Why Is Omni Important to Us?

A few weeks ago, we read Omni as part of our “Come Follow Me” reading. Since then, I’ve been thinking a lot about Omni, both the man himself and the book as a whole. Despite this being a short book with only 30 verses, there are several lessons we can get from it.

Omni The Man

In the second verse of Omni, he uses phrases such as “I of myself am a wicked man” and “I have not kept the statutes and the commandments of the Lord as I ought to have done.” While I’ve read these words many times throughout my life, for some reason, this time they stuck with me more than they usually do. I found myself wondering about Omni as a person and not just as the name of a book in the Book of Mormon.

How I Invision Him

Please note, that these are 100% my own thoughts. I imagine Omni as one of two types of men. First, he could be hard on himself. Maybe, he hasn’t been perfect, but he’s done pretty well. He’s more inclined to see where he’s gone wrong than what he’s done right. Maybe, he looks up to the previous men of the Book of Mormon, including his father, Jarom. He feels he’s fallen short because he doesn’t think he’s as righteous as previous Book of Mormon contributors.

Second, he could be more of an Alma the Younger sort of guy. Maybe, Omni, like Alma the Younger, made some bad decisions as a teenager or a young adult. Perhaps, he even has a conversion story similar to Alma the Younger’s story.

What We Can Learn From Omni

As I envision Omni as a man who’s a bit hard on himself, I can definitely relate. It is sometimes easier to see where I’ve gone wrong than to see what I’ve done right. I feel his pain. Yes, I realize it’s Satan trying to discourage me, but knowing that doesn’t always take the feelings of discouragement away. Fortunately, through this discouragement, I can continue to try my best. I can attempt to do what I need to do to fulfill Heavenly Father’s plan for me. For Omni, that included contributing his three verses to the record. For each of us, it will be something different.

If Omni’s more of the Alma the Younger type, the lesson is about repentence. Repentence is real. We can fall off the path. We can even fall really far off the path. Falling off the path, though, doesn’t mean it’s over. Even when we’ve done things that are against the commandments, there is still hope through Christ’s Atonement. We can repent, come back to Christ, and move forward with a determination to do better next time.

And Then There’s the Third Option

Yes, there is always the third option. Omni could be a completely wicked man. He could have done some really terrible things in his life and never repented. While this is a possibility, I doubt this is the real Omni. When I imagine Omni, I can’t imagine him as this man. I feel like anyone who was obedient enough to contribute his part to the Book of Mormon must be doing something right. I highly doubt he’s recording his part completely based on an obligation to keep the record going or out of a promise to his father that he’d contribute. Maybe, I’m wrong, though.

If this is the real Omni, we can still learn a great lesson. Obedience starts with the small things. Even if Omni wasn’t living the most righteous life, he chose to be obedient to his father and record his part in the plates. He then chose to pass the record to his son, Amaron. Omni could have said, “Nope, I don’t believe any of this. I’m not going to do this. I really don’t care about the records. Someone else can deal with them.” His obedience allowed these records to be available for us. If he had not done that, someone else may have stepped up and taken over the records. I really don’t know. As is the case with many things in life, though, we never know the ripple effect of our obedience.

I Wish I Knew More

Of all the people in the Book of Mormon, I think Omni is the one I wish I knew more about. I’d love to hear his story. He really only hints at it in his three verses. I don’t know whether his story was included in the lost 116 pages. If so, it would be great to read it. What did he do right? Where did he go wrong (or think he’d gone wrong)? Was he really making horrible decisions, or was he just being hard on himself?

Other Lessons Learned in Omni

As I mentioned earlier, of the 30 verses in Omni, only the first three were written by him. Other writers in this book include Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki. These short messages can teach us important lessons.

Genealogy

Every one of the writers in this book shares his connection to the previous writer. We’ve got fathers passing the record down to their sons as well as two brothers both contributing to the record. These small reminders about each man’s connections to the previous man remind us how important family history should be in our lives. Knowing that connection allows us to connect with our families, both ancestors and future generations.

The Importance of Each Individual Person

Omni provides us with a quick history of five men. Heavenly Father wanted each man to check in. For some, they are telling us their name, their connection to the previous man, and not a whole lot more. Their one or two verses might seem insignificant when compared to all the verses in all the scriptures. Yet, over 2,000 years later, we know the names of these men, just as Heavenly Father knows your name.

To me, these verses are reminders that each person is important. We each have a role. We have something to leave the world. For these men, millions of people have read their names. The part they play in the scriptures is small but important.

I think it’s worth noting that Omni is not even the major writer in this book. He’s simply the first writer in the book. If the book were named after the man who contributed the most words to the book, it would be called “Amaleki.”

Keep a Journal

I feel like this connects well to both of the previous two sections. Each man wrote in the record. I’m sure it was way harder to record their few sentences than it is for us now to write a few sentences about our own lives. Each man wrote a record, which shows a desire to be obedient. Yet, these small glimpses of these men’s lives don’t provide the same level of information about these men as we get from some of the other Book of Mormon writers, such as Nephi, Mormon, or Moroni.

Regular journal-keeping can allow those who come after us to get to know us even if they never meet us physically in this life. I can definitely say that I feel like I know Nephi and Mormon a lot better than I know Omni or Chemish. This is based on the amount of records available for me to read about each man.

Obedience and Beyond

Of course, obedience is also emphasized by the last four writers in Omni. They were obedient and did their part to keep the record going. I’m sure there are many other lessons I missed. Maybe, next time around, I’ll see a whole new set of lessons to learn.