Harmony

I like to think I can picture Zion. One heart, one mind, no poor among them, dwelling in righteousness. It sounds like harmony to me. A state of oneness that's... almost musical. Or like the flow of dancing. Or a sports team, where one player throws the ball into an open spot of field because they know their teammate will appear there to catch it. 

There's a quote I love from a book called Gates of Fire. It's a historical fiction about the battle at Thermopylae:

"We talked for hours in secret on the pursuit of esoterike harmonia, that state of self-composure which the exercises of the phobologia are designed to produce- As a string of the kithera vibrates purely, emitting only that note of the musical scale which is its alone, so must the individual warrior shed all which is superfluous in his spirit, until he himself vibrates at that sole pitch which his individual daimon dictates. The achievement of this ideal, in Lakedaemon, carries beyond courage on the battlefield; it is considered the supreme embodiment of virtue, andreia, of a citizen and a man.

Beyond esoterike harmonia lies exoterike harmonia, that state of union with one's fellows which parallels the musical harmony of the multistringed instrument or of the chorus of voices itself. In battle exoterike harmonia guides the phalanx to move and strike as one man, of a single mind and will. In passion it unites husband to wife, lover to lover, in wordless perfect union. In politics exoterike harmonia produces a city of concord and unity, in which each individual, securing his own noblest expression of character, donates this to each other, as obedient to the laws of the commonwealth as the strings of the kithera to the immutable mathematics of music. In piety exoterike harmonia produces that silent symphony which most delights the ears of the gods."

There's a video out there somewhere of Jacob Collier explaining piano playing to different people at five levels of difficulty. The final level appears to actually be the least difficult for Jacob to explain because he's explaining it to Herbie Hancock. And they begin to communicate in a less technical way, with few words, and start to just say things like "yeah" and "then you can just..." and "if you go..." followed by some piano playing. They begin to riff off of each other. They're communicating without talking. They have one mind, one heart, neither is poor in their understanding of music. They know if one passes the proverbial ball, the other will appear in the right spot to catch it and run with it. It's magical.

You see the same thing in good jazz music, sports teams, families, friendships.

Where does the harmony come from? Why does it work sometimes and break down other times? I've experienced it in small ways many times throughout my life. And no one seemed to be trying at all to make it happen. We were all just being ourselves, and letting others be themselves. And when everyone was comfortable enough to be who they were, harmony just... happened. 

As a side note, I want to differentiate this from the political ideology that sort of rhymes with what I'm saying, where people act like animals (sometimes literally) to gratify their flesh, and we all just accept whatever social deviancy is imagined up.  That's not what I'm talking about. And that stuff isn't really what people are anyway. It's just the shield we throw up because who we really are was hurt really badly at some point, so we make up a new version of ourselves to protect the real version. And I'm pretty sure every human alive does this. I digress...

We've all got a spirit in us that's holy. And we've all been given gifts intended to bless and benefit each other. What if it's less about developing that, and more about accepting it. What if it's already in us and fully developed, and we just need to stop fearing the judgment of others and let that holy part of us ring out? And what if we let it ring out in others without wrecking their gifts with our judgment, envy, ambition, etc. It would probably be easy if we thought of ourselves as "us" and "we" as opposed to "them" and "me".

That's what I think it means to be pure in heart. At least in part. 

Anyway, I'm sort of just riffing off a stream of thoughts I've been floating down for a few days. Maybe there's something interesting in there.

Goodnight everyone. Try being who you are, so we can be who we are. 

A Collaborative Parent, pt 2

I'm in the process of editing volume 1 of the Hyrum Smith Project. We were going to publish it on Sunday, until we received some feedback from a very competent researcher and proofreader telling us it was not at all ready. On Saturday, I received a proof copy to mark up and make notes in, and the proofreader was right: we have a ways to go.

I view this feedback as a Godsend. Something wise and loving Parents provided to give experience in patience and a chance to improve. 

While the quality of the book is, in many respects, lacking, the content is remarkable. I have an easier time comprehending and retaining information on the printed page, as opposed to on a screen. I don't know why that is, but there's probably some scientific, and more importantly, spiritual reason behind it. I've enjoyed getting to know Hyrum better in print.

One entry I'm working on right now is a revelation we believe Hyrum was present for. The source is Revelation Book 1, Commandment 65. You can find that on the Joseph Smith Papers website or the Church History Library catalog. It's in our T&C as section 49. It's short enough that I'll copy the whole thing below. The context of the revelation is fascinating. The young church has had some remarkable experiences. The Book of Mormon is in print, missionaries are out, gatherings and spiritual outpourings are occurring, the adversary is hard at work attempting to destroy it all, and God is skillfully combating old Scratch through his servants.

Well, we arrive at August 13, 1831, and in a meeting of the elders on the bank of the Missouri River the Lord says through Joseph,

Behold & hearken oh ye Elders of my Church saith the Lord your God even Jesus Christ your advocate who knoweth the weakness of man & how to sucour they that are tempted & verily mine eyes are upon you those who have not as yet gone up unto the Land of Zion wherefore your mission is not yet full nevertheless ye are blessed for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the Angels to look upon & they rejoice over you & your sins are forgiven you & now continue your Journey assemble yourselves upon the land of Zion & hold a meeting & rejoice together & offer a sacrament unto the most high & then you may return to bear record yea even all together or two by two as seemeth you good it mattereth not unto me only be faithfull & declare glad tidings unto the inhabitants of the Earth or among the Congregations of the wicked Behold I the Lord have brought you together that the promise might be fulfilled that the faithfull among you should be preserved & rejoice together in the Land of Missorie I the Lord promised the faithfull, & cannot lie I the Lord am willing if any among you desireth to ride upon horses or upon mules or in chariots shall receive this blessing if he receive it from the hand of the Lord with ​a​ thankfullness hearts in all things these things remain with you to do according to Judgement & the directions of the spirit Behold the kingdom is yours And Behold & lo I am with the faithfull always even so Amen——

What a joyful little revelation. And, what's more, the Lord seems to be in a mood of collaboration. He gives some guidance, but then says "...as seemeth you good it mattereth not unto me", and later gives them a few options about how they might travel, ultimately leaving it up to them. It's a great example, I think, of how little He wants to command us in every particular. He would rather give us material, some parameters, and see how and what we create with it. There isn't a "right" way in the traditional sense, as long as they are "faithful". What is "right" in this instance is higher than the kind of "right" we tend to think of. His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. It's more of a principle; an underlying spirit that we act within that is "right".

