The Ultimate iPod
By Greg Hansen
Editor’s note: This article
is dedicated to the author’s son, Jade Hansen.
Here is The Definitive Explanation of why you
should consider getting an iPod, or other mp3 player. I call this line of
reasoning the Big Picture.
(Note to Old People: An iPod is that device
that is attached to the ears of most teenagers these days-usually it’s plugged
in when they’re not on their cellphones. They can listen to music, and watch
movies on the latest ones, and download all of that stuff from their computers.)
The following is a Mostly Authoritative Gospel
Explanation why you should get one too, especially if you fit the category
of an Old Person, which nowadays is anyone over 40. If you are, don’t worry.
Old People get Righteous Stuff for their iPods — like the Book of Mormon mp3’s,
music, movies, and the latest news podcasts.
The Reality
Slogging through the jungle perimeter of the
Parana River, ankle-high rubber boots filled with leech-infested
water, and a downpour soaking our overcoats and straw hats, I had but one
thought: there had to be a better way to track down obscure missionary referrals
than this.
It was 1978 in Paraguay.
My missionary coping mechanism was so highly developed that I would ponder
deep and eternal things while under the most adverse conditions.
We
had gotten a name and general location out in the jungle of a family that
was interested in the gospel, but directions in a place where only trails
and trees existed were dubious at best. We had boarded a broken down bus;
we were tossed around in it going over a single lane mud road for hours, standing
bent over most of the way; riding with the goats and chickens and good peasant
folk packed like sardines in a rusty can, until finally reaching the general
destination area.
After disembarking, we asked the few people present
if they knew the family, got some pointers and soon found ourselves in the
inconvenient situation above. We were fortunate enough to find the family,
give a well received discussion, and have a bit of dinner with them. Later
we would find ourselves escorted by rifle-packing soldiers and thrown in jail,
as suspected drug traffickers.
After spending the night in jail, and giving
a fine first discussion to the jailer, we were released when they located
the men they were really looking for. All this time my mind was working
on other things.
The Unrealized Ideal
I pondered how God was going to have the gospel
preached to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, in their own language.
I surmised that something would have to be invented akin to the “Star Trek”
TV show communicators. Almost thirty years later, the beginnings of that have
appeared. It was simply not possible to reach so many people in such remote
areas with mere manpower then, or even now. Media had to be the answer.
The White Stone
From Who Am I, a book by Elder Alvin R.
Dyer, come these observations:
Unto John the Revelator on the
Isle of Patmos where he was imprisoned, was given certain information about
a "white stone" that will be given to each soul who is assigned
to the celestial kingdom: "To him that over-cometh will I give to
eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in
the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that
receiveth it."
The Prophet Joseph Smith explains, as he is
led to do so by the power of the spirit, the meaning of the white stone to
be given those who are entitled to receive it. Said he: "the white stone
mentioned in Revelation, 2:17, will become a urim
and thummim to each individual who receives one. Whereby things pertaining
to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known; and a white stone is
given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a
new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new
name is the key word."
The importance of the "white stone"
is more fully understood when it is realized that the presence of God, where
angels reside, is "on a globe like a sea of glass and fire." Here
all things for the glory of those who dwell in this presence are manifest,
— "past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord. The
place where God resides is a great urim and thummim. This earth in its
sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be
a urim and thummim to the inhabitants that dwell thereon, whereby all
things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order,
will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ's." (Dyer,
Alvin R., Who Am I, Deseret Book, Salt Lake City Utah, 1966.)
The Ultimate iPod
So here I am thirty years later, after composing
countless film scores, CDs and music of all kinds, trying to further the music
used in media to bring the gospel to the world, and inspire those who've already
found it.
I have my iPod and I know how to use it. But
I want the kind that is the universal translator, the crystal ball that sees
past, present, and future; the ultimate communicator with all life and matter,
the revealer of all truth and knowledge.
And the best part is that my White Stone Ultimate
iPod will have my name on it — no one else can use it, and no one else will
know my secret password. It will be custom made to fit me personally — how
I think, my own personality, my dreams and desires — much more than just my
music.
So, if I eventually want to have the Ultimate
iPod, I better learn to use one right now while it’s still relatively easy.
Maybe those teenagers aren’t so weird after all. They’re not the ones being
dragged kicking and screaming into the future. A good Urim and Thummin could
come in handy.
Greg Hansen is a record producer, writer,
and horseman. To find out more about him, visit his website: www.greg-hansen.com