Sometimes, when I speak in public, people will ask me which living LDS writers I admire. And in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there's a mighty flock of good ones. With our children’s writers, sci-fi authors, theologians and playwrights, we have the meats.
So folks seem vaguely surprised when I tell them how much I like the writing of Virginia Hinckley Pearce.
Sister Pearce’s books are few and slight. For the most part, her work appears as little meditations in magazines or as re-printed talks. But all I know is when I got a copy of the collection “At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women,” I turned to her words first.
And this week she’s been on my mind, probably because of the recent women’s session of the LDS general conference.
I met Sister Pearce 17 years ago in Bolivia at the Cochabamba Temple. Her father had just dedicated the building. Her mother had just added some fresh concrete to the cornerstone. She was standing with her brother beyond the gates. As I approached she extended her hand. “Hi, we’re the Hinckleys,” she said matter-of-factly, as if she'd said “We’re the Bagadonuts.
I haven’t spoken to her since that day.
But I have kept in touch. I keep her books “A Heart Like His” and “Through His Eyes” close at hand.
If you decide to check out her writing, let me say this. Be prepared to be un-dazzled and un-blown away. She doesn't do pyrotechniques.
What she does do is speak to a part of you that you probably keep under wraps.
I became convinced long ago that the strongest and most representative LDS writing involves giving testimony. We feel compelled to leave a witness — in our memoirs, our journal entries, our sacrament meeting talks, even in our pageants and cultural celebrations.
And the key to bearing witness is authenticity.
Mormon readers have built-in antennae that can detect a show-off or hear those faint tones of self-congratulation. I know. I’ve been accused of such displays, and rightly so.
A credible witness must not only speak from the heart, but also have a heart that's pure enough to handle scrutiny.
Enter the writing of Virginia Hinckley Pearce.
Like the Quakers of old she’s plain spoken. Like the Shakers of old she has a gift for simplicity. Her gentle voice not only makes her a reliable guide in a search for truth, but makes her a likeable travelling companion for the journey.
She brings a light touch to weighty matters and adds substance to her humor.
There’s a back-fence breeziness in her style, but she's family prayer earnest about her commitments.
And her writing is real enough to survive the gushing praise of a newspaper columnist.
In the end, let me leave you with a little witness of my own: When I get feeling a bit full of myself and think maybe C.S. Lewis should move over, the writing of Virginia Pearce helps me find perspective.
And in my slap-dash world that not only makes her writing vital.
It makes it indispensable.