Latter-day Saint Ideals and Institutions

Improvement Era Vol. XXX AUGUST, 1927 No. 10 LATTER-DAY SAINT IDEALS AND INSTITUTIONS* By Elder Orson F. Whitney, of the Council of the Twelve Definition of Terms My first duty to this congregation is to define the terms used in the title of my address. You all know what Latter-day Saint means; so I need not dwell upon that. But what is meant by ideal? And what is an institution? To such as need be told, I now address myself. Broadly speaking, an institution is something that is already established, while an ideal is a thing not yet attained, or a thing unattainable. Ideal does not mean unreal; it is just a loftier real. The ideal might be termed the parent of the real. The Need of Ideals Man needs ideals; and, for aught I know, God needs them. There must always be something above and beyond, something in the lead, to incite and encourage effort; else progress would cease. In ideality is the principle of leadership. The ideal stands upon a mountain top, beckoning to the real to come up higher. But as we climb the mountain, the ideal recedes and takes yet higher ground, where it continues to beckon and point upward. We press on and on, but Alps on Alps arise, and the summit of one attainment proves the point look-out to heights still unsurmounted. Thus the ideals of yesterday have become the institu- tions of today; and the ideals of today will be the institutions of ♦Address delivered at the M. I. A. Conference in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday evening, June 12, 192 7. Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1 103 , Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 2. 1918, $2 pec annum. Address Room 40 6, Church Office Building, Salt Lake City, Utah.

850 IMPROVEMENT ERA tomorrow. But "tomorrow never comes;" it is. itself an ideal, such a one as Wordsworth dreamt of: "The light that never was on sea or land — The consecration and the poet's dream." Dreamers and Builders Yes, the poet is a dreamer, an idealist. But so is the architect and the builder of railroads. Sewing machines, telephones, auto- mobiles, airplanes and .radios — these were once ideals. They are dreams that have "come true," slumbering thoughts that have awak- ened, ideals that have become institutions. Every great project is dreamt of, thought out, before it is consummated. If there were no dreamers, there would be no builders, and consequently no advance- ment. Lindbergh, "the lone eagle," who flew across the Atlantic and won the praises of two hemispheres, returning, as President Coolidge said, "unsullied," "uncommercialized," "unspoiled," had to dream before he could achieve his marvelous exploit. The Poet's Mission In his noble concept of the poet and his mission, Dr. Holland gives this illuminating glimpse: "The poets of the world are the prophets of humanity. They forever reach after and foresee the ultimate good. They are evermore building the Paradise that is to be, painting the Millennium that is to come, restoring the lost image qf God in the human soul. When the world shall reach the poet's ideal it will arrive at perfection, and much good will it do the world to measure itself by this ideal, and struggle to lift the real to its lofty level." Institutions the Offspring of Ideals Institutions are the offspring of ideals. Churches, schools, libraries, lecture halls, theatres, hospitals — these are institutions. So are banks and business houses, those having character and stability. An institution is also "an established order, principle, law or usage." Marriage is an institution — and divorce threatens to become so, owing to its alarming and fickle frequency. But it represents an abnormal condition, and will pass away — the sooner, the better. The Government of the United States is an institution, the embodiment of an ideal. So likewise is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was an ideal that brought the Pioneers into the Wilderness, to redeem a desert, to found schools and establish newspapers, to erect a Tabernacle, with a great organ, one of the greatest in the world; to organize splendid choirs and orchestras; to build temples — temples to God, and temples to Music and Art; to plant civilization amidst savagery, and lay the foundations of an empire where solitude and desolation once held undisputed sway. But there are greater ideals than these, and they stand as on a

