FAITHFUL FOOTSTEPS —CELEBRATING A SACRED HERITAGE
This year for Thanksgiving we remembered the faithful footsteps of not only the Pilgrims and Puritans but all those of this sacred lineage we come from such as the Reformers, Founding Fathers, and Joseph Smith that understood that there was a battle for freedom. These ancestors knew they had a duty to acknowledge and resist false doctrine or they would live like slaves under a tyrant who took the place of God.
During the Pilgrims’ time, King James believed he had divine authority to rule any way he wanted. The King and his followers wanted the corrupt kind of freedom that is gained by stepping away from God’s requirements. This has always been a great issue of history ever since the days of Babel. Faithless men want freedom from God so they can pursue a political and spiritual agenda of their own design. The Pilgrims had a much different attitude toward God and his requirements. They knew real freedom could only be found in active, willing servitude to the God of real freedom and true liberty.
A CALL TO GATHER
This desire for freedom is even part of our Mormon pioneer legacy. In 1841 there was a proclamation sent out to gather. This began when the Prophet Joseph Smith said,
“let all those who appreciate the blessings of the Gospel, and realize the importance of obeying the commandments of heaven, who have been blessed of heaven with the possession of this world’s goods, first prepare for the general gathering; let them dispose of their effects as fast as circumstances will possibly admit, without making too great sacrifices, and remove to our city [Nauvoo] and county; establish and build up manufactures in the city, purchase and cultivate farms in the county.”
The call fell upon those in different states and nations and many responded quickly to the idea of living in the land to worship with others and a determination to keep the commandments of God. One particular group of people, the Danish, answered this call. In 1849 the people of Denmark had a new constitution that now provided freedom of religion. Under the direction of Brigham Young to continue that call, the Mormon missionaries from Utah arrived in Denmark between the years of 1850 and 1900 and more than 18,000 Danes emigrated to Utah. Together with their fellow saints from the British Isles and other European countries, these new converts became the backbone of the young Church, joining with other “Saints.” They believed that Utah would be “Zion”–a place where the people of God would gather and live in peace.
FAITHFUL FOOTSTEPS
As our family has purged out old traditions over the years, and created made new ones — we have begun holding a Scandinavian Thanksgiving and acknowledging those who left their homeland and immigrated to America.
Not all of the family gathered this year, but those who did, met in prayer and supplication and to sing one of the most fitting songs written for this season titled Faithful Footsteps — painting the picture of the suffering, torment, and desires of four generations of families who never gave up to serve God. This song reflects how we are living the same cause, expressing the same words, receiving the same inspiration, using the same strategies, forging the same loyalties, proclaiming the same prophecies, and obeying the same covenant. Why? Because we are the same family — willing to resist the servitude of tyranny and to acknowledge the hand of Providence as a body of people at all times.
As we sipped our danish turkey soup and chattered I could not help but look above the dining room table to a picture of our Danish family members who settled in Sanpete County, where we now live. This 100-year-old painting is a reminder for our family to be faithful in every step and a call for our remembrance of God’s Providence among our forebears and gives us the opportunity to reflect on His superintending care in our own lives.
THE SONG
Faithful Footsteps
Written By: James F. Stoddard
Music: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Faithful footsteps of my fathers,
seeking ancient truth once more.
Sacred scripture clasp’d in darkness,
burning fire in mother-tongue.
Yoke of iron, tortured, trodden;
Dampness chills in murky gloom.
Yet a willing heart to suffer
Father’s will ‘till Morning’s loom
True and faithful to his calling
to be separate from the world.
Hunted, driven from the North Land,
joined in cov’nant for His Word.
Born of peril, storming tempest,
Sun, nor moon, nor star canst see.
Yet Lord thou canst surely save us,
Thou hast called us to be free.
Sacred honor, lives, and fortunes,
Parchment’s words must never die.
Declaration, rights unalienable,
Bleeding cause, yet choice of Heav’n.
First for God, then family, country,
Millions yet, methinks I see.
But for now a voice of duty,
And the gibbet to be free.
These two prophets, sacred witness,
why from youth the called revile?
Like pure lambs going to the slaughter,
they are calm as summer’s morn.
Sacred names had by all nation’s,
Good or evil they must judge.
As for me, I have this witness
I praise heaven’s worthy sons.
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