A Dignified First Lady

Last night at the patriotic service for America's Freedom Festival in Provo, Utah, former First Lady Laura Bush gave a wonderful keynote address.  She described what it was like to be the matriarch in the White House, and how best to respond to inescapable public ridicule.  In fact, she was unexpectedly granted the opportunity to exemplify what she had learned in the White House when a heckler in the crowd, claiming to exercise his right to "freedom of speech," began hurling insults at both her and her husband.  To her credit, and as evidence of her gracious character, the former First Lady maintained her dignity and composure while the police promptly escorted the heckler out of the building.  After the applause, Mrs. Bush explained why she and her husband had been able to endure such unpleasantries: "For one thing, I know who I am and I know who George is.  For another, this is America. And America hangs on the proposition of what those of us in the White House sometimes receive as a chorus of complaint (when it) is in reality a kind of sacred music, or at least the clanking of gears of democracy."

Life is a Rodeo

Certain platitudes suggest that "life is a beach" or that "life is a highway."  Some may even consider life to be "just a bowl of cherries."  There may be some comfort in these bromides, but country music artist Dustin Craig's assessment probably comes closer to the truth: "Every day is a rodeo."

As part of an initiative toward civic improvement, the city of Lehi, Utah hosts an annual celebration which includes a Round-up Rodeo (a tradition that has endured for seventy-five years).  The opening ceremonies include a tribute to the United States of America, an invocation, and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.  A grand entry of the contestants and a wild horse race precede the main events.   

Impressively talented cowboys and cowgirls engage in a variety of rodeo competitions, such as steer wrestling, bareback, tie down roping, saddle bronc riding, team roping, barrel racing, and bull riding.  In the intervals between competitions, other rodeo athletes thrill the audience with trick riding, freestyle motorcross and freestyle bullfighting.  A rodeo clown even provides comic relief during the rough and tumble of the events. Forget about beaches, highways or cherries... the rodeo is a much more exciting and appropriate metaphor for life.

Awake and Arise

Awake and Arise

• 1. Awake and arise, O ye slumbering nations!
  The heavens have opened their portals again.
  The last and the greatest of all dispensations
  Has burst like a dawn o'er the children of men!
• 2. The dream of the poet, the crown of the ages,
  The time which the prophets of Israel foretold,
  That glorious day only dreamed by the sages
  Is yours, O ye slumbering nations; behold!
• 3. Oh, lift up your voices in song and in story.
  Let banners of peace in all lands be unfurled,
  For truth, heaven-born, in its beauty and glory
  Is marching triumphantly over the world.
• Text: Theodore E. Curtis, 1872-1957. (c) 1984 IRI
  Music: Carolee Curtis Green, b. 1940. (c) 1984 IRI

Discussing Marriage

This looks like a very promising and productive new website to improve reasoning and civility in the developing debate about marriage.  Having read the book What is Marriage? by the same authors who are responsible for producing this website, I feel confident in recommending this website to any and all who have a stake in the marriage debate... in other words, I feel confident in recommending it to every human being. 

Duck Beach 2014

Yes.  It's true.  I traveled to Duck Beach again this year.  The Outer Banks of North Carolina is such a beautiful region.  In fact, it is one of my favorite places on earth.  I love to watch the pelicans soar peacefully across the sky, or swoop down close to the breaking waves.  I love to watch little crabs scurry across the beach, or disappear into their holes in the sand.  I even love to watch the wind toss frothy waves of a tempestuous ocean to and fro, or blow billowing thunder clouds, charged with lightning, across the sky.  What a glorious earth!  To think, this planet is but a speck in the infinite expanse of the universe!  But what a speck!

This year I decided to go on an adventure.  Rather than fly toward the East, as I have done in previous years, I opted to drive across the country in my 1993 Honda Civic Del Sol.  From Provo to Denver, from St. Louis to Norfolk, my little white steed and I made the trek to Corolla, North Carolina.  The beautiful country side rushed by while I listened to the entire unabridged edition of The Count of Monte Cristo on CD.

This year I was fortunate enough to stay in a beach house called The Ritz with a group of stellar young men and women.  Before the residents began to arrive I took a short trip to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, the northernmost lighthouse of the Outer Banks.  Subsequently, there was the usual rollicking and frolicking upon the beach, the beach volleyball, the glow-in-the-dark dancing, the barbecues, the hot-tubbing and the various and sundry vacation shenanigans.  There were also the added bonuses of watching the NBA playoffs, eating delicious food, and exploring the sand dunes.  In the midst of all of the ruckus, I made sure to find some time to be still, to read (I also finished reading J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye), to walk on the beach, to sit by the ocean, and to listen.

