Show perfection AND OBEDIENCE discourse ik course delivered ix in the tabernacle sau lake C aty W sunday september and 1894 sau salt lake stake conference by AY ABRAHAM H CANNON sported BY 1 I 1 have been greatly interested as all who are present doubtless have with the te report ort given by brother evan stephens orphe ofhie choir and its labors one item he inept mentions ions should be particularly impressed upon the latter day saints you are am all familiar with the remarkable suo acoustic properties of this building teethe ad the 1 of feet or the moving bout of aj p people e in any part of this structure cre creates stills t quite a disturbance we should always be careful atil to make asi little noi seas possible itt in this tabernacle after the services have corn com it is a mark ot treat great disrespect in houses of worship for the con rega tiou to be moving about or except in cases of necessity for them to leave wail util t the h 0 services are closed I 1 suppose there are no nd latter day saints who have attended our services but have enjoyed beyond the power of expression the singing of our choir I 1 believe it is one ecat motive power that has increased efte of young people at our services stad and I 1 for 1 1 r one icel feel to give them viry much creA 11 for the entertainment they ay iy have given us by their singing and for the wa spirit which their sweet voices accompanied by bt the tones ot of the organ have inspired in our hearts I 1 believe chat the song ong of praise is indeed pleasing unto god and I 1 do not believe that tg were there 1 I is s a a mau mati or wom woman an living whose aos heart is moved noved by the sweet arties tone of Iti Husic but uth has some tender chord which chic k can be touched by the master hand and ana to work ork in unison with same some measure at least of the spirit of god got we say that music hath bath charms to abathe the savage breast and in stances without number might be related M i the power of music iven even upon wild there is something which god hat has planted in the human soul that savors of divinity and abid I 1 often think that music is the power which touches the inward spring or inspiration that god has planted in the human heart I 1 always alway s leel feel joyful in listening to that W which ch is given by our singers and when w we agven think ink that those are mostly children who have been raised in these mountains alks that teat their teacher is one wa I 1 laboring t on a ail aa ot leopod and aad abil tha na they have haie not alone ue depended upon their own efforts but that the spirit of god which intelligence and strength has rested in great abundance upon our choir I 1 believe that the lord will bless them for their faithfulness in attendance at services and lor for the diligence that they have manifested in their practices I 1 do hope however that the choir and the same wish may be extended to the latter day saints in all their labors will wili not be satisfied with that which they have already done it was certainly a great thing something marvelous when we consider the circumstances that our choir should go to chicago and compete so successfully with those trained voices from the british isles and from various parts oabe world that had gathered there for the purpose of taking part in the FAsted eisteddfod fod as it is called and I 1 have heard many people irom from the east testify that though our choir received only the second prize it was certainly entitled to receive the first but I 1 do not think lor for one moment and I 1 hope that the members of the choir do not that they have reached perfection abere 1 here is abundance ol of room for them still to develop and I 1 would like to see them continue in in their efforts eft orts and to be discouraged occasionally it necessary in in order to spur them onward to greater diligence and make them more anxious to attain perfection so tar far as perfection is possible to human ti beings timings I 1 remember reading an incident of samuel F B morse the discoverer ot ol the power of electricity he was at one time an art student in london and was studying under the renowned Benja benjamin mip west he desired to present his master with a pic ture and he took special pains for several weeks to complete the drawing which he intended to present after tie ne had M finished dished ia it he took it to his master masker and handed it to h him I 1 m and asked him to accept t it the master looked at it praised its beauties and pointed out where morse had done excellent work but finally handed it back to him and said but you want to finish it morse was a etue downcast at this re remark maric but took the ibe picture and again worked on it correcting some deficiencies which bad bebe pointed out by the master again he brought it to him and mr west again praised me further progress of the student but he says you you want to take it dack back and finish it morse did so and the third time presented it to mr west but mr west alter after pointing out some errors told him again to take the picture and anish it but says morse 1 I 1 have finished it then rhen the master showed him where there were I 1 certain defects in his dracia draw ia sib him th this advice isice rhear rhe of oae picture akob the ike I 1 gift arti ud not tw 1114 drawing of df tui many pictures it is the finishing work of this choir individually and collectively that makes perfection it is not thi the learning of 46 mally pik pieces ew in a halfhearted half hearted way it is alye finishing finishing fin ishin and thorough and complete lear learning blit t that makes the artist in any occupation and this should be the aim of every latter day saint whatever his calling may be he should not be content ix asking will this do dd but id chii the best that can be done nothing short of this should content any person in the church k we say we have pWee perfection tion inthe in die gospel and we are seeking to folrn follow sil the advice of the savior when he saw to his disciples be ye perfect le even venit as your father in heaven heaven is perfect we wb have heard today that he gives no nd coni mand to his children which is i sible of fulfillment and we dad caff donw labor with the powers that god WS bw given unto us and aad perform to the best of our ability the duties required ofus taday and then tomorrow there will le be another step in advance for us ta take by this gradual progression under t the blessing of god we can reach that perfection which christ admonished his lah disciples to attain but as it is today even among the people of god w where P do you find a man that is at the hea head ft of his profession and of his labor very few indeed there are among the pep pie hunt among this people fo men to do ordinary work an anaa how many of them are the thewl that can be trusted many will do the chetri work if they have an overseer to direct diorec their labors but leave them alone an and they will neglect it or do it in a slipshod na manner take any of these men wh who b have large numbers of workmen und their care and how many do da they fi find among these hAnd hundreds reds whom they em ploy to whom they can cad entrust work wil the full assurance that it will be dotie thoroughly and without of tita very f few ew indeed it is illustrated in atte tl incident told of two boys who were W e ir working in in a chair factory there X yere a number of others empl employed yea byed and ne th master paid them thein by the he 0 piece ce affa every saturday night they brot brought ane work woric to him and received credi credit at ab b much per piece but after awhile he desired a foreman and in order r io 0 o test his hii workmen he told them that herel here after they child receive credit for their work without having it wield tried to see latt if ft was thorough they could just themselves how matly many chairs they had and credit would bagi be given ear thac ha he found that at the end c fhe 0 first week there chii was a great eat deal reWork mo t to chr niao fuai 4 who 0 b had i bo el bite not i been passed in as completed and when he came to look over the different durent jobs he be found that there was one boy out of 0 the number employed that had not taken advantage ot of his employer and performed his work with greater speed to the neglect of its perfection and that boy was chosen to be foreman lore mao because he be was honest though he was not watched at ched you know how it is with those who work by the piece they almost double the work which they would do by the day we sa say there is is an incentive to it why should there be if a man engages the time of another the man employed should devote his whole strength and energy to the interest of his employer he should be studying his welfare he feel that the prosperity of his employer is his own advancement and he should not tave taice advantage of his employment tm as a day laborer these are things that we should learn we should try to be at the head of all peo pie in all labors that are required at our hands and nothing short ot of this will satisfy our eternal father or will enable us to live up to the lull full line of the gospel of jesus jesus christ which we have espoused espouse i have enjoyed beyond the power of words to express the meetings ot of this day and yesterday yesier day I 1 think the re proofs which we have received from the authorities of the church should be impressed press ed upon our minds we are living in per perilous ilo times in the times mentioned by paul in in his epistle to timothy he says this know also that in the last days perilous times shall come I 1 for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers blaspheme rs disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truce breakers false accusers in content fierce despisers despi sers of those that are good traitors heady high minded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of god president woodruff told us today that we were living in these perilous times and if we did not have the word of the mouthpiece of the lord to this effect the he signs are so abundant eben even in zion that we cannot deny the fulfillment ol of this prophecy perilous times have indeed come upon the earth and men are lovers of their own selves look at the condition of the world today who does not see the spirit of covetousness the spirit of self love growing up in the hearts of the people who does not see the desire to lift ourselves up re gard less lessof of those who from our elevation it is this spirit of covetous ness and of self selmore love that has placed nine