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I've repeatedly trumpeted the value in, and the need for, everyone to download all the audio scriptures, including the Apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, the books of Enoch and Jasher (which Joseph Smith himself endorsed), as well as all the various myths and legends. (Hey! You'd be astounded at what you learn from the Grimm brothers' fairy tales. They're NOTHING like what Disney portrays!) And I stand by all that, but I also know that next to no one is going to do it. I'll eventually create a ready-to-run playlist of titles here on my web-site to simplify the process for you, so you don't have to figure out how to save them to your phone, then figure out how to configure the audio player. But, until then, or, more especially, in addition to that, I had another idea. My first year in seminary was a blessed one. Not only were we meeting under the aegis of my beloved bishop Paul Wendel Brock, but under the tutelage of my wonderful seminary co-teacher Lynn Clair Ormond. What made it so special? Beside those two men, and meeting with some of the best, most memorable friends of my life, there were the read-a-thons. Who-whats? Our seminary teacher hosted read-a-thons in his home. It was a 24-hour, Friday evening to Saturday evening affair, and it was great. It was one long pajama party. We had snacks, comfy chairs, and took turns reading the scriptures, two or three pages at a time. It was not only one of the best times of my life, but I also learned a lot from it. What can one learn from that? I learned that getting together to do something like that as a group can build unity better than dinners, dances, or even singing hymns. I learned a lot about my friends, and I don't just mean their ability to read or comprehend, but their ability to cooperate, their thoughtfulness toward one another, their desire to see the group rise, their humility, their love for one another that never really came out in class. I learned that one actually can read a volume of scripture in a day, so there's no reason to shy away from such thick books. I learned things tucked away in little verses of scripture I'd never heard anyone mention before, and still haven't heard anyone mention since. (Like Isaiah 9:13. Then 14! THEN 15!!! "The ancient and honourable, he is the head;..." Yeah, ok, that's Adam, the head of the family tree. Makes sense. BUT ... "... the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail." WHAAAA!?!) (Truly are the words of Isaiah great!) But what I most learned from it was the cohesion which brought coherence to the scriptures which no one had ever before been able to show me. Reading them straight through, as opposed to that wholly inadequate 20 minutes a day, helped keep it all in focus for me. Having no interruptions helped me to see them much as God says he sees his creation: All of it at once. That was when I determined to get the scriptures in audio format. And that has made all the difference. And that is why I say today, and have said for decades, if I were bishop, I would hold quarterly read-a-thons so the entire congregation could read all the standard works at least once a year. That's it. No commentary, no lessons, no questions. Just read. Just listen. Make an event of it. Encourage attendees to dress in costume. Have the event catered with sandwich boxes so no one has to leave the circle to get a snack or walk a buffet line. Have the young men and women host it. Have them set up and tear down. Have them distribute the sandwich boxes. Let those who don't feel confident in their reading just listen. Heal your wards with the unity, love, and scriptural knowledge a read-a-thon brings. Both Paul and Joseph Smith told us that faith comes from hearing the word. Maybe that's why Aaron was supposed to read the law to the people every year. Because everything else follows faith. But there's one more thing about it that I want to tell you ... to promise you. And I can't explain this. I can hardly describe it. But, what has happened to me several times is, when listening to the scriptures at night, or rather in the morning, just before waking, I'm sure, I was suddenly alert and aware. I wasn't asleep anymore, but I wasn't in my bed either. I was there. I was there as Alma testified. I was there as Christ spoke. I was there. And I felt their words like nothing you ever, ever feel reading them, or even hearing them. Only in those special moments just before you wake. That's when the magic happens. And nothing like that has ever happened with anything else I've ever listened to. And you know me. I'm always listening to something every night, and still listening in the morning. But those magic moments, when I feel like I'm standing right there in their midsts, only ever happen with scripture. That's one of the ways I can tell scripture from 'the interpolations of men'. If you want a testimony, if your faith could use the shoring up of a bona fide miracle, then listen to your scriptures, especially at night when you sleep. If you want want to lift your ward or stake the way Enoch did his whole city, if you want to perform an act of genuine charity, then host regular read-a-thons, even if it has to be in your own home. |