In the midst of the foreboding darkness depicted in Mormon’s anguished account about the folly of men, we see a break in the overcast sky and the emergence of one beam of light—the light of hope, the illumination of redeeming grace for those who indeed listen and repent.
Up to this point, Mormon has spent endless hours bringing together the history of God’s people as a message of both warning and hope for future readers. He has been giving vent to the anguish of his soul as he looks down from a higher perspective at the human condition, characterized by a woeful spiritual inertia whereby the people all too often choose evil over good and trample under foot the covenants of God. Mormon declared: “O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth” (Helaman 12:7). In a moving ode of heartfelt sadness, the great prophet/historian expresses in poetic cadence his unmitigated distress over the hard-heartedness of the people after so many witnesses have been proffered them and so many blessings bestowed. Even the dust of the earth moves under God’s command, he points out. But mankind, in its iniquity, refuses to move according to the patterns of truth.
Then comes that spark of hope. The darkness will give way to light. The nighttime will be followed by a dawning. This is the reason the plan of repentance has been initiated: “for this cause, that men might be saved, hath repentance been declared. Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved” (Helaman 12:22–23). President Brigham Young has stated:
It is our duty to preach the gospel, gather Israel, pay our tithing and build temples. The worst fear that I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches, for they will become the richest people on this earth. (Cited by Preston Nibley, Brigham Young, the Man and His Work, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1936], pp. 127–28)… .
A man or a woman who places the wealth of this world and the things of time in the scales against the things of God and the wisdom of eternity, has no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no heart to understand. What are riches for? For blessings, to do good. Then let us dispense that which the Lord gives us to the best possible use for the building up of his Kingdom, for the promotion of the truth on the earth, that we may see and enjoy the blessings of the Zion of God here upon this earth. (Discourses of Brigham Young, comp. John A. Widtsoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1954], 306)
Memories: The Winds of God
There is not a servant in the Lord’s kingdom who, from time to time, will not anguish over the lost sheep just as deeply and profoundly as he or she will rejoice in the wise choices of those who remain securely in the fold. There is not a parent in Zion who fails to understand both the distress that comes from the effects of youthful disobedience as well as the buoyant joy that is generated when young people respond to the word of God and rise triumphant to their spiritual potential. How the Lord in His wisdom and experience must know these opposites of feeling and response in intimate detail!
Mormon, in his stirring recapitulation of the unsteadiness of humankind (see Helaman 12:4–26), echoes a theme that King Benjamin taught his people: “Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth” (Mosiah 2:25). Similarly, Mormon concludes that man in his nothingness is even less than the dust of the earth: “For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God” (Helaman 12:8). By contrast, man, who is made in the image of God, is moved by no such propensity to obedience. In Mormon’s words we see reflected the stark truth of why the plan of salvation must be anchored in faith and repentance. Without the warming winds of benign redemption, activated by the softening of hearts and the effects of godly sorrow (see 2 Corinthians 7:10), mankind will be left alone in despair and isolation. Therefore, Mormon is about to utter the earnest prayer: “And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they may be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works. And I would that all men might be saved” (Helaman 12:24–25).
In following heaven’s counsel by granting to us at this point in his narrative the warning voice of a merciful and just God (see Helaman Chapter 12), Mormon is no doubt aware that our day and age will usher onto the stage of life its own varieties of prideful distraction and worldly enticement. His yearnings are not only for his own people, spread across the generations of time, but for his modern readership whose salvation and security depend on the sincere and heartfelt acceptance of the Savior’s invitation to sup at the table of grace. It is fitting that Moroni, son of Mormon, at the end of the record, should add his father’s discourse on charity (see Moroni chapter 7) and remind us that the message of love has endured across the full spectrum of commotion and recovery, dislocation and restoration, prideful ambition and humble supplication that has marked the shifting history of the Nephite people and their Lamanite brothers. Mormon said: “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen” (Moroni 7:47–48). (Richard J. Allen)