Good Tiding of Great Joy

 

Samuel the Lamanite (2012) 
 Artist: Lester Yocum (American, born 1954) 
oil on hardboard, 20 x 16 inches
Used with permission of the artist
Private collection, donated to charity

Tomorrow, I am giving the Sunday School lesson in Zoom Church.  

I have been a Mormon for 80 years and never given an adult Sunday School lesson before.  

Attending will be 3 people in their early 20’s, 2 people in their early 50’s and 3 people in their early 80’s.  The text is Helaman 16 – 18, and the title of the lesson in the “Come Follow Me” manual is `Tidings of Great Joy'.

I am going to begin the lesson by talking about an artist's conception of the prophet Samuel.  I studied the picture for some time this morning, asking myself questions about weapons, costuming, architecture, and finally wondering about the point of view of the person looking at the picture – the viewer. 

Is the artist asking the viewer to stand with the prophet?  

Asking the viewer to stand with a large crowd against the prophet?  

With a single person for him?  

As the viewer am I sympathetic to the face of the prophet?  Curious?  Offended by his message?  Convinced by it?  Wondering about it?

The artist who drew this picture created it as part of an art album for a Christian rock band. 

Does that make a difference to the way I view this picture?  (That question is more for those from the 50 and 80's decades, rather than for the millennials at the lesson.)

I am telling anyone who has other questions raised about this picture, to please see

https://www.centerforlatterdaysaintarts.org/come-follow-me/2020/8/12/august-31-september-6-helaman-13-16-glad-tiding-of-great-joy

Leaving the questions raised by the picture behind, in the lesson at our ZoomChurch I am hoping to present other "point of view” questions.

I am thinking about the questions of point of view, because all of us who will be gathered together tomorrow are writers in some form or another:  the younger ones write papers and exams to get undergraduate degrees; they also write texts, send twitter messages and are out on other electronic platforms. Eric and Catherine (in their 50's) write papers for learned journals.  George and Kathryn (in their 80's) document the histories of the faith of the members of their church in Europe.

If any of the people attending ZoomChurch have time to read the chapters suggested for tomorrow's lesson, they might come to the lesson thinking about the many points of view in chapters 16 - 18:  

1. the point of view of Samuel who delivers his message and then goes back to his own people; never to be heard of again;

2. the point of view of Nephi who receives and ministers to the converted;

3. the point of view of Helaman -- since this is the end of the record he is keeping;

4. the point of view of the people who live before Christ is born and are worried about questions of justice (a major thread in these chapters);

5. the point of view of people who will live after his birth and can consider the question of mercy. Indeed, the lesson is called" tiding of great joy" though the text feels more like "a missive of dire warning".

6. the point of view of women (specifically at one point, the writer seems to be speaking directly to men about women, instead of speaking directly to the women).  The subjects are about nursing and childbirth.  Awkward, though this may be read as textual references underlying a different cultural point of view. I only mention that issue in passing, not to linger on it.

7. I am thinking about the points of view of those who testify to having been ministered to by angels  / as well as those who hear the prophets who come among them.

8. As a modern day blogger, I think about the discussion about WORDS that I find in Chapter 16.  (A quick search let me see the word, “word”, or “words” is used 9 times.) To flesh out the ideas that came to me, I had the question, whose words am I the servant (reader) of?  How broadly do I cast my net when I read? When I write?  When I write am I always aware of how to treasure that act of ciphering? How do I know which are the words that are treasures to use when I hear them?  Can I connect the ideas in Chapter 16 about what is treasure and how  it can be held close, to my daily life?

I sent these questions to everyone who will be at ZoomChurch tomorrow.  I am especially looking forward to hearing from those who are in their Twenties Decade.   

I am also looking forward to leading my first Sunday School lesson ever.

Arta