[Admin's note: After discussion among the moderators, this submission was edited (minimally). The places of editing were not noted, for the sake of flow, and I hope the author does not mind too much. 
I don't believe this was intended to belittle any customs we may have, but a sincere attempt to try to find meaning in life. I know that many of us struggle with this question and I think we need to take a good long look at our hearts and the scriptures to find out what this story is missing....]
Born. Goes to church every Sunday. Holds the sanctuary door open for old people. Giggles in the back with her friends while playing MASH on a notepad. Graduates sunday school, and goes to real services full-time. At age 16, feels "bad" inside when she hears a sermon about the door of heaven closing. Talks to ministers and says that she wants to be a child of God, and stop feeling bad inside. He talks. She listens. She reaches conclusion that she will do what she has been told her whole life to do. Because it is the right thing to do. She prays and tells God she is bad and that she needs forgiveness. She gives up really bad things. Apologizes to parents/whomever she thinks she has sinned against. Maybe returns something she stole. She desires baptism to seal the deal. She comes to realize (or imagines) God gives her some "peace" about being baptized. She tells the ministers so, and her baptism day arrives about a year after her initial talk. She dunks, she eats, she drinks, she gets cards and hugs. She wakes up the next morning feeling special. She is now Sister "Good Girl", and can stay in the closed meetings, can say "greetings" and "God bless you" legally, and is expected to be a good example. And within the next five years, if she is good looking, chances are she will get engaged. Engaged to someone who proposed to her for that same reason. (Her looks and the fact she is baptized, so she's "good to go") To make the decision to marry him, she prays about his proposal for 3 months, and comes to realize (or imagines) God gives her some "peace" about being married, and accepts. They have some children. So she has a new life. She has a lot in fact. A decent house, decent possessions, a car, a husband, children, and she goes to church. They pay their dues. She helps make a church meal every so often, teaches Sunday School twice a year, organizes a youth group outing every 5 years, weekly sings the Zion's Harp with devotion and gusto, and reads the Bible a 1/2 hour a night, and feels very satisfied that she is doing "all she can" for God, seeing as she has to think about her family's needs on top of everything. She grows old and continues to go to church, gossips with the other old wives, and makes an awesome dessert for church activities. She dies and this is her legacy: "A good sister who lived her life for God. She was a good mother and wife, and we will all miss her-we will always remember her good works. Not the least of which was her delicious walnut-lemon cake!"
I don't believe this was intended to belittle any customs we may have, but a sincere attempt to try to find meaning in life. I know that many of us struggle with this question and I think we need to take a good long look at our hearts and the scriptures to find out what this story is missing....]Born. Goes to church every Sunday. Holds the sanctuary door open for old people. Giggles in the back with her friends while playing MASH on a notepad. Graduates sunday school, and goes to real services full-time. At age 16, feels "bad" inside when she hears a sermon about the door of heaven closing. Talks to ministers and says that she wants to be a child of God, and stop feeling bad inside. He talks. She listens. She reaches conclusion that she will do what she has been told her whole life to do. Because it is the right thing to do. She prays and tells God she is bad and that she needs forgiveness. She gives up really bad things. Apologizes to parents/whomever she thinks she has sinned against. Maybe returns something she stole. She desires baptism to seal the deal. She comes to realize (or imagines) God gives her some "peace" about being baptized. She tells the ministers so, and her baptism day arrives about a year after her initial talk. She dunks, she eats, she drinks, she gets cards and hugs. She wakes up the next morning feeling special. She is now Sister "Good Girl", and can stay in the closed meetings, can say "greetings" and "God bless you" legally, and is expected to be a good example. And within the next five years, if she is good looking, chances are she will get engaged. Engaged to someone who proposed to her for that same reason. (Her looks and the fact she is baptized, so she's "good to go") To make the decision to marry him, she prays about his proposal for 3 months, and comes to realize (or imagines) God gives her some "peace" about being married, and accepts. They have some children. So she has a new life. She has a lot in fact. A decent house, decent possessions, a car, a husband, children, and she goes to church. They pay their dues. She helps make a church meal every so often, teaches Sunday School twice a year, organizes a youth group outing every 5 years, weekly sings the Zion's Harp with devotion and gusto, and reads the Bible a 1/2 hour a night, and feels very satisfied that she is doing "all she can" for God, seeing as she has to think about her family's needs on top of everything. She grows old and continues to go to church, gossips with the other old wives, and makes an awesome dessert for church activities. She dies and this is her legacy: "A good sister who lived her life for God. She was a good mother and wife, and we will all miss her-we will always remember her good works. Not the least of which was her delicious walnut-lemon cake!"
but really now, I will watch myself.