LATTER-DAY SAINT IDEALS 851 mountain top, inviting us to ascend. Let us go up, and from that loftier summit, survey three great institutions and three great ideals peculiar to the philosophy of the Latter-day Saints. The institutions are Man, Earth and Time. The ideals are God, Heaven and Eternity. The Symbolism of the Universe I have long held the view that the universe is built upon symbols, whereby one thing bespeaks another; the lesser testifying of the greater, lifting our thoughts from man to God, from earth to heaven, from time to eternity. This, I believe, was what the Lord was teaching Abraham when he said: "If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them" (Abr. 3:16). Already the Lord had said to Adam: "All things have their likeness, and are made to bear record of Me" (Moses 6:63). Man, created in the image of God, testifies or bears record of his Creator — not only by tongue and pen, but by his personality. Men and women, such as I see before^ me, are in the likenessi of the Eternal Father and Mother, and by that likeness they bear record of their heavenly Parentage. The Everywhere Spirit When Joseph Smith came into the world, Christians were wor- shiping, as God, what an English poet of the eighteenth century terms a "Soul," which Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees, Lives through all life, extends through all extent. Spreads undivided, operates unspent. I do not mean to say that all Christians were of that mind. Many believed in a personal Deity, the God of the Bible, of whom the Son of God said: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." But the God of the churches was then, as now, the "Soul" described by the English poet — Alexander Pope. Song of Unity Just the other day I came across an anonymous poem, "Song of Unity," a virtual reassertion of Pope's brilliant verse. I give it entire: I Am not secret nor apart, I Am the kisses of the sun. That you must think, 'Lo, there,' I Am the tears of rain, I Am th\e All, immerged in all; I Am the welcome breath of spring. Behold Me everywhere! That bring new life again. I Am the morning zephyr, sweet, I Am the spirit of the seed, That softly sweeps the lea; The budding of the flower: I Am the music of the brook I Am the beauty that you see That flows into the sea. Unfolding every hour.

852 IMPROVEMENT ERA I Am the singing of the birds, I Am the light that never fails, The rustling of the leaves: The Power that never dies; I Am the holy force of life I Am the Still Small Voice within, In everything that breathes! That bids the soul arise. I Am the thrill of harmony I Am the fruit of highest thoughts; You feel but cannot tell; I Am the Iron Rod I Am the firm, unchanging law That strengthens and supports the That doeth all things well. whole — I Am what men call GOD! Now this is all very beautiful, and all very true if confined to a description of that universal spirit which proceeds forth from God, fills the immensity of space, and is imminent in all creation. It is the light of the world, the lamp of the human mind, the power by which the grass grows, the flowers bloom, the birds sing, and all Nature rejoices. But that is not our Father in heaven, nor is it our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, nor the Holy Ghost — those three divine personages who constitute the eternal Godhead and preside over all things. It is not even the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is reserved exclusively for the members of the Church of Christ. The spirit of which I am speaking is a universal possession, enlightening in some degree every man that cometh into the world. The True God Through Joseph Smith, the lost knowledge of the true God was restored to a world wandering from the Truth, worshiping, not God, but a spirit sent from God — not Divinity itself, but an emanation from Divinity. Joseph, having seen God, as Moses saw him, was in a position to affirm, as did Moses, that man is in the image or likeness of his Maker. Moreover, he declared that man is God in embryo, and that God is man made perfect. Thomas Carlyle, that great philosopher, hit upon the truth, but not the full truth, when he said: "What is man but a symbol of God?" Plato had virtually affirmed it, in saying: "All things are symbolical." But Joseph Smith went further. He proclaimed God to be "An Exalted Man." The strength and uniqueness of such an ideal are apparent, without preface or argument. There is nothing to equal it in all the religions and philosophies of the world. Joseph Smith, when he uttered that great truth, was "restoring the lost image of God in the human soul." So much for Man, and his corresponding Ideal. Now, what of Earth, which was made for man, not merely as a temporary abode, but as an eternal inheritance, an everlasting possession? Here is the record of its creation: Why Earth Was Made "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; * * *

