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Gospel Insight: Hail to the Prophet, Ascended to Heaven! Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

Note: I wish that I had written this post sooner, and the ideas for it have been rattling around my head for days, but life tends to get in the way. This post ended up being much longer than I had originally intended and more personal than anything than I've written up to this point, but I hope that you can take the time to read it and feel a little bit of what I've been feeling.

Much has been said and written about President Gordon B. Hinckley in the days since his passing. In that time I've experienced a wide range of emotions and feelings. Perhaps this is best illustrated through a series of stories.

The News
We first heard of the death of President Hinckley that Sunday night around 8:30pm. Andrew and Brian (my brothers) were at our place and the four of us (the fourth was Jennifer) were playing Apples to Apples. My Aunt Debbie called to let us know. I quickly turned around and dialed my parents. While my phone was dialing somebody made the comment that we should probably confirm it before passing along the news (not that we didn't believe Debbie but interesting rumors can get started this way). We then started laughing at the thought of President Hinckley getting up in April General Conference and saying something to the effect of "I've heard that there have been some rumors lately that I'm dead. I'm here today to set the record straight."

At that we were all busting up. Andrew, Brian and Jennifer ran upstairs to try to get the KSL or other local news website up which they couldn't cause everybody else in the church was doing the same thing. And while we were still laughing, my parents picked up. I felt a little bad about passing along the sad news between laughs, but in some ways it was fitting tribute to a man that never took himself too seriously and always had a twinkle in his eye.

G. Don Gale later wrote in the Deseret News "President Hinckley's sense of humor was legendary. He had that twinkle in his eye that said: Let's not be overly serious here; life is meant to be enjoyed." (If you didn't read it, I recommend the rest of the article as a better written tribute to President Hinckley than mine.)

After we finally confirmed the news (Andrew and Brian thought to look at Wikipedia which had been updated) and I was finally able to get the KSL website up on my phone enough to see the top story about President Hinckley, we sat for a moment, and then continued our game. I sat there and thought that it was sad, but the Church would move forward, President Hinckley was done with his mortal probation and was now with his wife.

At some point that evening I also realized that since Jennifer and I had renewed our temple recommends earlier that evening, that only a few dozen minutes before his death, Jennifer and I had had one last opportunity to declare to our Priesthood leaders and the Lord that we sustained our dear prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley.

The Week
For most of the week I was almost annoyed each day at the news coverage. It felt almost cheap in some ways. I know that the news people are doing their job, but to put a tagline on it ("Passing of a Prophet" was KSL's I think) seemed a bit crass to me and so I largely ignored much of the news coverage since it almost felt disrespectful. I know that it wasn't intended that way nor was it handled disrespectfully nor do I think any of them did a poor job covering his passing, but that was how I felt.

The Funeral
When Saturday came, I wanted to watch the funeral on TV. Since we were watching at home, the boys were running around and the mood wasn't terribly reverent throughout the first parts but it was nice to hear the different people speak and share their memories of President Hinckley. About half way through was Alex's nap time so after he went to bed, things were a little calmer and I actually got to sit and watch President Monson's talk. And then the choir started singing "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" (lyrics below) and a video presentation of President Hinckley started.

As the images and videos of President Hinckley's long and fruitful life flashed before my eyes and the beautiful strains of the choir rose, all of my emotions collided with the Spirit and tears came. The reality that he was gone was more than my mortal body could contain. I was surprised by the sudden rush that overcame me. And it was everything, powerfully, all at once; the sadness at our loss as a Church and as individuals, the happiness of knowing he was now reunited with Marjorie, the surety that the Gospel is true and that the Church would go forward stronger for him having been a part of the work and the knowledge that "things will work out." And more than all that, it was the Spirit testifying to me that Gordon B. Hinckley is a prophet of God and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is real and true.

I hope that I never forget how I felt.

The Rest
On the route from the Conference Center to the cemetery, many people gathered to say goodbye by waving canes and handkerchiefs. I started to think "what might be another way for us to honor President Hinckley?" I thought "I should read the Book of Mormon before the 98th anniversary of his birthday (June 23, 1910). " Others came up with a similar idea (others who have more free time than I) for the Hinckley Challenge, to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days (before May 10th).

