by Val John Jennings

Created on: August 14, 2009   Last Updated: August 18, 2009

George Bernard Shaw in "Man and Superman" said the Mormons had the right idea. He said it was better for a woman to have a one-third interest in a good man than all of a lousy one. If a good Mormon is doing his best to serve his fellow beings while in the service of God, earns a livelihood to support his family, and sincerely reserves his Monday nights for family activity, his wife and family will gain more from the one third of his availability than from a grumpy, frustrated father who has an unruly family.

My ancestors were polygamists. They believed very sincerely that it was of God. My heritage shows much good from their faith and tradition. I do not believe those who practice polygamy today are bad people. I believe that there are many things they do that make Mormons wonder. The murders and disregard for law that have ensued have tainted a rich heritage. WofW is often called Worlds of Wonder. To Mormons it means Word of Wisdom, or Words of Wisdom. One is a law of health, the other is the laws of heaven.

I wonder where I would be without my pioneer heritage. The difficulty and challenges of faith that our ancestors endured were what has brought strength to the church today.

Wonderful is the heritage of family. Today's nuclear family is 1.7 children. No wonder we are a fractionalized society. My 7 children are as diverse as any 7 could be, but I love every one of them. With larger families, we have a community of family in a generation. When I attended the John D. Lee reunion with my wife several years ago, we found ourselves in a community of loving family. His 19 wives quickly gave him posterity. An earlier ancestor, the Reverend John Lathrop (my twelfth great-grandparent) has descendants in about one sixth of the U.S. population. What a wonder to behold so many famous cousins.

Do I care that Benedict Arnold was one of my cousins? I wonder what motivated him and which of his offspring look to his virtues and forgive his faults. All of them should. The greatest wonder is in the power to forgive. Christ says we are to forgive all. He tells us we are forgiven in the measure to which we forgive. Oh, the wonder of it all. "For He is Wonderful, Wonderful to me!"

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