We get the same collaborative spirit in T&C 157:44-45,

I, the Lord, say to you, with these additions, what you have gathered as scriptures are acceptable to me for this time and contain many plain and precious things. Nevertheless, whoso is enlightened by the spirit shall obtain the greater benefit, because you need not think they contain all my words nor that more will not be given, for there are many things yet to be restored unto my people. It is ordained that some things are only to be given to people who are mine and cannot otherwise be given to mankind on earth. You do not yet understand the glory to be revealed unto my covenant people.

And now I will accept what you have produced and you need not labor further to recover my words, but to complete your labors as you have agreed. You have inquired about the details, including punctuation, and what I say unto one I say unto all: I have given to you my doctrine, and have also revealed teachings, commandments, precepts, and principles to guide you, and it is not meet that I command you in all things — reason together and apply what I have given you, and it will be enough.

So, we were to "complete [our] labors as [we had] agreed", but we're told essentially, "Hey, I've given you some really good tools and materials to accomplish this, go ahead and use those as best as you know how, and that'll be just fine." 

Craaaaaazy, isn't it? God trusted us enough to have *ahem* agency. There are some guidelines, expectations, etc. But I no longer view agency as black and white choices of "right" and "wrong"; there are things that are "right" and "wrong", of course, but those weightier matters often go ignored while we strain at gnats. 

Ok, so we've been told to write a statement of principles, but everyone I've surveyed at this point thinks that was a flop. The women have had the opportunity to work together to decide how to implement the Lord's guidance, and that's been a trainwreck (until recently...). 

There are varying views on what is meant by the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law. I think we can see a clear example in the above scriptures:

God does not want to command us in every particular, but He does give us bounds to work within that He expects us not to go outside of. Within those bounds, we're given tools and materials, as well as some guidance on what kind of project we are to labor on together. 

And that's kind of it. He wants us to build a House. He's given us teachings, commandments, precepts, and principles to guide us. 

Let's reason together, apply what He's given us, and it will be enough. It certainly seems to have been enough this last weekend among men and women alike, and I think we have every reason to rejoice.

A Collaborative Parent

I've been fiddling around with this idea for a little while. It goes like this:

God doesn't want to command us in all things, but He wouldn't mind collaborating.

Seems sort of, I don't know, disrespectful. Right? Thinking we know enough to be able to collaborate with God. HA!

Although, my six-year-old is intelligent enough to collaborate with me on some level. I love seeing the unique manifestation of her heart and mind when we work on stuff together. It's pretty boring for me to just tell her exactly what needs to be done all the time. That isn't really her at all if she's simply my satellite. 

She loves to draw. She loves to draw axolotls. I asked her to draw me an axolotl once because I thought it would make me happy. The picture isn't what would make me happy, though. I don't particularly care for aoxolotls. Rather, it is discovering her interpretation, expression, intention, and design that flowed from the principle of "axolotl" that would delight me. The axolotl drawing is really just a medium. 

Get it? 

Before I had kids, I viewed God as more of a commander, and I was just the drone that needed to know exactly the right thing to do so I didn't screw up the perfection that is God's command with my stupidity. But, anymore, I see God's commands as mediums for growth, expression of beauty, creation, and collaboration with the Divine. 

What if there wasn't a "right" way to do the Statement of Principles document? Or the provisional women's document? Or etc., etc., blah, blah, blah [insert task here]. What if there are just correct principles, and we can choose how to use them to govern ourselves, and the expression of that is as unique as our circumstances in history? What if it isn't "adding to and taking away" when we collaborate with each other and with God on how to best implement those principles for our current circumstances? This may just provide room for structure on the one hand, and freedom on the other. There's room for experimentation, mistakes, learning, growth, change, revisiting... creation!

If God points to a Home Depot and says to me, "See, here, there is material with which to build. I'd like you to build a treehouse." Perhaps that's all the command I need, and He doesn't need to command me in every particular. Perhaps He wants to see what I come up with. What plan I develop, what tools I think are necessary, what constraints I place on the project, whether or not I ask others to help, and if I ask others to help, how we decide we want to interact during the project. Perhaps I work until I get stuck, and then He works the problem with me, visiting from time to time to instruct me further and provide intelligent solutions, here a little, there a little. Perhaps we collaborate. Perhaps...

I dunno. Words fail me. The thought isn't all the way formed. I can also see this idea turning into some weird hippie, morally loose, confused, chaotic, shit-fest. But I feel something true in there somewhere. I mean, what made Christ so awesome was that He embodied the word of God perfectly. But I also wonder if, theoretically, ten saved beings can embody the word of God perfectly... differently. I mean, do we really think Christ and the Father are carbon copies? God forbid. Maybe to be exactly as Christ is has more to do with underlying principles than it does being a mindless drone.

Maybe God would have us build a family that is as delightful and surprising to Him as it would be to us.

Maybe...