LATTER-DAY SAINT IDEALS 853 "And he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born. ■ "And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell: "And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; "And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; * * * and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever." (Abraham 3:22-26.) A brief story; but how wonderfully comprehensive! The Pre- existence of Man, the Purpose of Creation — a creation out of "ma- terials" already existing — and the conditions of advancement to Eternal Glory, all outlined in those few plain words! Truth Versus Tradition Antiquated Tradition, personified in pious, well-meaning peo- ple, has asserted for centuries that God made the earth and all created things out of nothing. No doubt it was a sincere conviction, as much so as the belief, once entertained, that this planet was the center of the universe, with sun, moon and stars revolving round it; for disputing which and insisting that the earth moved round the sun, and not the sun around the earth, Galileo was called in question and compelled to recant, on pain of punishment as a heretic. But Galileo was right in the first place; a fact conceded by the successors to those who found fault with him and his glorious scientific discovery. Tradition, however, is still tenacious of the equally false notion that the earth and all things pertaining to it were made out of nothing. Revelation has corrected this error, but Tradition still asserts it. Even were Revelation silent upon the subject, Reason, it would seem, ought to convince any thinking mind that it is impossible to produce something from nothing. Ndthing remains nothing, of necessity. There must be materials for every creation, and no amount of sophistry can change the fact. "Facts are stubborn things," and common sense lies at the foundation of all true philosophy. It does not glorify God to ascribe to him power to do things that cannot be done. Interpreting by the Spirit But, asks one, do not the Latter-day Saints believe the Bible, and does not the Bible say: "All things are possible with God," "All things are possible to them that believe"? Yes, but the Bible also says: "No man hath seen God at any time," which saying, if interpreted too literally, would blot the Bible out of existence and dynamite the foundations of the Christian faith. We must interpret the letter, which "killeth," by the Spirit, which "giveth life."

854 IMPROVEMENT ERA So interpreted, that sentence would read: No man, with his natural eyes, hath seen God at any time. It is with spirit eyes that men see God, and even then it is the glory of God that enables them to behold him, (Moses 1:11). In like manner we might render the other phrase thus: All possible things are within the power of them that believe. Of course, many things impossible to man are possible with God. I do not question that. I simply say — and say it reverently — that when a thing cannot be done, when it is utterly and absolutely im- possible, neither man nor God can do it; and the making of some- thing out of nothing is a case in point. A Faulty Deduction This error arose out of a denial that matter is eternal, self-existent. A false premise brought forth a false conclusion. The author of the erroneous deduction, having accepted, I suppose, the Bible statement that "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," was unable to reconcile therewith the idea that something previously existed out of which heaven and earth were made — something of older date than the ordered universe. Hence, the dogma denying a creation out of materials already in existence. BERKELEY AND BYRON Bishop George Berkeley, an Anglo-Irish philosopher, who died about the middle of the eighteenth century, declared that matter did not exist. Lord Byron wittily retorted: "When Bishop Berkeley said there was no matter, it was no matter what he said." Byron was right. There is matter, and there is spirit (which is a purer, finer matter, Joseph Smith says) ; and the two, eternal spirit and eternal matter, enter into the composition of worlds and all that they contain. A Two-fold Creation The creation was two-fold. Everything was made twice — first as a spirit, then as spirit and body combined. "The spirit and the body are the soul of man, and the resurrection from the dead is the redemp- tion of the soul" (Doc. and Cov. 88:15, 16). This is true, not only of man, but of other form9 of life. Death dissolves these forms, but Resurrection restores them, and they live on. Science confirms revelation, in declaring that not one particle of matter can either be created or destroyed. Creation is simply or- ganization; or shall I call it education — the moulding and refining of the eternal elements into higher and nobler forms? Do Animals Have Souls? A few months ago — it was only last January — a number of United States Senators were discussing with more or less gravity the question: "Do dogs and other animals have souls?" Four upheld

LATTER-DAY SAINT IDEALS 855 the affirmative; four, the negative; and the rest were non-committal. The question had arisen over some action taken by the French Academy, during a discussion on the revision of the French Dictionary. The Senator who struck nearest the truth was Mr. Robinson, of Indiana. He said, according to report: "The spirit of Almighty God is in all life, human, animal and plant, to some degree. There must be some- thing of the spirit of God in everything that lives." Thus saith the Lord upon the subject: "And now, behold, I say unto you, that these are the generations of the heaven' and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that I, the Lord God, made the heaven and the earth; "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. * * * "And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed irtto his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. * * * "And out of the ground made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree, naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man; and man could behold it. And it became also a living soul. * * * "And out of the ground I, the Lord God, formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and commanded that they should come unto Adam, to see what he would call them; and they were also living souls; for I, God, breathed into them the breath of life." (Moses 3:4. 5, 7, 9. 19.) Thus we see that the affirmative of the question, "Do Animals Have Souls?" is amply sustained by divine revelation; and that is1 quite as good, and a little bit better, in my judgment, than any decree of the French Academy, or any decision by any number of Senators sitting at Washington. The poet Byron's satirical epitaph on the monument of his dog, "Boatswain" — "denied in heaven the soul he held on earth" — shows how that great thinker would have cast his vote, had the opportunity been his. Byron evidently believed that animals) have souls, the theologians of his time to the contrary notwithstanding. And Joseph Smith so believed, or he would not have said (as he is reputed to have said) concerning his favorite horse, when it died, that he expected to have it in Eternity. Nor would he have uttered his heaven-inspired pronouncement, that "the four beasts" seen in vision by John the Revelator (Rev. 4:6) "in describing heaven," "represent the glory of the classes of beings" — men, beasts, fowls, and creeping things — "in their destined order or sphere of creation, in the enjoyment of their eternal felicity." (D. and C. 77:1-3) This is enough, I think, to convince any Latter-day Saint that animals do have souls — that is to say, each animal is a spirit and a body, these together constituting the soul; and the same is true of the trees, plants and flowers. They were not formed for any merely temporary purpose, and are to be eternally perpetuated.

