The Mormon Apocrypha

As tomorrow is the spring equinox, I wanted to share a poem by Orson F. Whitney about the beauty of Spring. Monody . Gone from my heart is the sunlight of gladness,  Y Gone from my soul is the music of yore;  For mine eyes are oft dim with the warm dews of sadness,  And I sigh for the presence of one gone before. In the springtime, and spring of her life was she taken,  When the pitying tears of young April were shed O'er the slumbering germlets of May, to awaken  The sentinel flowers to vigil the dead. And the loveliest blossom that e'er fell from Eden,  The fairest, most fragrant in purity's wreath, When the spring-heralds welcomed the life-giving season,  Was slain by the frosts of the winter of death. Ah! many to spare were our hearts better willing.  Than the soul in whose beauty all others were blest But "death loves a bright mark," and ever is filling  His graves with the spirits of those we love best. Their spirits? Not so; tis but cl...

I once again return to the work of Orson F. Whitney. This one is from the April 1908 conference and discusses the purpose and nature of the Gospel. The Gospel has been around since the beginning and is meant to save everyone. Elder Orson F. Whitney The Gospel of Salvation. — A ladder to eternal life. — Joseph Smith's authority. — The mighty problem of Mormonism. — Redemption of the living and the dead. — The Latter-day Saints the friends of humanity. Two ministers of the Christian church were once conversing together, and one of them asked the other this question: " Why is it, my friend, that the people love to hear you preach, and why is it that they do not love to hear me? Why is your chapel always crowded with eager worshipers, while mine is always nearly empty? " His friend answered him in these words: " I believe it is because I am always telling the people that if they will pursue a certain course they shall be saved, while you are always telling them that if t...

Among many other things, Orson F. Whitney was a poet. I already shared one of his poems, but I was inclined to share more, from allegories to dramatic retellings of moments of the restoration, he truly covered a wide variety of topics with his poetry. The Mountain and the Vale There's a mountain named Stern Justice, Tall and towering, gloomy, grand.  Frowning o'er a vale called Mercy,  Loveliest in all the land. Great and mighty is the mountain, But its snowy crags are cold,  And in vain the sunlight lingers On the summit proud and bold. There is warmth within the valley, And I love to wander there,  'Mid the fountains and the flowers, Breathing fragrance on the air. Much I love the solemn mountain. It doth meet my somber mood.  When, amid the muttering thunders, O'er my soul the storm-clouds brood. But when tears, like rain, have fallen  From the fountain of my woe, And my soul has lost its fierceness,  Straight unto the vale I go; Where the landscape...

To temporarily close off this look at Orson F. Whitney's work, I wanted to share one of his sermons found in the twenty sixth volume in the Journal of Discourses. The sermon was delivered at the tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 21, 1885, while he was a bishop, and discusses the nature John the Revelator. Having been called upon, my brethren and sisters and friends, to address you this afternoon, I feel as though I would like to read a portion of the word of God. I will therefore read to you a part of the 14th chapter of the Book of Revelation, from the Bible known as King James’ translation. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. “And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: “And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the ...