Every Needful Thing is a new book published by the Maxwell Institute and Deseret Book, edited by Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye and Kate Holbrook. It is a collection of essays from accomplished Latter-day Saint academics and professionals who speak about discipleship not only with their minds but also from their hearts. Instead of pushing us to choose between faith and reason, love and law, truth within the restored gospel and truth in the wider world of God’s children, these writers urge us to seek “anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report” and learn to live in a world of complexity and abundance. With humility and openness that makes their specialized work accessible to a general reader, these authors model how to live life as a whole person. They relate the twists and turns of their intellectual and spiritual journeys, giving readers confidence to make their own ways and to pursue “every needful thing” (D&C 88:119).
“We hope readers will find gems of wisdom in these compelling essays, which are not only about what to learn but how,” the editors state in the introduction of the book. “With humility and candor that belie their significant accomplishments, these authors relate the twists and turns of their intellectual and spiritual journeys, giving readers confidence to make their own ways and pursue every needful thing.”
Marking a milestone of Latter-day Saint gospel scholarship, all twenty-five contributors to this volume are women. Each author relates her own personal experiences, challenges, and accomplishments through relatable and readable short stories based on overarching gospel themes that will inspire readers everywhere.
As shared in the introduction: “This accomplished group claims a diversity of cultural backgrounds, citizenships, native tongues, and personal circumstances. Voices from the Philippines, Samoa, Aotearoa New Zealand, Peru, Argentina, Nigeria, the People’s Republic of China, the Seneca and Navajo Nations, Hawaiʻi, and the continental United States speak of the Latter-day Saints as a global people.”
Every Needful Thing is now available in hard copy, eBook, and audiobook at Deseret Book.