Sunstone

I just spent the past three days soaking up all of this. There are some individual sessions that I want to blog specifically about, but not until after I get copies of them to continue to review and absorb so that I know what I want to say. For now, I just want to blog about the experience in general.

This was my first SLC Sunstone. I got to see and meet so many people who I have become friends with online and who I have admired from afar as I've read their blogs or the blogs they contribute to. It was a who's who in Mormon scholarship. I was telling my friend Krisanne that I felt like I had been invited to the cool kids' party. She responded that it was like I was in a gay mormon John Hughes film. We are now committed to producing that film to present at Sunstone next year. We have also decided to develop a session entitled "Glenn Beck Gave Me Herpes." We haven't really fleshed out what it's going to be about, but the title is catchy, right? (Get it, catchy?)

One of the reasons that I loved loved loved the symposium is that it reminds me of the church of the restoration. Joseph Smith's story captures and fires my imagination. All of it, including and probably especially the questionable aspects. The church today is very processed and correlated. At the symposium though, there is so much to fire the imagination. It's fresh and speculative and beautiful and yes, even a little bit crazy. And I loved it.

There is also a huge spirit of community. There are so many people from so many different backgrounds and with varying relationships to the church and the gospel. And none of that matters. Everyone gets a voice.

I met Stella, who blogs here and here and within literally two minutes of meeting, we were having a fairly intense discussion about sex. A good way to kick off any friendship. I also met this beautiful lady and she gave me a hug and a kiss after I listened to her tell her beautiful and sometimes painful story. I also got to meet my friend David and we had lunch at the Red Iguana while a Mexican wrestling mask watched over us. It was a lunch that has been in the making since at least October 5, 2009.

By far the sweetest experience of the weekend though, was sitting next to John G-W in a session that was a panel of people discussing why they choose to stay in the church, even though they've also found many reasons to leave. I have been eating up John's blog for several months now and few people have the beautiful and full understanding of the gospel and the ability to express it that John has. Knowing John's story and having loved him since before meeting him, sitting there next to him during that presentation and feeling of the hugeness of his spirit and weeping together was one of the most beautiful things I've experienced in a long time.