Messenger
Volume 4, Issue 2 – January 2010
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Contents
The One Mighty and Strong
The Tree of Life
Poetry -
The Spirit
The Spirit sometimes comes in a whisper
Sometimes it comes as a feeling of peace
at other times it comes like crashing thunder
Sometimes it comes like a wave of relief
We feel it through the burning of our heart
through the promptings for us to do right
It enters into our bodies – into every part
and it brightens our own internal light
Sometimes it tells us to cast our mind back
to the answer we already had before
It is there to help keep us on the right track
to open our minds, to reveal to us more
Sometimes it works within us silently
even when we are busy or in slumber rest
Its calm influence working on us slowly
bringing about in us all that is for our best
However it comes, in whatever form
whether by peace or joy, dreams or visions
Whether we seek it for emotional comfort
or to help us make difficult decisions …
It is a divine gift from a loving God
It is our companion and our close friend
It is there to help us hold to the rod
and it will be there beside us to the very end
Our Rights
“Human law, … is not binding upon any honest man”
All men should be entitled to two kinds of rights: – natural and artificial. Natural rights are embraced in life, liberty and the pursuits of happiness. Artificial rights consist of powers granted by legislative enactment; hence the machinery of government. …
Men do not enjoy all their rights in any government now existing. They waive the right by appointing men to make laws for the safety and convenience of the whole, allowing the majority to govern. But this is no criterion, or standard to suit the wants and capacities of the people. Every man is above the law, and can act as he pleases if he does not interfere with his neighbor’s right.
This is clearly taught in the great foundation of all law, the ten commandments. Human law, the artificial contrivance of the intellect, is not binding upon any honest man; nor should it be any more than the creeds and dogmas of bigots. Laws are for transgressors. …
Men have a right to petition and protest, and if either is unheeded by those entrusted with powers, they, the people, (oppressed) have what is denominated the reserved right of protecting themselves from insult.
Nor is it less legal for an insulted individual or community to resist oppression. For this reason, until the blood of Joseph and Hyrum Smith has been atoned for, by hanging, shooting, or staying in some manner, every person engaged in that cowardly, mean assassination, no Latter-day Saint should give himself up to the law: for the presumption is, that they will murder him in the same manner. The government has not redeemed the broken faith of the State; but upon the contrary, allowed an indicted murderer to sit in the legislative halls, whereby the whole state becomes accessory to the crime! The partaker is as bad as the thief.
Neither should civil process come in to Nauvoo, till the United States, by a rigorous effort, causes the state of Missouri and the state of Illinois to redress every man that has suffered the loss of lands, goods, or any thing else, by expulsion and the robbery from the one state and martyrdom and state plunder in the other. Commissioners can be appointed to regulate, where the clandestine forms of law might require the strange work of God to rebut it.
Let it be proclaimed to the ends of the earth that the lives of the Saints are their own property, and that they are bound to protect them, and that they will in the name of Israel’s God.
If any man is bound to maintain the law, it is for the benefit he may derive from it. No man can be compelled in a free country, to support a law that deprives him of his natural rights, when, enjoying them is no disadvantage to his neighbor. “Thus,” says Blackstone, “the statute of King Edward IV, which forbade the fine gentlemen of those times (under the degree of Lord) to wear pikes upon their boots and shoes of more than two inches in length, was a law that savored of oppression.”
Well, our charter is repealed; the murderers of the Smiths are running at large, and if the Mormons should wish to imitate their fore-fathers, and fulfil the scriptures making it “hard to kick against the pricks,” by wearing cast steel pikes about four or five inches long on their boots and shoes, to kick with, that’s the harm?
John Taylor, The Nauvoo Neighbor, 23rd April 1845.
Convictions or Preferences
When filling in forms, such as those you are given when staying in an American Hospital, one question, amongst the myriad that ask for such information as your Ethnic origin, preferred title and diet requirements, is that of Religious ‘preference.’ A friend found herself filling in one of these forms recently, and it caused her to pause and think, “Is my religion just a preference. Do I prefer to be LDS today, maybe Baptist tomorrow? Or do I have Religious convictions?”
