Out of the Best Books

We had a great Sunday School lesson today. It was about learning by study and by faith. I love this topic. It is something that I am passionate about. I believe strongly that we each have a mission that we are here to fulfill and as we read and learn from the scriptures and the best books we will be prepared for those missions that God has for us and will be an influence for good whether our circle of influence is big or small.

I especially like D&C 88:78 that says

"Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand."

I have felt the grace of God attend me as I teach my children. It is easy to feel discouraged and lonely when such a big task has been placed before me that is so different from the world. It can be daunting at times but I know this was a call from God and He has poured out His blessings on my efforts and amist my occasional discouragement, I see the fruits of my work and I praise God that He has taken me on this path.

There was an article in the Ensign this month about refinement in our home. Here is the section about literature:

Is Friday evening a frenetic flight to see where the entertainment and action will be? Could our society today produce an Isaac Newton or a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Can 85 channels and uncountable DVDs ever fill our insatiable appetite to be entertained? Do any unwisely become addicted to computer games or Internet surfing, thereby missing the richer experiences of great reading, conversations, and enjoyment of music?

I don’t know whether our heavenly home has a television set or a DVD player, but in my mind’s imagery it surely has a grand piano and a magnificent library. There was a fine library in the home of President Gordon B. Hinckley’s (1910–2008) youth. It was not an ostentatious home, but the library contained about 1,000 volumes of the rich literature of the world, and President Hinckley spent his early years immersed in these books. To be well-read, however, it is not necessary to possess expensive collections of literature, for they are available to rich and poor alike in the libraries of the world.

President David O. McKay (1873–1970) was inclined to awaken daily at 4:00 a.m., skim read up to two books, and then commence his labors at 6:00 a.m. He could quote 1,000 poems from memory. He referred to the grand masters of literature as the “minor prophets.” He was a living embodiment of the scriptural admonition to “seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” (D&C 88:118).

My wife and I recently spent four years on Church assignment in Eastern Europe. We often traveled on the Moscow underground subway, called the Metro. We noticed the bowed heads of the Russian passengers, for they were reading Tolstoy, Chekhov, Dostoyevsky, or Pushkin—and, sometimes, Mark Twain. The people were poor, but they were not obsessed with their poverty. They possessed the rich tradition of Russian literature, art, and music.

President McKay noted: “As with companions so with books. We may choose those which will make us better, more intelligent, more appreciative of the good and the beautiful in the world, or we may choose the trashy, the vulgar, the obscene, which will make us feel as though we’ve been ‘wallowing in the mire.’”5

Of course, the scriptures stand paramount among good literature, for they are not founded on the opinions of men.

I believe good literature is a gift to us - a gift that develops our moral imagination, defines and refines our character, and brings beauty. As quoted in "A Family Program for Reading Aloud"

How well is your "house" - your mind- furnished? Do you, like Louisa May Alcott, "enjoy your mind?" Literature helps to furnish our mental homes with permanent fixtures, with "all things wise and wonderful, " with Scriptural objects of beauty- the result of reflection.

In our family, we have a couple of requirements that make a book a "best book" -
* It must be something we would read with Christ sitting right next to us - for after all, our goal is to have His Spirit with us always.
* It must inspire us to be better - to aquire a truth, to bring us to a greater love of God and our Savior, to inspire a greater love of family, and/or to develop a love of country and patriotism.
* It should be well written using a command of the English language and make us think - not something that is just superficially entertaining.

So what have the Hendershots been reading lately?
Well, I just finished reading "Ben Hur- A Tale of The Christ" a couple of weeks ago - I loved this book - it is a classic and the movie just doesn't do it justice- like most movies, it is completely different from the book.

Reed just finished reading "What He Must Be, If He Wants to Marry my Daughter". He really enjoyed this book and marked many passages for me to read as well. I am so glad how seriously Reed takes his role as the patriarch of this family. I definately feel protected and provided for by this great man.

As a family we are reading Little Men - This really may be one of the best parenting books I have ever gotten my hands on (besides the scriptures of course). The story is great and the kids beg for more and more.

We have also been doing many road trips lately and have listened to many inspiring books on tape. Some that we have listened to this last month(some of them were radio drama):
*The Secret Garden
*Little Women
*The Hiding Place
*Ben Hur - the boys saw how much I loved the book and wanted to listen to it
*The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
*The Lives of the Renaissance Painters
*Thomas Jefferson's World - stories of the Founding Fathers
*Old Glory - the story of our flag