I get the idea of seeking good things, even gifts, but somehow it feels a little like being a child, pining away for the popular toy of the moment as a Christmas gift. If it’s a gift, shouldn’t it be something unexpected? Or at least shouldn’t we be humble enough to accept the gifts that are right for us instead of what we desire?

I think what’s behind my view is a suspicion of selfishness, or at least of the idea that most people seek what is best for them. Today that suspicion might be out of fashion, and perhaps that is better. I do know that I am often suspicious of my own motives—maybe the gifts I am seeking are for selfish reasons.

Regardless, the scripture suggests that seeking the best gifts is good, and that we should earnestly seek those gifts. And the gifts mentioned in this lesson are definitely worth seeking — things that should be among those that I seek, even if my hidden, internal motivations are suspect.

So, what gifts should we seek?

 

The Savior welcomes all who want to worship in His Church.

Welcoming all is certainly a gift we should seek, especially in today’s environment in the United States, where “welcoming all” seems to be against government policy. Unfortunately, the we can claim to be welcoming, but if we require visitors to do every detail our way, are we really being welcoming? How many ‘rules’ does it take before we aren’t really being welcoming? Can we seek the gift of discernment about how to be welcoming?

The word “Standard” in this poem, and in much of early LDS poetry, is a flag, banner or emblem, something that communicates the location of a group or the ideas it represents. Parley P. Pratt, in the following poem, claims that the “Mountain Standard” indicates Zion, the place where all are welcome:

 

The Mountain Standard

by Parley P. Pratt

Lo the Gentile chain is broken;

Freedom’s banner waves on high,

List ye nations! by this token,

Know that your Redeemer’s nigh.

 

Chorus: For we are the true born sons of Zion,

None with use who can compare;

We are the root and branch of Joseph,

The bright and the glorious morning star,

For we are the true born sons of Zion.

 

See amid these rocky mountains,

Zion’s standard wide unfurled,

Far above Missouri’s fountain

Lo! it waves for all the world.

 

Freedom, peace, and full salvation,

Are the blessings guaranteed;

Liberty to every nation,

Every tongue and every creed.

 

Come, ye christian, sect, and pagan,

Pope, and protestant, and priest,

Worshippers of God or Dagon,

Come ye to fair freedom’s feast.

 

Come ye sons of doubt and wonder,

Indian, Moslem, Greek, or Jew,

All your shackles burst asunder,

Freedom’s banner waves for you.

 

Cease to butcher one another,

Join the covenant of peace,

Be to all a friend, a brother,

This will bring the world release.

 

Lo! our King! the great Messiah,

Prince of Peace shall come to reign;

Sound again ye heavenly choir,

Peace on earth, good will to men.

1849

 

Heavenly Father gives me spiritual gifts to bless others.

Perhaps we can now welcome a poem from another language. Spiritual Gifts were also important to early Church members in Wales, and this poem appeared in “The Prophet of the Jubilee”, the first non-English periodical published for the Church. Like the suggestion of the lesson, the poem indicates that spiritual gifts are to bless others, making the gospel ‘welcome to everyone.’

 

The Spiritual Gifts

by ?? (Translation Ronald D. Dennis)

A great surprise if there is one man—in Gwalia,

Who does not see this as a standard:

This is the power of every commandment,

Good will, and benefit to man.”

God gave signs in his primitive church,

To keep it sound and orderly on its way;

But in the present age these are as thorns,

To those whose faith is smooth and easy.

And since God gave them from his true infinite grace,

Woe to anyone so insolent as to try to extricate them;

Whoever does not avow all the gifts ardently,

Has nothing but a mirage of religion, having denied its power.

To whom is the promise? Is there a place to know this?

Yes, yes, within the scriptures to be seen in black and white:—

To you and your children first, but here is better news.

You see the promise reaches all afar.

While God is calling, this promise

Stands firmly as a privilege before us;

But though it is God who calls, there are thousands in our age

Who deny the promises by cruelly contradicting.

Human traditions, without order of the true kind,

Instead of enjoying the pure rules and rites of our God,

Lead some astray, with every kind of evil bigotry,

And hold them in the midst of foolishness, against the order of grace.

Upon the heads of those who follow scripture true,

Every foolish curse and woe will be proclaimed.

A partial explanation will satisfy some

Better than the teachings from the mouth of God himself.

If anyone mentions that gifts are to be had within thy gates,

The people begin to shout, why do not you do miracles?

Thus can their spirit be seen, proving it unfailing,—

The chronicle of their devil father asks the same thing.

There will be, I am sure, no miracles, to please the whim of man;

When asked, Christ himself refused.

The Holy Ghost gives the power without doubt,

To those he wishes, and wherever he will.

Say what is the cause, is this not strange,

That we do not believe the prophets while they are in our midst?

