July 12, 2020

I was reading in 1 Ne. 13 today and had an interesting thought.  I have long struggled when I see things in the scriptures that refer to skin color and generally associate goodness or righteousness with light skin.  Nephi does the same thing here and in other places, and it’s just a struggle to read through that section.

Today as I read, I - for the first time ever - thought that Nephi is just a dude with flaws himself, formed and informed by relationships, society, family, friends, and his own experiences, even preferences. I suppose there is a reason at that time, even if it was his own reason, why he had the perception that fairness of skin equated to beauty.  Doesn’t mean he was right.  In some ways I enjoy seeing this flaw in Nephi, make him more human.  He even goes so far as to call them, “fair like his own people before they were slain”. I guess it’s fine for him to have that preference; Tay thinks black men with British accents are the most attractive men in the world - not a flaw, but a preference.  Maybe Nephi should have had a bit more sensitivity though around what he dropped into what would become the most important book we have.

I remember in Nicaragua there was a word for “light skinned” - it was ‘chele’. I don’t know if it was because fair skin represented American / European descent - which translates to money, freedom, opportunity, etc. But the chele’s got the chicks - that’s what I remember.

I guess the last thing I’d say is just that in these more recent days of access to information and documents and history which has never before been in our grasp, we are finding more and more of the humanity of our prophets of past and present, and in many ways it is challenging many people.  I’m not sure why this is the first time we have struggled so mightily with the flawed natures of God’s prophets, heaven knows that the Bible is full of examples of the flaws of his chosen leaders.  But somehow we all have to separate men / women from doctrine. It’s not an easy distinction because we connect with people more than we connect with words, and we can idolize or deify men more that we can words so many of us stake much of our testimonies on men and women whom we admire - and when their failings are exposed it can be devastating.

I think perhaps this is why Christ is the only one to whom we should attach that much admiration and attachment, as he is the only one who won’t eventually disappoint in one way or another.  His church, His truth, and Him.  The more we humanize and get to know him, the more we settle in on the remarkable, inspiring, hopeful, and loving nature of the Son of God, our brother.