Chapter XI: Part SEVEN: Powers and Principles (3)

Misplaced Confidence.--In its incipient stages, faith may at times resemble mere credulity. The untutored savage who was told by one of the early settlers of New England, that if he planted gunpowder it would "grow" gunpowder, believed it, not yet having learned that the white man could lie. He therefore parted with his valuable furs, in exchange for a small quantity of powder, and planted it, showing his confidence in the settler's word. But of course the desired result did not follow; for faith, to be effectual, must be rightly based, must have a reasonable foundation. The Spirit of Truth must inspire it. This was not the case with the poor misguided Indian. He trusted in a falsehood, and was deceived. Still, some good came of it--he ascertained the falsity of the settler's statement. If the planting did not produce powder, it produced a wiser Indian.

Faith's Possibilities.--Had the red man's faith been perfect--an intelligent, rational, heaven-inspired faith--he could have produced gunpowder or any other commodity from the all-containing elements around him. And that, too, without planting a seed or employing any ordinary process of manufacture. The miracles wrought by the Savior--his turning of water into wine, his miraculous feeding of the multitude, his walking on the waves, healing of the sick, raising of the dead, and other wonderful works--what were they but manifestations of an all-powerful faith, to possess which is to have the power to move mountains, without picks and shovels, my skeptical friend to the contrary notwithstanding? Faith is not to confounded with blind ignorant credulity. It is a divine energy, operating upon natural principles and by natural processes--natural, though unknown to "the natural man," and termed by him "supernatural."

"As a Grain of Mustard Seed."--When the Savior spoke of the faith that moves mountains, he was not measuring the quantity of the faith by the size of the mustard seed. Neither was it an Oriental hyperbole. Jesus was speaking literally. Mountains had been moved before by the power of faith; [3] then why not now? [4]

An Impelling Force.--Faith is the beating heart of the universe. Without it nothing was ever accomplished, small or great, commonplace or miraculous. No work ever succeeded that was not backed by confidence in some power, human or superhuman, that impelled and pushed forward the enterprise.

Those Who Believe.--It was not doubt that drove Columbus across the sea; it was faith--the impelling force of the Spirit of the Lord. [5] It was not doubt that inspired Jefferson, Franklin, and the other patriot fathers to lay broad and deep the foundations of this mighty republic, as a hope and a refuge for oppressed humanity. It is not doubt that causes nations to rise and flourish, that induces great and good men in all ages and in all climes to teach and toil and sacrifice for the benefit of their fellows. It is faith that does such things. Doubt only hinders what faith would achieve. The men and women who move the world are the men and women who believe.

Mahomet and Islam.--Carlyle, in splendid phrasing, depicts the wonderful change that came over the Arabian people when they abandoned idolatry, the insincere worship of "sticks and stones," and became a believing nation. "It was as a birth from darkness into light; Arabia first became alive by means of it. A poor shepherd people roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world; a hero-prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe; see, the unnoticed becomes world-notable, the small has become world-great; within one century afterward Arabia is at Granada on this hand, at Delhi on that--glancing in valor and splendor and the light of genius, Arabia shines through long ages over a great section of the world. Belief is great, life-giving. The history of a nation becomes fruitful, soul-elevating, great, so soon as it believes." [6]

Achievements of Christendom.--The same philosophy, with far greater emphasis, applies to Christendom and its glorious achievements all down the centuries. What has caused Christian nations to flourish so mightily? What has enabled Christianity, in spite of its errors, to survive the wreck of empires and to weather the storms of time? Faith in the Christ, imperfect though that faith has been. The faith of any people--its trust in and reliance upon some power deemed by it divine--constitutes its main source of strength.

Faith Must Be Genuine.--But faith must be genuine. Pretense and formalism will not avail. Hypocrisy is the worst form of unbelief. Honest idolatry is infinitely preferable to dishonest worship. Better burn incense to Diana, believing it to be right, than bow down to Christ in hollow-hearted insincerity. Mighty Rome did not fall until she had ceased to worship sincerely the gods enshrined within her Pantheon. Glorious Greece did not succumb until her believers had become doubters, until skeptical philosophy had supplanted religious enthusiasm, and the worship of freedom, grace and beauty had degenerated into unbridled license and groveling sensuality. No nation ever crumbled to ruin until false to itself, false to the true principles of success, the basic one of which is _To Believe_.

Germany's Mistake.--The world in recent years has witnessed the sad spectacle of a great nation, or the ruling powers of that nation, turning from Christ and substituting for Christian faith a godless pagan philosophy. Discarding the just and merciful principles of the Gospel, and adopting the false notion that might makes right, the fallen Teutonic empire has shown, by the revolting cruelties practiced in pursuance of that doctrine, what science (kultur) is capable of, when it parts company with God and morality. The land of Goethe and Wagner, and alas! the land also of the Hohenzollern and the Hindenburg, far from winning the "place in the sun" that she so coveted, has lost the proud place already held by her when the mad ambition of her military chiefs plunged her into ruin. The one thing that can now redeem her and lift her up out of the pit into which she has fallen, is faith in the true God, and the works by which that faith is made manifest.

