I think this is a very thought-provoking quotation:
“I believe that never before in the history of the Church has there been more unity than exists among my Brethren of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and the other General Authorities of the Church, who have been called and chosen and who are now guiding the Church.
“I believe there is ample evidence of this. The present leadership of God’s earthly kingdom has enjoyed the Savior’s guiding inspiration longer than any other group. We are the oldest group ever to lead the Church.
“My association with some of these men for almost half a century qualifies me, I think, to state with confidence that my Brethren, without exception, are good, honorable, and trustworthy men. I know their hearts. They are the servants of the Lord. Their only desire is to labor in their great callings and build up the kingdom of God on earth. Our Brethren who are serving in this day and time are proven, tried, and true. Some are not as physically strong as they used to be, but their hearts are so pure, their experience so great, their minds so sharp, and their spiritual wisdom so deep that it is a comfort just to be in their presence.”
( James E. Faust, “Called and Chosen,” Ensign, Nov. 2005, 53)
One small insight and personal testimony: a few weekends ago Elder Scott, one of the apostles, came to reorganize our stake presidency. I met with him for about 10 minutes. It is hard to describe the absolute assurity that I had that I was in the presence of one of the Lord’s greatest servants. After our interview, in which he showed some amazing insights into my personal life, he gave me a big hug and thanked me for being a member of the Lord’s church and performing my callings. It quickly flashed into my mind that it was the Savior himself who was hugging me, and the thought of it right now brings tears of joy to my eyes.
The next day, Elder Scott announced the new stake president, and I knew the choice was right. I have spent time with this man, and I know that he has been placed here at this time so he can perform important work in the Miami area.
Servants of the Lord, indeed.
Beautifully stated. I once had the privilege of meeting Elder Eyring and Elder Scott while they were touring the philippines. I will never forget the absolutely sacred nature of that experience and thinking how great these men were, and how close to Christ they were. Looking in Elder Eyring’s eyes I say Christ’s Image in his countenance, and think that my life was changed in that moment.
I think this true – especially when you read history. The quorum at the time of Joseph was of course notoriously ununified. But even under Brigham through some of the heated debates in the early 20th century suggest a change only in degree. (Well, significant degree, but still…) I don’t think we’ve seen a period of this much unity for some time.
When I heard that statement from Pres. Faust, I wondered if it was a reaction to the Pres. McKay and Pres. Kimball bios that had recently been published and publicized some disagreements among the 12. Just a thought.
Is there a way to tell whether such uniformity of view is a good thing?
Well, if any single member of the quorum is inspired, such uniformity is evidence that member does not have any hard objections to the consensus.
The At-one-ment, in my view, is all about coming together with one heart and one mind, not by coercion, but by love, longsuffering and persuasion, that we may become sanctified enough to be governed by common consent, that we may serve the Lord with one accord, in Adam-ondi-Ahman (smile).
Greenfrog, you are certain welcome to your opinions and perceptions as to whether such uniformity is a good thing, but I think you should be able to tell by the fruits that the Church bears. If the fruits have been good (and I know they have), then uniformity must be one of the factors involved in bearing good fruit. In addition, I’m willing to agree with President Faust’s opinion that such uniformity is a good thing given he has significantly more revelatory information on this issue than I.
Actually, Elder Scott himself provided some insight into the workings of the Twelve in a Regional Conference I attended a few years ago. The subject was “Councils in the Church” and ranged from family councils to ward councils and beyond.
He told a story of when he himself was new to the Quorum. In his first meeting, in fact, with the Quorum he said he found himself being amazed at how much “heated” (his word) discussion certain issues engendered. It must have shown on his face because one of the Twelve (can’t remember off-hand which) leaned over to him and said, “Welcome to the Twelve.”
He then went on to relate that these discussions often last for a goodly portion of the Quorum meeting, and then a curious thing happens. Slowly, each disparate opinion begins to move to a common ground. As the discussion continues, each member of the Quorum finds his own opinion and understanding being shaped by the Spirit so that when a final vote is called for by Pres. Packer, the vote is always unanimous.
