A curious story from the (real) life of Mark Twain

This notice went out on the Witnesses Film Facebook Page earlier today:

With this year’s Come, Follow Me gospel study centered on the Restoration, Church History and the Doctrine and Covenants, we wanted to remind everyone that in conjunction with the movies Witnesses and Undaunted, we did a series of short videos on the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon that address various questions that arise from the early history of the Church, and give you a deeper look into the leadership of the church at that time. Here’s a link to the first video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj3GBGjC3UM&t=8s

“Episode 1: Oliver Cowdery, Witness”

11,813 views Apr 30, 2022

Witnesses of the Book of Mormon—Insights: What price did the witnesses pay for being witnesses—and for never denying their testimonies of the Book of Mormon? This is Episode 1 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. This series of mini-films is being released each Saturday at 7pm MDT. These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. This week we feature Gerrit Dirkmaat, Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. For more information, go to https://witnessesofthebookofmormon.org/. Learn about the documentary movie Undaunted—Witnesses of the Book of Mormon at https://witnessesundaunted.com/.

We will now be re-emphasizing these short features more often than once weekly.  And more good things are coming within the next month or so.  We hope that you will both profit from and enjoy the results of the efforts that have gone into making these films and short videos.

By the way, I had the pleasure this afternoon of being a guest on the Church History Matters podcast that is hosted by Casey Griffiths and Scott Woodward.  We had fun, and I think that at least a few out there might enjoy the episode that we recorded today and even find it interesting when it goes up online at some point during February.

Here is a curious story that I came across while reading Deborah Blum, Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death (Penguin. 2007) roughly a year ago.  You may recall the pen name that was later used by Samuel Clemens.  This is an episode from his life:

In 1858 the Clemens brothers, Sam and Henry, were training to be riverboat captains, working the Mississippi River together on a big, steam-powered paddle-wheeler called the Pennsylvania. On an early June evening, the boat docked in Saint Louis, and the brothers went ashore to visit their sister. After dinner, Henry went back to the Pennsylvania. Sam stayed the night at his sister’s house. Just as Sam Clemens started to slide into sleep, an image formed, a horrifyingly detailed dream in which he saw his younger brother’s body tucked into a casket. The coffin lay balanced across two chairs. Flowers sprayed across Henry’s unmoving chest, a cascade of white roses with a single red bloom in their center. Samuel Clemens sat up in bed, gasping, his heart pounding. He stumbled downstairs, half awake, the dream still so real that he was braced against the sight of his brother’s body in the parlor. He’d been almost shocked to find the parlor quiet and dark, its chairs empty of dead men, its air unscented by roses. Just a dream, he told himself, just a dream. When Sam returned to the Pennsylvania that morning, his brother was waiting—whole, healthy, a little sleepy in the morning light. But they were separated again; the captain transferred Sam over to help on a companion boat, one that trailed behind by a day. Three days later, the Pennsylvania’s boiler exploded, just as the boat cruised south of Memphis. One hundred and fifty people were killed or injured. As soon as the news reached him, Sam Clemens left his boat, hired a fast horse, and rushed to Memphis, where survivors were filling the local hospital. Henry Clemens died that night with his brother sitting beside him. In the morning, Sam walked numbly down to a room where the bodies of the dead were awaiting burial. Henry lay in a metal casket, balanced across two chairs. As Sam Clemens stood, blinking against the memory of his dream, a volunteer nurse stepped up to the coffin and gently laid across it a bouquet of white roses with a single red bloom in their midst. (104-105)

Finally, a quotation — this one from funeral remarks given by the late President Howard W. Hunter —  that has stayed with me since I first encountered it in  Brent L. Top, What’s On the Other Side? What the Gospel Teaches Us about the Spirit World (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012):

In the quiet of this chapel today, our souls have been on their knees.  We have contemplated the uncertainties of life and the certainty of death.  Each of us in his turn will follow the same course — only the point of time is the difference.  Will we be ready?  Will the things we intend to accomplish be completed?  Will we make right the little wrongs and replace the harsh words with kindness before our call comes?  Will we accept the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ by following his teachings, keeping his commandments, being of service to our fellowman, ready to enter the tomb, partake of the glorious resurrection, and stand at the judgment as worthy servants?

I don’t think it morbid — on the contrary, I think it very wise — to occasionally contemplate one’s own death.  After all, it will eventually come.  How do we want to be remembered?  And, much more importantly, what do we want to be?  Should we be taking steps now toward such goals, rather than simply waiting for them to be realized somehow?

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