According to Their Faith.--God deals with men ac-according to their faith. The Savior wrought mighty miracles, by his own faith, but most of them were faith abounded in the hearts of the people. In other places he did not do many mighty works, "because of their unbelief." Faith is a gift from God, and they who serve him best have most of it. Faith is the soil that brings forth miracles. "All things are possible to them that believe."

Footnotes

1. D. & C. Lectures on Faith, Lec. 1, pp. 1, 2; See also Heb. 11.

2. Matt. 17:20.

3. Ether 12:30.

4. It is my belief that the Savior, in his reference to the mustard seed, meant that if man would obey the divine law given for his government as faithfully as that tiny germ obeys the law given for its government, he could wield infinitely more power than he now possesses. Solid stone pavements are upheaved and cracked asunder by the gradual growth or expansion of a seed or root buried underneath. Such things indicate a hidden force even in the lowliest creations. It is written that the earth "filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law." (D. & C. 88:25). If man were that obedient, he would have the power to "move mountains."

5. 1 Nephi 13:12.

6. "Heroes and Hero Worship," Lec. 2.

PART EIGHTH

BEYOND THE HORIZON

ARTICLE THIRTY-SEVEN.

The Spirit World.

Not Heaven.--That there is a Spirit World, and that it is closely connected with the material world--the one we now inhabit--has been a tenet in the religious philosophy of wise and good men all down the ages. In the minds of many people, the Spirit World and Heaven are synonymous terms, indicating one and the same place. But in reality there is a wide difference between them. A State of rest, such as the spirit life is understood to be for the righteous--though "rest" should not be interpreted as idleness or want of occupation--might easily pass for heaven, when contrasted with this life of pain, sorrow and trouble. But that is only relative. It is not saying too much--indeed it may be saying too little--to affirm that there is just as much difference between the spirit world and heaven, as between the mortal and the spiritual phases of man's existence.

Here on Earth.--According to Parley P. Pratt, the Spirit World is the spiritual part of this planet--or, to use his exact language: "The earth and other planets of a like order have their inward or spiritual spheres, as well as their outward or temporal. The one is peopled by temporal tabernacles, and the other by spirits." "As to its location," he says, "it is here on the very planet where we were born." [1]

All Things Before Created.--The proposition that Earth has a spiritual as well as a temporal sphere is a reassertion of the doctrine of duality, embodied in ancient and modern revelation, and particularly emphasized by Joseph the Seer. A careful reading of the Book of Genesis (the King James version) discloses, though somewhat vaguely, the fact of this duality, as applied to the works of creation. Thus, after giving an account of the earth and of all things connected therewith, the sacred writer says:

"These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground." [2]

"Not a man to till the ground"--and yet man had been created, as well as the plants and herbs that existed "before they grew." The apparent contradiction--apparent though not real--was explained by the Prophet when, by the Spirit of Revelation, he revised the Scriptures, giving a more ample account of the creation than the ordinary Bible contains. From that account the following sentences are taken:

"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 had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground. For in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air . . . . Nevertheless, all things were before created." [3]

First Spiritual, Then Temporal.--In other words, there were two creations--or rather, the creation had two phases, the first spiritual, the second temporal. When the Creator made man and beast and fish and fowl, he made them twice--first in the spirit, then in the body; and the same is true of the trees, the shrubs, the flowers, and all other created things. They were made spiritually and temporally, the spirit and the body constituting the soul. [4]

Not Far Away.--The Spirit World is not a thing afar off. Our thoughts need not sail away millions of miles into space to find it. According to the best evidence we possess, it is near to us--right around us. We have but to emerge from the body, and we are in the spirit world. Out of it we came, and unto it we shall return. "The spirits of the just," says the Prophet Joseph, "are not far from us;" they "know and understand our thoughts, feelings and motions, and are often pained therewith." [5]

Just and Unjust.--The spirits of the unjust likewise inhabit the spirit world, though they are separated from the righteous, and are not in a state of rest. Light and darkness divide that realm, each domain having its appropriate population. So far from being Heaven, part of the spirit world is Hades or Hell. Referring to the class who people that part, the Prophet says: "The great misery of departed spirits ... is to know that they come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves; and they are their own accusers." [6]

Jesus and the Penitent Thief.--"In the spirit world," says Parley P. Pratt, "are all the varieties and grades of intellectual beings which exist in the present world. For instance, Jesus Christ and the thief on the cross both went to the same place." That is to say, they both went to the spirit world.

Jesus, it will be borne in mind, had been crucified between two thieves, one of whom derided him, insulting his dying agonies. The other, being penitent, prayed: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." To him the Savior said: "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." [7] Because of this utterance--which Joseph Smith declared to be a mistranslation, maintaining that "paradise" should read "world of spirits" [8]--uninspired minds have drawn the conclusion that the penitent thief was promised immediate heavenly exaltation, for repenting at the last moment and professing faith in the Redeemer. This notion is still entertained. The criminal who has forfeited his life and is under sentence of death, because unfit to dwell among his fallen fellow creatures, is made to believe that by confessing Christ, even on the scaffold, he is fitted at once for the society of Gods and angels, and will be wafted to never-ending bliss.

