March 11-17: 2 Nephi 26-30
“A Marvelous Work and a Wonder"
Maddison Colvin (American, born 1990)
Template (Utah) (2012)
graphite on paper, 24 x 40 inches
Private collection
In the text of this week’s scriptures, we find “line upon line…” (see 2 Nephi 28:30) which paraphrases Isaiah, “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: (Isaiah 28:10). The scriptures’ message speaks to the way we learn, bit by bit.
In art, drawing lines one on top of the other has a long historical foundation. A contemporary artist, Maddison Colvin, created a drawing Template (Utah) that superimposes images, line upon line in an entirely different way. She writes about the drawing, “Before I moved to Utah, I felt that temples were singular places, destinations that one had to encounter very intentionally. This is, of course, true —but living in Utah Valley, one feels the proximity of so many temples as a kind of crowding, and differentiating one from another is a matter more of architecture than of geography. I began to think about the similarities and differences of these temples; trying to pinpoint how they felt like the same place, manifested in multiple locations. Without really knowing the destination of this project, I began by drawing the exterior of every temple in Utah (at the time, in 2013) on vellum. I then projected these drawings onto a large sheet of paper and traced them over and over one another, until a tangled average emerged. A temple that was one temple, and maybe also all of them.”
Discussion Questions:
Think of a gospel principle that you learned either when you first joined the Church or as a child. How has further experience and learning helped to deepen your understanding of the principle? How did the early learning create a foundation for further learning? Similarly notice in the piece by Maddison Colvin, the superimposition of additional temples adds depth to the piece.
Nephi explains that the Lord "inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God..." (2 Nephi 26:33). How does this invitation from the Lord illustrate how we should treat each other, including those who we may consider to be "heathens"?
In 2 Nephi 29:12-13, the Lord explains that He will talk to many nations, they will write down His words, and they will share this with each other. How does this relate to the sharing of gospel insights through personal revelation with each other?
For Children & Youth:
"The Lord God worketh not in darkness" (2 Nephi 26:23) but Satan is "the founder [of] works of darkness" (2 Nephi 26:22). Why is it easier to do good things in the light?
Jesus says that we should all "have charity, which charity is love" (2 Nephi 26:30). What have you done this week that has extended charity to someone else? What is your plan for next week to show charity? Make a chart and track at least one act of charity each day in the next week.
Nephi says that all who believe in Christ will "be a pure and a delightsome people" (2 Nephi 30:6-7). What do you think it means to be pure and delightsome? What about believing in Jesus makes people feel delightsome? Draw a picture of something about Jesus that makes you feel delightsome.