The Gospel's Accessories.
Many Ways to the Heart.—There is only one way into the Kingdom of Heaven, but there are many ways into the human heart; and the Church of Christ, in its mission of promulgating truth and turning souls to righteousness, has legitimate use for every avenue to that heart. Poetry, music, art in general, as well as science and philosophy—all these can be utilized as auxiliaries in the carrying on of the Lord's manifold work. They may not be essential parts of the divine message, but they prepare the way for its acceptance and are the forerunners of greater things. This, to my thinking, is the main reason why they are in the world. There is something purifying, ennobling, exalting, in all true poetry, true music, real science and genuine philosophy.
The Poet's Mission.—"The poets of the world," says the poetic Dr. Holland, "are the prophets of humanity. They forever reach after and foresee the ultimate good. They are evermore building the paradise that is to be, painting the millennium that is to come, restoring the lost image of God in the human soul. When the world shall reach the poet's ideal, it will arrive at perfection; and much good will it do the world to measure itself by this ideal and struggle to lift the real to its lofty level."[1]
In the light of such a noble utterance, how paltry the ordinary concept of the poet as a mere verse-builder. His true mission is to exalt the ideal, and encourage the listless or struggling real to advance toward it and eventually attain perfection.
Dreamers and Builders.—In this age of money-worship, the poet is often referred to, and at times even ridiculed, as a "dreamer." But the ridicule, when applied to a real poet, a true son or daughter of the Muses, is pointless. The poetisa dreamer; but so is the architect and the projector of railroads. All creative minds are dreamful, imaginative, poetic. Were it otherwise, nothing worth while would be created. If there were no dreamers, there would be no builders. Both are necessary to progress. Every art and every science has its share of poetic idealism, of poetic enthusiasm, and must have it, in order to achieve best results.
Well worthy of a place beside Doctor Holland's beautiful thought on poets and their ideals, is the following sentiment on dreamers, from the pen of the popular essayist, James Allen: "As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as therealitieswhich it shall one day see and know. Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity would perish."[2]
Poets and Prophets.—Poets are prophets of a lesser degree; and the prophets are the mightiest of the poets. They hold the key to the symbolism of the universe, and they alone are qualified to interpret it.
Prophets, mightiest of the poets,They to whom the Gods tell secrets,Doing naught till true revealingsHave made wise their trusted servants,Who in turn make wise the people;Bringing past and future presentFor the betterment of all men,Earth for every change preparingOn her pilgrimage to glory.[3]
Prophets, mightiest of the poets,They to whom the Gods tell secrets,Doing naught till true revealingsHave made wise their trusted servants,Who in turn make wise the people;Bringing past and future presentFor the betterment of all men,Earth for every change preparingOn her pilgrimage to glory.[3]
Rhymes and Rhymesters.—There are rhymesters who are neither poets nor prophets; and there are prophets and poets who never build a verse nor make a rhyme. Rhyme is no essential element of poetry. Versification is an art used by the poet to make his thought more attractive. The rhyme pleases the ear and helps the sentiment to reach the heart—a ticket of admission, as it were. A musical instrument is painted and gilded, not to improve its melodic or harmonic powers, but to make it beautiful to the eye, while its music appeals to the ear and charms the soul. Rhyme sustains about the same relation to poetry, as paint or gold leaf to the piano or organ. Clothing adds nothing to one's stature, to one's mental or moral worth; but it enables one to appear well in society. "The apparel" may "proclaim," but it does notmake"the man." Neither does rhyme make poetry.
The Essence of Poetry.—The essence of poetry is its idealism, its symbolism. The Creator has built his universe upon symbols, the lesser suggesting and leading up to the greater; and the poetic faculty—possessed in fulness by the prophet—recognizes and interprets them. "All things have their likeness.'[4]All creations testify of their creator. They point to something above and beyond themselves. That is why poetry of the highest order is always prophetic or infinitely suggestive; and that is why the poet is a prophet, and why there is such a thing as poetic prose.
"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."[5]
That is poetry, real poetry, full of rhythm, yet having no rhyme.
Above and Beyond.—Anything is poetic that suggests something greater than itself. The lilies of the field suggested to the Savior's poetic mind the glory of Solomon. He used them as a means of instilling into the minds of his doubting disciples the great lesson of trust in Providence.
Man, fashioned in the divine image, suggests God, and is therefore "a symbol of God," as Carlyle affirms.[6]But Joseph Smith said it first and more fully. He declared God to be "An Exalted Man." To narrow minds, this is blasphemy. To the broad-minded, it is poetry—poetry of the sublimest type.
Poetic Ordinances.—The bread and water used in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, represent something greater than those emblems—something above and beyond. The whole sacred ceremony is a poem in word and action.
The same is true of Baptism, which stands for birth, creation, burial and resurrection. Fatherhood and motherhood are both symbolized in the baptismal ordinance, the true form of which is immersion. Any deviation from that mode destroys its poetic suggestiveness, its symbolism.
The Greatest Poet and Prophet.—Jesus Christ, the greatest of all prophets, was likewise the greatest of all poets. He comprehended the universe and its symbolism as no one else ever did or could. He knew it through and through. What wonder? Had he not created it, and was it not made to bear record of him?[7]He taught in poetic parables, taking simple things as types of greater things, and teaching lessons that lead the mind upward towards the ideal, towards perfection. The Gospel of Christ is replete with poetry. It is one vast poem from beginning to end.
What of Philosophy—"Philosophy is the account which the human mind gives to itself of the constitution of the world." So says that great modern philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson.[8]In Article Eleven I have pointed out the similarity between Plato's concept of causes that produced the universe, and Joseph Smith's teaching upon the origin and purpose of the great plan of eternal progression. But Joseph did not get his philosophy from Plato. He had it directly from the divine Source of Plato's inspiration. There is no plagiarism in this semi-paralleling of a sublime thought. In like manner Confucius taught, in a negative way, the Golden Rule, afterwards taught affirmatively and more fully by Jesus of Nazareth. Truth, whether uttered by ancient sage or by modern seer, is worthy of all acceptance.
