| 584 Nature, in her grandeur and magnificence, is but a living revelation to us of the loving care God has over all his works. From her open volume in the springtime we read the promise of summer, and in summer we watch the maturing of that promise; and when the winds of autumn begin to stir among the leaves, and we see them falling around us one by one, clothed in colors which no artist's hand can rival, each one as it falls to the ground or is borne away, on the free breeze of heaven, warns us that summer is ended, her mission of bounty accomplished, and the time of rest for the earth is near. The falling leaves are like the whispering of angels or the rustling of the robes of that mighty host, soon, very soon to attend the Son of Man in his return to the earth; and as one by one they fall, singly or in showers, let us watch them well, for not until the last one has fallen will the opening heavens reveal him; then, but not till then, will he come with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel.
Jesus admonished his disciples to watch, and told them of many things which should precede his coming. We are living in the age in which these things are being fulfilled, the autumn of time; and, as events are transpiring in the great world in which we live, clearly pointing to the speedy coming of Christ, let us watch them in their fulfillment; watch them while we labor and wait for the last leaf to fall from the branches of the prophetic tree, for with its falling will be ushered in a new dispensation, in which all Israel shall be saved; "for the Deliverer shall come out of Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob."
Therefore, dear boys and girls, it shall be our earnest endeavor to prepare every page of Autumn Leaves with reference to your days of manhood and womanhood as carefully as for the present hour, and while striving to guide you into the path of purity, honor, fidelity, and truth, we shall bear in mind that there is beyond this world a stage of action for which the present time is intended to fit you, that you may take part in its triumph and enter into its rest.
The position which you occupy is a peculiar one, for you are living in a day when the people of God, as in days of old, have committed two evils: they have forsaken God, "the fountain of living waters, and have hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."
This magazine has continued its monthly issues under the same editorial charge until the present, though its ownership has been transferred to the church, and it is now issued under the auspices of the Board of Publication.
On January 1 the Victoria District, Australia, was organized under the direction of T. W. Smith, of the Quorum of Twelve, and on the same day Elder Joseph F. Burton was ordained to the office of seventy by T. W. Smith. On the occasion of this ordination there was a peculiar experience, related by Elder Smith:
(page 584) |
