- Gary Bergera on A Review: Educating Zion: The Diaries of BYU President Ernest L. Wilkinson, 1952–1971: “I tried hard in preparing the diaries to be as balanced as possible. I also wanted the diaries to speak for themselves, supplemented as needed by other contemporary materials. I think the introduction to the diaries may contain a more nuanced discussion of how I’ve come to view Wilkinson. He strikes me as a complicated man, driven by his own needs and insecurities to succeed. He accomplished a lot during his years at BYU. He–and others–also paid a high price for his singleness of vision. I guess one of the questions today is was it worth the cost? Could Wilkinson’s accomplishes been achieved differently?” Jul 15, 12:43
- on A Review: Educating Zion: The Diaries of BYU President Ernest L. Wilkinson, 1952–1971: “Gary, your interview on Mormon Stories seemed overly kind to Wilkerson. You seemed to focus on the quantity of students, while barely mentioning the quality of the education and staff. Because of the tattletale environment, many bright Mormon educators wanted nothing to do with BYU. Which deprived the university of some potential high quality staff. In DOM’s biography, Wilkinson is portrayed as a bit of a conniver. And the biography is not very kind to him. The religion department was full of right-wing nuts. Anti-evolution, biblical literalists, etc. For Wilkinson, a university was for indoctrination, not encouraging a free flow of ideas. Calling BYU the Harvard of the West was a joke. It was more like a Bob Jones of the West.” Jul 15, 12:16
- on A Review: Educating Zion: The Diaries of BYU President Ernest L. Wilkinson, 1952–1971: “It’s tempting.” Jul 15, 10:05
- on A Review: Educating Zion: The Diaries of BYU President Ernest L. Wilkinson, 1952–1971: “Will this lead to a biography?” Jul 15, 09:15
- on What You Should Talk About in the Foyer (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 7/12: “SVbob: I like how you have approached this. I think it borders on the question of agency vs. God’s control. I suspect that many of the challenges in life come because of the agency of others, and not God’s specific attempt to give us trials. That whole question is a big can of worms that seems quite mixed up in LDS thought. Raymond Winn: Meeting your friend in the foyer is a great story. As I’ve aged I’ve realized that relationships need to be maintained — they require constant investment (which seems to be something few people do outside of family). I hope that relationship is reciprocated. As I’m trying to suggest with Church meetings, how you see and react to the other person determines what you will get out of it. John Mansfield: Yes, fascinating! Looking at these meetings both spatially and temporally is very perceptive. And like any way of looking at meetings, they can even end up a source of conflict — I remember a news item years ago about someone firing a gun at an Idaho LDS building because someone sat in “his” row in the chapel. We can easily end up unnecessarily in a rut or fixed on a particular spatial or temporal relationship to church. Maybe we should try some kind of rotation to mix things up. As for your timing coming to class, you remind me that it isn’t so much what we do as how open we are to the experiences we end up with. I think that when you go to a class (early, late, on time, whenever) is more about your relationships with others than it is about how much you receive from the class. I’m glad that you are noticing what you are doing. That’s the only way you can decide whether or not to make a change.” Jul 14, 23:07
- on What You Should Talk About in the Foyer (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 7/12: “With the coming shift to a shorter priesthood meeting and a shorter Sunday school class in quick sequence, I have been thinking a lot about the various preferences people in my ward have for gathering. Spatially, many will usually choose left, right, center, front, middle, or back. The last row is strongly desired by many. Some will pick up a chair and place it well behind the back row. Some stick to the foyer. Temporally, some arrive early, some on time, and others always 20 minutes after things have started. I was once told that giant flocks of hundreds of birds wheeling through the sky maintain there structure because each bird has its preference for where it wants to be: in the middle surrounded by other birds in every direction, closer to the edge, on the edge, a bit past the edge. Talking to my wife about this, I realized that for Gospel Doctrine, I have a srong tendency to walk into the room 3 minutes or so after it starts, preferring to skip the teacher’s carefully thought out preamble and arrive with motion underway, like hopping on a train already pulling out of the station. (When did that become a prohibited safety violation?) My wife, who sits in the classroom waiting for things to start said, “I’ve noticed that habit. I figured you had something you need to do.” “I can also find something useful to do instead of coming in and waiting.”” Jul 14, 14:30
