In the 40 years that I've known this peculiar people, I've not known them to be mindless, plastic automatons. My first and formative years were spent outside the Church. Summers and vacations unfolded on Amelia Island, off the coast of Florida, just below Georgia's Cumberland Island.
Known as the Martha's Vinyard of the South, Fernadina Beach was how we knew Amelia Island. My cousins, aunt, uncle and great grandmother lived there. Mother Doug lived there till she was 96 years old. Some of my fondest memories are of Aunt Hitta's mansion with its dusty dark rooms, old Victorian furniture, and tweeting parkeets. Now a bed and breakfast, it's probably one of the island's 50 buildings on the National Registry.
We ate shrimp by the large bowls full, walked the white sandy beaches near the lighthouse. And kicked minnows into the sandtraps that we dug out of the sand, just out of reach of the last ebb of a wave, before it rushed back to the sea.
We ate shrimp by the large bowls full, walked the white sandy beaches near the lighthouse. And kicked minnows into the sandtraps that we dug out of the sand, just out of reach of the last ebb of a wave, before it rushed back to the sea.
My father and grandfather had studied medicine at Harvard Medical School. Grandpa taught first year medical students at Emory University. Dad had an EENT practice in Atlanta. (That's when Eyes were included in the Ears, Nose and Throat.) Both were Phi Beta Kappa. "Although your grandfather really earned his," Dad would always add. As a son, I imagine no son ever feels he approaches his father's greatness; as a dad, I know they do. (A tongue of fire moment, that.)
My early recollections, are that around the house, locked in white cabinets were medical instruments and medicines. Petri dishes lay stacked in the refrigerator, as my dad cultured microorganisms for his research.
My father died when I was nine, leaving a deep ache in my heart. But blessed by a discus scholarship, I went on to college when older and graduated with honors. The young Mormons with whom I associated went on to schools like Stanford, Thunderbird, Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Oxford. They are believing, faithful members - hardly the mindless, plastic automatons that Mr. Redford recently disparaged.
Of course, there is no more artificial, plastic craft than acting. Mr. Redford attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York - just as prestigious a school as those my pals attended. (Some years ago I auditioned and was accepted into the AADA summer program - yet to finish.)
I'm left to wonder, though, how many Mormons Mr. Redford really knows. And though once married to "one" for a season, how plastic would he have to have been, not to know her as plastic.
Although, I suspect, she wasn't the plastic one.
Posted by Publius at 5:21 PM
Labels: Amelia Island, Emory University, ENT, Phi Beta Kappa, Plastic Automatons, Redford
We Seek After These Things
The world is full of beauty, and though we live in perilous times, there is great hope, as well. Let's discuss it. Reveal it to one another. So that both may be edified, let us freely share ideas and ideals in a spirit of meekness and mildness, realizing that at times, boldness and courage will demand the best of us all.
Many would like an inside scoop on the LDS faith. This blog attempts to give the reader a window into the soul of one faithful and thoughtful member. It is a view from which some general understanding might be extrapolated, some expanse of bridge built, and perhaps, an alliance of the heart knit together.
For if you believe in Christ, I am for you; if you are agnostic or atheistic, I too am for you. Free, open markets? You have in me an ally. Centralized, planned economies? Come, let us reason together. For, if it is true that power resides best in The People, then committees should not be afraid to let them make their own economic decisions, and revolutionary dictatorships should trust The People to map out their own destinies, messy though they may be.
This blog is offered with the presumption that if I tell you things that I consider virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we might come to greater understanding of one another.
"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men...If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." (13th Article of Faith, Joseph Smith) I deeply believe these words.
And it doesn't mean that Mormons have all truth. On the contrary, Mormons are still searching for the beauty and truth of this world. One early church father said that those who come to this faith should bring the best from their world with them. Bring it with them!
I stand in awe and reverence at truth, when I learn of the lives of my students, friends and neighbors. My heart swells in broadened horizons at their stories.
So now, may we learn one another's language of the heart, and of the mind; of our might and strength!
O, this shall be a marvelous journey!
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