Guardianship in Religion and Other Classes

GUARDIANSHIP IN RELIGION- AND OTHER CLASSES. BY PROF. A. M. MERRILL, PRINCIPAL OF THE CASSIA STAKE ACADfcMY. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Ara I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. There was little need for Cain to ask the question, ''Am I my brother's keeper?" for he now began to realize the fearful responsibility he had assumed in taking the life that he could not restore. He stood absolutely helpless and hopeless before his terrible crime . "And he was cursed from the earth" which had opened up her mouth to receive his brother's blood. We may keep our hands clean from our brother's blood, but it were not an easy thing in life to so live 'that no man's sin shall cry up from the ground against us. To a greater extent than most of us realize, we are all "our brothers' keepers," and we are more or less responsible for their reaping the wages of sin, or of enjoying the fruits of life eternal. Life brings to each and all great and fearful responsibilities. We act and react upon one another— in fact, upon all with whom we come in contact — and consequently become sponsers, in a measure, for the conduct of all. If one would shirk the responsibility of guardianship, he must, perforce, isolate himself, because he cannot live with others without exercising an influence for good or ill over them. "No star ever rose and set without having influence somewhere." No human being ever lived without influencing those with whom he lived. The more people with whom he comes in contact, th;en, the

GUARDIANSHIP IN RELIGION- AND OTHER CLASSES. 285 closer the association he forms, and the more intelligence and wisdom, or learning and folly, that he brings as an individual, into these associations, the greater the responsibility devolving upon him. The conscientious Latter-day Saint who realizes the great number of acquaintanceships he naturally forms, in a lifetime, during these modern days of commingling of races, peoples and nations; who senses how intimate his relations in business, social, and religious life are, under present day customs; and who appreciates, in part, the wondrous light and intelligence, the unprecedented blessings God ^as, in his mercy, showered upon him — must of necessity stand, at times, almost appalled before the duties and responsibilities that are his. Yet he must not shirk nor cower, but he must go forth with a brave heart, with a just and holy fear of God, and faithfully discharge the duties and responsibilities as they daily come to his hands . And those who, like Abraham and Moses, receive a divine call to act in the holy office of a "teacher," in any of the organizations that God has established in his Church in these days, must sense far more deeply these grave responsibilities, and must strive so much the harder to discharge them honorably. When one receives the "call" to be a teacher in the Church, he is not then simply a follower of Christ, but he joins hands with him- is one with him, divinely called and chosen to the greatest and holiest of callings. The supreme object of his life must then be to lead all men back to God. If he permit one to escape, without having put forth his every effort to save him, then is he as leader and as teacher responsible and under condemnation. Some have accused Christ of having been an "enthusiast," a "zealot," and we that understand his mission are glad indeed that such accusation can justly be made, for verily it was enthusiasm and zeal that were needed in his work; and which must characterize the labors of those who would be co-workers with him . To bring about his righteous purposes, must be the teacher's constant thought by day, and his only dream by night. This only means, as I understand it, to have the spirit of THE WORK. To have the spirit of Christ's work is the key to success in all of the callings of the Church. The humble elder in the

286 IMPROVEMENT ERA. field who has this needs have no fear of results. -The laborer at home, in any calling, whether it be as president of a stake or as an honored teacher in a religion class, needs little else but the spirit of his work. This, then, will in and of itself readily solve all the problems of "Guardianship in Religion Class Work," the subject assigned me; so that the introduction to my subject becomes at once its body and its conclusion. The religion class superintendent and his teachers, each and all having the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, go out in search for the sheep of Israel, and if it be within their power they will see to it that not one is lost. When they find any that are weak, or worn, or weary, they will see to it that they are given the proper care and nourishment to bring them back in good condition into the fold. I have a sort of feeling that this guardianship work, in the religion classes, will yet serve to open the eyes of the blind and faint-hearted teachers in the other organizations in the Church, to the fact that teaching a class of boys and girls in the Church, is not simply hearing a recitation, once a week, under more or less favorable circumstances, but that it means a perpetual instructorship and guardianship — a whole-souled interest, and the manifestation of a devoted love during the seven days — every one of the one hundred and sixty-eight hours of the week. Teaching in the Church must mean no less than this. In the public school, the teacher is considered more or less loco parentis, and in the gospel school, he must be far more so. If the boys and girls are to be really ours during two or five hours of the religion class period, they must be no less ours during the remainder of the time. We must have always that tender solicitude for them that Christ has for us. We must visit them in their homes; we must mingle with them in their social amusements ; we must interest ourselves ii the things in which they are interested; we must salute them in the street and in the field, and by precept and example teach them what it is to have the Spirit of Christ in our breasts, and what it means to enjoy communion with playmates, friends, brothers, sisters, and teachers in the Church of Christ. Oakley, Idaho.