Emerson on "Compensation."—Few things of a philosophic nature appeal to me more strongly than Emerson's great essay on "Compensation." Says that master of thought and expression: "Every excess causes a defect; every defect an excess. Every sweet hath its sour, every evil its good. Every faculty which is a receiver of pleasure, has an equal penalty put on its abuse. It is to answer for its moderation with its life."
"Nature hates monopolies and exceptions. The waves of the sea do not more speedily seek a level from their loftiest tossing, than the varieties of conditions tend to equalize themselves. There is always some leveling circumstance that puts down the overbearing, the strong, the rich, the fortunate, substantially on the same ground with all others."
"The farmer imagines power and place are fine things. But the President has paid dear for his White House."
"The cheat, the defaulter, the gambler, cannot extort the benefit, cannot extort the knowledge of material and moral nature which his honest care and pains yield to the operative. The law of nature is, Do the thing, and you shall have the power; but they why do not the thing have not the power."
"As the royal armies sent against Napoleon, when he approached, cast down their colors and from enemies became friends, so do disasters of all kinds, as sickness, offense, poverty, prove benefactors."
"Our strength grows out of our weakness. Not until we are pricked and stung and sorely shot at, awakens the indignation which arms itself with secret forces. Blame is safter than praise."
"The history of persecution is a history of endeavors to cheat nature, to make water run up hill, to twist a rope of sand. The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of fame; every prison a more illustrious abode; every burned book or house enlightens the world. It is the whipper who is whipped, and the tyrant who is undone."
"The changes which break up at short intervals the prosperity of men, are advertisements of a nature whose law is growth. We cannot part with our friends. We cannot part our friends. We cannot let our angels go. We do not see that they only go out, that archangels may come in."
"The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character." And the man or woman who would have remained a sunny garden flower, with no room for its roots and too much sunshine for its head, by the falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardener, is made the banian of the forest yielding shade and fruit to wide neighborhoods of men."[9]
Divers Teachers.—Philosophy, like poetry, wins its way, where Truth's fulness, preached in power, might offend. The plain blunt message of the prophet who comes proclaiming, "Thus saith the Lord," repels and antagonizes many who will listen to and be impressed by the philosopher, with his cogent reasoning; or charmed by the poet, with his melodious verse and appealing illustrations; or won over by the scientist, with his clear-cut, convincing demonstrations. All kinds of teachers go before the prophet, preparing his way, or follow after him, confirming his testimony.[10]
The Divine Art.—Music softens the heart, thus preparing the way before the Gospel. "The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me," saith the Lord.[11]Nothing brings the good spirit into a meeting more quickly than sweet and soulful singing, especially when choir and congregation join. Tourists come in a constant stream to listen to the organ and the choir in our great Tabernacle. The Gospel is not always preached to them; they do not always desire it. But they are mellowed by the music, and go away with kinder feelings toward, and a better understanding of, the people who build such instruments, organize such choirs, and rear such structures. Their works speak for them. Depraved wretches, such as the majority of Utah's people are falsely represented to be, do not love music, care nothing for poetry and philosophy, do not cultivate the arts and sciences, nor rear tabernacles and temples unto God.
Seeing and Hearing.—In the year 1875 President Ulysses S. Grant came to Utah—the first Executive of the Nation to set foot within the Territory, now a State. It was at a time when, all over this broad land, bitter prejudice against the Latter-day Saints prevailed. It was freely asserted that the man who had finished with the South, would "make short work" of Utah and the "Mormons." Among the places visited by the President and his party during their stay, was the Salt Lake Tabernacle, where he heard the organ played by Joseph J. Daynes. What the President thought of it, I never learned; but Mrs. Grant, her face streaming with tears, turned to Captain Hooper, who had been Utah's delegate in Congress, and said with deep feeling: "I wish I could do something for these good Mormon people." The music had touched her heart, and perhaps the heart of her noble husband; for Grant was noble, though yielding at times to intense prejudice.[12]
No Substitute for the Gospel.—Let it not be supposed, however, that music, poetry, painting, sculpture, science, or any other thing, can take the place of the great uplifting Plan whereby the world, already redeemed, is yet to be glorified. No gift can vie with the Giver, no creature usurp the functions of the Creator. He will use everything true and good and beautiful to melt the hearts of men and prepare them to be saved; but salvation itself comes only by one route—the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the great Ideal, and it must be honored and maintained as such. In dealing with it, no Procrustean process is permissible. It must not be chopped off because men think it too long, nor stretched out because they deem it too short. It did not come into the world to be mutilated. Revelation cannot bow down to tradition. Truth is the standard—truth as Heaven reveals it—and the opinions and theories of men must give way. The Gospel's accessories are no substitute for the Gospel.
1. Lessons in Life, by Timothy Titcomb (J. G. Holland)—Lesson 22, "The Poetic Test."
2. As a Man Thinketh, "Visions and Ideals."
3. "Love and the Light," p. 68.
4. Moses 6:63.
5. Matt. 6:28, 29; Luke 12:27.
6. Sartor Resartus, 3, "Symbols."
7. Moses 6:63.
8. Representative Men, Plato, p. 51.
9. Emerson's Essays, 3, "Compensation."
10. A friend of mine, a medical practitioner, was conversing with a learned physician in the great city of London. The subject was the Word of Wisdom (D. & C. 89) wherein the Lord, after deprecating the use of strong drink, tobacco and other things "not good for man," goes on to say that "all wholesome herbs," "every fruit in the season thereof," and all grains are ordained for man's use. "Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine and for all beasts of the field and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks," etc. The learned man asked: "Where did Joseph Smith get this information? These teachings are based upon scientific principles, recognized as such by the medical profession; but they are of comparatively recent discovery. They were not known in Joseph Smith's time." My friend, being a Latter-day Saint, did not lose the opportunity thus afforded of bearing testimony to Joseph Smith's mission as a prophet.
