Brother Brigham

Tonight will just be a short post, but it is one that I feel strongly about.  In June 2008 I began working for a friend and mentor who needed a research assistant for a biography that he was working on about Brigham Young.  As a Mormon History Aficionado, I was familiar with some of this historian's work, including the fact that he had been working on a long biography of Heber J. Grant, which was not yet completed.  Somewhat foolishly, I asked him why he was focusing on Brigham rather than finishing his biography on President Grant--for whom I have a great love.  It seemed to me that others, including former Church Historian Leonard J. Arrington, had done Brigham, while no one had done President Grant.  And no one had the expertise and understanding to do President Grant the way that he could.  So from my perspective, Brigham didn't make sense.  His response has been instructing me ever since.  He said simply: "Because Brigham matters more than Heber."

My boss's response was curious to me, because all of the Prophets matter.  But the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became of the truthfulness of my mentor's statement.  Second only to the questions of whether Joseph Smith was a true prophet and whether the current President of the Church is a true prophet, is the question "Was Brigham Young a true prophet?"  At one of the most critical juncture points in the history of the restoration, it was Brigham Young, standing as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and holding the keys he had received from Joseph Smith that directed this work to move forward.

In the years since 2008, I have grown to love Brother Brigham with my whole heart.  Many will ask me about him from time to time with questions that reflect an air of uncertainty.  Internet quotations (some true, most not), and rumors, and stories, and worries about polygamy all affect our image of Brigham Young.  But after 7 years of study, I can say truthfully that I know that Brigham Young was a prophet of God and I love him with my whole heart.

So here is the Brigham Young I've come to know:

He was far from perfect.  He could be rough and abrasive.  There is no denying that some of his statements were not as racially sensitive as we would like them to be--and as a Church we regret such statements and the cultural insensitivities that prompted them.  Even some of those closest to him had their moments where something he said or did stung and was hurtful to them.  This is not a man who was made for the political correctness of 2015.

And yet...

Despite his occasional roughness and abrasiveness, and despite some statements that we would no longer repeat, he was a Prophet of sound wisdom and love and, yes, compassion.  I have read the letter where he pleaded for mercy in behalf of a man who had committed SERIOUS (to the point of being unspeakable) transgression.  I have read his letters pleading with the pioneering saints to treat the local Indian tribes with greater compassion and charity.  I have read and studied countless sermons in which he gave strong and practical counsel to the Saints.  Just this last week, I read a beautiful sermon that he gave in Nauvoo, stating, "If we do not build the temple we shall lose all that we do in other matters" (BY, discourse, 26 January 1846, CHL).  This statement was made about Nauvoo, but what practical counsel for each of us in our lives and how we ought to treat the house of the Lord!  It is seldom that I read a Brigham Young sermon without finding myself chuckling from time to time and then moments later being inspired by the strength of the counsel he is giving.  Most of all, I have found a Brigham Young who felt a tremendous amount of love towards those over whom he had been called to preside.

Perhaps what I appreciate most about this man is how complete a personality he had.  Where some historical characters are black and white, Brigham is colorful and rich.  He can be enigmatic and he can be very straightforward.

Many come to vastly different conclusions than me, but as for me, Brigham Young was a servant of the Lord and one that I have grown to love and respect profoundly.  If anyone ever has questions about him, I am happy to try to answer them.

Brett