The Last Natural by Rob Miech

A review of The Last Natural: Bryce Harper’s Big Gamble in Sin City and the Greatest Amateur Season Ever by Rob Miech. Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 2012. 356 p. Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

 The title ‘The Last Natural‘ packs a lot of meaning and connotation into a few words. While ‘natural’ clearly refers to the inherent talent that Bryce Harper seems to have, there are a few other connotations, at least in baseball. Since Harper arrives at what might be considered the end of the “steroid era,” it could be a kind of pessimistic reference to Harper’s eschewing drugs since ‘natural’ can also mean pure or unchanged. It could also be a nod to Bernard Malamud‘s novel The Natural, perhaps the finest work of fiction about baseball and the source for the Robert Redford film of the same name.

But the suggestion that Harper is a ‘natural’ is hardly frivolous, despite the hyperbole in the rest of the title. Bryce Harper does have talent; he is ‘a natural’ if you will. Like Roy Hobbs, the main character in Malamud’s novel, Harper is stunningly good. But unlike Hobbs, Harper’s talents were noticed early. Scouts began watching him at age 12. At 16, in 2009, he made the cover of Sports Illustrated, the first high school baseball player to make the cover in 20 years and one of just 13 high school athletes who have ever made the cover of the weekly.

Then, he and his parents decided to make a controversial move, one not envisioned in Baseball’s recruiting rules. Perhaps after a suggestion from super agent Scott Boras, Harper quit High School, passed his GED, and enrolled in the College of Sourthern Nevada, following his older brother Bryan, who had been recruited to play baseball there. After playing for just a year, Bryce was then, under Baseball’s rules, eligible for the draft. He was drafted 1st overall in 2010 and signed with the Washington Nationals for a $10 million contract.

But, despite all the hype, the attitude of major league clubs, outside of their scouts, is one of ‘wait and see.’ “And it’s not a knock on Bryce,” said Dick Scott [former major leaguer and father of one of Harper's teammates]. “The SI story got his name into a lot of clubhouses. People at the major league level, their reaction is… whatever. They see great players every day. To be impressed with a high school kid that is being copared to the next LeBron James… okay. As soon as he gets here and starts proving it, great. Until then, it’s not a story.”

But his potential is why every Mormon may eventually know Harper’s name: If he lives up to his potential (a big if, I admit), he could be among baseball’s greatest players… ever. He is starting younger than almost everyone (except for Mantle and a handful of others), so he could play longer, and his skills have led to astronomical expectations. Best of all, for Mormons, he is an active LDS Church member who is clean—his talent doesn’t come from a pill bottle or cream.

The problem with all of this (calling an athlete ‘natural,’ putting a high school student on the cover of a national magazine) is that it creates expectations and puts tremendous pressure on a youth hardly old enough to cope with that pressure. In some cases, this pressure leads to promising young athletes failing to perform as expected, perhaps due to psychological stress, or to the athlete acting out in various ways—promiscuous behavior, entitlement and contempt for others are hardly unusual among ahtletes even when adults, let alone when they are so young. Youth need time to mature.

But Harper’s parents and coach justify the move because Harper needed the challenge:

“He could hit .700 in high school and regress,” [CSN coach Tim] Chambers said. “He’d get bored with the game being so easy. He needed a challenge. This was his only option.”

And, they argue, if you aren’t involved in the situation, how can you know what’s best? “It’s so easy for outsiders… who do not know Bryce and have no idea what he or his parents were about…”

Our society tends to want, if not expect, perfection from our athletes, both on an off the field. Of course, most of us realize that this desire is both unrealistic and even harmful in some cases. None of our athletes are perfect. We all know about the worst cases, from Ty Cobb to Tiger Woods, but even the most beloved athletes often have shady sides. Babe Ruth was hardly free of error. Michael Jordan is known for his peccadilloes.  And the Mormon public can be just as demanding, expecting Mormon athletes to be not only good, but also faithful LDS Church members. One comment I read on a baseball site post on Mormons in baseball wanted to exclude a number of Mormons because they weren’t ‘real’ LDS Church members; they were inactive. In addition, we expect exceptional athletes who are also fair on the field and kind off the field—almost the opposite of the stereotypical player of ‘Church ball.’ Perhaps our expectations are too often unreasonable.

In ‘The Last Natural,’ Miech traces the single season that Bryce Harper spent in junior college at the College of Southern Nevada, a season in which Harper adjusts to a higher level of play than he saw in High School and to a higher level of attention. Starting the year stressed out and underweight from an overly ambitious prep schedule of at least 160 games, including his high school games, club teams in Las Vegas, Southern California, Arizona and Oklahoma and a spot on the U.S. eighteen and under national team, Harper was rested and protected from much of the attention by a wise coach while he developed and contributed to his teams bid for the Junior College World Series.

Despite the potential dramatic arc of the CSN games as the team moved toward the championship, The Last Natural is more about Harper, his team mates and his coaches than it is about the games. Miech writes about what makes these people think and act as they do, and how they interact with Harper, instead of who made what play in which game during that season. The principle issues in the book aren’t baseball skills or mental preparation as much as how this group manages under a microscope and what the after-effects are from the Harper family’s decision to make a controversial move. Miech never tries to construct any formal argument for or against Harper’s decision, but he provides a lot of ammunition for those who want to explore the issue of pressure and maturity to play professional sports.

Those, Mormon or not, who are looking for perfection from Harper or his team mates or even his coaches and parents and the other adults around them are likely to be quite disappointed. There are no clear heroes here. There are people; good people with flaws who struggle to reach their goals and get along with others and yes, even people looking for the fame and fortune that can happen after you appear on the cover of a national magazine.

Both on and off the field Harper is impressive, but he is no saint. His performance on the field can be  inconsistent at times, but his very high expectations of himself never are. Nor is the intensity with which he plays. Harper describes it this way:

“… I’m an ______ on the field. I’m not going to lie. I’m an _______. I’m a ____, in the aspect that… I don’t talk ____ or crap about anyone, but if you’re a ____ to me, I’ll be a ____ back. I’m going to try to ram it down your throat, hit a bomb, and say, ‘Gotcha! There you go! Shut up!’ But I won’t ever taunt or anything. I haven’t taunted anyone this season. I never [verbally] taunted anyone this year, not once.”

