It might seem strange that the title of a lesson based on D&C 19, apparently written as Martin Harris struggled with wether to mortgage his farm to pay for the publication of the Book of Mormon, should be titled “Learn of Me.” But D&C 19 doesn’t talk about mortgages or farms, and the more I think about it, I realize that answers to many of our questions and struggles can be found in understanding better the nature of God. And when we take seriously the idea that we are His children, its not hard to realize that knowing God and His nature is, in a very real way, knowing ourselves.

Looking at the world today, I can see how this knowledge would help. In so much of our lives we limit our view to small and unimportant things — money, pride, competition with and comparison to others. And if I’m honest with myself, I must admit that I am part of the problem. [FWIW, this is one of the reasons I think the endowment in the Temple can be so useful—it helps us to get our mind out of the petty little things in life so that we can focus on the eternal, on the eternal perspective.]

 

“I, God, am endless.”

D&C 19 quickly gets to the eternal, trying to give us that eternal perspective, teaching us about the eternal nature of God, and re-defining the terms we use for understanding Him. The section’s teachings that ‘endless’ is a name of God, and its meditations on the eternal, make me think of the musings of philosophers and poets on the scope of nature—the endless size of the universe and endless scope of the world at the atomic level.

The awe we find in considering the scope of nature is often found in poetry, such as William Blake’s “Auguries of Innocence”, with its ‘world in a grain of sand’ and ‘eternity in an hour’. Our own W. W. Phelps was, I think, trying to express the same feeling of awe in the following poem of praise, which catalogs many of the awe-inspiring elements of God’s creation:

 

Praise to God

by William W. Phelps

See all creation join

To praise th’ eternal God;

The heavenly hosts begin the song,

And sound his name abroad.

 

Chorus. By all that shines above

His glory is express’d;

But saints that know his endless love,

Should sing his praises best.

 

The sun with golden beams,

And moon with silver rays,

The starry lights, and twinkling flames,

Shine to their Maker’s praise.

By all that shines above, &c.

 

He built those worlds above,

And fix’d their wondrous frame;

By his command they stand or move,

And always speak his name.

By all that shines above, &c.

 

The fleecy clouds that rise,

Or falling showers, or snow;

The thunders rolling round the skies,

His power and glory show

By all that shines above, &c.

 

The broad expanse on high,

With all the heavens afford;

The crinkling fire that streaks the sky,

Unite to praise the Lord.

By all that shines above, &c.

1832

 

Jesus Christ suffered so that I can repent and come unto Him.

Of course, knowing God must involve understanding the sacrifice of His son, which plays a key role in our understanding of the gospel and in our cosmology. D&C 19 includes oft-cited verses on Christ’s suffering that give a very personal perspective on Christ’s suffering.

That’s also the focus of the following poem, by the prolific Annie Lauritzen also focuses on Christ’s suffering, while pointing out our own responsibility to follow Him. Born in Richfield, Utah, Lauritzen’s poetry frequently appeared in LDS publications through the early 20th century.

 

Through Christ and Repentance Are Ye Saved

by Annie G. Lauritzen

Learn to shun no task or duty; follow where the Savior led:

Jesus’ life was plain and perfect; in his footsteps let us tread.

Ask the secret of his mission, search the key to his success:

‘Twas: he sought to save his fellows, truly love them and to bless.

 

And his prayer was: “Thine, O Father, thine and not my will be done.”

And his will was e’en the Father’s, e’en the Great Eternal One.

Lo! he groaned in blood and anguish, sorely wept for those who sin,

Gladly suffered pain and sorrow, nobly died, that man might win.

 

Follow then his sacred footsteps, crown of Glory and of Life,

And be valient in his service, in the war ‘gainst sin and strife.

He shall lead them to his glory, and deliver them from fall,

Who repent of their transgressions, and obey his saving call.

1900

 

Peace comes from learning of Jesus Christ and following Him

We don’t always connect peace with learning of Christ because we usually assume that peace is a responsibility, something we need to do first in order to come to Christ. But D&C 19 suggests that learning of Christ is a pre-condition to peace.