In centuries to come, they will be believed by every class.

But while they are among us, they’re useless if not killed.

The foolish arguments among all humanity would cease,

If they would be taught, fairly by the Spirit of God,

And receive the testimony he spoke, every bit;

It is strong on the earth, and strong in the judgment to come.

1847

 

The Lord wants His Church to keep a history.

Is history a spiritual gift? This brings to mind William Faulkner’s frequently cited observation, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Not only do our memories keep what has happened alive in our lives, but the effects of what has happened in our culture persist—the accommodations our ancestors have made become cultural habits that control our lives today. Thus keeping a history is a spiritual gift that has a huge impact, not only on ourselves, but on others for decades and centuries to come.

In the following poem, Eliza R. Snow offers tribute to then Apostle Wilford Woodruff for his service to the church, including specifically his work as an Assistant Church Historian. She includes the intriguing observation “Inscribing hers (Zion’s history) perpetuates your own,” which suggests that maybe Faulkner is correct, that the past is not dead, but is intimately connected to our own lives.

 

To Elder Wilford Woodruff

by Eliza R. Snow

With true respect and as a tribute due

To friendship Brother Woodruff unto you

As one more Blessed than most your fellow men

I now address the Effusion of my pen

You was appointed ere your mortal birth

To an Apostleship upon the Earth

The Lord our God has had his Eye on thee

With watchful Care from earliest infancy

You was preserved midst Babylonish night

From Atheistic and sectarian blight

From manly rectitude you did not swerve

The Priests of Baal you never stooped to serve

From heav’nly Courts the light that’s shining now

Shone on your path and mantled o’er your brow

Eternal visions open’d to your view

You loved the truth and found salvation too

You then with Joy the gospel Banner bore

To distant lands and on your native shore

In truth’s defence most valiently you stood

And Clear’d your garments of the gentiles’ blood

One of the Chosen Twelve who’re called to stand

To turn the gospel Key for ev’ry land

Your name in honor as a faithful one

To future generations will be known

With heart inspired rich matter to indite

In Zion now your business is to write

With skill you wield the ready writer’s pen

Tis yours to immortalize the deeds of men

Full many a righteous act and gifted word

By Saints performed—from lips of Prophets heard

Had slipped mem’ries of Judicious men

But for the promptings of your faithful pen

The Church Historians labours to divide

As his assistant—coupled side by side

You write for Zion where her History known

Inscribing hers perpetuates your own

Faithful to God and to your Brethren true

Integrity has twin’d a wreath for you

Of never fading laurels which will be

A glorious Coronet Eternally

In that blest world where light and knowledge dwell

Your Blessedness no Earthly tongue Can tell

Where heaven’s Effulgance will your Head surround

And you with Everlasting glory Crown’d

Fill’d with immortal majesty and might

Associated with the Gods in light

With gifts and pow’rs of endless lives You’ll be

Progressing on and on eternally

1857

 

The Holy Ghost can direct me as I fulfill my calling.

To me, this section, because it is in a lesson about spiritual gifts, raises an issue with spiritual gifts: how exactly is the spirit involved in these gifts? I think many of us have gifts or talents, but are they spiritual? Is what makes them spiritual the nature of the gift? Or the participation of the spirit in the gift? Or both? While there certainly are gifts that are spiritual in nature (and that is generally the assumption when they are discussed), isn’t it more important that we have the direction of the spirit in how we act?

In this, another elegy by Eliza R. Snow, the poem suggests the latter, because “The great spirit of truth, will direct thy ways.” Written in the year following the martyrdom, Snow sees Brigham Young’s crucial role and foresees his need for the direction of the spirit in exercising his gifts.

 

To President Brigham Young

by Eliza R. Snow

An important station is truly thine,

And the weight of thy calling can none define;

Being call’d of the Lord o’er the Twelve to preside,

And with them over all of the world beside.

Like Elisha of old, when Elijah fled

In a chariot of fire, thou has lost thy head;

Lost thy head? O no! thou are left to prove

To the Gods, thy integrity, faith, and love.

Thou hast gain’d, like Elisha, a rich behest,

For the mantle of Joseph seems to rest

Upon thee, while the spirit and pow’r divine,

That inspir’d his heart, is inspiring thine.

The great work which he laid the foundation to

Is unfinished, and resting on thee to do—

With thy brethren, the Twelve, thou wilt bear it forth

To the distant nations of the earth.

Kings, princes, and nobles will honor thee,

And thy name will be great on the isles of the sea—

The pure light of intelligence thou wilt spread

Will exalt the living and save the dead.

The great spirit of truth, will direct thy ways;

Generations to come, will repeat thy praise—

When they work is completed on earth, thou’lt stand

In thy station appointed at God’s right hand.

1845