Show 1 the united order editor deseret dear brother anad Inadequate equate as Is my bumble humble pen to the proper treatment of this important subject which deserves deA erves the fullest attention of all writers speakers speaker dand and thinkers in the kingdom of god yet I 1 am impelled to contribute the thoughts and reflections of an amateur with the hope of drawing the minds of those thoad of my own age toward thib this grea great tand and holy institution and inciting the efforts of older erand and aud abler writers to the discussion and promulgation of its principles it has been with honest pride that the latter day saints as from am the day the church was organized have proclaimed that the very spirit of their religion inculcated the doctrine of perfect union the testimony of our saviour throughout his whole career pointed aa as directly to this end as the hope of the faithful to the state of paradise except ye are one ova ye yo are not mine was his solemn injunction to his disel disciples les ies repeatedly repeated ay impressed upon their their minds by his own example and numerous precepts and on the last occasion of his bis ministry in the flesh when the hour was approaching that witnessed his death abid and departure from the lye fye world rid and his little band of disciples were gathered there td hear his closing osIng c words fords ju tha prayed to the father t edt ert tuat that at they and nod all who 1 mould ouid believe in im their words might ight bd bri ad as one brie the father were w ere onez ones ahat does doe athis his teach us T that bat hat perfect pe r iea red union in spirit fi na is wiy uly ma by bk which we can eter eyer h up 4 ab tet rehe h that glorious heaven phe rhe rethe utmost harmony ahu I 1 aalon P prevail and as this life is but a brier brief preparatory state for th td great greab hereafter that it is the duty of every evory g soul that aspires to glory to td bend every ef attainment ol 01 this great and siad it Condit condition loii ims ids diot riot for oil bur forUr present and alar allys the checkered history of our for tor half a ar century Is incontrovertible tro evidence of tiie elie lecessi ty t of ota ofa united spirit in all our affairs as a community it is the tho only hope libe of those aj who opo po bess sess and practice the tue gospel bf jesus chilst christ for where they iiii liik haye e that on bilone one hand they have have bave the bitter enmity of the tho most bost of tait outside world to contend against on oft the other it has always been the case au and it always away will be so as long as its the votaries vot arles aries of vice vide outnumber gut but number those of virtue ind and the lords work is unfinished ori on the earth if we have have the spirit of disunion and wickedness hies fies sto to oppose we must oppose it with the armon armor and weapons of union and righteous righteousness ness hess it Is dangerous to act to think otherwise or oi to allow our minds to be deluded into bito the belief that all is well in zion and that we can desist from our labors until the harvest is over most of the saints are too prone to think in direct contradiction to all past experience that because they have met the first requirements quire ments of the gospel their work is mostly done that they need entertain no further anxiety for themselves and families and that the mere profession of latter day saint is sufficient in all to save them without further effort on their parta parts that lor said watch and pray always enter enten not into temptation and that the tribunal of the almighty will judge them by deeds instead of words we forget that there are other acts of obedience to perform beside the initiatory steps or laws of adoption into the church of the first born which aregust are just as essential to our eternal welfare as faith repentance and baptism eaith faith without works is dead Y must hold ourselves in readiness to respond cheerfully to any labor or re requirement gui qui rement that may be ordained to direct his people and administer his bis laws for when we oppose that delegated authority we atre are opposing the almighty him himself steif and find will be punished for it an ar ure sure ly as we exist obedience la is the first requisition of the lord from his hla chosen people and when they willingly and promptly meet this he has always blessed and prospered them but as surely for disobedience he has never failed to punish them the tho records of the children of ulm ulu under the administration of moses and afterward prove this most aud nud the same impartial unchangeable being who delivered the oracles to moses amid the thunders of sinai binai rules in the heavens today to day and we profess to serve him as his people obedience to the lord has always been and always will be the th forerunner of success and prosperity tys tvs while disobedience will sooner or later bring the bitter reverse one act of obedience is more acceptable to him than all the fasting and bud prayer that could be offered and no amount of these could atone for an act of wilful disobedience unless attended by genuine tanco and a determination to make restitution thereafter we have a beautiful illustration of that desirable state of obel obedience lence P riven given iven in the bible where jesus takes tabes