Last Wednesday evening I took a few minutes to watch Shaun White claim another gold medal in the men's half pipe. He is an amazing athlete and has worked hard to earn the gold medals he proudly wears. Life has been good to him. For some reason my thoughts turned to Joseph Smith in the Liberty Jail. Probably because I attended Dr. Holzapfel's class earlier that day and the lecture was on Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. I couldn't help comparing the two men. Both have known fame, both are remarkable athletes. But the world adores one and persecuted the other.
From December of 1838 to April of 1839 Joseph Smith was imprisoned in Liberty Jail which is located at Liberty, Missouri. Anyone who has had the opportunity to visit the restored jail can try to imagine what the experience would have been like. Liberty Jail was a dungeon. There were no windows or doors in the confined space Joseph and his companions were forced to live in. The ceiling was so low Joseph could not stand up. He and those with him were not only isolated from family and friends, they were isolated from all sunlight. They were in an environment that was constantly cold and dark. For five long months they lived by candle light. There was no heat for them that winter and Liberty Jail was so cold it was turned into an ice house after it no longer served as a jail. There were no nice beds with clean sheets and blankets to sleep in, just straw, filthy straw. There was no bathroom with running hot water, no baths, just a bucket that was lowered as needed. There was no privacy. Time must have ground to a screeching halt.
It would have been easy for Joseph to become angry and bitter, but he didn't. He endured. He had time to reflect on many things during those long months. He must have wondered if he would ever see his family, friends, and sunlight again. He wondered why he was forgotten by the very God he loved and served. "Oh God, where art Thou?" (D&C 121:1)
Liberty Jail was the refiners fire for Joseph. While there he discovered who he was, but more importantly his relationship with God was strengthened. Some of his greatest insights and revelations came from his greatest suffering. He emerged from those fires a stronger man, a different man. He became stronger in faith, purpose and resolution to do the Lord's will. It was mentioned that after Liberty Jail, Joseph no longer needed Sidney Rigdon to be his mouth piece. After Liberty there were not as many revelations, but more sermons from Joseph. Apparently Joseph became quite an orator after Liberty. He organized the Nauvoo Legion to protect the Saints so that they would never be at any one's mercy again. After Liberty Jail I'm sure Joseph never wanted to see the inside of another jail. But Carthage beckoned and Liberty Jail gave Joseph the courage to face it.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
A God of Mercy Loves Us
In Doctrine and Covenants section 137 the Lord clarifies who will qualify to dwell with him in the celestial kingdom, which is the highest degree of heaven. He declares that, "All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom; For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts."
It was also made known to Joseph Smith in this revelation that all children who die before they reach the age of accountability are also saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven. How comforting it is to know that little children, like my granddaughter Ella, who died in her infancy, will be welcomed, not rejected, into the celestial kingdom. This revelation opens the door of savlation to all.
How merciful! How great the wisdom and the love! Think of all those who have died never knowing about Jesus Christ. Through this revelation the Lord proves once again He loves all his children, not just those few who were fortunate to be baptized.
This revelation was extraordinary! It drastically changed the way members of the early church viewed salvation. Suddenly the celestial kingdom in heaven became more real, more beautiful, and much more populated. It still stands in stark contrast to what many Christian faiths believe today. Many teach that unless you are baptized in this life, you are damned with the gates of heaven continually shut before you. The Lord proclaims otherwise.
D&C section 137 also reveals that we will be judged according to our thoughts and actions. The Lord refers to them as our "works." This goes back to the instruction He gave during his mortal ministry. The first and great commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength. And the second commandment is like unto it, we are to love our neighbor as our self. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. It's that simple. If we truly love God, we keep His commandments and treat his children with love and respect. This is the gospel of Christ, to live our lives with compassion, love, tolerance, and continual service to all. The bottom line is how we treat each other...especially family members.
It was also made known to Joseph Smith in this revelation that all children who die before they reach the age of accountability are also saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven. How comforting it is to know that little children, like my granddaughter Ella, who died in her infancy, will be welcomed, not rejected, into the celestial kingdom. This revelation opens the door of savlation to all.
How merciful! How great the wisdom and the love! Think of all those who have died never knowing about Jesus Christ. Through this revelation the Lord proves once again He loves all his children, not just those few who were fortunate to be baptized.
This revelation was extraordinary! It drastically changed the way members of the early church viewed salvation. Suddenly the celestial kingdom in heaven became more real, more beautiful, and much more populated. It still stands in stark contrast to what many Christian faiths believe today. Many teach that unless you are baptized in this life, you are damned with the gates of heaven continually shut before you. The Lord proclaims otherwise.
D&C section 137 also reveals that we will be judged according to our thoughts and actions. The Lord refers to them as our "works." This goes back to the instruction He gave during his mortal ministry. The first and great commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength. And the second commandment is like unto it, we are to love our neighbor as our self. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. It's that simple. If we truly love God, we keep His commandments and treat his children with love and respect. This is the gospel of Christ, to live our lives with compassion, love, tolerance, and continual service to all. The bottom line is how we treat each other...especially family members.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Books are our friends
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry:
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears the human soul!
