Art is communication. Communicating conveys our human and spiritual emotions. The art of communicating happens through writing, oral stories, paintings, dance, music, etc. Recently, I read a book about authors who wrote a memoir, and they give their own ideas about what makes memoirs powerful. This is what I learned: there can be one objective and factual retelling of an event, but a memoirist can revisit a specific memory over the course of their lifetime providing multiple interpretations given the circumstances in his or her life. A person who is 20 years old will tell a much different story than when they are 65 years old. So, do life experiences taint our memories? If we retail a story that is slightly different, does that mean we are wrong about what “actually” happened?

I believe Joseph Smith is a memoirist who continued his journey within the church, and overtime, he provided his own personal meanings to the first encounter with Divinity. Now, the emphasis of the First Vision in the last century may be a way to direct us to have our own encounters with Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother and Jesus Christ.

I enjoyed reading the 1832 First Vision account. I love the line: “I was filled with the spirit of God, and the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord.” His words about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father made me think of Trinitarian doctrine because the Divine beings are testifying spiritual and physical experiences. In other words, Joseph Smith is feeling and seeing the power of God and Jesus Christ. The sacred and profane come together to create this Divine moment.

I like that there are multiple accounts of the First Vision because it means our relationship with the Divine is not stagnant; we need to constantly work on our relationship with Heavenly Father, Heaven Mother, and Jesus Christ. God is not a cosmic vending machine, but when we turn to His words, we can find strength to continue forward.

We keep reinterpreting the prophecies and fulfilled prophecies of Jesus Christ, someone who lived 2000 years ago. I believe we will continue to reinterpret the meanings of Jospeh Smith’s First Vision, too.