So how about learning something new. Here is an Ensign article about there being mistakes in the Bible. V-comment: An Article like this could never appear in the Ensign about the Book of Mormon. Guess why? @~@SEPTEMBER 1986 NEBUCHADNEZZAR OR NABONIDUS? MISTAKEN IDENTITIES IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL Nebuchadnezzar or Nabonidus? Mistaken Identities in the Book of Daniel By John A. Tvedtnes The Old Testament is a valuable book of scripture, taught the Prophet Joseph Smith, but it is not perfect. “I believe the Bible as it read when it came forth from the pens of the original authors,” he affirmed. Then he warned, “Careless transcribers, ignorant translators, and evil and designing priests have caused many corruptions in the text.”A classic example of textual errors caused by “careless transcribers” or “ignorant translators” is contained in the book of Daniel. The events chronicled in the present-day book would have originally been recorded in Hebrew, the early language of the Jews. However, the book of Daniel found in the Hebrew Bible is a combination of Hebrew and Aramaic, the language of the Jews after they returned from Babylon. From Daniel 2:4 through 7:8, the text is in Aramaic. [Dan. 2:4–7:8] It is in this middle section that we find discrepancies between the biblical text and other ancient records. These discrepancies involve the identity of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who first subdued and then destroyed Jerusalem.During his forty-year reign, Nebuchadnezzar ruled much of the Near East and rebuilt the great city of Babylon, replete with its hundreds of temples and its world-renowned hanging gardens. Some thirty years before his death in 561 B.C., he subdued Jerusalem (598 B.C.), taking its king, Jehoiakim, captive to Babylon and replacing him with Jehoiachin. When Jehoiachin proved disloyal, he was also deposed and replaced by his uncle, Zedekiah. When Zedekiah, too, revolted against his overlord, Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city.In 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, taking the remainder of its people—along with many others from throughout the kingdom of Judah into captivity. (See 2 Kgs. 24–25.) One of the early Jewish captives, Daniel, won favor with the king and became known as a wise and trusted counselor.Chapters two, three, and four of Daniel purport to contain accounts about Nebuchadnezzar. But only the first and best-known of these—the account of his dream about the great statue destroyed by a stone cut out of a mountainside—is actually about him. The stories in chapters three and four, as well as a reference in chapter five, are actually about another king named Nabonidus, not Nebuchadnezzar. [Dan. 2; Dan. 3; Dan. 4; Dan. 5]Chapter three recounts that the king “made an image of gold … : he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.” (Dan. 3:1.) When this new idol was set up, a decree went forth that when music sounded, people were to prostrate themselves before the statue.Chapter four tells of another dream of the king, this time about a great tree that was hewn down by order of God. [Dan. 4] Again Daniel was called upon for an interpretation. The tree, said the prophet, represented the sinful king, who would become mad, living for seven years “with the beasts of the field” and eating grass “as oxen.” (Dan. 4:23–26.) This prophecy was fulfilled when the king “was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.” (Dan. 4:33.) Ultimately, the king was healed, returned to his throne, and praised God.
In chapter five, the scene changes abruptly. Here we find that “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.” (Dan. 5:1.) In verse two, he is identified as the son of Nebuchadnezzar, the king who had destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. At the feast, a finger appears, writing an ominous message on the plaster of the wall. Daniel, summoned to interpret the writing, informs the assembly that the Medes and Persians will take the kingdom.
It is this reference in chapter five that highlights the misidentification problem in the book of Daniel. Belshazzar was actually the son of Nabonidus, not of Nebuchadnezzar. And Belshazzar was never king, but only crown prince. A contemporary king-list found at Uruk, south of Babylon, clearly states the succession of kings:
Nebuchadnezzar
Amel-Marduk
Neriglissar
Labashi-Marduk
Apparently, Nabonidus contested the succession of Labashi-Marduk and wrested power from him. A basalt stela—a stone slab or column bears Nabonidus’s own account of his rise to power:
“I am the real executor of the wills of Nebuchadnezzar and Neriglissar, my royal predecessors! Their armies are entrusted to me, I shall not treat carelessly their orders and I am/anxious/to please them.” (James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, Princeton University Press, 1969, p. 309.)
Nabonidus’s mother also recorded the succession of rulers during her lifetime. Her list of kings and their regnal years—found inscribed on two nearly identical stones at Haran, on the Turkish-Syrian border—follows:
Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria42 years
Ashur-etil-ili, king of Assyria3 years
Nabopolassar, king of Babylon21 years
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon43 years
Awel-Marduk, king of Babylon2 years
Neriglissar, king of Assyria4 years
Nabonid, king of Assyria
According to a postscript, Nabonidus’ mother died during the ninth year of her son’s reign, at the age of 104.
Other ancient records establish that Belshazzar was actually Nabonidus’ son and that Belshazzar was never king—only crown prince. From the “Verse Account of Nabonidus,” preserved on a clay tablet and found at Babylon, we read a contemporary account of Nabonidus that sounds very much like the “Nebuchadnezzar” of Daniel 3–5 [Dan. 3–5]:
“His/protective deity became hostile to him,/and he, the former favorite of the gods/is now/seized by misfortunes: … against the will of the gods he performed an unholy action, … he thought out something worthless:/He had made the image of a deity/which nobody had/ever/seen in/this/country./ He introduced it into the temple/he placed/it/upon a pedestal; … he called it by the name of Nanna, … it is adorned with a … of lapis/lazuli, crowned with a tiara. …” (Pritchard, p. 313.)
The one difference between this story and the one from Daniel 3 is that the Babylonian text says the idol was made of brick, covered with gypsum and bitumin to make the facing brilliant, while the Daniel account says it was made of gold. But the ninety-foot-high statue could hardly have been made of pure gold. Continuing from the Babylonian text:
“After he had obtained what he desired, a work of utter deceit, had built/this/abomination, a work of unholiness—when the third year was about to begin he entrusted the ‘Camp’ to his oldest/son/, the firstborn, the troops everywhere in the country he ordered under his/command/. He let/everything/ go, entrusted the kingship to him and, himself, he started out for a long journey, the/military/forces of Akkad marching with him; he turned towards Tema /deep/in the west. … When he arrived there, he killed in battle the prince of Tema … and he, himself, took his residence in/Te/ma, the forces of Akkad /were also stationed/there.” (Pritchard, p. 313.)
