The Philosophy of Trial

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TRIAL. BY CARL HJALMAR CARLQUIST. [Several requests have come to the editors to publish the remaining two of the orations delivered at the late Speaker's Contest. Recognizing their excellence, we gladly comply with the petitions of our correspondents, and print one address in this number, to be followed by that of Thomas J. Howells, in the September Era. — Editors.] When studying about the persecutions endured by the Latterday Saints at the time of their expulsion from Missouri, it seemed to me, as it seems now, that our Father in heaven would not have permitted his children to undergo the sufferings they did, unless he had known it would be for their benefit. This thought naturally led up to another, namely: That there is a philosophy in trial; that suffering refines and develops the human soul, just as the furnace refines and purifies the gold which it receives. There is no darker page in American history, than the one on which is recorded the true account of the inhuman treatment which the "Mormon" people received in Missouri, one of the sovereign states of the American Union. During that dark period in this State, thousands of American citizens were driven from their homes by religious bigotry and intolerance. Robbed of their rights, their property and their all; cast forth upon the bleak prairies, houseless and unprotected; many sank down and expired under their accumulated sufferings, while others heroically pressed on to another haven of refuge — the marshes of Illinois. Youth and age suffered alike. Those brutal mobs, among whom were government officials and religious ministers, spared none. Even heroes of our

742 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Revolutionary struggle — men who had helped to win the country's independence — were tortured and killed by those merciless men. No act of barbarity was too cruel to satisfy their fearful lust for rapine and murder. Pagan Rome, at the time of her most horrifying brutalities and deeds of blood, rarely saw enacted darker scenes. Haun's Mill, Crooked River and Far West, are names which call to mind the slaughter of the innocents at Bethlehem; the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, and the massacre of the Huguenots on St. Bartholomew's Day. Fathers were torn from their helpless families, forbidden to speak a word of farewell and perhaps of final parting, incarcerated in felon's cells there to suffer untold agonies of mind and body. Loving wives and innocent children were driven in a helpless, destitute condition, from their firesides to face the northern blasts of winter. These heart-rending scenes were tempered by no act of tenderness, no feeling of pity or charity. Relentless hate filled the hearts of their oppressors and these atrocious acts, unparalleled in a civilized country, took place on soil over which waved that starry emblem of equal rights and religious liberty, the American flag. When we think of the courage and fortitude displayed by the Saints, during these fearful times, we very naturally ask, were all these sufferings endured in vain? Was it for nothing that hundreds of the Saints were martyred, that widowed women and orphaned children fled in the dark and chilly night to escape the flames of their burning homes? Were all the sufferings of that rigorous winter endured without reward? No! though many fell along the bloody path, which marked their flight over the frozen plain from Missouri to Illinois, yet their death was not in vain. God, in all ages of the world, in all dispensations of time, has tested his chosen people by trials and tribulations. The Book of Job tells how the Lord permitted Satan to afflict his upright servant Job, with everything which might cause man to reject his God; how Job after he had endured in patience all the trials which Satan had heaped upon him, nevertheless remained firm in his faith to the Lord, and, having manifested his integrity to heaven, was blessed by him above all other men. The history of the Jewish people, as related in the Holy Scriptures, is replete with trials which they endured, because of

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TRIAL. 743 their peculiar faith. The grinding bondage, which the Israelites endured at the time of their captivity in Egypt, was but the school in which the Lord was educating them for their future greatness as a nation. Every stroke of the lash from their Egyptian taskmasters, was but emphasizing the lesson which the Lord was teaching them. So, also, with their journeying in the wilderness and their subsequent trials in Canaan, the Promised Land. It was the same with the Saints during the opening centuries of the Christian era. The fearful suiferings endured by the followers and disciples of the meek and lowly Nazarene, during the years which followed the dawn of Christianity, no pen nor human tongue can ever tell. Suffering on the cross, death on the rack, slaughter in the arena, are but a few of the dreadful modes of persecution which make up the history of those awful times. Well has it been said, that by the blood of martyrs were the truths of Christianity spread. The Lord was showing his people that "All who live Godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution." The crucifixion of the Savior was but the culmination of all the trials and suffering which he endured. From Bethlehem to Calvary, our Master's life was filled with trial and persecution. Even he had to be tried in this way, as Paul the Apostle said to the Hebrews: "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." Believing, as we do, that the Lord never does anything without just reason, there must be a cause for his permitting his children to suffer. We know that he has instituted a glorious plan, by complying with which we may gain an exaltation in his presence. And realizing the kindness and mercy shown to us by him in every other respect, we feel prompted to ask the question : Why has the Lord permitted these trials, persecutions and oppressions to come upon his chosen people ? What is there in trial, that it has been so common with the people of God? The Lord does not desire to see his children suffer; so there must be some farreaching reasons why he permits these grievous things to come upon them. There are several reasons, if we may judge from effects, why the Lord permits his people to be persecuted. In the first place: Trial chastens the tried, for errors which they may have committed. At times earthly fathers find it necessary to correct

