--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Hogenson, J. C. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 15 number: 12 published: 1912-10 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'J. C. Hogenson, "Be Prepared Now," *Improvement Era* 15, no. 12 (October 1912): 1111–1117.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera15012unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera15012unse start_page: 1111 end_page: 1117 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1912-10) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera15012unse publication_year: 1912 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1912, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Be Prepared Now Be Prepared Now BY PROF. J. C. HOGENSON, OF THE UTAH STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE "Now," is the voice that nature breathes To those her book can read; The changeful cloud, the fleeting beam, The fading rose, the restless stream Confirm her warning creed. "Now," is the word that wisdom writes On palace, hall and bower; The buried past from hope is free; The future, what is that to thee? Improve the present hour. "Now," though another morn may rise In purple and in gold, Thine eye, made dim by failing breath, And shrouded in the dust of death, May not its light behold. "Now," not tomorrow, oh, my soul, Obey the Master's call, Lest darkly on the scroll of fate Stand forth the dreadful doom — too late, And thou be 'reft of all. The boy scout movement which is creating so much interest today has as one of its fundamental rules, "Be prepared." Be prepared for what ? for anything and everything that comes your way. In other words, be prepared for the duties of life. The duties and positions as they come to us, cannot wait for us to prepare ourselves for them, but we must be prepared for them when they come. So I say the, "Be-prepared"-rule in the Boy Scout Law is a splended rule. There are always positions for those who are prepared, but the person who is not prepared is always looking for a place, and seldom gets it, and if he finds one, does not keep it long. This is an age of usefulness and efficiency, 1112 IMPROVEMENT ERA and those who have both of these qualifications are well prepared and equipped for life's work. Procrastination, the purtting off of duties and the non-preparation for the duties to come, is one of the great evils of the day. Nature never procrastinates. The seasons come in their turn, day follows night, sunshine showers, and all through we find no hesitating but everything coming along exactly in its time and season. There is perhaps no one who is affected so much by procrastination as the farmer, who depends upon the natural moisture in the soil for the growing of his crop. Crops for their development must have a certain amount of moisture. It is the business of the farmer, to conserve this moisture by effective cultivation. This is done by deep plowing, by thorough harrowing, in the spring, so as to form a mulch which prevents the escape of moisture, and also the growth of weeds. If this work is not done when it should be, most of the moisture is lost by evaporation, and as a consequence the farmer gets no crop. I shall give one illustration. During the month of May a farmer was plowing his land. He was induced to harrow one acre immediately after plowing, and to leave another acre as the plow had left it unharrowed for one week. Samples of soil were taken to the depth of eig'ht feet upon both of these acres, just as they were plowed, and it was found that they both contained about sixteen per cent, or 2,560 tons of water on each acre to the depth of eight feet. After one week, samples of soil were again taken, as before, on the acre that had been harrowed and also on the acre that had not been harrowed, with the following results: the acre that had been harrowed contained about 15.5 per cent of moisture, or had lost only one-half of one per cent during the week, while the acre that had been left rough as the plow had left it contained 10.5 per cent. During that week the sun had drawn out of that rough soil to the depth of eight feet 880 tons of water, or enough, if conserved in the soil, to mature 19.5 bushels' of wheat. The farmer who harrows when he ought to, as early in the spring as possible, conserves his moisture and gets a good crop, while the farmer who procrastinates and allows his moisture to evaporate gets no crop. There is a particular time for doing everything, and if it is BE PREPARED 1113 done then, the best results are always secured. We might say with Shakespeare, "There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in. shallows and in miseries ; and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures." "Procrastinating Peter, short of tools and seeds; Eight and eighty acres growing np to weeds! Ere the summer's ended, you will hear him growl, Nothing has done well for him, crop, nor beast, nor