Even as a small child, Annalee held a fascination for the word "faith". As she matured, she recognized that faith was more than a word - that faith is "a definite, tangible reality, a principle of existence". She realized that she had to "stand it up and give it life and meaning". But to do this, she had to hold it in her hands, to get the feel of it and then pass it on to the world. In chapter four, the writer states that due to her search for the understanding of faith she was not only given the meaning of the word, but also the system of developing it within the human heart.
Annalee challenges the reader to pray about the truth of what she has written here. Do we dare pray about such radical principles? One might wonder if it offends God by praying in such a way. But I believe that anything that invites us and entices us to do good, to love God and serve Him, and to pray to our Heavenly Father is of Him. Why not take her challenge and pray about the truth of these words she has written?
The word "faith" held a fascination for me even in childhood. My mind used to dwell often upon it and the power it contains. I earnestly believed that I would live to see the scientists harness it as they had electricity and man would be able to press a button and use its unspeakable power -- power to move mountains, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, raise the dead, cause the lame to walk, for such is the power of faith, and he who professes to have it and has not the power is a liar, and cannot possibly please God. "For without faith it is impossible to please God."1 And these are the signs that are to follow those who believe: "In my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." Yea, the blind shall see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dumb speak. (Mark 16:15-18; D. & C. Sec. 58:64-65; Sec. 68:8-11 and Sec. 84:65-73).
"For the kingdom of God is not in word, BUT IN POWER." (I. Cor. 4:20). Christ promised that those who even believed on His name should do the works that He did, even greater works. Faith has become a dead and meaningless word, though all churches claim it as one of the foundation principles of their belief, and thousands of individuals claim to be living by it -- but their kingdom is only words not power. Faith is a POWER not just a word. If one truly has "faith" then he must have power.
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?
"And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.
"For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness.
"Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?
"Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for it is by FAITH that miracles are wrought; and it is by FAITH that angels appear and minister unto you; WHEREFORE, IF THESE THINGS HAVE CEASED WOE BE UNTO THE CHILDREN OF MEN, FOR IT IS BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF, AND ALL IS VAIN." (Moroni 7:27, 29-30, 36-37).
All churches, all priesthoods, all forms and all works are dead and in vain unless there is this great power of faith in action to bring to pass the mighty works of God, for "His Kingdom is not in word, but in power."2
One religious leader I knew, who claimed to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, reported on a visit to the leper colony of the South Sea Islands, at a religious conference in Eastern New York. He boasted of his great courage in stepping down from the rostrum and actually walking up the aisle of their humble chapel, and the very angels bowed their heads in shame for such a man -- and my soul apologized to God for his great blindness, for truly he was more blind than the lepers as he held his Bible in his hand and quoted words he could not fulfill.
That man, who falsely claimed to be a special witness of Jesus Christ, would begin to read a passage of scripture and before he had gone beyond the third word those humble, distressed souls, with their flesh slowly rotting from their bones, would pick up the words and chant them with him. He had to read the scripture. They knew it. As he boasted of his visit, and his courage in visiting this benighted people, his very words shouted the mockery of his claim and proved that it was vain. If he had been an ambassador of Jesus Christ, with the power of that calling, or if he had even believed in the NAME of Jesus Christ, he would have healed the lepers, for these were the works that Christ did, and as all were to do who believed on His Name. For shame to such men who boast in their calling and have nothing but empty words, and no power. for they are "walking in darkness at noonday."3
My interest in the principle of faith matured during the depression. The untold suffering I beheld made it apparent that the whole world was wading through deep darkness. The belief in materialism proved inadequate as securities melted away and a world wallowed in want, fear, misery and mud.
As I beheld the want and suffering of those around me I knew that something had to be done, but what? At first I wished that I had money to give, an unending supply of it, not just enough to fill the meager necessities of life, but enough to lift the unfortunate ones entirely out of their miserable condition of want. There were homes filled with darkness and poverty. And with the very hopelessness usually came illness and disease. These conditions seemed to gang up like companions of evil intent. It was in these homes that were vacuums of despair that I wanted to pour out unlimited wealth. The desire intensified with my work of trying to alleviate the suffering.