The rest of the text becomes fragmentary, but we can discern that Nabonidus ordered the slaughter of many people in the northern Arabian town of Tema and that he enslaved large numbers of them. Column four on the tablet is in especially bad shape, but we can discern the words “The king is mad.”
This brings us to the account of “Nebuchadnezzar’s” madness in Daniel 4. The Babylonian accounts do not mention that Nebuchadnezzar became mad. But it is well known that Nabonidus did. Records kept by the Babylonian priests confirm Nabonidus’s temporary madness in the wilderness of Tema. The records show that Nabonidus “stayed in Tema” at least from the seventh through eleventh years of his reign, leaving “the crown prince, the officials and the army” in Babylonia. During this time, the New Year festival, over which only the king could preside, was omitted.
These accounts also show that Belshazzar was his father’s viceroy, but not king—a fact hinted at in the book of Daniel itself. In Daniel 5:7, [Dan. 5:7] we read that Belshazzar offered to the interpreter of the writing scarlet clothing, a gold chain, and the place as “third ruler in the kingdom.” Being himself second in the kingdom, after his father Nabonidus, the highest place he could offer was third.
Nabonidus’s neglect of the Babylonian religious festivals cost him his throne. Disappointed with their king’s disrespect for their deities, the Babylonians appealed to the Persian king Cyrus to take Babylon. By the time the uprising began, Nabonidus had returned from Tema to his own realm.
By the seventeenth year of his reign, Nabonidus and his army were giving battle in rebellious towns. By a prearranged plan, the priests of Marduk opened the gates of Babylon by night while the crown prince and his friends were drunk with wine. The city fell without bloodshed.
The Dead Sea scrolls found at Qumran in 1948 confirm that Nabonidus, not Nebuchadnezzar, was the mad king. A fragmentary document titled “The Prayer of Nabonidus” tells of a king NBNY (Hebrew uses no vowels) who, while at Tema, was diseased by the God of Israel. A Jewish adviser (no doubt Daniel) counsels him to honor God, reminding him, “Thou has been smitten with this noisesome fever … for seven years because thou hast been praying to gods of silver and stone, which gods are but stock and stone, mere clay.” (Theodore H. Gaster, The Dead Sea Scriptures, 3d ed., Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press/ Doubleday, 1976, p. 537.)
The fact that the gods of silver and gold were actually made of stock and stone might indicate gold or silver plating, which could identify the brick idol of Nabonidus with the gold idol mentioned in the book of Daniel.
Josephus provides even more evidence of Nabonidus’s place in Babylonian history. He points out that the historian Ptolemy lists “Nabonadius” as the last Babylonian king. Josephus also cites the following list of kings from the Babylonian historian Berosus:
Nabuchadonosor43 years
Evilmerodach2 years
Neriglissoor4 years
Laborosoarchod9 months
Nabonedus, in whose days Cyrus came.
How could such apparent errors have crept into the sacred record? As mentioned earlier, the book of Daniel, from 2:4 to the end of chapter seven, was translated from Aramaic [Dan. 2:4–7:28] (called “Syriack” in the King James Version translation of Dan. 2:4). Obviously, the original Hebrew text was lost. Perhaps the ancient scrolls containing this portion of the book of Daniel disintegrated, as many other ancient scrolls have, and had to be replaced by the Aramaic text.
Although Aramaic is closely related to Hebrew, it would have been an easy translation error to mistake Nebuchadnezzar for Nabonidus. Since neither Hebrew nor Aramaic represents the vowels, Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus would have been written (here in English transliteration) NBKDNZR and NBND. Note that all four letters in Nabonidus’s name are found in Nebuchadnezzar’s name, with the last two transposed. A Scribe or Aramaic translator could have easily assumed that NBND in the original Hebrew was an abbreviation for the name of the better-known king Nebuchadnezzar. And once the error was initially made, it would easily have been perpetuated throughout the translation. Such errors need not damage our faith in the book of Daniel, or in the Old Testament as a whole. But they do show why the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote, “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.” (A of F 1:8.) John A. Tvedtnes, a specialist in Near Eastern studies, is an instructor at the Brigham Young University—Salt Lake Center. He serves as a veil worker at the Salt Lake Temple.
SEPTEMBER 1986 A MESSAGE TO MY GRANDDAUGHTERS: BECOMING “GREAT WOMEN” A Message to My Granddaughters: Becoming “Great Women”
By Elder James E. Faust
Of the Quorum of the Twelve This is an edited version of a BYU devotional address given 12 February 1985. I direct these remarks primarily to my granddaughters, although others might find them of interest, too.
On Brittany’s last birthday, I told her mother with considerable grandfatherly pride that I thought I detected some seeds of promise developing in Brittany. Of course I feel the same way about Nicole, Melissa, Kelly Ann, Katy, Sarah, Ashley, little Elise, and our other granddaughters.
I do not want to tell you girls what you must be. That is for each of you to decide. You have your agency. Each of you will have to work very hard to learn all you can and develop your skills. It will not be easy to achieve anything really worthwhile. I only tell you what I think will help bring you identity, a sense of value, and happiness as a person. I also challenge you to reach your potential, to become a person of great worth, to become a great woman.
Now, you need to know that to me great does not necessarily mean your becoming a great doctor, lawyer, or business executive. You may, of course, become any of these if you so desire, and if you work hard enough, and I would be proud of such an achievement. However, to me, greatness is much, much more. I hope that each of you girls will become an individual of significant worth and a person of virtue so that your contributions are maintained in both human and eternal terms.
