Bonding through Words

I have been a journal writer since I was about eight years old. The content and style has changed over the years, but I have always loved putting my thoughts to paper. One of my favorite things about journal writing though, is when I can review what I have written in the past (and some of it is hilarious)! If I hadn’t written it down, I would’ve never remembered what my 10-year-old self did or thought.

This summer, I had the chance to re-read some of my early childhood journals with a sibling I was never that close to—because of the nature of the journals, I was comfortable having someone else reading them with me—as we read them together, I was able to retrieve memories, and then explain the situations and my experiences to my sibling. It was a great bonding time for both of us. Once we finished one, we had to move on to the next one because we had such a great time together.

Journal writing helps me reflect on my growth from year to year, sometimes day to day. There are times when putting my thoughts on paper helps me think through hard situations until I come up with a solution. I have grown closer to Christ through journal writing as I reflect on various aspects of my life.  

Journaling: The Way I Overcame a Mental Illness

Journaling has healed me in ways nothing else can. During my late high school and early college years I suffered from toxic perfectionism. I worked extremely hard in school, magnified my callings, volunteered, worked a part time job, and was a good friend, yet I never felt like I was doing enough. Those feels hit their apex when I was on my mission. I was working the hardest I have ever worked in my life, yet I still felt completely worthless. hroughout this time and the hard months that followed, I received lots of council and guidance from people who loved and supported me. Looking back, their advice was good, but my mind was too clouded from this mental illness for me to comprehend it. It wasn’t until I started journaling my thoughts, feelings, and experiences that I was able to make any real progress. It shifted my perspective and helped me detached myself from my own detrimental thought processes. Even now, I continue to use journaling as a means to express myself and process my emotions and experiences. It’s been the way I have been able to see Gods hand in my life and feel confident in my abilities and move forward in my uncertainty. 

Changing Course

Before I came to BYU, I attended one year at the University of Utah. I was enrolled in the business school and my plan was to pursue a career in accounting. During my second semester there I took a general English class in order to fulfill a requirement without much thought. Throughout the course of that semester, however, we discussed a lot of literary themes and their representation of modern issues that I hadn’t quite anticipated. The things we discussed changed my view of issues I had felt so sure about. Until that point, I hadn’t realized the importance of literature in presenting ideas and progressing certain ideals. In a class with such diversity of students, there were opinions that came from many different backgrounds that weren’t familiar to me. This course opened my eyes and made me think about what was important to me and not see the world in such a binary way. It allowed me to see the influence of God in so many lies and how present he can be at all times. I learned that modern media and literature had a much greater effect on people than I initially thought. This motivated me to change the course of my studies and career and changed the type of professional life I want to lead.

Over the next year I found my self at a new school, in a new environment, and studying new subjects. All of this happened because of the trust I had to place in God to guide me in the right direction. The eye-opening experience of seeing the great influence the study of literature can have on lives and the way we think as a society lead to me to where I am today.  It has certainly changed the way I live and the happier path I have chosen to pursue. 

Henry's Questions about LDS Literature

• How is LDS Literature studied differently because it is viewed as an "American Religion"?
• What type of impact has other religious literature had on LDS literature?
• Does LDS leadership have any sort of impact on what is published and what isn't?
• How are LDS morals and principles represented in its literature?
• Does the subject matter have to be specifically about LDS theology for it to be counted as LDS literature?
• What factors into whether certain literature is taught in church and what is not?

I Think It Will Be Okay

As a kid, I never really kept a journal. It seemed like a waste of time. I much preferred playing outside with my friends and reading.

Then I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was called to Thailand, and while I loved it there, for the first time in my life I began to really struggle with what I believed. I had many companions who were wonderful, and whom I loved, but who didn't always interpret the rules or the doctrine in the same way that I did. In addition to this, I struggled with feelings of self-doubt to the point of wishing myself harm. I did not understand how God was allowing me to feel this weak when I was supposed to be His servant. One of the few places I could go for refuge was my journal. As I wrote out my confusing thoughts and feelings, I was able to step back and see my mission in perspective. My struggle was something many other missionaries experienced. The feelings of unsurety I was having might someday lead to a greater understanding of who I was and my purpose in God's plan.

