Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

December 23–29 ❘ Christmas in Zarahemla

Poem and discussion centering on the signs of Jesus’s birth to the residents of Zarahemla as recorded in 3 Nephi 1:4–21.

Christmas in Zarahemla

In Zarahemla, all is still
and silent at the setting sun.
The pure in heart are praying for
the sign that Samuel said would come
         to Zarahemla on the night
         that Jesus Christ is born.

In Zarahemla, Nephi bows,
pours out his heart in prayers and tears.
The Lord in mercy reassures:
Lift up your head; be of good cheer
         for, Zarahemla, on this night
         I, Jesus Christ, am born.

In Zarahemla, awe descends
as day continues on through night.
All fall to earth because they know
at last has come the One, True Light.
         The Zarahemla sky is bright,
         for Jesus Christ is born.

In Zarahemla, all is still
and silent at the rising sun.
The pure in heart are full of thanks
and joy because the Savior’s come.
         Oh Zarahemla, bless this night
         that Jesus Christ is born!

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

December 16–22 ❘ Final Exhortation

Poem and discussion centering on Moroni’s final testimony as recorded in Moroni 10:27–28.

Final Exhortation

Moroni is speaking to me.
He asks if I will harden
during hard times,
exchange railing for railing,
adopt enemy tactics,

and tear myself from God
in whirlwinds of outrage.
Will I wield truth to skewer
my neighbor or to cut out
the calloused parts
of my own heart?

He entreats me to recollect
the things I’ve read and felt—
facets of truth uncovered
like raw gems emerging
after long erosion,
serenity dropped like manna
to my wasted soul.
I remember and deny it not.

Moroni stands at the bar,
pins me with searching eyes,
leans in to urgently hiss
one last word with one last breath.

He is speaking to me.
I am listening.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

December 9–15 ❘ Every Good Thing

Poem and discussion centering on Mormon’s words about how to recognize and lay hold upon every good thing as recorded in Moroni 7:19.

Every Good Thing

Frost glitters under winter sun,
freshens cold pavement
with brilliant pinpricks.

Copper-barked chokecherry
bristles with new buds,
catches morning light and flickers
at topmost branches.

Yellow thistles glow like candles
by the pond, grasses glimmer silver
to their feathered fingertips.

Wild rose bush bends
under burden of ripe hips
heavy and red as great drops of blood.

Brassy sun blares a silent
hallelujah from the blue.
Horses in the field prick ears to hear,
flick tails in time, nicker to the tune.
My feet softly mark off measure

by measure as I hum along,
         Hallelujah!

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

December 2–8 ❘ Sacrament

Poem and discussion centering on the sacrament prayers as recorded in Moroni 4–5.

Sacrament

Believers in generations past
also gathered to partake
of broken and blessed emblems
on their remnant isles of faith
dotting oceans of time.

Today I reminisce with them,
savoring heirloom prayers
laid up for just such purpose
as turning hearts together,
connecting us in archipelago

across millennia as we touch
bread to tongue and sip from cup,
draw simultaneous breath to witness
as one family under one name—
flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.

Soon I will lift my head
to continue my journey alone.
For this bridged moment,
I sit and listen to them whisper
of better days to come.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

November 25–December 1 ❘ Miracles

Poem and discussion centering on Moroni’s explanation that miracles cease when the people have no faith as recorded in Ether 12:12.

Miracles

I’ve surveyed spun floss mountains
of cloud beneath my feet
while hurtling over earth suspended
in a metal cylinder with wings.

I’ve made new friends,
met face to face with far
distant kindred via screens
transmitting electronic visions.

I've heard ancestors whisper
their wisdom across centuries
in laden words written
on plain pages.

This must be an age of faith
for all the miracles I count
sprouting up from God’s
seed sown in this world.

Even those yet unaware
are instruments in His hand—
plows leaving deep, rich furrows
for the planting.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

November 18–24 ❘ Beautiful Throne

Poem and discussion centering on Riplakish’s beautiful throne as described in Ether 10:6.

Beautiful Throne

It wasn’t built for comfort,
but for show. You see,
if you want to avoid captivity,
you must project power solid
and implacable as stone.

You must establish yourself
as spacious conduit to God,
as one sent to sit erect on carved altar
and reach into heaven to pull out rain.
There is a price for that,

so you must make people work
for their own good,
shackle them to you by labor—
they will feel bound
to protect their investment.

And remember: never hesitate.
You only keep what you take
with boldness—at least for as long
as everyone is stunned enough
to let you get away with it.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

November 11–17 ❘ Crossing the Waters

Poem and discussion centering on the journey of the Jaredites across the great waters to their new promised land as recorded in Ether 3:4.

Crossing the Waters

In me,
you see a wall—
a basalt cliff unscathed
by churning surf that tosses,
hurls you toward hull breach
against unyielding stone.