tenths of the whole property of the united states in the hands ol of less than two tao hundred and fifty thou thousand tand people more than nine tenths ol of the property in these united states is owned by less than two hundred and fifty thousand people Is is not appalling toi IQ think of i rt and then the other oni one tenth is rapidly Y passing under their control because 1 of af pf the immense power which they wield on account ot of their wealth it is this sell love and covetousness that that has alced pi ced in the hands of fifty men as chauncey depew has announce dhe power to every wheel at al commerce in the united states slates to tie up every railroad and prevent the traffic which now seems so necessary to the continuance ol of this government and its busi sess we marveled at the power which a few thousand men had to tie up rail roads but there are fifty men so this man says who himself stands at the head bead of a great railroad corporation who can do this today I 1 and they can do it under the cover of the law the power of the government was called in to 0 open en the roads through this country when these strikers stopped the railroads from operating but who can compel these other men to set these wheels in in motion it they should take it into their heads to say today that the rail roads should stop running and business be at a standstill where is the law in this nation that would force them to again open up the avenues of trade I 1 ko not know of any it is good for the people at large that these men are not possessed ol of the spirit to stop these things and to check business operations but it fear takes possession of their hearts and if they see destruction abroad upon the face of the land who can tell what d daiy diy ay iy they will call in their wealth who can tell hokoon ho how woon soon or how long it will be before they will concen their property and place it in a position where they chev will have it under their own eyes who can tell how long they will continue to operate railroads at a loss as so many of them now are being conduct d it may be a day it may be a year and it may be longer but with this menace before us we can easily see that there are other agencies which wield an influence in this nation that can do great injury to the whole people and these agencies are limited to a few men who can operate under the cover ol of law and be protected protected in their unjust operations we vye may well say that perilous times have come we may well say that men are lovers of their own selves and coveyou you see it even among the latter day saints where are the patriots even among us re are some I 1 am pleased to say but we are filled with the spirit of self tove we desire our own aggrandizement anc we scarcely think ot of the means which we adopt in order to lift our selves into prominence or into wealth we scarcely think of the sufferings which our actions may cause to our brethren and sisters then it is saidi said that one of the troubles to come is that children chi idren shall be desobe adient to parents do you not find this among the people it is every where apparent app a rent it seems to me that in my short life I 1 can see a wonderful change in children there is a lack of respect for parents honor thy father and thy mother that thy days days may be long upon the land which the lord thy god thee this seems to have dropped out of our memory at least to a very great extent you find disobedience among children sometimes itis it is the lault fault of the parents themselves but we should try and correct this evil so far as god gives us the wisdom and power to do it rhe fhe foundation of government is laid right in the family circle it you find disobedience in the family either on the part of the children to parents or wives to husbands you will find disobedience in the church and in the government I 1 have never yet seen a boy who was disobedient to his parents who was obedient to the priesthood and gave it the respect to which it I 1 is entitled some children say my father or my mother placed is not worthy of respect who placed you to judge your parents who has given you the scales of justice the lord has made no exception in the command which he has given honor thy father and thy mother he does not except unworthy parents they may be unworthy but they will have to answer for their own sins the duty is ie still incumbent upon the children to honor their parents if they would re ceide the fulfillment of the promise connected with this command we speak of china as an uncivilized nation and yet the laws of that nation are so strict in enforcing filial obedience that the father has almost a solute control of his children and any disregard of the commands of the parent is visited wit with most severe penalties an extreme instance of the enforcement of the law is found in history there was a certain son and his wife who beat the mother 0 the former this came to the knowledge of the king he commanded that these children who were guilty ot of this charge should be be headed he ordered that the place in which they lived should be anathematized and a curse placed upon it the mother of the wife who reared so unfaithful a daughter was ordered to be bambo oed branded and banished from her home the magistrates in whose |