11. D. & C. 25:12.
12. Before reaching the Tabernacle, President Grant passed up South Temple Street, lined on both sides with sabbath school children, neatly and tastefully attired, waving banners and mottoes of welcome in honor of the nation's chief. Riding in an open carriage, and running the gauntlet of applause and cheers, the honored guest turned to the Governor of Utah, Hon. George W. Emery, who sat beside him, and inquired: "What children are these?" "Mormon children," replied the Governor. "The Silent Man" mused for a moment, and was then heard to murmur, "I have been deceived."
He never was deceived again—in the same way. He could trust his eyes when he looked upon those beautiful children. They were not the product of crime and depravity, not the offspring of savages and criminals. He could trust his ears, too, when he heard that choir and that organ. No one could make him believe, after his visit to the "Mormon City," that its inhabitants were as black as they had been painted.
What Are Miracles?
Not Contrary to Law.—Miracles are results flowing from superior means and methods of doing things. They do not happen contrary to law. They are in strict conformity therewith. It could not be otherwise; for the universe, natural and supernatural, is governed by law. But there are greater laws and lesser laws, and the greater have power to suspend the operation of the lesser. When this occurs, people exclaim: "A miracle!" Others say: "It never happened, for it is contrary to law." And indeed it may seem contrary to ordinary law, with the workings of which their everyday experience is familiar. But that does not prove it contrary to some higher law concerning which they may know little or nothing.
Elisha and the Axe.—When the Prophet Elisha relieved the distress of the young man who had lost an axe—a borrowed axe—in the stream on the bank of which he was hewing timber,[1]it may have been supposed, by some skeptical on-looker, that the man of God was working in opposition to law. The account given states that "he cut down a stick" and cast it into the water, and "the iron did swim"—in spite of the fact that it is the nature of iron to sink. The law of gravitation required that the axe remain at the bottom of the stream, unless, by the application of some counter-force, ordinary or otherwise, it could be recovered. The force applied in this case was extraordinary. Elisha invoked a law superior to the law of gravitation, suspending its complete action upon that particular piece of iron.[2]
Scientific Achievements.—Today, iron ships are floating upon every sea. While this is not a miracle such as Elisha wrought, it would have been deemed a miracle in earlier ages of the world, before such wonders became commonplace. The achievements of modern science, compared with past conditions in the same field of thought and action, ought to convince any reasonable mind that the days of miracles are not over.
Light Production.—Men once made light by briskly rubbing together two pieces of wood, until friction generated flame. Gas light or electric light, with the present means of producing them, would have filled the souls of such men with fear and wonder. To them it would have been a miracle. And yet, to press a button or turn a switch, and thus obtain light, is a very clumsy device—or will be so considered when men learn to make light as God made it on the morning of creation.[3]
"The Earth Moves."—The telegraph, the telephone, the electric car, the automobile, the airship—these and a hundred other marvelous manifestations of scientific power, now quite common, would have been deemed visionary and impossible in former ages. To have avowed even a belief in them would have imperiled one's life or deprived him of his liberty, in the days when Galileo was threatened with torture for declaring that the earth moves, or when women, in later times were hanged or burned as witches for nothing at all. So dangerous is human prejudice, in its fanatical opposition to things new and strange. This, of course, refers only to former ages and to semibenighted peoples. We would not have done as our forefathers did! So each generation thinks. Let us be thankful that the earth "does move," and that the mind of man moves with it, so that perils such as confronted Galileo and others of his class are now less likely to show their ugly features.
The Other Extreme.—But just a word of caution here. We must not rush to the opposite extreme, and become obsessed with that ultra-practical spirit which would make all things commonplace, not only in manifestation, but in origin. Miracles, after all, are facts, not fictions, and some of them have their causes far back of and beyond the known principles of science.
Disbelief in Divine Interposition.—But there is a disposition in these modern days to do away with everything savoring of the supernatural, "Higher Criticism," so-called, seems to regard this as its special mission. Some people, even if they give credence to works of wonder, invariably refer them to ordinary causes—anything rather than acknowledge divine interposition.
Moses and the Red Sea.—For instance, when they read of Moses parting the waters of the Red Sea, they either deny the event in toto, or set Moses and the miracle aside, and substitute some convulsion of nature as the accidental cause of the mighty deliverance, when those waters, after allowing the Israelites to pass through in safety, returned just in time to engulf their pursuing enemies, the Egyptians.[4]
A very convenient earthquake, truly! Nothing could have been more timely! But why could not Divine Power have done it all—done it designedly, in the manner and with the means specified in the sacred narrative?[5]Is God impotent in the presence of Nature—fettered by his own creation? Alas! these learned theorists believe not in God, and that is why they deny his works and put nature with its blind forces in his stead.
Joshua and the Sun.—They laugh to scorn the idea of Joshua commanding the sun to stand still, deeming it "a sin and a disgrace" that such things should be preached and taught, and denying, of course, that the miracle ever took place. Because, forsooth, the whole solar system would have come crashing down into chaos, had the sun halted for one moment in its decreed course! Yes, that might have happened, such a calamity might have occurred—had there been no God to uphold the solar system and administer the law for its preservation.
"The Lord Fought for Israel."—But there is a God, and he was there as he is everywhere, by his all-protective, all-administrative power—the God to whom Joshua prayed before uttering the sublime command: "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon!"[6]"And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies; . . . . for the Lord fought for Israel."[7]
There you have it—it was the Lord's doing. Joshua was merely the instrument, just as Moses had been. But because such things are not happening every day, and because doubt cannot do them, therefore are they impossible to Faith! Such is the logic of those who scoff at the power of Deity and deny even the miracles of the Savior.
