A Race to Change

This week has been very exciting. I'm glad the presidential election is now over, finally, after two years. I'm also glad Barack Obama won. I think he'll do a fine job; he certainly ran the better campaign, which is obvious to say now. Many of the reasons I voted for him were stated by Jacob Javits in 1958, long before the election - although I didn't read them until Wednesday:

What manner of man will this be, this possible Negro Presidential candidate of 2000? Undoubtedly, he will be well-educated. He will be well-traveled and have a keen grasp of his country's role in the world and its relationships. He will be a dedicated internationalist with working comprehension of the intricacies of foreign aid, technical assistance and reciprocal trade. …

As you can see, Javits was off on his prediction by eight years, but he got some other things right. The quotation is from a great article by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who is always worth reading.

In a strange twist of fate I rec'd in the mail this week the latest issue of BYU Studies. In this issue is an article by Edward L. Kimball, Spencer W. Kimball's son. The article is about a revelation received by President Spencer W. Kimball in 1978 that extended the Mormon Priesthood to all worthy men in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The policy for not ordaining men with African blood probably began as an expedient for dealing with the slavery question when the church lived in Missouri in the 1830s. There is evidence that Joseph Smith ordained some men with African blood to the priesthood and invited one woman, Jane Elizabeth Manning James, to be sealed to he and Emma as a daughter.

Anyway, I had somehow forgotten that this is the thirty year anniversary of Kimball's revelation. The article describes in great detail the long and agonizing process that led to the revelation, including President Kimball's frequent visits to the temple to seek guidance from the Lord. President Kimball had many worries on his mind during the process leading up to the revelation, including whether he was doing God's will, how members would react to the news, and the fact that he had been taught from the time he was a child that the priesthood could not go to those of African blood.

One of my favorite parts of the article is President Marion G. Romney's comment on the revelation. He said, in part, "If the decision had been left to me, I would have felt that we've always had that poilcy and we would stick to it no matter what the opposition. I resisted change in my feelings, but I came to accept it slowly. I have now changed my position 180 degrees." If you'd like to read a copy for yourself, send me an email and I'll send you a copy.

Anyway, I also finished a great book this week, History of the French Revolution, by Jules Michelet. The work is a romantic account of the people's fight for change in France up to the night when they storm Versailles to capture the king. The king, it seems, was oblivious to the change going on around him, unaware that his failure to meet the people's needs would cost him his life.

The theme that ties all this together is change. Big change. Sometimes it comes to vindicate the past. Sometimes it comes after long and diligent searching, pondering, and praying. Sometimes it comes as a violent revolution. Whether we work for it, long for it, or fight for it, it sometimes comes when we least expect it. Change always seems right around the corner. As Paul said, "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed . . ."