{"id":27540,"date":"2013-09-08T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2013-09-08T14:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=27540"},"modified":"2013-09-08T21:09:47","modified_gmt":"2013-09-09T02:09:47","slug":"literary-dcgd-35-wakeful-winter-nights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2013\/09\/literary-dcgd-35-wakeful-winter-nights\/","title":{"rendered":"Literary DCGD #35: Wakeful Winter Nights<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent years the attention on the tragedy of the Martin and Willie handcart companies seems to have increased. Their situation and rescue has been the subject of books and movies (and lessons) in a process that seems to mythologize the events. The current lesson (#35 in the Doctrine and Covenants Gospel Doctrine manual) explores the saving nature of the rescue, and compares that to the Savior’s atonement and our own responsibility to save those who are lost. The following poem helps to set the stage for this discussion, describing the difficulty and the courage necessary to face it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I don’t know that the author of this poem, Eva Willes Wangsgaard, was thinking specifically of the Martin and Willie companies, but I don’t see anything in the text that conflicts with their situation. Wangsgaard was born in 1893 in Lehi, Utah. She married Dava Wangsgaard and moved to Ogden, Utah where she taught public school and gained a reputation as an exceptional poet. She won the annual Deseret News writing contest seven times and published five volumes of poetry, in addition to regularly appearing in the pages of the Relief Society Magazine<\/em>, Improvement Era<\/em> and in a variety of national magazines in the U.S. She passed away in April, 1967.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Wakeful Winter Nights<\/h3>\n

by Eva Willes Wangsgaard<\/p>\n

\n
\n
On winds of wintry dark I hear it yet,<\/dd>\n
A woman\u2019s smothered weeping in the night,<\/dd>\n
The muffled sobs of one who can\u2019t forget,<\/dd>\n
Who shudders more from loneliness than fright.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
For when the wilderness was under snow<\/dd>\n
That even hid the friendly wagon track,<\/dd>\n
How heavily a heart would beat, to know<\/dd>\n
The weight of thoughts forever turning back!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
And cottonwoods gave poor companionship<\/dd>\n
To one who felt her child was insecure,<\/dd>\n
While ice was all their stiffened limbs could grip<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
And \u201cPatience\u201d was their only signature.<\/dd>\n
On wakeful winter nights, one truth is clear:<\/dd>\n
What courage had the woman pioneer!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Improvement Era, v43, n1, January, 1940
\n[H.T. Keepapitchinin, 1 Dec 2011<\/a>]<\/small><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

More than saving, this poem is about courage. But I think it helps us to realize that even those who are courageous often need saving, and even saving from their own errors.<\/p>\n

Wangsgaard hints at some of that. She suggests that her courageous woman pioneer cries “The muffled sobs of one who can\u2019t forget” and suffers “The weight of thoughts forever turning back,” perhaps to events that put her in danger. Certainly the Willie and Martin companies must have regretted leaving so late in the season when the early storms trapped them in Wyoming. But despite their regrets, they had little choice but to face the situation courageously, and hope for the rescue that, for too many was too late.<\/p>\n

Indeed, although I’m sometimes uncomfortable with the mythologizing of the story of this tragedy, I must admit, especially after reading this poem, that even though mistakes were made, the courage these pioneers displayed, and the heroics of those who rescued them, are worthy of admiration.<\/p>\n

Too often today we condemn those in need of rescue. We suggest that it is their own fault, because of the errors they made, as if that somehow justifies failing to save them. We don’t realize that the fact that we avoided an error doesn’t mean that those who make the error are somehow unworthy.<\/p>\n

Instead, may we see the courage in the struggles of our fellow children of God who are in need of heroic rescue, and do what we should.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In recent years the attention on the tragedy of the Martin and Willie handcart companies seems to have increased. Their situation and rescue has been the subject of books and movies (and lessons) in a process that seems to mythologize the events. The current lesson (#35 in the Doctrine and Covenants Gospel Doctrine manual) explores the saving nature of the rescue, and compares that to the Savior’s atonement and our own responsibility to save those who are lost. The following poem helps to set the stage for this discussion, describing the difficulty and the courage necessary to face it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-school-lesson-doctrine-and-covenants"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27540","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=27540"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27556,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27540\/revisions\/27556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}