A False Doctrine.--Jesus never taught such a doctrine, nor did any authorized servant of the Lord. It is a man-made theory, based upon faulty inference and misinterpretation. The Scriptures plainly teach that men will be judged according to their works, [9] and receive rewards as varied as their deeds. [10] It was best for the thief, of course, to repent even at the eleventh hour; but he could not be exalted until prepared for it, if it took a thousand years. When Christ said: "I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there ye may be also," [11] he was not speaking to murderers and malefactors, but to his pure-minded, right-living disciples, those only to whom such a promise could consistently be given.

What Goes on There.--Jesus Christ and the thief both went to the world of spirits, a place of rest for the righteous, a place of correction for the wicked. "But," as the Apostle Parley goes on to say, "the one was there in all the intelligence, happiness, benevolence and charity which characterize a teacher, a messenger anointed to preach glad tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to comfort those who mourned, to preach deliverance to the captive, and open the prison to those who were bound; or, in other words, to preach the Gospel to the spirits in prison, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; while the other was there as a thief, who had expired on the cross for crime, and who was guilty, ignorant, uncultivated, and unprepared for resurrection, having need of remission of sins and to be instructed in the science of salvation."

Thus is told in part what goes on in the spirit world. "It is a place," continues our Apostle, "where the Gospel is preached, where faith, repentance and charity may be exercised, a place of waiting for the resurrection or redemption of the body; while to those who deserve it, it is a place of punishment, a purgatory or hell, where spirits are buffeted until the day of redemption."

Alma's Teaching.--To the foregoing should be added the testimony of Alma the Nephite, upon the same subject:

"Now concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection--Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.

"And then shall it come to pass that the spirits of those who are righteous, are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise; a state of rest; a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

"And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil--for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house--and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and this because of their own iniquity; being led captive by the will of the devil.

"Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful, looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection." [12]

A Vision of Redemption.--President Joseph F. Smith, only a short while before his death, saw in a "vision of the redemption of the dead," the Savior's visit to the world of spirits, as recorded in the first epistle of Peter. [13] The President's account of what he beheld follows:

"I saw the hosts of the dead, both small and great, and there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just ... They were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand... The Son of God appeared, and preached to them the everlasting gospel.

"I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them; but behold from among the righteous he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men.

"I beheld that the faithful Elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel.... among those who are in darkness and under bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead." [14]

Personal and Proxy Ministrations.--The new light here thrown upon the subject proceeds from the declaration that when the Savior visited the inhabitants of the spirit world, it was by proxy, and not in person, so far as the wicked were concerned. He ministered to the righteous directly, and to the unrighteous indirectly, sending to the latter his servants, bearing the authority of the Priesthood, and duly commissioned to speak and act for him. President Smith's pronouncement modifies the view commonly taken, that the Savior's personal ministry was to both classes of spirits. [15]

A Temporary Abode.--Thus we see that the Spirit World is not Heaven, except in a relative sense, and then only in part. It is a temporary abode for God's children, while undergoing processes of purification and development, as a preparation for better things beyond. Heaven, on the other hand--heaven in the highest degree--is the permanent home of the perfected and glorified.

Footnotes

1. Key to Theology. Chapt. 14.

2. Gen. 2:4, 5.

3. Moses 3:5, 7.

4. D. & C. 88:15; Moses 3:9.

5. Hist. Ch. Vol. 6, p. 52.

6. Ib. Vol. 5, p. 425.

7. Luke 23:43.

8. Hist. Ch. Vol. 5, pp. 424, 425.

9. Rev. 20:12, 13.

10. D. & C. 76.

11. John 14:2, 3.

12. Alma 40:11-14.

13. 1 Peter 3:18-20.

14. Gospel Doctrine, pp. 596-601.

15. Compare 3 Nephi 15:21-24; D. & C. 76:112.

ARTICLE THIRTY-EIGHT.

Spirit Promptings

Spirit Memories.--Writing one day upon the subject of spirit memories, and the influence exerted upon the affairs of this life by the awakened recollections of a former experience, I found myself indulging in the following reflections:

Why are we drawn toward certain persons, and they toward us, independently of any known previous acquaintance? Is it a fact, or only a fancy, that we and they were mutually acquainted and mutually attracted in some earlier period of our eternal existence? Is there something, after all, in that much abused term "affinity," and is this the basis of its claim? More than once, after meeting someone whom I had never met before on earth, I have wondered why his or her face seemed so familiar. Many times, upon hearing a noble sentiment expressed, though unable to recall having heard it until then, I have been thrilled by it, and felt as if I had always known it. The same is true of music, some strains of which are like echoes from afar, sounds falling from celestial heights, notes struck from the vibrant harps of eternity. I do not assert pre-acquaintance in all such cases, but as one thought suggests another, these queries arise in the mind.

The Shepherd's Voice.--When it comes to the Gospel, I feel more positive. Why did the Savior say: "My sheep know my voice?" Can a sheep know the voice of its shepherd, if it has never heard that voice before? They who love Truth, and to whom it appeals most powerfully, were they not its best friends in a previous state of existence? I think so. I believe that we knew the Gospel before we came here, and it is this knowledge, this acquaintance, that gives to it a familiar sound.

