Adam Miller’s first edition of Letters to a Young Mormon was a book that I enjoyed very much. His beautiful writing style, subtle humor, and timely insights were something that I came to treasure. And I am not alone in that assessment. The fact that at a recent devotional at Brigham Young University people had to be turned away is evidence that much of the millennial Mormon generation are fans of Adam’s and that his thought and writing has changed their lives. My friend Steven Peck (who is an evolutionary ecologist and professor at BYU) told me once that Adam would save this generation of Mormons. I cannot say that I disagree; at any rate he is certainly going to help.
When I heard that Adam was releasing a second edition of Letters to a Young Mormon I was intrigued at what the differences would be between the new edition versus the old edition, so I reached out to Adam (we are friends via Facebook, though we have not yet met) to inquire about what the differences would be. He mentioned that there would be some revision to the chapters and that two new chapters would be added on the Sabbath and stewardship. Since I wrote on the other chapters in a previous review, I will focus on the new chapters in this review.
The Sabbath day is something that I have come to regard as a chore because I had been taught both prior to being a Mormon and after becoming one that the Sabbath is a list of do’s and don’ts: Attend your meetings (Do), refrain from watching sports (Don’t), etc. Adam points out that this is not what the Sabbath is primarily about; rather it is about focusing more on Christ and his coming. He writes:
The Sabbath isn’t meant as just a short rest from our endless work. It’s meant to show us something more basic. It’s meant to show us how to do all our work as a form of rest. It’s meant to show us how to enter-full-time and without further delay-into what Alma calls “the rest of the Lord.” (Alma 13:16) the Sabbath is a door that opens onto a new experience of time. (Letters to a Young Mormon, 2nd Edition, pgs. 37-38)
If I am understanding Adam correctly, then the Sabbath day is a day to understand what it means to be saved in the first place; it is the day we focus on life as God would himself focus on it. God does not live his life in a list of do’s and don’ts and celebrating his special day that way is in some sense to make a mockery of it.
Stewardship is a word that is used in LDS vernacular often, but it is rarely defined. Usually it means that one person is given responsibility for something and they need to make sure they do everything in their power to make sure that what they are in charge of is a success. This is partially true, but it is not complete on Adam’s view. Stewardship is about taking care of not only yourself and your surroundings, but your entire community. He writes:
To fulfill our responsibilities as stewards, we can’t just act alone. To be a steward is to acknowledge that our lives are intertwined and that our breath is shared. We have to work together. We have to plan and act collectively, through our families and churches and businesses and governments. Soon-perhaps very soon-we will be forced, collectively, to make some every hard decisions that will shape the world our children will inherit. But even right now, we can start with practical, commonsense measures. We can walk more and drive less. We can live close to work. We can buy more efficient cars and appliances. We can turn off lights….This kind of stewardship is not just a bundle of actions. It’s a way of being in the world. Stewardship is a way of being in the world that’s grounded in gratitude. (Letters to A Young Mormon, 2nd Edition, pgs.67-68)
I will not spoil the rest of the book for you, but hopefully you can see from this brief overview of the two new chapters that Adam S. Miller is one of Mormonisms deepest thinkers while at the same time able to bring his knowledge down to the level of the lay person. If you are a Mormon, young or old, I highly recommend this book. If you are a Mormon who is about to serve a full-time mission; you need to read this book. From cover to cover, Adam’s book is a testimony that having an abiding faith in the gospel is not incompatible with having a questioning, thinking attitude about difficult questions, and more importantly that there are answers available that can not only give you a new perspective, but can also deepen your faith. A truly wonderful work, I hope in the future that Adam’s book will become a part of the approved missionary library.
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