Reading List

September 17, 2010
The Boxmaker's Son by Donald S. Smurthwaite

There is a growing concern that families, and fatherhood in particular, are under such strong attack in the modern world. Television and movies portray families in negative light and fathers as simpleton buffoons, generally saved from their own ineptness by their wives or others. It sells advertisements, and at the same time degrades the role of the traditional leader of the family. Here at last is the counter voice. The Boxmaker's Son is about a noble father who teaches and leads in righteousness. It makes one ponder the relationship to one's own father. It makes one ponder what kind of success one has had as a father or mother in life. It talks about what the role is of parenting, with examples and a few choice statements of profound philosophy.

"Maybe that's the way it is with those you care for. You heap upon them all you can, all that you hope will protect them. And when the time comes when the world tears away a who you are and how you want to be, maybe you hope that you have heaped enough layers, layers of care and layers of love, to keep those you love insulated from the craziness that goes on in the world. That's what you hope for. That's how you protect those close to you. Or at least that's how you try."

So now I consider how I remember my own father and my own mother. They were valiant members of "the greatest generation". My view point is changed by this book. My view point was also changed by my oldest brother, Mike. One day while my siblings and I were sitting around doing the "broadcast" view of my parents, laughing about them and seeing who could be the most witty and cynical, Mike stopped and said, "You know, Mom did a pretty good job raising us on the little she had." That is all it took for me to stop and consider how right he was.

My father and mother did not leave us as children with wealth or power. We did not get advanced degrees and travel the world. However, there are seven of us and we are all hard workers. We are all respected by other people. We are all loved by our whole family. And I like to think, no, I know from my experiences this year that we will all stand by each other in good or bad, though joy or crises. That is a legacy that my parents have left – have passed on to a small group of the "not greatest, generation".

And I wonder how my children will look at me and the way I have raised them. Am I just the buffoon father of TV. Or will someday, something touch them and they will say, wait, my parents sacrificed and worked and loved and tried – hard. Will they say we did a pretty good job raising them on the little we had. I hope so.



"This is the part of the picture where God lets you put your experience and what you know and what you feel to work for you, and He steps back and thinks with lovingkindness, 'All right. Show me. Prove to me. This is where I have given you the outline and now you fill it all in with the colors you select. It is your picture. It is your painting. You can choose the colors.'"

So often now days we hear that it is all right for us to "color outside of the lines". That expand creativity and in kindergarten, but in life, there are lines we need to stay in. We can still be creative in the way we stay in those lines, but so often, crossing over those lines make look like creativity, especially from close up, but as me move back and get a broader, bigger view – a more eternal view – outside the lines, outside the Lord''s boundaries just messes it all up.

Oh there are a lot of quotable parts of the book. I liked it. I think it inspired me.

This is the second book I have read by Donald S. Smurthwaite this year. The first wasn't as good an experience as this one was. He writes in a voice that seem autobiographical, and probably some of the experiences in both of these books have episodes reflecting his life. Yet I am sure some are purely fictional, used to reflect a point he is emphasizing. Nicely, he doesn't generally chose a point to make and them beat you over the head with it. He softly persuades. The style of writing is easy to read. However, be aware that in each chapter, there are two storylines progressing at the same time – easily demarked which storyline you are in – but still, you have to keep them straight. He is kind enough to examine what the two story lines in each chapter have to do with each other. It is a nice mechanism of writing.

Yep, read it if you like. You won't be disappointed. (Caution – it is LDS literature with a lot of LDS specific imagery and metaphors.)