The United States Supreme Court classifies all religious beliefs as either preferences or convictions. According to the court, only convictions are given the full protection of the First Amendment.
When is a Belief a Preference?
A belief is a preference when, under certain circumstances, that belief can be changed. A belief may be strong and intense and may still be a preference. The five circumstances noted by the court that most often cause one to change his beliefs are: peer pressure, family pressure, litigation pressure, jail pressure, and death pressure.
Peer Pressure – When the disapproval of others causes one to bend their beliefs, their beliefs are simply preferences.
Family Pressure – It is often pressure from within a family – from a spouse, parent, or child – that will cause one to lessen their beliefs. The court held that if family pressure causes one to change ones beliefs, then those beliefs are merely a preference.
Litigation Pressure – When one faces an intimidating legal battle, he often re-evaluates his beliefs. If a lawsuit changes your beliefs, they are preferences.
Jail Pressure – Would you be willing to suffer a jail sentence for your belief? If not, your belief is just a preference.
Death Pressure – The ultimate test of a belief is whether you would be willing to die for it – like many Christian martyrs have done throughout history. Would you be willing to die for your belief? If not, your belief is not a conviction.
When is a Belief a Conviction?
Convictions are self-determined – The court held that if you need other people to stand with you, your belief is not a conviction. A conviction must be self-determined, not influenced by what others do or by what others ask of you.
Convictions are nonnegotiable – If you are willing to even discuss the option of dishonouring your belief, your belief is not a conviction but only a preference.
Convictions are victorious – Victory is standing for what you believe is right, regardless of the cost. The court held that if you need earthly victory to remain true to what you believe, you do not have a conviction.
Convictions are lifestyles – The court held that if a man holds true to his beliefs, those beliefs will evidence themselves in a life which is consistent with those beliefs.
Convictions must control a person’s life.
If religious liberty is to be passed on to the next generation, it is critical that we study the Gospel so that we can understand what it teaches, live consistent lives according to those teachings, and stand firmly for Gospel principles. Only then will the world recognise God’s people to be people of conviction and only then will we find our faith is sufficient to pass the test of conviction versus preference.
This story was previously printed in
the British edition of Messenger magazine (2:1).
It was written by a previous editor.
Out of Myself
No more I trust myself in life’s dim maze;
Sufficient to myself in all its ways,
I trust no more, but humbly at Thy throne
Pray, “Lead me, for I cannot go alone.”
Out of myself, dear Lord, O lift me up!
I faint, the road winds upward all the way
Each night but ends another weary day.
Give me Thy strength, and may I be so blest
As on “the heights” to find the longed for rest?
Out of my weary self, O lift me up!
Though other hearts with love are running o’er;
Though dear ones fill my lonely home no more;
Though every day I miss the fine caress;
Help me to join in other’s happiness.
Out of my lonely self, O lift me up!
Help me to feel that Thou are always near;
E’en though ‘tis night and all around seems drear,
Help me to know that, though I cannot see,
It is my Father’s hand that leadeth me!
Out of my doubting self, O lift me up!
Joseph F. Smith
Two Spirits
Two spirits in Celestial world
Stood apart from the heavenly throng;
A mighty love shone on each face,
In each heart was a heavenly song,
“Sister,” he said with a look of love,
“The hour at last has come,
That I may take the glorious step,
And have a mortal home.
