Well this week once more as with the weeks to
come, we have been continuing our work in people's gardens. I was actually
pretty stoked to see all of you who guessed the Disney references - you got them
all! I'll bet you used Google though, you cheaters. Haha anyways I won't give
out the answers because I just might use them in upcoming posts.
This week was also General Conference. What a
blessing it is to hear the words of a beloved Prophet and his apostles in your
native tongue. I don't think I've ever been able to sit through Conference so
attentively in my entire life (I've had good practice sitting through church in
Japanese...). I learned some good lessons and felt some good feelings. It was
during the Sunday afternoon session that I had a song from Pocahontas stuck in
my head. Do you know the one where all the men begin digging for gold for the
Ratcliff man? At the same time John Smith goes exploring and they sing a pretty
cool duet? I thought of it originally because as I was taking notes, I saw it in
my planner as a potential reference for last week's post, but I realized that it
can apply to Conference as well.
First, some background; John Smith and
Ratcliff man (sorry, I don't remember his name...) are in the Americas. John
Smith came looking for adventure. He wishes to see all that there is in the
land, and to see all that he can bring to the Americas. Ratcliff man is his
opposite; he came to the Americas seeking gold, and to see all that he can take
away from the Americas. This is where the song begins, and you see John Smith
exploring, as you see the men working hard to dig and find gold for Ratcliff
man.
Now for my thoughts; I remember being in a
Book of Mormon class at BYU and the teacher once talking about
eisegesis and exegesis. (I hope
you'll forgive me, I don't remember which is which and I do not have access to a
dictionary, but I remember that) he told us one meant applying one's self to the
text they were reading while the other meant taking out bits and phrases of the
text and applying it to one's life.
Isn't Conference just like the Americas? We
travel over our own seas and plan our voyage as we meet every 6 months. And how
similar are each of us to John Smith and Ratcliff man? Do we, like John
Smith, go to conference with a mind willing to apply one's self to the things
that we hear? Or do we, like Ratcliff man. take away only the bits and pieces we
enjoy and apply it to our lives?
I'm not saying there is a wrong way or a
right way to listen to Conference - the fact that you listened to either one or
all of the talks given is wonderful in and of itself. I just pose the question
to those who will read this - do we practice exegesis or eisegesis?
