The restoration of the gospel can be seen as having two different aspects: the personal and the communitarian. While the First Vision is seen as indicating which Church to join, it is also a personal interaction between a 14-year-old boy and his God.

Subsequent events in the restoration can also be seen in the same way. When Oliver Cowdery met Joseph Smith, not only did everyone benefit as the translation of the Book of Mormon proceeded, but Oliver himself went through a process of spiritual growth, during which he tested his own ability to translate and learned about how to develop his relationship with the divine.

The topics in this week’s Come Follow Me lesson mostly focus on the personal, Oliver’s and our relationship with our Heavenly Father. How do we receive revelation? Where should we place our attention? How do we do Good? How does God bless us? As poetry shifted, starting with the romantic period, to the lyric—which is very personal, so LDS poetry also addressed the same kind of personal topics that are covered in this lesson.

 

[As always, I suggest limiting the length of poetry read in Sunday School classes — selecting portions of a poem is often best, especially when class members aren’t used to listening to a lot of poetry.]

 

Heavenly Father speaks to me through the Holy Ghost.

In the LDS experience, personal revelation from God is a key concept, and we are encouraged to learn how to listen to the voice of the spirit in our lives. The following, by English convert and immigrant Hannah Tapfield King, one of the more prolific LDS poets of the later 19th century, discusses what revelation sounds like and how it can bless our lives.

 

A Voice

by Hannah Tapfield King

Why is it when I hear that voice

A spell seems weaved around mine ear

That bids my heart and soul rejoice,

As if some happiness were near?

 

There’s heavenly magic in the sound,

But language cannot tell me why;

Silence then speaks and breathes around,

And though I love it makes me sigh.

 

Strange being is this human life,

And strange the mystic threads that weave

Around our heart with beauty rife,

And all its sombreness relieve.

 

O, are not these some little part

Of that bright atmosphere above?

Concocted by a God-like art

And purified by God-like love?

 

And did we not a portion bring

Of this pure essence from on high,

When we were bid aside to fling

Our glorious home and lay it by.

 

And mated to a mortal frame

To bear, to suffer, and to die,

That we might greater glory gain—

Eternal as the Heavens are high?

 

I ween Our Father’s love bestowed

These whisp’rings of a brighter home,

To lighten something of the load

Which pilgrims bear as here they roam.

 

O whispering sweet as breath of spring!

O mystic spells that wrap me round!

Thou Great Unknown! my heart I bring,

That doth with gratitude abound;

 

And offer it in faith to thee,

And bless Thee for the music there,

Whose chords respond in unity

With Nature’s voices that I hear.

 

Sweet voice I thank thee for the train

Of thought which I have tried to trace;

Thou’st floated brightly through my brain,

To joy and beauty giving place

 

Speak on, and let me hear thy tones;

Ring out and let me hear the sound;

It breathes the sweets of “hearts and home”

And memory’s spells it flings around.

1868

 

Look unto Christ in every thought.

Where we put our attention is certainly an element of our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. The following poem talks about this focus, even though it seems like it’s a take on the hymn Count Your Blessings, sharing lines with the hymn. But unlike the author of hymn, this poem’s author, Maria Berry, was likely an LDS convert from England (although which of the 3 Maria Berry’s that I found, I don’t know). Likely the poem was inspired by the hymn, which was written in the 1890s.

Regardless, Berry suggests that the way through the difficulties of life is to focus on the Lord.

 

Seek Ye The Lord

by Maria Berry

When upon life’s heaving billows

You are tossed from side to side,

Broken-hearted and forsaken

You are drifting with the tide;

Hope no longer is your anchor,

You’ve forgotten how to pray,

You have lost your hold on Jesus,

And, without Him, missed your way.

Raise your voice once more to Heaven,

Ask the Lord to be your guide;

You will find the safest harbor

By His kind and loving side;

He will heal your broken spirit,

Fit you for the storms of life;

Resting all your cares on Jesus

You will never fear the strife.

We could never fight life’s battles,

If we did not seek His aid;

He will bear the weary burdens

That have heavy on us laid;

He will guide our faltering footsteps,

Walking with us hand in hand;

Cheering, helping, He will lead us

Safe into the promised land.

1913

 

“Fear not to do good.”

I suppose any action requires some degree of courage. How much varies, of course, with anonymous acts easier than public acts, and acts that are seen as socially acceptable easier than those that are unusual or despised. As the author of this poem, William Craig, suggests, simply developing a mindset of doing good can provide at least some of the courage necessary.  Like the previous section, which suggests we turn our attention to the Lord, focusing on the good is a personal way of changing what we do to bless our lives, and more importantly, the lives of others. And I’m quite sure that there isn’t any conflict between focusing on the Lord and focusing on doing good—they’re the same.

 

Live to Do Good

by William B. Craig

Live to do good! ‘Tis better far

Than mines of wealth untold;

The soul who loveth virtue’s cause

Is richer far than gold.

 

Live to do good! A noble aim,

Worthy of kings to prize.

The good and noble of mankind

Alone can sympathize

 

With care and want, distress and woe.

The noble and the brave

Seek not for power, grandeur, fame,

Nor earthly honors crave.

 

Live to do good! Who liveth well

Will find that life is true,

And realize a noble aim,

With heavenly bliss in view.

 

Live to do good! ye Saints of God,

Pursue the paths of peace,

That you may gain His love and grace,

And joys which never cease.

1886

 

“Even as you desire of me so it shall be.”

Unlike the previous sections, this final section of the lesson focuses on what the Lord will do for those who follow him, instead of what we should do ourselves. This poem doesn’t promise any kind of miracle, but instead suggests that, like the previous poems, focusing on the Lord and on the good will allow us to see the blessings we are given.

The poet, Maud Baggarley, is one of the more prolific LDS poets of the turn of the 20th century.

 

The Hunch-Back

by Maud Baggarley

Downcast and sad the hunch-back crept

Among the straight and tall;

Not one marred body did he see,

But all seemed perfect—all.

 

“O Lord,” he cried in bitterness,

“O why and wherefore I?

Each day I’m crucified anew,

Though dying do not die.”

 

Then to his anguished soul there came

The message born of need,

A flame of fire,

A cautery for weak desire:

 

“Thy body, vestment of a priest may be,

That wraps a holy one within,

Or rags that hide a beggar

Who doth wait for alms.

Yet who might challenge fate!

And e’en make gods applaud.

“Like One, whom prophets said of old

Should have of beauty not a trace,

Yet God’s own glory shone upon his face—

That doer of brave deed and high!

Which marked him transient from the sky.

“Then go thou forth and write upon thy heart:

Each hath his place; each hath his part,

Each hath his secret sorrow, too.

And in the market-place are those

Who would be glad to change with you!

God alone doth know.

Then let thy soul in stature grow—each day

Until its garment, grown too small,

Is left beside the way.”

1914