Using Comparisons to Teach the Atonement by Macy Robinson

Macy has been singing and performing since she could talk. She developed a healthy appreciation for jazz squares and Broadway show tunes as she performed in singing groups and in community theater while growing up in Utah. Her passion for performing continued through college as she majored in Music Dance Theater at Brigham Young University and toured Russia with the BYU Young Ambassadors. Macy went on to earn her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Music Education at Utah State University and The Ohio State University. After a 13-year teaching career spanning three different states teaching music to preschoolers through middle schoolers, she is thrilled to spend her days singing for her kids and capturing images of families and children as a portrait photographer. Her first album, “Children Will Listen,” was released by Shadow Mountain Records in 2011, and she toured the U.S. and Canada with her one woman show of the same name as a presenter with the Time Out for Women tour in 2011 and 2012.

Macy is the mother of two, stepmother of two and mother-in-law of two and currently lives in Austin, Texas with her shiny-armored knight of a husband.

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Using Comparisons to Teach the Atonement

by Macy Robinson

When I taught music history in my general music classes, I always tried to find ways to connect the material I was teaching to something my students would understand from their every day lives. I found it was one of the quickest ways to get a concept to “click” with my students. Comparison is a very valuable tool for increasing understanding, whether the subject is Baroque music or teaching a complex Gospel topic like the Atonement.

My favorite use of comparison to teach the Atonement is actually in the talk by Brad Wilcox that Shannon shared a few days ago. (It’s great to read, but if you have time, I’d encourage you to watch it. Brad is a master teacher.)

You can read the talk here.

You can watch him here.

In his talk, Bro. Wilcox uses one of the best comparisons I’ve ever heard to help us understand how the Atonement works. He likens the Atonement to a child taking piano lessons:

Mom pays the piano teacher…Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice.

This comparison really clicked in my brain. Maybe it’s because I took piano lessons. Maybe it’s because I’m a singer and musician. Whatever the reason, this comparison really helped me understand the Atonement in a way I didn’t before. Because this struck home with me, I was thinking about the Atonement and talking about the Atonement and thinking of ways to teach the Atonement like never before.

One thing that was helpful for me was to write down the things I learned and the insights I had, as well as making a breakdown of the parts of the analogy for myself. I analyzed Bro. Wilcox’s analogy this way:

(Here it is in a PDF) atonement

As you go through different comparisons to the Atonement from the lesson, challenge your family or class to really dig deep and study them. I’ve created a blank sheet you can use with your class, or you can work together using the board to diagram and analyze. Once your class has gone through some of the comparisons and broken them down, ask them to teach what they’ve learned about the Atonement to the rest of the class, or, better yet, ask them to come up with a comparison that comes from their own life or experiences. For example – if they are a soccer player, challenge them to figure out an analogy for the Atonement that has to do with soccer.

Are there any comparisons to the Atonement that really ring true with you?

Did your class come up with an awesome analogy that helped everyone understand the Atonement in a more personal way?

I’d love to hear about it in the comments!