At one point in the book, his teammates made fun of this intensity:

“Harper’s teammates mimicked his walk, the way his weight instantly shifted forward to the balls of his feet when he took a step. He always seemed to be leaning forward. Perpetual aggression.”

This has led to frustration when he doesn’t perform—he threw his batting helmet so much during the season described in the book that it broke; he regularly shattered bats — once by slamming his bat into home plate after striking out; and he nearly bathed others in the dugout in gatorade when he took out his frustrations on the cooler. Miech sees this as evidence of the pressure that Harper puts on himself:

“But after flying out to right in the third, Harper sat on the bench, tormented once again, with his head in his hands, once again, and stared at the ground. The pressure he put on himself, every time he grabbed a bat, was indescribable. Forget the words of any critic, scout, recruiter, or opponent; if Harper did not do something thrilling almost every time he stepped to the plate, in his mind something was terribly wrong. He was inconsolable.”

But at a crucial point during the season, CSN coach Tim Chambers told him to stop—and he did—and he apologized, personally and humbly, to his coach for his behavior:

“Those [text] messages were big,” said teammate Gabe Weidenaar. “He’s a Sports Illustrated cover boy and he apologized to [coach] Chambers? That’s huge on his part. Anyone else in his shoes could be, like, ‘___ off, I don’t need you at all.’ That says something.”

His intensity often comes off as cockiness or arrogance. At one game Miech overhears two high school players watching Harper say to each other, “Is that Bryce Harper on deck?” followed by the reply, “Don’t you see God above his head?” But an opposing coach put a different spin on his attitude:

“He’s a pretty confident kid. I don’t mind it. Whether or not he produces that day, he knows he’s good. I want players like that. I want players who don’t know any better, to play with arrogance. Its different playing with arrogance and being a bad kid… if it’s a kid who didn’t produce and wasn’t a good teammate, he’s embarrassing himself. I like kids who don’t know any better. ‘I’m better than this guy and I’m going to walk with a swagger.’ I find nothing wrong with that. I admire that.”

Assistant coach Marc Morse says that this mentality is what gives Harper his potential:

“Wait until he’s nineteen or twenty, when he has two or three more years under his belt. You might see the next .400 hitter. Then he’ll be thinking, once he does hit .400, about .500. Why not? He’ll think, ‘Why can’t I?’ That’s what’s scary about the kid. He’s honestly trying to break the mold, the thought process of history in this game that says .300 is good. He says, ‘________, .400 is good. And you know what? I’ll do .500.’ Watch. Boy, you can’t ask for a better mentality.”

This mentality can be seen in every play he makes—running out the fly ball or ground ball that seems like an easy out. He tries to get to second base by the time his home run clears the wall: “My dad taught me that. I sprint around the bases. No pimp walk.”

Off the field his mentality is likewise admirable. One assitant coach sees his responsibility in the fact that he patiently signs autographs when so many major leaguers blow-off fans, “Bryce gets who he is and he understands the responsibility to the game and the people, who will eventually be paying [his] salary.” Teammate Casey Sato agrees, “The things he goes through  on a day-to-day basis are completely unreal, but he responds in such a classy way. People need to get off his back and understand he’s only seventeen. It’s amazing. He’s just a good person, a good kid, and he should be completely respected for what he does for other people.”

Perhaps Harper’s flaw lies in his arrogance, passion and frustration when he doesn’t live up to his own expectations. Throughout the book CSN coach Chambers countered this view with the fact that often gets lost when observers see Harper as the giant among his peers: he was only 17! Even today, two years after the events of this book, when Harper gets frustrated playing in the majors, as he did recently, and slams his bat into a wall catching the rebound above his eye (which required 10 stiches), I can hear his coach’s and teammates’ words echo: he’s only 19! Give him a chance to mature. And once again we return to the crucial issue for young athletes like Harper: maturity. When is too young?

Many Mormon readers will be happy with Harper. He has all his bats inscribed with “Luke 1:37″ (For with God nothing shall be impossible). One teammate, Casey Sato, who is a returned LDS missionary, observes that this isn’t just show:

“Those scriptures, they’re not a lie. He doesn’t put them on there because that’s what Tim Tebow does… Bryce does that because he actually knows it.”

Harper also makes clear that he will wear his religion on his sleeve:

“I want to be a leader and I want everyone to know ‘he’s a good Mormon boy,’ not just a baseball player. I’m strong about God in my life. Definitely, few people know I’m Mormon and I talk about God.”

Perhaps reflecting our religion, Harper also doesn’t have the materialistic attitude so common among well-paid professional athletes. Teammate Tyler Hanks (from Spanish Fork, Utah, but apparently not LDS) was surprised when Harper told him he wouldn’t buy a new car when with his first professional paycheck. “Harper told him the dependable Toyota Tacoma with six figures in mileage worked just fine.”

The season makes clear that Harper’s Mormonism is clearly part of who he is. Miech reports an off-the-cuff conversation between Harper and a teammate before a banquet about Harper’s tie. “That a clip-on?” asked the teammate. “C’mon, bro,” said Harper, surprised his teammate would think he didn’t know how to tie a tie.  “I’m Mormon.” Reading this book, its not hard to expect that Harper will one day be speaking at LDS youth events.

But other elements of Harper’s personality and actions may lead to questions among LDS Church members. At least as portrayed in the book, he has a bit of a potty mouth. Perhaps worse, while Harper several times passes on alcohol and cigarettes in the book, his definition of the Word of Wisdom seems to allow him to use chewing tobacco. This use is a bit of a theme in the book, since chewing tobacco is against NCAA rules, which leads the author to assist some members of the team in hiding their chew from coaches and game officials.

Early in the book, Miech addresses the possibility that Harper might serve an LDS mission. The answer to his question came from Harper’s grandfather, Jim Brooks, in almost stengalese fashion:

“… There is something waiting for him. In the church, missions are common. Well, Bryce’s mission is right out there.”

Brooks pointed to the outfield.

“He’s going to do more for young people and young kids than any of us would ever think of doing, because of how he does things… pictures he takes with his head bowed. That, to me, will be more of a help to young kids than anything in the world, because of his religious background. Religion is a funny thing to talk about. You have to have something. If you don’t have something, you don’t have anything your whole life.”

A few pages later, Miech indicates that Harper agrees. But given his tendency to temper tantrums when he doesn’t perform as he wants to, many Mormons might assume that he would benefit from the maturing that a mission would provide. Perhaps. But those around him, parents, team mates, coaches, continue to point out in the book that Harper is mature… at least for his age (although not in every way).

