Since we couldn't take the waters at Clifton Springs, Ashby and Hope decided to join the diarrhea-free children in the sprayground. Erin left her rubber pants at home; a strict rule-follower, she decided to watch from the sidelines.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The pleasures of the sprayground
Saturday afternoon brought intermittent showers and a lack of direction. The sprayground at Seneca Lake State Park gave our day meaning before we headed to the Joseph Smith farm.
Since we couldn't take the waters at Clifton Springs, Ashby and Hope decided to join the diarrhea-free children in the sprayground. Erin left her rubber pants at home; a strict rule-follower, she decided to watch from the sidelines.
Since we couldn't take the waters at Clifton Springs, Ashby and Hope decided to join the diarrhea-free children in the sprayground. Erin left her rubber pants at home; a strict rule-follower, she decided to watch from the sidelines.
Joy's revelation
"The reason everyone is terrified of the Mormons is the reason why everyone is terrified of me: I am Brigham Young; I am Genghis Khan." If the world is divided into explorers and empire-builders, visionaries and organizers, then this dichotomy is certainly at play in the Mormon religion. The pageant at Hill Cumorah truly celebrates the poet and mystic – Joseph Smith was blessed with several visions of the messenger Moroni, and the restoration of the gospel depends on a series of interactions between Smith and the divine.
A brilliant strategist and gifted orator, Brigham Young led the fledgling faithful to Salt Lake City, where they settled after Smith's death in Missouri. By all accounts, he was a charismatic leader credited with the growth and resiliency of the young Mormon church. His story is not part of the narrative told at Hill Cumorah, Joseph Smith's family's farm or the visitors center. However, without Young, few people would return to Palmyra each year to celebrate the birth of one of the world's great modern religions.
What makes you an empire-builder rather than an explorer or a poet? If Joy is any indication, empire-builders do not indulge in whims of fancy or dalliances in sacred groves, or tend to listen to voices emanating from bright lights. But then again, she had her first revelation on this trip – what's next?
A walk in the sacred woods
The Sacred Grove has been well-cared for over the years. There are many spots where trees have been trimmed or cut down to allow light to filter through to the forest floor. Although we cannot be sure of their exact location, we know that several of the Witness Trees (i.e., those that were standing guard when Heavenly Father appeared to Joseph Smith).
The Sacred Grove is a very special area in the personal history of Joseph Smith, and hence the grand narrative of the Mormon church. It is here that the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ first appeared to adolescent Joseph and told him that he would find the record of the one true religion. Then Moroni took him to the place where the golden tablets were buried on the Hill Cumorah, but it would be several years before Joseph was permitted (by word of Moroni) to uncover the tablets.
The story of these plates -- the revelation, losing, finding, then translating them -- constitutes an essential place in the history of the LDS Church. During the tour, the plates are referred to exclusively as "the record" or "the plates." Only once Joseph Smith translates the plates do we know them as The Book of Mormon.
It is a "tender mercy," according to our missionary guides, that the Sacred Grove has been preserved because it remains an exceptional place to hear God's voice.
The Sacred Grove is a very special area in the personal history of Joseph Smith, and hence the grand narrative of the Mormon church. It is here that the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ first appeared to adolescent Joseph and told him that he would find the record of the one true religion. Then Moroni took him to the place where the golden tablets were buried on the Hill Cumorah, but it would be several years before Joseph was permitted (by word of Moroni) to uncover the tablets.
The story of these plates -- the revelation, losing, finding, then translating them -- constitutes an essential place in the history of the LDS Church. During the tour, the plates are referred to exclusively as "the record" or "the plates." Only once Joseph Smith translates the plates do we know them as The Book of Mormon.
It is a "tender mercy," according to our missionary guides, that the Sacred Grove has been preserved because it remains an exceptional place to hear God's voice.
A visit to the Joseph Smith farm
After our jaunt to the state park on Saturday afternoon, we had planned to head back to the Budget Inn for a brief rest. We just couldn't resist a stop at the Joseph Smith farm.
This log cabin is a reproduction of where young Joseph and his family lived.
Years later, the Smith family would move into a larger house. Pictured above, one of the several bedrooms in the new home. Eighty-five percent of the original structure still stands. We learned many facts about Joseph Smith and his family – for example, his brother contracted a horrible sickness (possibly acute appendicitis) and gangrene spread through much of his body in approximately two days).