As this excursion to Duck Beach draws to a close, and as the participants slowly begin to trickle back to their homes, I feel gratitude for the beauty of the earth, the beauty of the sky, and the beauty of each hour.  I feel grateful for this beautiful region on this beautiful speck that we call earth. Onward and upward!

Two Excerpts from Joseph Smith concerning the Gathering of Israel

On the Gathering of Israel

"Dear Brethren,

I am happy in being informed by your letter that your mission swells 'larger and larger'; it is a great and important mission, and one that is worthy of those intelligences who surround the throne of Jehovah to be engaged in; Although it appears great at present, yet you have but just begun to realize the greatness, the extent and glory of the same. If there is any thing calculated to interest the mind of the saints, to awaken in them the finest sensibilities; and arouse them to enterprise, and exertion, surely it is the great and precious promises, made by our heavenly Father to the children of Abraham; and those engaged in seeking the outcasts of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah, cannot fail to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, and have the choicest blessings of Heaven rest upon them in copious effusions. Brethren you are in the path way to Eternal Fame! and immortal Glory; and inasmuch as you feel interested for the covenant people of the Lord, the God of their Father shall bless you." - Letter to Orson Hyde and John E. Page, May 14, 1840,  Joseph Smith, Jr.

On the Effects of the Holy Ghost

"This first Comforter or Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge, of a man who is of the literal seed of Abraham, than one that is a Gentile though it may not have half as much visual effect upon his body; for as the Holy Ghost falls upon one of the literal seed of Abraham, it is calm and serene; and his whole soul and body are only exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence; while the effect of the Holy Ghost upon a Gentile, is to purge out the old blood, and make him actually of the seed of Abraham. That man that has none of the blood of Abraham (naturally) must have new creation by the Holy Ghost. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.149)"

The Lighthouse of the Lord

In the early 17th Century, my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather Simon Hancock was living somewhere in the region of Devonshire, England. Sometime before 1642 he came to America, married Sarah Gilbert and settled in the region of Norfolk, Virginia.  They had ten children, one of whom was my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather William Hancock, who, in 1675 also had a son named William.  

On August 2, 1712, William's son Hector Hancock was born in Carteret County, North Carolina, where he also died on October 27, 1751, but not before having sired Joseph Hancock, who in turn fathered a son named Calvin Hancock.  Calvin Hancock was born just prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence (which document bears the signature of my namesake, though not a direct relation, John Hancock... no it's not Herbie Hancock), and his son James was the father of yet another William Hancock, who was the father of Charles Sterling Hancock, who was born on December 13, 1869 on Cape Lookout, in Carteret, North Carolina.  When I was but a wee lad, I had the privilege of meeting Charles Sterling's youngest son, and my great grandfather, Charlie William Hancock.  

During summer vacations, my family would often travel to North Carolina to visit my great grandparents, Charlie William and Margarette, and other relatives.  I trace some of my fondest childhood memories to the Island where my grandfather, Ralph Louis Hancock, was born on October 17, 1928.  From my earliest days, Harkers Island, North Carolina has always been one of my favorite places on earth.

It is also the place where my grandfather, Ralph Louis, first met missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the place where he was baptized on March 14, 1948.  (As another historical side note, only two months after my grandfather was baptized, the future Prime Minister David Ben Gurion declared the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.)  My grandfather's brother, Joel G. Hancock, later wrote a history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Harkers Island entitled Strengthened by the Storm, a phrase that teaches a parable about trees on the Island that grow stronger because of the heavy seasonal winds and rain.  In this inspiring account, my great-uncle Joel recorded that in the spring of 1938 (just a decade prior to my grandfather's baptism), an apostle of the Lord, Elder Melvin J. Ballard, was said to have prophesied that Harkers Island would one day become a Mormon Paradise.  Those who visit the Island today may witness the confirmation and the fruition of that prophecy.

