I just spent the last week on my first pilgrimage, visiting all of the places on the Earth where I feel spiritual roots. These are things I have always wanted to do. They are the things of my soul. It's so good to see all of this in person, it makes the history I have previously only known through others come alive and be part of me. In spite of being in most of these places for the first time, they are in my heart and each was a spiritual experience.
At first it started as a trip down memory lane for my wife, Karyn. We went to her childhood home in North Carolina to visit the people and places she knew as a child. We slid down Sliding Rock in the Blue Ridge Mountains, admired the beautiful valleys, and went to the church that her father helped build. We also went to see her "adopted" mama from the South in a nursing home. She's still sharp as a tack, though she had just fallen and bruised some ribs.
From there, we went to our nation's capital. Washington D.C. was something of a spiritual experience. The Lincoln and Washington memorials, the White House, and so forth brought me back to the roots of our country, and our freedom. The monuments and memorials are important to help us remember these. There are a great many of leaders who have made freedom a reality for me, and I owe them a debt of gratitude because I really value the freedom I have.
We went to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. I would like to know him better because he truly was a great man. In many ways, he single-handedly defeated the British armies sent to put down the rebellion. He used intelligence to win, not might. As one English leader said, "Washington didn't out-fight us, he simply out-spied us." From the war to the Constitutional Convention, he did so much to bring about freedom, the Constitution, and the United States, he truly is the "Father of our Country."
At the Smithsonian air and space museum we were able to see the history of flight. Eight-year-old Ethan couldn't get enough. In the Wright Brothers exhibit he just wanted to see how everything worked, how they figured-out the mechanics of flight, not just to glide downward, but to power a plane that could be controlled. From there we saw all the flying machines in air and space. Ethan was full of questions on every one. I couldn't answer all of his questions, but we found people who could. It filled us with amazement that man is able to fly like birds and go into space. We truly have been blessed.
The Holocaust Museum was so intense that I was a little concerned that Shannon, who is only 12, went through with us. The messages include: "It happened" and "Don't let it happen again!" War normally includes killing for the sake of taking over control or property, or for defense, but this was just brutality and cruelty in its most efficient form. It is still amazing that a civilized people could become so un-civilized in such a small amount of time. How did one such as Hitler warp the humanity of so many of his countrymen? The museum reminds us because otherwise we will refuse to believe such a thing could happen. Another message is that it can, and does, still happen -- in Cambodia, Africa, and Kosovo, for example. The only way to prevent such tragedies is by remembering our own humanity, and not following leaders of destruction.
In Pennsylvania, we went to the Cyclorama at Gettysburg. I had often wondered how these battles worked, and to see that painting and listen to the explanation filled me with awe and wonder! The museum contained a lot about Abraham Lincoln's leadership in preserving the United States, his only objective. Abolishing slavery was the by-product that was required for the Union of the North and South because that was their primary division. He tried to avoid it in order to appease the people of the South, so they would want to remain in the Union, but it wasn't until the Emancipation Proclamation that the North truly began to prevail. The nation had to be free of slavery in order to fulfill its mission.
From there we went North to Western New York, and saw Niagara Falls. I've seen pictures, read stories, and heard a lot about this waterfall, but nothing compares to going there in person. The amount of water falling such a height, and feeling the power of it was amazing! We went down into the "Cave of the Winds" tour (there is no cave) at the bottom of the falls. It is truly something that must be experienced to appreciate.
Also in New York, in the Finger Lakes area, is a small town called Palmyra. I have always wanted to visit here. It is a fitting end to my pilgrimage because this area is where a series of events happened that have long been predicted by prophets, the story of our Savior. The reason George Washington and the rest were sent to create a free country is precisely to have a place for Christ to come. He came, to a 14-year-old boy, "as a thief in the night" as prophesied, to begin restoring the Gospel that was lost so many years before at the death of His Apostles. Most people still don't know it -- it seems to be the best-kept secret on Earth! As the Gospel spreads the whole world is being prepared for His millennial reign. The prophecies are being fulfilled; the signs of the times tell us it is close.
There is no real beginning to this story because it is an ongoing process of preparation. Some say it started during the Renaissance with the printing press and the ability to print the Bible in the common languages. Tyndall and others braved all manner of persecution and death so that all would be free to learn the word of God. The discovery of the New World soon brought many seeking religious freedom. But, over time, the Colonies became suppressed like they were in England, and a small number of them rebelled against British Rule, bringing freedom to the United States of America. Some thirty years after the Constitution was written, a boy in upstate New York went into a grove of trees to pray, asking God which church he should join, starting the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the world. The entire story was planned from the beginning, but the spiritual history is easily forgotten, or overlooked for the physical aspects.
We went to that grove of trees, The Sacred Grove, and walked through it. We were almost alone. I have heard about people having spiritual experiences there, and I expected to feel something different. It was very peaceful. The mosquitoes were biting my daughter, Charlotte and I. We sat and talked about what had taken place there in 1820, the most significant theophany in the history of the world, but nothing happened. No angel, no voice, not even a powerful influence. It occurred to me as we were walking out that I didn't need anything, I already had everything I needed. I have a sure knowledge, and witness of the Holy Ghost that Joseph Smith, Jr. really did see God and Jesus Christ there, and that he really did restore the fullness of the Gospel. I know what that means. I know what was lost, and what was restored. I didn't need a further witness while I was there. What I did get was another reference point of the physical location to add to my understanding.
The Hill Cumorah was also on my list. Here, a book written on gold plates was deposited in this hill from around 421 A.D. to 1825. The man who put them there came to Joseph Smith, Jr. as an angel to allow him to translate part of them into the Book of Mormon. The book is about a civilization that existed on this land that was completely destroyed in a battle near that hill around 400 A.D. where over 230,000 men were killed. The book also tells of another civilization completely destroyed here a thousand years previous to this, and over two million died. We climbed the hill, followed the trail down the backside of the hill. The view from the top of the hill was the same as all over. It isn't as large as I expected, but it is steep; it wasn't remarkable, except for the events that took place there, both joyous and sorrowful -- we see it, and remember.
Overall, it was a week of incredible emotional contrast; from the horrors of the Holocaust, to the peace of the Sacred Grove; from visiting a old and weak grandmother to feeling the power of a huge waterfall; from cannon that can hit a target a mile away, to a rocket that put men on the moon. From evil leaders of destruction to great leaders of progress. Monuments of great warriors, wars, and battles marked the majority of the pilgrimage. In some cases right and truth prevailed, such as the Revolution and Gettysburg, and in others evil prevailed such as at Cumorah and in Germany. The difference is in the Lord. Those who sought the help of the Lord won their battles, whereas those who depended on their own strength lost everything. The contrast was remarkable.
Like all areas of life, spirituality depends on contrast. We cannot know the sweet if we don't know the bitter. Our intelligence comes from our experience, and if we never know sorrow, we cannot understand happiness. We come to know good and evil through experience. Reading about it, or hearing stories, isn't enough; we need to actually be there and feel it. Without experience we will always remain ignorant, and easily fooled. As Søren Kierkegaard said, “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” We make museums, monuments, and memorials to remind us of what is true, where we have been, and how far we have come.
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