Please forgive my tardiness this week. It is due in part to my holiday, and in part to the fact that I've had a difficult time deciding what to focus on this week.
The list of scriptures for the week is quite good, but would be better if we not only examined these scriptures on their own, but likewise in their context. Section 6:7 (to Oliver); 11:21-22 (to Hyrum - O if all missionaries and all of us has such enthusiasm and desire to preach--but Hyrum could not preach what he did not know); 19:23 (in this great declaration of the atonement to Martin Harris Christ testifies that peace comes through learning about Him); 90:15 (this revelation establishes the First Presidency and outlines the essential function of learning in leadership); 130:18-19 & 131:6 (part of a smattering of things Joseph taught in Spring 1843--ok I've never entirely focused on this context); and 136:32-33 (Brigham's only canonized revelation again reminding us that ignorance is never bliss in the long run).
Kirtland was a place of learning for the Saints of all kinds. There was specific spiritual learning as they prepared for the temple and they were given the instruction to learn the things of the secular world--"of things both in heaven and in the earth." This included a variety of schools for the Young Ladies, for Geography, for children, and more. Clearly we have to read with a critical eye if we are to find "the best books." We have to take time if we are to "study and learn, and become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people." Moreover, we are commanded to teach one another "diligently." I would argue that we cannot teach one another through casual superficial relationships.
88:76-80 This section is known as the Olive Leaf - a message of peace to the Saints and calls on the Saints to establish the School of the Prophets in Kirtland. Read Richard Bushman's assessment of Section 88:
“The practical point of the ‘Olive Leaf’ revelation of December 1832 was the organization of a school for training the elders for the next spring’s missionary work. They were to study doctrine, history, politics, and more, in classes with instructors and books. Besides suggesting a curriculum and school regulations, the revelation set the school in a broad framework of history and meta- physics that focused the powers of heaven on the elders at their studies.
“The school has been represented as an early adult education effort, but the name ‘the School of the Prophets’ indicated a higher purpose. By alluding to the bands of prophets who received instruction under Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha, it implied preparation for a holy work. Missionaries had been going into the field without instruction; in the school, they were to teach one another the ‘doctrine of the kingdom,’ and virtually everything else—‘things both in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth; things which have been; things which are; things which must shortly come to pass.’ They were to study ‘lan- guages, tongues and people’ and ‘wars and the perplexities of the nations.’ There seems to have been no limit on the knowledge needed to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
“Little was said about engaging a teacher. The pupils were to instruct one another, pooling their knowledge, taking care that only ‘one speak at a time’ while all listened ‘that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege.’ The revelation envisioned egalitarian rather than author- itarian instruction. To that end, the revelations concluded with instructions on how to mold the elders into a brotherhood. ‘Above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity,’ they were told, and, to give that injunction form, a ritual was established for welding the students together. The president was to enter the schoolroom first and pray. As the students came in, he was to greet them with uplifted hand and the words ‘Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token, or remembrance of the ever- lasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship in a determination that is fixed, immovable and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God, in the bonds of love.’ The brethren in turn were to lift up their hands and repeat the covenant or say amen.
“The ‘Olive Leaf’ placed as much emphasis on spiritual preparation as on subject matter. ‘Sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean.’ They were told to be careful about idle thoughts and excessive laughter. They were to cease to be idle and stop sleeping longer than was needful. Lustful desires, pride and light- mindedness, and all ‘wicked doings’ had to be abandoned. The school required spiritual and moral discipline along with study out of the ‘best books.’ Learning and sanctification went together.
“The School of the Prophets tells more about the desired texture of Joseph’s holy society—and more of what he was up against. The directions to quell excessive laughter and all light-mindedness implicitly reflect the rough-hewn characters who had joined him in the great cause. Few were polished—and he would never teach them gentility—but he wanted order, peace, and virtue. One verse said to organize ‘a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.’ That succession of words captured his hopes for the whole society he was attempting to create. Zion was to be orderly, godly, and brotherly. At the center was learning—about God, creation, and the world. One verse in the ‘Olive Leaf ’ was repeated later in other of Joseph’s scriptures: ‘Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom: seek learn- ing even by study, and also by faith.’ The School of the Prophets was the proto- type for the good society, a fraternity united by study and faith." (Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 210-12.)
93:36 "The glory of God is intelligence."
There are a lot of possibilities here, but if intelligence is a characteristic of God, then so should it be a characteristic of those who desire to emulate God.
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