Commitment

“ Should we not put forth our best endeavors in the channel of our duty? Should we not be honest, faithful and true with that which is committed to our trust, and diligent in the performance of every duty? ”

“ It is for you now, gentlemen, whose mission and character are the proclamation of the truth, it is for you to instruct the people, and to tell them for what they ought to hope and what they ought to fear. ”

“ Most true is it, as a wise man teaches us, that ‘Doubt of any sort cannot be removed except by Action.’ On which ground, too, let him who gropes painfully in darkness or uncertain light, and prays vehemently that the dawn may ripen into day, lay this other precept well to heart, which to me was of invaluable service: ‘Do the Duty which lies nearest thee,’ which thou knowest to be a Duty! ”

“ I, in that rule, assume that men know from revelation and providence the relations in which I have placed them, and their duties therein. I then command them to do unto others what they thus know they ought to do unto them in these relations; and I make the obligation quick and powerful, by telling every man to imagine himself in such conditions, and then he will the better KNOW 'whatsoever' he should do unto his neighbor. Why hast thou made void my law, by making me say, 'All that thou expectest or desirest of others, in similar circumstances, do to them'? ”

“ To know where one is going and what one wishes—this is order; to keep one’s word and one’s engagements—again order; to have everything ready under one’s hand, to be able to dispose of all one’s forces, and to have all one’s means of whatever kind under command—still order; to discipline one’s habits, one’s effort, one’s wishes; to organize one’s life, to distribute one’s time, to take the measure of one’s duties and make one’s rights respected; to employ one’s capital and resources, one’s talent and one’s chances profitably—all this belongs to and is included in the word order. ”

“ Reflect deeply on the duty which you have already incurred. Think upon your strength of mind, and be careful not to lay yourself under impracticable obligations. It will always be in your power to recede. Even after you are solemnly enrolled a member, you may consult the dictates of your own understanding, and relinquish your post; but while you live, the obligation to be silent will perpetually attend you.
We seek not the misery or death of any one, but we are swayed by an immutable calculation. ”

“ And our sole duty and responsibility lies in trusting in Him and in saying, not with surtendered will alone, but with deep confidence and vivid hope, "Thy will be done ! For Thy will shall ever work our weal, our joy! ”

“ I perceived that in worldly wisdom I had acted like a child, and I said to myself, 'Conduct is fate.' But since has come the question, What is conduct? and I am inclined to believe that, in the end, here, even here, honesty is the best policy, principle is the surest guide, and, like the mariner who steers his bark by the compass and the star, though we may look ahead for the breakers or the reefs, the permanent guides to our course are aloft. ”

“ For order produces peace; it makes known what is to be done, and when; it restrains the flightiness of the thoughts; it advances and finishes every work that is begun; it banishes idleness; while the very recurrence of the time warns thee of thy duty, and every hour calls for its own employment.
Man. Thy counsel, O Lord, is just and acceptable to me, but how can it be practised? Thou knowest, O Lord, how much time is often snatched from us, even against our will, by our employments, our affairs, visits, conversations of friends, and other necessities of this life. ”

“ Think of your duties—not your supposed duties as a landowner to your estate, as a merchant to your business, as emperor, minister, or official to the state, but of your real duties, the duties that follow from your real position as a being called into life and endowed with reason and love. ”

“ The obligation, therefore, on the present generation, to redeem the pledge given by their fathers, is greatly enhanced. And it is an animating consideration, that, with the enhancement of the obligation, the encouragement to persevere in the work, and to make still greater efforts, is increasing from year to year. ”

“ L. My dear child, in the daily course and discipline of right life, we must continually and reciprocally submit and surrender in all kind and courteous and affectionate ways: and these submissions and ministries to each other, of which you all know (none better) the practice and the preciousness, are as good for the yielder as the receiver: they strengthen and perfect as much as they soften and refine. ”

“ Fatherly solicitude for those under our care, or for whom we bear any responsibility, is as solemn and sacred a duty as the fulfilment of contracts or engagements; nay, it is the first of duties between man and man. ”

“ The wish to obtain a competency of worldly goods is orderly and proper, provided that in the pursuit of that wish the life be kept within the strict bounds of honesty and uprightness, and the desire itself be held ever in subjection to the desire for higher and heavenly things, and be conjoined with trust in Divine Providence, and a submission to the Lord's will. ”

“ Thus, you would wish to know, you who live at the court, where ambition is, as it were, the virtue of persons of your rank; you would wish to know if it be a crime ardently to long for the honours and the prosperities of the earth, to be never satisfied with your station, continually to wish advancement, and to connect with that single desire, all your views, all your proceedings, all your cares, the whole foundation of your life. ”

“ How are you to command the respect of those under you? Just where to draw the line, and how to enforce discipline? What advantage will you give to the men who are striving to obey rules, and do what is right? ”

“ Can we make this covenant with ourselves this morning. Not only to say we dedicate this house and ourselves, our flocks, herds, families, and possessions, to the Lord, but actually perform the work, dedicating our affections to His service. If our affections are won and wholly dedicated to His cause, we have then obtained the victory. ”

“ W. P. The obligation you are about to take is a solemn pledge which you must give to this Chapter, before you can participate in the privileges of our Order. By it you bind yourself to the most solemn secrecy respecting the work of the Order and to the performance of those acts of kindness and forbearance, which are essential to our welfare and prosperity. ”

“ We are told that we are bound to confer on our subjects every benefit—which they are capable of enjoying?—no;—which it is in our power to confer on them?—no;—but which we can confer on them without hazard to the perpetuity of our own domination. ”

