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SHOULD EVERYONE BE REQUIRED TO ATTEND THE NAVAJO REUNION?
Raymond C. Treat
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All saints,
especially
priesthood, should be required
to spend at least a week on the Navajo
Reservation.
Why? There are
two
main reasons.
First, we need to know the difference between our culture, or way of
living, and the gospel way of living. Second, we are commanded to take
the Book of Mormon to the Lamanites.
<>Traditionally,
when people from our
culture attempt to take the gospel to other cultures, we invariably
weaken the gospel message by trying to impose part of our culture on
the "foreigners" along with the gospel. This is because we frequently
fail to discern the difference between our cultural way of living and
the gospel way of living. By being restricted to one culture, we are
blinded to the difference. The best way to learn about and appreciate
your own culture is to live in another culture humbly without
complaining. One of the best and least painful ways to do this is to
spend a week on the Navajo Reservation by attending the Navajo Reunion
which is the third week of July. I am very serious when I say that
everyone should be required to spend time with the Navajos. I am not
just trying to persuade you to go to reunion. This is not just
propaganda. You owe it to yourself to be exposed to another culture so
you can better view your own culture.The effort is well worth the
benefits. Your life will be more productive upon returning home because
it will be easier for you to remove from your lifestyle some of those
things that you thought were indispensable. Take, for example, our
concept of time.
Every culture
has
its own view of time
and how to manage it. In our culture we are very time conscious. This
is a source of stress for us although we may not realize it. Spending
time with the Navajo provides a refreshing look at how another culture
deals with time. For some "white eyes" this can be a source of
frustration if they forget they are in a different culture and forget
to exercise brotherly love and forbearance. For instance, it is a
scientific fact that you have to live in a different culture 12 years
before you can completely understand the language of time in that
culture. The Navajo sense of time is similar to the Mexican sense of
time. "White eyes" like to be on time. I am especially that way.
However, in Mexico to arrive at eight o'clock for an eight o'clock
appointment would be unthinkable. The proper time of arrival would be
from 8:20 to 8:40. One time I went to an eight o'clock evening prayer
service in Mexico City at eight o'clock. All the North Americans (in
Mexico we are called North Americans) in the area were also there by
eight o'clock. The prayer services were normally conducted in Spanish
but since no Spanish speaking members were there yet, the service was
opened in English some time after eight. The prayer part was over, and
still no Spanish speaking members. It was well past 8:20 p.m. It was
during the testimony portion that the Seventy in charge gave a message
of encouragement from the Lord to me that I was in the right place
doing the right thing. The message was in English which was better for
me than to have it in Spanish. Shortly after the message, all of the
Spanish-speaking members arrived and the language of the prayer service
was switched to Spanish. This was one time that I did not mind the
local custom of late arrival. I do not remember whether or not the
prayer service started over with prayers. It probably did in deference
to the local culture.
I
consider it a great blessing to have had the privilege to have lived in
Mexico for four years. Our culture looks a lot different from Mexico
than it does from our own hometown. Alma asks us, are we stripped of
all pride? To live in another culture without complaint is a good
exercise in humility. We sometimes fail to realize that Zion
itself will be a culture different from our own. Just how different we
do not know. Learning to appreciate another culture such as the Navajo
is a step in preparation for Zion. During the Nephite Golden Age we are
told that there were no more "ites" even though we know that the tribes
continued to live as tribes. This means that there were no more "ites"
in the sense that the spiritual condition of the people was such that
they no longer thought of themselves primarily as members of a tribe
but as followers of Jesus Christ. As soon as their spiritual condition
declined, they reverted to putting tribal status first. By going to the
Navajo Reservation you are telling the Lord that you are willing to put
your "tribal status" aside for a while.
We are
commanded to take the gospel to the Lamanites in Doctrine and Covenants
31, given in October 1830. The spirit of that message was not carried
out as the men lost precious time by going to the white man. Because
they did this, a great opportunity was lost and the Restoration
Movement has been suffering ever since.
One example of this lack of interest in the Lamanites is our
lack of under-standing of the main purpose of the Book of Mormon. If
you would ask several of your Book of Mormon-believing friends what is
the main purpose of the Book of Mormon, they would say "to the
convincing of Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ." This is the
purpose of the Book of Mormon but not the main purpose. The main
purpose is to restore a knowledge of the covenants to the Lamanites.
The Book of Mormon is very clear (see also III Nephi 10:1-7 and Mormon
2:39-41) that the Lamanites come first followed by the house of Israel
and then the rest of the world. The phrase "Jew and Gentile" means
everyone since everyone is either a Jew or Gentile. We are told in
Doctrine and Covenants 3:15b that when we take the Book of Mormon to
the Lamanites they will receive it, "they shall build it up, and shall
bring to light the true points of my doctrine;" III Nephi 9:92 tell us
that "the true points of My doctrine" is the covenant relationship,
"come unto me" and "be baptized" are the first two steps of the three
step covenant. The third step is doing what the Lord tells you to do.
The Book of Mormon also tells us that the purpose of the Restoration
Movement (a marvelous work) is "that I may remember my covenants" II
Nephi 12:42. It is a fact that the white man in the United States and
other countries that are part of what is called Western
Civilization knows less about covenant relationships than any other
culture. We call ourselves Ephraim and we call the Lamanites Manasseh.
We read in II Nephi 2:20-23 that when the Bible and the Book of Mormon
grow together that Ephraim and Manasseh are going to lay down
contentions and the covenants are going to be restored. Manasseh needs
Ephraim but Ephraim also needs Manasseh because Manasseh knows more
about the covenant relationship. That is why everyone needs to spend
time on the Navajo Reservation. The Navajo Reunion in July is a very
convenient way to do this. We are still a scattered people because we
have been treating the Book of Mormon and the covenant relationship
lightly. Taking the Book of Mormon to the Lamanites will help both
cultures and allow the Lord to gather us to Zion both physically and
spiritually. |
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