The Written Word
In Institute this morning, one of the things we discussed was the importance of keeping records.
In the Book of Mormon, we learn that one of King Zedekiah's sons escaped from Jerusalem when Zedekiah's other sons were killed and Zedekiah himself was carried away captive into Babylon in 587BC. This son's name was Mulek. (see Hel 8:21.) Mulek and his people journeyed in the wilderness and were eventually led to the Promised Land (See Omni 1:15-16), arriving in the northern part of the land (See Hel 6:10). His people settled the land, had families, had wars and contentions, and lived their lives for about 300 years before they were discovered by the Nephites. They named their land Zarahemla. (See Mosiah 25:2 and Omni 1:14)
When the Mulekites left Jerusalem, it was probably in haste because of the Babylonian attack. As a result, they didn't bring any records with them. Because they had no written records, a couple important things resulted:
Zarahemla gave the Nephites a genealogy of his fathers, according to his memory and they were written down. (Omni 1:18) Who knows how accurate that genealogy is? I assume that they had some sort of oral tradition so the information could be passed down, but how much was lost in the process?
In our society, there is enough printed word and literate people that I'm not too concerned about the language shifting - although I am aware that it does shift. Just reading the King James Version of the Bible shows how much a language can shift in 400 years (The KJV was first published in 1611) even with the advantage of a printing press.
I am more concerned about the loss of the knowledge and understanding of our ancestors.
I set a goal some time ago to index - that is transcribe historical documents and records to make them searchable - 10,000 names over the course of this year. I'm on track to complete this goal, but during the course of the year, I've seen several documents that made me shudder. They were christening and marriage records from the 16 and 1700s. Not only was the writing difficult to decipher because the paper that the records were kept on was yellowing, tattered, and stained, but also because of faded ink, and because of handwriting and language shifts. These records are important documents for those who would learn who their ancestors are. I'm grateful that they were recorded so they exist for us today. I'm helping to index them so the information, the names, dates, places, will be available for - hopefully - centuries to come.
As I'm indexing, I often wonder about the lives of the people who's names I'm typing. When I'm indexing a census record and read that a child is living with his grandparents, but no parents are mentioned, I wonder what happened to the parents. When I find a man who lives with his mother-in-law, I wonder if they got along well. I wish that the old documents came with stories and explanations.
Last week when my parents were here, my mom mentioned that when she was young, her grandmother used to come to her music recitals. I don't remember hearing my parents talk much about their grandparents, and so this caught my attention. My experience with grandparents was of people who lived far away, and sometimes we would visit on holidays or special occasions. It seemed a bit surprising that my mother's grandmother lived close enough that she could come to something as simple as a music recital. I wish I knew more about my grandparents, and their parents. I encouraged my mom to write down more of the experiences of her youth, and her memories of her grandparents. I look forward to reading them.
And I need to write more of my experiences so my children will have a record of my life, my thoughts and deeds, and my testimony. Much of that is here in my blog. I hope that it will always be available to them.
In the Book of Mormon, we learn that one of King Zedekiah's sons escaped from Jerusalem when Zedekiah's other sons were killed and Zedekiah himself was carried away captive into Babylon in 587BC. This son's name was Mulek. (see Hel 8:21.) Mulek and his people journeyed in the wilderness and were eventually led to the Promised Land (See Omni 1:15-16), arriving in the northern part of the land (See Hel 6:10). His people settled the land, had families, had wars and contentions, and lived their lives for about 300 years before they were discovered by the Nephites. They named their land Zarahemla. (See Mosiah 25:2 and Omni 1:14)
When the Mulekites left Jerusalem, it was probably in haste because of the Babylonian attack. As a result, they didn't bring any records with them. Because they had no written records, a couple important things resulted:
- Their language was corrupted, and shifted so far that when the Nephites discovered them, the Nephites couldn't understand them and the people of Zarahemla had to be taught the language - even though both groups of people left the same place, only a little more than a decade apart. It was the Nephites who taught the Mulekites instead of the other way around, probably because they were the ones who had retained the knowledge of reading and writing. (Omni 1:17-18)
- The Mulekites had lost the knowledge of God. "They denied the being of their Creator" (Omni 1:17). They did, however, rejoice because the Nephites had brought with them the brass plates "which contained the record of the Jews." (Omni 1:14) I assume this means that they somehow remembered that they were Jews, but they had forgotten what it meant to be God's covenant people. They had lost the understanding of their ancestors.
Zarahemla gave the Nephites a genealogy of his fathers, according to his memory and they were written down. (Omni 1:18) Who knows how accurate that genealogy is? I assume that they had some sort of oral tradition so the information could be passed down, but how much was lost in the process?
In our society, there is enough printed word and literate people that I'm not too concerned about the language shifting - although I am aware that it does shift. Just reading the King James Version of the Bible shows how much a language can shift in 400 years (The KJV was first published in 1611) even with the advantage of a printing press.
I am more concerned about the loss of the knowledge and understanding of our ancestors.
I set a goal some time ago to index - that is transcribe historical documents and records to make them searchable - 10,000 names over the course of this year. I'm on track to complete this goal, but during the course of the year, I've seen several documents that made me shudder. They were christening and marriage records from the 16 and 1700s. Not only was the writing difficult to decipher because the paper that the records were kept on was yellowing, tattered, and stained, but also because of faded ink, and because of handwriting and language shifts. These records are important documents for those who would learn who their ancestors are. I'm grateful that they were recorded so they exist for us today. I'm helping to index them so the information, the names, dates, places, will be available for - hopefully - centuries to come.
As I'm indexing, I often wonder about the lives of the people who's names I'm typing. When I'm indexing a census record and read that a child is living with his grandparents, but no parents are mentioned, I wonder what happened to the parents. When I find a man who lives with his mother-in-law, I wonder if they got along well. I wish that the old documents came with stories and explanations.
Last week when my parents were here, my mom mentioned that when she was young, her grandmother used to come to her music recitals. I don't remember hearing my parents talk much about their grandparents, and so this caught my attention. My experience with grandparents was of people who lived far away, and sometimes we would visit on holidays or special occasions. It seemed a bit surprising that my mother's grandmother lived close enough that she could come to something as simple as a music recital. I wish I knew more about my grandparents, and their parents. I encouraged my mom to write down more of the experiences of her youth, and her memories of her grandparents. I look forward to reading them.
And I need to write more of my experiences so my children will have a record of my life, my thoughts and deeds, and my testimony. Much of that is here in my blog. I hope that it will always be available to them.
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