Our love and association here,
Will bind our hearts below,
And, Darling, when I meet you there,
I’m sure our hearts will know.” Read the rest of this entry »
Rules of Celestial Marriage
Inasmuch as the saints in Utah consider it moral, virtuous, and scriptural, to practice the plurality system, they should seek by every means to eradicate, not only from their own minds, but from the minds of their children, every erroneous improper prejudice which they have formerly imbibed, by their associations with the nations of modern Christendom. Parents who have daughters should seek to instill into their minds, that it is just as honorable for them to be united in marriage to a good man who is already a husband, as to one that is single: they should be taught to reject the society and proposals for marriage of all wicked men, whether single or not. A father should be impartial to all his children, and cultivate the same love for them all; while each wife should instill into the minds of her own children the necessity of loving the children of each of the others, as brothers and sisters. Each wife should not only care for the welfare of her husband and her own children, but should also seek the happiness of each of his other wives and children. And likewise, the children of each wife should not only represent, honor, and love their own mother, but also the mothers of all their brothers and sisters. By observing these precepts, peace and tranquility will reign throughout every department of the family, and the spirit of God will flow freely from heart to heart. Read the rest of this entry »
Dream of the Pre-Mortal World
Mosiah Hancock related the following dream:
When about twenty-one years of age, I was permitted by the power of God, to go into His presence and into my former abode. I saw the Eternal Father on His throne and His wives on His left side, [I have no idea of their number,](1) all shining in glory, I saw the Savior and knew Him. It takes the power of the Holy Ghost to tell the difference between the Father and the Son, they look so much alike. Jesus said: “Mosiah, I have brought you here to show you how it was before you went to the earth.” I had been to the earth; everything looked so natural and familiar. I seemed to have been a companion of the Savior and talked with him like a friend. Again, He spoke to me and said: “Look and see man as he came forth.” I looked in the direction indicated and saw an innumerable line of God’s children extending further than I could see. They were arranged in pairs, male and female, and passed in front of the Eternal Father who named them; and they were clad in long white robes with girdles tied around their waists; each pair seemed to have been created mates. Read the rest of this entry »
The Story of Moses & Fromet
33 year old Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the well-known German composer, was far from being handsome. Along with a rather short stature, he had a grotesque hunchback. In 1762 he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Fromet Guggenheim. Moses fell hopelessly in love with her. But Fromet was repulsed by his misshapen appearance.
When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered his courage and climbed the stairs to her room to take one last opportunity to speak with her. Upon seeing him she burst into tears.
“Is it my hump?” he asked.
“Yes.” she hesitantly replied.
She was a vision of Heavenly beauty, but he felt deep sadness by her refusal to look at him. After several attempts at conversation, Moses shyly asked, “Do you believe marriages are made in Heaven?”
“Yes,” she answered, still looking at the floor. “And do you?”
“Yes I do,” he replied. “You see, in Heaven at the birth of each boy, the Lord announces which girl he will marry. When I was born, my future bride was pointed out to me. Then the Lord added,” “But your wife will be humpbacked.”
“Right then and there I called out, ‘Oh Lord, a humpbacked woman would be a tragedy. Please, Lord, give me the hump and let her be fair and beautiful.’”
Then Fromet looked up into his eyes and was stirred by some deep memory. She reached out and gave Mendelssohn her hand and later became his devoted wife. They had six remarkable children together.
“When love has blended and molded two beings
in an angelic and sacred union,
they have found the secret of life;
henceforth they are only the two terms of the same destiny,
the two wings of one mind.”
(Victor Hugo)
The Origin and Destiny of Woman
The Latter-day Saints have often been ridiculed on account of their belief in the pre-existence of spirits, and for marrying for time and all eternity, both being Bible doctrines. We have often been requested to give our views in relation to these principles, but considered the things of the kingdom belonged to the children of the kingdom, therefore not meet to give them to those without. But being very politely requested by a lady a few days since (a member of the Church) to answer the following questions, we could not consistently refuse, viz.:
“Where did I come from? What am I doing here? Whither am I going? And what is my destiny after having obeyed the truth, if faithful to the end?”
For her benefit and all others concerned, we will endeavor to answer the questions in brief, as we understand them. The reason will be apparent for our belief in the pre-existence of spirits, and in marrying for time and all eternity.
Lady, whence comest thou? Thine origin? What art thou doing here? Whither art thou going, and what is thy destiny? Declare unto me if thou hast understanding. Knowest thou not that thou art a spark of Deity, struck from the fire of His eternal blaze, and brought forth in the midst of eternal burning? Read the rest of this entry »