I saw strong men wading through the anguish of seeing their loved-ones suffer while their spirits broke and light vanished from their lives. I saw women break and die. I saw small children with bleak, pinched little faces and unhappy hearts. And thus I began to feel the distress of all men, and the burden was too heavy as my soul wept in compassion.
Then one day as I was visiting in a home of ragged, tattered, sickly children, the ache grew until I felt that my heart would break with the very burden of it as the man turned to me with a haunted, hopeless expression saying, "What would you do if you only had a small crust of bread to eat?" I saw his soul laid bare before my eyes and I knew he had seen that condition, that he had shared that crust with those helpless little children. I tried to hide my tears as I very carefully weighed his question before answering, then out of the very bottom of my heart I said, "I think I would go out and share that crust with someone who needed it as much or more than I -- and then I would no longer worry about it."
He looked at me defiantly startled for a moment; then slowly he smiled as he read my sincerity in my eyes. "Yes. I believe you would -- but would that help?"
"It would at least release the strain and responsibility from my mind," I answered.
It seemed to relieve the strain from his mind too, at least for the moment. But it was not enough. I had to have more. I had to give more. "Why can't I have money?" I thought. "Why can't I? I would only use it for others. These people need so much, and there are so many who are in need!" My mind reached out in overwhelming despair to the hopelessness of trying to help them all. And in that moment of despair I heard a voice beside me. It was strong and clear and so very real I turned swiftly to see who had spoken. There was no one standing beside my chair, at least no one I could see, but my ears had heard and I needed none to bear witness of the words, "Christ never once gave money."
"That is so!" I thought. "That is so! He did not give money, yet He did more to help the human race than any other being since the world began. Just what did He do to help so much?" were the thoughts that ran through my mind.
The answer came so clear I could not possibly doubt, "He gave life and courage and hope and FAITH."
In that unforgettable moment I knew that it was not charity nor alms people needed so much as to know that they could go to God in their troubles and extremities and receive help -- that no matter what their need He could supply it. It was faith that mankind had lost, faith to look up, faith in themselves, faith in their fellow men, but most of all, faith in the power and goodness of Almighty God-- "And He could do no work in America because of their unbelief." The original said "Nazareth", but that was before America was.4
In that moment my destiny and calling became a reality, clear and perfect. I had to take the word faith and make it a tangible thing in the lives of men. Yet I realized fully how brutal and cruel it would be to go into a home of gloom and depression and say, "You would not need to be in this condition if you only had faith." It would not only be brutal, it would be an insulting slap in the face, no matter how true.
Faith was what was needed, but it had to be more than just the word. It had to become a definite, tangible reality in order to be used. Ask almost any human being to go out and "exercise great and mighty faith," as enjoined by the scriptures, and you will meet bewilderment beyond expression. Faith is more than a word, it is a principle of existence, of progress, of achievement, even of life itself. It was more than the ghost-word of an intangible principle and I realized that I had to stand it up and give it life and meaning. I had first, to understand it myself, to hold it in my hands, to get the feel of it, and then pass it on to a fearful world. I had to teach mankind to use a principle and power greater by far than electricity. I could no longer wait for the scientist to harness it, for my soul stirred in that moment and awoke to a call that was louder than thunder or the blare of drums. The veil of eternity drew back and I was kneeling again at the feet of the Almighty, receiving an anointing of divine light. In that moment I understood the hearts of men, I felt the throbbing pulse-beat of the entire world, and comprehended the great need.
As I realized fully that I had to take that small word "FAITH" and weave it into a reality stronger than steel and place it in man's hands in tangible form, I lifted my head in complete confidence as to the result. I knew that faith had to become a definite thing of power and light. It had to be brought forth as an instrument to heal the hurts, to light the darkness, end the dismay and fulfill the desperate needs of the hungry. And that faith had to be given so that it could become a living part of every man's life, not something doled out as charity.