In the following poem from 1940, Ruth May Fox, former President of what later became the Young Women, seeks for peace in a world that had just started a world war. While decrying the reasons that peace has fled, she asks when God’s children will learn to live the life Christ taught, “And turn their thoughts to righteousness / And do away with strife”, suggesting that obtaining peace starts with learning of Christ.

 

Where Is Peace?

by Ruth May Fox

Peace, did you say? There is no peace;

The white-winged dove has fled

Beyond the pale of mortal ken;

Confusion reigns instead.

Confusion in the hearts of men,

On land and on the sea,

Above the clouds in God’s free air

There’s no tranquility.

Dread mechanisms, fiendish, dire,

Devised by our own kind,

Pour down destruction from the skies,

To kill, to maim, and blind

The flower of the human race,

The valiant and the strong,

Who might have found a way to peace

And cut the tyrant’s thong

With which he goads men to the death,

And sets the world aflame

With fears and anguish of the soul,

To win a conqueror’s name.

When will God’s children learn to live

The Christian way of life

And turn their thoughts to righteousness

And do away with strife?

Then will the dove of peace return

With blessings in her wings,

And fly abroad from land to land

While earth rejoicing sings:

Oh, blessed day! All wars have ceased.

The tyrant’s sword is sheathed;

No man will answer to his call;

The life that god bequeathed

Is His alone to give or take;

No autocrat shall dare

To set the precious life stream free

And war on man declare!

1940

 

God’s blessings are greater than the treasures of the earth

The motivations for our actions in life may be an impediment to learning of God. Too often we are distracted by not only the need to earn the necessities of life, but by the values of the society in which we live. We don’t only want to be able to live, raise families in peace and worship God, but we also want fame, fortune and honor of those around us. The later part of D&C 19 tries to disabuse us of much of this, suggesting we should not ‘covet [our] own property’, doing these things ‘with all humility.’

Stanley A. Purrington, the author of this poem, seems to have understood the importance of being ‘clean’, instead of seeking the fame, fortune and honor of our society. I believe that we can read ‘clean’ here to mean more than simply sexual purity, but also as clean of sin and error, as righteously following what we learn of Christ. By the time that this poem was written, the veteran of World War I was the parent of 4 daughters and 1 son, which eventually became 11 children.

 

A Father’s Prayer

by Stanley A. Purrington

He may not, as a great general,

In battle, seek glory and fame.

He may not add letters of science

Or scholar’s degrees to his name.

He may not become a great artist

By painting some beautiful scene.

But whatever he does in the future,

I hope that my boy will be clean.

He may not lead in athletics,

A statesman he may never be,

Nor ever a bold aviator,

Renowned on the land and on sea.

He may not become a musician,

Nor shine as a “star of the screen.”

But whatever may be his vocation,

I hope that my boy will be clean.

He’s only a three-year-old baby,

With a baby’s clean thoughts and pure heart.

But soon he’ll be growing to manhood

And in the world play a man’s part.

He’ll mingle with those who are evil,

And sordid, and selfish, and mean.

But whoever may be his companions,

I hope that my boy will be clean.

I hope that some day he’ll be numbered

With God’s chosen people on earth,

Who have entered the “door of the sheepfold,”

By means of baptism’s new birth.

Some day he’ll be clothed with the Priesthood

As thousands of others have been,

And he’ll realize as he grows older,

Its power and strength – if he’s clean.

Some day he may go on a mission,

To bear, in the days of his youth,

God’s message and plan of salvation

To those who are seeking the truth.

May prayer to our Father in Heaven

Be part of his daily routine,

That whenever the evil one tempts him

God’s spirit may help him be clean.

Tonight, as I look at my laddie,

Lying fast asleep there in his bed,

I wish for him, not earthly treasures,

But heavenly blessings instead.

I want him to know what the gospel

And its glorious principles mean

To those who would gain life eternal.

Dear Lord – help my boy to be clean.

1930