Interesting Bushman interview. - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

UtahDan · 12-21-2005, 02:14 PM

Ran across this interview with Bushman done by Maureen Proctor of Meridian Magazine regarding his new book.

http://www.ldsmag.com/books/051215bushman.html

I found it interesting, particularly this quote:

"I admire the fact that for so many years, he carried the Church in his own mind. So many of the people who originally followed him, fell away and he had to persist through all of that. He kept developing new leaders and he just never wavered. The Church had to exist primarily in his mind, and he was able to instill the idea of it in all these other minds. Quite early on you could send a Wilford Woodruff on a mission with no contact with headquarters. That capacity to have a vision and then convey it and imbue others with it is remarkable. That is the secret of Mormonism. Every person carries the Church in their own heads. "

I think that is a remarkable insight. It rings very true to me that "the Church" is an idea the same way that "America" is an idea. Sure there is a huge bureauracy that surrounds each and each has a great many rules and laws as well as leaders (often inspired in the case of the church and hopefully occassionally so in the case of America) who serve as focal points for the organization. But it also seems true that none of these people or things is "the church."

I love GBH but he is not the church. Joseph Smith, notwithstanding our annual celebration of "Smithmas" (I lifted that expresstion, very clever I think) is not the church, nor are any of the beatiful edifices that have been constructed, nor any of the institutions alone.

To me the church is the warm friendships I have there, the seven year olds I teach, the sister who so consistently gets up to bear her testimony with one minute left in the meeting you can set your watch by it, hometeaching and lifting and being lifted by others. But that is just my notion of the church (I have a whole seperate "gospel" category for things where my interaction with God is more direct, ie, prayer, temple worship, etc.). Each person has a different concept. That is why the tent can be so large, why we each have "ownership" of it to some degree and even why we can have wildly different ideas of what the church is or ought to be. It is also why my testimony of it doesn't hang on any particular person, because every person who has ever held a calling from Joseph Smith to a nursery leader is a conduit for or messenger relative to the gospel. None of them are the message itself.

Thoughts?

fuegote · 12-21-2005, 02:29 PM

I've been using Smithmas© since '97.

UtahDan · 12-21-2005, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuegote

I've been using Smithmas© since '97.

Yeah, not sure of the origin, but I only just encountered it and think that it captures it perfectly (in a cheeky sort of way).

fuegote · 12-21-2005, 02:41 PM

I really shouldn't put © next to it...sorry, but it's funny.

i'll respond to your original post in a minute...it's a great point you have brought up.

12-21-2005, 02:14 PM	#1
UtahDan Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: The Bluth Home Posts: 3,877	Interesting Bushman interview. Ran across this interview with Bushman done by Maureen Proctor of Meridian Magazine regarding his new book. http://www.ldsmag.com/books/051215bushman.html I found it interesting, particularly this quote: "I admire the fact that for so many years, he carried the Church in his own mind. So many of the people who originally followed him, fell away and he had to persist through all of that. He kept developing new leaders and he just never wavered. The Church had to exist primarily in his mind, and he was able to instill the idea of it in all these other minds. Quite early on you could send a Wilford Woodruff on a mission with no contact with headquarters. That capacity to have a vision and then convey it and imbue others with it is remarkable. That is the secret of Mormonism. Every person carries the Church in their own heads. " I think that is a remarkable insight. It rings very true to me that "the Church" is an idea the same way that "America" is an idea. Sure there is a huge bureauracy that surrounds each and each has a great many rules and laws as well as leaders (often inspired in the case of the church and hopefully occassionally so in the case of America) who serve as focal points for the organization. But it also seems true that none of these people or things is "the church." I love GBH but he is not the church. Joseph Smith, notwithstanding our annual celebration of "Smithmas" (I lifted that expresstion, very clever I think) is not the church, nor are any of the beatiful edifices that have been constructed, nor any of the institutions alone. To me the church is the warm friendships I have there, the seven year olds I teach, the sister who so consistently gets up to bear her testimony with one minute left in the meeting you can set your watch by it, hometeaching and lifting and being lifted by others. But that is just my notion of the church (I have a whole seperate "gospel" category for things where my interaction with God is more direct, ie, prayer, temple worship, etc.). Each person has a different concept. That is why the tent can be so large, why we each have "ownership" of it to some degree and even why we can have wildly different ideas of what the church is or ought to be. It is also why my testimony of it doesn't hang on any particular person, because every person who has ever held a calling from Joseph Smith to a nursery leader is a conduit for or messenger relative to the gospel. None of them are the message itself. Thoughts? __________________ The Bible tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go. -Galileo

12-21-2005, 02:29 PM	#2
fuegote Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 724	I've been using Smithmas© since '97. __________________ http://www.cavaliersbrigade.com home of the greatest fans in MLS.

12-21-2005, 02:41 PM	#4
fuegote Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 724	I'm just waiting for the claymation Smithmas© story I really shouldn't put © next to it...sorry, but it's funny. i'll respond to your original post in a minute...it's a great point you have brought up. __________________ http://www.cavaliersbrigade.com home of the greatest fans in MLS.