Very much in the same vein, I once wrote to President Joseph F. Smith--he at the time in Utah, and I on a mission in Europe. Here is his reply:

President Smith's View.--"I heartily endorse your sentiments respecting congeniality of spirits. Our knowledge of persons and things before we came here, combined with the divinity awakened within our souls through obedience to the gospel, powerfully affects, in my opinion, all our likes and dislikes, and guides our preferences in the course of this life, provided we give careful heed to the admonitions of the Spirit.

"All those salient truths which come so forcibly to the head and heart seem but the awakening of the memories of the spirit. Can we know anything here that we did not know before we came? Are not the means of knowledge in the first estate equal those of this? I think that the spirit, before and after this probation, possesses greater facilities, aye, manifold greater, for the acquisition of knowledge, than while manacled and shut up in the prison-house of mortality. I believe that our Savior possessed a foreknowledge of all the vicissitudes through which he would have to pass in the mortal tabernacle.

"If Christ knew beforehand, so did we. But in coming here, we forgot all, that our agency might be free indeed, to choose good or evil, that we might merit the reward of our own choice and conduct. But by the power of the Spirit, in the redemption of Christ, through obedience, we often catch a spark from the awakened memories of the immortal soul, which lights up our whole being as with the glory of our former home." [1]

"A Glance Behind the Curtain."--Closely akin to these reflections, are some pointed and telling lines in which the poet Lowell expresses his conviction regarding the influence of the unseen world upon the world visible. The action of the poem from which the lines are taken deals with Oliver Cromwell and John Hampden, English patriots, who are represented as about to flee from the tyranny of King Charles the First, and seek a new home overseas, joining the little band of Puritans who have already found a haven on western Atlantic shores. Hampden urges flight, but Cromwell hesitates. Something within tells him not to go--tells him that Freedom has a work for him to go--tells him that Freedom has a work for him to do, not in America, but in his own land, where he afterwards overthrew the royal tyrant, became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, and broadened and deepened the foundations of English liberty. The opening verses of the poem contain the crux of the whole matter under discussion:

We see but half the causes of our deeds,
Seeking them wholly in the outer life,
And heedless of the encircling spirit world,
Which, though unseen, is felt, and sows in us
All germs of pure and world-wide purposes.

The fate of England and of freedom once
Seemed wavering in the heart of one plain man.
One step of his, and the great dial-hand
That marks the destined progress of the world
In the eternal round from wisdom on
To higher wisdom, had been made to pause
A hundred years.

That step he did not take--
He knew not why, nor we, but only God,
And lived to make his simple oaken chair
More terrible and grandly beautiful,
More full of majesty than any throne,
Before or after, of a British king. [2]

A Well Warranted Conviction.--How much of fact and how much of fiction, are here interwoven, matters not for the purpose of this argument. It was the poet's belief that such things could be, a belief shared by myriads of Christian men and women, and confirmed by a multiplicity of experiences.

Columbus and "The Voice."--In another poem--"Columbus"--Lowell sets forth the same idea, that of whisperings or suggestions from beyond the "veil" hiding the spirit world from this world of flesh and blood. The great mariner is supposed to be standing on the deck of his ocean-tossed vessel, soliloquizing over the situation surrounding him: A yet undiscovered country ahead, a mutinous and grumbling crew behind, threatening to put him in irons and turn the ship's prow toward Spain, if sight of the promised shore of India--for which Columus set sail--came not with the break of dawn. A world of care weighs him down, a sense of solitude and utter loneliness, but his soul hears "the voice that errs not," and is patient and trustful to the hour of complete triumph. [3]

Nephi and the Spirit.--That it was indeed "the voice that errs not" which inspired Columbus, upholding and urging him on to the consummation of the great enterprise he had undertaken, we have sacred and indisputable evidence. Long before Columbus crossed the ocean, an American prophet and seer, Nephi by name, looking down the vista of twenty centuries, forecast the career of that man of destiny, telling how "the Spirit of God" would impel him to cross "the many waters" to this "promised land;" and how the same Spirit, moving upon others, would induce them to follow in the wake of the mighty explorer. That prophet beheld in vision the war for American Independence, the successful struggle of the oppressed colonies against the mother country, and the founding here of a free government, a heaven-favored nation, destined to foster and give protection to the growing work of God in after days. And this revealing Spirit--so Nephi affirms--was more than an inward monitor: "I spake unto him as a man speaketh, for I beheld that he was in the form of man; yet, nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord! and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another." [4]

The Holy Ghost.--Evidently it was the Holy Ghost who communed with Nephi, though he is here spoken of as "the Spirit of God, and 'the Spirit of the Lord." "The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit," [5] and though not in a tabernacle like the Father or the Son, he is nevertheless in human form, and Nephi beheld him and conversed with him.

