As I heard those words, my heart jumped. Bam! The thrills just kept going.
Once I heard she was coming to Campus, I made my plans early and was successful.
This literary genius, creator of one of my favorite stories, A Wrinkle in Time, Madelaine L “Engle was coming to BYU just a few short weeks after my 19th birthday and I was going to be able to hear her in not only a Forum, but also a small gathering of honor students. I showed up early and grabbed a seat in the hall just two rows back from where she was sitting.
Before the event began, I could not restrain myself and stood up and reached over and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned back and smiled at me and I just froze, then I said, “I love your books.” Total geek dork pedestrian PREdictable.
As she shared her thoughts with the group the most memorable line was,
“I learned more from the books I read while I should have been doing my homework than I ever did from the classes I took.”
Now, THIS. This made my heart sing.
I could not find the actual BYU event. But this lecture at a California school was similar in tone.
I had been a sickly person. Once I counted up the days I missed during my four years of high school and it was the equivalent of a whole year of class. So, I spent oodles of time reading in bed.
And now, as a disabled grandmother, I still spend most of my time, reading in bed.
Now I spend a great deal of time reading The Word of God.
I love the Doctrine and Covenants!
Especially passages like this, D&C Section 109.
“45 We know that thou hast spoken by the mouth of thy prophets terrible things concerning the wicked, in the last days—that thou wilt pour out thy judgments, without measure;
46 Therefore, O Lord, deliver thy people from the calamity of the wicked; enable thy servants to seal up the law, and bind up the testimony, that they may be prepared against the day of burning.“
What was I reading as a Child?
When I was ill, Dad would go to the library and come home with stacks of books to keep me occupied. Mom said I did not read books, I inhaled them. And one of those amazing books was A Wrinkle in Time.
It waa my first introduction to Fantasy and the possibilities of Quantum Mechanics. A childs version of Physics and thinking outside of the schools scientific box of Evolution and Atheism.
When I finished it, I asked for more from Missy L’Engle. Her books spoke to my heart.
Why did the 80’s generation develop such a loathing for authoritarianism and love the movies of our generation so much?
Why did Beverly Hills Cop, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Buellers Day off, Karate Kid, all of the Rocky Movies, and even Amadus touch our hearts and minds in such a way that we were very skeptical of the Establishment and all of its many layers covering us and our families with its collectivist will?
Once I challenged a whole online chat room full of female socialists who had PhD’s in Woman’s Studies to share their Dissertations publicly so I could deconstruct them politically.
I had published my Dissertation on Motherhood for my Doctor in the Philosophy of MH (Mother Hood) online and told them I was prepared to defend it in any forum. These gals were heckling me for having the gall to give myself academic credentials.
Those broads were so ashamed of the Marxist swill that had earned them those fancy letters after their names, that not a one shared her published work and all were hiding behind fake identities online.
Feminism is DEAD.
And so as we continue to realize the depth and scope of what DEI and ESG have wrought on our institutions of higher Ed, I just have to marvel that I was able to touch the divine in the form of Miss Madelaine back in 1987.
At the end of the day, I should not have even been at that Honors Forum.
I had called the head of the Honors department while I was still in high school and told him I did not have the grades or the test scores to qualify for honors classes.
My GPA was 3.5 and I only scored a 22 on the ACT. My math was in shambles, with a 15 on the Math portion of the ACT and I had spent most of my time in high school focused on extracurriculars like Speech and Debate, Improv, and my Favorite, Musical Theatre.
I would be in a show, and then be sick for a month.
The Honors Department Chair told me that the test scores were not the only consideration when accepting students into the program and so he welcomed me in and encouraged me to sign up to live in the Honors Dorms, attend the Honors three day conference before school began in the fall, and to enroll in one of the Colloquium Classes they offered, which was a NINE credit class that covered most of the GE for freshman in a small 90 student class that was taught by three honors professors.
So I stepped into that little world of the smartest kids on campus and paddled hard to keep up.
