Allegory of the olive tree

As I was reading the allegory of the olive tree this week, I realized that the allegory can double as a template for a Mormon spirituality based on discerning selectivity, interreligious exchange, hybridization, and experimentation. Okay—that last sentence was pretty heavy on the academic jargon. Let me explain what I mean.

The lord of the vineyard has a tree whose roots produce both good fruit and bad fruit. In order to reap a greater harvest of good fruit, the bad branches have to be cleared away.
This is how I approach the Mormon tradition. On the basis of my own experience, and the experiences of others that I've been able to observe (for instance, as a missionary), I know that the Mormon tradition has roots in the Spirit. It has brought forth over the years, and continues to bring forth, a lot of good fruit: faith, hope, charity, service, sacrifice, enlightenment, spiritual power, strengthened relationships, expansive visions of human possibility, calls for justice and equity. But the tradition has also produced, and continues to produce, a lot of bad fruit: sexism, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, cultural imperialism, anti-intellectualism, dogmatism, unrighteous dominion. Critical reflection is needed to distinguish the good fruit from the bad fruit. Being Mormon in a spiritually healthy and fruitful way means being discerning and selective in your commitment to Mormonism. (The same would be true of any spiritual tradition.)

To produce a greater harvest of good fruit, branches from the tame tree are grafted onto wild trees, and vice-versa.
This is an image of exchange. As the lord of the vineyard nourishes his trees through an exchange of branches, so my personal spirituality is nourished through religious and philosophical exchange. I carry Mormon ideas and practices with me into other kinds of environments: my academic studies, my work or worship with other faith communities. My Mormon conceptual frameworks shape the understanding or meaning I make out of these experiences. At the same time, while my spirituality is primarily Mormon, it is enriched by ideas or practices borrowed from other religious or philosophical traditions. My encounter with Catholic liberation theology, for example, has shaped the way I read LDS scripture. I thus participate in a two-way process of spiritual exchange, offering up what I already have (as on this blog) and receiving what others have to offer. When I worship at the Episcopal Church of the Advocate, for example, I am grafting onto my spirituality Christian liturgical traditions that have not formed part of the Mormon tradition; but at the same time, the significance these worship experiences hold for me is shaped by the distinctively Mormon ways of thinking I bring with me into that space, or the distinctively Mormon texts and language I use to interpret my encounters with the Spirit. Also, on certain occasions, I've been able to "graft" Mormon texts or customs into other religious settings (such as interfaith services).

The lord of the vineyard hybridizes his trees in order to improve the harvest.
There's a strong tradition of Mormon discourse about purity—about keeping outside influences from contaminating the community of Saints. We also had in Mormonism a long and shameful tradition of discourse about preserving racial purity. The allegory of the olive tree, however, represents a very different kind of discourse. This is not a story about purity. This is a story that celebrates mingling. It's a story about God creating hybrids. All the grafting of branches back and forth that goes on in this story works to break down distinctions like tame and wild, or Jew and Gentile, or Mormon and non-Mormon, or insider and outsider. In this allegory, the creation of hybrid forms is an important way that the strength of the tame tree's roots is able to manifest itself in the production of good fruit.

In a similar way, I can attest to the power of hybrid spiritual forms. Mingling (or combining, or hybridizing) Mormon and non-Mormon traditions is one way that I've kept the Mormon tradition alive in my life over the years. A few years back, around the time that I came to accept that I wasn't moving away from Mormonism, like I thought, and that this tradition was going to remain my primary medium for encountering God—around that time, I was using the rosary as a tool for personal devotion and meditation, but instead of the prayers that Catholics use with the rosary, I would recite verses of LDS scripture. This hybridization of traditions was an important feature of my prayer life at that time.

The lord of the vineyard and his servant have to experiment to determine which exchanges or hybrid forms will continue to produce good fruit over the long term; not all of their experiments work out.
The same is true of religious exchange or hybridization: Some things I've tried in my spirituality have worked out, some haven't. Some concepts or practices that bore good fruit at certain times in my life eventually became less meaningful. Some things that were inspirational for me when I was a missionary, for example, I now find deeply misguided. That's the nature of spiritual growth. But as the lord of the vineyard remained committed to his tame olive tree because of his faith in the vitality of its roots, so I remain committed to rooting myself in Mormonism, even as I experiment with different ways of tapping into the strength of those roots.

A final thought about this allegory: If we interpret the lord of the vineyard as God, and his servant as Christ, then we learn from this allegory that if God is nurturing, patient, longsuffering, etc., Christ is even more so. When I realized that, I thought: What an incredible, and challenging, model for Christian discipleship—to be even more patient and longsuffering with others then we imagine a just God would be. The Spirit also drew my attention to the fact that the servants of the Lord are sent forth in power, the Lord working with them, to nourish (5:72; 6:2). Nourishment as the essence of Christian mission. I'll make that the theme of my sacramental reflection today.

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Lord of the vineyard—

I give thanks for the many ways that my life has been enriched by religious exchange and hybridity.
I give thanks for the Spirit's continuing guidance as I seek to make the Mormon tradition bear fruit in my life.
I give thanks for the many ways you have nourished me.
I give thanks for the opportunities I have had to serve you in nourishing others.

I pray for a spirit of discernment as I continue to engage with Mormon traditions.
I pray for greater openness among the Latter-day Saints to critical reflection on our tradition.
I pray that the good fruits of Mormonism will increase and that the bad will be cleared away.

As I take the sacrament today, I'll be thinking about how you have nourished me over the years through the gift of your Son.
I pray that you will nourish those whose names I have in my mind and heart.
Teach me to be more nurturing—as a teacher, as a friend, as a family member, as a partner.

In Christ's name, amen.