I love this poem by Emily Dickinson. In it she explains the power of books. Like most relationships, books are taken for granted in today's society. They have become so common place that we scarcely notice them even though they surround us. You see them in grocery stores, in yard sales, discarded at Deseret Industries, and of course at the library and waiting in popular book stores. Most everyone has books. We collect them, burn them, abuse them. But do we realize that for most of the world's history only a few select people could own one? Also for most of the world's history the masses were illiterate. The few who could read and write were scribes. It was my privilege to learn about the evolution of books as I attended a class lecture last week that was held at the special collections department in the Harold B. Lee library at BYU. Thank you Dr. Holzapfel.
Anciently people wrote on papyrus which is made from a plant strongly associated with ancient Egypt. It was very durable but could not be folded. They also wrote on animal bones, turtle shells, and clay tablets. Eventually people discovered how to write on metal. The special collections department has a set Roman metal plates that granted a soldier Roman citizenship after 20 years of service. What an intriguing link to the past. It was then discovered that animal skins could be useful to write on and make books out of. The skins would be carefully prepared by first scraping away the fur. The best animal skin to write on was that of an unborn calf, or veal. This was because the skin was thin. It was called "vellum." Before Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in approximately 1436, it took 11 years to copy a bible. Obviously the work was very labor intensive.
During the Middle Ages, books were copied by hand in monasteries by monks and in convents by nuns. It was interesting to learn that many monks and nuns came from poor families who could not afford to feed their children. Very young children would be left there and then spend the rest of their lives in the monastery or convent.
Unlike today, most people in the past never owned a book. Books were rare. Often they would be chained to a shelf to prevent theft. Proof of this was a book that still had part of the chain dangling from it. Resources for writing books were scarce, so if the vellum had a hole in it, or was torn, it was used anyway. The scribe would simply write around the hole, or repair the tear by sewing it. There were some fine examples of this. Sometimes the initial writing would be scraped away so the vellum could be reused to produce a different book.
Boards would make the front and back covers of books. Often they would be covered with leather. The spine is the bound edge and pages made of vellum or later, paper, constitute a book. By the way, we have the Chinese to thank for inventing paper.
What intrigued me the most about some of the books was the artwork. Often gold leaf was used. The books themselves were literally works of art, not just on the pages, but also on the edge of the pages. One book had two different landscape scenes that you could enjoy depending on how you turned the book. They were exquisite.
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry:
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears the human soul!
I love this poem by Emily Dickinson. In it she explains the power of books. Like most relationships, books are taken for granted in today's society. They have become so common place that we scarcely notice them even though they surround us. You see them in grocery stores, in yard sales, discarded at Deseret Industries, and of course at the library and waiting in popular book stores. Most everyone has books. We collect them, burn them, abuse them. But do we realize that for most of the world's history only a few select people could own one? Also for most of the world's history the masses were illiterate. The few who could read and write were scribes. It was my privilege to learn about the evolution of books as I attended a class lecture last week that was held at the special collections department in the Harold B. Lee library at BYU. Thank you Dr. Holzapfel.
Anciently people wrote on papyrus which is made from a plant strongly associated with ancient Egypt. It was very durable but could not be folded. They also wrote on animal bones, turtle shells, and clay tablets. Eventually people discovered how to write on metal. The special collections department has a set Roman metal plates that granted a soldier Roman citizenship after 20 years of service. What an intriguing link to the past. It was then discovered that animal skins could be useful to write on and make books out of. The skins would be carefully prepared by first scraping away the fur. The best animal skin to write on was that of an unborn calf, or veal. This was because the skin was thin. It was called "vellum." Before Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in approximately 1436, it took 11 years to copy a bible. Obviously the work was very labor intensive.
During the Middle Ages, books were copied by hand in monasteries by monks and in convents by nuns. It was interesting to learn that many monks and nuns came from poor families who could not afford to feed their children. Very young children would be left there and then spend the rest of their lives in the monastery or convent.
Unlike today, most people in the past never owned a book. Books were rare. Often they would be chained to a shelf to prevent theft. Proof of this was a book that still had part of the chain dangling from it. Resources for writing books were scarce, so if the vellum had a hole in it, or was torn, it was used anyway. The scribe would simply write around the hole, or repair the tear by sewing it. There were some fine examples of this. Sometimes the initial writing would be scraped away so the vellum could be reused to produce a different book.
Boards would make the front and back covers of books. Often they would be covered with leather. The spine is the bound edge and pages made of vellum or later, paper, constitute a book. By the way, we have the Chinese to thank for inventing paper.
What intrigued me the most about some of the books was the artwork. Often gold leaf was used. The books themselves were literally works of art, not just on the pages, but also on the edge of the pages. One book had two different landscape scenes that you could enjoy depending on how you turned the book. They were exquisite.
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