Beyond the comparison of Bryce Harper to Malamud’s Roy Hobbs, the title The Last Natural also invites the comparison of the book itself to Malamud’s novel. Unfortunately, the comparison is not at all flattering for Miech. I found the prologue to be a confusing jumble, with no coherent line of thought. At times I had to read sentences twice or three times to understand what Miech was trying to say. I was not always successful. The writing lacks the clarity needed in a non-fiction book like this. Perhaps this level of editing is what we must expect today in what might be called “low-brow” books. Fortunately, as the book progressed, I was able to get used to these problems and could still enjoy the book.

Despite this qualitative problem, the topic is timely. For Mormons, this book is useful in understanding Harper, who has the potential to displace Steve Young, Danny Ainge and perhaps even Jimmer Fredette in U.S. Mormon culture. More importantly, regardless of your religion, The Last Natural provides an introduction to the difficult issue of maturity in professional sports, an issue that will, I think, remain controversial.

[For the Mormon audience, I should add that, following journalistic practice, Miech reports conversations word for word, expletives and all. I have rendered them as ___ above. Given the silliness of the LDS market, this likely means that you won't find this book in Deseret Book or other LDS bookstores.]

Note: I have cross-posted this review to the blog, Mormon Baseball.

Henry W. Naisbitt

In the final chapter of Mosiah, King Mosiah and his people face the fundamental political question—what form of government to choose. After Mosiah demonstrates the potential problems with a monarchy, the people choose a more democratic form of government, under the rule of judges. As the first chief judge, Alma then discovers that even democracy faces difficulties.

While many early Mormon poems dealt with political issues, the majority were reactions either to the persecutions in Missouri and Illinois or to the enforcement of anti-bigamy laws in Utah. The poem I found for this lesson is an exception to that norm.

The author of this poem, Henry W. Naisbitt, was born in 1826. His father died when he was still a boy, so he neglected school to help his mother. But despite the family circumstances, Naisbitt had a great love for reading, which may explain his  literary talent. After apprenticing as a maker of copper kettles, learning to make silk hats and learning carpentry, Naisbitt ended up in the grocery business. He joined the LDS Church in 1850 and immigrated to Utah in 1854. By the late 1800s he had become well known as an exponent of Mormonism and he regularly spoke in the Tabernacle on a variety of occasions and his poems and articles appeared frequently in Mormon periodicals. He served two missions to Great Britain. During the first, from 1876 to 1878, he served as the editor of the Millennial Star. He served the second mission starting in 1898 (at age 72) as a counselor to European Mission President Platte D. Lyman. After returning in 1901, he published a volume of poetry, Rhymelets in Many Moods. He died in 1908.

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Our Kings

By Henry W. Naisbitt

“The kingliest kings are crowned with thorns.” — Gerald Massey.

“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.” — Revelations.

Who feels like war, who seeks to turn

The tide of thought which swells to-day?

Who feels the flame of purpose burn

‘Gainst vested right, or tyrant’s sway?

‘Tis well they count the certain cost,

Before they raise the sweeping storm;

And understand if wrecked or tossed,

“Earth’s kingliest kings are crowned with thorn.”

This every age hath given to those

Whose godhead burst the narrow bound,

By custom set by books, or laws

To circumscribe, or truth to bound.

No dungeon dark enough for them;

No death too fierce or too forlorn;

Justice and mercy died—and then—

“The kingliest kings were crowned with thorn.”

For every science martyrs bled,

On every path of thought they fell,

But ages learn from heroes dead,

That truth will rule, who may rebel!

And garnished sepulchres are raised

To men despised and roughly torn,

While fools repeat the name none praised,

“The kingliest kings once crowned with thorn.”

Who asks a mission man to bless?

Who pants for right, unselfish, brave?

Let history tell that no caress

So certain as a martyr’s grave!

Yet if such feel inspired of God

With that high trust of kinship born,

The wrath of man may seem no rod,

“To kingliest kings when crowned with thorn.”

Whate’er the conquest we may seek,

Whate’er we wish to curb or break,

Error with hoary head, or weak

As childhood in its wilful wake;

Be sure, if victory must be won,

If once resolved in tears to groan;

So truth be with us it empowers,

“Though kingliest kings are crowned with thorn.”

And days shall come, I hail them now,

When work which makes a man divine,

Shall have the inspiring care and eye

Of rulers sent as Gods to shine!

Roll on, ye glorious times ahead,

Bring blessings for the crowds unborn,

And resurrect our deathless dead,

“Our kingliest kings once crowned with thorn.”

The Contributor, v2 n12 pg 377
September 1881

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This may be one of those poems where late 19th-century English and British usage gets in the way of our understanding today. I at first thought that some of the words had been switched for something else because of OCR errors, but found that was incorrect. The image of “thorns” is also a bit challenging—is Naisbitt referring to the crown of thorns that Christ wore? or simply to the difficulties that all rulers face—the almost inevitable injustices that every government perpetrates in its attempts to make life better or preserve power (depending on your point of view).

Regardless, this poem includes some fascinating parallels with what Mosiah discussed in advocating the rule of judges. While Naisbitt sees difficulties with a monarchy, ruled by those “Whose godhead burst the narrow bound” and who are responsible for the martyrs who “For every science… bled,” he also, in the end, foresees righteous “rulers sent as Gods to shine” and would “resurrect our deathless dead.”

But the message of this poem is one directed at those who would overthrow the tyrant, urging them to “count the cost, / Before they raise the sweeping storm,” suggesting that “history [tells] that no caress / [is] So certain as a martyr’s grave,” and observing that “ages learn from heroes dead.”

Just as these chapters from the Book of Mormon make clear that the questions of governing aren’t easy to solve, so too, Naisbitt sees difficulty for those who would rebel against tyranny and he may even be hinting that the cost of rebellion might be higher than the cost of minor injustice.

The story behind this poem is somewhat unusual. According to the preceding article in the Millennial Star, Parley P. Pratt visited the author, Sarah Smith, on June 15, 1842, when she gave him an account of a vision she received on December 26, 1835. In the vision she is singing hymns in a beautiful garden when Jesus, along with 24 angels, comes and meets her, leads her past hell, tells her that her soul is saved and takes her to heaven, where she sings hymns with them. She concludes:

“The following is one of the hymns which I sung with Jesus and the angels, as we walked in the garden, and which I have ever since retained in my memory, without the slightest alteration in word or syllable:”

No one doth know

by Sarah Smith (as told to Parley P. Pratt)

No one doth know, no tongue can tell,

Whet I’ve gone through since I’ve lain ill;

But Christ has eased me of my pain,

And sanctified my soul in him.

