I figured it would be nice to have a bit of scriptural commentary on the blog. Initially I don’t want to delve into the more boring close readings, but simply scriptures that have touched me and that I keep returning to time after time. You can consider this a weekly column on my part. Well, at least until I get through all my favorite scriptures. This week is probably the scripture I turn to the most, D&C 123:11-17.

Most of you know the background – putting together a list of the sufferings and persecution that the early Saints faced. And there was a lot. It’s true that frequently the Saints were the cause of a lot of their own problems. However when you look at the sweep of history from 1830 up through the flight to Utah, we suffered a lot. For all the flaws of the Saints it is hard to justify what the government let the Mormons go through.

The Saints largely did what this scripture asked, but received no redress. Indeed persecutions continued for decades to come.

What is so interesting to me though is how Joseph entreats us to work towards “bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness.” (13) This is probably valuable on so many levels. The first is investigative journalism and keeping an eye on our institutions ranging from the United Nations, currently plagued by scandal, to the Federal Government, on down to the evils conducted by conspiring men in these last days. Put an other way, part of making our community a celestial one is to keep our eyes open for wickedness and let it be made manifest.

This might seem an odd take, but I’ve quite often seen members who are so desirous to live in a Celestial world that they blind themselves to the wickedness going on around them. They are in denial of the evils in their own community, whether it be drug abuse, spouse abuse, or worst of all child abuse. We’ve all seen that sort of thing before. Yet, by turning away from evil in this way, they allow evil to spread and have power over the weak and innocent.

The other thing I note in the scripture, and my most favorite passage of scripture, is the metaphor at the end. We often want to do big things. Part of that is due to the stories from Hollywood. The hero always saves the world in some spectacular fashion. Yet real change often is many people doing small things over time. I love the metaphor of a small change in course in a ship adding up to hundreds of miles over a few days.

Consider for instance the improvements in our living. A lot of it came about from various long forgotten engineers and workers putting in plumbing, directing water, improving sewage. All the individuals making small changes in sanitation. We rarely speak of such things and all the unnamed engineers are rarely given the praise we give heros. But they probably have improved life more than all the publicized heros of the last few hundred years. It’s an example of the principle taught in this scripture.

I think the principle holds most of all in our church duties. Sometimes we look back to Church history and see all the trials and actions that earlier people found themselves in. We look at heros of the scriptures like Alma or Ammon. Yet in our own wards what has the most impact? Were I to hazard a guess it would be effective home teaching and visiting teaching. Hardly glamorous or exciting. Yet it is those small things that are probably most effective at building up the kingdom of God.