Pressing Matters of a Sound Mind

The Seer, the Seer! Joseph the Seer!

167 years ago today, the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. was gunned down at a jailhouse in Carthage, IL. For some Church History junkie wanna-be's, like me, this day marks the anniversary of Joseph’s death and is commemorated by reading his writings and pondering on the meaning of his life and teachings. I’ve been giving some thought to the reaction of the Saints in Nauvoo to the death of the Prophet, as well as subsequent declarations and reactions to his death, and thinking about what our religion teaches us with respect to such events.
A month after Joseph’s murder, W.W. Phelps penned the favored LDS hymn, "Praise to the Man" to the tune of "Scotland the Brave", Eliza R. Snow wrote countless poems of grief and retributive justice against the Illinois mob, and each potential successor to Joseph invoked his name one way or another as a means of establishing himself as Joseph’s true successor. Soon afterwards, John Taylor wrote a tribute that became Section 135 of the D&C, and Joseph was quickly placed in the pantheon of the great people who had ever lived. From that time on, largely thanks to John Taylor and Brigham Young, Joseph Smith became "THE" Mormon Prophet, the most essential teacher since Jesus Christ. His birthday often becomes eerily commingled with Christmas, and passing anecdotes of wrestling and preaching become the stuff of interest and fascination.
What would the Prophet think of this veneration? That is the million dollar question, but the man was so complex, that the question becomes a mirror of our own penchants for personal recognition. At its core, the Mormonism he preached was free of this sort of magnification of the man, in favor of magnifying God’s work. He rarely related the story of the First Vision and other events relating to his prophetic call, and when he did, it was with a reluctance bordering on hesitation. But the same man that decried the creeds of Christianity and veneration of Saints of Catholicism also had his own strong personality and built a large network of personal loyalties and deep friendships, who admired and venerated him years after his death.
This post is too thin— too thin with our history (accounts of his life published post-martyrdom abound, and are captivating), and too thin in exploring what our doctrine says(trends of personal veneration continue to run strong, especially with respect to Pres. Benson and Pres. Hinckley, being the most recent of these). But perhaps the anniversary of Joseph’s death is an opportunity to think about what his death means to us in a cultural and historical context. I think Brother Joseph went out of his way to show that he was a regular human being, and might be a tad bit uncomfortable with the extent that we Latter-day Saints revere him. At least the Joseph that I've made up in my mind would be. Joseph —in my mind's eye- would be uneasy having "Praise to the Man" (don't get me wrong, I love the hymn) sung in his presence, but he would also understand the impulse and would laugh at the error of human folly, and be quick to forgive our excesses. He knew his calling was real and that the miracles that he had experienced were real. As a frontier prophet who faced extreme internal opposition at times from apostles, church leadership and among lay members, he would have been pleased that his friends had stayed the course and were loyal to him. I think that he would have continually focused praise to the Lord and would concede worship to God. I don’t see evidence from his life that he failed to redirect praise to God and instead sought fame and adoration in his work. Perhaps he might favor a song like "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" over "Praise to the Man".
Likewise, how does President Monson feel when we sing "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet" at the close of each conference? Would Jesus be uncomfortable with the songs we sing about him? Probably. Would he have differed glory to the Father? That's what the scriptures indicate. What about the founding fathers of our country of whom we erect statues, celebrate birthdays, and commemorate; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and others. An overly self-aware one (e.g., John Adams) might relish it. A moderately self-aware one (e.g., Washington) might accept it and pose for the portrait.
At the risk of sounding condescending, one only needs to take a look at the art selections at any Deseret Book and wonder if we have crossed the line from respecting the founder of our religion for his amazing accomplishments to having created a "mythological hero" that hardly any of his contemporaries would recognize. Part of that, though, I believe is a reflection of our culture, our relative prosperity and arguable mainstream acceptance compared to 19th century realities of hardship, poverty, and exclusion. As much as we uncover the flaws of these "founders" (of religion, state, etc.), we still gets a kick out of a quasi-Olympian portrait of them and even find a measure of patriotic pride in gazing upon it.
I doubt not my testimony that Joseph Smith is the Lord's prophet and that as an instrument in the Lord's hands he restored the "only true and living church". That being said, I am grateful beyond words for what Joseph Smith did to restore the religion that has given me and my family more joy, peace and harmony than ever imaginable. I thank him for pointing me and others to the Savior, and I love the man for his indefatigable efforts to build up the Lord's Kingdom in these later days. I admire his personal sacrifice. I esteem, respect and admire the man, his life and story captivates me, his example inspires me to look heavenward. Indeed, I would have liked to meet the Prophet. My appreciation knows no bounds that the Lord's Church has been restored, and that the Prophet was the means of that Restoration. The Savior had no truer friend, and no more faithful disciple than Joseph. I love the Lord, and I love Joseph Smith for teaching us to know the Lord.

Millions shall know Brother Joseph again.

posted by Austin @ 5:00 PM