Project page: Mormon Digitization Project

Brief recap: the goal is to find pre-1923 Mormon books (out of copyright), scan them, OCR them, clean up the OCRed text, and release the plain text files on Project Gutenberg (along with ePub editions, possibly PDFs, and possibly Lulu editions as well).

I’m starting with John A. Widtsoe’s book Joseph Smith As Scientist and will go from there. If you have any suggestions/requests, leave them in the comments (or email them to me). If I get enough people helping out, we’ll be able to tackle a few books at a time.

Process-wise, I’m thinking about trying Bite-Size Edits for at least part of the cleanup. There’s also a remote possibility I’ll use PGDP, but I really, really don’t like their interface. Right now I’m planning to track things using email and a Google Spreadsheet. (If I had more time I’d write a web app to manage it all for me, but Beyond is getting the bulk of my coding time.)

Yes, this will be kind of similar to the Mormon Documentation Project, but they don’t seem to be doing the types of books we’ll be doing. (I did use their text for the Standard Works web app and for this D&C reader’s edition I’m still working on, though. Good stuff.)

Want to help out? Email me (ben dot crowder at gmail) and I’ll add you to the list.

Note: I’m going to write this as if it were a blog post (which it now is) and not a talk, leaving out the traditional opening/closing parts.

The topic was virtue, based off of Bishop H. David Burton’s talk “Let Virtue Garnish Thy Thoughts Unceasingly” in the October 2009 general conference.

Okay, here’s the talk, and be warned, it’s long. :)

What is virtue?

Being a language geek, I headed to the Oxford English Dictionary (mmm) to look up “virtue.” I was familiar with the original Latin word, vir, meaning man, and virtutis, meaning manliness. But what I didn’t know was that when the word came into English in the 1200s, one of the definitions was “the power or operative influence inherent in a supernatural or divine being.”

So, virtue is how God gets his power. It’s why God is God. Nowadays, however, we mostly take virtues to mean moral qualities. (Which makes sense because God is moral and these are qualities of God.)

What kinds of qualities are we talking about? Integrity, humility, charity and love, spirituality, accountability, civility, fidelity and faithfulness and loyalty, respect, kindness and compassion, courage, self-discipline, honor, justice, truth, diligence, and the list goes on.

And, of course, there’s an array of opposing qualities, or vices. There’s dishonesty, pride, hatred, selfishness, worldliness, materialism, irresponsibility, meanness, crudeness and vulgarity, cowardice, wantonness, lawlessness, laziness, etc.

So, why do the virtues matter?

Virtues are tools that equip us for life. They show us how to live.

They also give us some measure of control over life, whereas vices spin things out of control. Take dishonesty, for example: one lie leads to another until you’ve spun yourself a suffocating web of deceit, and it’s hard to get untangled. Similarly, Satan’s pride took him from being an angel of high rank in the presence of God all the way down to being cast out as the mortal enemy of God. He lost control, and that’s why he’s raging against us now. Just look at any addict — they don’t have control anymore. They’ve forfeited that option, and it takes a huge amount of effort to get it back.

Virtues are power and strength and they defend us when Satan attacks. Vice, on the other hand, is weakness, the seed of destruction. It is fundamentally flawed and cannot sustain itself. It just can’t. It’s a parasite, a corruption of good, and while its grip on us can be strong, it makes us weak.

A society that turns to vice cannot last long. It will collapse in on itself, as we’ve seen time and again throughout history. Conversely, virtues are the pillars of society — they’re what keep us together as people — and that’s because we’re children of God, and virtue is godliness.

Virtue is important enough to die for. In the first chapter of the Book of Abraham, Abraham tells us about three virgins:

Now, this priest had offered upon this altar three virgins at one time, who were the daughters of Onitah, one of the royal descent directly from the loins of Ham. These virgins were offered up because of their virtue; they would not bow down to worship gods of wood or of stone, therefore they were killed upon this altar, and it was done after the manner of the Egyptians.

They died because they refused to betray their God. Abinadi burned at the stake for his testimony. Stephen was stoned for his. Joseph Smith was shot to death for his. They all died in defense of virtue, of godliness. They refused to compromise. Now, most of us won’t need to die for the kingdom, but we have to realize that it really is that important. It’s a matter of spiritual life or death.

Knowing about the plan of salvation — knowing that this life on earth is only part of the puzzle, or, switching metaphors, that we’re in the middle act of a three-act play — makes it easier to see why virtues matter and easier to hold onto them. Virtues give us perspective and put our priorities straight, reminding us what’s important in life and what’s not. (And there’s a lot in life that isn’t important.)

Virtues keep our families together. A family whose foundation is built on betrayal, disdain, and distrust can’t last. But the virtues the Lord teaches us are the glue that keeps us together — they’re how we stay happy. Families need love and loyalty and work to survive.

Virtue is light. It opens us up to the Spirit so we can see things as they truly are. Vice, on the other hand, is darkness, skewing our perspective and filling us with fear and doubt. The world sin shows us is not real. It’s bent, twisted, corrupted, and false. Vice is insanity, and virtue is the only sane perspective.

