Maybe it was because my brain didn't make connections with now and then. But what I suppose it means, looking back, is that I wasn't paying enough attention to how history affects our present and our future.
But I am repenting.
And I am learning.
So thanks to the April 2010 General Conference talk given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson and a lesson given in Relief Society, my mind and heart was softened to read about history, specifically about William Tyndale, who was responsible for the translation of the Bible into the English language.
Fire in the Bones by S. Michael Wilcox gives the incredible story of Tyndale's life's dedication to the Bible and the risks he took to translate and publish the Bible so that the even "a boy that driveth the plough, [should] know more of the Scripture" than clerics and the such.
And I have been amazed.
And humbled.
And thankful for men like Tyndale, who, like Joseph Smith, stayed firm and true to their death, for the Word's sake.
It has given me a desire to be more dedicated in my pursuit to love the word of God found within the pages of the Old and New Testaments.
And more confused at why today, in 2010, people or organizations think it's okay to burn holy pages from religious books with little thought of the sacrifices made by others long ago who risked their lives - and many, many put to death - because of their desire to worship as they may.
And more confused at why today, in 2010, people or organizations think it's okay to burn holy pages from religious books with little thought of the sacrifices made by others long ago who risked their lives - and many, many put to death - because of their desire to worship as they may.
Those who would burn books or other knowledge so that others cannot choose for themselves are both insecure in their beliefs and very short-sighted to the big picture. The more everyone knows, the better off everyone is.
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