Weep not for me, ’tis all in vain,

Weep for your sins, and then refrain;

For Christ says come, I’ll ease your pain,

If you will come to me again.

O what a happy day ’twill be,

When Christ shall say come reign with me;

When through the pearly gates of heaven,

We’ll sing glad hymns of joy to heaven.

O what a joyful sound to hear

The Saints and angels singing there,

O then, I’ll join in heart, and sing

With Jesus Christ, my heavenly king.

And when I reach that blissful throne,

And have the robes of glory on:

And the bright crown which Christ has given:

Ready prepared for me in heaven.

Oh then I’ll sing, and praise my Lord,

With hymns of joy in one accord;

And angels whispering, all shall say.

Glory unto our Lord most high.

Millennial Star, August 1842

There is no indication in the accompanying text that Sarah Smith was ill in any way, so one possible way to interpret this is that ill is a metaphor for a sinful state.

Given the backstory, as a hymn this has some odd elements. Would Christ really sing a hymn about himself? In addition, while it starts out as a poem about redemption from the illness, by the third stanza it changes into a poem about the celestial life.

Still, the sentiment and ideas of pain and redemption from sin or illness are there, able accompaniment to Alma 36.

This post is my attempt to even out to some degree that problem. If we look now at which Mormons have made the news so far this year, we won’t forget them in the last part of the year. At least, that is the theory. Your comments and criticisms are welcome, of course.

This may be one of those years when the choice seems very obvious. Its hard to dispute the fact that Mitt Romney has had a huge impact in the news so far this year. But this misses one of the fun parts of the Mormon of the Year designation—discovering Mormons you don’t know about who have made some kind of impact in the news during the year. Its not just about naming the top guy on the list, its learning about the rest of the names as well.

Romney is such an obvious choice that, for the purposes of this post, he is banned from being mentioned from this point on. Instead, let’s put together a list of those who, based on what has happened so far this year, we should remember in December. OK?

To get us started, here are a few of the names I think have made or will have made a significant impact by the end of the year:

• Joanna Brooks—The columnist and academic self-published a memoir, subsequently picked up by a major book publisher, and attracted significant attention for her Religion Dispatches column from fans and detractors on both ends of the political spectrum.
• Bryce Harper—The outstanding baseball player selected #1 in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft made his major league baseball debut with the Washington Nationals and promptly played at or above expectations. Should he keep up this level of performance, he is a strong candidate for rookie of the year.
• Gordon Moon, of Duchesne, Utah — LDS Bishop who was accused of failing to report a sexual assault. IMO, the case probably did more to publicize how local leaders should handle potential abuse cases than
• Gay BYU students & Mormon parents of gays — For their viral videos attempting to reduce gay suicides.
• Mia Love — black, conservative GOP politician running for a seat in the U. S. House of Reps.
• Larry Echohawk — former head of the U S Bureau of Indian Affairs who accepted a call as a General Authority at April Conference.
• Neon Trees — Provo-based musical group made headlines because of its objections to alcohol and tobacco ads and sponsorships at their concerts around the world.

[FWIW, I left off the names of two men who have been or are being prosecuted for financial frauds and whose Mormon beliefs hit the media because I'm not sure how readers will react to them on the list.]

Who have I missed?

Parley P. Pratt

I think the most significant event in Mosiah 18-24 is the baptism of Alma and his followers in the Waters of Mormon. There we find the great description of the Baptismal covenant, in which those baptized

…are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places…

This event led me to a poem by Parley P. Pratt about Baptism, a hymn that seeks to encourage non-members to partake of the ordinance.

Baptism was first published in the very first issue of the Millennial Star, the monthly Church periodical in England. Immediately after publishing the first issue of the Star, Pratt was charged with producing a hymnal and other books needed for regular Church meetings there. Under the title Repent Ye Gentiles All this hymn was included, and it appeared in LDS hymnals until the 1927 hymnal, used until it was replaced in 1948. I’m not sure why it was dropped from the hymnal–it seems as doctrinally sound as other hymns.

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Baptism

by Parley P. Pratt

Repent ye Gentiles all,

And come and be baptiz’d;

It is the Saviour’s call,

He’s spoken from the skies,

And sent the message we declare,

His second coming to prepare.

Be buried with your Lord,

And rise divinely new,

‘Tis his eternal word—

The ancient path pursue,

The promised blessing now secure,

The Spirit’s seal, for ever sure.

Ye souls with sin distress’d,

Who fain would find relief;

Come, on his promise rest,

He will assuage your grief,

He’ll send the Spirit from on high,

When with the gospel you comply.

Come be adopted in,

With Israel’s chosen race,

And wash away your sins,

The promised blessing taste;

The covenant stands for ever sure,

To all who to the end endure.

Millennial Star, v1 n1
May 1840

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There are a couple of intriguing things in the hymn that might sound a little strange to the modern LDS ear. The first line of the second stanza, “Be buried with your Lord” sounds a bit protestant (Baptist, I assume)—the only time that the phrase has been used in General Conference in the past 50 years is when someone has died and was buried with an object, or when quoting Paul (Colossians 2:12 or Romans 6:4). The first line of the last stanza, “Come be adopted in” refers to a concept that isn’t emphasized much today (adoption into the House of Israel has been mentioned in Conference just a handful of times since 1950).

But even in the “buried with your Lord” line, as well as in many other lines of the poem, we can read echoes of the description of baptism in Mosiah. Alma’s initial baptism is described as being “buried in the water” (Mosiah 18:14). Baptism is described as a ‘covenant’ (v 13), just as it is in the poem’s next to last line. And the idea that those who are baptized will “keep his commandments” (v 10) appears in the last line of the third stanza, “When with the gospel you comply.”

Of course, to a degree these are all ideas that we might expect of an LDS poem about baptism today; but they weren’t quite as well understood when Pratt penned these lines in 1840. And they served as part of Mormon practice and culture for more than 100 years.

And as an adjunct to a lesson like this one, I think these lines may have some life in them yet.