The Unerring Guide.--The experience of Columbus differed from that of Nephi, notably in this particular: Nephi "beheld," while Columbus was moved upon--yet it was the same Spirit in each instance. It was of the Holy Ghost that the Savior was speaking, when he said to his disciples: "He will guide you into all truth." [6] The mission of the Holy Ghost is to make manifest the things of God, past, present and future, explaining the purpose of this mortal life, revealing to man his eternal origin and destiny, and answering the otherwise unanswerable questions--whence? whither? and why?

Wordsworth's "Intimation."--It was this Spirit that inspired the poet Wordsworth, bringing the forgotten past to his remembrance, and prompting the utterance of the noble thoughts embodied in these lofty 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;
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God who is our home. [7]

Truth and Bigotry.--The big thought was too broad for the narrow, rigid orthodoxy of Wordsworth's time, which could allow for the pre-existence of the Son of God, but not for that of the race in general. "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." [8] This wonderful prayer from the lips of the Savior was too plain to be misunderstood. It was clear that Jesus Christ, "the Word" that was "in the beginning with God," and "was God," before he "was made flesh," [9] had lived before this life. But man, "mere man," was an earth-worm, made out of nothing, and consequently had no pre-existence. So Christian orthodoxy maintained; and Wordsworth had to recant or half-way deny that his heaven-inspired "intimation" meant as much as his bigoted censors seemed to fear. Nevertheless,

"Got but the truth once uttered, and 'tis like
A star new-born, that drops into its place,
And which, once circling in its placid round,
Not all the tumult of the earth can shake."

The truth uttered by the great "poet of nature" touching the previous life, was probably accepted by thousands of advanced thinkers; and their acceptance helped to prepare the way for a more positive and more complete presentation of the great doctrine of man's pre-existence. In this connection the subjoined verses from the pen of a "Mormon" poet, tell their own eloquent story:

O my Father, thou that dwellest
In the high and glorious place!
When shall I regain thy presence,
And again behold thy face?
In thy holy habitation
Did my spirit once reside;
In my first primeval childhood
Was I nurtured near thy side.

For a wise and glorious purpose
Thou hast placed me here on earth,
And withheld the recollection
Of my former friends and birth.
Yet, ofttimes a secret something
Whispered, "You're a stranger here,"
And I felt that I had wandered
From a more exalted sphere.

I had learned to call thee Father,
Through thy Spirit from on high;
But until the Key of Knowledge
Was restored, I knew not why.
In the heavens are parents single?
No, the thought makes reason stare!
Truth is reason-truth eternal
Tells me I've a Mother there.

When I leave this frail existence,
When I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you
In your royal courts on high?
Then, at length, when I've completed
All you sent me forth to do,
With your mutual approbation
Let me come and dwell with you. [10]

How wonderfully clear and comprehensive!--past, present and future circumscribed in brief compass, the mystery of the former life unfolded, the meaning of all existence made plain.

Maeterlinck and "The Bluebird."--Maeterlinck, the Belgian poet, author of "The Bluebird," in that section of his dramatic masterpiece entitled "The Kingdom of the Future," deals with the pre-mortal life, and with the spirits of little children waiting to be brought down to earth to be born here. Old Father Time is there with his barge, gathering in the tiny passengers, holding back some whose turn is not yet, and permitting others whose birth-hour is about to strike. The barge being filled, he sails away, and mingling with the sweet strains of children's voices, hailing the distant planet that is to be their new abode, rises from below the song of the mothers coming out to meet them. When the poet's inspired mind conceived this beautiful creation, had he heard of Eliza R. Snow and her invocation to the Eternal Father and Mother?

The Same Note.--I do not impute plagiarism in such cases. There is no monopoly of Truth. It reveals itself to whomsoever it will, and sometimes it tells to several persons, at different times and places, the same thing. Suffice it, that Eliza R. Snow, when she sang of the "first primeval childhood," sounded the identical note subsequently struck by Maurice Maeterlinck, when portraying so tenderly and so tellingly the heavenly origin and earthly advent of the spirits that tabernacle in mortality.

Fame's Partiality.--Inspiration was kind to both poets, but fame has been somewhat partial. Some day, when bigotry is dead and prejudice no longer has power to blind men's eyes to the truth and pervert their judgment, the just claims of all inspired teachers will be recognized, if not recompensed. Meanwhile the world will go on glorifying one and crying down another, as it always has done. It will continue "tossing high its ready cap" in honor of Maeterlinck, the Belgian poet, for the beautiful truths set forth in his sublime symbolic drama; little realizing that the American prophet, Joseph Smith, and some who sat at his feet learning wisdom from his lips, taught the same and greater truths long before Maeterlinck was born.

Communications from the Departed.--Many instances might be given of the action and influence of "the other world" upon this world The experiences of the Latter-day Saints alone would fill volumes. I refer particularly to those connected with the gathering up of genealogies for use in temple work, and the work itself done vicariously for the benefit of the departed. By dreams and visions, by voices and other manifestations, spirits "behind the veil" have made known their wishes to surviving relatives in the flesh, so that their left-over tasks might be done for them, the records of their ancestors secured, and they in like manner redeemed through sacred ordinances performed in their behalf and necessary to their progress and happiness in spheres beyond.

Footnotes

1. Gospel Doctrine, pp. 15, 16. "Columbus."

2. J. R. Lowell's Poems, "A Glance Behind the Curtain."

4. 1 Nephi 11:11; 13:10:19.