As I returned home from my mission, there were many times I would turn to my old journals for consolation in difficulty. In retrospect, I could laugh at how awful some of the days had been, and I could see why God had given me some of the challenges he had. There were some experiences about which I was still bitter, but I was able to trust that it was all for the best. Now, as I sit here with my journal open in front of me. I can agree with my old missionary self, "I think it will all be okay."

"By My Own Hand": Journaling my Christian Life

Some of my personal journals
next to my father's biography.

My father titled his biography By My Own Hand, echoing Nephi's phrase from the Book of Mormon. The two of us spent many long hours going over drafts of his chapters, giving us many occasions to discuss his long and interesting life. I'll never forget how he came to terms with some pretty tough stuff (a failed first marriage, disappointments in business, betrayal by a partner, etc.) while composing his life story. He recorded so many kind thoughts about others, plus small triumphs and regular joys. His life writing made me proud to be his son.

Dad achieved an honesty, an authenticity, about his life by reflecting upon it and committing it to words. That drive to know the truth, and at the same time to be humble about one's own complicated thoughts and choices -- this is something that characterizes religious seekers, not just authors. It could refer to Joseph Smith, or St. Augustine, or my father -- or me.

By my own hand I write with a fountain pen in journal after journal, at times just chronicling the events of my life and family, and at times sounding the depths of what I believe, facing feelings, or talking to God, or reaching for answers. I really can't divide my religious faith and devotion from the literacy that has been ingrained in me. Journal writing connects me to family, to God, and to my most real self.

Journal writing is integral to the reflective and covenant life to which I am committed to as a Christian. Such personal writing has been for me both joyful and painful, creative and cringe-worthy -- a way of collecting myself and of shedding or shaping thoughts. It is a way to honor the people I love, to preserve the powerful insights I've received, and it is both a refuge and an adventurous mode of repentance.

Essay Assignment: My Literary and Religious Life

Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize my students with blogging, allow them to introduce themselves, and to reflect on how literature and literacy are part of their identities -- particularly as connected to their religious life.

Instructions

• Create and post a miniature personal essay of 300 words or less through which you introduce yourself to others by telling a brief story illustrating some aspect of your own literary experience and its relationship to your faith. (Personal literary experience can include anything that has to do with writing or reading, and need not be connected to religious services, scripture, or LDS-oriented literature or events.) Do not exceed 300 words. Use Word Counter or a similar tool to check.
• Title your post. 
• Include a photo of yourself or a photo that fits the theme of your post. Do not post a general picture; use one of your own or take a new one.
• Use these labels: "posted by Gideon Burton" [insert your own name, of course] and "my literary and religious life" as well as any others that seem appropriate. (If you have trouble finding or using labels, skip it for now.)
• Read and comment on several other students' posts (at least three) 

Examples and Prompts
Read my example post on this blog, "'By My Own Hand': Journaling My Christian Life," or a previous one, "Safe Among the Indians," or look at any of these examples from past students: "Discovering God in Narnia" by Natalie Cherie; "this poetry is sexy" by Danielle Amanda; "My Lifelong Sing-a-Long" by Allyson J; or "The Public Sin that Changed Who I Am" by Tori Fawson.

Here are some prompts to get you thinking about your little essay. One thing to keep in mind with these is what kind of picture you might use to accompany the essay:

• Journal writing / reading
  How has this shaped your spiritual life? (Even when not writing about religious activities or explicitly about Mormon belief)? Has re-reading your own journal, or reading the journal of a relative, been a reflective and spiritual occasion for you? Have you felt a sense of identity with others who are not you but somehow like you?
• Letters
  As you've composed letters or email messages, or as you have received these, how has this been part of your religious or spiritual life? (Again, even if not directly associated with something like letters to/from missionaries, though that's okay)
• Poetry / Creative Writing
  Such writing need not have anything to do with your religious or spiritual life, but it can. Has this been the case with you -- either in reading poetry or composing it?
• Lyrics
  Do you write lyrics, memorize lyrics, share lyrics? Of course the texts written for hymns are a kind of lyrical poetry, but a lot of people are immersed in contemporary music (whether religious or LDS or not) and attach a lot of personal and emotional significance to such lyrics. Has this been the case with you?
• Reading history (personal, family, or church history; history in general; historical fiction).
  History can be pretty dry stuff and far away from your beliefs or spiritual feelings. But sometimes we connect powerfully with the past by way of a written history (or even historical fiction). Has this been the case for you?
• Plays
  In viewing, acting in, or even writing plays, have you felt connected to others (in the audience, in the cast, or even to the characters portrayed in the play)? Ever been involved in a church-sponsored dramatic activity?
• Social Media
  We don't think of this modern form of communication as literature, and much of it is superficial (or isn't even text-based). But if you've been involved in sharing your beliefs, even in very informal ways among your close online connections, this is a kind of literary experience with your religion. If you blog, have you blogged about your religion?

