Praise to the man

In my last post, I mentioned that both my parents and my greatgrandparents were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on June 27th (but 47 years apart). That date is also the anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in 1844, an event that is the focus of this week's Sunday School lesson.

Very early in Joseph's ministry, the angel Moroni told him that his name would "be both good and evil spoken of among all people." That continues to happen to this day. It's interesting that such a common name has become so well-known. When you say the name "Joseph Smith," you could literally be talking about thousands of different people, but everyone assumes you mean the founder of the LDS Church unless you indicate otherwise.

Wikipedia has pages for almost 50 people named Joseph Smith or Joe Smith; most are not very well known, let alone spoken of positively and/or negatively among all people. Probably the best-known of the second-tier Joe Smiths is the former NBA player; many speak evil of him because he didn't live up to his billing as the first overall pick in the 1995 draft, and because of his role in a contract tampering scandal that cost the Minnesota Timberwolves some picks in later drafts. But he actually had a pretty solid career.

There's a Joe Smith currently pitching for the Cleveland Indians, and he's the only non-LDS-affiliated Joe/Joseph Smith that I knew of before scoping out Wikipedia's list. But there's a few that are at least mildly interesting:

--In 1999, this Joe Smith became the oldest man to swim the English Channel.

--One Joseph Smith is a gambling expert.

--We wouldn't have the tango in the United States if not for yet another Joseph Smith.

--Finally, this Joseph Smith has a lot in common with THE Joseph Smith, if you swap "prophet' for "jazz musician." Both came from large families, and had some siblings with unusual names (Don Carlos and Sophronia, meet Doonie and Carpathia). Both worked at many different jobs in their youth. Both spent time in New York before moving west. Both had small but devoted followings, and produced a lot of jazz records/scriptural records despite dying in their 30s.

There have been many depictions of the life of Joseph Smith over the years. This one is the most recent released by the Church itself, and it's well worth an hour to watch it. You may have to overlook Brigham Young's awful hair, or the fact that young Joseph looks a lot like the kid from this relic of the early Internet (that one is almost half an hour long; I'm asking y'all to devote some significant time to these two videos, but trust me--they're SO worth it, though for different reasons), but if you do you'll be richly rewarded. Two things that stood out to me: Joseph's preaching and testimony didn't focus on the Book of Mormon, or the restoration of the Priesthood or the Church, but simply on the need to trust in the Lord and follow His commandments; and the movie highlights the relationship between Joseph and his wife Emma in a way most Church sermons, lessons, publications and media materials rarely do. It's a positive change, in my mind. Anyway, watch, and let me know what you think!