light from the scriptures—the prayer and its answer—"this is my beloved son: hear him"—persecution and scoffing of the multitude— joseph doubts himself and supplicates for renewed help.
joseph was earnest beyond his years; but he was not of a nature to become a prey to morbid feelings. he was neither terrified by the awful threats of the revivalists into a ready acceptance of their dogmas, nor driven by their divisions and strife into unbelief in revealed religion. the all-absorbing question with him was: which of these churches is the church of christ? under the influence of his great desire to know the truth and the correct path which led to salvation, he made a thoughtful analysis of the proffered creeds. can it be wondered at that he was bewildered in the labyrinth of paths, each of which claimed to be the heavenly way? when at divers times he thought of uniting himself with some one of the churches, his further investigation each time revealed some false mysteries. dissatisfied with their claims and pretensions, and conscious of his own want of knowledge and how easily he might err in a matter of such vital and eternal importance, he was led to seek for guidance from a righteous source. he had recourse to the word of god.
searching the scriptures for comfort and light, one happy and most fortunate moment he read these sacred words:
"if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of god, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
like a flash of sunlight through lowering clouds, the import of a mighty truth burst upon joseph's mind. he had been vainly asking help from men who had answered him out of their own darkness. he determined now to seek assistance from god. a modest fear might suggest: who was he that he should dare to approach the great creator's throne? but there was the plain promise. he could not doubt it, without doubting his maker. he felt that he lacked wisdom; and to such as he, asking of god, there was the divine pledge to hear and give without upbraiding.
it was one morning in early springtime of the year 1820, that joseph felt the earnest prompting and adopted the holy resolve. he walked into the depths of a wood, which stood near his home, and sought a little glade. there, in trembling humility, but with a faith which thrilled his soul—alone, unseen of man, he fell upon his knees and lifted his voice in prayer to god. while he was calling upon the almighty, a subtle and malignant power seized him and stilled his utterance. deep darkness enveloped him; he felt that he was in the grasp of satan, and that the destroyer was exerting all the power of hell to drag him to sudden destruction. in his agony he called anew upon the lord for deliverance; and at the moment when he seemed to be sinking under the power of the evil one, the deep gloom was rolled away and he saw a brilliant light. a pillar of celestial fire, far more glorious than the brightness of the noon-day sun, appeared directly above him. the defeated power fled with the darkness; and joseph's spirit was free to worship and marvel at his deliverance. gradually the light descended until it rested upon him; and he saw, standing above him in the air, enveloped in the pure radiance of the fiery pillar, two personages of incomparable beauty, alike in form and feature, and clad alike in snowy raiment. sublime, dazzling, they filled his soul with awe. at length, one, calling joseph by name, stretched his shining arm towards the other, and said:
"this is my beloved son: hear him!"
as soon as joseph could regain possession of himself, to which he was encouraged by the benign and comforting look of the son, and by the heavenly bliss which pervaded his own soul, he found words to ask, which of all the multitude of churches upon the face of the globe had the gospel of christ; for up to this time it had never entered his mind to doubt that the true church of the lamb, pure and undefiled, had an existence somewhere among men. but the answer came that no one of the creeds of earth was pure, and that joseph must unite himself with none of them. said the glorious being: "they draw near me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for the doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."
even in the transport of his vision, joseph felt amazed at the instruction. but the heavenly personages continued to commune with him, and repeated their command that he should not ally himself with any of the man-made sects. then they and their enclosing pillar of light passed from his gaze, and he was left to look into the immensity of space.
the boy's faith in the promises of god had now deepened into knowledge. he had been assailed by the power of evil, until it seemed he must succumb—that the limit of human endurance was passed. and in that instant of deepest despair, he had been suddenly transported into the blaze of celestial light. he had seen with his own eyes the father and the son, with his own ears he had heard their eternal voice. over this untaught youth at least, the heavens were no longer as brass. he had emerged from the maze of doubt and uncertainty in which he had so long groped, and had received positive assurances on the matter nearest his heart from him, whom to know was anciently declared to be life eternal.
emboldened, satisfied, and happy beyond expression, joseph's first thought was of his loved ones. he must impart the glorious truth to them. his parents and his brethren listened, and were lost in awe at his straightforward recital. he next sought his old friends the ministers, those who had affected such an interest in his welfare and who would nave so willingly acted as his guides toward heaven. his first experience with these gentlemen was somewhat discouraging. a methodist preacher who had formerly cultivated the utmost friendship, and who probably had acquired considerable influence with him, was soon informed by joseph of the heavenly manifestation. the pious man treated the communication with contempt, and curtly replied that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days, they having ceased with the apostles, and that the whole thing was of the devil. other ministers, and in fact the religious portion of the entire neighborhood, as the event became more widely known, united in the determination to overwhelm with ridicule and abuse that which they found themselves unable to silence by argument.
joseph had been a great favorite among his neighbors, his gentle ways had made him beloved by all; he now was hated and reviled. he had been especially sought after by the clergy because of his diligence, earnestness and humility in striving to secure the grace of god; he now was stigmatized as a dissolute dreamer, a worthless knave and an an arrant hypocrite. a boy of fourteen is seldom the object of universal conversation and comment in his locality; yet this youth's enemies did not rest short of lifting him to an eminence where he could the better be seen and scorned of all men.
his family were made to share the vindictiveness and contumely exhibited toward him which at last reached such a pitch that an attempt was actually made to assassinate him. the family, on hearing the report of the gun, rushed from the house only to find the marks made by the crouching murderer at the side of the path, and the leaden missiles embedded a short distance from the spot.
but persecution, slander and cruel outrage were all unable to change the steadfast testimony of joseph. three years passed away, during which time he was true to his trust through toil and poverty, through scorn and tribulation. the heavens no more opened to his view in this trying period; but the youth, who was fast maturing—growing in strength and understanding—was able to show the staunchness of his nature while he waited in patience and humility for the additional light which he had been led to expect.
yet joseph was human, with human loves and human wants. he sorrowed to find himself and his kindred cast off by all their old associates, and he at times was forced into the society of persons who made few or no pretensions to religion.
doubtless the avowed infidels and unbelievers, whom he thus occasionally met, were no more lacking in genuine purity than were the self-righteous enthusiasts who shunned him except when they could devise some means for persecution and torture. but he had not yet learned to justly weigh the virtues and failings of others; and often he reproached himself with sinfulness because of his enforced associations. his quick conscience was apt to exaggerate every youthful foible, and he regarded many of his acts of thoughtlessness as offenses at which the heavens must frown.
at last he felt the imperative need of light and help from the source whence flows all truth. he acknowledged that he had fallen into many foolish errors and youthful weaknesses; and he prayed without ceasing for the pardon of every wrong which he had done. he plead earnestly that he might gain greater knowledge for his guidance, and asked for a manifestation, from which he might know concerning his state and standing before the lord. despite his own self-accusation, the answer to his prayer proves that his probationary period had been passed satisfactorily to the heavens and that he was still unstained by any dark offense.
