It's Pioneer Day...wait...what is that?

Yes, July 24 is Pioneer Day and it you are not a resident of Utah, you'll be working tomorrow, or a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, you may be asking...what on earth is Pioneer Day.  A fair question.

Pioneer Day celebrates/honors the day (24 July) in 1847 when Brigham Young and the first vanguard of pioneers ('religious refugees' may be a more apt descriptor given that they'd been booted forced from their homes in Nauvoo, IL but I digress) arrived in what would eventually become Salt Lake City.  Brigham, ill at the time, depending on the telling, lifted himself from his wagon, and upon seeing the valley before him, uttered the now infamous words, "This is the place."  A city, a culture, a faith, and a way of life grew from there.

Now don't get me wrong, I like me some Salt Lake City, but had I been there with Brother Brigham lo those 164 years ago, I can't help but wonder if I would have had the temerity to have said to him, upon gazing out over that same fairly desolate valley myself, "Really, Brigham?  This?  Are you sure?  I'm probably good for another 750 miles.  Let's give her a go!"  Curiously that extra 750 miles would have gotten us to the California coastline, I'm just saying.

The fact that I wasn't there 164 years ago is proof to me that God lives and that He knows each and every one of us.  Who am I kidding?  I wouldn't have been good for another 750 miles.  I can barely survive a 90 minute flight (about 750 miles) in Economy Minus without the need for significant lamentation and soul-searching.  I would have not been a good pioneer.  There was no opportunity to upgrade on a handcart.  So I am more than a little grateful to have been born when I was.  Whew....

But in all seriousness, this day is one of significance in the Church.  We pause to reflect on the sacrifice of those pioneers who did in fact sacrifice all that they had, including their very lives, to get to a place where they could worship God as they desired.  I am indebted to them for all that they gave.  If you ever want to read more about the experiences of these pioneers, may I suggest "Journey to Zion."  It's an incredible compendium of journals written by those very people as they crossed the unforgiving plains to get to what to them was Zion.  It's well worth the read.  I'll close out the post with a little Mo'Tab - singing the pioneer anthem, "Come Come Ye Saints."