- on CFM 7/20-7/26: Thoughts and Poetry for “Our Eyes Are upon Thee”: “Apostle Orson F. Whitney taught that poets are prophets. The poems above along with many, many more all demonstrate a tradition of Mormons seeking peace. I wish that tradition was more apparent today among church members.” Jul 14, 11:55
- on CFM 7/20-7/26: Thoughts and Poetry for “Our Eyes Are upon Thee”: ““One of the reasons we need peace is that it allows us to hear both God and His prophets. When we don’t have peace, we need a prophetic voice to tell us how to obtain the peace that the Lord wants to provide us. I’m 81, the USA has been at war (or armed conflict) for most of my life. From Korea to Iran and Ukraine. I have heard no prophetic voice advocating for peace. And all the Mormon’s in Congress are hawks. The one action that Church leaders did take was to come out against the MX missile deployment in Utah’s West Desert. To further complicate the issue, the P3 refused to meet with the world’s foremost advocate for peace: the Dali Lama. Instead they met with then president Trump. Even the Pope has taken a strong against the war in Iran. Unfortunately our prayers will not bring peace. The Lord helps those who help themselves.” Jul 14, 02:04
- on What You Should Talk About in the Foyer (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 7/12: “Thx to Kent Larson’s entry above, I just had a vivid memory of my own encounter w Elder Perry. He addressed a Saturday session of our stake conference (in E Utah), and I also recall that he got right next to us in the benches to make his talk. Because of that talk, I was motivated to memorize the Elizabeth Barrett poem “How Do I Love Thee?”, which came in handy 18 yrs later during an impromptu sermon to a non-denominational church group on a military base on New Year’s Eve. The “foyer” in this post is pertinent to me, because my strongest impression from my latest Sunday’s session came from our foyer. Due to circumstances, I was enjoying our Sac Mtg from the foyer thru the overhead speaker, when an old friend from another ward (their mtg was just letting out) recognized me and stopped to visit. We were wardmates decades before, until our suburb’s density increased and the inevitable ward divisions had placed us in different groups. I remembered this man as a strong, intellectually-driven caring person, a man who had made a fair living selling encyclopedias (before home computers, of course). But this week I realized that 4 decades brings changes, some uplifting, some grinding. He now has a debilitating condition which makes him dependent on his wife. In the few moments I was able to talk to him before the wife whisked him home (so she could return to the chapel and take care of more church-related stuff), I realized that he was seeking somebody to talk to, to review and catalog his challenges, and to be interested in his past. I realize that I should find an opportunity to rekindle our friendship on a more regular basis. Our friendship of 4 decades ago was merely based on monthly home-teacher calls, but I think we all enjoyed the church-driven excuse to spend time together back then. Now, I think this lovely man needs an ear and an interest.” Jul 14, 00:00
- on What You Should Talk About in the Foyer (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 7/12: “We talked about the “testing” that we undergo in this life. This was about a conference talk. The discussion was about how testing proves how good we are. Some people talked about automobile proving grounds, testing how good the engineering was. I proposed that testing is necessary for learning. You test the auto on the proving ground. If there is a failure, you learn and re-engineer the produce. Likewise, if we are tested in life, it is so we can learn, not to measure our worth. I pointed out that life can deliver horrid “tests.” A few years ago we visited the mass graves in St. Petersburg, Russia, caused by the Germans starving the population. Think of being a father watching you children starving to death and praying to God for help. What a test. Afterward a friend asked it God tests us so harshly, should we not be testing our physical children as well with harsh tests? This is what God does. I suggested to him that much of what God subjects us to is for contrast. So that we can really appreciate the celestial realms without death and suffering. We are here to learn what evil really is. This is not a test, but an education.” Jul 13, 17:07