Our tour guides here and throughout the weekend were young sisters, most on mission. Unfortunately, we were expressly prohibited from videotaping these women, young and old, while they were speaking. Each spoke softly and sweetly, staring at the ground and clipping off the end of their sentences. The syntax of the women we heard throughout the weekend was completely consistent and unique to this group. Each presentation ended with a soliloquy constituting the sister's "testimony." Heads bowed, hands wringing, each sister would say, "I know in my heart that you will feel a spirit of peace in this holy place," or speak of "Heavenly Father's" tender mercies in preserving Joseph Smith's farm, or the Sacred Grove. By Saturday afternoon, we all felt that some profound organizing force engenders a remarkable uniformity in these missionaries, even in their speech.
This log cabin is a reproduction of where young Joseph and his family lived.
Years later, the Smith family would move into a larger house. Pictured above, one of the several bedrooms in the new home. Eighty-five percent of the original structure still stands. We learned many facts about Joseph Smith and his family – for example, his brother contracted a horrible sickness (possibly acute appendicitis) and gangrene spread through much of his body in approximately two days).
Our tour guides here and throughout the weekend were young sisters, most on mission. Unfortunately, we were expressly prohibited from videotaping these women, young and old, while they were speaking. Each spoke softly and sweetly, staring at the ground and clipping off the end of their sentences. The syntax of the women we heard throughout the weekend was completely consistent and unique to this group. Each presentation ended with a soliloquy constituting the sister's "testimony." Heads bowed, hands wringing, each sister would say, "I know in my heart that you will feel a spirit of peace in this holy place," or speak of "Heavenly Father's" tender mercies in preserving Joseph Smith's farm, or the Sacred Grove. By Saturday afternoon, we all felt that some profound organizing force engenders a remarkable uniformity in these missionaries, even in their speech.
A Weekend Timeline
We have gotten some reader inquiries about the chronology of these events. For clarity, here is our trip itinerary:
Friday, July 18th
8am: Sister Joy & Brother Ashby leave New Haven; Sisters Hope & Erin leave Philadelphia.
1pm: All parties meet up in Liverpool, home of the Salt Museum and Marie Amongst the Iroquois Museum, at the Pizza Villa; Sisters Erin & Hope are assualted by DR RON 89.
2:30pm: Check-in at Budget Inn.
3:30pm: Trip orientation session at Hill Cumorah Welcome Center.
4pm: Ascend the Hill Cumorah. Witness "Pageant Rules."
5pm: Journey to Village of Palmyra. Shopping at Latter Day Harvest. Debate purchase of A Modest Proposal or action figure.
6-11pm: Park at pageant. Save seats. Eat barbequed chicken and salt potatoes. Interact with costumed cast. Engage protesters and supposed Rolling Stone reporter. Enjoy pageant. Depart pageant grounds.
Saturday, July 19th
7am: Wake-up to Brother Ashby singing "Good Morning, Good Morning."
8am: Breakfast at Broadway Diner in Farmington, NY.
9-11am: Search for wi-fi. Realize New York Times is a hoax.
11am: Blogging and coffee at Flint Creek Brewing Company.
1pm: Lunch and sightseeing in Seneca Falls.
3pm: Enjoy New York State Park System. Fun at Sprayground.
5:55pm: Arrive with no time to spare for Sister Joy to purchase coveted chalk bull dog.
6:15pm: Tour Joseph Smith farm and home and the "Sacred Grove."
Sunday, July 20th
7am: Wake to Sister Hope's rendition of "9 to 5".
8am: A cup of ambition at Finger Lakes Coffee.
9am: Sister Joy & Brother Ashby leave for New Haven; Sisters Hope & Erin leave for Philadelphia.
An absolute tyranny
"The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her."
- Declaration of Sentiments, 1848
We really enjoyed our visit to the Seneca Falls visitors center and monument. Note that there are no longer any falls in Seneca.
We really enjoyed our visit to the Seneca Falls visitors center and monument. Note that there are no longer any falls in Seneca.Women making history
We happened to visit Seneca Falls, N.Y., on July 19, 2008 – 160 years to the day after the historic convention for "woman's suffrage" was held in this small town.
We lunched in a cafe full of women -- women bikers from Texas, octogenarians from the League of Women Voters and families visiting this historic site.
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