Whatever you choose to do to pay tribute, do something, however small and private or large and public.

A Memory to Share
One last thing. Another idea I had was to share a President Hinckley related memory. So here is the one that I thought of.

Following a session of General Conference as a teenager (and this was in Illinois so we were at the chapel and before Pres. Hinckley was the prophet), my dad and I were discussing the talks as we were packing up the projector. I mentioned that I liked President Monson's since he always used stories which made it interesting and kept my attention. My dad said that he always enjoyed President Hinckley's talks because he had a way of articulating his thoughts that he really liked. Those aren't my dad's exact words, but it was what I took from it that day. At the time I think I kinda blew it off, but from that point on I start to pay more attention to him at conference and came to look forward to what President Hinckley had to say at conference.

Tagging
I'm going to try starting a blog tag. I've never started one before nor directly participated in one, so we'll see how well this works out.

How it works is that I will tag 5 bloggers who will share a memory about President Hinckley and then they will tag 5 others. It's kinda like a chain letter, but you might be an active participant and without the threat of death or some other horrible fate. Also, if your blogging software includes support for labels or tags, label your post with "President Hinckley Memory".

To tag someone, you put a link to their page on your post (like I have below) and then leave a comment on their blog referencing your post (so they know that they've been tagged). So here is who I tag:

Jeff - my brother
http://jclement.blogspot.com/

Angela Gappmayer - my cousin
http://gappfam.blogspot.com/
Angela already shared a President Hinckley memory, but I'm going to ask that she tag others!
http://gappfam.blogspot.com/2008/01/president-hinckley.html

Amber Anderson - my cousin
http://amberjakefam.blogspot.com/

Andrew Jenson - one of my best friends
http://www.eleventhirteen.org/blog/13

Jon Turner - one of my best friends
http://jonathanandmelinda.com/blog/

The Song
Here are the lyrics to "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need". I didn't really hear the words at the funeral. While I enjoy performing vocally and listening to vocal music, I'm still an instrumentalist at heart and the music, for me, is still the heart of any piece, regardless of the words. But the words and the music work together to convey a message so here they are:

My Shepherd will supply my need:
Jehovah is His Name;
In pastures fresh He makes me feed,
Beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back
When I forsake His ways,
And leads me, for His mercy's sake,
In paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death,
Thy presence is my stay;
A word of Thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thine oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise!
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.

(Text by Issac Watts - found here)

President Hinckley was always the 'best in class' DeseretNews.com
Hundreds wave Pres. Hinckley's cortege along city streets DeseretNews.com

Gospel Insight: Not the way we asked

I had the opportunity to teach Gospel Doctrine class last Sunday and as a result really studied the lesson. As I was reading I came across 1 Nephi 7:17-18. Those of us that grew up in the Church have probably read these scriptures over and over and yet each time there is something that impacts us differently.

Here, Nephi is bound by his brothers and some of Ishmael's family on the way back to Lehi's camp. Nephi prays "give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound." No doubt the Lord could do exactly as Nephi requested, but instead "the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet." The result was the same (Nephi was free) but the Lord went about it in his own way.

We learn from other events involving Oliver Cowdrey and the brother of Jared that we should have a plan in mind when going to the Lord, as Nephi did. But equally important is ensuring that we are ready for whatever method the Lord wants to employ to bring about His work.

Gospel Insight: Church Leaders Tech-Aware

I've been meaning to do a post on this since I saw it last month, but better late than never. This is probably old news for some of you but I was struck by the press release about Elder Ballard's graduation address at BYU-H where he said

While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time.

He also commented

How different your world is today. If you read newspapers, the chances are you read them on the Internet. Yours is the world of cyberspace, cell phones that capture video, video downloads and iTunes, social networks like Facebook, text messaging and blogs, hand-helds and podcasts....

This is your world, the world of the future, with inventions undreamed of that will come in your lifetime as they have in mine. How will you use these marvelous inventions? More to the point, how will you use them to further the work of the Lord?

.... may I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the New Media, to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration.

The full text of his address can be found here.

