Blessings by Contrast

Today is one month to the day before I begin my exams.  Glancing over at the pile of approximately seventy books in the corner of my room, I can't help but feel a tad bit overwhelmed and underprepared. Then I remember that I have read all of those books and the reason I have them out is to review my notes contained in each book, not to read them for the first time.  In actuality that doesn't really help to reduce the stress, but in theory it sounds good.  I think Heavenly Father has the testing thing down a little better, where we are tested on what we know and the test is taken every day with open book, open neighbor, open Professor.  Oh well, I suppose this ordeal will all be over soon enough, following which I may not look at another book that doesn't have anything to do with my specific topic for a long while (I'm laughing because I know this prediction will fall apart quickly).

If there is one thing that I have gained out of preparing for comprehensive exams, it is a reminder of just how powerful good writing and peaking a reader's interests are in learning.  I love to read, but there are a lot of books out there that are painful for me to read and I have a hard time getting through because I just don't enjoy the topic or how the topic is presented.  But every now and again I come across a book on a topic that I don't think I'll be interested in and find myself enthralled with the topic.

Ironically, one of the most relaxing things for me when I am sick of studying is to study something I'm interested in and have no reason to learn about other than the fact that I want to.  If you read this blog, you'll know that the past few years I've gotten into learning about my ancestors and relatives.  I've found it is a really easy way for me to stop worrying about a neo-Marxist view of this topic, or a post-modern view of that one.  My ancestors lives weren't cut out of historical theory textbooks; they were real people with real lives who had real experiences.  And learning about them is a pleasure.

One of the ways that I've found I can learn more about my ancestors is through their patriarchal blessings.  One of the great opportunities available for Church members is the ability to request copies of the patriarchal blessings received by their deceased ancestors.  If you log in with your LDS account information at this website, you can request up to four blessings of ancestors every month (starting from the day you request until that day the next month).  A couple of years ago I requested several such blessings and compiled them into family patriarchal blessing books which I gave to each member of the family for Christmas.  It was one of the funnest (and most reasonably priced) Christmas gifts I have ever given.  Just a hint, if you are looking for a cost-effective Christmas gift, you've still got up to 12 blessings you could request from the Church before Christmas.  It can be a bit of a gamble, as sometimes the individual did not have a blessing or that blessing was not turned in to the Church by the patriarch who gave it (I've had a lot of success with my McClellan line, but not much with my Dowdle, West, or Haycock lines), but they are a lot of fun when you find some.  Family Search is a great way to identify ancestors names, birthdates, and parents names to request the blessing.

After making those books, I forgot about the blessings for awhile, until remembering that there were still several ancestors whose blessings might be available for me to request.  So I began submitting requests for the ancestors I had neglected, and received a few blessings.  This past week I transcribed a few patriarchal blessings from some of my ancestors and a couple of things in these blessings stood out to me.

James McClellan is my third great grandfather through my maternal grandmother.  He was born in 1804 in South Carolina and joined the Church while living in Shelby County, Illinois in 1839.  In 1854 he received a patriarchal blessing from Isaac Morley in which he was told, "Thou wilt obtain many blessings by contrast.  Experience is the school of Christ that will bring thee into his presence.  For under this influence thy petitions will be heard.  By its power thou shalt exalt thyself and family.  For he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (James McClellan, patriarchal blessing, March 28, 1854).  The phrase "blessings by contrast" stood out in bold to me as I read this blessing.  Perhaps it is just me, but it doesn't sound like the most pleasant way to learn.  Yet sometimes, it is the only way to learn.  Indeed, that is the basic lesson that Lehi was teaching Jacob when he reminded him that "it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things" (2 Ne 2:11).  Sometimes we must "taste the bitter" in order to "know to prize the good" (Moses 6:55).  This may not be my favorite way to learn, but I am grateful for a Father who loves us enough to know that some of the lessons of godliness can only be learned in the midst of affliction.

Angelina Alvida Champlin Packer

Another blessing was I transcribed was given to Angelina Alvida Champlin Packer, my third great grandmother, again from the McClellan part of my family.  Her father, William Sisson Champlin, had been among the men in the blacksmith's shop at the Haun's Mill Massacre--in fact he was the only man to survive who had been in the blacksmith's shop.  And so it was clear to me that her's had not been an easy life.  Her patriarchal blessing from William Smith acknowledged this.  She was told, "Thou hast been a partaker with thy husband in his afflictions, and been true and faithful all the day long.  The prayers which thou hast put up in secret has [sic] proven his deliverance from enemies and afflictions many times."  She was also told, "This blessing shall prove a comfort unto thee for when thou art despondent and in trouble, thou shalt read this blessing with delight, and it shall increase thy faith and raise thee from beds of sickness."  That promise set me to thinking about my own blessing, and how perhaps I do not read it frequently enough.  Sometimes we forget that these blessings are intended to be a comfort and a guide to us.  We receive them and then store them away in a trunk for safe keeping rather than keeping a copy close at hand where we can be blessed and lifted by it.

I'm grateful for these blessings, my own, and those of my ancestors.  I don't know that there is any validity to this sentiment, but in some small way I claim portions of those blessings because I claim the legacies that these family members left for me.  And I have taken great comfort in seeing the promises made to their children in these blessings.  What a wonderful gift it is to have a Father who loves us enough to bestow and enumerate blessings upon our heads.

Brett