What Is Your Favorite Eugene England Essay? Why?
By Eugene England FoundationPlease contribute to a discussion about your favorite Eugene England essay and why you value it the way you do. Posts can be long or short.
Thanks for becoming part of the discussion!
Can I cheat and pick two?
When I have on my theologian hat, my favorite essay is “The Weeping God of Mormonism.” Like Gene, my favorite aspects of LDS theology deal with the idea of eternal progression and how God is right here in the midst of the fray working alongside us, encouraging us, and calling us to partake even more of the Divine Nature. Believing that God truly cares, even weeps as we choose against our best interests, is a core aspect of my testimony. I’m grateful for the way Gene put these ideas that I’d felt and cherished for a long time into such an elegant essay.
When I’m in the midst of struggles with boredom in church meetings and find myself misunderstood by members of my ward, I have to give the nod of favorite essay to Gene’s classic “Why the Church Is As True As the Gospel.” If indeed this universe’s main purpose is soul-making, the LDS church and its way of organizing itself geographically and with lay leadership is, as Gene argues, without parallel in helping move us (if we’re willing, of course) toward greater largeness of soul as we have opportunity after opportunity to learn to love people who at first don’t seem very lovable. Whenever I tire of the battle, I think of Gene and this essay and keep soldiering on–and always (though not always immediately) find a good result.
—Dan Wotherspoon
Tooele, Utah