a little child and placing it in the midst of his disciples sass says except ye become as this little child ye cannot enter the kingdom of bue bui heaven verill for of such is the kingdom of heaven and whosoever shall humble bumble himself as this little child the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven when will we learn to appreciate the force of this lesson and when will we school our natures into that spirit of do cile obedience manifested in the disposition of an innocent cent child when god reveals an ordinance doctrine or institution for the welfare of his people he expects im plicate obedience and the united efforts of all ali his hib servants to roll on the work to accomplish his purposes that they may win the great rewards of their faithfulness such an institution is the order of enoch and such are the autless duties privileges and promises BOW extended to the saints saint who come forward and dedicate their time talents and property to the up building of each other and the establish establishment ment went of truth righteousness and union upon the earth never more to be thrown down we have no right to murmur murnor nor hesitate the word of the almighty by his chosen servant has gone forth his word is law jaw and BO long aa as we profess to live by every word that edeth forth from froin his mouth mouthy so 80 long iong must we obey or we hava have DO no claim to the promised blessings which await the obedient the lord will have a tried people and all that can be will be shaken the object of the United order is to mutually benefit all who enter it liberty equality and fraternity ity are the tho emblems union peace pence ey prosperity and righteousness are the results an and aud d viewed in its true light it is one of the grandest est esl and most philanthropic ideas ever revealed from god to man what can be moie gratifying than to see az a whole people united in assisting each other as a self sustaining community what can be inore more compatible with the will of god and the true spirit of the christian religion than a union of souls in the bonds of brotherhood socially financial financially lyl and religiously that Is the aim and purpose class distinctions will perish for as all are in even circumstances no man can despise his brothers p poverty ov pride and vanity will wil I 1 bec become ollae extinct for no means will wili be squandered to indulge buch tastes and desires dishonesty and cannot prosper for tha man who would take the advantage of his neighbor would at the same time be wronging himself since all gains must revert to the commonwealth there will be no poor nor beg gara since all ale aie common owners there will be no idlers for all will be furnished with the employment to which they are best adapted and as the wicked are sure to rebel and refuse to enter into it it will cleanse away the impurity of society take in the good and obedient who will reap the benefit of all the eminent ad vantages which will accrue from the union of an honest industrious and god gud fearing people to bear them onward and upward towards the goal of perfection and happi happl ness now for us to choose whether we are among those who will be found clinging to the old ship zion or those who will be swept overboard by the waves of disobedience and apo stacy if we Wl will lInOt hob hot assist the lord to accomplish his purposes he will find those who will for his work will roll on despite of all that man can bay pay or do no power on earth can cati hinder its onward progress if it we love the things of this world more than our eternal salvation we must abide the inevitable consequence no man can berve serve god and mammon if imaney money ia Is the object of this existence we must renounce all claim te to the gospel for which the bonol sonol bon son ol of god laid down hla hia life if we are not willing to sacrifice ail all even wo life thel the kingdom of heave nwe we are in no who worthy to enter it how oft would I 1 have gathered you as a hen ben gat hereth her chickens under her wings and ye yo would not cred cried ered the savior over jerusalem for the jews were blind to their dearest interests they murdered the one who would havo have delivered and united them and the terrible consequence consequences a of their crime and disobedience which christ foresaw and warned them of soon burst upon them and remain as a curse cureto to this day how long must the servants of god warn this people of their sins and disobedience and call in vain upon them to unite in heart and mind to resist the snares which satan satin sets to entrap the weak and unwary how flow long shall we be distrustful of one another and let the love of gain predominate in our hearts over the tho love of heaven how often must we be reminded that the fullness of times is approaching pro aching nearer day after dagand of the imperative need of preparing for the second advent of our oar lord la Is it not worth while to reflect upon these things and not only reflect but act our time Is short here we have none to waste in neglect and inactivity 1 I wish I 1 had is but poor consolation for a vanished opportunity now is the accepted time tomorrow to morrow never comes work while it is day for the night cometh when no man can work let us trust each other unite with each other