Experiencing the Epic

"Listen and I will tell you what the Lord showed me,” said Lehi. "An angel led me to a tree and I partook of the fruit. It was sweet, and it filled me with exceedingly great joy. I was desirous for all of you to taste it. I called you and you came. The tree is the love of God which fills the heart of God."

How do we even begin to tell this story? The LDS Church recognizes that the scope and power of this tale -- beginning with God's first revelations to Lehi about the coming of Christ (roughly 5,000 years prior to his birth in Bethlehem), encompassing the trans-Atlantic journey of Lehi and his sons to present day America, and culminating with Joseph Smith's discovery at the Hill Cumorah -- requires a massive stage, 719 devoted actors, pyrotechnics, a flying Jesus, and several waterfalls.

The pageant is an attempt to bring these fundamental stories to thousands of Mormons and non-Mormons each year. This is a sweeping drama -- think of Ben Hur or The Ten Commandments, factor an extra 7,000 years into the chronology, and include not just one people but several different ethnic and religious groups on a giant stage built to look like an Mayan temple.


But you can't! You can't actually think of this! The very performance gives us pause to consider Sister Carrie's exhortations -- maybe revelation does play a role here. You have to give these folks a lot of credit.

In a story that perfectly combines the tales of Jonah and Noah, God teaches Lehi to build a ship so he and his family can escape Jerusalem. But some of the sons are wicked, and the Lord punishes the family on the ship by sending a great storm. They almost perish. But Lehi and his good son Nephi call upon the Lord and he saves them.

“After they sailed for many days, they came to the promised land, the land were now call North and South America. God had already brought many people to this land, as he would later bring Columbus.”