- First off, can I just get an amen to Nephi's "born of goodly parents" sentiments. The more I learn about other people's families, the more grateful I am to be a part of you good people.
- In chapter 2, Lehi compares Laman to a river and Lemuel to a valley. It's interesting to think of the culture of the time (not that I'm an expert). They were more patriarchal then. It was more of a big deal for everyone to look to and respect the head of the family. Even though Laman and Lemuel are complete pains in the butt, they still do what their father says because that is the culture, that is how they were raised. However, it's interesting to still see the ever- present conflict of children rebelling from their parents. I think sometimes we are like, "man, what is their problem? Follow the prophet, hello!?" but then again, Lehi was also their dad. How many kids disobey their parents or think they know better than them? Answer: a lot...probably every kid at one time or another. Not that I'm siding with the bad guys :) I'm just saying that the family dynamics were really similar to how they are today.
- I was also thinking about the sibling dynamics. Before, I was thinking "what's the big deal? so what he's their younger brother? he's following the Lord, they've got to know that." But the more I think about it, the harder it would be to humble yourself below your younger brother, especially in their society. As the older brothers, they were going to inherit everything, like Esau was instead of Jacob. They technically would have had all the power in that society. Then to have their little upstart brother be bossing them around, seeming very self-righteous to them. I'm sure that didn't help matters. It's like Joseph and all of his brothers getting mad when he tells them that they're all going to bow down before him....not the brightest idea to get them to like you :)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Family Matters
So, since we're reading this together as a family, I guess I have been a little more aware of family dynamics in the first few chapters we've been reading. It seems in part that 1 Nephi is a study on the inner workings of a family.
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One solid amen on the goodly parents comment. I was thinking the same thing. Why do you think he compared Laman and Lemuel to a river and valley? I agree that given the context, Laman and Lemuel seem a lot easier to understand and even relate to. Seeing that makes the magnitude and importance of Nephi's faith stand out even more to me. He also knew he was going contrary to the cultural norms, but he was more concerned with what God said than what society said, even though he probably knew it would cost him with his brothers.
ReplyDeleteAlso with the family context, I was struck by chapter 4 today when Lehi was glad because he could see that Nephi had been blessed of the Lord with faith and a testimony. When I see you guys, especially Becky and Dave, as the ones younger than me, choose faith in God and gain testimonies of your own, I feel so happy and I can see that these gifts are blessings of the Lord.