Merry Smithmas!

[Tom]

It was in the 1948/1950 hymnal, but it didn’t make the cut for the 1985 hymnal. Perhaps it will return in the new hymnal. However, sadly there seems to be an anti-Smithmas faction in the church that may fight to keep it out.

https://singpraises.net/collections/en/ ... ition=1948

Here is a Tabernacle Choir performance (unfortunately the choir skips the entire second verse and all of the fourth verse except the last lines):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5LRluoh5R ... VyIGNob2ly

[Philo Sofee]

Smithmas is the holiday every Mormon instinctively celebrates until it's pointed out to them, and then they pretend it's just a coincidence.

In this way, it's one of the greatest holidays, because it's a holiday of the collective unconscious, not a holiday prescribed by a king or higher religious authority.

It's impossible to believe that Smithmas isn't real. Why would God set both events in such close proximity if they weren't meant to go together? And on the small chance it is a coincidence, what is the chance that God wouldn't approve of faithful members being mistaken on that point, thinking they were meant to go together? Wouldn't that be a mistake in the direction of greater faith?

Imagine if Nephi were to leave his tent one morning to discover an open jar of peanut butter and a thick bar of chocolate resting on top. He brings his finding back to the tent to show all. It's remarked by various family members that the findings are a gift from God, and they eat with gratitude. The two gifts are distributed separately, and it occurs to none of them to dip the chocolate into the peanut butter. Unlikely. But this is what the apologists would have you believe.

Amen. In gazing at the Church News photograph of a statue of Joseph Smith standing in front of an ordinary tree, I see something more than coincidental proximity. I see a purposeful juxtaposition, yea, I see Joseph and his Asherah.

Joseph had an entire forest of Asherahs out back hidden from the house Asherah....

[Gadianton]

It was in the 1948/1950 hymnal, but it didn’t make the cut for the 1985 hymnal. Perhaps it will return in the new hymnal.

Agreed. Mendel was also neglected.

[Kishkumen]

It was in the 1948/1950 hymnal, but it didn’t make the cut for the 1985 hymnal. Perhaps it will return in the new hymnal. However, sadly there seems to be an anti-Smithmas faction in the church that may fight to keep it out.

https://singpraises.net/collections/en/ ... ition=1948

Here is a Tabernacle Choir performance (unfortunately the choir skips the entire second verse and all of the fourth verse except the last lines):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5LRluoh5R ... VyIGNob2ly

I think it’s time to bring it back.

[Imwashingmypirate]

Is this a joke?

[huckelberry]

Joseph had an entire forest of Asherahs out back hidden from the house Asherah....

Philo this made zero sense to me for several looks then I thought, house Aeherah was named Emma.(!?)

I never heard of this Smithmas thing until I read it here. I do not remember being aware of Joseph's birthdate. Perhaps I slept that sermon.

Ok I will say the obvious, the words of that song are a bit offputting.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

John Taylor penned a hymn that deserves to be sung far and wide on Smithmas Day. I won’t go into all the reasons that I like the hymn, but I will note Taylor’s wonderful use of astronomical imagery in describing Joseph’s ministry on earth:

“O’er the world that was wrapped in sable night,
Like the sun he spread his golden light,
Like the sun he spread his golden light.”

I will also point out Taylor’s description of Joseph’s birth as “heavenly.”

1. The Seer, the Seer, Joseph, the Seer!
I’ll sing of the Prophet ever dear, the Prophet ever dear;
His equal now cannot be found
By searching the wide world around.
With Gods he soared in the realms of day,
And men be taught the heavenly way,
And men be taught the heavenly way.
The earthly Seer! the heavenly Seer!
I love to dwell on his memory dear;
The chosen of God and the friend of man,
He brought the priesthood back again;
He gazed on the past and the future, too,
And opened, and opened the heavenly world to view,
And opened, and opened the heavenly world to view.

2. Of noble seed, of heavenly birth,
He came to bless the sons of earth, to bless the sons of earth;
With keys by the Almighty given,
He opened the full rich stores of heaven;
O’er the world that was wrapped in sable night,
Like the sun he spread his golden light,
Like the sun he spread his golden light.
He strove, O how he strove to stay
The stream of crime in its reckless way!
With a mighty hand and a noble aim,
He urged the wayward to reclaim:
’Mid foaming billows of angry strife,
He stood at, he stood at the helm of the ship of life,
He stood at, he stood at the helm of the ship of life.

3. The Saints, the Saints, his only pride!
For them he lived, for them he died; he lived, for them he died;
Their joys were his, their sorrows too.
He loved the Saints; he loved Nauvoo.
Unchanged in death, with a Savior’s love,
He pleads their cause in the courts above.
He pleads their cause in the courts above.
The Seer, the Seer! Joseph, the Seer!
O how I love his memory dear!
The just and wise, the pure and free,
A father he was and is to me.
Let fiends now rage, in their dark hour—
No matter, no matter, he is beyond their power,
No matter, no matter, he is beyond their power.

4. He’s free! he’s free! the Prophet’s free!
He is where he will ever be, where he will ever be,
Beyond the reach of mobs and strife,
He rests unharmed in endless life.
His home’s in the sky; he dwells with the Gods
Far from the furious rage of mobs,
Far from the furious rage of mobs.
He died, he died for those he loved.
He reigns; he reigns in the realms above.
He waits with the just who have gone before
To welcome the Saints to Zion’s shore.
Shout, shout, ye Saints! this boon is given;
We’ll meet him, we’ll meet him Our martyred Seer, in heaven.
We’ll meet him, we’ll meet him, our martyred Seer, in heaven.

For the love of all that is holy! Just when I thought I had seen it all!

“He stood at, he stood at the helm of the ship of life”
“His equal now cannot be found, By searching the wide world around.”

This song sounds just like a North Korean hymn praising Kim Chong-un.

[Philo Sofee]

For the love of all that is holy! Just when I thought I had seen it all!

“He stood at, he stood at the helm of the ship of life”
“His equal now cannot be found, By searching the wide world around.”

This song sounds just like a North Korean hymn praising Kim Chong-un.

Well they did this with Jesus, why not for Joseph too?