Worship

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Worship

BY JOSEPH QUINNEY, OF THE PRESIDENCY OF THE CACHE STAKE

OF ZION

Truth has always existed, but its development in the mind of

man has been delayed mostly because of ignorance and inexperi-

ence, and, we may say, a lack of appreciation for truth. In all

ages of human progress, it has required the most profound

thought, and hard work, to develop truth. The mind of man has

become susceptible to the influences that have brought about de-

velopment and growth. We are indebted for it to the very few

who have given their time and energy to the carefully prepared

facts they have established for the blessings and salvation of the

human race. In this hour of progress, in this time of our en-

lightened civilization, as in other periods of the world's his-

tory, the spirit of appreciation is felt only on our endeavor to

apply the truths that have come to help and bless us. When a

truth finds application in our lives, we find then a growth and

expansion of our beings, and also gratitude and thanksgiving to

those who have made a better life possible. In this sense the

spirit of worship takes hold, and we experience a homage, and

feel a reverence and a respect for those who have developed truth.

One cannot worship truly without a deep feeling of gratitude in

his soul, and gratitude is developed only through our efforts to

serve. Problems are solved only when the fundamentals of the

problems are understood, and the solution of the fundamentals is

the seat of gratitude. Understanding how to do a thing means

work, but to apply the thing we understand requires not only

work, but moral and physical courage. When we are living out

our problems we know how to appreciate and bless, we know how

to worship and to praise. To understand how to worship there

must be a development of feeling, the very highest type of feel-

ing. When the three wise men beheld the star of Bethlehem, we

are told in the annals of profane history that it required a long

period of years of hard labor and thought with astronomical in-

struments before they could determine the coming of the Holy

One. Gratitude, appreciation, thanksgiving and praises were the

results of this long labor. When thev arrived at the birth place

of the Lowly Nazarene, a feeling of worship came over them

"When thev saw the star thev rejoiced with exceeding great joy,

and when they came into the house, they saw the young child with

Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him, and when

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WORSHIP 833

they had opened their treasures, they presented him with gifts,

gold and frankincense and myrrh." This was the most splendid

thing that had ever come into their lives. It was the working out

of a divine truth, the development of gratitude, the result of

which was true worship. It was not the mere presentation of

costly gifts that gave them a feeling of gratitude, because the act

of giving was the custom of the people in those days; it was not

that their efforts had been rewarded by a new star alone, the

appearance of which had blessed their souls. Their reward came

in knowing that all their efforts had developed a splendid truth,

and that in their own lives the sense of gratitude was so deeply

rooted that they knew how to worship when they beheld the Son

of God.

To worship is one thing, to know how to worship is quite

another.To know how to do things requires thought, the wise

men knew the spirit of worship, because of the utilization of de-

veloped truth.

Columbus discovered America long before his ship sailed

from Spain. Preparations had qualified him for any and all

events, hardships or disfavors. He knew there was a new land to

be discovered. His final message to the queen of Spain was not

made without mighty struggle. His integrity to the working out

of a truth which he knew would herald the dawn of a new era, a

new civilization, a new world, if you please, shines forth as a light

of inspiration to all the world. He knew what gratitude was, he

knew how to worship, because he had learned the fundamentals

of worship. He had met defeat, times without number, but in it

all, he felt the encouragement of an Infinite Being. His deep feel-

ing of gratitude was so exemplified in his soul that his first

thought, after being commissioned of Spain, to sail out upon the

unknown seas for the promised land, was to revere and pay hom-

age to God. This is worship, the kind that opens the windows of

the universe, so that the wisdom of the Almighty may enlarge

men's understanding.

There is in-born in every human soul the instinct of wor-

ship, no matter who, or where the individual is, or may be. Per-

mit this instinct to grow and develop, and it will earn by natural

growth the fundamentals of worship. Among some of the savage

races, where instinct has been the only means of determining how

to worship, gratitude has formed a basic principle of their true

worship. "There is a spirit in man, not in the privileged few,

but in all God's children, which is the guide to truth, is the gra-

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cious gift to each member of the human family."

As Mr. George Bancroft, the historian, puts it

"Reason exists in every breast, I mean not that faculty which

deduces inferences from the experiences of the senses, but that higher

faculty which from the infinite treasure of his own consciousness origi-

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nates truth and assents to it by the force of intuitive evidence. That

faculty which raises us beyond the control of time and space, and gives

us faith in things eternal and invisible."

This spirit in man is not an imaginary thing, because it is

the beacon light to all truth. When properly developed it pre-

pares us for our proper worship. Indeed, we may say it actually

raises us beyond the control of time and space, and gives us faith

in things eternal. There is no distinction in love, or in its feelings,

because the same love that gave gratitude to the wise men which

formed the basis of their worship, also characterizes the savage

mother who has the same tender feelings for her offspring as any

mother can know. This love and affection is gratitude, to this

savage mother. In her heart she worships most sincerely. This

faculty within, which gives us hope and faith in things invisible

and eternal, is developed more in some than in others, although it

isinborn in all. Mr. George Bancroft lectured upon art and gov-

ernment, in the year 1835. In philosophizing upon the subject, he

assumes to say

"The eye in one person may be dull, in another quick; in one dis-

torted, and in another tranquil and clear; yet the relation of the eye to

the light is in all men the same."

This seems to be reasonable, yet, while the relation of the

eye to the light is the same in all men, there is in some a more

developed degree of appreciation of this relationship than in others.

It is the same in our degrees of worship. There are some who

worship without knowing why, others worship because of the

development of the instinct within them. The latter consequently

have the full purpose of worship thoroughly established within

them. The one who does not know the true virtue of worship

is he who has not conformed to the law of worship. He does

not understand its purpose and therefore the instinct within has

only the same relation to worship as the undeveloped eye has to

the light.

We are convinced that worship is a good thing, just as much

so as we are convinced that, "religion itself is a dead letter where-

ever its truths are not renewed in the soul." Among all classes

of people there is an established moral law, the standard of which

should fit the needs of the people. Permit the violation of this

law to pass unnoticed, and you will find an element of uncertainty

the growth of which is damaging. The violator of this law be-

comes, in time, a menace, a breeder of immorality, and, finally,

an undesirable citizen. It is true there is still the instinct within,

but by the lack of its development he is what he is. If he were

to attempt to worship under conditions of this kind, it is very

likely that his worship would be an insincere one, because of his

sense of gratitude being of a low order.