What does it say that the first group was made up of Seminary students while the second group were non-Mormon university students?

Of course, its easy to see high school students as being dismissive of almost anything—there is something about that age that means students think they know everything. Nothing new.

But I don’t think that this attitude is unusual at all. I’ve read posts in the bloggernacle, presumably from folks that are much older than Scott’s high school students, that are just as dismissive of Mormon literature. Somehow all Mormon literature is bad, not worth reading and not in the same league as today’s literary fiction.

How do those who hold this view explain the non-Mormon university students?

I suppose what is really going on is something like what the Lord says about prophets in Matt 13:57—Mormon literature isn’t without honor, except among Mormons.

Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I don’t claim that Mormon literature is being evaluated for the Nobel Prize or the Pen Prize at the moment. But my somewhat educated judgment is that its within striking distance. Nor am I even claiming that having Mormon literature win one of these prizes is important (although it would probably yield some respect). I do think, however, that it is worthy of respect and often on par with what is taught in University literature courses. There isn’t any need to feel embarrassed by the best of Mormon literature.

Of course, if you want to be embarrassed by the offerings from Deseret Book, I won’t argue. I’ll just observe that we probably do need even the bad Mormon literature.

Can we show our own literature and culture some respect already?

In many ways the idea of sealing a testimony in blood is intriguing. It is not, of course, a purely Mormon concept, for it was a frequently discussed concept in the 1800s, usually when discussing the death of Stephen and the other apostles (it is not often used to refer to the Savior). For some reason, the concept seems to have declined in popularity since 1900. Even in Mormonism, the concept of sealing a testimony has declined in general conference talks[1].

While the lesson focuses on other subject, the idea of martyrdom is one that Mormonism is very familiar with. While I haven’t found any poems that talk about Abinadi’s martyrdom, there are many that speak of Joseph Smith’s martyrdom. I’ve included one of these below:

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O give me back my Prophet dear

by John Taylor

O give me back my Prophet dear,

And Patriarch, O give them back;

The Saints of latter days to cheer,

And lead them in the gospel track.

But ah! they’re gone from my embrace,

From earthly scenes their spirits fled;

Those two, the best of Adam’s race,

Now lie entombed among the dead.

Ye men of wisdom tell me why,

When guilt nor crime in them were found,

Why now their blood doth loudly cry,

From prison walls, and Carthage ground

Your tongues are mute, but pray attend,

The secret I will now relate,

Why those whom God to earth did lend,

Have met the suffering martyr’s fate.

It is because they strove to gain,

Beyond the grave a heaven of bliss;

Because they made the gospel plain,

And led the Saints in righteousness.

It is because God called them forth,

And led them by his own right hand

Christ’s coming to proclaim on earth,

And gather Israel to their land.

It is because the priests of Baal

Were desperate their craft to save;

And when they saw it doomed to fail,

They sent the Prophets to the grave.

Like scenes the ancient Prophets saw,

Like these, the ancient Prophets fell;

And till the resurrection dawn,

Prophet and Patriarch—Fare thee well.

Times and Seasons, 1 August 1845

There are some similarities between what Taylor describes here and Abinadi’s situation—the ‘priests of Baal’ aren’t very different from King Noah’s priests and Joseph Smith’s motivation is similar to Abinadi’s—but the connection isn’t very strong. Still the concept of martyrdom is here.

Taylor meant for this poem to be sung as a hymn, specifying in the Times and Seasons that it be sung to the tune “Indian Student’s Lament,” a popular song of the time with the same meter and number of lines per verse. But there are a number of phrases in the poem that are quite un-hymn-like, starting with the very conversational line “But ah! they’re gone from my embrace” and the introduction of a question in one stanza that is only answered in the next (I guess you can’t really stop singing after the second verse, which ends “The secret I will now relate, / Why those whom God to earth did lend, / Have met the suffering martyr’s fate”).

Despite these problems, O Give Me Back My Prophet Dear was put in the LDS hymnal and remained there until it was dropped with the current hymnal in 1985.

Notes

[1] I searched the General Conference Corpus for all forms of the word “seal’ within 4 words of the word “testimony.” 150 of the 228 hits occurred in the 1st half of the period covered by the corpus (1850-2010). The last 40 years of conference talks mention these terms just 23 times.

John Taylor

Often LDS lessons based on the scriptures cover such a broad range of topics in the scriptures given that the stated theme of the lesson doesn’t capture what is going on in the scripture passages. While this lesson is certainly one of those times, the poem I found is really about the stated theme of the lesson: prophets, seers and revelators.

In early Mormon poetry and writings, this usually referred to one person: the Prophet Joseph Smith. Where today we talk more about prophets generally, for the first 30 years of Mormonism, the prophet mostly referred to Joseph Smith specifically. And it is in the context of Joseph Smith that we learn their ideas about what a Prophet or Seer or Revelator is.

The specific verses in the book of Mormon readings for this week that refer to the seer are Mosiah 8:13-17, in which Ammon tells Limhi both that a seer can read the plates that Limhis’s people have found and something about what a seer does. In the following poem, poet and future prophet John Taylor not only lauds Joseph Smith the prophet and seer of his time, but also gives some characteristics of what a seer is and what he does:

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The Seer

by John Taylor

Written for the dedication of the Seventy’s Hall (Nauvoo),
and dedicated to President Brigham Young.

The seer;—the seer;—Joseph the seer—

I’ll sing of the Prophet ever dear:

His equal now cannot be found,—

By searching the wide world around.

With Gods he soared, in the realms of day;

And men he taught the heavenly way.

The earthly seer! the heavenly seer,

I love to dwell on his mem’ry dear:—

The chose of God, and the friend of men,

He brought the priesthood back again,

He gazed on the past, on the present too;—

And ope’d the heav’nly world to view.

Of noble seed—of heavenly birth,

He came to bless the sons of earth:

With keys by the Almighty given,

He opened the full rich stores of heaven,

O’er the world that was wrapt in sable night,

Like the sun he spread his golden light.

He strove,—O, how he strove to stay,

The stream of crime in its reckless way—

with a mighty mind, and a noble aim

He urg’d the wayward to reclaim:

‘Mid the foaming billows of argry strife—

He stood at the helm, of the ship of life.

The saints;—the saints; his only pride,

For them he liv’d, for them he died!

Their joys were his;—their sorrows too;—

He lov’d the saints;—he lov’d Nauvoo.