Elder Boyd K. Packer tells me that among the species of birds in which both male and female sing, the different sexes sing a different melody. Yet it is pleasant to hear them singing at the same time, for they harmonize beautifully together!
As women, you are wonderful and special. You have a great mission, a great errand, and a great calling. Indeed, God devised his work for both men and women: “All those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom.” (D&C 25:1.) Being born as women brings to you many endowments that are not common to men and therefore make you unique.
President Spencer W. Kimball, in speaking of the roles of men and women, added some personal perspective: “Our roles and assignments differ. These are eternal differences—with women being given many tremendous responsibilities of motherhood and sisterhood and men being given the tremendous responsibilities of fatherhood and the priesthood—but the man is not without the woman nor the woman without the man in the Lord. …
“Remember, in the world before we came here, faithful women were given certain assignments while faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood tasks. While we do not now remember the particulars, this does not alter the glorious reality of what we once agreed to. You are accountable for those things which long ago were expected of you just as are those we sustain as prophets and apostles! …
“This leaves much to be done by way of parallel personal development—for both men and women.” (Ensign, Nov. 1979, p. 102.)
This statement suggests that before we were born we made certain commitments, female and male, and that we agreed to come to this earth with great, rich, but separate gifts. We were called, male and female, to do great works, with separate approaches and separate assignments, and accordingly were given different songs to sing.
You say, Where do I begin? Rather than beginning with a wish list of all the things you want in life, the real question may be what you are not willing to do without. You should select two or three of life’s experiences that you are absolutely sure you want to have; these important things you should not leave to chance. Then you should think about what you can contribute to society by way of service to the Church, home, and community. You also need to think of what life will demand from you. Everything has its price. Much is expected of us.
It is unfortunate that it is taking so long to bring full economic justice to women. The feminization of poverty is both real and tragic. That is why you should work very hard to prepare for your future by gaining some marketable skills.
The struggle to improve the place of women in society has been a noble cause, and I sincerely hope the day will come when women with equal skills will be fully equal with men in the marketplace. However, this is an issue of equality, not sameness; it does not mean that women should be the same as men or try to do things the way men do them. Although some jobs that are traditionally masculine are now being done by women, it is possible for them to be done in a feminine way and yet be done equally as well—or even better.
Over a hundred years ago, in 1872, Eliza R. Snow said that some women “are so radical in their extreme theories that they would set for her an antagonism to man, and make her adopt the more reprehensible phases of character which men present and which should be shunned or improved by them instead of being copied by women.” (Women’s Exponent, 15 July 1872, p. 29.) Becoming like men is not the answer; being who you are and living up to your potential and commitment is.
You cannot trust the many conflicting voices that clamor about what women should or should not do in today’s society. Some of the loudest voices we hear are echoes of others who, rather than being unhappy with their role as women, seem actually out of harmony with themselves and out of tune with life in general.
Women today are being encouraged by some to have it all—generally, all simultaneously: money, travel, marriage, motherhood, and separate careers in the world. Sarah Davidson, in an article entitled “Having It All,” comments about forging an identity, building a career, developing a craft, and having a family.
“I do not yet understand how a woman can successfully split herself between home and the market place. Fifteen years of feminist theory and action have taught us that sacrificing one for the other does not satisfy, but having both together simultaneously is so difficult that no one I know has found anything but the most quirky and incomplete solution.” (Professional Esquire, June 1984, p. 54.)
Her article does not deal with the heartaches and frustrations of single parents or others thrust into very difficult circumstances due to divorce, death of spouse, or hardship. Rather, the article focuses on the issue of the woman who is intent on having it all, trying to simultaneously coordinate the roles of professional life, marriage, and motherhood.
Some will no doubt disagree with her conclusion, and there may be many exceptions, but she goes on to tell of three women who are partners in a New York law firm and observes that their personal lives are frustrated and unhappy. “The problem, of course, is that family happiness is less clearly definable and more often elusive than career success.” (Ibid.) For some, the answer has been to find and marry a man who will assume the female roles. But such men are rare.
The same author says: “At some point along the way, a number of us woke up and found that we were wonderfully self-sufficient and successful and our lives were empty. There was no one to share it with, no living, growing ties to the future; something vital had been discarded and we scurried to recapture it.” (Ibid.)
As Sarah Davidson approached forty, after years in a career, she and her husband were blessed with a baby. Of this experience she says: “This baby was the great missing link for me, the one I have longed for in my life. That, once realized, brought the hoped-for satisfaction. Nothing in my life prepared me for the happiness, the wholeness I felt when my son was born. I am embarrassed to tell you how many nights I would walk into his room and just stand at the crib, my heart brimming. The bond between a mother and child is so special, it is in the soul. …
“All my time is spent on three things: baby, work, and keeping the marriage going. I find I can handle two beautifully. When my husband is out of town or when I am between projects and not working, things go smoothly, but three pushes me to the edge. Someone is unhappy, something is always getting short-shrift.” (Ibid.)
No doubt it would help if husbands would follow the counsel of the late Elder G. Homer Durham: “Man, as well as woman, has obligations to learn the difficult art of fatherhood in homemaking. This is not a task just for the woman.” (In Women, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, p. 36.)
But, my dear granddaughters, you cannot do everything well at the same time. You cannot be a 100 percent wife, a 100 percent mother, a 100 percent church worker, a 100 percent career person, and a 100 percent public-service person at the same time. How can all of these roles be coordinated? Says Sarah Davidson: “The only answer I come up with is that you can have it sequentially. At one stage you may emphasize career, and at another marriage and nurturing young children, and at any point you will be aware of what is missing. If you are lucky, you will be able to fit everything in.” (Ibid.)
Doing things sequentially—filling roles one at a time at different times—is not always possible, as we know, but it gives a woman the opportunity to do each thing well in its time and to fill a variety of roles in her life. A woman does not necessarily have to track a career like a man does. She may fit more than one career into the various seasons of life. She need not try to sing all of the verses of her song at the same time.
