Mormon Mystics, Mormon Managers

I love the idea that our church had its roots in the spiritual raptures and visions of a mystic.     Mystics have a vast spiritual intuition and are truly gifted in working out the tangle of cosmic threads in a way that ultimately reveals paths to individual and community spiritual enlightenment.   But they don’t always play by the rules, their  rhythms are measured by the beat of a different drum, as Joseph Smith’s life attested.

People followed Joseph because they loved him and they wanted to be around him, to catch some of his vision, to borrow some of his aura, to hear his voice as it was carried away in spiritual communion as he spoke of the glories of the heavens and human transcendence.  Joseph was also a lover.  He was generous, counting himself as brother to all, and his hospitality  was the stuff of Mormon legend.  Yes, he was flawed, reckless, a bit nuts, but his heart was big, his vision titanic, and his gifts immense.