I was able to put my theatrical skills to the test by writing a short stand up comedy set performed at the Honors Talent Show that revolved around a bike my Mom bought for me at Deseret Industries.
When My five roomies confronted me on my lack of academic scoring to live in the honors hall, one of them bluntly said, “what are you doing here?”
I said, “I’m smart”.
They were peeved, especially since I was constantly forgetting my keys, getting locked out, and waking everyone up by pounding on the door past curfew.
I loved to go dancing and at BYU you could always find a dance on or off campus six nights a week.
Imposter syndrome hits hard when you are 19.
But the chance to meet Madelaine, that was worth all of the crow I had to eat from my roommates, one of whom was constantly asking for my test scores every time I had a midterm or a test to check if I was keeping up. Truth be known, I was on academic probation when I left school to become a mother in 1987.
I just didn’t care about my grades, I was their to LEARN!
We learn by study and also by faith.
In Gospel Doctrine Sunday School class I commented one time that it was NOT our grades that were going to qualify us for Celestial Exaltation.
It is in fact our BEHAVIOR that will be fully and fairly judged by our Heavenly Parent.
And then HE gets to decide WHO he invites into HIS Celestial Kingdom.
I love the Plagues Song from The Prince of Egypt. So perfect when pondering HOW to free enslaved humanity.
So these past few weeks since the war in Israel revved up, I have been talking to many sciency minded, educated people about the history of Israel.
These people don’t know what they don’t know, and it has been maddening to attempt to educated them on whose land belongs to who.
In deep frustration one night I said, “watch the Prince of Egypt animated movie to understand the History of Israel.”
It has been a few years since I watched the movie, and I have been watching it in short clips these past few weeks.
I finished it up this morning and as I watched the Egyptians drown in the Red Sea after the Children of Israel were miraculously saved by God by the parting of the water, I was reminded of the pains that one of my religion professors took at an OCC Community College class I enrolled in while expecting my first baby in Michigan in 1988, to debunk the Biblical Text of the story.
He spent a whole class deconstructing Moses leading the posterity of Jacob to their homeland of Israel and “proving” that the miracle did not occur.
I have been thinking about Mrs. L’Engles idea that only God has VIEW, we have POINT of VIEW.
And as the nations continue to bend and contort with varying points of view, I have been wondering HOW we are going to reach the final destination of all points of view converging on the truth.
And Peace.
In Doctrine and Covenants Section 88 The Lord tells us how he expects his children to behave.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:117–126
Doctrine and Covenants
117 Therefore, verily I say unto you, my friends, call your solemn assembly, as I have commanded you.
118 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.
119 Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;
120 That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord; that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord; that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High.
121 Therefore, cease from all your light speeches, from all laughter, from all your lustful desires, from all your pride and light-mindedness, and from all your wicked doings.
122 Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege.
123 See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires.
124 Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.
125 And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace.
126 Pray always, that ye may not faint, until I come. Behold, and lo, I will come quickly, and receive you unto myself. Amen.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/88?lang=eng
And then in Section 89 we get the promise:
16 All grain is good for the afood of man; as also the bfruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground—
17 Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.
18 And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, ashall receive bhealth in their navel and marrow to their bones;
19 And shall afind bwisdom and great ctreasures of dknowledge, even hidden treasures;
20 And shall arun and not be bweary, and shall walk and not faint.
21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the adestroying angel shall bpass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/89?lang=eng
How much more War will the Nations have to contend with before we seek for Gods view and heal the rifts that are so disabling to our world?
I believe we can quickly tamp down the conflicts raging and seek to understand and be understood.
The War Mongers of the Earth have had a recent Shaking that has taken them to their knees. I would humbly remind them that God has VIEW and they only have POINT OF VIEW.
It is OVER Boys, all except for the crying. Time to pick up your balls and head home. Mother nature just kicked over your trikes. And it would delight her to do it AGAIN!
People of good will should seize the moment and organize our nations for peace.
Jenny Hatch