Welcome, dear readers, to the Fall 2023 issue of SquareTwo! We have an outstanding issue for your reading pleasure.
First, we have an outstanding analysis by McArthur Krishna and Bethany Brady Spalding outlining specific small but meaningful changes that will bring the diarchy of Heaven closer to our hearts and minds. We know we have a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother—but are there issues that arise unintentionally from the way we currently express that knowledge in the Church?
Second, V.H. Cassler tackles the question of whether our Heavenly Mother has distanced Herself from the earthly experience the children of God are undergoing. Cassler notes the stark contradiction between the apparent behavior of our best earthly mothers and that of our Mother in Heaven. This contradiction is a real, genuine, un-ignorable mystery of God, which Cassler believes signifies that Heaven intended us to be puzzled by this, and that wrestling with and pondering about it will lead us forward in our spiritual wisdom and understanding. For women, especially, the task seems positively urgent: it is their destiny to become like our Heavenly Mother, but not only does She sometimes feel like a cipher, Her apparent behavior is downright bewildering, given all we know about earthly motherhood.
Third, Savannah Eccles Johnston and Samuel Johnston began with a simple question: do BYU students rate their male religion professors and female religions professors differently? They then discovered that was not the real question that needs to be asked. The more pressing question is why in the School of Religion at BYU, 63% of all women are adjuncts without access to full benefits and CFS, while only 21% of all men are adjuncts? Check out what they discovered in full, and what it means for religious education at BYU.
Fourth, Scott Hammond ponders an oft-overlooked question: what is the spiritual significance of dreaming? Researchers tell us that if we did not dream, we would go mad or even die. That suggests there is not simply a physiological, but also a spiritual dimension to dreaming.
Fifth, Ashley Alley reviews a new book by the writing duo of Bethany Brady Spalding and McArthur Krishna entitled, In the Image of our Heavenly Parents: A Couple’s Guide to Creating a More Divine Marriage, which is a handbook meant for couples contemplating marriage in the new and everlasting covenant. What does it mean to be “equal partners” in that covenant? How can couples have meaningful discussions to lay the groundwork for that partnership?
Sixth, we have some thoughtful responses to our last issue’s Readers’ Puzzle on how our board and readers see the upcoming 2024 US presidential election unfolding. And we also have a new Readers’ Puzzle about challenges that the Church will face over the next decade—check it out, and please leave a comment about your own perspective!
Last, don’t forget our companion blog, The Latterday Crone, penned by our own V.H. Cassler which also features real-time commenting. Check it out for more of the SquareTwo experience you enjoy!
Enjoy this great new issue of SquareTwo! And consider submitting your own writing for possible publication!
Full Citation for this Article: Editorial Board (2023) "Editors’ Intro, Fall 2023," SquareTwo, Vol. 16 No. 3 (Fall 2023), http://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleDEFAULT.html, accessed <give access date>.
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