{"id":26460,"date":"2013-06-02T10:30:28","date_gmt":"2013-06-02T15:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=26460"},"modified":"2013-06-02T10:12:53","modified_gmt":"2013-06-02T15:12:53","slug":"literary-lorenzo-snow-11-father-lead-me-out-of-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2013\/06\/literary-lorenzo-snow-11-father-lead-me-out-of-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"Literary Lorenzo Snow #11: Father! Lead Me Out of Darkness<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JohnAWidtsoe\"<\/a>One of the most difficult concepts for many (perhaps even most) Church members in U.S. culture today is the idea that we should let the Lord direct our lives. Part of the difficulty lies in our desires, which may be righteous, but also may not be what the Lord would have us do. How often do we ask what he wants us to do?<\/p>\n

Another source of doubt about this concept is knowing what the Lord would have us do, even if we have asked. We sometimes feel like we are asking and not getting an answer (although I suspect this is usually our own fault somehow). Not knowing the answer leads us to a choice: either do nothing or do what we think best instead.<\/p>\n

In the following poem, John A. Widtsoe, an Apostle from 1921 to 1952, echoes the pleas for guidance that we all feel or should feel.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Widtsoe is another of those Mormon poets who are best known for something else by most Mormons. He is widely thought of as a scientist, founder of BYU’s College of Biology and Agriculture, and as one of the first few Apostles to hold a Ph.D. He is also known as a theologian, author of A Rational Theology as Taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/i> and Evidences and Reconciliations: Aids to Faith in a Modern Day<\/i>, as well as several other books on Mormon doctrine and theology. But Widtsoe also wrote a handful of hymns, including How Long, O Lord Most Holy and True (126) and the following hymn, which appeared as #380 in the 1927 hymnal:<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Father! Lead Me Out of Darkness<\/h3>\n

By John A. Widstoe<\/i><\/p>\n

\n
Father! lead me out of darkness by the Gospel\u2019s holy call.<\/dd>\n
Lead me into life eternal \u2013 grant me ready strength for all:<\/dd>\n
Sinful longing and life\u2019s trial, may they meet an armored heart;<\/dd>\n
Let Thy promise rest upon me, so that mine, the better part.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Father! blinded by the earth-light, do I cry for higher aid.<\/dd>\n
All I know that Thou art Father, in Thy hand my life is laid.<\/dd>\n
Greater light I seek, my Father, in the man-made chaos here.<\/dd>\n
I will meet the heat of battle, but, oh, Father, be Thou near.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Father! bless Thy drifting children, they who see not with their eyes;<\/dd>\n
They who seek for truth unchanging, pass the source, yet do despise;<\/dd>\n
May all evil, fiercely raging, lose its boasted pow\u2019r on earth;<\/dd>\n
That the creature rise not higher than the God who gave it birth.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Father! all my heart I give Thee; all my service shall be Thine.<\/dd>\n
Guide me as I search in weakness, let Thy living light be mine.<\/dd>\n
Hear me as I pray in meekness, let my strength be as the day.<\/dd>\n
Give me faith: the greater knowledge, Father! bless me as I pray.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hymns #380<\/em>, 1927
\n(h.t. Ardis Parshall, Keepapitchinin, 24 April 2012<\/a>)<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Widtsoe’s poem adds some unusual imagery and perhaps even doctrinal questions. I like his term “sinful longing” (line 5), but I wonder if all longing that is not for what the Lord would have us do is sinful, or only longing for that which is evil? Of course Alma 29:3 answers that question, but I suppose only if we know what the Lord would have us do?<\/p>\n

I agree with Widtsoe that we are “blinded by earth-light,” i.e., the dazzling array of both temptation and testing that distracts us from our God-defined purposes. And his description of the human condition\u2014”Man made chaos”; “drifting children”\u2014gives, I think, an accurate idea of what we face and why we need the Lord’s guidance.<\/p>\n

I am confused, however, about the doctrine behind this:<\/p>\n

\n
May all evil, fiercely raging, lose its boasted pow\u2019r on earth;<\/dd>\n
That the creature rise not higher than the God who gave it birth.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Is God really so threatened by humanity that loosing evil is the antidote? That doesn’t seem like a particularly Mormon view, at least not today.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Widtsoe’s poem expresses, I think, what we all should be praying, “Guide me as I search in weakness.”<\/p>\n

Amen to that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most difficult concepts for many (perhaps even most) Church members in U.S. culture today is the idea that we should let the Lord direct our lives. Part of the difficulty lies in our desires, which may be righteous, but also may not be what the Lord would have us do. How often do we ask what he wants us to do? Another source of doubt about this concept is knowing what the Lord would have us do, even if we have asked. We sometimes feel like we are asking and not getting an answer (although I suspect this is usually our own fault somehow). Not knowing the answer leads us to a choice: either do nothing or do what we think best instead. In the following poem, John A. Widtsoe, an Apostle from 1921 to 1952, echoes the pleas for guidance that we all feel or should feel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":26615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2432],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-priesthoodrelief-society-lesson-lorenzo-snow"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/JohnAWidtsoe.gif","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26460","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\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26460"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26719,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26460\/revisions\/26719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}