The Book of Ecclesiastes says: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Eccl. 3:1.)
The various roles of women have not decreased a woman’s responsibility. While these roles are challenging, the central roles of wife and mother remain in the soul and cry out to be satisfied. It is in the soul to want to love and be loved by a good man and to be able to respond to the God-given, deepest feelings of womanhood—those of being a mother and nurturer.
Now, I wish to note clearly that what I am saying is in the spirit of general counsel—that is, it applies generally. But there are exceptions in its application. Further, my heart and admiration go out to the large group of women who are single parents or who are required by circumstance to either provide or help provide for their families. Particularly is the responsibility heavy for single parents who courageously balance two careers simultaneously: that of supporting the family financially and that of parenting. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, these often remarkable single parents are guided and blessed in impressive and touching ways as they live in harmony with the Lord and his inspiration to them. As with all of us, they come to recognize that without His peace and strength in their lives, they are not as happy and as successful as they might otherwise be.
Granddaughters, do not be deceived in your quest to find happiness and an identity of your own. Entreating voices may tell you that what you have experienced in your own homes—that which you have seen your mothers and grandmothers do—is old-fashioned, unchallenging, boring, and drudgery. It may be old-fashioned and perhaps routine; at times it is drudgery. But your mothers and grandmothers have sung a song that expresses the highest love and the noblest of womanly feelings. They have been nurturers and teachers.
I join Brigham Young in saying, “Daughter(s), use all your gifts to build up righteousness in the earth.” (Susa Young Gates, The Life Story of Brigham Young, New York: The MacMillan Co., 1930, p. 307.) I hope you acquire all of the knowledge you can. Become as skillful as you can, but not exclusively in new careers at the expense of the primary ones, or you may find that you have missed singing the song you were supposed to sing.
Some divisive voices would suggest that the wants and needs of women in society have changed and that political power is the primary interest and need of women in this day. This is not so. A recent poll indicated that the individual priorities of U.S. women today are:
1. A strong family
2. Raising children
3. Growing spiritually
4. Economic equity
This means that the values of women in the United States are comparable with the values of women in our Church. You need not be defensive or ashamed of these priorities of family, children, church, and equal economic opportunities.
Your grandmother and I urged your mothers to get an education, not only to help them in their homemaking but also to prepare them to earn a living outside the home if that became necessary. Going to college is a wonderful experience, but the dollars, the effort, and the time are much better used if the education also prepares the student with a marketable skill.
I have said that you are wonderful, special, and unique as women. Let me tell you why.
Women seem to arrive at decisions in different ways than men do. I have noticed that your grandmother “thinks” with her heart. My approach seems more logical. Your grandmother is concerned about how her decisions affect the people around her. Beverley Campbell talks about it this way: For a woman, “her primary concern is what will be the greatest good for the greatest number of those around her. In value terms this would be called ‘care and mercy.’ For men the research indicated that the moral thought process was probably much more direct. It generally boiled down to firm rules of right and wrong, black and white.” (“Understanding the Uniqueness of Woman,” transcript of a talk delivered at Brigham Young University—Hawaii, May 1981, p. 2.)
Sister Campbell says: “Could it be that we, each of us, man and woman, were endowed at the time of creation with two distinct but equally important traits, traits which are both essential and complementary and bound to be used together in wisdom for the greatest good of all mankind?” (Ibid., p. 5.)
It may not be possible for economic reasons, but if you have the choice, do not abandon too quickly the full-time career of marriage and mothering. Some may criticize you and say that you have no ambition, that you lack brains, or even that you are seeking to get your fulfilment from others. But you don’t have to earn money to be important. You may choose not to sell your time.
As you consider a professional career, remember that no one will love you more than those in your own home. In the business or scientific world, no one would consider you to be perfect. But your little ones, for a time, will think that you are perfect. And if you are wise, they will adore you for eternity.
No one will need more of your time and energy and attention than your family. Their needs will not go away during the daytime working hours. But there is the advantage that in working twenty-four hours a day on family relations, you are working on eternal relations as well. Thus, you will also have more time to serve the Lord’s church on earth where your service is valued and needed.
I hope your husbands will be more helpful than I have been, but homemaking is whatever you make it. Every day brings satisfaction along with some work that may be frustrating, routine, and unchallenging. But it is the same in the law office, the dispensary, the laboratory, or the store. There is, however, no more important job than homemaking. As C. S. Lewis said, it is the one for which all others exist.
You all know that I adore your grandmother. To me, she is the greatest person in the world. She has done more for me than anyone except my mother, who gave me life. I hold this view, not in spite of the fact that she is a woman, but because she is a woman. She has brought to flower and fruitage many of the divine qualities of womanhood at their noblest and best. I can give you no better model than she.
Now it is very important, whatever you do, that you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. (See Matt. 6:33.) It is important that you accept without reservation the Savior for what He was and Joseph Smith for what he was and President Ezra Taft Benson for what he is. God will not ennoble a person, man or woman, who refuses to uphold by faith, prayer, and works those whom God has called to preside over him or her. My dear granddaughters, you will want to sustain priesthood authority.
Some women may feel it subverts their agency to be directed by the power of the priesthood. This feeling comes from misunderstanding. There should be no compulsion, duress, or unrighteous dominion involved in priesthood authority. Elder Stephen L Richards stated: “Our accord comes from universal agreement with righteous principles and common response to the operation of the Spirit of our Father. It is actuated by no fear except one. That is the fear of offending God, the Author of our work.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1938, p. 116.)
Following the priesthood of the Church is an expression of faith in the Lord’s continuing guidance of his church. It is a willing acceptance of the principle of divine agency.
Girls, you must practice virtue in its largest sense. Of the many definitions of virtue, such as moral excellence, right action and thinking, goodness of character, and chastity, I also appreciate the definition of virtue as an order of angels. You cannot become great women if you are not also good women. You will become great women if you join an order of angels.