So there were two things that stuck me:

1. The Apostles are aware of blogs, Facebook and podcasts! While I doubt that they have much firsthand knowledge, they are obviously aware of these trends and in many cases approving their use in the work of the Church. They are probably the most tech-aware group of old men in the world! For example, the LDS Newsroom has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to get the latest news of the Church (which is how I found out about Elder Ballard's address).
2. Elder Ballard gave an apostolic charge to each of us (especially those of us that are tech-savvy) to blog and to share our testimonies via "new media".

So, here I am with a blog so I have to ask myself "how will [I] use [my blog] to further the work of the Lord?" Now I know that my readership doesn't extend far past my family and close friends, but I do get around 100 visits a month, around 50 unique visitors but I go back to Elder Ballard's comment that "all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them".

As a result, I have decided to start a new "post type", Gospel Insight. Now I'm sure that most of these are not going to be terribly profound or new to anybody, but I figure that I can share insights that I have at Church or throughout the week. Hopefully they will impact somebody, even if that somebody is usually me. As Elder Packer stated in his now famous address The Candle of the Lord, "A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it!"

So hopefully this will allow me to grow my testimony while maybe touching some of you. And I encourage those of you reading this that are LDS that have your own blog to take a minute and share your testimony. And if you aren't LDS, I equally encourage you to share your personal feelings about God with the world via whatever "new media" you participate in.

Richard Bushman on Mormonism and Politics

I recently stumbled upon this transcript Mormonism and Democratic Politics: Are They Compatible? through Meridian Magazine. I thought it was pretty interesting so I thought I'd share it.

The introduction to the transcript states:

Richard Bushman, an emeritus professor at Columbia University and author of several books about Mormon history, discussed the relationship between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and American politics over the past two centuries. He addressed Mormonism's shift from 19th-century radicalism to 20th-century conservatism and the significance of this religious heritage for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. A lively question-and-answer session with journalists followed his presentation.

Lively is a good description. Richard Bushman wrote the biography of Joseph Smith, Rough Stone Rolling, has academic credentials and is a member of the LDS Church.

Here are some excerpts:

I, for one, will be listening for how Romney calls Americans to their higher destiny. I think Americans yearn for that call, especially now after all the scandals of the last few years and the defamation of our character around the world. But the question is, Can Romney find words that will sound American rather than Mormon?

...

How does all of this bear on Romney? I think the obvious question is, How far will he trust government when his Mormon heritage teaches him to be distrustful of government? His instincts will be skeptical. Joining that problem to the problem of finding a language of idealism raises the question, Will he find a way to use the government for any kind of idealistic purposes, or will he remain suspicious through to the end?

...

It's [polygamy] also perplexing because Joseph Smith himself gave so few rationales for it. The best rationale is one revelation written down in 1843. That is virtually all he said on the subject, and plural marriages are depicted simply as part of the restoration of the ancient order of things. Smith brings priesthood out of the Bible. He brings temples out of the Bible. He brings the temple rituals out of the rituals for sanctifying priests in the book of Exodus, and he brings polygamy out of the Bible. That is all he said, that the injunction for polygamy is to go and do the works of Abraham. Beyond that, it's hard to understand.

...

The way the story is told now, and I think there is some pretty good evidence of this, is that though the announcement ending polygamy sounded like a policy switch – "We are no longer going to perform plural marriages" – it really was based on a revelation. I would be almost positive, just because of the parameters of Mormonism, that the president of the church would not do anything so drastic unless he felt like he had the backing of God, whether it was an angel appearing to him or just a very powerful feeling, like Spencer Kimball had when the blacks' situation was changed. I think Mormons just say to themselves, he must have had a revelation, and there is some evidence that he did.

Mormonism and Democratic Politics: Are They Compatible?

Masons and Mormons

I thought that this was an interesting article preemptively responding to Dan Brown's upcoming book. While it's unknown if the LDS Church will even be featured in a prominent fashion (or at all) in the book, it's interesting that due to Brown's previous controversial look at Catholics, some LDS faithful are going on the early offense. On the political side, it'll be interesting to see if this plays into the Republican primary and Mitt Romney's chances.

http://www.ldsmag.com/books/070326masons.html

For more comments on The Solomon Key, check out Wikipedia.