856 IMPROVEMENT ERA The Lesson Taught by A Wheat Grain Apropos of spiritual and temporal duality in the vegetable king- dom: A learned man, who was a chemist, set himself the task of making a grain of wheat. He first took a natural wheat grain and separated it into its component parts, finding that there was so much lime, so much silica, so much of this element and that, in its composi- tion. He then took equal parts of the same elements, and by means of his scientific knowledge, his chemical skill, moulded them into a grain of wheat so exactly similar to the one that Nature, or the God of Nature, had provided, that the natural eye could not detect the difference. But there was a difference — a vast difference. He planted the two grains; and the one that God had created sprang up, while the one that man had made stayed down. God's wheat grain had within it something that man could not give. What was it? I think we may reasonably conclude that it was a spirit, a spark of the Eternal. The Lord's Schoolhouse Earth might be termed a schoolhouse — the Lord's schoolhouse; but it is not his only one. He said "unto those who were with him:" "We will make an earth." The phrase, "an earth," is significant. This planet did not lead the list of God's creations. It was- neither the first, nor was it to be the last among them. No apprentice hand brought this world into being. "Worlds without number have I created," the Lord said to Moses, "and as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words" (Moses 1:3, 38). And thus Enoch, apostrophizing Deity: "Were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of Thy creations; and Thy curtains are stretched out still" (Ibid 7:30). "An earth wheron these may dwell." "These" were the pre- existent spirits of the human race — this human race — some of the "lesser intelligences" surrounding the Supreme Intelligence, who had instituted, for their uplift and advancement, the Everlasting Gosp?l. For these — God's sons and daughters — this earth was created. Why Mortal Life? The primal purpose of man's descent to earth is to obtain a body, and thus become a soul, capable of endless increase and eternal progression, achievements impossible to the spirit alone, which is incomplete without the body. It is the soul — "spirit and element, inseparably connected," — that "receiveth a fulness of joy." And this is made possible through the Fall and the Redemption. Through the Fall, the spirit obtains its mortal body; the Redemption renders that body immortal; and by continued faithfulness in the Gospel —