You may ask, “How do I join an order of angels?” My answer is that you must hunger and thirst after righteousness. William Law, an eighteenth-century clergyman, said: “If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.”
One of the great women I know is Sister Isabelle Bangerter. I have known her for over forty years. At age 93, Sister Bangerter is the mother of eleven outstanding children. My missionary companion, Elder Wm. Grant Bangerter of the First Quorum of the Seventy, is the second eldest of these children. Utah’s Governor, Norman Bangerter, is the tenth child. She has a posterity of over 260. There have been 72 marriages in the family, every one of which has been a temple marriage, and there have been no divorces.
As I have wondered what made Isabelle Bangerter so great, I have concluded that it was because she has hungered and thirsted for righteousness.
President Kimball said it well: “Among the real heroines in the world who will come into the Church are women who are more concerned with being righteous than with being selfish. These real heroines have true humility, which places a higher value on integrity than on visibility. Remember, it is as wrong to do things just to be seen of women as it is to do things to be seen of men. Great women and men are always more anxious to serve than to have dominion.” (Ensign, Nov. 1979, p. 104.)
Granddaughters, cultivate and employ your noble womanly instincts of care and mercy. Always hunger and thirst after righteousness. Great women respond generously to their instincts to do good. With your very being held still, listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. Follow those noble, intuitive feelings planted deep within your soul by Deity. By responding thus to the Holy Spirit of God, you will be sanctified by truth and you will be eternally honored and loved.
Much of your work as a woman is to enrich mankind. Care and mercy seem to be a dominant refrain of the song you have the opportunity to sing. I hope you will not leave any of the melody unsung.@~@
bps, I have told you about the handicapped 19yo missionaries we have at the fhc before. I am sitting next to Elder Weston today. Elder Johnson used to come in and play video games all day. They changed his mission to a work mission after about 10 months of working with him. He just couldn’t force himself to work with all these computers around. Next, Elder Weston is extremely autistic. He reads fantasy books on the internet each day, or his thumb drive. He is so wacko inside that he never talks to anyone voluntarily and he often gets out of his seat to go get a drink 10-20 times per hour! Some hours he can sit still but I have documented other hours when I have written down times and tally marks and been chagrined at how many times he has to get up and leave! Poor guy. He will answer your questions if you give him 5 or 10 seconds to process his answer. He feels insecure about reading his stories and looking at his pictures and games and changes the computer screen each time he leaves and each time someone passes behind him. I like computer #60 because it is in the corner and I can see everyone in the whole room by just looking up in one direction. I am at computer #59 today. He is in #60. I understand emotional / mental handicaps because I have some and my family members have some. Since I began writing about him he has gotten up and left 5|| times.(jff I decided to switch to tally marks after the first 5) 6 months ago I told him he did not have to worry about me. I wasn’t going to get him in trouble. He was not reassured. He still acts nervous around me. Today I realized I might make inroads by asking about his reading. He likes Science Fiction and Fantasy just like I do! He wears a dark suit everyday with a white shirt and tie. His parents pick him up at 4 pm each day. He does dare to sing, even solos in their prayer meetings, but there is never ever any emotion in his voice or expression. I hadn’t ever asked him about his reading until a few minutes ago. AS a followup question I asked if there were any authors he particularly followed? He said Percy Jackson. [wiki:Development for both The Lightning Thief and the Percy Jackson series commenced when Rick Riordan began making stories for his son Haley Riordan, who had at the time been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. His son, Haley, had been studying Greek mythology in second grade and requested that his father tell him bedtime stories based on Greek myths. When Riordan ran out of myths, his son suggested that he make up new stories using existing mythological characters and new ones. This led Riordan to create the fictional character of Percy Jackson and create the story of how he travels across the United States to recover Zeus's lightning-bolt. Haley suggested that he should turn that story into a book, and Riordan wrote the book over the next year despite being busy at that time.|Leaving his manuscript with his agent and editor for review, Riordan presented the book to a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to read and critique. He gained their approval, and with their help, came up with the name of the book and created the way Percy's sword works. In 2004, the book was sold to Miramax Books for enough money for Riordan to quit his job and focus on writing. After it was released on 28 June 2005, it sold over 1.2 million copies. The book was released in multiple versions, including hardcover, paperback and audio editions. It has been translated into multiple languages and published all over the world.] bps, I would hate to send you a short book when the long ones cost the same. But I just ordered you “The Lightning Thief” which probably doesn’t have very many words on a page but it does have 377 pages. $4 for a very good copy should be worth it. You can always tell me if you want to read the next 4 in the series. @ We are so blessed to speak the same language as the United Kingdom! I got the 8 Harry Potter videos for $25 and it takes me 2 or 3 nights to make it through a movie. Harry’s actor was 11 for the first movie. He is already changing and growing up as I watch. So fun. These kids had their adolescent years/ appearances documented for all the world to see. I find their accents delightful to listen to. It gives me a sense of the foreign/ adventure. @ I celebrated last night as I saw that the 2 books I sent Michael and Xion had both arrived. They are about John the Beloved in modern day assists to people and communities. Thomas Eno is the author and I am so hoping they remind Michael of his beginnings with he and I reading the scriptures together for years. I vmailed him, texted him, emailed him all in celebration. So whether or not he is excited, I am!! @ I am still coughing up green flem. I had to tell Louis Monday I couldn’t babysit for him on Wed. he gave me the perfect amount of praise for my choice. @
By Elder James E. Faust
Of the Quorum of the Twelve This is an edited version of a BYU devotional address given 12 February 1985. I direct these remarks primarily to my granddaughters, although others might find them of interest, too.
On Brittany’s last birthday, I told her mother with considerable grandfatherly pride that I thought I detected some seeds of promise developing in Brittany. Of course I feel the same way about Nicole, Melissa, Kelly Ann, Katy, Sarah, Ashley, little Elise, and our other granddaughters.
