Tuesday, June 10, 2014

#discoverthebook

I've been Mormon all my life, so asking when I first discovered the Book of Mormon is a bit like asking when I first discovered water. It has just always been there. Some of my earliest memories of the Book of Mormon include singing "Book of Mormon Stories" and "The Iron Rod" in church. As a kid I once sat in a Primary class watching a Book of Mormon filmstrip. Troublingly, I only remember one image from that filmstrip, but that one stands out vividly. It is a cartoon of two Book of Mormon characters (Laman and Lemuel) emerging one morning from their tent to find to their shock and horror that their skin has turned dark overnight by the curse of God. That image, and the racism that it implicitly carries, has haunted my imagination throughout my life. As I grew I would find in The Book of Mormon deep and powerful ideas that define my morality and world view…but that is a story for later in this little series. #discoverthebook #mormon #lds #calledtoshare

2 comments:

Genevieve said...

I don't remember that particular filmstrip, but some of my memories of the skin-change story being taught are way too recent. I get the feeling that as a people we're finally acknowledging problems like this and beginning to try to make them better. It's a change I've seen in the last few years.

Jamie said...

Genevieve, I agree. We're starting to have some really meaningful conversations within the Church. It's a great time to be Mormon!

 

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