Which brings us back to the story of my great grandfather Charlie William Hancock.  Like many of those who settled the Outer Banks of North Carolina, my great grandfather was a fisherman.  His son, my paternal grandfather, Ralph Louis Hancock, once wrote a brief but elegant essay called The Seasons of My Youth, a title fitting for the subject matter of the essay, namely, a month by month summary of family life and fishing on the Island.  When my parents, siblings and I visited the Island, my grandfather would often take us out on the boat to go fishing.  For a variety of reasons, my brothers and I especially enjoyed trawling.  The net drew in fish and sea creatures of every kind, from sea turtles to squid, and from shrimp to sharks.  After our excursions, we would return to great grandpa Charlie William's home (one that he had built himself), where great grandma Margarette Hancock would prepare a delicious meal of fresh caught shrimp and dumplings.  As the adults rocked in the porch swings and whittled sticks, my siblings, cousins, second cousins and I would roam about the property, playing games, and climbing the family tree, a tree in which we each carved our names.  The Island was not just a Mormon Paradise, or even a childhood paradise.  It was paradise, plain and simple.

Not long after he was baptized, my grandfather Ralph Louis Hancock left the Harkers Island paradise to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where he met Jacquelyn Tebbs, whom he married soon thereafter.  Their marriage was solemnized in the Idaho Falls LDS temple, and many years after that, my great grandparents' marriage was solemnized in the Washington, D.C. LDS temple.  My grandfather's first son, Ralph Cornel Hancock, married Julie Lynn Higginson in the Provo, Utah LDS temple, and I am the eldest son of the fruit of their loins.

Over the years, our family returned often to Harkers Island.  My gratitude and fondness for our family heritage increased with each visit.  Only last year, I returned to Harkers Island once again to visit my ailing grandmother, and other relatives.  As was customary in my youth, I also took a ferry out to the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.  There are few things I enjoy more in life than to feel the salty breeze on my face, to watch the galloping wild horses, and to peer out over land and sea from the top of the lighthouse.  I hope to visit the Island again soon, and as frequently as possible thereafter.

As I reflect on Simon Hancock's 17th century journey from England to the American Colonies, I am reminded of Lehi's prophecy in the Book of Mormon that the Americas would be a land of promise, and a land of liberty.  Lehi recognized the hand of the Lord in the migrations of many people: "Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.  Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them."  (2 Ne. 1:6-7)

America has been a land of liberty for my forefathers, and for many people.  It is also the land where the Lord restored the Gospel through His servant and prophet Joseph Smith.  Simon Hancock's great great great grandson Calvin Hancock was born during the period of the American Revolution and American Independence, just prior to the restoration of the Gospel in 1820.  Calvin Hancock's great great great grandson, Ralph Louis Hancock, my grandfather, was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just months before Israel's own declaration of independence.  Although my mother tells me that I was named after the beloved disciple in the New Testament, it cannot ignore the fact that my father is, among other things, a scholar of the American Revolution, and that I was born in the bicentennial year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which document bears the name of an early patriot whose name, John Hancock, has since become a synonym of the word "signature."  

All of these things remind me of the great blessings of freedom that we enjoy in the United States of America, and that the love of liberty can inspire our souls, as it did the souls of those who preceded us.  It reminds me that it is important to remember who we are, and that like the good timber on the Island, we too can grow stronger and become better through the trials and the adversities of life.  It reminds me that, like the Cape Lookout lighthouse beckoning to the ships at sea, the lighthouse of the Lord, His holy temple, beckons to all of God's children: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:28-30)

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Last weekend my friend suggested that we go to Thanksgiving Point for a stroll through the tulip gardens.  Even though I worked for several years in the flower industry, both on the wholesale and the retail end of business, I had never before set foot in the Thanksgiving Point tulip gardens.  I agreed that tiptoeing through the tulips would be a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon, so off we went to enjoy the blooming buds and fragrant flowers.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the scenery of this stroll was not only amply supplied with tulips, but with a variety of sculptures, fountains, fish and waterfowl.  There were people from all over the world... people from India, from the Middle East, and even people from the thriving metropolis of Provo, Utah.  In one area of the garden, called the "secret garden," even though it was no secret, I even met a couple of Palestinian families from Jerusalem.  And this only moments after viewing a sculpture exhibit representing the life of the Savior, whose lived, died and rose from the tomb in Palestine. Truly, as the prophets and apostles declared not many years ago concerning Jesus Christ: "We offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth."

If you are in the area, and if you are looking for a way to enjoy the beauties of creation in a peaceful setting, may I recommend to you a promenade, or a tiptoe through the tulip gardens at Thanksgiving Point.  It's not the Garden of Eden, or the Garden of Gethsemane, but it is a beautiful garden nonetheless.  You won't be disappointed.  Here are a few pictures to give you a glimpse of what awaits you there: