The Reason for The Season

Posted on by Margaret Slighte

On my other page Slightely Mormon, I am sharing 25 days of service in scripture form. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has once again put out a program full of wonderful videos and ideas about how to serve our fellow humans on this planet.preview

Some of the ideas that have been shared already are intriguing. Mormon.org put out a video showing a special vending machine that the church had built to allow people to donate everything from chickens to towels to people in all areas of the world. All around the social media outlets, the #LightTheWorld hashtag is taking over the netwaves.

I am happy to be a part of this effort. I have never written blogs for every day of a 25 day stretch and writing extensively is not likely, but I am pleased to share the images I am creating with photos I have taken.

As the days progress, I am eager to observe the varied projects that people come up with to serve others. I think this is going to be a particularly enLightening December!

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I Never Wanted to Be a Medical Marijuana Mormon

Posted on by Maggie Slighte

I never wanted to be a “medical marijuana Mormon.” I didn’t want my Testimony tinted, or tainted, green. My Testimony of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father’s influence in my life is not limited to my use of cannabis as a medicine. It’s also not limited to my religious conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon).img_20150905_071226

I have recognized God’s touch in my life for quite some time. Most notably when I left everything I ever knew behind on October 10, 10 at 10:10am and got on a train following a Holy Spirit. I had prayed for years for His comfort and companionship. Since that very binary moment my life has completely changed.

Where did I begin? What Changed? Why did I leave everything behind? What was I looking for? What did I find? These questions and more are what I am answering in the book in progress: Standing Up to Live.  I enjoy writing about God, Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in a blog I have been keeping since before my Baptism: Slightely Mormon.

Until I started taking a class in Southern New Hampshire University towards my degree, called “New Media,” I had vehemently resisted the branding of myself as a or “the” “medical marijuana Mormon.” I separated my cannabis-oriented blogs (420-Friendly Recovery and Gma Maggic 420) from my religious blog and even shared them on separate Facebook accounts. It was easy to assume that I was attempting to hide one group of friends and fans from the other. Or worse yet, to believe I was attempting to keep my behaviors as a medical marijuana patient and journalist private from my family and those I went to church with. Nothing could be further from the truth about my intentions.

img_20160717_112738312The class I am taking is based upon the principle of “branding yourself” to assist your readers and the demographics who’s interest you draw as a writer find you. After compiling a list of my current and former blogs it became apparent it was time for some integration. Since I am also working on integrating my brain and healing from the trauma that inspired over 25 personalities to be created, it seemed appropriate that I finally integrate my “brand” for the purposes of selling my upcoming books: Medical Marijuana for Mormons and Standing Up To Live.

In the past I kept parts of my life very segregated. When I humbled myself on my knees and asked God how to become closer to Christ, I wasn’t ready to share with my marijuana activist friends how I felt about my Testimony. I wanted to have a separate place to share my Testimony with any who wanted to read it. But the audience that had followed my writing about cannabis was not it.

I had initially created a separate Facebook account for my family and close friends who were not interested in being pummeled by my cannabis activist posts constantly. This grew into the account I friended my church friends with. Before long, I could see how people might think I didn’t WANT them to know I had another account. That wasn’t and isn’t the case at all. In my attempts to keep my friends and family from being offended, I have created the illusion I feel I am offensive: I don’t. 14067869_1096902187062432_6113606991054337688_o

This summer when I landed a position as a Feature Writer for a new medical marijuana magazine, Everything Medical Marijuana, I was proud of my achievements. I gave one of the first “promo” copies to my Branch President. My closest friends, also church members, received signed copies as well. I may have shocked a few of them who might not have known I was a patient until that time!

My beliefs are as strong as they ever were, perhaps even stronger. I am writing Medical Marijuana for Mormons to attempt to explain what cannabis IS and to attempt to give some guidance to those who are embarking on this difficult journey. A journey where people on the outside, and in our church WILL judge them. A journey that will test their faith, but perhaps not as far as their faith has already been tested with whatever malady has driven them to search for an alternative answer. That is all cannabis is: One alternative in a sea of alternative medical choices.
This page, Maggie Slighte is ALSO Medical Marijuana Mormon. When I made the decision to purchase both URLs in preparation for my books to be published, I finally owned that label. It doesn’t change my feelings, but it does allow me to be a bit more direct. It also allows me to have a more direct connection to the market for my writing.

In 2011 I took on the cause of medical marijuana and was called an activist. In 2013 I chose to be an activist of a different sort:  I desired to be an activist for God. Cannabis is ONE plant that was created by God. It is my medicine, but my passion is in my savior, Jesus Christ. I am not JUST a “medical marijuana Mormon” but I am a medical marijuana patient and I am a Mormon. I am a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.