But you and I
are one vessel sealed tight,
driven by God's furious wind—

When mountain waves roll you,
I plunge.
When currents wrench your heart,
my timbers groan.
I shudder at each tearing swell
because I know your splintering
sinks us both.

Please,
keep close
through these dark waters.
Believe with me
in a Lord who listens,
who reaches forth to touch
what we hold deep inside
to make it shine.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

November 4–10 ❘ After the Battle

Poem and discussion centering on Moroni’s experiences after the Nephites’ final destruction as recorded in Mormon 8:1–3, 35.

After the Battle

It was a mercy my father died quickly,
released from pain of old wounds
never healed. I hid and watched
the Lamanites celebrate all night.
Without an outward enemy,
they would soon turn on each other.
I found no peace in the land,
so I bore my burden northward
for miles and miles alone.

Let me begin again. Please don’t
condemn my strange, imperfect words.
It’s been so long since I spoke
to anyone who wasn’t a ghost.
But I have seen what you will do—
acting history from a worn-out script,
ignoring my whispered prompts
from the wings. I cry louder and louder

till I wake. Life passes away
like a dream as I mourn out my days.
Tomorrow I will rest from travel awhile
and write to you a little more.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

October 28–November 3 ❘ O Ye Fair Ones

Poem and discussion centering on Mormon’s lament over the destruction of his people as recorded in Mormon 6:17–19.

O Ye Fair Ones

you beautiful children

who delight in bright colors
brilliance and beauty

crackle and dance
like furious flames

spend every talent
bend all natural genius

to eat drink and be merry
without concern for consequence

snarl each other tightly in combinations
and clever unpickable knots

knuckle knee and knife your way
to top of kingmen’s heap—

if my sorrow could bear you up
I would mourn with those who mourn

but you careen toward misery
too proud to relax your grip on sin

no matter how it burns

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

October 21–27 ❘ Good Book

Poem and discussion centering on Jesus’s teaching that people will be judged out of the books written both in heaven and on earth as recorded in 3 Nephi 27:25–26.

Good Book

You have a story in you.
Even if you never touch
pen to paper, you leave

tracks through deep drifts
to deliver needed meals,
prints on lifted hearts
and bowed heads, wrinkled spots
where tears soaked in, or spills
you tried to scribble out
but couldn’t. You need

an editor, abridger to trim
distraction and excess,
a translator to untangle mess,
a close reader to ride every wave
of your account from crest to trough,
to sink with you in grief
and swell at restoration—

someone who knows failure
can foreshadow redemption.
Someone full of hope
for how your adventure ends.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

October 14–20 ❘ Cleansing

Poem and discussion centering on the image of the Lord cleansing us from sin as with fuller’s soap as recorded in 3 Nephi 24:2.

Cleansing

My sleep last night was not restful.
I twisted with pain

like wool in a wash pool—
soaked in caustic fuller’s soap,
agitated, tread on, scrubbed raw,
wrung out.

I resisted, objected:
         I don’t like this.

The Fuller rested,
massaged knotted hands,
sighed as He dripped sweat,
knee-deep in stench:

         It’s hard work to make you clean,
         for us both.

I woke fitfully,
then sank again into dreams—
this time trying to relax
and let myself be washed.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

October 7–13 ❘ Tarry a Little Longer

Poem and discussion centering on the people at the temple in Bountiful who wanted Jesus to stay with them longer as recorded in 3 Nephi 17:5.

Tarry a Little Longer

with me. All sacred moments
must end, but before time resumes
its enduring course forward,

stay a while. I am weak—
a child who would hold You
here with me, heedless
of other plans and purposes.

Fold me in compassion
against the cold and darkness
of a guttering, uncertain world.
Weep with me to heal regret

and pray for me with words
I can’t quite find or form myself
in mind or mouth.

Brace me with eyes to see
angels gathered around, bright
with divine fire.

Promise, and I will believe,
that You will return
on the morrow.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

September 30–October 6 ❘ Parts of Speech

Poem and discussion centering on Jesus’s command that we be perfect, even as he and Heavenly Father are perfect, as recorded in 3 Nephi 12:48.

Parts of Speech

         I
Jesus Christ,
whole though scarred,
finished but not done

         would
hypothetical, wish or desire,
past tense of will

         that
conjunction introducing,
connecting desire to object

         ye
me, you, everyone listening,
children of God

         should
auxiliary preceding main action,
advice, exhortation, command

         be
central action or state,
exist, remain

         perfect
complete if not finished,
whole though scarred,
like Jesus Christ

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

September 23–29 ❘ Earthquake

Poem and discussion centering on Jesus Christ’s visit to the temple at Bountiful after his resurrection as recorded in 3 Nephi 11.

Earthquake

We children saw Him first.
Little ones often struggle to focus
on chores or lessons,
but we have the instinct,
the well-drilled habit
of looking up when called.

Our parents, burdened by heavy
questions of an unsettled year,
turned about in confusion
as though His calm, resonant voice
flooded from seams and cracks
as precursor to another convulsion.