Re-Christening "Mormon Literature"

What happens to Mormon literature when the Mormon church no longer wishes to be called by that name, or even to be known as the "LDS church"?  The short answer: this literary tradition must be re-christened.

Re-christening "Mormon Literature"

Although christening is not a ritual observed within this faith, "re-christening" is a term very apt for the purpose -- precisely because the main intent of the church president's efforts to change how we and others speak about our religion is meant to refocus on Christ. 

I am creating this blog to help effect the re-christening of the Mormon/LDS literary tradition, and am inviting students in my course on "Literature of the Latter-day Saints" at Brigham Young University to use this blog as a way of exploring what it means to reframe "Mormon" or "LDS literature" consistent with the larger effort announced by the church president. What do we call it? How do our labels affect how that literature is created or critiqued? How does identity matter, whether considering the past or the present? What's in a name?

Reconsidering literary history and renaming or revising literary periods or canons is routine within literary studies. So, despite some potent ambiguities and not a little confusion instilled by this effort to refer appropriately to this church, I see it as an opportunity to reconsider and revitalize that literary tradition formerly known as "Mormon literature" or "LDS literature." And I already have a proposed name for it.

"LDS Christian" in lieu of "Mormon" or "LDS"

As I write (in September, 2019), just one year has passed since President Nelson's announcement about not referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by one of its nicknames (see this Salt Lake Tribune podcast discussing progress in the renaming effort to date). And so far, the church has done some rebranding of its websites, and even renamed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Church members, as well as journalists and scholars, are struggling. Referring to the full name of the church is awkward (a reason for the nicknames and acronyms emerging in the first place). "I'm a Mormon" is four syllables. "I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is 16 syllables-- four times as long. 

Then there is the adjective problem. We use adjectives to describe nouns, and we turn nouns into adjectives to do this trick. For example, we know about the Olympics. "Olympics" is a noun, it labels a thing (an event). It is a simple thing to take that noun and use it as an adjective, a word that describes a different noun: "olympic athlete" or "olympic competition" are examples. This is basic English at work. 

And the nicknames "Mormon" and "LDS" -- which  have very handily served as efficient (short) names or nouns -- have functioned very well for all these years as adjectives: "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir" or "LDS art." Adjectives are where using the full name of the church just isn't practical. Sure, instead of "Mormon literature," you can attempt to say "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints literature," but that sounds very forced.

The workaround is to use an adjectival prepositional phrase. So, instead of "Mormon scripture," for example, one can say, "scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Similarly, one can say, instead of Mormon literature, "literature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" or perhaps more accurately "literature of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" -- only that raises even more problems (of accuracy). People won't use a long description instead of a brief adjective. And there hasn't been a good adjective set forth.

I propose we used the label "LDS Christian" in place of "Mormon" or "LDS." This is short, can be used adjectivally ("LDS Christian thought" or "LDS Christian art"), and it keeps Christ central while not sacrificing the specific version of Christianity that sets apart adherents to and affiliates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What is "LDS Christian" literature?

Ah, there's the rub. Exploring the issues that can answer that question is precisely the purpose of this blog. I will be asking my students to join me in reconsidering literary identity vis-a-vis these complicated labels: "Mormon" "LDS" and my proposed moniker, "LDS Christian." What or who will be included / excluded from the literary canon if we adopt "LDS Christian"? How would this new name cause us to reconsider the forms or functions of literature? Let's think it through...