Nothing Too Difficult for Omnipotence.—For my part, I see nothing inconsistent in these Bible stories—nothing to justify doubt or denial. A Power that could create the sun and moon and set them whirling in their orbits, could stop them in their decreed course—or stop the earth, so that sun and moon would seem to be stayed—and at the same time uphold the universe, while this part of it remained stationary. Of course, man could not do it; but human power is not the measure of Omnipotence.
What Our Century Needs.—What the Twentieth Century needs, more than anything else, is an honest belief that there is actually a God in heaven, and that his power is superior to man's. The Great Creator has not let out his universe, to be governed by law independently of the Law-giver. The God of Israel is a God who answers prayer, and who works miracles whenever the need arises and conditions warrant—works them according to law. But He administers that law—it does not administer him.
Greater and Lesser Laws.—Some laws are fundamental. The Almighty did not create them; but he controls them and overrules their workings for the welfare of his creatures. According to Joseph Smith, certain laws were "instituted" at the beginning, as a means for human progression. These are eternal principles whereby our great and benevolent Father proposes to save and exalt his children, and give perpetuity to all things necessary for their happiness and glory.
Who, having faith in a Maker of the universe, can question his power to govern that universe, the workmanship of his hands? And if he controls the fundamental laws—those uncreatable, self-existent principles which are as the Constitution of Eternity, surely he can suspend the operation of lesser laws based thereon, setting aside at will his own enactments.
An Illustration.—Suppose a child to be lying at the point of death. The family physician, having done his best and failed, informs the sad-hearted parents that their little one cannot live till morning. Medical science so decrees, in accordance with the law under which the physician has been operating. But, bearing in mind the apostolic injunction, "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the Elders of the Church,"[8]the parents send for the Elders. They come and pray over the child, and the prayer of faith "saves the sick," notwithstanding the good doctor's prognostication. A miracle? Yes, if one chooses to call it so. In other words, the suspension of a lesser law by a greater, the former requiring the death of the child, the latter permitting it to live; the lower inoperative in the presence of the higher.
Biggest Things Yet to Be.—Miracles belong to no particular time or place. Whenever and wherever there is sufficient faith and a reasonable demand for its exercise, Divine Power will act, and marvels will result. "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of" in human "philosophy," and the biggest things are yet to be. God's work is progressive, and the miracles of the future will cause the miracles of the past to pale.
Divine Adaptation.—Progression's highest methods cannot be employed in dealing with undeveloped man. The All-wise adapts himself to the conditions environing those whom he aims to uplift and glorify. "All things are in a scale," rendering necessary a diversity of laws and operations. Even the divine dictum, "Let there be light!" does not represent the last word in light production. God is Light, and has only to appear, and all darkness will flee away. When the sun rises, the moon and stars must "hide their diminished heads." When God dawns upon the world, not even the sun will shine.
1. 2 Kings 6:1-7.
2. "What are the Laws of Nature?" asks Carlyle, and continues"To me perhaps the rising of one from the dead were no violation of these laws, but a confirmation, if some far deeper law, now first penetrated into, and by spiritual force, even as the rest have all been, were brought to bear on us with its material force."
"'But is it not the deepest law of Nature that she be constant?' cried an illuminated class: 'Is not the machine of the universe fixt to move by unalterable rules?' Probable enough good friends. . . . . And now of you, too, I make the old inquiry: What those same unalterable rules, forming the complete statute book of Nature, may possibly be?
"'They stand written in our works of science,' say you; 'in the accumulated record of man's experience.' Was man with his experience present at the creation, then, to see how it all went on? Have any deepest scientific individuals yet dived down to the foundations of the universe, and gauged everything there? Did the Maker take them into his counsel, that they read his ground-plan of the incomprehensible All, and can say, This stands marked therein, and no more than this? Alas, not in any wise!" . . . .
"To the minnow, every cranny and pebble and quality and accident, of its little native creek may have become familiar; but does the minnow understand the ocean tides and periodic currents, the trade winds and monsoons and moon's eclipses, by all which the condition of its little creek is regulated, and may, from time to time (unmiraculously enough) be quite upset and reversed? Such a minnow is man; his creek this planet earth; his ocean the immeasurable All; his monsoons and periodic currents the mysterious force of Providence through aeons of aeons."—Sartor Resartus, Natural Supernaturalism, pp. 275-278.
3. Gen. 1:3.
4. "Everybody recalls how the Red Sea was rolled aside in order that the Isaraelites under Moses might pass over safely; how the river Jordan, a few later, was driven back, that Joshua and his army might cross; and how Sodom and Gomorrah were overwhelmed with fire and brimstone for their sins . . . . Geologists are now inclined to believe that the recession of the sea might have been caused by an earthquake pushing up a rock stratum under tremendous pressure. The water would return in some degree upon the subsidence of the stratum. The various miraculous events referred to occurred about the year 1500 B. C., and there is a curious similarity between them. It now appears probable from scientific research that these occurrences were the last of a series of terrific earthquake disturbances that changed the entire surface of the globe."—W. H. Ballou, D. Sc.
5. Ex. 14:21-31.
6. Joshua 10:12.
7. Ib. vv. 13, 14.
8. James 5:14.
The Mainspring of Power.
The Moving Cause.—All power springs from faith. It is "the moving cause of all action" and "the foundation of all righteousness."[1]God did not create the principle of faith, but by means of it he created the worlds, and by means of it he continues to exercise control and dominion over them. It is the faith of Omnipotence that upholds the universe.
A Negative Opinion.—A Christian minister, not of the orthodox school, with whom I was conversing on the subject of faith, tried to convince me that it was anything but an admirable quality. He even called it contemptible, declaring that it consisted of a weak willingness to believe—to believe anything, however improbable or absurd. In short, it was mere credulity, nothing more.
