The Great Test

THE GREAT TEST. BY ALBERT R. LYMAN, SUPERINTENDENT Y. M. M. I. A., SAN JUAN STAKE OF ZION. In the hoary past, far back in the eternities, when causes were taking form, even in the high courts of God with the seraphic host, where intelligence vied with intelligence to do the noblest thing, one being moved on with myriads of his fellows, toiling heroically in the conflict with sin. Never doubting the right, nor fearing the foe, his heart was true to his chieftain , and his deeds of valor were glorious. Thus, wrong was banished from the supernal realm. His voice accustomed to the praise of the eternal God and the heavenly shout of glory, his life was in harmony and accord with the greatness and felicity of heaven. No marring impulse lured him from the right, no piercing sorrow filled his mind with pain. The way was plain before him. He knew the purposes of God, he knew the object of his existence; he was to learn obedience to law, to be tried and tested in every way to prove himself worthy, eternally, of the loving assistance that had brought him thus far. But before he could gain and merit all that God had to give, he must pass, somewhere in the remote future, one last great test. Before he could be a recipient of all of God's wondrous love, the material composing his body must be united with another material, and his body must be strengthened and developed in many ways. Age upon age, through vast periods of heaven-measured time, he strove to gain the discipline, the truth, the excellence that would insure his safe passage through the great future ordeal. Did he know of all its snares and difficulties and dangers? No; he could not pre-

THE GREAT TEST. 467 pare for any one perilous moment, but rather strengthen the whole fabricof his moral nature to overcome any and every evil. He knew that to exist eternally he must conform to the eternal laws of God by which endless life is made possible. Patiently and diligently he labored to learn these great laws, and write them indelibly on the inmost chamber of his thought. True friends nurtured and loved him, and imparted the truth, but he knew that in the time of test he must stand on his own merits, and succeed or fail by his own worth. He strove earnestly to correct the weaknesses of his being, that no fault might remain to cause his downfall. Swayed by his individuality, that had come down from the hazy past, his development had its peculiar characteristics, qualifications and deficiencies. There were chambers of thought in which his mind was wont to run, and labors which his hands preferred to do. Each passing age saw new stones placed in the charactermonument he was building, and though it was reared to a great height, it was yet as far from perfect and complete as are the limits of a world from filling the immensity of space. Upon this earnest son of God, there came a stupor, a lapse of memory, and all the glorious past was forgotten. The mind thus improved became an utter blank, as if falling back through dead eternities. Its recollection was reserved in heaven till a future day. Helpless and ignorant, life began anew in another world, with the old powers of sin, once vanquished, marshalled again for battle. Development seemed slow and difficult, yet with an imperfect recovery, he wondered who he was, whence and how he came. No real memories of the past were recalled, but something approaching near to them brought a longing, a desire to see, and hear, and know, to pierce the outer gloom of earth and read man's destiny. There were impulses of manliness — yes, of godliness; hopes and ambitions, foreign and superior to earth; proud sentiments that might arise in the mind of a man begotten of God. There were desires, strong desires, that scarcely knew restraint, and some of them, alas! were agreeable to sin, the enemy. A thou-

468 IMPROVEMENT ERA. sand ways were open to him, and a thousand sirens tried to entice his faltering steps; but despite the ignorance, and despite the evil desire, that something, like the memory of the glorious past, was whispering, — Beware! Beware! This is the great test. It is you, my dear reader, of whom we are speaking. This world is the great test of eternities. Forgetful of your primeval wisdom and glory, you are placed here to determine what your natural, blind self will choose, and by this choice you will be judged, even after old memories are perfectly revived. When ycur choice is fully determined, much, if not all of your earth- wisdom will be accomplished. Once, of your own volition, you battled with and overcame evil. Now, with but enough of old memories to whisper a warning against wrong, and an approval of right, you are confronted with the same old powers, who, by ages of experience in meeting your fellows, have learned how to appear ever so attractive, and how to present their evil plans in the most captivating way. Before coming into this world, your inclinations were right, your thoughts were right, your nature was trained and disciplined, yet in the elements of your being there was an essence lacking. Here you are united with that essence, which, of course, is crude and untrained, and your great earthly task is to school and refine it, and make it conform to your former excellence, that with the harmonious union of these two elements you may be prepared to advance through all stages and degrees, and receive the greatest endowment that God can bestow. In your pristine state you saw and heard and felt the great light of truth by which you advanced, but here the very A, B, C, of inspiration is more or less foreign to your new body, and has to be sought and studied diligently, if it is learned. Truly, inspiration from heaven is still within reach, and should be your greatest teacher, but these two elements must be made to harmonize with it, before it can be enjoyed. In your nature you find peculiar inclinations, likes, dislikes, qualifications, and weaknesses which have attended you from early infancy; they are largely the result of your own efforts. To some truth you awaken without exertion, while others can hardly be comprehended with much assistance ; that is your ancient being