I’ve always loved the idea of being “anxiously engaged in a good cause.” The sense of agency generally assumed from the phrase suggests that I can figure out myself good things that need doing and how to make those things happen. The idea that not everything good is planned out and my role is flexible is very appealing. Of course, that has some risk with it.

As human beings we are all liable to make poor choices—even if they are good choices they may not be the optimal choices and lead to tribulations. But then, I suspect that even an optimal choice can also be difficult and hard. And in the worst case, we may need to repent of our choices, and choose something better. I suppose that too is a kind of good cause; something we should be ‘anxiously engaged’ in.

“After much tribulation come the blessings.”

The tribulations we face, whether they are due to our choices, or not, are part of life. Somehow, when they are a result of the ‘good causes’ we have set our hopes on, the tribulations seem harder. And then, as Zion’s poetess suggests in this poem, the blessings come. [We hope.]

 

Though outward trials

by Eliza R. Snow

Though outward trials throng your way,

Press on, press on, ye Saints of God!

Ere long, the resurrection day

Will spread its light and truth abroad.

 

Though outward ills await us here,

The time at longest, is not long;

Ere prince Messiah will appear

Surrounded by a glorious throng

 

Lift up your hearts in praise to God-

Let your rejoicings never cease:

Though tribulation rage abroad,

Christ says, “in me ye shall have peace.”

 

What tho’ our rights have been assal’d?

What tho’ by foes we’ve been despoiled?

Jehovah’s promise has not fail’d-

Jehovah’s purpose is not foil’d.

 

His work is moving on apace,

And great events are rolling forth-

The kingdom of the latter days-

The “little stone,” must fill the earth.

 

Though satan rage, ’tis all in vain,-

The words the ancient prophets spoke

Sure, as the throne of God, remain,

Nor men nor devils can revoke.

 

All glory to His sacred name,

Who calls his servants-sends them forth.

To prove the nations-to proclaim

Salvation’s trumpet, thro’ the earth.

1841

 

I can “bring to pass much righteousness” of my “own free will.”

Another element of being ‘anxiously engaged in a good cause’ is the responsibility that the scripture places on each one of us. If, as the scripture assumes, there is a large number of things that we can do to ‘bring to pass much righteousness’, then we have the responsibility of choosing, and the larger the number of good things we can choose, the more choosing poor causes suggests that we aren’t being wise or are focusing on the wrong things.

In this poem, William B. Craig suggests that our motivation and orientation towards doing good is what matters. Craig was born in Newcastle on Tyne, England in 1859 and published this poem in the Millennial Star before he immigrated to Utah. He married in 1891 and lived in Logan until 1920. Unfortunately, his poetic efforts seem to have been forgotten by his descendants, at least as far as can be seen from familysearch.

 

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

 

The Lord forgives me as I repent.

As I suggested above, repentance is often necessary, and is part of the plan. In fact, repentance is one of the ‘good causes’ we can choose, and repenting will itself ‘bring to pass much righteousness.’ The LDS Scottish Bard, John Lyon, explores this in the following poem on getting forgiveness.

 

Forgiveness

by John Lyon

When I against the Lord transgress;

And none but he can know my secret sin,

Then I’ll repent, and strive his love to win;

By doing all that I’ve forgot to do,

And more devoutly, righteousness pursue;

Then shall I have forgiveness.

 

And should my folly cause distress,

To father, mother, sister, brother, friend;

I’ll run with speed, confess to each, and mend

The sinful breach, by new obedience I

All loss restoring, through the vile offence;

Then shall I have forgiveness.

 

Should love demand that I confess,

For open sin a public sense of grief;

I’ll humbly yield, if this should bring relief,

No matter what may be the penance; still,

I’ll strive the law of trespass to fulfil,

To gain from all, forgiveness.

 

Then shall my brethren love, and bless,

The penitent with heartfelt joy again,

While the recording angels sound the strain

Through brighter spheres: the sinner is forgiven,

And mercy, radiant with the smile of heaven,

Exults in God’s forgiveness.

1847

 

Commandments are a blessing.

It might seem like the flexibility and freedom of being able to choose a good cause is a good thing. But the wide variety of things to choose can be paralyzing, and the attractiveness of bad causes still leads us to choose poorly. Commandments can help by limiting choice to the true good causes and forcing us to be more creative about how we approach the choices we do have. Just as many artists have discovered, limiting choice can lead to better art. Eliza R. Snow explores the benefits of commandments in the following:

 

Paraphrase

by Eliza R. Snow

See! yon atmosphere is parting—

See it roll in waves of blue

On either side, and brightly darting—

Glorious light is darting through.

 

What means this strange sight? Is old Nature unmoulding,

And the elements flying away with affright?

Are the heavenly regions, their secrets unfolding,

And the upper eternity heaving in sight?

 

See a glorious form appearing—

Vastly broad—immensely high;

And its shining course is steering

Through the conduit of the sky.

 

’Tis the holy Jerusalem—city of splendor—

The joy of the Saints and the glory of God:

All glorious within—with unparalleled grandeur,

The rays of its light are diverging abroad.

 

Who’ll obtain the priceless favor

Of entrance in this perfect dome?

In the presence of the Savior,

Find an everlasting home?

 

O how happy are they who have kept His commandments,

For they shall have right to the fair tree of life—

Through the gates of the City they freely shall enter

Secure from corruption, commotion and strife.

1882

 

The Sabbath is the Lord’s day.

One of these restrictions that come from the commandments is the idea of observing the Sabbath. I like the following statement that expresses how the restrictions of what we do on the Sabbath can actually help us:

I came even to rest differently through this new Sabbath–because I rested not only from overt labor or causing others to labor but from the tugs of obligation and everyday consciousness. I no longer used the Sabbath merely “to recharge my batteries” for the work week ahead, although recharging was a natural by-product. Instead, I began to use the other days of the week to live towards the Sabbath, where consciousness, gladness, and life had grown more keen. In my stricter rules for the day, I found not confinement but freedom. — Philip Barlow, Time

In a sense, observing the sabbath is one of the ‘good causes’ we’ve been exploring. Engaging in sabbath observance isn’t about the restrictions at all, but rather about what we can create from those restrictions. As Barlow suggests, its ‘not confinement but freedom.’

Of course, this idea echoes what has been said before, even by our own poets, and even in what we sing in church. For example, the following from the first LDS hymnal, and also from our current hymnal:

 

Sabbath Hymn

by William W. Phelps

Gently raise the sacred strain,

For the Sabbath’s come again.

That man may rest,

And return his thanks to God,

For his blessings to the blest.

 

Blessed day, devoid of strife,

For to seek eternal life,

That great reward,

And partake the sacrament,

In remembrance of the Lord.

 

Sweetly swell the solemn sound,

While we bring our gifts around,

Of broken hearts,

As a willing sacrifice,

Showing what his grace imparts.

 

Happy type of things to come,

When the saints are gather’d home,

To praise the Lord,

In eternity of bliss,

All as one, with one accord.

 

Holy, holy is the Lord,

Precious, precious is his word,

Repent and live;

Though your sins are crimson red,

O repent and he’ll forgive.

Softly sing the joyful lay

For the saints to fast and pray,

As God ordains,

For his goodness and his love

While the Sabbath day remains.

1835