This past Sunday's tithing slip fell out of my wallet today and I noticed that there's a blank on the very bottom for "other". What if all the tithe paying Moho's decided that on a certain Sunday we'd all donate to "other" and specify something like the "Evan Stephens fund"? (Stephens may have been a Moho. Quinn says yes. The Brethren say no.)
Just what would this accomplish, you ask? It's a good question that deserves a good answer. One I don't have at the moment. Besides, maybe there's a better way to show our solidarity. Maybe we're already doing it by blogging. I guess we could create our own Moho Temple day or night sometime. Or perhaps something more inclusive, like the uniform thing again or the Matis and Scott & Sarah gatherings in Utah, but something anyone anywhere could participate in. Yes, blogging and Facebooking work well for that. Just some random thoughts.
Brother Stephens wrote more than 80 hymns, 18 of which are in the current English hymbook. Here's an excerpt from one of my favorites:
Purify our hearts, Our Savior
Let us go not far astray
That we may be counted worthy
Of thy Spirit day by day
When temptations are before us
Give us strength to overcome
Always guard us in our wanderings
Till we leave our earthly home
(#183, In Remembrance of Thy Suffering)
William Clayson was such a better musician... he wrote "The Iron Rod." Plus my middle name came from him and we are related :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I have been a clerk for over a year now, and have never received money in the "Other" fund. And the more I wonder about this, the more it makes me curious. If a bunch of us, randomly placed around the US, decided to donate to this fund, would anyone take notice?
Probably not unless there was also some significant blog traffic about it, or some kind of controversy about it in the news, but then, who knows, maybe we'd get calls from Bishops and Stake Presidents questioning our motives. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in the bishopric, we'd use the "Other" account when we were collecting money for a specific purpose, such as scout camp. If you put something like the "Evan Stephens fund" in "Other" - the counselor and clerk wouldn't have a clue what to do with it - so they'd likely call you up and ask what you intended the money for.
ReplyDeleteEvan, I believe we both have our stake conference regional broadcast thing this Sunday - perhaps we should wear our official MoHo uniform to stake conference :)
I can't. I'm skipping
ReplyDeleteGood point, Abe!
ReplyDeleteSadly, I doubt the money/protest would make it anywhere past the ward level. Since this other account doesn't exist, it has to be deposited into another account. In our unit you would get a call from a member of the bishopric asking where you wanted the money to go. If we couldn't get a hold of you within 2 weeks, it would probably be headed to fast offerings.
ReplyDeleteExcellent analysis. You've got me thinking along these lines. We choose a date (say Stephen's birthday in June) and we all donate to an existing category that goes straight to headquaters, like Humanitarian Aid. If this was done far and wide and not just by mohos but by our many sympathetic friends and family members, it probably would register, if the bean counters at HQ were somehow made aware, that is.
ReplyDeletethis is an awesome idea, if anything it has made me think about somethings... including something like this in the church office building?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=29003120&ref=ts#/event.php?sid=79db50ffebdf8e2fc1fe220c2339332d&eid=55123486246