Today, the church (and, most likely, it's various splinters) celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of our first prophet, Joseph Smith. Now, in no way does this overshadow the traditional celebration of the birth of Christ. Our current prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, said: "We do not worship the Prophet [Joseph]. We worship God our Eternal Father and the risen Lord Jesus Christ. But we acknowledge the Prophet; we proclaim him; we respect him; we reverence him as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth the ancient truths of the divine gospel, together with the priesthood."
We're not the only ones who are aware of this anniversary. Wikipedia's featured article today is on his early life. Earlier this week, a friend of mine sent me a link to an NPR broadcast with Richard Bushman, who recently wrote a biography on Joseph called Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. Newsweek had an article about it in October. And I got an e-mail the other day about a statue being dedicated today in New York of the prophet.
I am very grateful for the restoration of the Gospel, and that I have it in my life. And to think, it all started because a young man wanted to know which church to join. Thank you, Brother Joseph!
James 1:5 - If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment