🙏 More Than "Hello" ---- What Joseph Smith's School of the Prophets and the Nemenhah Greeting Teach Us About Zion
🙏 More Than "Hello"
What Joseph Smith's School of the Prophets and the Nemenhah Greeting Teach Us About Zion
Sometimes the greatest truths are hidden in the simplest things.
A handshake.
A smile.
A bow of the head.
A hand over the heart.
A quiet prayer for someone you just met.
As I studied Chapter 10 of The Book of Tsihohnayah Ahkehkthihm, I couldn't help but think about something the Lord restored through Joseph Smith nearly two hundred years ago.
📖 The School of the Prophets
In January 1833, the Lord gave Joseph Smith instructions for organizing what became known as the School of the Prophets.
One of those instructions wasn't about doctrine.
It wasn't about priesthood.
It wasn't about church government.
It was about how disciples should greet one another.
The Lord said:
"Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant... I receive you to fellowship... to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love..."
(Doctrine and Covenants 88:133–135)
Think about that.
The Lord didn't want ordinary greetings.
He wanted covenant greetings.
Every meeting was to remind the Saints:
We belong to Christ.
We belong to one another.
❤️ The Nemenhah Greeting
Now read Chapter 10.
After leading the people of Maynihntah safely into Nehspehlhem, the people honored their leader by bowing their heads and placing a hand over their hearts.
He didn't like it.
Why?
Because he didn't want anyone treating him as greater than themselves.
So he did something remarkable.
He began greeting everyone exactly the same way.
Soon the entire nation adopted the practice.
No favorites.
No special class.
No important people.
Every person received the same honor.
What began as respect for one man became respect for everyone.
That may be one of the greatest leadership lessons in the entire record.
🙏 A Prayer Without Words
The translator adds something beautiful.
This greeting was actually a prayer for the person you were greeting.
Stop and think about that.
Every meeting.
Every conversation.
Every encounter.
Someone silently prayed that God would bless you.
Can you imagine living in a society like that?
No gossip.
No competition.
No sizing people up.
Instead...
"Father, please bless my brother."
"Please bless my sister."
How different would our churches be?
Our families?
Our neighborhoods?
🤲 The Meaning Behind the Gesture
The greeting wasn't empty symbolism.
Every movement meant something.
🙇 The bowed head represented humility.
It declared:
"I do not place myself above you."
❤️ The hand over the heart represented love.
It reminded them they were one people, governing themselves through Common Consent.
Together the gesture quietly proclaimed:
We are family.
We are one in Christ.
✝️ The Common Thread
I don't believe Joseph Smith copied the Nemenhah.
Nor do I believe the Nemenhah copied Joseph Smith.
But I do believe both reveal something about the heart of God.
The Lord desires a covenant people.
Not merely people who attend meetings.
Not merely people who know scripture.
Not merely people who hold offices.
He desires people who genuinely love one another.
People who rejoice when others rejoice.
People who carry one another's burdens.
People who naturally pray for one another.
🌿 Zion Begins With Ordinary Moments
We often think Zion will come through some dramatic future event.
Maybe.
But perhaps it begins much smaller.
It begins in the grocery store.
At church.
In our homes.
At work.
In the way we greet a stranger.
In the way we speak to our spouse.
In the kindness we show to someone who can never repay us.
Zion isn't built only by great sermons.
It's built by thousands of quiet acts of covenant love.
🏡 What If We Tried It?
I'm not suggesting we all start bowing our heads and placing our hands over our hearts.
The gesture itself isn't the point.
The heart behind it is.
What if, before shaking someone's hand on Sunday, we silently prayed:
"Father, bless this person today."
What if every text message...
Every phone call...
Every visit...
Every conversation...
Began with that simple desire?
Wouldn't our hearts begin to change?
Maybe that's what the Lord was teaching in the School of the Prophets.
Maybe that's what the Nemenhah remembered.
And maybe that's one small way Zion begins—not with grand announcements, but with ordinary people choosing to love one another as Christ first loved them.
🔎 Continue the Journey
The older I get, the more I believe that the deepest truths are often the simplest.
Love your neighbor.
Pray for one another.
Honor every person as a child of God.
Whether spoken through Joseph Smith in the School of the Prophets or reflected in the customs described in the Nemenhah record, the invitation is remarkably similar:
Become the kind of people who naturally bless everyone you meet.
Because that's what friends of the Peacemaker do.
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