LATTER-DAY SAINT IDEALS 85 7 obedience to its elevating and exalting principles — the soul goes1 on to perfection. The placing of man on earth was also to give him opportunities for development amidst the changes, vicissitudes, and trials of mortal life; so that by tasting of sorrow and joy, the bitter and the sweet, he might become wise, and gain the education for which he enters the University of Human Experience; to graduate in due season, fitted and prepared for life and labors in the worlds beyond. Still another reason for man's earthly existence, is the testing of his integrity in this, his second, estate, where he walks by faith, and not, as in the previous life, his first estate, by sight. It is by faith that we grow spiritually, — a growth which too much knowledge, 01 knowledge gained at the wrong time, would retard, since knowledge swallows up faith and prevents its exercise. We demonstrate our integrity by believing without seeing; by reaching after God, as a flower, even in a darkened room, reaches after the sunlight. Earth- life, in short, is a probation. Social Gradings Here and Hereafter "All things have their likeness." As man is like unto God, so earth is like unto heaven. Social gradings prevail there, as they do here;* but upon higher principles. In heaven, as on earth, like cleaves to like, or, to use a homely metaphor, "birds of a feather flock together." But in heaven it is for higher and holier reasons. Here, society bases itself upon distinctions of wealth, lineage, or some other central idea serving as a magnet, drawing together those who are mutually congenial, those who "feel at home" one with another in such atmosphere and environment. The rich seek the society of the rich. The poor mingle with the poor. The good are out of place among the wicked (except as teachers and reformers) and would be unhappy if permanently placed there. They would feel almost as wretched as would the wicked, were the gates of heaven to open and take them in. "Aristocracy clusters around three cardinal ideas," said a teacher of mine, a Frenchman, in the old days at the Deseret University, now the University of Utah. "In England, it is blood and birth; in America, money and the power that money wields; in France" — and he smiled proudly as he said it — -"it is intelligence and culture." Such was his conviction. There is much truth in it, and it illustrates my point. There is a likeness between Heaven and Earth, and things earthly typify things heavenly. "Great are the symbols of being, But that which is symboled is greater. Vast the create and beheld, But vaster the inward Creator." It was wisely ordered that man should become familiar with

85 8 IMPROVEMENT ERA % t "the symbols of being," that he might, in higher worlds, act intel- ligently in the presence of the things symbolized. Degrees of Glory There are three grand degrees of heavenly glory. "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the starsi: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead." Thus states Paul the Apostle. Joseph Smith teaches the same doctrine more fully and more plainly. Says he, in substance: The glorified planets are God's king- doms, and to each a law is given. Whosoever would inherit any one of those kingdoms, must abide the law pertaining to that kingdom, whether it be celestials terrestrial or telestial. Those unwilling to abide any law, and who are determined to be a law unto themselves, are not meet for a kingdom of glory, and gravitate to their proper place, as naturally as water seeks and finds its level. Time Testifies of Eternity All this is typified here. The Church, with its spiritual powers, gifts and blessings; the State, with its political offices, honorsi and emoluments; Society, with its vain pursuits and empty diversions; and the gloomy prisons, with their hapless inmates; — all symbolize conditions in the Hereafter, i It is Time testifying of Eternity. Celestial Law Celestial Law, which governs the Celestial Kingdom, is revealed only to those who are capable of obeying it. It demands and gives all for all — the fulness of reward for the fulness of obedience. To live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God — that is the celestial law. It stands for the utter abnegation of self. Those who live it in fulness, love their neighbor as themselves, and do all things with an eye single to the glory of God. "They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things * * * They are gods, even the sons of God." Enoch and his city were sanctified by this law. It was practiced at Jerusalem by the Apostles and Saints; and upon this land, by the Nephites and Lamanites, when converted to the risen Christ. Introduced, but not fully established, in this Gospel dispensation, it will yet be practiced in power, so that Zion can be redeemed, the New Jerusalem built, and the way prepared for the coming of the King of Kings. Earth, by obedience to celestial law, will eventually become a heaven, and celestial beings will inherit it — like cleaving to like. Celestial law, a supreme institution, is the key to Celestial Glory, the highest ideal in the Church of Christ. Earth as a Playhouse "And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them."

LATTER-DAY SAINT IDEALS 859 I have likened earth to a schoolhouse. It also suggests a playhouse — a theatre. Is not the simile borne out by the words just quoted? Who are they that are looking down upon us, to see if we are playing well or ill the parts assigned to us in this great drama of rnortal life? Do not the Gods and Angels and spirits of the just compose that vast audience — "the Congregation of the Mighty," of which the Psalmist tells? And the Holy Spirit, that wise and ready Prompter, is He not busy in our behalf, watching over us, — not jealous of our success, as we are of one another — but only anxious, as are all the heavenly host, that we shall acquit ourselves with credit and win the laurel crown of life eternal? The Seven Ages "All the world's a stage," says Shakespeare, "and all th? men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; and one man, in his time, plays many parts." I have often wondered if that marvelous, many-sided genius told all that he had to tell upon this important subject. Most of you are familiar, no doubt, with Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man:" "At first the infant. Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms; And then the whining school-boy. with his satchel. And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover. Sighing like furnace, with woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier. Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard. Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel. Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice. In fair round belly with good capon lin'd. With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut. Full of wise saws and modern instances: And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon. With spectacles on nose and pouch on side. His youthful hose well sav'd. a world too wide * For his shrunk shank: and his big manly voice. Turning again toward chi'dish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange, eventful history. Is second childishness and mere oblivion. Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." Fine! But is there nothing more to be said on such a theme? Is there not a higher and wider application of the immortal bard's illustrious metaphor, "All the world's a stage?" The Part Imagination Plays Often, while sitting at a play, I have been led to reflect upon how small a part of the performance takes place before the eyes of

