Out of the Best Books
I appreciated reading yesterday this article about the importance of literature from Matthew Wickham, an English professor at BYU. He wrote, “Spiritual experiences can be even more edifying if we learn to view them through the lens of literature, gaining from the wisdom of masters as they give us a new language to think about and communicate these profound moments more powerfully. Why do we need literature? Certainly, there is much to admire in thoughtful, beautifully crafted narratives, poems and plays, in gripping stories, layered characters and poignant turns of phrase. But need is more intense than admiration, more desperate than mere affection. A graduate school friend once remarked to me, astutely, that if one surveys all the world’s civilizations over the course of known history, one can find plenty of examples of societies that had no concept of private property or insurance industries or professional sports teams or universities or lawyers or finance capitalists or plastic surgeons (and so on and so on). But there is no example, not one, of societies that had no art. Art, apparently, is a universal human need. And that includes verbal art: literature. In that respect, literature is like religion: No society exists without it.” I love that thought because the utilitarian in me usually feels like I don’t have time to read much besides the scriptures because there are other more pressing things to do like cleaning up the kitchen or solving one more problem at work. But experiencing the best literature is a need as well that can lift our souls and, as Professor Wickham argues, bring us spiritual experiences. And, most importantly, the Lord seems to approve: “And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118). We are invited to seek learning through the best literature.
The
scriptures themselves highlight the power of story and literature to teach us and
motivate us. Jotham told the fable of the trees choosing a king to highlight
their mistake in choosing his brother Abimelech as king (see Judges 9). Nathan famously
helped David understand the gravity of his sin by telling him the parable of
the ewe lamb (see 2 Samuel 12). Ezekiel told the children of Israel the story
of the eagles and the vine to teach them how they wrongly sought help from
Egypt while in Babylon (see Ezekiel 17). Nebuchadnezzar learned of the future through
a story given him in a dream about a great image and interpreted by Daniel (see
Daniel 1). Lehi was able to teach his children and us through the vision of the
tree of life—a story acting as an allegory for our mortal experience and
spiritual journey (see 1 Nephi 8). Zenos taught the people of Old Testament
times, and Jacob repeated it to the Nephites, about the house of Israel through
the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees (see Jacob 5). In our
dispensation the Savior gave the early Saints the parable of the nobleman and the
olive tree to help them understand their situation concerning Zion (see
Doctrine and Covenants 101). He also taught them through the parables of the
laborers in the field to help them understand His kingdoms (see Doctrine and
Covenants 88). And of course, most importantly, the Savior taught about forty
parables during His mortal ministry to teach the people. Stories such as the Good
Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Ten Virgins, the Wheat and the Tares, the
Talents, the Laborers in the Vineyard, the Lost Sheep, and many others are
still teaching us the truths of the gospel today. All of these highlight the effectiveness
of story in teaching and the power of literature to enlighten us.
The above
stories in the scriptures are fictional and were used in general to teach people
in their day. In addition to that we have of course the whole of the scriptures
themselves in which hundreds of true stories now remain as great literature for
us to learn from and understand. While much in the scriptures teach us doctrine
directly, more commonly we learn of the Lord and His plan and His dealings with
His children through the stories of real people now recorded in holy writ.
There is a power in inspired stories to teach and inspire, to lift us and
invite us to change. In short, as Professor Wickham suggested, “If science gave
us facts, literature accorded us meaning” and “in the modern world, literature
thus became a special sanctuary of meaning, a spiritual sanctuary.” That is first
and foremost true of the literature of the scriptures, and our time is always
well spend pondering both the stories of the scriptures and those “best books”
that the Lord has invited us to seek learning from.
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