A Spiritual Force.—When I referred to faith as a spiritual force, a principle of power, he said I was attaching to the term a significance that it had never borne, and for which there was no warrant. I then reminded him of the Savior's words: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder place,' and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you."[2]Whereupon he flippantly remarked: "Oh, it takes picks and shovels to move mountains."
Picks and Shovels.—And so it does—if one has no better way of moving them. But what about the faith necessary to handle pick and shovel? All energy springs from faith, and whether mountains are moved by man or by his Maker, it is faith that precedes the action and renders it possible. Yet here was a professed minister of Christ, ignoring the teachings of Christ, and denying what all true Christians believe—that the smallest as well as the greatest acts of our lives spring from the exercise of faith.
Misplaced Confidence.—In its incipient stages, faith may at times resemble mere credulity. The untutored savage who was told by one of the early settlers of New England, that if he planted gunpowder it would "grow" gunpowder, believed it, not yet having learned that the white man could lie. He therefore parted with his valuable furs, in exchange for a small quantity of powder, and planted it, showing his confidence in the settler's word. But of course the desired result did not follow; for faith, to be effectual, must be rightly based, must have a reasonable foundation. The Spirit of Truth must inspire it. This was not the case with the poor misguided Indian. He trusted in a falsehood, and was deceived. Still, some good came of it—he ascertained the falsity of the settler's statement. If the planting did not produce powder, it produced a wiser Indian.
Faith's Possibilities.—Had the red man's faith been perfect—an intelligent, rational, heaven-inspired faith—he could have produced gunpowder or any other commodity from the all-containing elements around him. And that, too, without planting a seed or employing any ordinary process of manufacture. The miracles wrought by the Savior—his turning of water into wine, his miraculous feeding of the multitude, his walking on the waves, healing of the sick, raising of the dead, and other wonderful works—what were they but manifestations of an all-powerful faith, to possess which is to have the power to move mountains, without picks and shovels, my skeptical friend to the contrary notwithstanding? Faith is not to confounded with blind ignorant credulity. It is a divine energy, operating upon natural principles and by natural processes—natural, though unknown to "the natural man," and termed by him "supernatural."
"As a Grain of Mustard Seed."—When the Savior spoke of the faith that moves mountains, he was not measuring the quantity of the faith by the size of the mustard seed. Neither was it an Oriental hyperbole. Jesus was speaking literally. Mountains had been moved before by the power of faith;[3]then why not now?[4]
An Impelling Force.—Faith is the beating heart of the universe. Without it nothing was ever accomplished, small or great, commonplace or miraculous. No work ever succeeded that was not backed by confidence in some power, human or superhuman, that impelled and pushed forward the enterprise.
Those Who Believe.—It was not doubt that drove Columbus across the sea; it was faith—the impelling force of the Spirit of the Lord.[5]It was not doubt that inspired Jefferson, Franklin, and the other patriot fathers to lay broad and deep the foundations of this mighty republic, as a hope and a refuge for oppressed humanity. It is not doubt that causes nations to rise and flourish, that induces great and good men in all ages and in all climes to teach and toil and sacrifice for the benefit of their fellows. It is faith that does such things. Doubt only hinders what faith would achieve. The men and women who move the world are the men and women who believe.
Mahomet and Islam.—Carlyle, in splendid phrasing, depicts the wonderful change that came over the Arabian people when they abandoned idolatry, the insincere worship of "sticks and stones," and became a believing nation. "It was as a birth from darkness into light; Arabia first became alive by means of it. A poor shepherd people roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world; a hero-prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe; see, the unnoticed becomes world-notable, the small has become world-great; within one century afterward Arabia is at Granada on this hand, at Delhi on that—glancing in valor and splendor and the light of genius, Arabia shines through long ages over a great section of the world. Belief is great, life-giving. The history of a nation becomes fruitful, soul-elevating, great, so soon as it believes."[6]
Achievements of Christendom.—The same philosophy, with far greater emphasis, applies to Christendom and its glorious achievements all down the centuries. What has caused Christian nations to flourish so mightily? What has enabled Christianity, in spite of its errors, to survive the wreck of empires and to weather the storms of time? Faith in the Christ, imperfect though that faith has been. The faith of any people—its trust in and reliance upon some power deemed by it divine—constitutes its main source of strength.
Faith Must Be Genuine.—But faith must be genuine. Pretense and formalism will not avail. Hypocrisy is the worst form of unbelief. Honest idolatry is infinitely preferable to dishonest worship. Better burn incense to Diana, believing it to be right, than bow down to Christ in hollow-hearted insincerity. Mighty Rome did not fall until she had ceased to worship sincerely the gods enshrined within her Pantheon. Glorious Greece did not succumb until her believers had become doubters, until skeptical philosophy had supplanted religious enthusiasm, and the worship of freedom, grace and beauty had degenerated into unbridled license and groveling sensuality. No nation ever crumbled to ruin until false to itself, false to the true principles of success, the basic one of which isTo Believe.
Germany's Mistake.—The world in recent years has witnessed the sad spectacle of a great nation, or the ruling powers of that nation, turning from Christ and substituting for Christian faith a godless pagan philosophy. Discarding the just and merciful principles of the Gospel, and adopting the false notion that might makes right, the fallen Teutonic empire has shown, by the revolting cruelties practiced in pursuance of that doctrine, what science (kultur) is capable of, when it parts company with God and morality. The land of Goethe and Wagner, and alas! the land also of the Hohenzollern and the Hindenburg, far from winning the "place in the sun" that she so coveted, has lost the proud place already held by her when the mad ambition of her military chiefs plunged her into ruin. The one thing that can now redeem her and lift her up out of the pit into which she has fallen, is faith in the true God, and the works by which that faith is made manifest.
