Heroes: Like Nephi of Old began in the summer of 1991. My original idea was a picture of a father and his young son reading The Book of Mormon. I asked a young boy, Nathan, to model for the painting.
Before we started, we talked about his favorite Book of Mormon characters and Nathan told me about Nephi. When Nathan spoke of him, he talked as if Nephi lived next door. The longer I listened, the more I came to understand that Nathan truly knew Nephi. Heroes: Like Nephi of Old emerged from this experience.
Listening to Nathan started me thinking about how close the heroes of the past are to those who listen. As I look around I am reminded that we clearly live in a world where righteousness is seldom the standard by which heroes are measured.
Nathan reminded me that heroes are only heroes if they give more than they take, if they lift more than they hinder and love more than they hurt. Nathan taught me that our greatest heroes never emerge from the pages of a comic book, but are found in our past.
