Brigham Young University librarian Janet B. Bradford discusses how we can learn to carry on amidst challenges and adversity.
Janet B. Bradford was a librarian at the BYU Harold B. Lee Library when this devotional address was given on 2 August 2011.
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"Happy August 2nd! Some of you may be celebrating a birthday today. If so, you join the likes of Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia, who was born in 1612; Irish actor Peter O’Toole, born in 1932; and Andrew Gold, born in 1951. He wrote the song “Thank You for Being a Friend,” which became the theme song for that popular TV series in the eighties called The Golden Girls.
For others, however, today is one of sadness and reflection as they remember and honor someone who died. Some who passed away on August 2nd include Wild Bill Hickok, who died in 1876; the Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, in 1921; Alexander Graham Bell, in 1922; and, in 1998, the American ventriloquist and puppeteer, Shari Lewis (remember Lamb Chop?).
Well, like any good librarian, I did not stop there! After some additional research, I discovered that in 1776 the Declaration of Independence was actually signed on August 2nd (not July 4th, like most of us think!); in 1790 the first U.S. census was conducted; and in 1870 the Tower Subway, the world’s first underground tube, opened in London. These are all good things, but August 2nd also had its share of tragedy. In 1922 a typhoon hit China, killing more than 50,000 people; in 1934 Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany; in 1968 an earthquake shook the Philippines, killing 270 people and wounding nearly 300; in 1973 a flash fire killed fifty-one at the Summerland amusement center at Douglas on the Isle of Man; and in 1980 a bomb exploded at a railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing eighty-five people and wounding more than 200.
I next wondered what notable August 2nd events we have as Latter-day Saints and found that in 1831, Joseph Smith, who had traveled to Missouri for the first time, met with others on today’s date to begin the building of yet another new settlement for the outcast Saints. Our Prophet recorded:
I assisted the Colesville branch of the Church to lay the first log, for a house, as a foundation of Zion in Kaw township, twelve miles west of Independence. The log was carried and placed by twelve men, in honor of the twelve tribes of Israel. At the same time, through prayer, the land of Zion was consecrated and dedicated by Elder Sidney Rigdon for the gathering of the Saints.
He concluded:
It was a season of joy to those present, and afforded a glimpse of the future, which time will yet unfold to the satisfaction of the faithful. [HC 1:196; emphasis added]
It was “a season of joy” and “afforded a glimpse of the future.” Keep that thought!
Just two years later, on August 2, 1833, a revelation was given through Joseph Smith at Kirtland, Ohio. At that time members of the Church were being persecuted in Missouri, and the Prophet had been forced to sign an agreement in late July that the Saints would leave Jackson County. This revelation is section 97 of the Doctrine and Covenants, which gives beautiful insights into Zion and “the pure in heart” (verse 21) and instructions for building a temple, a house of the Lord.
LDS birthdays today include Matthew Cowley, born in 1897, apostle and great missionary to the Maori Saints.
Finally, I want to bring your attention to the fact that on August 2, 1985, our Church released the first new English hymnbook in thirty-seven years. This is the green hymnal, which replaced the navy one (for those of you who can remember that far back!). Since then, this hymnal has been translated into many languages and continues to be the one used today. (See “It Happened in August,” What’s Up? New Era, August 2006, 36.) More on hymns to come! (Unless otherwise noted, all songs cited are from Hymns, 2002.)"
-Janet B. Bradford
6 июн 2012
