Only a Stonecutter

T.C. Christensen has done it again! From the masterful director of photography who brought us Touch of the Master's Hand and Work & the Glory comes an unforgettable short film that beautifully depicts the life of John Moyle.

From the film's description:

There are two kinds of people in this world, those who choose to act and those who are acted upon. In 1856 John Rowe Moyle and his family chose to act by leaving their beloved England, crossing the plains with the Ellsworth handcart company to eventually settle in Alpine, Utah. Soon after their arrival John Moyle was called by Brigham Young to work as a stone mason on the Salt Lake Temple. For 20 years he walked the 22 miles to Salt Lake City to chisel his deepest convictions into granite. Even after and accident causes him to lose his leg, John continued his sojourn to the temple site each week until his death. Today his handiwork can be seen on the east side of the Temple and verbalizes the motto of John's life, "Holiness to the Lord."

Anybody who knows me knows that I love LDS art and LDS film in particular - and T.C. is among one of the finest LDS director/cinematographers out there. I worked with him on the set of Work and the Glory, and he truly is an inspired man and a brilliant filmmaker.

Mary and I first saw this film at the 2008 LDS Film festival and it took my breath away. Here we have the true story of John Moyle, a simple stone mason called to work on the Salt Lake temple in the late 1850's. After a terrible accident, Moyle finds himself without a leg and unable to make the 22 mile journey from Alpine UT to Salt Lake City to work on the Temple and complete his calling. Does that stop him? No, he fashions his own leg and straps it on - determined to serve the Lord at all costs.

That made me reflect on the kind of person that John Moyle was. His diligence in serving was truly remarkable. How many times do I think, "we'll, I tried to place a call and couldn't get a hold of anyone" when it is time to complete hometeaching. Even the title of the film inspires thoughtful reflection: Only a stone cutter, yet when you see the film you will realize that this one man's life touches others still today. It was reminiscent of a talk I read once by Bruce R. McConkie entitled "Only an Elder."

Too often people sell themselves short because of their past history, social status, role or present title. Not John Moyle. His life was truly and amazing one, and I thank T.C. for the hard work and diligence he has put into this great work. I would encourage everyone to go and get a copy of the film and watch it with their family.

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My name is my passport, verify me...

So I've been thinking about what's in a name. I was born with the name James Scott Anderson, but my parents called me Jimmy. As I grew up, I became very close to my older brother, Jason. So close, in fact, that I got confused and would sometimes introduce myself as JasonJimmy.

"Hello, I'm JasonJimmy Anderson." I'd say. I must have heard my parents calling, "Jason! Jimmy! Time to come in!" and think they were referring to me alone. I wasn't an idiot, just four.

Anyway, by third grade or so I had gotten the confusion straightened out, but by that time felt that I was much too mature to be a "Jimmy." So I began going by "James" one year. Totally threw my friends off.

After a few years, I felt that James, though my legal name, was much too stuffy for me (no offense you non-stuffy Jameses out there, esp you James S!) and that I would now be simply "Jim."

That pretty much stuck over the years, until I got into Film School and brought back the "Jimmy." I even had a few screen credits to my name using the screen name "Jimmy Anderson" which I liked because I felt it was much more memorable than plain old "Jim Anderson."

I still go by Jim to most folks, except that I have created somewhat of a system, a way to instantly process calls, emails, and mail based on the sender's use of my name. If the caller (or writer) asks for James, they don't know me at ALL and oftentimes want my money or want me to share private information with them that serves no purpose other than wasting my time and breaking down my system. If they say "Jim" they know me pretty well or have been introduced to me before, at least its not a cold call relationship. And if they call me "Jimmy" I know right away that's it's a member of my inner circle, one of my closest and dearest friends or family members. Most people who know me don't know that I think of myself as "Jimmy" and would probably laugh if they found out. Funny, huh?

One last note: Lately I have found myself creating even more names for myself as I have learned more about the lovely world of advertising. For example, if I have to fill some kind of questionaire out for say, Land's End, but I never want to be seriously contacted by that entity, I might get a bunch of coupons in the mail addressed to a Mr. "LandsEndSpam Anderson" at which point I know exactly who is out there pimping my name. Its always good for a chuckle.