Well, I thought of this post as I read the comments. :)

“Do we hold patriarchal blessings in such high esteem—higher, even, than our prophets? And if so, should we?”

Maybe i’m still missing your point, but i don’t see the value in trying to prioritize patriarchal blessings vs. prophets. The way i see it, revelation is revelation. Wouldn’t it make for a better discussion to talk about how we struggle or strive to follow or apply a revelation rather than talk about its ranking with other revelation? The only thing i meant to accuse you of is not asking a better question. You were my most memorable home-teacher and gospel doctrine teacher in college. I have a tremendous respect for your intelligence and wisdom, not to mention your other many fine qualities. Y’know i love you buddy. BTW i’m moving to the SLC area soon…how do i get in touch with you? We need to do some serious catching up.

Please re-read the post. I have not questioned the “efforts and faithfulness of the Lord’s servants” — rather, as a faithful latter-day saint, I am keenly aware that we have been taught that we do not consider our leaders infallible. So I posited an honest query.

Maybe the calamity didn’t happen because he wasn’t worthy enough?

Or maybe it didn’t happen because he was warned it would happen and was thusly more careful.

I do not know much about Patriarchal blessings. I know that leaders of the Church make no claim of being infallible. I am not sure how these works with Patriarchal blessings.

Patriarchal Blessings trouble me greatly. It is quite often that I hear of someone whose life hasn’t followed the pattern suggested in their PB, and it leads them to believe that they haven’t been “worthy or faithful enough.” I believe that many LDS take PB’s far too literally.

Also, I have never understood why we hold a blessing from a patriarch, often someone you’ve never met until you receive the blessing, in higher regard than a blessing received from our own fathers.

I think that LDS members tend to see Patriarchal Blessings as divinely-inspired gypsy fortunes.

And this is reinforced by almost every lesson I’ve been apart of that talks about Patriarchal Blessings. Someone usually bring up a sister, wife or cousin that is told in their blessing that they’d be married with a large family, but are somehow still single at age 60. So of course they’re told that it must be talking about the “next life”.

What are you supposed to think about a sheet of paper that supposedly outlines your life, but anytime it doesn’t match can easily be tossed away as being part of your life in heaven or you weren’t worthy enough so the roadmap was incorrect? It sure seems more mystic or a “fortune” to me. And pretty much anyone I’ve talked to speaks of it in the same way (to varying degrees of course). Patriarchal blessings have this almost creepy magical aura that seems to surround them in the church (at least in church culture).

Don’t even get me started on one of my mission companion that worriedly showed me his PB that told him he would return from his mission early because of a great calamity, but would be able to finish that mission in his golden years with a beautiful wife. Yep, you guessed it. He finished his mission without a calamity to anywhere in his life. Maybe the calamity didn’t happen because he wasn’t worthy enough?

Case in point, the PB my s-i-l received told her she would be both mother AND father to her children. She freaked presuming her husband would die at the delivery table of their last born in the wilderness. This has not been the case. However her husband’s career has been such that after their last born he has been on the road or gone from the home a LOT! Was that the intended meaning? Maybe, maybe not.

I also think that much of our blessings depend on what is intended for us and what we choose to do with those intentions.

I was given a particular admonition and chose to disregard it. That one point sent me through a particularly difficult phase of life. Had I bent low and humbled myself, did things completely against my nature and natural will, and followed what at times still seems contrary to my personal identity – let’s just say it would have been difficult for a period of time but easier in the long run.

Had I followed those admonitions with blind and complete faith and not my own understanding of them in the first place, I would have been miserable for some time, not knowing why, and maybe never seeing the “why”, but still blessed in the long run.

Going off on my personal comfort and course allowed me to make that mistake, learn from it and get back to what the Lord had intended for me; and in hindsight see the wisdom in the original blessing wording.