9/20/2009

Dear Rosalynde, Gabrielle, Naomi, Brigham, Rachel, Benjamin, and Abraham and Christian!

Two weeks ago on Sunday afternoon, I listened to the Blind Boys of Alabama. Last week I listened to Mozart’s Masses # K317, K337, K257, K139, and K167. Today a listened to Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite. I asked Mama, who was sitting at the adjacent computer, to identify the composer. She said she didn’t particularly like him, he is a bit tacky. I have to admit that in naming the 10 greatest composers I would not name Grofe. But still, how many of you think Grofe is tacky? When is tacky a matter of substance and when is tacky a matter of taste? I am now listening to the Essential Joshua Bell. Do you think a joint concert featuring Joshua Bell and me (on the trombone) would be tacky?

Last night at the Miller Eccles Study Group, I asked if anyone knew where to find the phrase, “Do not rely on the arm of flesh” is to be found. They identified the Book of Mormon (it is actually in the Psalm of Nephi – 2 Ne 4). But no one else identified 2 Ch 32:8. In any event, I said there is a modern day analogy. “Do not put your trust in the arm of Max Hall.” In my fantasy, I had BYU beating Florida State 54-28. At least I had the score right. Since USC also lost yesterday, no one mentioned football in Priesthood meeting today. (In the long run, talent usually wins, especially when talent also works hard. Florida State simply has more blue chip football players. And actually, but for the turnovers, the game was closer than the score in terms of offense.)

Kristine Haglund, the new editor of Dialogue, spoke at Miller Eccles last night. (Rosaylnde had suggested her.) Among the points she made, she described how there are now very many very bright LDS graduate students and young LDS scholars in the academy in many branches – anthropology, humanities, sociology, religion, biblical studies, etc., who are doing Mormon Studies from the many different disciplines, now moving beyond simply history. She believes that in the past decade or so, in the academy it is now acceptable for scholars to be believers, and this bodes well for LDS scholars. She also described the challenge of and the big possibilities of the online community of Mormon scholars. The subscribers to Dialogue, for instance, has held steady, but the average age of subscribers in the last 20 years has gone up by 20 years. So how will the younger generation become subscribers to the “dead tree journals”? Yet she is also a fan of the new media. The community of LDS scholars and intellectuals is much more robust because of the on-line community and forums (I prefer this form of plural of ‘forum’). Mormon blogging is very robust. Younger mormon women and mothers are very active bloggers. One issue is that so much of the blogging can be boring and repetitive. I said one reason that is so is that each cadre of 18-25 year olds often have to discover for themselves the historical artifacts that can be disturbing – such as the Priesthood policy and folklore rationales behind it, polygamy, and Mountain Meadows, just to mention the perennial ones. One other issue is that at least currently, the blogs do not lend themselves to longer scholarly articles – people will just not read them on line. And of course there is no peer review or editing – which is both a good thing and a bad thing – on-line is much more immediate. The new Mormon Review, an on-line journal, might be a prototype for a rigorous on-line journal. Of course, not just Mormons are learning the great possibilities of electronic communications and figuring out what works. She made other points that I will not entirely summarize here.

Rosalynde, I think a wide range of voices should be heard, even the left leaning voices who are almost always wrong. Often these voices through their distortions can and do serve as a corrective and check on the errors of the conservatives, who are more often right. (I do not mean the anti-intellectual conservatives – I am talking about the intellectual community.) Having said that, I think that Kaimi is far too much influenced by the political and secular left in the academy, although in his published scholarship, I have not had too much quarrel with Kaimi. Perhaps he is not quite old enough to acquire the wisdom that will temper his views.

Eva and I played tennis Saturday morning. It was not great – but we hope it will be better. Playing tennis is a bit like learning the piano (on any new skill) – it is frustrating at first and the enjoyment factor only really kicks in after a modicum of proficiency has been attained. It has been a long time since I have really played tennis (kids and soccer have taken priority) and I have to re-acquire my skills, but I know I will enjoy playing with Eva.

Yes I did play soccer this week. Thursday in our LA City league, we scored a first half goal. We had a goal called back because of a handball call – the ball actually bounced off our player’s abdomen, but the referee was behind the play and from his angle, I suppose looked like a handball. But being behind the play, he should not have called it. Unfortunately, the other team’s best player scored on a header (while I was out watching from the sideline), and the game ended in a draw. I still had fun. We had 19 players, so I did not get to play as much as I like, but we all played and had fun.

Saturday afternoon, we played, and had about30-32 players there. A bit too many for two sides, but we all played anyway. It does require skill I the short game – short passes, trapping, skillful dribbling, so that was fine.

The sunset is coming earlier each day, so I can no longer return home from work early enough to take my ball to cornishon and run and practice there. So I will now resume my running of my 5 mile loop through Flintridge – in the mornings, including 4 full speed sprints during the 5 mile run – I still want to keep in game shape, plus biking to the Rose Bowl and back. I started the biking this morning.

I finished reading Robert Millet’s A Different Christ? The Christ of the Latter-day Saints. It is worth reading. I also just re-read Reed Durham’s 1974 MHA address on the influence of Masonry on Joseph Smith and how Masonry, much like Joseph’s “translation” of the Bible, stimulated a number of ideas and inquiries of the Lord, with the resulting revelations.

I attended Mama’s class on Wednesday evening on the Lectures on Faith. Mama was fabulous. Her introduction reminded me again how much Joseph and his colleagues thirsted for “light and knowledge” with their ambitious program of learning, study and instruction. Many wonderful parts of the D&C came from this effort – including of course Section 88. So I will try to attend as often as I can. This Wednesday I have a conflict with the Verdugo Hills Council opening barbecue and meeting for the Board.

I very much enjoyed the Tujunga Ward Fiesta dinner and latin dance show. The costumes were fabulous, and all the Tujunga Ward members seemed to participate. I enjoyed seeing the different ethnic costumes, music and rhythms from the various latin American countries and cultures.

I am planning on hiking the Zions Narrows on October 23-24. I hope Mama can make it. In any event, Eva and I will drive up Friday afternoon, and stay near the entrance of the park. Saturday morning, we will drive to the east and north part of the park to the trailhead for he day hike through the narrows. It will be an all day hike. Then the next morning, Sunday, we will return to La Canada (perhaps taking in church in Springdale first.) If Benjamin’s and Christian’s schedules will permit, I would love to have them join us – and any of the rest of you as well!

That’s all for now.
Love Daddy