Patriarchal Patience
I’ve been thinking, recently, about the importance of patience —and those of you who have been eagerly awaiting my next post must have been thinking about this topic too. (Sorry--job interviews and the arrival of a new child have kept me running.) We typically trot out Job as a model of patience because of the manner in which he patiently suffered the loss of his family, wealth, health, and friends. Indeed, the patience of Job has become proverbial; James writes that, that we should “Take . . . the prophets . . . for an example . . . of patience” and reminds us that we “have heard of the patience of Job” ( 5:10 -11). But Job’s patience is, perhaps, too exemplary—so perfect that it is difficult to relate to. After all, when Joseph Smith was learning patience at the hands of his enemies, he cried out to God for judgment and the Lord replied, “Thou art not yet as Job” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:10). Like Joseph Smith, you and I will never be “as Job.” But there are plenty of other...