Chased by an elephant...

[zil2]

I'm guessing that life-long Church members know exactly where the title of this thread comes from - at least those who grew up when Primary children were required to memorize the articles of faith:

Quote

13 We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

...Or am I wrong?  Was it only in my ward (generation?) that this ("chaste, benevolent" >> "chased by an elephant") was a thing, or is it somehow universal to the Church (in English-speaking areas anyway)?

Yes, Philippians 4:8 from this week's Come, Follow Me brought this happy memory back to me.

[Vort]

I've never heard that before, but I can see it.

[Carborendum]

I'm reminded of Ramona Quimbey:  The "downserly" light.

This gives me some material for my lesson this week.

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, true, chased by an elephant, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Carborendum

[zil2]

Apparently it was limited to our little corner of low-density Zion.  Sigh.  I was hoping for evidence of spontaneous linguistic humor generation...

[MrShorty]

I had heard this before. I don't think I heard it as a youth, it was sometime after growing up, but I don't recall exactly when I first heard it.

[Vort]

21 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I'm reminded of Ramona Quimbey:  The "downserly" light.

Oh, say, can you see it?

[NeuroTypical]

1 hour ago, zil2 said:

"chaste, benevolent" >> "chased by an elephant"

My wife and I grew up 20 miles away from each other in SLC.  She knew it, I didn't.  

[Vort]

41 minutes ago, zil2 said:

Apparently it was limited to our little corner of low-density Zion.  Sigh.  I was hoping for evidence of spontaneous linguistic humor generation...

When my mother was a girl, she thought that the hymn was saying yoo-hoo unto Jesus. "Yoo-hoo, Jesus!" She thought it a bit informal, but when you're a child, you just accept things as they are, or at least as you perceive them to be.

EDIT: For the benefit of @Jamie123, @prisonchaplain, and other friends who may not be familiar with LDS hymns: The "LDS version" (if I can call it that) of "How Firm a Foundation" used to have the first verse as follows:

How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said—
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

This was actually compounded by how it's sung; the "You who unto Jesus" part is repeated three times in the chorus before the final four words are sung.

Since the release of the 1985 hymnal, this final line has been updated to "...Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?" I'm sure it's exactly for the above reason, though I never actually thought about "Yoo-hoo! Jesus!", so I never understood why they changed it until my mother told us what she had thought. Then it all became clear.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Vort

[mordorbund]

My brother introduced the phrase to us when we lived in Texas back in the last century.

Later I learned others knew the joke too.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/1988/01/charades?lang=eng
 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/1989/03/brother-to-brother-part-three?lang=eng
 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/1997/01/doing-good-to-all-men?lang=eng

[Backroads]

[zil2]

1 hour ago, mordorbund said:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/1988/01/charades?lang=eng

Well, there you go!  It's official doctrine!  Latter-day Saints believe in being chased by an elephant!

[prisonchaplain]

6 hours ago, zil2 said:

I"chaste, benevolent" >> "chased by an elephant") was a thing, or is it somehow universal to the Church (in English-speaking areas anyway)?

Is this the LDS version of that great Old Testament story about Shadrach, Meshach, and "Into-Bed-You-Go"?

[rcthompson88]

Almost as good as the old Tabernacle Choir song where they sing, "We will go rejoicing, bringing in the cheese!"

[pam]

3 hours ago, Backroads said:

You beat me to it.

 

[prisonchaplain]

Forrest Gump on God's name:

Hey Forest, what's God's name?

It's Andy!

Andy? How'd you come up with that?

It's in the song: Andy walked with me / Andy Talked with me / Andy tells me I am His own...

 

Hey Forest, what's God's name?

It's Howard!

Howard? How'd you come up with that?

It's in the prayer: Our Father who art in heaven, Howard be thy name.

[askandanswer]

3 hours ago, Backroads said:

I remember this photo clearly, it was taken in the late 1970s. The girl in the yellow jacket is Joanne. The elephant on the right with the big tusks is Bob.

The Article of Faith race was a regular event in my Primary. As an incentive to help us learn the Articles of Faith faster, we would line up at the starting point in the carpark. The elephants were 20 meters behind us. We would both start the race together. If we made it across the carpark while correctly reciting an Article of Faith, we were safe. If not, we would be “tusked.” I think the same technique was used to help prospective elders learn the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. It was a very effective teaching technique, but eventually the Bishop put a stop to it because the cost of feeding the elephants was too much of a drain on the ward budget. 

Edited October 13, 2023 by askandanswer

[Vort]

2 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

I remember this photo clearly, it was taken in the late 1970s. The girl in the yellow jacket is Joanne. The elephant on the right with the big tusks is Bob.

The Article of Faith race was a regular event in my Primary. As an incentive to help us learn the Articles of Faith faster, we would line up at the starting point in the carpark. The elephants were 20 meters behind us. We would both start the race together. If we made it across the carpark while correctly reciting an Article of Faith, we were safe. If not, we would be “tusked.” I think the same technique was used to help prospective elders learn the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. It was a very effective teaching technique, but eventually the Bishop put a stop to it because the cost of feeding the elephants was too much of a drain on the ward budge. 

They do things differently down under. For example, I find the elephants surprising, but I had no idea you guys had a ward budge.

[askandanswer]

1 minute ago, Vort said:

They do things differently down under. For example, I find the elephants surprising, but I had no idea you guys had a ward budge.

That's how we moved our ward along the straight and narrow path - one budge at a time. 

[Carborendum]

54 minutes ago, prisonchaplain said:

Forrest Gump on God's name:

Hey Forest, what's God's name?

It's Andy!

Andy? How'd you come up with that?

It's in the song: Andy walked with me / Andy Talked with me / Andy tells me I am His own...

 

Hey Forest, what's God's name?

It's Howard!

Howard? How'd you come up with that?

It's in the prayer: Our Father who art in heaven, Howard be thy name.

I thought it was Our Father Howard in heaven.

[prisonchaplain]

9 ^aAfter this manner therefore ^bpray ye: Our ^cFather which art in heaven, ^dHallowed be thy ^ename.

[askandanswer]

And it is definitely not hallo to our father which farts in heaven

[Carborendum]

9 hours ago, prisonchaplain said:

9 ^aAfter this manner therefore ^bpray ye: Our ^cFather which art in heaven, ^dHallowed be thy ^ename.

So, his name is Art?

Our Father which is Art in heaven.

[Carborendum]

18 hours ago, zil2 said:

I'm guessing that life-long Church members know exactly where the title of this thread comes from - at least those who grew up when Primary children were required to memorize the articles of faith:

I do remember one adult saying this when I was a kid.  But at the time, my understanding of linguistic anomalies was wanting.  So, I just looked at him in confusion as I tried to correct him.  He just laughed at me, leaving me bewildered.

[Jamie123]

23 hours ago, zil2 said:

...Or am I wrong?  Was it only in my ward (generation?) that this ("chaste, benevolent" >> "chased by an elephant") was a thing, or is it somehow universal to the Church (in English-speaking areas anyway)?

It reminds me of Meat Loaf: "I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram, I'm Cilla Black fan on a bike!" (Correct lyric: "on a silver black phantom bike")

[Vort]

3 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:

It reminds me of Meat Loaf: "I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram, I'm Cilla Black fan on a bike!" (Correct lyric: "on a silver black phantom bike")

And as we all know, Kilimanjaro rises like a, um...leopard...above the Serengeti.