5. D. & C. 130:22.

6. John 16:13.

7. Wordsworth's Poems, "Intimations of Immortality," first published in 1807.

8. John 17:5.

9. Ib. 1:1-14.

10. Eliza R. Snow's "Invocation," L. D. S. Hymn Book.

ARTICLE THIRTY-NINE.

Do the Dead Return?

Hamlet and the Ghost.--I had always thought it strange that a great Christian poet like Shakespeare, after portraying, as he does in "Hamlet," an interview between the Prince of Denmark and his father's ghost, should refer to the spirit world as "that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns." Had not the ghost returned from that very "country," for the special purpose of this interview?

While deeming it contradictory, my admiration and reverence for the immortal bard induced me to minimize and even excuse the apparent inconsistency. In his behalf I argued that it was Hamlet, not Shakespeare, who interviewed the Ghost at Castle Elsinore; that it was the prince and not the poet who soliloquized relative to the non-returning "traveler." I took the ground that Shakespeare, in writing the play of "Hamlet," was not presenting the author's autobiography, and should not, therefore, be held responsible for the idiosyncrasies of "the melancholy Dane;" he being mad, and mad people having the right to say what they please, no matter how much they contradict themselves or speak and act inconsistently.

A Better Defense.--But all the while there was a better defense for both Shakespeare and Hamlet--it a certain hypothesis be well founded, the supporters of which would have us believe that the famed soliloquy, "To be or not be," wherein the allusion to the spirit "traveler" occurs, originally had place nearer the beginning of the play and before Hamlet had seen the Ghost. Not Shakespeare, therefore, nor Hamlet, but some one who tampered with the poet's masterpiece after his death--"a custom more honored in the breach than the observance"--is to be held responsible for the incongruity. Such is the suggestion put forth by one or more literary savants. Allowing it to be true, Shakespeare and the Bible are thus reconciled, and Hamlet is no longer in the attitude of disputing the sacred account of the risen Savior's personal appearing to his disciples, after his return from the spirit world. [1]

Belasco and "Peter Grimm."--That the creator of Hamlet and Macbeth believed in spirits, and made plentiful use of them as part of his "celestial machinery," is evident from the works of the master dramatist; and that his talented disciple, David Belasco, likewise favors such usage, is plainly shown in that intensely interesting book and play, "The Return of Peter Grimm." Let me briefly review the story.

Peter Grimm, an honest, elderly Dutch-American, carrying on the business of florist at Grimm Manor, a suburb of New York City, has a friend and family physician in Alexander McPherson, who, I need not say, is a Scotchman. He is also a spiritualist, deeply interested in the laws of psychic phenomena, and exceedingly tenacious of his occult views.

Grim is bluntly skeptical upon the subject, and he and his Scotch friend have many a warm debate thereon. Finally McPherson proposes a compact to this effect: Whichever one of the twain shall pass away first, his spirit will return, if possible, and communicate with the other, making known the secrets of the after life. Grimm laughs at the idea, even ridicules it, but at last consents, and with a flash of humor suggestive of his name, says: "If I find I am wrong, when I come back I will apologize."

A little later the florist dies suddenly of heart failure. He passes into the spirit world, and there obtains leave to "revisit the glimpses of the moon," as Hamlet puts it; in other words, to return to Grimm Manor and rectify a mistake made by him while in the flesh--a mistake affecting the happiness of his adopted daughter Kathrien, who, yielding to his insistence, has given up the man she loved, and has agreed to marry Grimm's nephew, Frederic. This young man is a villain, whose unworthiness his uncle discovers after his arrival in "the undiscovered country," from which he now proposes to "return" and prevent the marriage previously planned.

The wrong is to be righted by the delivery of a message. But how "get the message across?" That is the problem of the play. "Not every one can receive a communication from the spirit world." So McPherson has said in one of his conversations with Grimm, adding that "the receiver must be a sensitive, a medium."

Strange to say, the old Scotch physician is of no help whatever in the predicament now facing his departed friend. He knows all about spirits--is saturated with the lore of the subject; but he is not a "sensitive," and cannot therefore "receive."

The spirit of Grimm, re-entering his old home, makes persistent efforts to be seen or heard by some member of the household; but all in vain. None of his family, none of his friends, can behold him or hear his pathetic pleadings. Yes--there is one who can; a little invalid boy, Frederick's illegitimate child, who is wasting away with a fever. The veil is thin between him and the spirit land, to which he will accompany Peter Grimm, after the latter's earthly errand is accomplished. This little lad is a "sensitive." He sees the spirit, receives the message, and the threatened misalliance is averted, Kathrien and her worthy lover being happily reunited.

Fiction and Fact.--Such is the story of Peter Grimm and his return from the world of spirits. It is pure fiction, of course; but fiction often supports fact, and is even less strange, as a well-worn proverb affirms. Nevertheless, it will be seen from what follows that I am not in absolute harmony with Belasco's ingenious presentation of the spiritualistic theme. My views upon the subject are not based upon the theories of men; they are founded upon the revelations of God.

