The Salt Lake Tribune recently published an article entitled Polygamy lives on in LDS temples. One of the comments got my attention.

“I found Dallin H. Oaks’ talk from this last General Conference appropriate and inspiring. We would do well to trust in the Lord more, and lean not unto our own understanding. Removing canon to make ourselves comfortable sounds a lot like fashioning a god after our own image.”

— Jasmin Gimenez Rappleye, Spanish Fork

Jasmin refers to a famous scripture found in Proverbs 3:5.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

Nonsense. At the ripe old age of 67, I am absolutely going to lean unto mine own understanding. Why?

For over six decades, I was schooled in the morality of the Mormon god. I believed in him. I leaned into his understanding. Well guess what. That god wasn’t so great. I was blinded as to his true nature. Now I see him clearly. His character is steeped in racism, genocide, homophobia, misogyny and a weird focus on child masturbation practices. Why in the world would I lean unto those understandings? No way. Not anymore.

The commenter’s final sentence:

“Removing canon to make ourselves comfortable sounds a lot like fashioning a god after our own image.”

This god WAS fashioned after the image of men. Men of a particular nature…racist, homophobic and misogynistic. Men looking to justify their own genocides. Men who have a weird proclivity to pry into how children touch themselves. To me this is obviously a god invented in the image of man.

On this day 67 years ago, I took my first breath on the planet earth. On this day 67 years later, I celebrate a God fashioned in my own mind. My God is patterned after the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. His parables, beatitudes and encouragements have always appealed to me. Only in the last few years have I come to more fully appreciate His example. And what an amazing examplar He was. Today, I lean unto my own understanding which has been well seasoned with Christ’s preaching and prototype. I have spit out the distasteful seasoning of my former god who was fashioned in someone else’s image. Happy birthday to me. Life is good