Most importantly, virtues lead us to Christ. They describe Christ. Virtues are a recipe for the Godlike life. Since that’s what we’re here on earth for — to become even as he is — then we’d better pay attention to these virtues. Look at Christ. He has integrity. He has charity. He’s responsible and civil, loyal and respectful, kind and compassionate. He’s a God of humility, honor, justice, and truth. He is not dishonest, prideful, hateful, selfish, worldly, materialistic, irresponsible, mean, crude, vulgar, cowardly, or lazy.

So, since we’re trying to become like Christ, becoming gods and goddesses, we need to practice these virtues and make them part of us. That’s how gods are made.

How can we get them?

D&C 121:45 says to “let virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly.” You know, I looked at that verse and thought, “What in the heck does that even mean?” In today’s English, “garnish” means “to decorate (a dish) for the table.” As in parsley. Okay, I’m thinking, we’re supposed to let virtue decorate our thoughts, adorning them with beauty and loveliness.

But “unceasingly”? Unceasingly means not letting up — it means urgent, important. I don’t know about you, but decorating doesn’t seem to fit with urgency. It doesn’t make much sense.

So I went back to the OED and found that “garnish” originally came from the Old French garnir and meant “to fortify, defend (oneself), provide, prepare.” It’s also directly related to our English word “warn”/”warning.”

Okay, that makes a whole lot more sense. We need to let virtue fortify our thoughts unceasingly, defending them with the strength that comes from godliness. That’s how our confidence waxes strong in the presence of God — knowing we’re clean before him and that we’re becoming like him. When we don’t take these virtues and guard our souls with them, vice creeps in and latches onto our thoughts and we cower in the presence of God (or in the presence of his servants, like the bishop and stake president) and wish the rocks and mountains to fall upon us. We’re embarrassed and ashamed.

From Mosiah 4:30:

But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

If we can sin through our thoughts, words, and deeds, then we can do good through them as well, using them to become more like Christ.

So, how do we do it?

First, we have to learn what the virtues are and what they mean. Second, we can pray for them. Third, we just have to do it.

Learn

We read about these virtues in the scriptures and other good books. They tell us about virtue and vice, giving examples of what to do and what not do. They also tell us how people can change.

For example, we learn about good people who go bad: all the apostatizers in the D&C like Sidney Rigdon and Thomas B. Marsh (who thankfully came back), King David in the Bible, Judas Iscariot, Smeagol turning into Gollum in Lord of the Rings, Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader in Star Wars, and of course Lucifer’s fall from grace.

We also learn about bad people who become good: Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah, Saul becoming Paul, Raskolnikov’s redemption in Crime and Punishment, and Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, to list just a few.

Stories teach us about empathy. The sons of Mosiah “were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble.”

Daniel in the lions’ den is a story of courage and of standing up for your beliefs. From history, we learn about the people who stood up to Hitler and the Nazis and hid Jews during WWII. That took courage and compassion. Another story of compassion is the tale of the good Samaritan. It wasn’t his job to help the injured man. In fact, he probably would never see the man again in his life. And yet he helped him.

We learn about integrity from the Anti-Nephi-Lehis burying their weapons, about love from the society in 4 Nephi where the love of God wiped contention out of their land for a hundred years. We learn about chastity from Joseph resisting Potiphar’s wife, even though I’m sure she was a hottie. We learn about humility from the Savior in Gethsemane saying, “Not my will but thine be done.”

There are tons of stories about faith: Lehi leading his family out of Jerusalem, the Jaredites crossing the ocean as well, Noah building an ark when there wasn’t any rain in sight, Alma and Amulek breaking out of the prison and leveling it to the ground, Nephi breaking his bonds on the ship, and the list goes on.

Learning about all of these virtues through these stories helps build our faith. Take Moses parting the Red Sea, for example. I was reading the Pearl of Great Price recently and came across Moses 1:25, where the Lord tells Moses, “Thou shalt be made stronger than many waters; for they shall obey thy command as if thou wert God.” That’s where Moses got the faith to part the sea. He was prepared by receiving the word of the Lord first. Likewise, we see the wonderful things the Lord has done for our forebears and that’s how we get the faith to do the miracles we need to do in our time, big or small.

Having all these witnesses [the stories and records], we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea. (Jacob 4:6)

Do we have that kind of faith? I don’t, not yet at least, but because of the scriptures I know that if I work hard, I can have that kind of faith eventually. It’s real.

We’re told to “feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3).

Pray

Virtues are spiritual gifts, and in D&C 46, the Lord tells us to “seek ye earnestly the best gifts.” All over the scriptures he says, “Ask and ye shall receive.” The Lord wants us to succeed. He’s on our side.