For two years thereafter the search went on. The search was an intangible thing, so intangible I cannot quite explain it, except to say that everything in my mind and soul seemed to be concentrated on a desire reaching out for understanding. I expected a word, a phrase, a thought, a sentence, perhaps, to be planted, somehow, in my rather dense mind that would make its meaning clear, so clear I could share it with a world. I did not realize that I was asking for knowledge as deep as eternity and as complete and immense as the universe. I had no idea that I was not only to be given the meaning of that precious, most powerful word, but also the system of developing it within the human heart. I did not foresee that along with this knowledge I was also asking to know the great and marvelous things that were to be accomplished by it. And now that I understand, I bow my head in breathless awe before it. And in deepest humility ask that you continue to pray as you read and study that which is to follow. He who does not approach this work with a desire to obtain all the blessings possible for man to receive, and with an open mind, will lose the light he has. He who approaches it with reverence, and with a true prayer in his heart shall receive more -- even the great power of faith, in all its overwhelming glory, and will be given the understanding to use it.
In looking back I only marvel at my confidence as to the outcome of my quest. From the moment I shouldered the responsibility I was positive that someday I would understand faith and be able to place it in the hands of man.
There seemed to be a desire that rose like a flame out of the very depths of my heart, that intensified as time went on. As more and more urgent needs arose for the knowledge, my heart seemed to take hold of the desire and it became a throbbing rhythm in my soul. Toward the end of my search it seemed that a flaming petition was continually arising from the very depths of my being which found expression in this phrase, "Dear Father, I have to find this, for this is my destiny." My logical, mortal mind would gasp at the assumption of my soul, but the request, or desire became much larger than I was, at least much larger than my conscious mind.
The suffering of my fellow men drew nearer and nearer into the very fibres of my heart until I yearned with all the fire of my soul to carry their burdens that they might be free. I would gladly have become blind that the blind might have received their sight. I would have given my legs that the crippled could walk, I would have given my body to be mangled in order to have spared any fellow being pain. I would have suffered any pain to have released one human being from a moment's anguish or fear.
One day a friend who had been suddenly stricken with infantile paralysis managed to drag herself to my home and clutching my feet, sobbed in despair. I knew then that my petition had to be granted though it cost me my life -- or more -- my very soul. And my prayer became a burning flame ascending to the Most High, "Dear Lord, just to be able to help I will gladly give my time, my talents, my strength and energy, my body and my soul -- I'll even be blind -- and you can take my arms, my legs, my mind, if by the taking it can help lift mankind from this deep mud of earth and suffering into the light." Such was my prayer, and I meant every word of it. I still do. That prayer stands as long as I exist or have intelligence to think and feel.
Just the joy of giving would have blotted out the pain of any sacrifice. I could have given all that I possessed so gladly -- that is, all except my soul. even now, I tremble when I think of that. Nothing had ever mattered much to me, I guess, except my soul. I have had no talents, no great gifts, but I have had a soul, my only gift. Many, many months after the intense search of this work was ended, and it was ready to be released, I spent long winter nights kneeling alone upon the snow of a temple's steps, pleading that my soul might be spared, if possible -- yet I realized that if that was the price I had to pay, I would pay it. But night after night my tears would freeze into hard little lumps in the snow as my soul cried unto the Lord -- and finally peace came -- and I knew that if my soul was cast out forever into outer-darkness, or upon some forlorn, derelict world, it would be worth it if only I could help others find the great and glorious light my eyes beheld. And courage came, courage to send forth light against all the powers of earth, courage to stand alone against the world -- courage to hold light high above the darkness and cry aloud for earthbound men to lift their eyes unto the light -- the light of God, and be healed.
And my love increased and seemed to expand unto the very ends of the earth, and then to go on to fill a world and reach on out across the universe and play a melody upon the stars. My love became so great I could only rejoice no matter what came or went, even if I dwelt forever alone in the deep darkness of eternal night, for my love would light the darkness and burn as an eternal flame of glory that could never be dimned. My love was so great for man and God that it would ring across the heavens and eventually its very melody would have to reach His ears -- and I would be recalled to worship and adore at His feet and praise forever in the realms of eternal light. So grew my knowledge of light, and of love that is the foundation of it, and it reached out to enfold a world, to heal its hurts, and to forgive its sins.