Perhaps it was, but not
the kind that shakes earth—
rather one that fits pieces together
with satisfying rumble and snug click
according to a master mason’s plan
as he sets temple capstone.

Our young eyes quickly picked out
His vivid figure drawing near.
The grownups traced our gaze
heavenward, listening intently.
Then everything else
fell away.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

September 16–22 ❘ Pride Cycle

Poem and discussion centering on the Nephites’ consistent return to their proud and wicked ways as recorded in 3 Nephi 7:7–8.

Pride Cycle

Sometimes our world seems to whir
like a shiny coin spun on end,
like a perfectly balanced
silver globe—

a temporary illusion that quickly loses
energy through friction. Gravity
pulls us lopsided into wobbly
roll. We clatter lower,
rattle faster, spiral
full force into
sudden
stop.

Those few who listen to warnings
and recognize familiar rhythms
can’t forever turn the throng
or keep it upright.

Some will whirl free, scatter
from danger. Remnants
still gather to orbit
new eternal
rounds.

Of all their revolutions,
we cannot tell
a hundredth
part.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

September 9–15 ❘ Slippery

Poem and discussion centering on the Lord’s curse on the Nephites that their riches would become “slippery” as recorded in Helaman 13:31–36.

Slippery

Signs are not for the ignorant,
nor prophetic warnings
for the untaught.
They are for those
who should know better,
those with learning enough
to twist words like green limbs
till they splinter.

My treasure is slipping away—
security, structure, predictable
rules for how life works,
touch, handshakes, hugs
and kisses, breathing close
together, family and friends
who one by one scatter
and pass away.

I read warnings in scripture
and am worried from my rut.
An ancient man shouts to me
from a high wall
that it is not too late.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

September 2–8 ❘ Famine

Poem and discussion centering on Nephi’s request that the Lord replace the war in the land with a famine as recorded in Helaman 11:3–5.

Famine

In the year we commenced
to kill one another,
Nephi sealed up the sky,

not as punishment,
but as drastic mercy
to shock us sane,

interval to fast and empty
souls of appetite, to jettison
excess and gain fullness,

to see others no more as prey
or flocks or herds or gold or silver
or fine-twined linen,

but as precious family
to whom we give
our last meager morsels.

The heavens grieved for us
as we dwindled and dwindled
beneath her clear, blistering,
sorrowful eye.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

August 26–September 1 ❘ Gadianton’s Band

Poem and discussion centering on the account of the Gadianton robbers as recorded in Helaman 6:18.

Gadianton’s Band

Let’s talk about
the management of the creature:
You have responsibilities,
family needs to meet,
innocent appetites to fill,

but you sow and sow and sow
and never seem to reap.
The same people grow richer,
the same names pass down
from chief judge to chief judge.
They grow fat on secret works
and knowledge you can’t access.

It’s enough to stir up anger
in the most patient heart.

Perhaps you need
a different kind of friend—
a spider who’ll spin subtle,
sticky webs to catch those flies
that feed on your despair.

You wouldn’t have to dip
your own skirts in blood—
I’ll make that sacrifice for you.

All I need is support,
permission to work,
your vote of confidence.

After all,
not taking sides
has its own consequences,
and you might as well throw in
your lot with someone who gets things
done.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

August 19–25 ❘ Alma the Younger

Poem and discussion centering on Alma the Younger’s desire to be like an angel and cry repentance to everyone as recorded in Alma 29:1–3.

Alma the Younger

I was no rebellious youth, but man
of unsparing education,
inheritor of holy privilege.
I willfully muddied the path
between life and destruction. Why
should I, so well knowing my aims,
be interrupted from hell
while ignorant friends yet burn?

Oh, that I could brand every heart
with the fire God snatched me from,
could blast the warning
that rings in memory and ignite
worldwide regret like wildfire,

could visit each divine child
with the same uninvited lightning
that struck me flat
but

I remain myself—a sinful man
who must submit,
acting as angel without
bellows or flames,

balancing eternal gratitude
and guilt for undeserved,
unsought mercy.

Read More
Merrijane Rice Merrijane Rice

August 12–18 ❘ Captain Moroni

Poem and discussion centering on the personal character of Captain Moroni as recorded in Alma 48:11–17.

Captain Moroni

Every good stratagem depends
on accurate intelligence.

Understand your enemy—
brazen idol gilded in grievance,
bold avenger of ancient wrongs,
blatant fraud from the beginning,
father of bluster and accusation,
wager of eternal extinction.

Understand your friend—
transgressor once racked and harrowed,
now cleansed and clear-sighted,
humble servant who divests power
to labor in vineyard and rescue
diseased trees.

Understand yourself—
tempered intellect stirred
by burning indignation,
determined doer of the necessary,
firm resister of iniquity,
heartsore seeker for peace.

Understand the mission—
not simply to win battle or war,
but to grip hell’s crumbling corners,
shake its foundation to pieces,
and blow the fragments
from human hearts forever.

Read More