Editors’ Table

Swear Not At All Not long ago a Utah farmer en- gaged a young man to do some plowing for him. A part of the work was among low-spreading apple trees, the branches of which occasionally struck the driver in the face. The horses were also frequently lashed by the boughs and became thereby greatly ex- cited and hard to manage. Every few moments, the farmer, working in an adjacent field, heard language which seriously displeased him, "d — that branch," or "d — that horse!" He walked over to his employee upon hearing the man couple the name of the Almighty with the profanity. "This morning," he said, "my fam- ily and I knelt together in our usual prayer. We asked our Heavenly Father to bless us, to bless our farm, this orchard, our livestock. We greatly need this blessing, for our son is on a mission and to hire someone in his place and send him the necessary money will run us very close financially. Now, if your words mean anything at all, by using the holy name of Deity you are asking the Lord to curse that which we have asked him to bless. I can't afford to have my belongings cursed or damned; they must be blessed or my family will suffer for the necessities of life." The abashed young man said he did not mean anything by what he said. His words were spoken in thoughtless anger. The employer reminded him of the Savior's statement, "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words shalt thou be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Perhaps in no other part of the world is the execrable habit of pro- fanity more highly developed than in the United States. Many men cannot make the simplest kind of a statement without embellishing it with impious oaths. Not infrequently the most sacred names are used in order to im- part added emphasis to that which is said, and this is done so casually that the speaker is often wholly unaware of his offensive language. Even in our own blessed community this practice prevails to an extent which is alarming. The ears of women and children are often offended by language which they cannot avoid hearing on the streets or in public places. Occasion- ally men whose lives otherwise are exemplary indulge in at least a mild form of cursing. Cursing! The word is expressive. Latter-day Saints, whose business and natural desire is to bless all mankind, sometimes invoke a curse upon their possessions or the possessions of others, or on their fellow-men and even upon their children. In a moment of annoy- ance or anger a father says, "D — that boy!" What horror would fill his soul if the Almighty took him literally at his word and did actually damn the son upon whom he has built such fond hopes, and he realized that it was be- cause of the curse which he himself had invoked! Inability adequately to express one's thoughts without swearing is largely the result of habit, and is an admission of lack of vocabulary to express such thoughts decently. But whatever the cause, it should be overcome. Except where a man swears casually and as a matter of habit, he usually curses in anger, or at least when he is much provoked, and under the control of this

Mar., 1929 EDITORS' TABLE 421 spirit the natural disposition is to curse Cry over the flocks of your fields, that and not to bless. they may increase. But this is not all; Consider the spiritual difference of ye must pour out your souls in your one who indulges even in mild pro- closets, and your secret places, and in fanity about his surroundings and one your wilderness. Yea, and when you who follows the beautiful advice of do not cry unto the Lord, let your Amulek, as recorded in the thirty-fourth hearts be full, drawn out in prayer chapter of Alma: "Cry unto him unto him continually for your welfare, [the Almighty] over the crops of your and also for the welfare of those who fields, that ye may prosper in them, are around you." — C. Prophecy, or What? In view of modern conditions, when the human voice can be heard almost around the world, the following paragraph taken from a sermon delivered by Elder Orson Pratt in the First ward school house, Sunday afternoon, December 28, 1873, will be of interest. This is taken from page 327 |of volume 16 of the Journal of Discourses: "There must be something connected with the sounding of this trump that is miraculous in order that all nations may hear it. Any sound that can be produced by mortal man does not reach, generally speaking, over about thirty miles from where it originates, which is a very small space indeed. But there will be something connected with the sounding of the trump of the first of the seven angels which will manifest a power which we know nothing of. The sound of that trump will be heard by all people, nations, kindreds and tongues in the four quarters of our globe. I do not know that the sound will be so much louder than some we have heard, but it will be carried by some miraculous power so that all people will hear it." The Robin Come, robin, come, delay no more, Thou harbinger of spring. I'm weary of these somber days, I long to hear you sing. How can the sweet blue vi'lets blow Without your stirring strain? Or crocuses look up and smile Without your glad refrain? You seem to burst the sleeping bulbs. Arouse the slumb'ring bees, With your shrill chirp, your cheery notes Hurled from the leafless trees. Come, now, and bring bright balmy days; Bring sun and gentle show'rs, To sprout the grasses, leaf the trees, To bud and bloom the flow'rs. Logan. Utah. SAMUEL B. MlTTON.