Sabbath Devotional :: Uphill Business

A view from Sauk Mountain in the Cascade range in Washington state, one of the most beautiful but challenging hikes I have ever done (its steepest switchbacks visible in the bottom right corner).

I was reading a chapter in “At the Pulpit” and thought Eliza R. Snow’s words held a particular resonance with some of my feelings lately.

Here is the chapter in question: https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/…/part-1/chapter-14

One of my favorite parts of the Church History Department’s publication “At the Pulpit” is the historical and biographical context provided at the start of each chapter/address, which I always find gives the words much more depth and meaning as I can then take them in within the broader context that shaped and inspired them. This particular address by Eliza R. Snow was given at a meeting of the retrenchment organization, which is described at the beginning of the chapter, but briefly encouraged women “to expand their priorities beyond domestic routines to also include broader issues of social reform, home manufacture, and intellectual and spiritual discussion.”

One of my favorite things about our cultural heritage of the Church and its members is our strong past precedent of women’s political awareness and involvement. What stood out to me in Eliza R. Snow’s remarks, though, related not to the politics of the current moment, but to the spiritual development of the sisters, and the emphasis placed on this as a means of building Zion.

I would encourage you to read Sister Snow’s words in whole, but I wanted to highlight a few things that stood out to me in particular.

Eliza says: “Saints of God can be edified by nothing but the Spirit of God. We have attained to an elevation so high above the ordinary walks of life that nothing but the revelations of heaven would edify the Saints, their aspirations being so much higher. I was pleased with a remark in the minutes made by a sister saying it is uphill business.”

I take Eliza R. Snow’s words here to mean that the edification of the gospel is essential to our spiritual nourishment. I do not think she is placing members of the Church “above” other people; we are all children of God, and all exist on this earth for the same purpose — we have much to learn from each other and it’s not for us to compare ourselves with others or position ourselves as better or worse due to something as simple as religious affiliation. I want to share Eliza R. Snow’s words with that caveat; particularly in divisive times, we must resist the urge or tendency to create or find reasons to divide ourselves from others. I think we can and should carefully articulate the things we share in common and strive toward a vision that creates space for all, recognizing and addressing injustices and disparities that would contribute to or create systemic divisions among us.

I think the reason Eliza R. Snow’s words (about uphill business, and her remarks continuing in the rest of the address) resonated with me because in this articulation of her faith and confidence in the gospel to provide her with the spiritual sustenance to see her (and the Relief Society sisters) through a challenging cultural moment (as alluded to by the discussion of the creation of the retrenchment organization at the beginning of this chapter) she also recognized that it will still be difficult and challenging — it will be “uphill business.”

Something I struggle with in our Church’s cultural context is a tendency among some members to ignore the very real problems and imminent threats of things like climate change (as just one obvious example) because of a belief that Christ’s second coming and restoring of the earth negates any need on our part to act. On the contrary, I think any such belief lends a particular urgency to the necessity of our taking action to care for the earth that we have been given by loving Heavenly parents. I see this as akin to the parable of the talents — why should we ignore or divest ourselves of caring for and working to protect the things we have already been given? I mention this as I think there is the possibility of taking some of Eliza R. Snow’s words as license to ignore the problems of “the world” because of our faith in a world to come.

But rather, I take her words to mean that the necessity of our work to “bring about much righteousness” (D&C 58:27) is imperative; we can have confidence and faith in our knowledge of the gospel to sustain us in difficult times and to equip us with the ability to be peacemakers and show love and compassion to others. But we should still apply ourselves in educating ourselves and being involved in social and political issues. This “earth shall pass away,” (Matt. 24:35) but the good we are able to do on behalf of other people and on behalf of a planet created as a place for us to live will not pass away — indeed, it is the setting and context in which we are able to try and try again as we work on our own spiritual refinement. And in the present tense, it is the way for us to bring about much good.

All this to say, whatever the challenges of this political moment, we should each do the best we can and resist creating divisions or factions as we strive toward creating Zion and applying ourselves towards things that will bless and help others along our way.