fowl." Be prepared, or the duties of life may come and find you procrastinating. The person who is not prepared is usually the "knocker," while the prepared man says of the days as they come: "These are the best days! Stars were never brighter, Hearts were never lighter, Songs of birds and rippling brooklets Never were more sweet; There were never fairer flowers Than those at our feet, In these fair days, these rare clays, The best days of all! "These are the best days! Skies were never bluer: i Friends were never truer; There was never less of sorrow, More of joy and song, Than we find beside our pathway As we trudge along In these fair days, these rare days, The best days of all!" The best days of all ! Surely these days are exactly that ; and there is yet the heartsome knowledge that there are better days in store than the best that we have known. We have only to trust, to persevere, to declare good in all our ways; to believe in it: whatever the present seems, to hold fast to it in the very teeth of impending disaster. If we do this, there can be no doubt of the result; nor need we worry how or by what path our good will come to us— indeed, that very worry is most apt to defeat its own 1114 IMPROVEMENT ERA end, or to put it further from us. We must know, with the "Sage of Concord," that our welfare is dear to the Heart of Being; that the best is the true, and that we cannot set our ideals too high. Often it may happen that because we do crave the best, because we do hitch our wagon to a star, we meet disappointments which for the time seem bitter enough. One for whom we have cared proves unworthy of our faith in him; a business venture meets disaster ; or we fail to accomplish one thing or another on which we have set our hearts, and then comes the world-old question, "What's the use?" and our mental sky is dark with discouragement. Yet, if we "hold fast," the days to come will bring to us a friend that is true, a larger success than would have been possible in the business venture that failed, a higher attainment than we dreamed. If we keep to the best and the noblest, everything not in accord with those ideals will drop away. We should never be sorry for that, but rejoice in the expectation of "something better than we have known." In a certain land which shall be nameless there is a sermon in stone : at every turn of the road three little carved images, one above another, the first with finger on his lips, the second with fingers on closed eyes, and the third with finger tips thrust into his ears : "Speak no evil — see no evil — hear no evil !" To refuse to listen to unkind things is to be negatively good ; to say kind things is to be positively good. There is a difference. We once knew of a dear little woman who by her tact and friendliness kept an entire village, naturally quarrelsome, goodnatured, sweet and wholesome. It was long ago, before the word "knocking," as applied to chronic faultfinding, was coined, or "burning the hammer" thought of. Everybody in the village loved the plain little woman, who owned a plain little home, and sewed for a living that was not always abundant. Her rule was, "If you're going to tell anything, tell the best you know or have heard, and keep the rest to yourself." One of the neighbors, a well-to-do farmer, hired a boy from a rather shiftless family, and one day Miss Abigail asked how the lad was getting along. "He's no good," said the farmer. "I'm going to let him go when his month's up ; we're out of all patience with his slipshod ways." BE Pk££Ak£t) 1115 "Why-e !" said Miss Abigail, "I always thought he was a real likely boy." "So he is," acknowledged the neighbor. "He's got the making of a fine, smart man in him. I wouldn't ask better help, if he'd take an interest in his work, but he won't. I guess it's his bringing up, but I can't bother to teach him new tricks." A little while after, Miss Abigail, on the little porch that overlooked her neighbor's cornfield, saw the recreant lad cutting across lots with his fishing-pole. He came out by the little house. "Hello, Jimmy !" called Miss Abigail. Jimmy looked up rather shamefacedly. "Come and get a drink of cool buttermilk," piped Miss Abigail, cherrily. "I'm glad you've got your work done, so you can go fishing. Only a little spell ago I was talking to the deacon about you, and he said he wouldn't ask better help when you take an interest, as, of course, you do. He says you've got the making of a fine, smart man in you." The boy lifted his head and looked straight at Miss Abigail. "Did — did the deacon say that?" he asked. "His very words," declared Miss Abigail. There was silence for a moment. "Can — can I leave my pole here till after supper?" asked the lad. "There'll be plenty of time then, an' — an' I ain't got my work quite done." Back to the cornfield he went ; and all the long, sultry afternoon he hoed and pulled weeds. And Miss Abigail had another little talk with her neighbor, who had