Early in the very beginning of New Year’s Eve I finished reading The Book of Mormon. I have done that several dozen times (if on different days) over the course of forty years, in three different languages: English, Spanish, and Russian.
I have read many other books over the same period of time and before. I have not read more than a few more than once and none more than four or five times. The Hobbit I have read three or four times (maybe five), and the same is true for The Lord of the Rings. O.K., I admit that I have read Goodnight Moon and Are You My Mother? to my children and grandchildren at least a dozen times, each taking about 10 minutes a reading (children willing and cooperating).
The point is that I have read many very good books, many excellent histories, biographies, legends, novels, fantasies, science fiction, international relations theories, and economic commentaries, among others. Not a one would bear reading over and over again.
The Book of Mormon bears reading again and again, and it bears it well for virtually anyone, regardless of age or intellectual background. I have found the same to be true for other holy scripture. I believe that to be true because of the nature of scripture. As Peter explained, God is behind holy scripture, working through “holy men of God . . . as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:20, 21)
It is the spiritual power of holy scripture and the spiritual experience that occurs while reading it that make its continual review valuable and appealing. I recognize that those who approach holy scripture without that spiritual connection have found scripture reading uninteresting. With that spiritual connection, however, reading scripture becomes a revealing connection and communion with God, one that never grows old or commonplace.
Man is a three-fold being, made up of intelligence, spirit, and body. Holy scripture reaches all three. Through scripture our intellect is fed, our spirit nourished, and our physical body guided into the healthiest paths.
The Book of Mormon is a rich example of that scriptural power. It provides deep insight into the human condition, individually, as families, and as communities. As a witness of Jesus Christ, The Book of Mormon treats the human condition from an enduring and eternal perspective, since the eternal is the only sphere within which Christ operates. Again and again the book demonstrates the way to live “after the manner of happiness” (2 Nephi 5:27). So, while I may have read The Book of Mormon some three dozen times, I relish diving in and reading it more than once more.
1 comment:
I really liked this post, especially your comment on how scripture reading enhances body, mind, and spirit. I don't think I'd ever realized that before, but of course you're right. Perphas that is why everything about my day seems better when I read my scriptures. My mind feels clear and responsive, I feel pysically refreshed and happy, and I treat my family better.
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