Scriptures as a seed rather than a source

There isn’t anything magical about them but there doesn’t have to be. What if the purpose of the scriptures isn’t just to be a source of truth? What if its purpose is more to put you in the right state of mind for receiving inspiration and revelation? Other works of literature, fiction and non-fiction, can do that as well …

I view the canonical works as being books that a millions+ member book club has decided that they will talk about every week. There are many books I feel are more inspiring than our canonical works, but we don’t typically discuss them during book club (church) because no one else has read them.

Before, I was trying to “get something out of the scriptures” and it rarely did anything. I couldn’t stay focused and it was painfully repetitive and stale. It felt like a waste of time and mental energy. Maybe this works for some people, but it doesn’t work for me.

But instead of doing that, last night, I put aside the idea that there was truth to be found in the scriptures. I didn’t discount the possibility that I would find something interesting or truthful in the text itself, but I just let my mind wander as I read. The scriptures were just a starting point for my thoughts, a launching pad for discovery. The result was a much more fulfilling experience.

tl;dr: I’ve found that treating the scriptures as a seed for discovery of truth leads to a better experience than treating them as a source of truth. (It often is, but those kinds of truths are usually easy to see)

One thing that I have started doing is applying a “lens” of study on a principle I am passionate about.

For example, I am reading the Book of Mormon for the Pathways program. So, I determined for myself that in my readings, I would focus on what it taught me about Loving God, and Loving Others (the 2 great commandments). Lehi’s Dream took on a new dimension when I realized that I could learn a lot about Charity by studying what the fruit represented. The Isaiah/Nephi chapters took on additional meanings when I realized that I was writing what Isaiah taught his people about God and His love for them (and theoretically us).

Fwiw, that is how I use the temple, primarily – as a peaceful place to let my mind wander and ponder about whatever hits me.

If the endowment weren’t so long, ritualistic, and involved, I probably would do this too.

This is totally how I read the scriptures. Then, if something revelatory DOES happen while I’m reading, it’s just a bonus.

A few days ago, hubby and I were watching the George Harrison (the Beatle) documentary on Netflix, “Living in the Material World” and it talks about how he got heavily into Eastern religious ideas and adopted practices like transcendental meditation which uses a mantra that the person repeats over and over. George said once he repeated a mantra for three days straight while driving across Europe. That’s a lot like how some of us who’ve been raised in the Church are with the Book of Mormon…we know it like we know our own personal history, we can quote verses effortlessly as if they were famous movie quotes…but we’re told to keep reading. Some of us just feel like it no longer has anything to reveal to us. Well, maybe it doesn’t…DIRECTLY…but it does INDIRECTLY when we treat it like a mantra. It’s okay, and can even be good, to just let ourselves get lost in the repetition and the familiarity.

I think families like Joseph Smith’s in the 19th century who were poor and didn’t have much other literature at home, or entertainment options, read the Bible this way: the father or mother would pick up in the evening on whatever verse they’d left off with the previous day and just start slogging through Deuteronomy or whatever, while the family sat around the fire with the Bible as background to quiet activities like knitting, mending, whittling, etc. It’s actually this very thought that makes me doubt the Book of Mormon sometimes. People say, “How could a young guy with so little education produce this book?” and I think to myself, “Because the kid grew up with KJV Bible as his mantra. It was embedded into his subconscious more deeply than a 21st century person can even fathom.” But then I have to check my doubts because I read things like 2 Nephi 2:11 and I think, this is inspired…because where did Joseph Smith learn about Buddhism? (I haven’t Googled that. Maybe Joseph did read about Buddhism!)

Anyway…good thoughts, thanks. Makes me want to read the Book of Mormon…again.

I apologize if this seems like I’m taking the spotlight; I just have a lot of thoughts to sort through because Stage 4 faith sucks.

Hey, it’s your thread.

Just about every church member ever seems to harp on how awesome the Book of Mormon is and that you need to read it every day. I never really understood why.

I’ve been through phases. Not linear phases, meaning once I move to one phase I’m done with the previous phase and I never look back; more fluid phases where my view depends mostly on my mood at the time and I can revisit previous mindsets.

One phase: Why read one book over and over again when the world is full of books? While there is value in revisiting material, there is also value in exploration. Does rereading the BoM appeal to a fear of getting out from my comfort zone… or are there times where I need to retreat to a comfort zone? The answers to those questions aren’t always the same.

Another phase: The BoM doesn’t speak to me very much. To be blunt, I don’t think it’s that good. Now, do I try to convince myself that I need to read and reread the BoM over an over again to extract what good is to be found, like some sort of transcendental exercise, or can I admit to myself that the book doesn’t speak to me and that perhaps my efforts are best employed elsewhere? Allow myself to not like the book.

Let the water flow downhill. If that takes me to the BoM, fine… I’ll hold my nose and deal with it. If it takes me elsewhere? Live. Learn.

But as an addendum to that… if other people like the BoM and find immense value in reading it each day, that’s perfectly fine. I won’t challenge that at all. At the same time I won’t feel pressure to look at their experience with the book, wonder what’s wrong with me for not having a similar experience, and try to ‘force’ myself to have their experience.

You like the BoM. That’s cool. You don’t like the BoM, also cool. You don’t like it today, but like it tomorrow. That’s cool. You like it today but don’t like it tomorrow. That’s cool too.

There is a lot of pressure. Pressure I ignore.

There’s always going to be a church, stake, or ward goal to read the BoM in X amount of time. The goal will be brought up in many meetings. Some members will humble brag a bit in the meetings, “As I was reading the BoM as a part of our stake goal, I really liked how Nephi was born of goodly parents…” EQPs will ask all the home teachers to be sure to ask the families they visit how they are doing in their stake goal. Etc. It will never end.

But there’s no test.

Brother nibbler, how are you doing meeting the stake goal of reading the BoM in a time frame where you have to pull a Parley P. Pratt to read it in time (eating and sleeping are a burden to meeting the goal)?

“Fine.”