the deepest respect for her judgment; and the boy stayed; and today he is of the "foremost citizens" of the little town, respectable and respected. That was Miss Abigail's way; she gave everybody the biggest and best estimate possible, and everybody lived up to it, as everybody is pretty sure to do. Isn't there a lesson right here for us all ? It is our duty to give to our fellow-men the best there is in us. We can, if we will, rise above our environment, if it has not been the best, and make of ourselves that which God intended us to be, successful, pure and God-fearing men and women. Hans Christian Andersen illustrates this point of rising above our environment in his "Ugly Duckling," where he says, "It matters not if one is born in a duck yard if he was lain in a swan's egg." That is : it matters not where or under what environment one is born, if he has within himself the will power and determination 1115 IMPROVEMENT ERA to make something of himself. It is a common saying, "He can who thinks he can." In other words, in order to succeed, a person must have confidence in himself. If he goes about his work with doubt in his mind, as to whether or not he can do the work, in nine cases out of ten it will result in failure. Such a person has an atmosphere of failure about him, and is really defeated before the battle is begun. If a person has confidence, which comes from thorough preparation, he has an atmosphere of a conqueror about him, and has really won the battle before it is begun. Success always lies in learning well the things we undertake to do. This, of course, requires long study and toil in preparation, but proficiency, understanding and success along every line come only through study. Many people say, "I do not believe the gospel ; I see nothing in it." Why? Because they have not made it a study. They have only given it a passing glance, and do not understand it. We could see nothing in, nor could we enjoy, the so-called sciences, if we had not studied them so that we understand and comprehend them. What would you think of a man who said, "I do not believe that there is anything in astronomy, or chemistry, or bacteriology, or the practice of medicine or law, if he were ignorant of them and had not made a study of these sciences and professions ? You would immediately conclude in your mind that he did not know what he was talking about, and that he was a man of poor judgment and could not be relied upon. Yet, with regard to the gospel of Christ, many reason in just that way, they say there is nothing in it, before having made the least study of it, perhaps not even having learned its first simple doctrines and teachings. No one, who has made a thorough study of the gospel as taught by the Latter-day Saints, has ever been able to say, "There is nothing in it;" because it is so full of inspiration, so full of good and glorious principles that any person with the Spirit of God burning in his soul cannot help but be lifted up and made better by understanding these principles. Yet, the things of God are understood only by the Spirit of God, so that if a person studies with a prejudiced mind, not being open to conviction, and not having the Spirit of God with him, no inspiration or enlightenment can come to him. Be prepared now for the inevitable hour, for we know not BE PREPARED NOW 1117 the day nor the hour when it shall come. How grand it is to see persons ripe in age, whose life has been filled with good deeds, happy and contented as the hour draws near, ready and glad to meet their Maker face to face ! How contrasting this would be to a scene where one is called who is not prepared, whose life has been full of idleness and selfish deeds, pleading for a little longer time in which to change his mode of life and prepare himself! Are we prepared? now? today? If not, we should be preparing. Then wake up, and do something, More than dream of your mansion above; Doing good is a pleasure, A joy beyond measure, A blessing of duty and love. — W. L. Thompson. The Golden Age lies onward, not behind; The pathway through the past has led us up: The pathway through the future will lead on, and higher, If we will but do our best, And do it now. LOGAN, UTAH Sleep I hail the close of feverish day The luring voice that calls to me When I may sleep; From out the deep My sorrows soar on wings away, Grows dim across the stilly sea; Ah, could I bid the shadows stay, My phantom boat is sailing free,- That I might ever sleep. I sleep— sweet restful sleep! I yield my eager grip of things Full compensation for the light, So I may keep A time to reap, Inviolate the rest that brings From fitful day a brief respite; The silent night on sable wings, Enfolded in the arms of Night, And sleep —sweet restful sleep! I sleep— sweet restful sleep! The bitter tears have ceased to gall; No more I weep. The boon of Night is come to all. Forgetful now beneath her pall, I sleep, — sweet restful sleep! Louis W. Larsen. T