Terence's Opinion Plus My Two Cents

As the white half of an interracial LDS couple, you can imagine that I get a lot of questions from people that they are too afraid to ask anyone black for fear of offending someone. Goodness knows, in our era of political correctness, trying to ask a race related question can be a potential minefield.

I've been asked everything from things like whether my husband ever feels ostracized at church to what lineage do blacks end up with in their patriarchal blessings. But the most common questions I get from people, both LDS church members and people from other backgrounds alike, revolve around the "blacks and the priesthood" topic. Often, it's just idle curiosity about Terence's opinion on the subject, but sometimes they're really trying to figure out how Terence can believe in a church that was so racist in the not-too-distant past. (And I guess by asking me they figure they can avoid offending Terence if it's a sensitive issue for him.)

For those who may not know, for most of the history of the LDS church, black members were not allowed to hold the priesthood. This privilege was granted only in 1978. That also meant that until 1978 black members could not receive their temple ordinances either. No eternal marriage, no temple work for their ancestors. As you can imagine, this has been a touchy and difficult subject for many people to understand.

Terence, like any faithful LDS church member, has had to work through these issues for himself. Recently, in a response to a friend asking for information, he gave his opinion on the subject, which I've decided to share with you all:

"You know, the best answer [is that] there [is] a lot of speculation as to why Blacks could not hold the priesthood. It was something I had to accept on faith, and I would not presume to try and tell Heavenly Father what to do:). The biggest thing to me was I read and prayed about the Book of Mormon, and he answered my prayer that it was true so all the other little things were just a matter of faith and knowing that God always has the best interest for his children in mind. One way [you] could look at the Priesthood in our church is that it does not make one man more important than another, holding the priesthood just means you get to serve others. Maybe as a people we had to be served by it first to understand how the priesthood was to be used."

My husband essentially came to the same conclusion that I have: There are many things I don't understand about this life, but there are some things I do know. One, God always wants the best for us, for us to reach our potential. Two, the Book of Mormon is true scripture that will help me return to Him. Since I am certain about those two things, understanding everything else can wait until God decides to explain it to me.

But I do have to say that I am so grateful to have been born in this generation so that Terence is able to exercise the priesthood in our home, and that we were able to be married for eternity in the temple. This Valentine's Day, I'm not only grateful for my sweetheart but grateful to my Heavenly Father that blessed me with such a wonderful man to share my life with. Love you, Terence!