{"id":17704,"date":"2011-11-07T10:54:24","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T15:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=17704"},"modified":"2011-11-07T10:58:21","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T15:58:21","slug":"as-sisters-in-zion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2011\/11\/as-sisters-in-zion\/","title":{"rendered":"As Sisters In Zion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are the original words to this hymn. You can see the original here<\/a>. (If that link doesn’t get you all the way there, you are looking for page 98 of the November 1st, 1874, Women’s Exponent.)<\/p>\n

SONG OF THE SISTERS OF THE RELIEF SOCIETY
\nby Emily H. Woodmansee<\/p>\n

1. As sisters in Zion, We’ll all pull together,
\nThe blessings of God on our labors we’ll seek:
\nWe’ll build up His kingdom with earnest endeavor;
\nWe’ll comfort the weary, and strengthen the weak.<\/p>\n

2. We’ll turn from our follies, our pride and our weakness,
\nThe vain, foolish fashions of Babel despise;
\nWe’ll seek for the garments of truth and of meekness,
\nAnd learn to be useful and happy and wise.<\/p>\n

3. We’ll wear what is sensible, neat and becoming
\nThe daughters of Zion\u2014the angels of light;
\nWe’ll work with a will, while the angels are scanning
\nOur aims and our actions from morning till night.<\/p>\n

4. We’ll bring up our children to be self-sustaining;
\nTo love and to do what is noble and right;
\nWhen we rest from our labors, these dear ones remaining,
\nWill bear off the kingdom and “fight the good fight.”<\/p>\n

5. Nor shall our attention be wholly restricted
\nTo training our children or shaping our dress;
\nThe aged, the feeble, the poor and afflicted,
\nOur labors shall comfort, our efforts shall bless.<\/p>\n

6. “The Lord hath established the cities of Zion,
\nThe poor of His people are trusting in Him,”
\nHe makes us a source for His poor to rely on;
\nOh! shall we not brighten the eyes that are dim.<\/p>\n

7. Oh! shall we not hasten to soothe the condition
\nOf the humble, the needy, the honest and pure?
\nOh! let us remember, whate’er our ambition\u2014
\n‘Tis our duty, our mission, to comfort the poor.<\/p>\n

8. ‘Tis the office of angels, conferred upon woman;
\nAnd this is a right that, as women, we claim;
\nTo do whatsoever is gentle and human;
\nTo cheer and to bless in humanity’s name.<\/p>\n

9. How vast are our labors; how broad is our mission,
\nIf we only fulfill it in spirit and deed;
\nOh! naught but the Spirit’s divinest tuition\u2014
\nCan give us the wisdom to truly succeed.<\/p>\n

10. Then, as sisters in Zion, we’ll all pull together;
\nThe blessing of God on our labors we’ll seek;
\nWe’ll build up the kingdom with earnest endeavor;
\nWe’ll comfort the weary and strenghten the weak.<\/p>\n

A few things I found interesting:<\/p>\n

(1) The emphasis on caring for the poor, which is completely lost in the current version.
\n(2) The concept of the office<\/em> of angels conferred<\/em> upon woman as a right<\/em>. (The idea of claiming a gift always seemed off to me–you don’t claim a gift.)
\n(3) The emphasis on departing from Babel’s fashions. I wish there was more of this sentiment in the current modesty retrenchment (it’s not just about nekkid shoulders, my friends.)
\n(4) The idea that women’s efforts shouldn’t be restricted to children and modesty is nicely articulated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are the original words to this hymn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corn"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17704"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17706,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17704\/revisions\/17706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}