The Weeping God of Mormonism
March 28, 2018[1]In the book of Moses, revealed to Joseph Smith in 1830 as part of his re vision of the Bible, we learn of a prophet named Enoch, who is called to preach repentance to his…
DiaBLOGue
Out in the Shop: In Memory of Grandpa
March 28, 2018The sun shines a triangle through the hazed glass
of the shop door, spotlighting the eternal snow of dust
falling and collecting, as if by magnetic force,
on drill bits, saw blades, and boxes of nails.
On Fidelity, Polygamy, and Celestial Marriage (vol. 20, no. 4, Winter 1987)
March 28, 2018This is an essay in speculative theology. In it I explore an idea—the general Mormon expectation of future polygamy—that has important religious and moral implications but about which there is little definite scriptural direction and…
Encounter
March 28, 2018Absently, I opened the medicine cabinet
in my folks’ house (searching for a comb),
then stood stunned as you wafted out
like a genie, so generous with cologne
Blessing the Chevrolet (vol. 9, no. 3, Fall 1975)
March 28, 2018At various times I have heard and read, with mild curiosity, of the anointing of animals by the power of the priesthood in pioneer times, but it wasn’t until I found myself with my own hands placed in blessing on the hood of my Chevrolet that I really felt what that experience meant to those early Saints, who depended on their animals, as we do our cars, for quite crucial things.
Eugene England: Our Brother in Christ
March 28, 2018Brigham Young said there never was a time when he did not know Joseph Smith. What Brigham meant, I believe, is that when he first met Joseph Smith there was such a deep and immediate…
A Dining Room Table
March 28, 2018If the tapestry that is my intellectual and spiritual life, Eugene Eng land’s influence not only figures as a prominent color, but helps to shape the pattern of the weave itself. Many of the moments…
A Brief Tour of England: My Year with Gene
March 28, 2018We in Utah Valley State College’s Center for the Study of Ethics were sardines, but we were happy sardines. Our office (formerly a mythical beast called a “faculty lounge”) housed the chair of the humanities…
The Long Cast | Remarks at the Memorial Service for Eugene England, Provo, Utah. August 25, 2001
March 28, 2018I want to talk about Gene as a fisherman, with a slight metaphorical emphasis. Gene’s father was a meat fisherman who believed in catching big fish and lots of them, using whatever method or bait…
Salvaged for Mormonism | Remarks at the Memorial Service for Eugene England, Provo, Utah. August 25, 2001
March 28, 2018I feel greatly honored to be asked to speak at this memorial service. I hope I can add a dimension to our mutual recognition of Gene’s virtues and qualities. I suppose that Charlotte and the…