Spirits in Prison.--That the inhabitants of the spirit world, or some of them, return at times and communicate with mortals, I am perfectly well assured. But I am not convinced that any and every spirit is at liberty to return, whatever the "compacts" that may have been entered into beforehand. Some spirits are "in prison." [2] Of what avail would a compact be in their case, unless their jailor or some higher power were a party to it? Evidently the spirits that communicate with mortals are not of that class, unless it be in exceptional cases, where leave of absence has been granted for some special reason.

A House of Order.--God's house is a house of order, and the spirit world is a room in that house. This being the case, it is only reasonable to conclude that before anything important or unusual can take place there, the Master of the Mansion must first give consent. Otherwise confusion would prevail, and the divine purpose for which the veil was dropped between the two worlds might be thwarted.

Unembodied and Disembodied Spirits.--Spirits are of two kinds--the unembodied and the disembodied; that is to say, those who have not tabernacled in the flesh, and those who after taking bodies on earth, have passed out of them. It matters not which class is considered; in any case, permission from the Great Father would have to be obtained before one of his children, either an unembodied or a disembodied spirit, could make itself manifest to mortals.

The Question of Receptivity.--Moreover, as Belasco, through Dr. McPherson, aims to show, not every mortal is qualified to receive a message from "the other side." One must be fittingly endowed, must have the proper gift, in order to get a communication of that kind. [3] Earthly ties would not necessarily govern. Other and higher relationships are involved. There must be capacity as well as a desire to receive. Because men like Moses and Joseph Smith saw God, is no sign that any man can see him. "Choice seers" were they, very different from ordinary men. All human beings can obtain blessings from heaven, but not always in the same way. There are diversities of gifts and varying degrees of receptivity. Wireless telegraphy furnishes a hint in this connection. Unless there be a receiving station with an apparatus properly attuned, a message launched upon the ether would find, like Noah's dove, "no rest for the sole of her foot." [4]

Future Occupations.--In one of the supposed conversations between Peter Grimm and Doctor McPherson, the subject of future occupations is discussed. The "compact" having been entered into, the Doctor says: "I would like you to find out, if you can, what we do in the other world. I would like to know if I have got to go on being a bone-setter throughout all eternity." Grimm's reply is characteristic: "Well, you would stand a better chance for success, having practiced it all your life here, than a novice who simply took it up there, wouldn't you?"

The florist's argument is logical, but like the question that called it forth, somewhat misapplied. "A spirit hath not flesh and bones." [5] Bone-setting, therefore, does not belong to the spirit world. Nevertheless, there must be occupations in the future life, of which those in the present life may be regarded as typical, or in the nature of a preparation, leading up to loftier employments. If a follower of Joseph Smith were asked: "How do you expect to spend eternity?" he would not agree with that clergyman who said, in answer to the same question: "I expect to spend the first million years gazing upon the face of the Savior." The Latter-day Saint would be very apt to reply: "I expect to do hereafter what I have learned to do here, but with more perfect means and in higher and better ways."

"And every power find sweet employ In that eternal world of joy."

Evil Spirits at Large.--A very important question now arises: How may good or bad spirits be known? For every spirit is not good, nor is every spiritual manifestation genuine. There are frauds and counterfeits innumerable. Even if real spirits and actual manifestations are alone considered, we must still be on our guard against deception. There are many evil spirits in this world--spirits that have never had bodies. They are here by permission or toleration of the Most High, against whom they rebelled when the Savior was chosen. Satan and his legions, those cast out of heaven, are all wicked spirits, and they wander up and down the world, endeavoring to lead mortals astray. Wherever possible, they take possession of the bodies of men and even of the lower animals. [6] Therefore is power given to the Priesthood to "cast out devils." [7] Against these fallen spirits, mortals must be ever on the defensive, lest their souls be ensnared. Temptation, however, is an important factor in man's probation; for by resisting it, the soul is developed and made stronger. This is probably one reason why the pernicious activity of such spirits is tolerated. Punished in part by being denied bodies, the full penalty for their misdeeds--the second death--is yet to be visited upon them.

Spiritualism a Reality.--Spiritualism is not altogether what some people imagine. Despite the frauds connected with it, it is a reality, and was recognized as such long before Sir Oliver Lodge and Sir A. Conan Doyle proclaimed their conversion thereto, thus lending to it the prestige of their illustrious names. But all realities are not righteous. Because there is a devil--an actual demon and his dupes, is no reason why we should associate with them, confide in them, or accept their evil communications.

How can We Know?--There are bad spirits as well as good, and the vital question is: How can we know the difference between them? Let us at this stage consult an expert--for there are such--one who came in contact with spiritual forces to a marvelous extent, not only receiving messages from other worlds, but also interviewing the messengers. Joseph Smith knew the difference between good and evil communicants, and here is his testimony concerning them:

Expert Testimony.--"When a messenger comes, saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand, and request him to shake hands with you.

"If he be an angel, he will do so, and you will feel his hand." [An angel is a resurrected being, with a body as tangible as man's.]

"If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect, he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear.

"Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message.

