FHE and the Early Renaissance

I don’t want to type the phrase, “I love General Conference.” If you know me at all, it doesn’t really say anything. What Mormon, when the topic of General Conference comes up, says, “Eh. I could take it or leave it?” * Really, pretty much every Mormon loves it when a ton of old people in suits with a collective zillion years of wisdom get on TV and tell you exactly what you need to hear. But only the self-righteous blog about it.

Just kidding. But it sure looks that way, doesn’t it?

So I won’t say, “I love General Conference.” Instead, I’ll say that because of General Conference, I was reminded once again that God knows me and loves me. I’ll say that I know everything I knew before, only with greater conviction and security. I’ll say that the words of God’s servants on Earth give me hope, peace, inspiration, and motivation.

Another great perk of General Conference is that Family Home Evening for the next little while is a piece of cake. I’m always so eager to digest the words that I heard during those eight (well, ten) hours and to hear what others thought of them, and Family Home Evening is the perfect time to do that. **

I think I’ve been reading too many Mormon Mommy Blogs. This is kind of an embarrassing post. I am just reading the last phrase of the previous paragraph and cringing. But I’m really excited about our new way of doing FHE. Please, don’t laugh. Okay, fine, laugh, but don’t do it around me.

But first, after reading this article, I had some questions about parenting. Elder Oak’s talk and Elder Christopherson’s talk answered those questions for me perfectly. Now I have more questions, but it’s a step in the right direction and I’m very grateful for that.

Okay, so FHE.

I loved my undergraduate education. I loved the fact that the only thing I really had to do was learn. I didn’t worry too much about getting an education to make money; I knew I would take care of that later. Undergraduate education, for me, was a time to explore the world and its history.

My favorite classes were English linguistics classes, followed by the classes for my major: English literature. I loved, and still love, really getting into a complex text and taking something from it. I love the ideas of literary criticism: What is a text? What is history? What is real? What is art? What is the dynamic between the critic, the artist, and a piece of art? What does it mean to be human? I am getting all excited just typing these questions.

Yes, I know I’m a freak.

My third favorite class (followed very closely by calculus) was a history of western civilization through the humanities class. I always wanted to branch out from literature and learn more about music and painting and sculpture and whatnot, so Humanities was the perfect way to do that. It was such a good class and I loved every minute of the time I put into it.

But that was six years ago. I really don’t remember much, and what a shame. I have been listening to the classical music radio station lately and I have completely forgotten how to really listen to a piece of music. I had the same experience on a recent trip to the Museum of Art on BYU’s campus.

I wanted to go back to my Humanities class. I want to remember more about Bach and hear his struggles and triumphs. I wanted to know why I can’t forget the Pre-Raphaelite paintings I studied. I wanted to understand what Jasper Johns was trying to communicate and, in so doing, find my own meaning of that art. I wanted to connect with the residents of the past on an emotional level.

I loved the textbook I used for the humanities: it digests a lot of material very well and, most importantly, gives art some context. It’s not perfect because any academic subject is too complex for an anthology, but it’s a great introduction. The thing is, the textbooks for humanities classes are insanely expensive because of the fancy paper they use to showcase the art. But that’s only if you get a current edition.

I bought an old edition of Cultures and Values on half.com for about eight bucks, including shipping (the list price for the current edition is $150). And now, our family home evening activity is going to come from this book.

Tonight’s FHE went like this (sorta):

We listened to Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk from the Prieshood session.

It was Nathaniel’s choice, and while he was interested in the encouragement to work, I loved all the encouragement about learning.

Then we read about this:

(Adoration of the Magi by Gentile da Fabriano, 1423)

And this, painted five years later:

(The Holy Trinity by Massaccio, c. 1428)

Wasn’t the Renaissance amazing? Can you imagine living in a world where all art, though perhaps beautiful, was flat and two dimensional? And then can you imagine looking at a masterful painting of Jesus Christ and feeling for the first time that the art was an extension of your reality? That, in a way, the Savior was part of your reality?

Probably not because that picture is way too small. But trust me, it's cool.

We had grapes for dessert. I think I might actually start looking forward to FHE.

*Someone help me – where does the question mark go in that sentence? Noelle?

**Aunt Kathy – in case you don’t know (but you probably do) FHE is a thing that we’re encouraged to do where we get together as a family and have some sort of spiritual lesson and then an activity like playing a board game. It’s cooler than I make it sound.