The price of truth is always the very greatest price required of those who bring it, for since the very beginning of creation man has been trying to force God into an orthodox straight-jacket. To bring one ray of truth into this world had always required a price so filled with sacrifice and tears that it could never be weighed and measured by any standards on earth, for only eternity could understand. Every church and creed is cramped into small orthodox quarters of non-expansion. It has always been so. In days of old, when any truth had been assimilated by the people and finally accepted as orthodox, or final, then God would send another prophet to bear witness of more truth. And each in turn was persecuted, reviled, rejected, and most of them were cast out and slain -- then, very slowly, the truths that had cost so much would be accepted and gradually become orthodox and sealed.
At last Christ came, and He too, paid the price of bringing light into the world -- and the light He brought, in time became orthodoxed according to the bleak understandings of men's minds.
Then thousands more gave their lives to break the bands of darkness, and give man the right to think, to reach -- to feel and live -- and their vision also turned into orthodox doctrines which glorified the past but shut out the power of God from the present, and sealed the way of light to the living, and silenced the voice of the Almighty, and sealed the minds of men.
Groups and creeds always have a tendency to become orthodox or static in their thinking, and this condition seals them into an unpliable condition that becomes fixed, and unprogressive. Life is a living, throbbing process of advancement -- not static existence. Not dead decay.
The power of God is as great today as it was when He said, "Let there be light, and there was light!" It is as great now as it was in the days of Moses when dust turned to lice, ashes to boils and the Red Sea divided at the word of a man inspired by God. His power is as great today as it was in the days of Christ when the lepers were healed, the blind made to see, the lame to walk, and in the dynamic words that have rung down the ages, "Lazarus, come forth!" The power of God did not die with the Apostles of Jesus Christ. It is still waiting to be brought forth in the heart of any man who will only open his soul to receive it, and his mind to understand.
The day has come when every individual must rise from the slumber of passivity, from the orthodox complaisancy of the accepted rules and regulations of life, and reaching out, pioneer into new fields of spiritual progress -- yea, new, unexplored realms of the spirit. The greatest mystery of life must be explored -- Life itself. The why of it -- the how of it -- the glory of it -- the breath-taking, unspeakable majesty and power of it. Man must learn the dignity of living -- of being. He must begin to comprehend his purpose, and the sublime power of it.
Beside this quest, the quest for a man's soul and the power of it, and the discovery of his own true pattern of life, locked deep within himself, the atomic research will stand dwarfed and insignificant. The importance of bombers, army-tanks, battleships, submarines, ultrasonics; yea, all things on earth will shrink in comparison. In this search man will discover himself the sublime creation, and the pattern of his own divine fulfillment. He will stand undismayed before a universe of unutterable light and glory. He will know his place and walk therein in majesty for he will learn these words given centuries and centuries ago: "Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power, according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice and judgment."5 And he will know that these great glories locked in his own soul are his to bring forth and to use.
He will "know the truth -- and the truth will make him free," as he takes hold of it and lives by it. We are truly stepping into a new age -- an age of light, pure and brilliant, in which we will leave all retrogressive ideas and darkness behind. Oh, man, stand with me upon the very threshold of light and view its rising splendor -- and know that you, yourself are the door into it.
1. Hebrews 11:6, IVB: But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. return to paragraph →
2. 1 Corinthians 4:20, IVB: For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. return to paragraph →
3. RLDS D&C 92:1e they who are not chosen have sinned a very grievous sin, in that they are walking in darkness at noonday; and for this cause, I gave unto you a commandment, that you should call your solemn assembly; return to paragraph →
4. Mark 6:6-8, IVB: But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could do no mighty work there, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and they were healed. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching. return to paragraph →
5. Genesis 6:64, IVB: Therefore it is given to abide in you, the record of heaven, the Comforter, the peaceable things of immortal glory, the truth of all things, that which quickeneth all things which maketh alive all things, that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice and judgment. return to paragraph →