When we really seek these attributes of godliness, then God can change our hearts, purifying us and sanctifying us. George Bernard Shaw said, “Virtue consists, not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it.” That’s the key — a change of heart so that we don’t just avoid sin but so that sin becomes disgusting to us, repulsive, something we just don’t do. And prayer is how we do that.

Do

Christ’s Atonement makes all of this possible, but it’s still up to us to actually do something about it. We have to work for it.

Blaise Pascal said, “The power of a man’s virtue should not be measured by his special efforts, but by his ordinary doing.” In other words, it’s the small and simple things that make the difference. It’s through the little choices we make today and tomorrow and the next day that we gradually become better people, more like the God who made us. After a lifetime’s worth of those choices, we’ll look back and realize that yes, we’ve made a huge change for the better.

Becoming like God is daunting and intimidating, I’ll agree. To use an example of much smaller size, it’s like writing a novel. But you don’t write a novel in one huge fell swoop (unless you’re crazy). You write a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow, and after six months or eight months or a year, voila, you’ve got a novel.

So, we learn about virtue, we pray for it, and then we get ourselves out there and do it. When we do, we’ll find happiness in our path, we’ll find stability, and we’ll find an anchor that helps us get through the storms of life. And in the end, when we see God, we’ll discover that we have in fact become like him.

I redesigned the magazine (well, most of it) using a new six-column grid instead of the old two-column one. Much better.

You know, just now I realized that we’ve published nine issues of the magazine so far. Nine! That’s crazy — it still blows my mind to think that I actually publish a magazine. And that it’s survived this long. :) (It’s going well, by the way. Our next issue will focus on Mormon artists in New York City, and the next will be all about the Mormon pageants.)

Now to breathe a sigh of relief and — oh, drat, I just remembered that I haven’t done my daily writing yet today. Looks like I won’t be going to sleep quite yet.

It’s a project calendar for keeping track of (a) which projects I’m working on and (b) when I’ve worked on them. That way I can easily see where my time is spent and possibly where I need to adjust things. (“Hmm, looks like I’m neglecting my writing. Whoops. Time to fix that.”)

I started out using the back of my Field Notes notebook, since it has a handy grid, but I ran into a problem: when I finish the notebook, I no longer have my project calendar with me.

Enter Google Spreadsheets:

The grey boxes mean that the project has ended. Each month is its own sheet, which keeps things tidy. (Projects that end don’t need to be on the next month’s sheet.)

And the best part? It’s super easy to maintain. I can just copy and paste the black boxes, and when I start a new month, it only takes a few seconds to clear out the boxes and change the days of the week.

Speaking of tracking things, I forgot to blog about my writing log (which I used to use back when I was writing more frequently):

I need to go in and start using that again. (Since, ahem, I’ve been a slacker.) I’m also planning to make a grid-based log for scripture reading and family history and other church-related things I want to do more diligently.

Update: You can now download a Google Docs template of the project tracker.

Another update: There’s now a project page for this.

I’m currently about a fourth of the way through reparagraphing the text and hope to have everything done by the end of the year.

The book will be available as a free PDF, and you’ll also be able to order a hardcover or paperback edition through Lulu if you want a hard copy.

Now to get back to unpacking and organizing…

The app itself is located at http://bencrowder.net/scriptures/ and is about 90% done, but I’m not sure when I’ll have time to finish it up so I’m kicking it out of the nest and getting it out there.

And I’m getting married tomorrow! Holy smokes.

Okay, I think I’ve used up my weekly quota of exclamation marks. ;)

Besides, the Lord doesn’t speak to us through doubts or fears. That’s just not how he does it. If the Lord wants to tell us something, it’s going to be through the peaceful, calm touch of the Spirit, not through a panicky sense of despair. But if you let those doubts and fears in, you’ll forget that. If you listen to your fears, a shroud of darkness will cover you, and dreadful things that aren’t real will seem tangible and inevitable. And then it’s hard to tell what’s true and what’s not. It’s really hard.

Doubts will grip you and shake you till you can’t tell up from down. Don’t listen to them. Don’t let them get to you. Cast not away therefore thy confidence, but instead live by faith and by every word that proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God.

If you do accidentally open the door and let in the storm of doubts and fears, get ready to go through hell. And remember Winston Churchill’s words: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Focus on Christ, because he’s the only way to burn away the deceptions so you can get through to what’s real.

And yes, I know all of this from (very) recent personal experience. Sigh. (That’s a sigh for having opened the window in the first place. I’m grateful now that I’ve found peace again. Whew.)

Talking about Mormon arts, though, is like a jolt of memory shaking my mind up and resurrecting the original vision I had for the magazine — the reason why I cared enough to make it happen. It wakes me up out of my too-busy stupor, and it’s something I need to do more often.

To that end, I’m mulling over the idea of starting a Mormon Arts Society, some kind of group that would get together regularly (every other week or something) just to talk about Mormon arts. Almost like an old-school salon, actually.

Anyway, it’s conversations like these that fuel movements, crackling their way into energetic and lasting change. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass, after all. And that’s when it gets really exciting. :)