OK, my comment wasn’t risque or anything, so I’m not sure why it was deleted, but I’ve moved it here:
http://mormonopenforum.blogsome.com/2006/09/21/and-nero-fiddled-as-rome-burned/
Geoff:
You sort of beg the question as to why you were interviewed for the re-organization of the stake presidency.
Do we take it that you are now one of the counselors in the Stake Presidency?
Or does the visiting GA interview the whole high-council before calling a new president?
Does the visiting GA approve the 1st and 2nd counselor in the stake presidency?
The process of choosing a new stake president is that the visiting General Authority usually interviews the stake presidency, the bishops, the high council, the patriarch, and anyone else that the stake president believes they should see. Most of the time, the new stake president is called from amongst those men, but occasionally, someone else is called.
This was great. Thank you.
When I was a missionary in Korea, our mission motto was “Nanun Yesu Kurisudoae taepyoja imnida”, or literally, “I am a representative of Jesus Christ”.
Now, I have not been privileged to meet many of the Quorum of the Twelve in person. Elder Hunter once, when I was relatively young. But from what I have seen, I have no doubt that they are among the purest re-present-atives of Im-man-uel on the face of the earth. And this despite the occasional idiosyncrasies that never fail to make the news.
Some say that it is necessary to be perfect to be a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not so. What is necessary is to be humble, and to follow the Spirit. Everything else will be added in the process of time. The mantle is greater than the intellect. Far greater.
Bookslinger, I’m one of the high councilors in my stake, and the process was exactly as El Jefe discusses.
“being amazed at how much “heated” (his word) discussion certain issues engendered”
I continue to believe that discussions among the 12 are quite similar to the discussions on the Bloggernacle. One difference might be, however, that the Brethren know whether or not 70% of those raised in the Church become inactive.
Mark, when I was young I was pretty privileged as several GAs including Pres. Tanner and (then) Pres. Benson had cottages near ours. I still remember one of my first talks in church being just before Pres. Tanner who with Pres. Hinkley at the time was effectively running the Chruch (Pres. Kimball being very sick). I honestly felt like he could look through me and see my soul. It was simultaneously a most wonderful and most disturbing feeling. I think he could tell how nervous I was sitting beside him so during the passing of the sacrament and so forth he was talking to me putting me at ease by telling jokes. An amazing experience that still sticks with me.
A few years later, just a couple of months before Pres. Kimball’s death Pres Benson was there. I still remember him spending most of the time telling jokes. He was nothing like what people thought he was like. A hilarious guy. People kept asking him to talk so he got up in Sacrament and said, “one of the benefits of being President of the Twelve Apostles is the power to pick whomever I want to speak.” So he just picked people at random out of the audience to come up and give a brief testimony or talk. Great experience. After Church we drove by his house where he was out in 80 degree weather in a heavy wool coat chopping wood for the fire.
In each experience I could tell there was something unique about these men. Something well beyond their intellect.
The idea that 70% of those raised in the Church become inactive and stay inactive is not credible. It might certainly be credible representation of the overall inactivity rate at any given time, or perhaps (as I heard) the percentage of those who spend some period of years in inactivity, but not as a figure representing those who have fallen away completely and will never return in this life.
My personal experiences with Apostles have been rather ordinary. (I’ve never been interviewed by one, though.) I don’t count that against them, I just figure that when you subtract out the sense of self-conciousness and celebrity awe, what you usually have is a very good normal human. This is not to deny that they receive inspiration or have a special calling.
My guess is that the increased unity is in good part because they emphasize and work at it. I don’t deny that the Spirit helps to lead them to unity, but I think history would suggest it isn’t that simple. I also think it is selected for–that is, those called into the quorum have a good amount of Church service and have demonstrated submission to priesthood authority.
I can see, Jared*, sometimes God wanting a little strife so that important aspects of competing positions are maintained by equally passionate individuals. Sometimes a balance maintained through tension is a good thing. At other times it is not.
I have to agree with some of the others here. While on my mission I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Elder Scott who was down in Argentina to speak to the mission. It was one of the most spiritual moments of my life, and the feeling of having my soul open to a servant of the Lord was something I will remember for the rest of my life.
Hyrum.