I do not want to tell you girls what you must be. That is for each of you to decide. You have your agency. Each of you will have to work very hard to learn all you can and develop your skills. It will not be easy to achieve anything really worthwhile. I only tell you what I think will help bring you identity, a sense of value, and happiness as a person. I also challenge you to reach your potential, to become a person of great worth, to become a great woman.
Now, you need to know that to me great does not necessarily mean your becoming a great doctor, lawyer, or business executive. You may, of course, become any of these if you so desire, and if you work hard enough, and I would be proud of such an achievement. However, to me, greatness is much, much more. I hope that each of you girls will become an individual of significant worth and a person of virtue so that your contributions are maintained in both human and eternal terms.
Elder Boyd K. Packer tells me that among the species of birds in which both male and female sing, the different sexes sing a different melody. Yet it is pleasant to hear them singing at the same time, for they harmonize beautifully together!
As women, you are wonderful and special. You have a great mission, a great errand, and a great calling. Indeed, God devised his work for both men and women: “All those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom.” (D&C 25:1.) Being born as women brings to you many endowments that are not common to men and therefore make you unique.
President Spencer W. Kimball, in speaking of the roles of men and women, added some personal perspective: “Our roles and assignments differ. These are eternal differences—with women being given many tremendous responsibilities of motherhood and sisterhood and men being given the tremendous responsibilities of fatherhood and the priesthood—but the man is not without the woman nor the woman without the man in the Lord. …
“Remember, in the world before we came here, faithful women were given certain assignments while faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood tasks. While we do not now remember the particulars, this does not alter the glorious reality of what we once agreed to. You are accountable for those things which long ago were expected of you just as are those we sustain as prophets and apostles! …
“This leaves much to be done by way of parallel personal development—for both men and women.” (Ensign, Nov. 1979, p. 102.)
This statement suggests that before we were born we made certain commitments, female and male, and that we agreed to come to this earth with great, rich, but separate gifts. We were called, male and female, to do great works, with separate approaches and separate assignments, and accordingly were given different songs to sing.
You say, Where do I begin? Rather than beginning with a wish list of all the things you want in life, the real question may be what you are not willing to do without. You should select two or three of life’s experiences that you are absolutely sure you want to have; these important things you should not leave to chance. Then you should think about what you can contribute to society by way of service to the Church, home, and community. You also need to think of what life will demand from you. Everything has its price. Much is expected of us.
It is unfortunate that it is taking so long to bring full economic justice to women. The feminization of poverty is both real and tragic. That is why you should work very hard to prepare for your future by gaining some marketable skills.
The struggle to improve the place of women in society has been a noble cause, and I sincerely hope the day will come when women with equal skills will be fully equal with men in the marketplace. However, this is an issue of equality, not sameness; it does not mean that women should be the same as men or try to do things the way men do them. Although some jobs that are traditionally masculine are now being done by women, it is possible for them to be done in a feminine way and yet be done equally as well—or even better.
Over a hundred years ago, in 1872, Eliza R. Snow said that some women “are so radical in their extreme theories that they would set for her an antagonism to man, and make her adopt the more reprehensible phases of character which men present and which should be shunned or improved by them instead of being copied by women.” (Women’s Exponent, 15 July 1872, p. 29.) Becoming like men is not the answer; being who you are and living up to your potential and commitment is.
You cannot trust the many conflicting voices that clamor about what women should or should not do in today’s society. Some of the loudest voices we hear are echoes of others who, rather than being unhappy with their role as women, seem actually out of harmony with themselves and out of tune with life in general.
Women today are being encouraged by some to have it all—generally, all simultaneously: money, travel, marriage, motherhood, and separate careers in the world. Sarah Davidson, in an article entitled “Having It All,” comments about forging an identity, building a career, developing a craft, and having a family.
“I do not yet understand how a woman can successfully split herself between home and the market place. Fifteen years of feminist theory and action have taught us that sacrificing one for the other does not satisfy, but having both together simultaneously is so difficult that no one I know has found anything but the most quirky and incomplete solution.” (Professional Esquire, June 1984, p. 54.)
Her article does not deal with the heartaches and frustrations of single parents or others thrust into very difficult circumstances due to divorce, death of spouse, or hardship. Rather, the article focuses on the issue of the woman who is intent on having it all, trying to simultaneously coordinate the roles of professional life, marriage, and motherhood.
Some will no doubt disagree with her conclusion, and there may be many exceptions, but she goes on to tell of three women who are partners in a New York law firm and observes that their personal lives are frustrated and unhappy. “The problem, of course, is that family happiness is less clearly definable and more often elusive than career success.” (Ibid.) For some, the answer has been to find and marry a man who will assume the female roles. But such men are rare.
The same author says: “At some point along the way, a number of us woke up and found that we were wonderfully self-sufficient and successful and our lives were empty. There was no one to share it with, no living, growing ties to the future; something vital had been discarded and we scurried to recapture it.” (Ibid.)
As Sarah Davidson approached forty, after years in a career, she and her husband were blessed with a baby. Of this experience she says: “This baby was the great missing link for me, the one I have longed for in my life. That, once realized, brought the hoped-for satisfaction. Nothing in my life prepared me for the happiness, the wholeness I felt when my son was born. I am embarrassed to tell you how many nights I would walk into his room and just stand at the crib, my heart brimming. The bond between a mother and child is so special, it is in the soul. …
“All my time is spent on three things: baby, work, and keeping the marriage going. I find I can handle two beautifully. When my husband is out of town or when I am between projects and not working, things go smoothly, but three pushes me to the edge. Someone is unhappy, something is always getting short-shrift.” (Ibid.)
No doubt it would help if husbands would follow the counsel of the late Elder G. Homer Durham: “Man, as well as woman, has obligations to learn the difficult art of fatherhood in homemaking. This is not a task just for the woman.” (In Women, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, p. 36.)