860 IMPROVEMENT ERA the people in the auditorium. Were it not for the power of imagina- tion, which extends the action ,both ways, so as to include what supposedly has gone before and will follow after the scenes visualized, how slender, how incomplete, how unsatisfactory would such a per- formance be. What takes place in the mind, the incidents that fancy supplies, the larger part of the play, suggested to the inner conscious- ness prior to the entrance and after the exit of the characters upon the stage — these emphasize and give power to the visible presentation, clothing it with a glamour and investing it with a charm that it would not otherwise possess. And the same is true of a book — a book worth reading. The greater part of it is outside the cover and in the mind of the imaginative reader. The Unmeant or Withheld Poets and even prophets — who are the greatest of poets — "build better than they know," and are often credited with meanings and interpretations that they did not dream of when uttering what inspira- tion gave them. But just as frequently is it the case that the poet cannot express his full thought, owing to the inadequacy of his lan- guage as a medium of expression; while the prophet purposely with- holds, in accordance with the dictates of divine wisdom, "things un- lawful to be uttered" before their time. What Was Shakespeare Teaching? Is it not probable, therefore, that Shakespeare meant more than he expressed? Was he not teaching, as great teachers sometimes do, and as the Greatest of All frequently did — teaching by suggestion a larger lesson than the one openly inculcated? Was he, or was he not, covertly presenting the doctrine— too advanced for Shakespeare's day — that not only the world, but the whole vast stretch of Time is as a stage, with an eternity on either hand, as the wings from which emerge into view, as fast as their cues are given, the characters who strut their brief hour and then pass off the scene to the varied destinies awaiting them? Wordsworth and Pre -existence Some may scoff at the idea, and ask, What had Shakespeare to fear from his generation? Let such remember how Wordsworth, two hundred years later, was called to account for these luminous, truth - revealing lines: "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar." This lofty teaching was too much for the rigid orthodoxy of Wordsworth's time. It could allow for the pre-existence of the Son of God, but not for the pre-existence of man in general. Wordsworth

LATTER-DAY SAINT IDEALS 861 had to recant or half deny that his heaven-inspired intimation meant as much as his bigoted censors seemed to fear. In like manner, Galileo, having declared that the earth moves round the sun, was compelled to recede from his position. But after his recantation, when he was where his judges could not hear him, he said: "The earth moves." And I fancy I hear Wordsworth saying, under his breath, after he had "explained his explanation" and satisfied his critics: "Man did live before this life — I care not what they say." Was there not as much bigotry in Shakespeare's day as in Words- worth's? Rather more, I fancy, and of a fiercer, cruder kind, if history tells true. It is doubtful that even a Shakespeare, in Elizabeth's reign, would have ventured to proclaim all he thought, would have dared to divulge all he knew. Yes, "all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players," cast for certain parts, and in duty bound to play those parts to the acceptance of the Great Manager, who assigned them, and under the whispered suggestions of the Infallible Prompter, whose wise counsel men do well to heed. "All the world's a stage" — but those who limit the application of the metaphor to the individual life, in its successive and varying phases from the cradle to the grave, rob it of half its meaning and of more than half its glory. The Pre- existence and the Life to Come must both be reckoned with in any attempt to explain this intermediate period of man's probation — this brief moment in a boundless, indivisible Eternity, which mortals, for their own convenience, have named the present, the future and the past. God Teaches by Symbols Do I err, then, in believing that the universe is built upon sym- bols, to the end that it may bear record of its all-wise Architect and Builder? God teaches with symbols; it is his favorite method of teaching. The Savior often used them. On one occasion he wished to inculcate the lesson of trust in God, for the benefit of his disciples, who evidently feared that if they left their bread-winning avocations and went forth preaching the Gospel, they would not get food to eat or clothing to wear. Pointing to the flowers at the roadside, Jesus said: "Consider the lillies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Where- fore, if God so clothe the grass, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will he not clothe you, O ye of little faith?" He was using the flowers to symbolize his servants, and impress upon them the sublime lesson that Providence is over all. The Essence of Poetry The Gospel is replete with symbolism, with poetry — poetry of the highest type. The very essence of poetry is in symbolism and the

