[249] Chapter 15 His Message “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” - Matthew 22:37   With his ordination my husband felt not only that he had entered more fully into the responsibilities of executive routine and the increasing burden of administrative adjustment; but that the time had come for him to urge his people to the greater realization of the magnitude of the task before them, if they were ever fully to demonstrate to the world the social ideals which had been for so many years their greatest objective, and to establish among themselves the new society which we are pleased to call Zion.   Already within the church many thousands of live gave testimony to the vital [250] appeal of those doctrines; while the leading sociologists of the country admitted the magnitude of their possibilities, and awaited with interest the further establishment of the plan in all its practical details. It was therefore the duty of the new leader to explain these things to his people, to urge them to a greater effort for the accomplishment of this goal and himself to join in the planning and the working out of the projects by which this new condition of society was to be brought about. This he had done with unfailing persistence, and to the best of his ability.   He himself has told, I know not how many times and in what various places, how best he believes these things shall come about, and this is what he says:   “At a certain time of my life it became necessary for me, especially since I was asked to accept a position that is unique among all the organizations of the world, to give considerable thought to this question of how God shall reveal himself to his people. There was a disposition at one time on my part to limit God as to how he should reveal his will. But I passed this point and have been able to say, If thou, O God, are desirous of revealing thy will to us, or to me, be it far from me to say how. If it be that thou desirest [251] to write across the arch of thy heaven those words that thou shalt see fit to transmit to thy people, then give me the wisdom to read. Or if thou dost choose to manifest thy power in the thunderous tones which thou are capable of giving, so that they will ring through all the heavens, let my ears be open. Or if, in the still, small voice that comes from within, thou shalt choose to reveal thy will to me, then let thy Spirit attune my spiritual ear to the reception of thy word. Or if thou dost choose to utilize thoses powers with which thou hast by nature endowed me, quickened thine own processes of development, to transmit through them the message which thou hast to give to thy people, then my pen shall be ready. Or if thou dost choose to bathe my soul in thy Spirit until my spiritual vision shall behold what thou dost desire thy people to accomplish, even then shall I endeavor as thy instrument to transmit the message to thy people.   “And strange to say, at times the very last of the ones which I would have believed probable, in trying to express his will through me to his people, is the one he has chosen to use; for I have felt that quickening of vision until my spiritual eyes were enabled to see almost as a panoramic view extending [252] over the years yet to come, not in detail, but in one grand, general ensemble, the work to be accomplished by this people. And when I have thus seen the work yet to be done spread out before me, and have at times suddenly turned from the contemplation of these splendid things, and with own natural eyes and powers have looked upon the work already done: I could not but exclaim ‘How long, O Lord, how long!’   “For at no time in the history of the church or of the world at large has there been a greater necessity for the envisagement of a new order of society than exists today. The society of today is ridden by the ravages of war, the sullen conflicts of the industrial system, the countless miseries induced by bad living conditions, disease, crime, and poverty, and the spreading hopelessness of those who labor ceaselessly for the mere privilege of existing, counter-balancing the waste, extravagance, and blindness of those who control the resources of the world; while over all lies the unrest and weariness which is concomitant with uncongenial toil, with bitter struggle toward an undefined or an unworthy end, and with the fear of failure which brings not only destitution but the sickening sense of wasted opportunity and desecrated effort. What a travesty on the [253] Christian religion! A society, ostensibly Christian, whose basic impulsion is fear or selfishness, when the fundamental principle of the society of Christ is love.   “And yet I cannot but look forward to a regenerated and ideal society where righteousness prevails and justice walks unhampered. There every man is ready to devote his time and energy and talents to the common welfare, and the amount of service which every man is able to contribute becomes the criterion of success. There every man shall find that one thing which he is best able to do, and shall do it joyfully, and in return there shall come to him not only the assurance that his needs will be provided for and those of his family, but the deep satisfaction arising from the knowledge that his efforts have made possible this assurance for his neighbor as well.   “It is evident that this new order of society cannot come about without the institution of some reform so basic, so fundamental, so vital in its nature that it reaches to the very foundations of the social organization, and there sets straight the wrong principles upon which the falling superstructure has been built, so that the errors of our present faulty construction may be corrected and the building for the future be done with the assurance [154] that what is accomplished shall stand for all time.   “Many of the social reforms of the day fail for just this reason, that they do not reach deeply enough into the underlying causes. Others fail because in attempting to reestablish the bases of society, those which are substituted are proven to be as faulty as those which they replace.   “And yet to my mind the answer is simple - beautifully simple, and as old as the Christian religion itself. For any social reform to be lasting or general it must be built upon a religious foundation, its spirit must be religious, its motivation religious. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,’ said Christ to the lawyer, when asked which was the greatest commandment ‘And the second is like unto the first. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ Christianity cannot be represented by one man and his relationship with the Deity. It takes at least tow men, each neighbor to the other, demonstrating their love of God in the service which they render to each other. With the developing social consciousness which obedience to this command must ultimately bring about is born the new society.   “The Christian nations have been believing and teaching this basic principle for [254]  years, but only when we shall come fully to institute this social philosophy of Jesus in every phase of our modern life can the Kingdom of God be finally established among us. First must come the regeneration of heart and mind which shall bring every man of us to the place where he can dedicate his service to the welfare of his fellowman and the progress of humanity; then, and only then, can we set about the task of reorganizing society.   It is the duty of the church to develop and promote this social consciousness, and to agitate such social reform. The church must stand for the social freedom, and this necessitates a break with present conditions. But it is my belief that if we as a church will enter fearlessly into the establishment of stewardships, after the plan instituted by Joseph Smith, the Founder, this break can be made in such a manner as will vindicate to the world at large the claims which we have so long put forth.   “According to this doctrine of stewardship every man is held socially responsible for whatever of property he may have, for whatever of wealth he may acquire, or for whatever talents are his. Whatever may be his capacity for service, that shall he utilize for the public good, and the amount of [256] his responsibility, the property which he retains, the wealth which he controls, and the activity which he directs shall be determined by his ability so to administer it. And whatever of surplus shall accrue under his management shall revert to the common treasury.   “It is not enough that each man should dedicate to this his social duty the natural talents with which he is endowed. He must find that thing among all others for which he is the best fitted, and having found it, it is his social duty to develop his natural talent to the utmost, in order that his service may be the greater. Such a plan demands a system of education more universal than the present, more extended, and more flexible. It must be at the same time more social and more individual in its nature. Each man must be developed to the maximum of his individual capacity, and must at the same time so thoroughly understand and must so completely become identified with the problems and needs of society as a whole that his development of self and his service to his fellows shall merge in one great symphony of harmonious activity. Is it not possible that Christ meant some such thing when he said that he came to bring to men the ‘life more abundant’? [257]   “From every man according to his capacity, and in return, what? Enough to supply his needs and his just wants. Enough to maintain a standard of living for himself and family which insures their efficiency and the greatest development, physically, mentally and spiritually of which they are capable, and this without the fear of disability, or disease, or old age which haunts every man, no matter how successful, under the present system. And to this sufficiency with which he is recompensed for his labor is added the satisfaction, that soul-satisfaction which comes with the knowledge of work well done, and a contribution made to a society the welfare of which has become more precious to is citizens than any man’s success can be to himself alone.   “And each man will rejoice at his neighbor’s success, as at his own, for are they not all working for the upbuilding of the same society? And no man’s labor will be more acceptable than another’s, for each will be contributing his best to the welfare of the whole. And there will be no poor, because from the surplus which shall be accumulated those who have passed their usefulness will be made comfortable, as are those who still labor. With this surplus, also, the cities will be made beautiful, and the country [258] places pleasant, and the social and cultural life of the community will be made rich with the progressive movements which will become possible with the increased prosperity that must come from a cooperating and a consecrated people.   “That this is not merely a visionary and idealistic scheme and impractical of operations is proved by the generations which have been living and vindicating the plan since its first introduction by the founder of the church. But not until all who have come to know and believe in the efficacy of the plan have fully established their lives upon its basis can we hope for the actual accomplishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.   “In my contact with the church I have become more and more convinced that the people are ready and waiting for the general establishment of the practical aspects of the doctrine of stewardships. And this I recommend to you - that we enter upon the establishment of stewardships without delay. Let me say that the turbulence of the times, the restlessness of the world, and the absence of peace, and the deep devotion, the readiness to consecrate talent and labor as well as wealth, and the workings of the Spirit of God among his people all indicate the advent of the hastening time. Let us be up and about the Master’s business.” In Conclusion   This book is not a history. The writing of such is the task of historians.   It is not a biography, for various reasons, one of which is that having reached the point in my story where to continue would have necessitated another volume, I did not wish to continue the tale.   This is not an official statement of the doctrines and beliefs of the church of which Frederick Madison Smith is the president. These beliefs have been ably set forth in other places and by other pens than mine.   I have only tried, as I have said, because the writing of these things has been pleasant to me, to create a picture of the president and prophet of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as it has been my privilege to know him.   Therefore if there be any who care to question or comment upon what I have said I ask only that my husband be not burdened with the communication. For it is I alone who am responsible for what has been said. Ruth Lyman Smith Kansas City, Missouri 4147 Agnes Avenue. previous chapter Frederick M Smith page Who was Who