Need of Devotion in Our Meetings

NEED OF DEVOTION IN OUR MEETINGS.* BY EDWARD H. ANDERSON.

When the associations for mutual improvement were first or- ganized, President Brigham Young gave this general outline of their aim and purpose:

Let the keynote of your work be the establishment in the youth of individ- ual testimony of the truth and magnitude of the great latter-day work; the development of the gifts within them, that have been bestowed upon them by the laying on of hands of the servants of God; cultivating a knowledge and an application of the eternal principles of the great science of life.

Some years later he said: We want you to meet together and bear testimonies of the truth. Many think they haven't any testimony to bear, but get them to stand up, and they will find that the Lord will give them utterance to many truths that they had not thought of before. It is our desire that these institutions should flourish, that our young men may grow in the comprehension of, and faith in, the holy principles of the gospel of eternal salvation, and furthermore, have an oppor- tunity to bear and be encouraged in bearing testimony to, and speaking of, the truths of our holy religion. Let the consideration of these truths and princi- ples be the groundwork and leading idea of every such association; and on this foundation of faith in God's great latter-day work, let their members build all true knowledge by which they may be useful in the establishment of his king- dom. Each member will find that happiness in this world mainly depends on tte work he does, and the way in which he does it. It now becomes the duty of these institutions to aid the holy priesthood in instructing the youth of Israel in all things commendable and worthy of the acceptance of Saints of the Most High God.

I have been appointed by the General Board to call attention to these items that lie like the foundation stones of our organiza-

• Spoken in the Seventh Annual Conference of the Y. M. M. I. A., Salt Lake City, May 31, 1902.

NEED OF DEVOTION IN OUR MEETINGS. 39

tion. The reason therefor is that there is a tendency to depart, in some rescects, from them, especially from the keynote of the whole situation, namely: The establishment in the youth of indi- vidual testimony of the truth and magnitude of the latter-day work. To some extent we have developed the gifts within the young people, and to a much greater extent have cultivated knowl- edge, and instructed them in many commendable and worthy things, but there is a perceptible lack of that devotional feeling in our associations which is characteristic of a worshiping assem- bly. Our associations are very mechanical, and are often con- ducted in a way that has a tendency to irreverence. Having, in our Manual, classified and outlined information for our main guide, we forget that the keynote of our associations should be the worship of the Lord, We have stirring activity, and friendly bustle, and a conversational and familiar atmosphere, which are all very good in their place, and are important in our associations, but they lack the quality of reverence which is the first essential of that public worship which inspires a testimony of the gospel. Have you gone into our associations and noticed the mechan- ical way in which they are opened; in which the praying is done; in which the strict and prompt machinery is put into motion, and the collegiate air that permeates the reading of the exercises? It

is this to which the Board desire me especially to call atten- tion, and it is this that we desire to warn our presidents and superintendents against. That is, against making these entirely the atmosphere of our associations; with it, there should be that devotional spirit which should penetrate all the hearts and bend them to the inspiration of the Spirit of God, so that in all things, whether in joy or sorrow, whether in difficulty or prosperity, whether surrounded by clouds of darkness or by the sunshine of hope and peace, when the young people shall gather, they may still feel that nothing can separate them from the love of God and the faith that should permeate the soul of every true Latter-day Saint. That they might, in other words, be able to exclaim with the learned apostle " In all these things we are more than con- :

querors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor

any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Everyone should gather, feeling that all which God doeth is good; and while we cannot explain, perhaps, to our own satisfac- tion, what he is, nor entirely what his purposes are, that we may yet have faith in him, and know that righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne, and with confidence meet every doubt that may arise; and, like the old Hebrew mind, impatient of direct principles, but with super-abundant confidence, meet every doubt by saying, my heart has felt that God rules over all, and that he whispers peace and consolation and comfort to every wor- shiping soul. Knowledge is good in its place. It is very important that we should understand the principles of the gospel, be able to make a logical argument upon them, and prove everything that we believe from the scriptures or from modern revelation. It is very impor- tant that we have order and system and arrangement, classification, and all these items of machinery that are used in the room of the teacher; but, above and be/ond all these, we should inculcate that faith in God which argument can never inculcate, nor logic estab- lish; and our associations should partake so of the spirit of devotion that evei-y boy who attends there might be able to exclaim in the midst of all seeming conflict of doctrine: There is a God who rules over all events, and who will bring the best out of the worst, who whispers to every soul, bruised and smitten to the earth with sor- row and grief, it is better further on. It is better that they should

have such a faith than that they should have all knowledge without that faith, for it will help them to bear all things, and to establish them firmly in the faith of the living God, in which, with all our knowing, at last we must anchor. It is impossible to establish faith entirely by argument or logic; the Spirit of the living God must give the testimony, and it is that Spirit which we should cultivate to a greater extent in our associations; that feeling of worship and devotion that arises from a contrite spirit and an humble heart. It is important, perhaps, to be able to answer all the ques- tions that arise in the mind of the unbeliever and the skeptic, but it is essential to have faith in God. It is important, perhaps,

to answer all the arguments that are brought up against divine

NEED OF DEVOTION IN OUR MEETINGS. 41

revelation, and against the organization of our Church, and the divine calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith, but it is essential that the spirit of testimony shall satisfy the heart of every individual that these things are true, without which no man ever will be quite satisfied, for these are things that noargument can thor- oughly establish, but the peace and inspiration of the Lord can establish the truth in the heart of every person who devoutly comes to God, nothing doubting. "Well, what do you suggest that we do?" you say. I have no instructions on this point from the Board, and must therefore leave it with each president to devise means that shall inspire his association with devotion and worship. I would suggest that the officer go to God for wisdom and inspiration in his task; that rev-

erence for the place, and for the name of the Lord, and for the priesthood, be required; that order be more strictly enforced; that testimonies be heard; that light devotional exercises be intro- duced, like standing and repeating in concert a short verse from the Bible: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light." "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." (John xiv: 21.) "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the strong man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth God who doth exercise loving kindness,

judgment and righteousness in the earth" (Jeremiah ix: 23, 24); that tuneful gospel hymns be sung; that, in prayer, the head be bowed and the eyes closed; that silent devotion, in which it be re- quired that the mind in all silence shall dwell upon the Savior and his love for us, be for a moment engaged in by the class; that the class teacher leave no opportunity unimproved to impress the love of God upon the minds of his pupils, their absolute dependence upon him, .the beauty of his laws and his handiwork, as well in the storm, the earthquake, the black cloud, the lightning, the sunshine and the season, as in the law that rounds the dewdrop and shapes the lines of leaf and flower and fruit, and gives to man his reason. I would also suggest that greater interest in each other be taken, that a closer social relation exist between the president and the officers and members; that there be fewer formal pro-