862 IMPROVEMENT ERA power of suggestion. Rhyme is but a small part of poetry. It is an artifice, used by the poet to make his thought more attractive. It pleases the ear, and helps the sentiment to reach the heart. But most great poems are rhymeless. Rhyme bears about the same relation to poetry as paint or polish on a piano or an organ, to the instrument itself. It would be an organ or a piano without the paint or polish; but it would not be as pleasing to the eye. Shakespeare makes Polonius say to Laertes: "The apparel oft proclaims the man." Yes, but it does not make the man; it only makes him more presentable in society. Prophets are poets, but they do not always poetize. Still, the utterances of great prophets are generally rhythmical and replete with imagery. Attest the writings of David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others, veritable prophets and veritable poets, who, in some of the grandest songs ever sung, have indeed built "the Paradise that is to be," painted "the Millennium that is to come." The Greatest Poet and Poem Read the parables and sayings of the Savior, you that love poetry and would inhale the perfume of its sweetest and most fragrant flowers. The greatest poet that has ever lived was not Shakespeare, nor Milton, nor Dante. It was Jesus Christ. Not because he wrote verses, for we have no record of his having written any; but because he saw deepest into the mystery of life, into the divine symbolism of the universe — His own creation. The greatest poem in existence is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Adam's offering of the sacrificial lamb, in the similitude of the Lamb of God, who was to take away the sins of the world; the Hebrew Pass- over, with its wealth of prophetic symbolism, also pointing to the Lamb of God, the Great Deliverer, of whom Moses, meekest of men, was typical; the ordinance of baptism, instituted in the likeness of Christ's burial and resurrection; the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, in which the broken bread and poured wine or water represent the body and blood of the World's Redeemer; all these are poems — poems in action and in form, parts of the great Gospel Poem, whose author is God, even the Son of God. Anything is poetic that stands for something greater than itself. Man is poetic, in that he symbolizes his Maker: Earth, because it is typical of Heaven; Time, for it bespeaks Eternity. The One Eternal Now Strictly speaking, Time is a part of Eternity, set off, segregated, and subdivided into centuries, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds- — all for man's convenience. But God does not reckon that way. With Him there is neither past nor future. It is all one eternal Now.

latter-day saint ideals 863 The Greatest Ideal and Institution But I must close. I hope I have said something that will help you, my young brethren and sisters, in your studies and reflections upon the religion of our Lord and Savior. He is the Great Ideal and his Church — the body of his Gospel — is the Great Institution. The Gospel Touchstone To the graduates of the Brigham Young University, I said some days ago, and I now say to you: Do not think that you can find anything better than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do not think that divine revelation can be made to bend to human theory, however in- genious or plausible. Truth is not to be stretched upon a Procrustean bed, and chopped off or lengthened out, to conform either to anti- quated tradition or the ever-changing ideas of modern scholasticism. Wherever you go, my young friends, take the Gospel with you. Bind it about your necks. Write it upon the tablets of your hearts. Make of it a touchstone, and try all that is offered to you as truth, as science, as philosophy. Whatever tallies with it, you can safely accept. Whatever contradicts it, is not worth your care. God bless you! Amen. Summer As she steps from the mist of the morning, The sun turns her tresses to gold; And the blossoms all smile At the red rose's wile That tints cheeks and lips with its bloom. The breeze fills her feet with its fleetness. The day weaves its gleams for her gown, And each bird to her voice Lends the lilt of its choice To flood earth with resonant song. The stars shower gems to adorn her, The dew gives rejuvenate life. And, as if- to requite, The moon sheds its light In silver and opal and pearl. So, she grows in her gladness of being, A marvel in feature and form, Till the King of the North Sends his stern legions forth To take her a captive forsooth. Provo. Utah GRACE INGLES FROST