"If it be the Devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands, he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything [he also being without a body]. You may therefore detect him." [8]

In another place, the Prophet says: "Wicked spirits have their bounds, limits and laws, by which they are governed; and it is very evident that they possess a power that none but those who have the Priesthood can control." [9] To his declaration that "a man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge," he adds that if men do not get knowledge, including the knowledge of how to control evil spirits, the latter will have more power than the former, and thus be able to dominate them. This is precisely the condition of "the spirits in prison." They are dominated by a power which they cannot control. They are in Hell, and Satan sways the scepter over his own dominion.

Seek Knowledge Aright.--To those in quest of spiritual light, this word of counsel: Seek it only in the Lord's appointed way. Follow the advice of the Apostle James and the example of Joseph the Prophet. [10] Never go upon the Devil's ground. Keep away from all deceptive influence. One may believe in hypnotism, without being a hypnotist, without surrendering one's will to the will of the person exercising that power--a very dangerous power when wielded by an unprincipled possessor. In like manner, one may believe spiritualism real, without becoming a spiritualist, without attending "seances," without consulting "mediums," without putting trust in planchettes, ouija boards, automatic pencils, false impersonations, or in any way encouraging the advances of designing spirits, who thus gain an ascendancy over their victims, leading them into mazes of delusion, and often into depths of despair. Go not after them; and if they come to you, put them to the test. "Try the spirits." [11] If they speak not according to revealed truth, if they conform not to divine standards, "it is because there is no light in them." [12]

The Great Return.--Yes, the dead, or the departed, do return. They are no more dead than we are. Nay, not so much. The Savior's reappearance after death to his amazed and incredulous disciples--what was that but a return, a real return, from the realm of the departed, where in the interim between his crucifixion and resurrection, he "preached to the spirits in prison?" Moreover, the ascended Lord promised another return, or his angel promised it for him, when the "men of Galilee" stood "gazing up into heaven," after "a cloud" had "received him out of their sight." [13] That glorious return is nigh. All the signs so indicate. May the kingly Traveler from heaven to earth meet a royal welcome when he appears!

Footnotes

1. Luke 24:36-39.

2. 1 Peter 3:18-20.

3. 1 Cor. 12:4-11.

4. Gen. 8:9.

5. Luke 24:39.

6. Acts 19:13-16; Mark 5:12, 3.

7. Ib. 16:17; Hist. Ch. Vol. 5, p. 403.

8. D. & C. 129:4-8.

9. Hist. Ch. Vol. 4, p. 576.

10. James 1:5; Hist. Ch. Vol. 1, pp. 4, 5.

11. 1 John 4:1.

12. Isa. 8:20.

13. Acts 1:9-11.

ARTICLE FORTY.

The Goal Eternal.

Dante and the Divine Comedy.--In the thirteenth century a great Italian poet, the immortal Dante, produced a wonderful work, "La Divina Comedia"--in English, "The Divine Comedy." In one part of the poem the author represents himself as passing through Hades. In the first circle of the infernal depths, a region called "Limbo"--described by a footnote in my copy of the work as a place "containing the souls of unbaptized children and of those virtuous men and women who lived before the birth of our Savior"--he comes upon such characters as Homer, Virgil, Plato and others of their class, and the spirit guide who is conducting him through "the realms of shade," says:

--Inquirest thou not what spirits
Are these, which thou beholdest? Ere thou pass
Farther, I would thou know, that these of sin
Were blameless; and if aught they merited
It profits not, since baptism was not theirs,
The portal to thy faith. If they before
The Gospel lived, they served not God aright;
And among such am I.
For these defects
And for no other evil, we are lost;
Only so far afflicted, that we live
Desiring without hope. [1]

And this was all that thirteenth century theology could say for worthies of that stamp--the best and brightest spirits of their times. Blameless, and yet in hell, "desiring without hope," simply because they had lived on earth when the Gospel was not on earth, and had not been baptized! Whether or not, as some think, it was the intent of the poet to covertly satirize such teachings, is immaterial at the present time. It is sufficient that he had such teachings to satirize.

Truth's Restoration Imperative.--If any reader of mine wishes to know why Joseph Smith and "Mormonism" came into the world, he need look no further to find one of the cardinal reasons. It is furnished in those lines from Dante's masterpiece, setting forth the orthodox tenet and teaching of the Christian Church regarding the spirits of the good who depart this life without undergoing the baptismal ordinance. This, and that other man-made doctrine, that half to be damned, regardless of any good or evil done by them--little children being included in both classes--were widely preached in Christendom at the time of the advent of "Mormonism." It was imperative that a prophet should arise, that the pure primitive faith should be restored, and God's word go forth once more on its mission of justice and mercy.

"According to Their Works."--Whatever Christian theology may have taught, or whatever it may teach, in support of such doctrines, the fact remains that the Gospel of Christ does not, and never did dispose of men's precious souls in that unrighteous, unreasonable, unscriptural manner. It does not prejudge, nor save nor damn, regardless of men's deserts. Rewarding all according to their works, [2] it gives to every creature, living or dead, the opportunity to accept or reject it before final judgment. [3] God is not trying to damn the world; he is trying to save it--but not independently of the principles of truth and righteousness.