“ But apart from that altogether, let me just remind you, in half a dozen sentences, of the various limitations or fences which hedge up our lives on every side. There are the obligations which we owe, and the relations in which we stand, to the outer world, the laws of physical life, and all that touches the external and the material. There are the relations in which we stand, and the obligations which we owe, to ourselves. ”

“ When a mission is entrusted to me and my conscience approves it as noble and right, and I give my promise to exert my best powers to fulfil this according to the letter and spirit, I carry with me a Law, that I am compelled to obey. ”

“ I believe you to possess a large fund of good sense and discretion, and the advice I shall give you as to the conduct to pursue in future will not only be received with confidence as meant for your future good, but listened to attentively and acted upon. The world, my dear boy, and by that I mean Society in general, condemns the practices we have lately been indulging in with you. ”

“ What is meant by sustaining a person? Do we understand it? It is a very simple thing to me; I do not know how it is with you. For instance, if a man be a teacher, and I vote that I will sustain him in his position, when he visits me in an official capacity I will welcome him and treat him with consideration, kindness and respect and if I need counsel I will ask it at his hand, and I will do everything I can to sustain him. ”

“ Again: "What can be more complete than our submission to the orders of our superiors in everything that concerns our state of life, the places we are to dwell in, the employments, the offices we are to be engaged in." [20] And again, this submission to the will and judgment of the superior, or general, is called "renouncing our own judgment," "the annihilation of self," "complete obedience, entire dependence upon the will of others, perfect abandonment of personal reputation." ”

“ It is upon you, therefore, my best-beloved friends, that I wish to impress not only the urgency and imperative necessity of your holy task, but also the limitless possibilities which it possesses of raising to such an exalted level not only the life and activities of your own community, but the motives and standards that govern the relationships existing among the people to which you belong. ”

“ For, truly speaking, whoever provokes me to a good act or thought, has given me a pledge of his fidelity to virtue,—he has come under bonds to adhere to that cause to which we are jointly attached. And so I say to all you who have been my counsellors and coöperators in our Christian walk, that I am wont to see in your faces the seals and certificates of our mutual obligations. ”

“ They are mere organizations of relationship either to economize thought or else to facilitate mutual understanding and codify common action. Modesty and self-submission, love and service are, in the right system of my beliefs, far more fundamental rightnesses and duties. ”

“ First, because the foundation and beginning of all great things and of all good counsels is God, I charge you much, that as a good and real Christian, you take this as the beginning and foundation of all your doings and enterprises, and that you dedicate to God, as your chief aim, all your business and affairs, from whose hand comes all the success of your undertakings, negotiations and labours. ”

“ My practice increases slowly but surely, and is based, I believe, on a conviction of my competency. Thank God what I have accomplished, though small, has been achieved by my own unaided exertions, and without the least obligation to a human being. ”

“ When I say 'demands,' I mean chiefly the duties of a ceremonial and representative nature which are inseparable from my position—and that's the bond of connexion with the conversation we had just now at Ditlinde's. The performance of these duties may be a happiness when a contact with the people, a relationship, a beating of hearts in unison exists. ”

“ You must be honest in the very structure of your being. You need, too, absolute faith in yourself and in your proposition, and faith in the desirability of your service to the other man. Finally, you must be consecrated to the motive of rendering him service. ”

“ And in the second division we may distinguish between the habitual tendency to be actuated by one motive, namely, the desire to do duty for duty’s sake, and all other motives, such as love, benevolence, etc. ”

“ But this chief present work of ours, this extension of the moral insight, is best furthered by devotion to our individual vocations, coupled with strict loyalty to the relations upon which society is founded. The work thus set before us demands the sacrifice of many ideal emotional experiences to the service of the Highest. Our comfort however in it all must be that the Highest is there above us, forget it as we may. ”

“ In the discharge of all these duties and in all his relations with men, whether above him in office or under his command, he had shown himself trustworthy and efficient, a man of clear mind and decisive action—one who commanded men’s respect, obedience, and even love. ”

“ But for the time being it is expected that as honorable men and women, we will honestly and truly carry out our covenants in regard to these little temporal things; and let us be one, for the Lord has plainly told us, if ye are not one, ye are not mine. ”

“ It is to our common advantage to have agreement at these points. Out of our habitual adjustments to one another, a body of mutual understanding and agreement grows up which constitutes the intellectual and moral order of life. ”

“ It was determination which raised so many worthy individuals from the humble walks of society, and from poverty, and placed them in positions of trust and renown. It is no slight barrier that can effectually oppose the determination of the will—success must ultimately crown its efforts. ”

“ What, my brethren! when you are asked, in the steps which you take to ensure success to your worldly expectations, the reasons which have induced you to prefer one party to another, you advance such solid and prudent motives; you justify your choice by prospects so certain and decisive ”

“ Our objects, therefore, are very plain and simple, whilst we mean to win the respect of our employers, by maintaining a manly and dignified respect for ourselves, by fulfilling the trust which is given into our charge faithfully and honourably to the best of our ability. ”

“ In the spirit, therefore, of that covenant of the hearts between the people and their chosen leader, I face the future aglow with hope and confidence. Together we will meet our common problems and difficulties. With the singleness of purpose, together we will overcome them. ”

“ The sense of the value and sacredness of the person plainly looks to the same deepening of obligation.
As an element of the social consciousness, the sense of obligation means for a given {19} individual, a growing sense of responsibility for all; and for society at large an increase in the number of those who feel the obligation to serve. ”