But, my dear granddaughters, you cannot do everything well at the same time. You cannot be a 100 percent wife, a 100 percent mother, a 100 percent church worker, a 100 percent career person, and a 100 percent public-service person at the same time. How can all of these roles be coordinated? Says Sarah Davidson: “The only answer I come up with is that you can have it sequentially. At one stage you may emphasize career, and at another marriage and nurturing young children, and at any point you will be aware of what is missing. If you are lucky, you will be able to fit everything in.” (Ibid.)
Doing things sequentially—filling roles one at a time at different times—is not always possible, as we know, but it gives a woman the opportunity to do each thing well in its time and to fill a variety of roles in her life. A woman does not necessarily have to track a career like a man does. She may fit more than one career into the various seasons of life. She need not try to sing all of the verses of her song at the same time.
The Book of Ecclesiastes says: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Eccl. 3:1.)
The various roles of women have not decreased a woman’s responsibility. While these roles are challenging, the central roles of wife and mother remain in the soul and cry out to be satisfied. It is in the soul to want to love and be loved by a good man and to be able to respond to the God-given, deepest feelings of womanhood—those of being a mother and nurturer.
Now, I wish to note clearly that what I am saying is in the spirit of general counsel—that is, it applies generally. But there are exceptions in its application. Further, my heart and admiration go out to the large group of women who are single parents or who are required by circumstance to either provide or help provide for their families. Particularly is the responsibility heavy for single parents who courageously balance two careers simultaneously: that of supporting the family financially and that of parenting. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, these often remarkable single parents are guided and blessed in impressive and touching ways as they live in harmony with the Lord and his inspiration to them. As with all of us, they come to recognize that without His peace and strength in their lives, they are not as happy and as successful as they might otherwise be.
Granddaughters, do not be deceived in your quest to find happiness and an identity of your own. Entreating voices may tell you that what you have experienced in your own homes—that which you have seen your mothers and grandmothers do—is old-fashioned, unchallenging, boring, and drudgery. It may be old-fashioned and perhaps routine; at times it is drudgery. But your mothers and grandmothers have sung a song that expresses the highest love and the noblest of womanly feelings. They have been nurturers and teachers.
I join Brigham Young in saying, “Daughter(s), use all your gifts to build up righteousness in the earth.” (Susa Young Gates, The Life Story of Brigham Young, New York: The MacMillan Co., 1930, p. 307.) I hope you acquire all of the knowledge you can. Become as skillful as you can, but not exclusively in new careers at the expense of the primary ones, or you may find that you have missed singing the song you were supposed to sing.
Some divisive voices would suggest that the wants and needs of women in society have changed and that political power is the primary interest and need of women in this day. This is not so. A recent poll indicated that the individual priorities of U.S. women today are:
1. A strong family
2. Raising children
3. Growing spiritually
4. Economic equity
This means that the values of women in the United States are comparable with the values of women in our Church. You need not be defensive or ashamed of these priorities of family, children, church, and equal economic opportunities.
Your grandmother and I urged your mothers to get an education, not only to help them in their homemaking but also to prepare them to earn a living outside the home if that became necessary. Going to college is a wonderful experience, but the dollars, the effort, and the time are much better used if the education also prepares the student with a marketable skill.
I have said that you are wonderful, special, and unique as women. Let me tell you why.
Women seem to arrive at decisions in different ways than men do. I have noticed that your grandmother “thinks” with her heart. My approach seems more logical. Your grandmother is concerned about how her decisions affect the people around her. Beverley Campbell talks about it this way: For a woman, “her primary concern is what will be the greatest good for the greatest number of those around her. In value terms this would be called ‘care and mercy.’ For men the research indicated that the moral thought process was probably much more direct. It generally boiled down to firm rules of right and wrong, black and white.” (“Understanding the Uniqueness of Woman,” transcript of a talk delivered at Brigham Young University—Hawaii, May 1981, p. 2.)
Sister Campbell says: “Could it be that we, each of us, man and woman, were endowed at the time of creation with two distinct but equally important traits, traits which are both essential and complementary and bound to be used together in wisdom for the greatest good of all mankind?” (Ibid., p. 5.)
It may not be possible for economic reasons, but if you have the choice, do not abandon too quickly the full-time career of marriage and mothering. Some may criticize you and say that you have no ambition, that you lack brains, or even that you are seeking to get your fulfilment from others. But you don’t have to earn money to be important. You may choose not to sell your time.
As you consider a professional career, remember that no one will love you more than those in your own home. In the business or scientific world, no one would consider you to be perfect. But your little ones, for a time, will think that you are perfect. And if you are wise, they will adore you for eternity.
No one will need more of your time and energy and attention than your family. Their needs will not go away during the daytime working hours. But there is the advantage that in working twenty-four hours a day on family relations, you are working on eternal relations as well. Thus, you will also have more time to serve the Lord’s church on earth where your service is valued and needed.
I hope your husbands will be more helpful than I have been, but homemaking is whatever you make it. Every day brings satisfaction along with some work that may be frustrating, routine, and unchallenging. But it is the same in the law office, the dispensary, the laboratory, or the store. There is, however, no more important job than homemaking. As C. S. Lewis said, it is the one for which all others exist.
You all know that I adore your grandmother. To me, she is the greatest person in the world. She has done more for me than anyone except my mother, who gave me life. I hold this view, not in spite of the fact that she is a woman, but because she is a woman. She has brought to flower and fruitage many of the divine qualities of womanhood at their noblest and best. I can give you no better model than she.
Now it is very important, whatever you do, that you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. (See Matt. 6:33.) It is important that you accept without reservation the Savior for what He was and Joseph Smith for what he was and President Ezra Taft Benson for what he is. God will not ennoble a person, man or woman, who refuses to uphold by faith, prayer, and works those whom God has called to preside over him or her. My dear granddaughters, you will want to sustain priesthood authority.
Some women may feel it subverts their agency to be directed by the power of the priesthood. This feeling comes from misunderstanding. There should be no compulsion, duress, or unrighteous dominion involved in priesthood authority. Elder Stephen L Richards stated: “Our accord comes from universal agreement with righteous principles and common response to the operation of the Spirit of our Father. It is actuated by no fear except one. That is the fear of offending God, the Author of our work.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1938, p. 116.)
