offer powerful insights and perspectives. The lives of notable women in church history, such as Ardeth Kapp, serve as examples of faithful service and leadership that resonate with and inspire present and future generations. By learning from these experiences, women today can find guidance and strength in their own journeys while reinforcing the value of their contributions to the faith community. Highlighting these stories enables a richer collective understanding of spirituality and encourages more women to step into their divinely appointed roles within the Church.
Laurel Day became the president of Deseret Book in 2021 after 23 years with the publishing company. On this episode of the Church News podcast, Church News reporter Mary Richards interviews Day on her unexpected journey to Deseret Book, her writing, and insights shared on the “Magnify” podcast about creating faith-based resources and supporting female voices. While Day’s life has not gone as she had originally planned, she shares how the power and personalized process of revelation and the gift of agency have blessed her life in unexpected ways.
The Church News Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners to make a journey of connection with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the globe. Host Jon Ryan Jensen, editor of The Church News, shares a unique view of the stories, events, and people who form this international faith. With each episode, listeners are asked to embark on a journey to learn from one another and ponder, “What do I know now?” because of the experience. Produced by KellieAnn Halvorsen.
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