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For a lesson titled \u201cDeclare My Gospel\u201d, the individual sections don\u2019t seem to focus as much on missionary work as you would think. Instead, the missions discussed are more like the statement often attributed to St. Francis, \u201cPreach the gospel. If necessary use words.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, the problem with preaching through actions, even though they are more powerful than words, is that actions are even more liable to be misinterpreted than words are. In this sense, actions are more like poetry than sermons, because they can be interpreted in many ways. By preaching \u2018slant\u2019 \u2014 that is, from an unusual viewpoint or using an unusual perspective \u2014 poetry, like actions, can help us understand what we might not otherwise.<\/p>\n
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Being a witness is certainly a kind of preaching, since it is not merely passively experiencing a truth, but also being willing to testify that to that truth. And, we witness not only by stating what we have experienced and learned, but also by living those truths. This all comes to us through actions \u2014 slant, if you will \u2014 from multiple perspectives.<\/p>\n
The following poem talks quite a bit about witnesses. The poet, Walter W. Morrison (who I haven\u2019t found out much about), talks in the fourth stanza about walking by faith \u2014 which I think is a way of walking slant, with a different perspective \u2014 learning as we go. And to me his poem adds the suggestion that our lives are each a kind of witness.<\/p>\n
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by Walter W. Morrison<\/p>\n
1927<\/p>\n
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Not only are we called to preach the gospel to others, but we are called to do so to our families, preferably, again, by actions. In fact, because of the feedback that we get from close family relationships, we refine not only our preaching, but also our actions.<\/p>\n
T. E. Fifield\u2019s poem that follows is mostly prescriptive, telling us how to conduct these relationships\u2014Fifield\u2019s own preaching, I suppose. But while the poem is quite didactic, it does represent how relationships move in two ways\u2014our actions are reactions to our brothers and sisters, and we should be mindful of how our actions will affect them. Focusing on how our behavior affects the other is often as important as focusing on our own behavior.<\/p>\n
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by T. E. Fifield<\/p>\n
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If our preaching is meant for others and for our families, isn\u2019t it also meant for ourselves? The idea of hypocrisy lies in a double standard; different expectations of others from what we expect of ourselves. Given this, at least some of our preaching needs to be turned inward, toward how we should act.<\/p>\n The idea that the Lord is preparing us for some mission in life; often interpreted, at least in US culture, as having a significant impact on the lives of others. But Eliza R. Snow here suggests that most of the time life itself is the mission. In this, I don\u2019t believe she is reducing life to merely the plan of salvation. Instead, this poem seems to portray life itself as worthy, perhaps to \u201cteach how to live\u201d (last stanza), but at least to prepare us for the next life (see the last line.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n by Eliza R. Snow<\/p>\n 1870s<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eliza R. Snow isn\u2019t the only LDS poet to weigh in on our responsibility to ourselves, or our mission or preaching to ourselves. Here, Harrison R. Merrill, one of the frequent authors of textbooks and manuals for the Church in the 1930s, writes about how our lives build from day-to-day. The poem suggests that while we have an unchangeable past and an unknowable future, we are in control of the present, and our actions, a kind of preaching to our future selves, can literally save those selves, making our current selves possible saviors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n by Harrison R. Merrill<\/p>\n 1931<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For a lesson titled \u201cDeclare My Gospel\u201d, the individual sections don\u2019t seem to focus as much on missionary work as you would think. Instead, the missions discussed are more like the statement often attributed to St. Francis, \u201cPreach the gospel. If necessary use words.\u201d Of course, the problem with preaching through actions, even though they are more powerful than words, is that actions are even more liable to be misinterpreted than words are. In this sense, actions are more like poetry than sermons, because they can be interpreted in many ways. By preaching \u2018slant\u2019 \u2014 that is, from an unusual viewpoint or using an unusual perspective \u2014 poetry, like actions, can help us understand what we might not otherwise. I am called to be a witness of Jesus Christ. Being a witness is certainly a kind of preaching, since it is not merely passively experiencing a truth, but also being willing to testify that to that truth. And, we witness not only by stating what we have experienced and learned, but also by living those truths. This all comes to us through actions \u2014 slant, if you will \u2014 from multiple perspectives. The following poem talks quite a bit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":49476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2895,2904,53,2462,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-come-follow-me-currculum","category-doctrine-and-covenants","category-latter-day-saint-thought","category-poetry-arts","category-sunday-school-lesson-doctrine-and-covenants"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_2126.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49454","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=49454"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49480,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49454\/revisions\/49480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Eliza](\"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/ElizaRSnow.jpg\")
Life<\/span><\/h3>\n
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If I build my life on the Savior\u2019s gospel, I\u00a0will not fall.<\/h2>\n
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Christmas Eve on the Desert<\/span><\/h3>\n
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