Unchanged in death, with a Saviors love

He pleads their cause, in the courts above.

The seer;—the seer—Joseph the seer!

O, how I love his memory dear,

The just and wise, the pure and free,

A father he was, and is to me.

Let fiends now rage in their dark hour;—

No matter, he is beyond their power.

He’s free;—he’s free;—the Prophet’s free!

He is where he will ever be,

Beyond the reach of mobs and strife,

He rests unharm’d in endless life,

His home’s in the sky;— he dwells with the Gods,

Far from the furious rage of mobs.

He died; he died—for those he lov’d,

He reigns;—he reigns in realms above,

He waits with the just who have gone before,

To welcome the saints to Zions shore;

Shout, shout ye saints—this boon is given,

We’ll meet our martyr’d seer in heaven.

Meant to be sung to the tune: The Sea.
Times and Seasons, 1 January 1845

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While the scriptural account seems pretty straightforward in its description of a seer, Taylor’s poetry seems to suggest a bit more. He describes Joseph as “The earthly seer! the heavenly seer,” which, to my mind, suggests some kind of role in the hereafter for seers, although I have no idea what exactly that might be. He later suggests one possible role in the hereafter, saying that “He pleased their cause in the courts above” and in the very end, “He reigns;—he reigns in realms above, / He waits with the just who have gone before, / To welcome the saints to Zions shore.” Elsewhere, Taylor’s description of a seer is more straightforward. He says of the seer: “He gazed on the past, on the present too;— / and ope’d the heav’nly world to view.”

Taylor is not the most accomplished of early Mormon poets (Parley P. Pratt, Eliza R. Snow and John Lyon were better, IMO), but his poetry was far from ignored. This piece was meant as a hymn and, according to the instruction in the published version, was meant to be sung to the tune of a popular song, “The Sea,” probably the tune used for a song by Barry Cornwall which became popular in the 1830s and which was republished multiple times in popular newspapers and magazines. Taylor’s poem uses the same meter, but has a stanza twice the length of Cornwall’s song, so, I surmise, the tune was meant to be repeated. The text was first printed as a single sheet, apparently provided to those attending the dedication, which lasted seven days from December 26, 1844 to January 1, 1845. The same setting was the included in the Times and Seasons. It was later published in the Nauvoo Neighbor and the Frontier Guardian.

As a hymn, it was included in the Liverpool Hymnal of 1847, and was republished in LDS Hymnals through the 1948 book, but was not included in the most recent (1985) hymnal. Somewhere among the string of hymnals, the tune “The Sea” was dropped, and an arrangement of the tune “Neukomm.” by Ebenezer Beesley was used instead, which required changing the order of some of the words and repeating some of the lines.

While I have no idea why it was dropped from the hymnal, I wonder if it wasn’t because it concentrated too much on Joseph Smith. I know we have some hymns that still do this, but this hymn seems to go a bit beyond what the others do, IMO (although I haven’t studied that issue in depth). It is also not the strongest hymn, so it could be that it was dropped simply because there was so many better hymns, and hadn’t gained a place among those beloved hymns that would be impossible to replace.

Still, The Seer does provide a window on the role of a prophet, seer and revelator, and so would be interesting to contemplate along with Mosiah 8:13-17 in the lesson.

With any luck this will help call attention to the international nature of Mormonism today and to the study of Mormonism outside of the U.S. The list includes any work that talks about Mormonism more than just in passing (as far as I can tell without actually having the work in hand) and that is set or discusses areas outside of the U.S. It also includes every work about Mormonism I could find that is not in English.

Particularly interesting is the number of academic works written in German and French — apparently from non-Mormon researchers. It is also fascinating to see self-published books in both German and Spanish.

As I did last year, I’ve translated titles and added notes where possible. I think I’ve also improved the categories a bit, separating out books for the popular market and self-published works. I have not distinguished between ebooks and print books — both are included. Comments, criticisms and additions are welcome.

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Books

• Alandete, David. Los últimos extremistas mormones. (The Last Mormon Extremists) El País, 2012. [The publisher is the principle Spanish newspaper, so I assume this is either a compilation of news items or heavily influenced by news -- possibly about the FLDS Church.]
• Conrad, Penne D. Out of the Killing Fields–Into the Light: Interviews with Mormon Converts from Cambodia. Bonneville, 2011.
• Fluckiger, Jay D. Surviving the Taliban: The Incredible, True Story of a Convert. Cedar Fort, Inc., 2011.
• Hilton, Lynn M. El Teorema de Kólob, Una visión Mormona del universo estelar de Dios (Spanish Edition). (Spanish: The Kolob Theorem: a Mormon vision of God’s starry universe) Translated by Enrique Pulido. HiltonBooks LLC, 2011.
• Leather, Stephen. Le mormon et la lycéenne. (French: The Mormon and the schoolgirl) Bamboo Sinfonia, 2011. [While I'm not sure, the sense I have is that this book may be risqué.]
• Mclean, Julia Dalton. Der grosse Tag des Herrn. (German: The Great Day of the Lord) Bad Reichenhall: LDS Books, 2011.
• Ojeda-Mari, Victor. La Semaine Sainte. (French: The Holy Week) Syllabaire éditions, 2011.
• Roth, Eva Maria. 365 Vorlesegeschichten aus dem Buch Mormon. (German: 365 read-aloud stories from the Book of Mormon) Bad Reichenhall: LDS Books, 2011.
• Schuster, Eric. Katholische Wurzeln – mormonische Ernte. (German: Catholic Roots — Mormon Harvest) Bad Reichenhall: LDS Books, 2011.
• Stewart, George. Latter-day Pioneers. North Highland Publishing, 2011.
• Walker, Ronaldo J. Mejores Amigos (Spanish Edition). (Spanish: Best Friends) Nauvoo Libros, 2011.

Self-Published Works

• Andreadakis, John. From Pythagoras To Salt Lake City. AuthorHouse, 2011.
• Harmer, S. Dean. My Mission to French Polynesia. S. Dean Harmer, 2011.
• Skibbe, Gerd. Vom Fisch Zum Kreuz: Was Roms Kaiser Konstantin Aus Der Lehre Christi Machte. (German: From fish to cross: What the Roman Emperor Constantine did with the teachings of Christ) Books On Demand, 2011.
• Warr, James. Claves De Mormon. (Spanish: Keys to Mormon) lulu.com, 2011.

