Two Guests for Christmas

No, so no.

Of course, I am of the opinion that if Jesus Christ’s birthday is actually in April as reported by revelation, then we should be celebrating his birthday in April – I don’t feel that showing love by celebrating a person’s birthday 3 months after the fact works…

Now, I get that Christ’s birthday is not moving from December for a variety of reasons, and some of them I see the sense in. I am even looking at becoming expansive enough to celebrate Christmas all year around – and tone down my Christmas expenditures so that they can be scattered throughout the year…

I can even respect why other people might make a bigger deal of JS’s birthday – but that is not me.

I would conveniently “lose” the article, feed it to something that would find it tasty (like the paper shredder) and do social niciety lying if it came up. If you got pinned in place to talk about it, I would re-direct to celebrating Christ’s birth as soon as possible (if that is palatable).

This probably one of those weird cultural things like a lot of our Christmas trappings (or this writer of the article wants it to be part of the trappings).

Roy, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. Nursing homes for people with cognitive impairments cost nearly twice as much as regular nursing homes. 😈 :angel:

In the past I’ve heard anecdotal stories of ward Christmas parties that took on a “Merry Smithmas” theme. You’d show up and people would dress like pioneers and there would be pictures of JS all over the place. I haven’t heard of that happening lately but it is a thing.

Going in line with current themes we’ve had locally, I expect this week’s SM (the one before Christmas Eve) to focus on JS because it’s his birthday. The Christmas SM will be the traditional readings from Luke 2 mixed with carols that we always do – but this week is fair game.

It’s funny. We set ourselves up for the fall don’t we? Make such a big deal out of the Paul Bunyans and Bill Braskys of our past, almost to the point of deification, then when we discover they weren’t mythical, they were just regular humans, it shakes us… and then we get reprimanded for developing a testimony in the wrong thing. Here’s our chance to nip it in the bud before it gets started. This, this right here, is where “testimony of the wrong thing” begins.

I’ve got my reservations about Joseph Smith Day, but at least it’s not Columbus day! Oh, wait… don’t we revere him as a spiritual paragon too?

I think it’d be easy to toss this aside, saying JS wouldn’t approve of his birthday taking away from the celebration of Christ.

I can’t do Smithmas. I refuse. I even have a few things I like about the guy. But I am with Amy. If we are Smithmassing, then Da@# it all – I want to sing Silent Night in April.

In our home, we do sing “Silent Night” in April, in June, in October… whenever we feel like it. We do bow to social convention outside the home and not play/sing it…usually.

When I co-taught our Pathways class in October on the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi, I insisted on singing “Silent Night” as the opening hymn because 1) It would bring the Spirit, 2) It would shake things up for the students, and 3) tied in clearly with the lesson because those chapters quote the Isaiah prophecies about Jesus Christ. Everyone thought it was a little “quirky” but sang with good gusto.

The soundtrack to “The Nativity Story” (2006) has become one of our staple Sunday listening while getting ready for church…

The movie really speaks to me – different scenes and whatnot.

But I find the soundtrack breath-taking and a source for inspiration worthy of (though not limited to) the Sabbath.

When the Stake President arose to spoke, he talked about how “normally, this time of year, we talk about the birth of Jesus. But sometimes we forget that JS’s birthday is tomorrow”… and he went on to give all his remarks about he man JS.

Twisted mind and all but I find myself wishing someone from the crowd would start to boo out loud. Just to see where things went from there.

Just sharing a story that happened a long time ago, but not in a galaxy so far away – it was in the ward I still live in.

One of the more eccentric members was asked to speak, I think it was the the second week in December. She started off talking about three birthdays we celebrate in December – Jesus, JS, and Beethoven. Yep, Beethoven. She was very musically inclined and centered her talk on Beethoven, barely mentioning the other two. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she didn’t focus on JS – but in some ways talking about Beethoven was worse.

This lady moved on long ago, I didn’t care for her anyway so I can’t say I miss her. Her husband was (presumably is) a saint.

I don’t recall hearing mention of JS’s birthday in our SMs in recent history and I’m all good with that. I used this quote in my talk this week:

Some people’s faith is based more on Joseph Smith than on Jesus Christ. When they begin to question the Prophet, they lose faith in the Savior. We all know of Latter-day Saints whose faith is shaken by new facts, such as the existence of the alternate accounts of the First Vision which I have talked about today. When this new information builds up, they grow concerned. Could it all be wrong? Their consternation goes so far that they consider leaving the church, painful as that would be.

For a long time, I would try to answer their specific questions, try to persuade them there was another way of understanding the facts that were bothering them. I reminded them that people like me and many other informed Latter-day Saints are aware of all the disruptive information and still believe in Joseph Smith. We would talk for hours, but nothing seemed to work. After all the talk, they seemed as fixed in their doubts as I am in my faith.

Of late, I have taken to asking the doubters a question. How do you feel about Jesus Christ? If they say the Savior means everything to them, I assure them, you will be alright. If you can hold to Christ, you will find your way. But to my dismay, others say that in losing faith in Joseph Smith, they also lose faith in Christ and even in God and prayer. Everything falls apart. I feel bad when I hear this response. It means that Joseph Smith, not the Savior, is the foundation of their faith. Once Joseph is removed, the whole building collapses.

This is not what Joseph intended. He did not organize a Church of Joseph Smith. The Articles of Faith do not mention Joseph Smith’s name. They begin with the statement we believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. That is the foundation.

Those who lose faith in Christ because they have lost faith in Joseph Smith have things backward. Joseph’s mission was to increase faith in Christ, not in himself. He thought of himself as one of the weak things of the world who came forth that faith might increase in the earth and that Christ’s everlasting covenant might be established.5 He would want us to develop faith in his teachings, in Christ and the atonement, in prayer and adhesion to high moral standards, not in him as a man. He would want us to believe in the principles independent of the man, as the Saints in the first decade did. We honor him as a prophet, to be sure, but as one who testified of the Savior. His revelations pointed beyond himself to Christ and the Father. I believe in Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, and most of you here today do too. But we must place our faith first in Christ, and believe in him apart from our faith in his messenger. Christ should be the anchor when we struggle and question.

(Richard Bushman, BYU Hawaii, Nov. 2016)