Following the priesthood of the Church is an expression of faith in the Lord’s continuing guidance of his church. It is a willing acceptance of the principle of divine agency.
Girls, you must practice virtue in its largest sense. Of the many definitions of virtue, such as moral excellence, right action and thinking, goodness of character, and chastity, I also appreciate the definition of virtue as an order of angels. You cannot become great women if you are not also good women. You will become great women if you join an order of angels.
You may ask, “How do I join an order of angels?” My answer is that you must hunger and thirst after righteousness. William Law, an eighteenth-century clergyman, said: “If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.”
One of the great women I know is Sister Isabelle Bangerter. I have known her for over forty years. At age 93, Sister Bangerter is the mother of eleven outstanding children. My missionary companion, Elder Wm. Grant Bangerter of the First Quorum of the Seventy, is the second eldest of these children. Utah’s Governor, Norman Bangerter, is the tenth child. She has a posterity of over 260. There have been 72 marriages in the family, every one of which has been a temple marriage, and there have been no divorces.
As I have wondered what made Isabelle Bangerter so great, I have concluded that it was because she has hungered and thirsted for righteousness.
President Kimball said it well: “Among the real heroines in the world who will come into the Church are women who are more concerned with being righteous than with being selfish. These real heroines have true humility, which places a higher value on integrity than on visibility. Remember, it is as wrong to do things just to be seen of women as it is to do things to be seen of men. Great women and men are always more anxious to serve than to have dominion.” (Ensign, Nov. 1979, p. 104.)
Granddaughters, cultivate and employ your noble womanly instincts of care and mercy. Always hunger and thirst after righteousness. Great women respond generously to their instincts to do good. With your very being held still, listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. Follow those noble, intuitive feelings planted deep within your soul by Deity. By responding thus to the Holy Spirit of God, you will be sanctified by truth and you will be eternally honored and loved.
Much of your work as a woman is to enrich mankind. Care and mercy seem to be a dominant refrain of the song you have the opportunity to sing. I hope you will not leave any of the melody unsung.@~@
bps, I have told you about the handicapped 19yo missionaries we have at the fhc before. I am sitting next to Elder Weston today. Elder Johnson used to come in and play video games all day. They changed his mission to a work mission after about 10 months of working with him. He just couldn’t force himself to work with all these computers around. Next, Elder Weston is extremely autistic. He reads fantasy books on the internet each day, or his thumb drive. He is so wacko inside that he never talks to anyone voluntarily and he often gets out of his seat to go get a drink 10-20 times per hour! Some hours he can sit still but I have documented other hours when I have written down times and tally marks and been chagrined at how many times he has to get up and leave! Poor guy. He will answer your questions if you give him 5 or 10 seconds to process his answer. He feels insecure about reading his stories and looking at his pictures and games and changes the computer screen each time he leaves and each time someone passes behind him. I like computer #60 because it is in the corner and I can see everyone in the whole room by just looking up in one direction. I am at computer #59 today. He is in #60. I understand emotional / mental handicaps because I have some and my family members have some. Since I began writing about him he has gotten up and left 5|| times.(jff I decided to switch to tally marks after the first 5) 6 months ago I told him he did not have to worry about me. I wasn’t going to get him in trouble. He was not reassured. He still acts nervous around me. Today I realized I might make inroads by asking about his reading. He likes Science Fiction and Fantasy just like I do! He wears a dark suit everyday with a white shirt and tie. His parents pick him up at 4 pm each day. He does dare to sing, even solos in their prayer meetings, but there is never ever any emotion in his voice or expression. I hadn’t ever asked him about his reading until a few minutes ago. AS a followup question I asked if there were any authors he particularly followed? He said Percy Jackson. [wiki:Development for both The Lightning Thief and the Percy Jackson series commenced when Rick Riordan began making stories for his son Haley Riordan, who had at the time been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. His son, Haley, had been studying Greek mythology in second grade and requested that his father tell him bedtime stories based on Greek myths. When Riordan ran out of myths, his son suggested that he make up new stories using existing mythological characters and new ones. This led Riordan to create the fictional character of Percy Jackson and create the story of how he travels across the United States to recover Zeus's lightning-bolt. Haley suggested that he should turn that story into a book, and Riordan wrote the book over the next year despite being busy at that time.|Leaving his manuscript with his agent and editor for review, Riordan presented the book to a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to read and critique. He gained their approval, and with their help, came up with the name of the book and created the way Percy's sword works. In 2004, the book was sold to Miramax Books for enough money for Riordan to quit his job and focus on writing. After it was released on 28 June 2005, it sold over 1.2 million copies. The book was released in multiple versions, including hardcover, paperback and audio editions. It has been translated into multiple languages and published all over the world.] bps, I would hate to send you a short book when the long ones cost the same. But I just ordered you “The Lightning Thief” which probably doesn’t have very many words on a page but it does have 377 pages. $4 for a very good copy should be worth it. You can always tell me if you want to read the next 4 in the series. @ We are so blessed to speak the same language as the United Kingdom! I got the 8 Harry Potter videos for $25 and it takes me 2 or 3 nights to make it through a movie. Harry’s actor was 11 for the first movie. He is already changing and growing up as I watch. So fun. These kids had their adolescent years/ appearances documented for all the world to see. I find their accents delightful to listen to. It gives me a sense of the foreign/ adventure. @ I celebrated last night as I saw that the 2 books I sent Michael and Xion had both arrived. They are about John the Beloved in modern day assists to people and communities. Thomas Eno is the author and I am so hoping they remind Michael of his beginnings with he and I reading the scriptures together for years. I vmailed him, texted him, emailed him all in celebration. So whether or not he is excited, I am!! @ I am still coughing up green flem. I had to tell Louis Monday I couldn’t babysit for him on Wed. he gave me the perfect amount of praise for my choice. @
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