According to Their Faith.—God deals with men ac-according to their faith. The Savior wrought mighty miracles, by his own faith, but most of them were faith abounded in the hearts of the people. In other places he did not do many mighty works, "because of their unbelief." Faith is a gift from God, and they who serve him best have most of it. Faith is the soil that brings forth miracles. "All things are possible to them that believe."
1. D. & C. Lectures on Faith, Lec. 1, pp. 1, 2; See also Heb. 11.
2. Matt. 17:20.
3. Ether 12:30.
4. It is my belief that the Savior, in his reference to the mustard seed, meant that if man would obey the divine law given for his government as faithfully as that tiny germ obeys the law given for its government, he could wield infinitely more power than he now possesses. Solid stone pavements are upheaved and cracked asunder by the gradual growth or expansion of a seed or root buried underneath. Such things indicate a hidden force even in the lowliest creations. It is written that the earth "filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law." (D. & C. 88:25). If man were that obedient, he would have the power to "move mountains."
5. 1 Nephi 13:12.
6. "Heroes and Hero Worship," Lec. 2.
BEYOND THE HORIZON
The Spirit World.
Not Heaven.—That there is a Spirit World, and that it is closely connected with the material world—the one we now inhabit—has been a tenet in the religious philosophy of wise and good men all down the ages. In the minds of many people, the Spirit World and Heaven are synonymous terms, indicating one and the same place. But in reality there is a wide difference between them. A State of rest, such as the spirit life is understood to be for the righteous—though "rest" should not be interpreted as idleness or want of occupation—might easily pass for heaven, when contrasted with this life of pain, sorrow and trouble. But that is only relative. It is not saying too much—indeed it may be saying too little—to affirm that there is just as much difference between the spirit world and heaven, as between the mortal and the spiritual phases of man's existence.
Here on Earth.—According to Parley P. Pratt, the Spirit World is the spiritual part of this planet—or, to use his exact language: "The earth and other planets of a like order have their inward or spiritual spheres, as well as their outward or temporal. The one is peopled by temporal tabernacles, and the other by spirits." "As to its location," he says, "it is here on the very planet where we were born."[1]
All Things Before Created.—The proposition that Earth has a spiritual as well as a temporal sphere is a reassertion of the doctrine of duality, embodied in ancient and modern revelation, and particularly emphasized by Joseph the Seer. A careful reading of the Book of Genesis (the King James version) discloses, though somewhat vaguely, the fact of this duality, as applied to the works of creation. Thus, after giving an account of the earth and of all things connected therewith, the sacred writer says:
"These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground."[2]
"Not a man to till the ground"—and yet man had been created, as well as the plants and herbs that existed "before they grew." The apparent contradiction—apparent though not real—was explained by the Prophet when, by the Spirit of Revelation, he revised the Scriptures, giving a more ample account of the creation than the ordinary Bible contains. From that account the following sentences are taken:
"For I the Lord God created all things of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. . . . . And I the Lord had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground. For in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air . . . . Nevertheless, all things were before created."[3]
First Spiritual, Then Temporal.—In other words, there were two creations—or rather, the creation had two phases, the first spiritual, the second temporal. When the Creator made man and beast and fish and fowl, he made them twice—first in the spirit, then in the body; and the same is true of the trees, the shrubs, the flowers, and all other created things. They were made spiritually and temporally, the spirit and the body constituting the soul.[4]
Not Far Away.—The Spirit World is not a thing afar off. Our thoughts need not sail away millions of miles into space to find it. According to the best evidence we possess, it is near to us—right around us. We have but to emerge from the body, and we are in the spirit world. Out of it we came, and unto it we shall return. "The spirits of the just," says the Prophet Joseph, "are not far from us;" they "know and understand our thoughts, feelings and motions, and are often pained therewith."[5]
Just and Unjust.—The spirits of the unjust likewise inhabit the spirit world, though they are separated from the righteous, and are not in a state of rest. Light and darkness divide that realm, each domain having its appropriate population. So far from being Heaven, part of the spirit world is Hades or Hell. Referring to the class who people that part, the Prophet says: "The great misery of departed spirits ... is to know that they come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves; and they are their own accusers."[6]
Jesus and the Penitent Thief.—"In the spirit world," says Parley P. Pratt, "are all the varieties and grades of intellectual beings which exist in the present world. For instance, Jesus Christ and the thief on the cross both went to the same place." That is to say, they both went to the spirit world.
Jesus, it will be borne in mind, had been crucified between two thieves, one of whom derided him, insulting his dying agonies. The other, being penitent, prayed: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." To him the Savior said: "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."[7]Because of this utterance—which Joseph Smith declared to be a mistranslation, maintaining that "paradise" should read "world of spirits"[8]—uninspired minds have drawn the conclusion that the penitent thief was promised immediate heavenly exaltation, for repenting at the last moment and professing faith in the Redeemer. This notion is still entertained. The criminal who has forfeited his life and is under sentence of death, because unfit to dwell among his fallen fellow creatures, is made to believe that by confessing Christ, even on the scaffold, he is fitted at once for the society of Gods and angels, and will be wafted to never-ending bliss.
A False Doctrine.—Jesus never taught such a doctrine, nor did any authorized servant of the Lord. It is a man-made theory, based upon faulty inference and misinterpretation. The Scriptures plainly teach that men will be judged according to their works,[9]and receive rewards as varied as their deeds.[10]It was best for the thief, of course, to repent even at the eleventh hour; but he could not be exalted until prepared for it, if it took a thousand years. When Christ said: "I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there ye may be also,"[11]he was not speaking to murderers and malefactors, but to his pure-minded, right-living disciples, those only to whom such a promise could consistently be given.
