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We
Awakened and Lo!
Another Year Has Commenced by
Davis Bitton
On 1 January 1836 Joseph
Smith’s diary contains this entry: "This being the beginning
of a new year, my heart is filled with Gratitude to God, that he
has preserved my life and the lives of my family while another year
has rolled away, we have been, sustained and upheld in the midst
of a wicked and perverse generation, and exposed to all, the afflictions
temptations and misery that are incident to human life, for which
I feel to humble myself in dust and ashes, as it were before the
Lord– but notwithstanding, the gratitude that fills my heart
on retrospecting the past year, and the multiplyed blessings that
have crowned our heads, my heart is pained within me because of
the difficulty that exists in my father’s family, the Devil
has made a violent attack on Br Wm [Smith] and Br Calvin [Stoddard]
and the powers of darkness, seeme [to] lower over their minds and
not only theirs but cast a gloomy shade over the minds of my brothers
and sisters, which prevents them from seeing things as they realy
are, and the powers of Earth & hell seem combined to overthrow
us and the church. . . .
"But I
am determined that nothing on my part shall be lacking to adjust
and amicably dispose of and settle all family difficulties, on this
day, that the ensuing year, and years, be they many or few may be
spent in righteousness before God, and I know that the cloud will
burst and satans kingdom be laid in ruins with all his black designs,
and the saints come forth like gold seven times tried in the fire,
being made perfect throug[h] sufferings, and temptations, and the
blessings of heaven and earth multiplyed upon our heads which may
God grant for Christ sake Amen."
"Another
year is ushered in," wrote Mary Jane Mount Tanner in 1878.
"Another page has been turned in the history of time, and we
begin life as we left it last night when we bade the old year goodbye
and closed our eyes to slumber. We awakened and Lo! Another year
has commenced. So silent, so stealthy were his steps that no stirring
of our pulse told us a change was coming. That a new year was with
us, and the old year gone with all his labors and cares, his sorrows
and disappointments."
Here is George
Q. Cannon, writing on 1 January 1881: "I commence the New Year
under what I consider very favorable circumstances. With the exception
of my knee, which is weak and a little sore from the sprain, my
health is perfectly good, and my situation is all that I could desire.
The Lord has been very good and kind to me. He has given me his
gospel, made me a Member of His Church, bestowed upon me the holy
priesthood, raised me to a high and honorable station among his
people, both in the Church and as a Delegate to Congress, has given
me wives and children, houses and land, substances with which to
help his Work and make my family and myself comfortable and gives
me His Holy Spirit which fills me with peace and joy.
"How thankful
I should be for all this! I think there is no man that lives who
has more cause for thanksgiving than I. He has raised me from the
mire. When I think of the circumstances which surrounded me in childhood
or boyhood when my parents joined the Church, I am filled with amazement
at the changes which have occurred.
"The Lord
has led me by the hand all the way through. Born in a foreign land,
left an orphan in early life, obscure and poor, circumstances seemed
unfavorable to me; but the Lord has always been my friend. He has
made my life since I first went into the ministry a continual pleasure
to me. Nothing has been wanting on His part. Glory be to His name
therefor."
"As the
year closes wickednes seems on the increase," wrote Charles
L. Walker on 30 and 31 December 1896. "Now the Japanese are
comitting horrid cruelties on the People of Formosa. Such things
are hardly justifiable in times of war but revolting in times of
peace. . . . This year has been a very eventfull one, were all the
acts of men, nations and God made manifest. And I look for the next
3 years closing this century to be more eventfull. For the time
of His coming draws nigh. And this last day, 31st Dec finds me and
mine reasonably well and happy with plenty to eat and wear, with
blessings of peace and a bright hope of a glorious future when time
will not be numbered by fleeting years or angel-days."
Spelling idiosyncracies
aside, what can we discern in such entries as these? 1. These were
human beings with family and other problems. 2. Even with adversity
they were able to be grateful. 3. The beginning of a new year reminded
them of the steady, relentless march of time. 4. They were dedicated
to the Church and Kingdom, willing to serve, wishing no act of theirs
to thwart its progress. 5. Looking at the events in the world, they
were highly aware of cruelty, injustice, and evil, for Satan was
indeed influential. 6. Without knowing the hour or the day, they
believed they were getting closer and closer to "the great
and dreadful day of the Lord."
If every one
of these ideas is not contained in each of the above entries, they
are cumulatively present, and we find them in many other diaries
and sermons of our predecessors of that distant time.
I don’t
know when the beginning of a new year began to be viewed as a holiday
or a day to be set aside. The Latter-day Saints did not originate
but did continue the practice of celebrating the day with refreshments
and good wishes, reflection on the year past, and resolutions for
the year to come.
In an earlier
column I described the annual summary of activities found in the
great journal of Wilford Woodruff. Such evaluation of past performance
coupled with specific goals and resolves for the period ahead is
still often practiced, and the beginning of a new year seems a natural
time to go through this exercise. The annual (now biennial) temple
recommend interview is another such occasion, and, in a much shorter
time frame, the weekly renewal of covenants at sacrament meeting.
To make each of these meaningful rather than simply an empty formality
is of course entirely up to us.
One might conclude
that faithful Latter-day Saints seek not only to live but to live
purposefully, contributing however they can to God’s "mighty
work." Happy New Year!
Davis
Bitton is a retired University of Utah history professor. After
serving a mission in France, he graduated from BYU and then received
M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University. For ten years
he was assistant Church historian. His most recent books are "Images
of the Prophet Joseph Smith" and "George Q. Cannon: A
Biography." Davis had the good fortune and blessing to marry
JoAn, a convert and former missionary in Chile. Daughter of an immigrant
from Malta, JoAn edits a newsletter for Maltese Latter-day Saints
and missionaries. Davis and JoAn served as guides on Temple Square
for five years. They live on the lower avenues in Salt Lake City.
