There Is Something Better than the Covenant Path
My daughter is at home for a few weeks between terms at university. She now lives in another country so this time provides an opportunity to do something together that we both love, which is attending a variety of performing arts shows. In the last two weeks, between the two of us, we have seen my high school students at the performing arts school where I teach in a jaw-dropping semi-professional level production of HadesTown, an interpretative dance of the nativity, the classic Christmas ballet The Nutcracker, a voice ensemble Christmas and Hanukkah performance, a combination ballet and choir performance at the oldest Catholic cathedral where we live, the classic play A Christmas Carol, and the movie Wicked. It’s been delightful and lovely.
A few days ago after seeing A Christmas Carol, I wondered if it really is possible for someone to change so dramatically. In the book, Dickens’s powerful writing makes this possibility seem real. I wondered, though, about general authorities. With the exception of a few like Uchtdorf and Kearon, so many of them seem to have hearts of stone. Even Holland, who used to be one of the good guys, has lost his soul during his time in leadership.
The pulpit pounding of garment wearing and covenant path keeping is not leading to transformation as shown in works of performance and literature. As I write this, it occurs to me that transformation may not be what general authorities seek for members. For the purposes of this essay, I assume the goal is transformation. Checklists of how to behave — never miss sacrament meeting or any other meeting, read the scriptures prescribed by the CFM manual, wear garments exactly so, etc., etc., etc, — do not lead to personal transformation. In my observation, what they do lead to is toxic perfectionism, burnout, depression, anxiety, and general misery.
It is a stark contrast from my recent experiences attending performing arts productions.
Performing arts move people emotionally. They open us up emotionally, connect us with ourselves and others. Brené Brown explains, “To see and be seen. That is the truest nature of love.”
“To see and be seen. That is the truest nature of love.” Brené Brown
Love is better than the Covenant Path.
This is not to say that ritual does not have its place. It does. Ritual can be transformative. However, ritual as currently taught by general authorities does not provide a path to transformation. For more discussion of this, see Jody England Hansen’s illuminative post “Jesus is Coming. Look Busy.”
This past Sunday a friend of mine spoke in church. I knew this person for years in a professional capacity before we were in the same ward. He is truly a person who embodies love. In his talk, he described how in his study of Alma 7:12 he noticed that Jesus constantly takes people’s pain and metabolizes it into love. He shared a desire to be like Jesus in that way. Jesus saw other people. He saw their pain, their hopes, their fears, their wounds. He saw past people’s behavior and into their core as a human being. That is love. Jesus is love. Becoming like Jesus by developing an ability to truly see people and allow ourselves to be seen is better than checking off covenant path boxes.