What Goes on There.—Jesus Christ and the thief both went to the world of spirits, a place of rest for the righteous, a place of correction for the wicked. "But," as the Apostle Parley goes on to say, "the one was there in all the intelligence, happiness, benevolence and charity which characterize a teacher, a messenger anointed to preach glad tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to comfort those who mourned, to preach deliverance to the captive, and open the prison to those who were bound; or, in other words, to preach the Gospel to the spirits in prison, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; while the other was there as a thief, who had expired on the cross for crime, and who was guilty, ignorant, uncultivated, and unprepared for resurrection, having need of remission of sins and to be instructed in the science of salvation."
Thus is told in part what goes on in the spirit world. "It is a place," continues our Apostle, "where the Gospel is preached, where faith, repentance and charity may be exercised, a place of waiting for the resurrection or redemption of the body; while to those who deserve it, it is a place of punishment, a purgatory or hell, where spirits are buffeted until the day of redemption."
Alma's Teaching.—To the foregoing should be added the testimony of Alma the Nephite, upon the same subject:
"Now concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.
"And then shall it come to pass that the spirits of those who are righteous, are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise; a state of rest; a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.
"And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and this because of their own iniquity; being led captive by the will of the devil.
"Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful, looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection."[12]
A Vision of Redemption.—President Joseph F. Smith, only a short while before his death, saw in a "vision of the redemption of the dead," the Savior's visit to the world of spirits, as recorded in the first epistle of Peter.[13]The President's account of what he beheld follows:
"I saw the hosts of the dead, both small and great, and there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just ... They were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand... The Son of God appeared, and preached to them the everlasting gospel.
"I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them; but behold from among the righteous he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men.
"I beheld that the faithful Elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel.... among those who are in darkness and under bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead."[14]
Personal and Proxy Ministrations.—The new light here thrown upon the subject proceeds from the declaration that when the Savior visited the inhabitants of the spirit world, it was by proxy, and not in person, so far as the wicked were concerned. He ministered to the righteous directly, and to the unrighteous indirectly, sending to the latter his servants, bearing the authority of the Priesthood, and duly commissioned to speak and act for him. President Smith's pronouncement modifies the view commonly taken, that the Savior's personal ministry was to both classes of spirits.[15]
A Temporary Abode.—Thus we see that the Spirit World is not Heaven, except in a relative sense, and then only in part. It is a temporary abode for God's children, while undergoing processes of purification and development, as a preparation for better things beyond. Heaven, on the other hand—heaven in the highest degree—is the permanent home of the perfected and glorified.
1. Key to Theology. Chapt. 14.
2. Gen. 2:4, 5.
3. Moses 3:5, 7.
4. D. & C. 88:15; Moses 3:9.
5. Hist. Ch. Vol. 6, p. 52.
6. Ib. Vol. 5, p. 425.
7. Luke 23:43.
8. Hist. Ch. Vol. 5, pp. 424, 425.
9. Rev. 20:12, 13.
10. D. & C. 76.
11. John 14:2, 3.
12. Alma 40:11-14.
13. 1 Peter 3:18-20.
14. Gospel Doctrine, pp. 596-601.
15. Compare 3 Nephi 15:21-24; D. & C. 76:112.
Spirit Promptings
Spirit Memories.—Writing one day upon the subject of spirit memories, and the influence exerted upon the affairs of this life by the awakened recollections of a former experience, I found myself indulging in the following reflections:
Why are we drawn toward certain persons, and they toward us, independently of any known previous acquaintance? Is it a fact, or only a fancy, that we and they were mutually acquainted and mutually attracted in some earlier period of our eternal existence? Is there something, after all, in that much abused term "affinity," and is this the basis of its claim? More than once, after meeting someone whom I had never met before on earth, I have wondered why his or her face seemed so familiar. Many times, upon hearing a noble sentiment expressed, though unable to recall having heard it until then, I have been thrilled by it, and felt as if I had always known it. The same is true of music, some strains of which are like echoes from afar, sounds falling from celestial heights, notes struck from the vibrant harps of eternity. I do not assert pre-acquaintance in all such cases, but as one thought suggests another, these queries arise in the mind.
The Shepherd's Voice.—When it comes to the Gospel, I feel more positive. Why did the Savior say: "My sheep know my voice?" Can a sheep know the voice of its shepherd, if it has never heard that voice before? They who love Truth, and to whom it appeals most powerfully, were they not its best friends in a previous state of existence? I think so. I believe that we knew the Gospel before we came here, and it is this knowledge, this acquaintance, that gives to it a familiar sound.
Very much in the same vein, I once wrote to President Joseph F. Smith—he at the time in Utah, and I on a mission in Europe. Here is his reply:
President Smith's View.—"I heartily endorse your sentiments respecting congeniality of spirits. Our knowledge of persons and things before we came here, combined with the divinity awakened within our souls through obedience to the gospel, powerfully affects, in my opinion, all our likes and dislikes, and guides our preferences in the course of this life, provided we give careful heed to the admonitions of the Spirit.
"All those salient truths which come so forcibly to the head and heart seem but the awakening of the memories of the spirit. Can we know anything here that we did not know before we came? Are not the means of knowledge in the first estate equal those of this? I think that the spirit, before and after this probation, possesses greater facilities, aye, manifold greater, for the acquisition of knowledge, than while manacled and shut up in the prison-house of mortality. I believe that our Savior possessed a foreknowledge of all the vicissitudes through which he would have to pass in the mortal tabernacle.