Periodical Articles

• Bartholomew, Ronald E. “Nineteenth-Century Missiology of the LDS Bedfordshire Conference.” Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 206–245.
• Beatriz, Hernández, Graciela. “Conversiones Religiosas e Historia Oral: Pentecostales y Mormones En Contextos Migratorios, En Bahía Blanca y Área De Influencia.” (Spanish: Religious Conversion and Oral History: Pentecostals and Mormons in migration contexts, in Bahia Blanca and surrounding area.) Revista Cultura y Religión 5, no. 1 (2011): 135–155.
• Chan, Michelle. “Beyond Bountiful: Toward an Intersectional and Postcolonial Feminist Intervention in the British Columbia Polygamy Reference.” Appeal: Review of Current Law and Law Reform 16 (2011): 15–30.
• Clark, Anna. “James Hinton and Victorian Individuality: Polygamy and the Sacrifice of the Self.” Victorian Studies 54, no. 1 (October 2011): 35–61.
• Clark, David L., and Bart J. Kowallis. “The Fate of the Davao Penal Colony #502 ‘Branch’ of the LDS Church, 1944.” BYU Studies 50, no. 4 (2011): 108–135.
• Cope, Rachel. “‘With God’s Assistance I Will Someday Be an Artist’: John B. Fairbanks’s Account of the Paris Art Mission.” BYU Studies 50, no. 3 (2011): 133–159.
• Davis, Norma S. “Review of: Mormons as Citizens of a Communist State: A Documentary History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in East Germany, 1945–1990.” BYU Studies 50, no. 3 (2011): 183–190.
• DeVan, Benjamin B. “Religious Tolerance in World Religions.” Journal of Religion in Europe 4, no. 3 (October 1, 2011): 512–515.
• Dursteler, Eric R. “One-Hundred Years of Solitude: Mormonism in Italy, 1867–1964.” International Journal of Mormon Studies 4, no. 1 (2011): 119–148.
• Van Dyke, Blair G. “Review of Mark L. Grover, A Land of Promise and Prophecy: Elder A. Theodore Tuttle in South America, 1960–1965.” Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 263–.
• Esplin, Scott C. “Closing the Church College of New Zealand: A Case Study in Church Education Policy.” Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 86–114.
• Featherstone, Guy. “The Millennial Voice in Victoria to 1914.” Journal of Religious History 35, no. 2 (June 1, 2011): 233–263.
• Fer, Yannick. “Religion, Pluralism, and Conflicts in the Pacific Islands.” In The Blackwell Companion to Religion and Violence, edited by Andrew R. Murphy, 461–472. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
• Gavin, Sherrie L. M. “An Independent Companion: Ethel Parton and the Australian Relief Society.” Journal of Mormon History 36, no. 1 (2011): 145–178.
• Gessel, Van C. “Coming to Terms: The Challenge of Creating Christian Vocabulary in a Non-Christian Land.” BYU Studies 50, no. 4 (2011): 33–59.
• Hall, Andrew R. “Review of: Reid L. Neilson, Early Mormon Missionary Activities in Japan, 1901–1924.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 44, no. 4 (Winter 2011): 221–226.
• Hardy, Jeffrey S. “Review of: E. N. Mel’nikova, O. G. Moiseenko, and M. I. Odintsov, Eds., Svoboda Sovesti v Rossii: Istoricheskii i Sovremennyi Aspekty, Vol. 6. Moscow and St. Petersburg: Rossiiskoe Ob’edinenie Issledovatelei Religii, 2008. Softcover.” International Journal of Mormon Studies 4, no. 2011 (2011): 181–184.
• Head, Ronan J. “‘An American Enterprise’: An Interview with Massimo Introvigne.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 44, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 162–170.
• Hogge, Robert M. “Review of Roger P. Minert, In Harm’s Way: East German Latter-day Saints in World War II.” Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 250–254.
• Jones, Zachary Ray. “‘War and Confusion in Babylon’: Mormon Reaction to German Unification, 1864–80.” Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 4 (Fall 2011): 115–150.
• Keele, Alan. “Review of Raymond Kuehne, Mormons as Citizens of a Communist State: A Documentary History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in East Germany, 1945–1990.” Journal of Mormon History 38, no. 1 (Winter 2012): 235–239.
• Knowlton, David Clark. “Parley Pratt and the Problem of Separating Latin and Anglo America.” Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 194–199.
• Minert, Roger P. “Review of: Mormons As Citizens of a Communist State: A Documentary History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in East Germany: Raymond Kuehne.” Mormon Historical Studies 12, no. 1 (Spring 2011).
• Rasmussen, Matthew Lyman. “A Home for the Saints: Developments in LDS Worship Accommodation in Lancashire, England.” International Journal of Mormon Studies 4, no. 1 (2011): 66–107.
• Sherlock-Taselaar, Ingrid. “Review of: Raymond Kuehne, Mormonen Und Staatsbürger: Eine Dokumentierte Geschichte Der Kirche Jesu Christi Der Heiligen Der Letzten Tage in Der DDR.” International Journal of Mormon Studies 4, no. 2011 (2011): 169–172.
• Silva, Silva Antônio. “O pecado chamado prazer: análise do paradigma sexual entre os adolescentes membros da Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias a partir da ótica de Michel Foucault.” (Portuguese: The Sin Called Pleasure: An analysis of the sexual paradigm among adolescents in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the perspective of Michel Foucault.) Anais dos Simpósios da ABHR 12, no. 1 (May 25, 2011).
• Tamez, Jared. “Indians, Mestizos, and Parley P. Pratt’s Chilean Mission.” Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 200–205.
• Tamez, Jared. “Review of Kevin L. Mortensen, Comp. and Ed. Witnessing the Hand of the Lord in the Dominican Republic.” Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 2 (Spring 2011): 234–237.
• Timothy, Dallen J., and Kevin R. Schmidt. “Personal Heritage and Return Visits to American Colonies in Mexico.” Tourism Review International 14, no. 4 (2011): 179–188.
• Vousden, Peter. “‘We Do Not Make Fun of Any Religion in My Newspapers’: The Beaverbrook Press Coverage of Mormon Stories in Britain, 1912–1964.” International Journal of Mormon Studies 4, no. 2011 (2011): 108–118.
• Woods, Fred E. “Making Friends Down Under: The Beginnings of LDS Missionary Work on Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia, 1961.” Mormon Historical Studies 12, no. 1 (Spring 2011).

