2009-5-26 06:31:00
When I was active in the Mormon Church I continually asked questions and sought knowledge outside the normal box. First I sought out what was termed "the mysteries" and then moved beyond regular church mysteries such as the location of the lost ten tribes. I studied metaphysics and finally wound up settling on an extensive study of the Alice A. Bailey works.
The problem that developed was that there was no one in the church with whom I could share my thoughts. If your thinking gets too far off the mainstream then they will call you in, ask you questions, and may try you for your membership if your mind doesn't seem quite right.
During this lonely period I took solace in this LDS [Latter-Day Saint -- Mormon] scripture:
"For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." [Doctrine & Covenants (D&C) 123:12]
Even though this scripture was written with the non Mormons in mind I now felt that it applied to members of my own religion. I felt that surely I must not be that different, that there must be many in the church who are seeking the mysteries and greater knowledge and the only reason they do not have it is they do not know where to look. If I were free to teach them I figured that there had to be many who would gladly respond and absorb the teachings.
In 1978 I finally got my chance to test this scripture as I was excommunicated for wrong thinking. After the church had done their worst to me I had nothing to lose in approaching anyone I wanted and explaining to them what I had learned.
I started with my oldest sister as she had earlier inspired me through conversations we had to search for knowledge in the scriptures. I wanted to return the favor and called her up and attempted to explain a few things.
I was startled to learn that she was completely closed to everything I was saying and the conversation ended with her telling me that she was going to place my name in all the temples for the prayer circles to pray over. She hoped that the power of God would set me straight.
I next called up an old girlfriend who seemed to be a real seeker when I was going with her as well as very open-minded.
I received a similar response from her as I did my sister with the caveat that she would burn anything I would send her.
To my dismay I received a similar response from everyone in the church that I approached and I found that anything I gave members to read they just didn't throw it away, but burned it. It seemed to them that if they did not burn them then the writings may get in the wrong hands and corrupt someone.
After this I brainstormed with my nephew, Curtis, who had been excommunicated for the same reason as I. He had been receiving the same response as I but we both still had faith in the scripture and figured the seekers had to be out there somewhere. We decided to advertise in the local "Thrifty Nickels." He lived in the Idaho Falls area at the time, and I lived near Boise so we decided to advertise in the papers in those two areas. The ad went something like this:
"To all LDS looking for greater light and truth send us your address and we'll send you free enlightening information."
To our surprise about the only response we received was from non-Mormons, except for one LDS guy in Curtis' area. Our ads did create quite a bit of buzz though and one Sunday, Curtis decided to go to church and check out the temperature of the members. As Sunday School class was ending he rose up and announced something like this:
"My brothers and sisters. I'm sure you've heard about the ads for LDS seeking greater light and truth. Well, I thought I'd let you know that it was me who placed them in the local paper. I have some free information I would be happy to give you and will stand at the exit to my right. Anyone who goes through that exit I will give some literature."
Curtis then proceeded to the exit on the right and to his dismay every single person went out in the exit on his left.
When Curtis told me about this I had a good laugh and appreciated his boldness. Then again we asked, "Where are those people who are seeking for the truth and just can't find it because they know not where to look?
After we brainstormed again we decided to give a seminar in Mormon rich Idaho Falls. This story is told in archived article #3773 as follows:
"We rented a conference room at the Holiday Inn and ran ads in the local daily paper. Then we went down there three days before the event and passed out flyers all over town. I can't remember the topic but I think it had something to do with the mystery of God and receiving revelation. We thought it would stimulate interest but evidently there was something in the ad that raised a red flag.
"The big day finally came and Curtis and I prepared to receive the multitude of seekers storming the door.
"We waited and waited and waited and no one came. As we were about to fold up and go home one lone soul finally drifted in.
"It was a sixteen-year-old kid.
"We welcomed him and asked him what caused him to come.
"He said he came to call us to repentance.
"Curtis and I looked at each other and we didn't have to speak. We knew what each other was thinking. This was worse than no one showing up. It was adding insult to injury to have a brainwashed kid show up calling for us to repent from seeking the mysteries of the kingdom.
"This was indeed a needed wake up call. From that moment on we knew we had an uphill battle if we thought we were going to attract Mormons with teachings that are out of the box."
(End quote)
To be continued.
"Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious."
-- Brendan Gill
Copyright © 2009 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved