From Deseret News archives:
July 24 is about journeys
Human beings are fascinated by journeys. Perhaps that's because we see our lives as a quest. Each morning, we rise, rinse off and set out for the end of the rainbow. We go searching for fulfillment.
"The Pilgrim's Progress," John Bunyan's religious classic published in 1678, is always lavishly illustrated. The book was a 17th-century Indiana Jones or a Reformation video game. On page one, a young man named Christian sets out for The Celestial City. Along the way he encounters monsters, crooks, damsels and villains. Each page is an adventure, each holds an ordeal to be overcome.
On the surface, it is a book about a trek.
Under the surface it's a book about the inner journey that every soul undertakes.
At one point, Christian looks out from a city called Beautiful and sees, in the distance, the Delectable Mountains. He realizes that is where he will find the Celestial City.
Brigham Young, too, stood in Nauvoo (The City Beautiful) and looked toward the Rocky Mountains and the city of Zion.
It's what Moses did in the wilderness — looked to see the Promised Land.
It's what every kid does when he drops a quarter into a video game. He's embarking on a sojourn filled with obstacles that will lead him to a reward at the end.
It's what many people do each Sunday when they head out toward the church steeple in the distance.
For, truth to tell, people are more alike than they think. If a 17th-century writer, a 19th-century prophet and a 21st century video gamer can find common ground, we must be more alike than different.
We are all, in our way, seekers, pilgrims.
We are all, in our way, pioneers.
So, in the end, July 24 is not just about the Mormon pioneers. It's about journeys and quests.
When people complain that the holiday doesn't represent ethnic minorities and people of other religions, the response might be, "If they have ever set out to find a better life, the day is for them. If they've strode out to find feelings of peace and a sense of fulfillment, it's their day."
Pioneer Day is for everyone who leaves their own world to look for a better one — Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Native Americans, Baptists, Buddhists and atheists. It celebrates seekers who have the courage to set out.
Today is not only July 24 in Utah, it's July 24 in Uganda, Uruguay and the United Kingdom.
It is a day when everyone can celebrate the search for "something more" that percolates in each human heart.
E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com