744 IMPROVEMENT ERA. their erring children by chastisement which the children think hard to bear. So our Heavenly Father corrects by permitting trials to come upon his children. Had the Saints in Missouri followed the counsels of the Prophet Joseph, that chapter of suffering and death would perhaps never have been written. In the second place: Trials test and strengthen the faith of the people. In times of sorrow and trouble, man always seeks the help of the Lord. Father Abraham's faith in God was tested and strengthened by that memorable command given him to sacrifice his son Isaac, on the mountain side- It is true that God did not intend that son to be sacrificed, for he provided a ram instead; but nevertheless Abraham's faith was proved. For this reason, the Lord permitted the religious bigots of Missouri to drive the Saints from their comfortable homes. How could they be proved faithful but by trials? So then, amid all the hunger and sickness, flight and death, there was an object to be attained. It had to be shown by their sufferings whether they were willing to give up everything for their eternal salvation. Thirdly: Trial develops the heavenly attributes of patience, forbearance, forgiveness and charity, to an extent that can not be done in any other way. To develop our physical strength, we must exercise our muscles, and to develop the spiritual side of our natures, we must exercise our spiritual faculties. Think of the glorious example given us in Christ, when with his expiring cry he exclaimed: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." These same qualities of forgiveness, charity and forbearance are in us, and only require to be brought out. Pearls are found in the oyster shells at the bottom of the sea, but it takes the knife of the pearl-diver to open the shell, so that the pearl may drop out. So the richest qualities of man are hidden and enclosed, and it sometimes takes the sharp knife of persecution and trial to open the shell, so that the Pearl of Great Price may be found. Fourthly: Trial purges the church of those members who are hypocrites and not true Saints. There are always those who, when the storm of persecution breaks in all its fury, seek cover beneath the shelter of apostacy. These The Church is better without. Just at certain seasons of the year, nature, by furious winds, sweeps away all the dead leaves and rubbish which have gathered, and at

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TRIAL. 745 other seasons causes a down-pouring of the heavy rains to purify the atmosphere and wash clean the earth; so the Lord at times causes trials and persecutions to come upon his Church, to rid it of all its wavering members. Trials and persecutions are the means by which the Lord prunes his vineyard. As in the spring, when the buds first peep forth, and the husbandman goes out in the orchard and trims off all the dead and useless branches of the fruit trees, so the Lord, when the occasion requires, prunes his vineyard by means of trials. Consider the lily in all its white and simple beauty. Could it become the exquisite flower it is without the showers and storms, as well as the sunshine? Night and day are both necessary in their turn, that after all the conditions which nature requires the perfect flower is formed. Man is like the lily; it takes the storm of persecution and oppression, as well as the sunshine of heaven, to make him perfect. The night of trial is necessary as well as the day of peace. As a people, we have always said that it takes trials and persecutions to make us strong in our faith, and we have all heard, time and again, that The Church has always flourished most during periods of oppression and persecution. These facts are proved by our history. When we are striving to withstand the assaults of our enemies, when we are enduring hardship under circumstances which are trying and severe^ we should bear in mind the fact that "There is a philosophy in trial." We have been placed upon this earth by our Heavenly Father in order that we might be surrounded by conditions which will bring out the best there is in our characters, and so be fitted to return to his presence. Life itself is but one long trial. The great Redeemer himself had to endure agony and trial beyond the comprehension of the human mind. Can we, then, expect to gain the boon of eternal salvation that he enjoys, unless we undergo trials to prepare us for it. From the cradle to the grave, our journey through this mortal sphere leads over a trial-strewn path; there is no other road by which we can regain the presence of our Father in Heaven. If, while we are toiling upward in the path of life, we fall and bruise ourselves upon the stones of sorrow and tribulation; if we are torn and scratched by the brambles and thorns of trial and persecu-