Academic Books

• Cannon, Hugh J. To The Peripheries of Mormondom: The Apostolic Around-the-World Journey of David O McKay, 1920-1921. Edited by Reid L Neilson. 1st ed. University of Utah Press, 2011.
• Charles, Carter. “Des Mormons Et Des Chiffres: Statistiques Et Conversions Dans l’Église De Jésus-Christ Des Saints Des Derniers Jours”. (French: Mormons and Numbers: Statistics And Conversions In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints) Chaiers de l’Institut Religioscope, Université Michel de Montaigne, 2011.
• Dennis, Ronald D. Zion’s Trumpet: 1850 Welsh Mormon Periodical. BYU Religious Studies/ Deseret Book Company, 2011.
• Dubois, Guy. La Conquête De L’ouest En Chansons?: Etude Sociohistorique Des Chants De Soldats, De Hors-la-loi, De Chercheurs D’or, De Mineurs, De Mormons Et De Fermiers Américains Du XIXe Siècle. (French: The Conquest of the West in Song?: Socio-historical study of the songs of soldiers, of those outside the law, of gold seekers, miners, Mormons and American farmers of the nineteenth century.) L’Harmattan, 2011.
• Eberle, Edward J. Church and State in Western Society. Ashgate, 2011.
• Gailus, Manfred, and Armin Nolzen. Zerstrittene?»Volksgemeinschaft«: Glaube, Konfession und Religion im Nationalsozialismus. (German: Fractious National Community?: faith, creed and religion in the Third Reich.) Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011.
• James, William Closson. God’s Plenty: Religious Diversity in Kingston. Mcgill Queens Univ Pr, 2011.
• Jeier, Thomas. Die ersten Amerikaner: Eine Geschichte der Indianer. (German: The first Americans: A History of the Indians.) Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 2011.
• Kuehne, Raymond. Henry Burkhardt and LDS Realpolitik in Communist East Germany. 1st ed. University of Utah Press, 2011.
• Löffler, Beate. Fremd und Eigen: Christlicher Sakralbau in Japan nach 1853. (German: Foreign and Separate: Christian religious construction in Japan since 1853) Frank & Timme, 2011.
• Mardon, Austin. The Mormon Contribution to Alberta Politics. Golden Meteorite Press, 2011.
• Paye-Moissinac, Lucie, Pierre Allorant, Walter Badier, and Collectif. Voyages en Amérique?: La société américaine vue par Marcel Jozon en 1869 et par Alexandre Ribot en 1886-1887. (French: Travels in America?: American society as seen by Marcel Jozon in 1869 and Alexandre Ribot in 1886-1887.) L’Harmattan, 2011.
• Tonk, Moritz. “Die Zähmung des Wilden Westens”: Landerschließung und Raumnutzung in den USA im 19. Jahrhundert. (German: “The Taming of the Wild West”: Land development and land use in the United States in the 19th century.) Grin Verlag, 2011.

Thesis and Dissertations

• Ball, Katie Nichole. “‘When They Called Us Jie Mei (sister)’ An Autoethnographic and Narrative Study of Religious Development in Emerging Adulthood”. M.S., Family, Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, 2011.
• Beazer, Jaclyn Ann. “Religious Space in Transition: A Comparison of Latter-Day Saint and Nonconformist Worship in Victorian England”. Utah State University, 2011.
• Harthoorn, E.M. “Heiligen Van De Laatste Dagen: Over Groei Van Het Mormonisme”. (Dutch: Latter-day Saints: About the Growth of Mormonism) Bachelor thesis, Universiteit Utrecht, 2011.
• Swanberg, Michael E. “Alberta Federal Politics in an Era of Socioeconomic Realignment 1953–1958”. M.A., University of Calgary (Canada), 2011.

If you know of a work published in 2011 that isn’t listed above, please don’t hesitate to mention it in the comments below.

John Lyon

The culmination of King Benjamin’s address to his people was the “mighty change” they experienced which led them to repent and covenant to keep the commandments and to seek to do good continually. While the scripture says that they “had no more disposition to do evil,” given the later history of this people, we might surmise that the disposition didn’t last. Nor did Benjamin expect that his people would remain sinless, but instead they would likely need a disposition to seek and obtain forgiveness. I suspect that one aspect of the “mighty change” described in the Book of Mormon is exactly that, seeking forgiveness for errors and sin.

So, perhaps we can see something of this “mighty change” in our attitude toward forgiveness. Do we quickly recognize error and seek forgiveness, or do we delay? Mormon poet John Lyon sees this kind of attitude in his poem on forgiveness:

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Forgiveness

by John Lyon

When I against the Lord transgress;

And none but he can know my secret sin,

Then I’ll repent, and strive his love to win;

By doing all that I’ve forgot to do,

And more devoutly, righteousness pursue;

Then shall I have forgiveness.

And should my folly cause distress,

To father, mother, sister, brother, friend;

I’ll run with speed, confess to each, and mend

The sinful breach, by new obedience I

All loss restoring, through the vile offence;

Then shall I have forgiveness.

Should love demand that I confess,

For open sin a public sense of grief;

I’ll humbly yield, if this should bring relief,

No matter what may be the penance; still,

I’ll strive the law of trespass to fulfil,

To gain from all, forgiveness.

Then shall my brethren love, and bless,

The penitent with heartfelt joy again,

While the recording angels sound the strain

Through brighter spheres: the sinner is forgiven,

And mercy, radiant with the smile of heaven,

Exults in God’s forgiveness.

Lyon

Kilmarnoch, December 11th, 1846.

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In many ways I like John Lyon better than his better-known contemporary and poetic foil, Eliza R. Snow. His poetry is often lighter and more approachable, covering subjects like currency and the death of a canary. Born in 1803, Lyon was largely self-taught, only learning to read at the age of 25, but nevertheless soon becoming an active literary participant, working for seven different newspapers in his native Scotland and assisting in the production of several anthologies of the work of other poets. He joined the LDS Church in 1844 and published his first LDS poem, “Man,” in the Millennial Star in 1845. By 1849, Mission President Orson Spencer lauded his work as “genius” and providing “unmistakable melody and power.” Lyon served an LDS mission in England, published a volume of poems, The Harp of Zion, and then immigrated to Utah, where he was made a patriarch in 1872. His Utah poems were published posthumously in the volume Songs of a Pioneer.