REFLECTIONS ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.
By S. S. Bartlett
Another fourth of July is numbered with the past; a day of revelry, feasting, and dissipation, to the multitude; to others, of cheerful and wholesome recreation; and now, as we calmly review the events of the day, it may be proper for us to inquire, What record will it leave to be registered for us in the great book of accounts? Have we heeded the injunction of the apostle, “Whether, therefore, ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God”? In all our pastimes during the day and in all our preparations beforehand, have we sought to show our faith by our works, with an eye single to his glory and the best good of all concerned? Happy indeed for us, if we have thus done! with what calm satisfaction could we lie down to rest at night, having the consciousness of a day well spent. But, alas! I fear that, with many, pride, vanity, and a desire to please the world have been the ruling motives. “Perhaps some of the world may meet with us, and we must have things thus and so, or we will appear mean and contemptible in their eyes.” Well, suppose the great “I AM,” the Ruler of the Universe should deign to make one in our midst; have we no ambition to appear pleasing in his sight? He has given us ample instructions (Testimony No. 12, pp. 25, 26.) as to the manner in which our holidays may be spent, and our recreations arranged, in order to meet his approbation; and, think you, he looks on83with indifference, while he sees his counsel thus set at naught? Dear friends, “be not deceived; God is not mocked.” He is as jealous for his honor now, as when Nadab and Abihu, for one act of disobedience, were “destroyed by fire from the Lord.” The fourth of July has been so long associated in our minds with decoration and display, that it is a difficult matter wholly to disconnect the two. Indeed, the very words seem to suggest these things, especially to the minds of the young. Let us seek to modify and direct what we may not altogether control. While we gladly yield to our children every indulgence in this respect, which is consistent with our faith; yet, in all our preparations, let us not fail to remember, and to impress upon the minds of our children, the fact that we are emphatically a plain people, and that a profusion of ornaments and display becomes not the “stranger and the pilgrim.” Sojourners, indeed, are we, journeying on through an enemy’s land, watching and longing for our Saviour’s coming to take us to our Father’s house, where there “are many mansions.” There, dear children, if so happy as to enter that glorious home, your longings for the beautiful will be abundantly realized. There you will pluck unfading flowers, gaze enraptured upon the city of gold, and bask in the sunshine of eternal love. O dear children, dear brethren and sisters, shall we not, in view of this “eternal weight of glory,” which is soon to be revealed to the faithful—shall we not, during the few remaining days of our pilgrimage, be content to walk in the strait and narrow way; to walk in the footsteps of Him, the meek and lowly in heart? Shall we not endure the cross, despising the shame, that we may also partake of the joy? Do you say, “An entertainment such as you hinted at, would possess no interest for our children?” Well, admitting this, shall we do evil, that good may come? Shall we stoop to them? or shall we seek to raise them to us? But I do not admit that an entertainment which is strictly in accordance with our faith, must necessarily be distasteful to the young. Our children are essentially what we make them. Faithful daguerreotypes are they, reflecting back our words, our actions, and even our thoughts. Keen-sighted, also, are they, often knowing us even better than we know ourselves. Let them see in us the same zeal manifested in this, which we have formerly shown in an opposite direction, and we shall see them gradually partaking of the same spirit, and, at length, entering into our plans with all the enthusiasm of their ardent, impulsive natures. I believe that we may, with far less weariness of the flesh and spirit than has formerly attended our efforts, arrange an entertainment for our children, which shall be strictly in accordance with the testimonies and genuine pleasure and satisfaction, which will cause delight to sparkle in their eyes, and the roses of health to bloom upon their cheeks. I believe we may, by the exercise of good taste and skill, prepare a repast of plain, hygienic food, which shall afford real pleasure, both to the eye and to the palate; of which we may freely partake without, meanwhile, “singing a lullaby to our consciences;” to which the charm of novelty will lend an added grace; and, happier result than all, over which angels may preside, and the eye of our Heavenly Father rest approvingly. How sweet, as we invoke his blessing to rest upon us, to be able to say, “I have done as thou hast commanded me.” But, it may be objected, there are divided households in which the influence of one parent is for the truth, while that of the other is exactly the reverse. Such have our cordial sympathy. We acknowledge the difficulty which attends such a state of things. Still I can conceive of no situation in which we can be placed, that calls for a denial of our faith. Indeed, it seems that the responsibility is thereby increased, on the part of the believing parent, to live out the truth as strictly as circumstances will permit. And are our counsels disregarded, and our examples set at naught? We have one refuge which can never fail us, one friend who can never die. “Ah! whither should we flee for aid,
When tempted, desolate, dismayed?
Or how the hosts of hell defeat,
Had suffering saints no mercy-seat?” There we can go, and pour our sorrows into the listening ear of Him who has said, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.” He has all hearts in his hand, and can turn them as the rivers of waters are turned; and so surely as he has never said, “Seek ye my face in vain,” so surely will our prayers be answered, and our constancy rewarded in his own time and way. Our standard is high. No people on earth aspire to such excellence as ourselves. Perfect purity, and holiness—a church without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; this is the goal toward which our steps are tending. We claim to be “the light of the world,” “the salt of the earth;” and such we truly are. And oh! “If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” “If the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?” The world are watching us. They look to see, and they have a right to expect, a straight-forward, consistent course of action in a people who profess so much; and while they see us bowing before the shrine of fashion and frivolity at which they worship, think you they respect us the more? Most assuredly not. We must inevitably sink ourselves in their esteem by so doing, even though they and their master “love to have it so.” Oh! I long for the day, when, untrammeled by the fetters which bind us now, God’s people shall mark out for themselves an independent path, when the world shall see that their power to control us is at an end; when, by an undeviating course of rectitude, we shall compel their respect; and when, awakening to that conscious dignity and self-respect which ever becomes the humble child of God, we shall shine forth “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” That day will surely dawn. Dimly, do I see it in the distance. Oh! that we may all, by our earnest, persevering efforts in the right direction, seek to hasten its approach. “Happy day!
For thee we’ll wait, and watch, and pray.” S. S. BARTLETT.
Holly, Mich.