| 32 "Be ye steadfast." How like the handwriting of God in imperishable imprint in star and moon and sun; in brooklet, river, and the grand old ocean, does the injunction seem. And how needful that now, when changeability, unrest, and fickleness, seem to characterize all human things, there should be complete accord between this record which God has left of himself in sun, in moon and stars; in brooklet, stream, and ocean, and that record which Jesus bore and the Comforter testifies of.
In looking over the history of the church, one painful reminder of the folly which ruled some of the children of men, is the evanescent, perishable character of the homes they have made, the buildings they have builded. That the work in which the Latter Day Saints engaged was not intended to work the implanting of any principle calculated to make their lives evanescent and vascillating [vacillating], must be evident to all; and so far is the truth removed from such a proposition, that the contrary is absolutely taught. "Be ye stead fast," has been the watchword-the slogan of battle-the battle of truth and error-the wondrous work of redemption.
This was the lesson taught to the first elders of the church. If they failed to profit by the lesson taught, and failed to teach it to others in the same unmistakable terms in which it was taught to them, their experience has been sad, their loss painful and certain.
How much better are we than were they? By nature no better. But by their experience we should be wiser; and if wiser, that wisdom should find expression in the development of a character more enduring and steadfast in the integrity of their hope and faith.
Saints, "Be ye steadfast." Let no sudden prosperity dazzle you into ways that lead you out of the path that leads unto God. Let no carking care, nor lowering cloud, nor storm of sorrow or adversity cause you to forget that, as God has made ocean, river, and stream; sun, moon, and stars steadfast in their courses; so has he made the "word of promise" steadfast and sure. It is your duty then to make an assurance of steadfastness the characteristic of your lives. Let it become your nightly dream, your daytime musing, to approve yourselves as of those of whom it shall be said, "They believed in God; they believed also in me; they have endured unto the end."
Then, make your homes to abide in time; surround them with those things within the reach of your own labor that beautify, while they utilize. Fit them by cheerfulness, peace, and cleanliness, to receive that heavenly guest-the Spirit of God.
Light up the fires upon the altars of your hearts and homes; let the flames of them shine out afar; not like the flitting will-o'-the-wisp, nor like the short-lived, shining rocket glare, but like the steadily revolving beacon light; or like the steady, persistent blaze of the "unwearied sun," burning ever alike, through gloom and mist and storm and darkness; never changing-never varying, always the same; so let these altar fires burn on.
There is a word-there is a work-no other man can perform, no others
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