and work for each other leave the follies and andrani vanities of the world for those who hope for nothing better who make money a god and pleasure a religion they have all the reward they ever will have but let those whose hopes are centred on eternity who realize the purpose of their creation live up to their religious advantages and prepare in this probation for something higher nobler and better in the world to come ORSON F elyria ohio july 8 1877 reflections on infidelity SALT lare LAKE CITY U T july 27 1877 editor deseret news while the conflict goes on between so called christianity and atheism it ann aff affords those who have received the light of present revelation great happiness to know and to promulgate those giant truths which reconcile all apparent inconsistencies between religion and science it is not to be wondered at that the god which is set up by sectarianism should be rejected by seii sela sensible sible sibie minds and that an atheistic theory should be adopted in the absence of proper representations concerning the true and living god all the works of so called infidels are only published in refutation of inconsistent theories based by the religious world upon an erroneous construction of holy writ christendom invented 1 I say in vented 11 because the idea is not or originated ginatha nor orf endorsed by any revelation or by the scriptures themselves they invented a god without a body perfectly immaterial having no constituent parts the infidels infidel although equally uninspired except with a degree of common sense declares that such a being could not exist that it ia Is an absolute nonentity the conflict is then between these two christendom sets seta up an impossible god common sense revolts and says calf if you have nothing better than this to oner we decline to worship 21 for eighteen centuries the millions of christians have endeavored to induce belief in this impossible being as the supreme power that organizes worlds creates men arld and women and b controls 0 entrola their final destiny while those whon who on reflection that a to have this power must not only be material but bub must be an organism capable of thinking eating and using all the forces of nature lave have bave been danou denounced need as heretics beretics infidels and enemies to mankind true the latter class have gone farther than to simply refute the statements of christendom they havea have on their success and victory gone themselves beyond the limits ot of good sen sense seand and denied the existence of any god at au all they were unable without inspiration to find a substitute for the immaterial god they had reasoned away and in the midst of this condition of error and darkness on both sides eidee it devolved on the supreme being to vindicate himself which he be did by revealing the sacred truth to jos joseph h smith and in accordance with I 1 the t same that prophet and all other men called and ordained by the same authority have shown the world for nearly half a century thad that the ideas of christendom were incorrect concerning god and his attributes in fact absurd while religionists had bad insisted on a god clod who could mot bot think eat see or feel and the atheist replied then there was no god it remained for joseph smith to call the attention of both parties to the fact that god was an immortal exalted material being who having passed through the various scenes of experience to which his children are submitted and having overcome sinful mortality lital has risen above all things and being master of himself competent to rule eternally when the sectarian asks whether this god can eat the modern apostle refers him to the visit of the resurrected saviour to his disciples when where he partook of some broiled fish and a honeycomb when the question is asked how this god appears reference Is made to the saviour saviours Savi ours a wolds he that bath been me hath bath seen the father being the express imago of his fathers person ac well then what relation do men bear to the true god they are his offspring did he create everything out of nothing no he organized gallI zed this earth out of the elements which have existed eternally and which will never have an art en endl endi dl how were the other worlds organized probably in the same way what lathe is the future of man to be himself exalted clothed with POW power ary arl intelligence and good goodness ness nesE what will be his occupation hereafter to inhabit this earth when it is purified and cleansed from bin sin and corruption to raise families and work for the eternal progression of his offspring when the atheist eager for a fight asks do you believe in those incongruities miracles he is answered there are no miracles except to the ignorant all things are subject to certain laws and god who understands them can do th things ag that appear like miracles to rn man an in his ignorant condition the gifts of a living faith are however at present manifest and the atheist can no longer cry with triumph your miracles are too ancient the witnesses have been dead two thousand years yearb ye arsat at which all christendom has been compelled to hide its head in shame for the followers of the modern prophet possess the same powers gifts and blessings as the ancients and thousands of living |