"If Christ knew beforehand, so did we. But in coming here, we forgot all, that our agency might be free indeed, to choose good or evil, that we might merit the reward of our own choice and conduct. But by the power of the Spirit, in the redemption of Christ, through obedience, we often catch a spark from the awakened memories of the immortal soul, which lights up our whole being as with the glory of our former home."[1]
"A Glance Behind the Curtain."—Closely akin to these reflections, are some pointed and telling lines in which the poet Lowell expresses his conviction regarding the influence of the unseen world upon the world visible. The action of the poem from which the lines are taken deals with Oliver Cromwell and John Hampden, English patriots, who are represented as about to flee from the tyranny of King Charles the First, and seek a new home overseas, joining the little band of Puritans who have already found a haven on western Atlantic shores. Hampden urges flight, but Cromwell hesitates. Something within tells him not to go—tells him that Freedom has a work for him to go—tells him that Freedom has a work for him to do, not in America, but in his own land, where he afterwards overthrew the royal tyrant, became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, and broadened and deepened the foundations of English liberty. The opening verses of the poem contain the crux of the whole matter under discussion:
We see but half the causes of our deeds,Seeking them wholly in the outer life,And heedless of the encircling spirit world,Which, though unseen, is felt, and sows in usAll germs of pure and world-wide purposes.The fate of England and of freedom onceSeemed wavering in the heart of one plain man.One step of his, and the great dial-handThat marks the destined progress of the worldIn the eternal round from wisdom onTo higher wisdom, had been made to pauseA hundred years.That step he did not take—He knew not why, nor we, but only God,And lived to make his simple oaken chairMore terrible and grandly beautiful,More full of majesty than any throne,Before or after, of a British king.[2]
We see but half the causes of our deeds,Seeking them wholly in the outer life,And heedless of the encircling spirit world,Which, though unseen, is felt, and sows in usAll germs of pure and world-wide purposes.
The fate of England and of freedom onceSeemed wavering in the heart of one plain man.One step of his, and the great dial-handThat marks the destined progress of the worldIn the eternal round from wisdom onTo higher wisdom, had been made to pauseA hundred years.
That step he did not take—He knew not why, nor we, but only God,And lived to make his simple oaken chairMore terrible and grandly beautiful,More full of majesty than any throne,Before or after, of a British king.[2]
A Well Warranted Conviction.—How much of fact and how much of fiction, are here interwoven, matters not for the purpose of this argument. It was the poet's belief that such things could be, a belief shared by myriads of Christian men and women, and confirmed by a multiplicity of experiences.
Columbus and "The Voice."--In another poem--"Columbus"--Lowell sets forth the same idea, that of whisperings or suggestions from beyond the "veil" hiding the spirit world from this world of flesh and blood. The great mariner is supposed to be standing on the deck of his ocean-tossed vessel, soliloquizing over the situation surrounding him: A yet undiscovered country ahead, a mutinous and grumbling crew behind, threatening to put him in irons and turn the ship's prow toward Spain, if sight of the promised shore of India--for which Columus set sail--came not with the break of dawn. A world of care weighs him down, a sense of solitude and utter loneliness, but his soul hears "the voice that errs not," and is patient and trustful to the hour of complete triumph.[3]
Nephi and the Spirit.—That it was indeed "the voice that errs not" which inspired Columbus, upholding and urging him on to the consummation of the great enterprise he had undertaken, we have sacred and indisputable evidence. Long before Columbus crossed the ocean, an American prophet and seer, Nephi by name, looking down the vista of twenty centuries, forecast the career of that man of destiny, telling how "the Spirit of God" would impel him to cross "the many waters" to this "promised land;" and how the same Spirit, moving upon others, would induce them to follow in the wake of the mighty explorer. That prophet beheld in vision the war for American Independence, the successful struggle of the oppressed colonies against the mother country, and the founding here of a free government, a heaven-favored nation, destined to foster and give protection to the growing work of God in after days. And this revealing Spirit—so Nephi affirms—was more than an inward monitor: "I spake unto him as a man speaketh, for I beheld that he was in the form of man; yet, nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord! and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another."[4]
The Holy Ghost.—Evidently it was the Holy Ghost who communed with Nephi, though he is here spoken of as "the Spirit of God, and 'the Spirit of the Lord." "The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit,"[5]and though not in a tabernacle like the Father or the Son, he is nevertheless in human form, and Nephi beheld him and conversed with him.
The Unerring Guide.—The experience of Columbus differed from that of Nephi, notably in this particular: Nephi "beheld," while Columbus was moved upon—yet it was the same Spirit in each instance. It was of the Holy Ghost that the Savior was speaking, when he said to his disciples: "He will guide you into all truth."[6]The mission of the Holy Ghost is to make manifest the things of God, past, present and future, explaining the purpose of this mortal life, revealing to man his eternal origin and destiny, and answering the otherwise unanswerable questions—whence? whither? and why?
Wordsworth's "Intimation."—It was this Spirit that inspired the poet Wordsworth, bringing the forgotten past to his remembrance, and prompting the utterance of the noble thoughts embodied in these lofty lines:
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;The soul that rises with us, our life's star,Hath had elsewhere its setting,And cometh from afar;Not in entire forgetfulness,And not in utter nakedness,But trailing clouds of glory do we comeFrom God who is our home.[7]
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;The soul that rises with us, our life's star,Hath had elsewhere its setting,And cometh from afar;Not in entire forgetfulness,And not in utter nakedness,But trailing clouds of glory do we comeFrom God who is our home.[7]
Truth and Bigotry.—The big thought was too broad for the narrow, rigid orthodoxy of Wordsworth's time, which could allow for the pre-existence of the Son of God, but not for that of the race in general. "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."[8]This wonderful prayer from the lips of the Savior was too plain to be misunderstood. It was clear that Jesus Christ, "the Word" that was "in the beginning with God," and "was God," before he "was made flesh,"[9]had lived before this life. But man, "mere man," was an earth-worm, made out of nothing, and consequently had no pre-existence. So Christian orthodoxy maintained; and Wordsworth had to recant or half-way deny that his heaven-inspired "intimation" meant as much as his bigoted censors seemed to fear. Nevertheless,
"Got but the truth once uttered, and 'tis likeA star new-born, that drops into its place,And which, once circling in its placid round,Not all the tumult of the earth can shake."
"Got but the truth once uttered, and 'tis likeA star new-born, that drops into its place,And which, once circling in its placid round,Not all the tumult of the earth can shake."