Discourses of Brigham Young : 25 : 281 : - Discourses of Brigham Young : 25 : 289 : 1
CHAPTER XXV
UNITY AND CO-OPERATION
Be of One Mind and One Heart -- I pray, my brethren, the Bishops, the Elders, the Seventies, the Apostles, yea, every man and woman and child who has named the name of Christ, to be of one heart and of one mind, for if we do not become of one heart and mind we shall surely perish by the way. 12:156.
If we were one, we should then prove to heaven, to God our Father, to Jesus Christ our Elder Brother, to the angels, to the good upon the earth, and to all mankind that we are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are not one, we are not in the true sense of the word the disciples of the Lord Jesus. 11:273.
When truth comes, receive it as from the Lord, and let everything be simplified to us as unto children, for the Lord has ordained that we may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, and be able to receive more knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and it is not possible for us to receive it any other way, only as we apply our hearts strictly to overcome every evil and cleave to that which is pleasing to the Lord -- to that which tends to life and salvation. This is the only channel in which we can become of one heart, and of one mind. 3:355.
Jesus offered up one of the most essential prayers that could possibly be offered up by a human or heavenly being -- no matter who, pertaining to the salvation of the people, and embodying a principle without which none can be saved, when he prayed the Father to make His disciples one, as He and His Father were one. He knew that if they did not become one, they could not be saved in the celestial Kingdom of God. If persons do not see as he did while in the flesh, hear as he heard, understand as he understood, and become precisely as he was, according to their several capacities and callings, they can never dwell with Him and His Father. 6:96.
The Church of Jesus Christ could not exist, and be divided up into parties. Where such disunion exists in any government, it ultimately becomes the means of the utter overthrow of that government or people, unless a timely remedy is applied. Party spirit once made its appearance in heaven, but was promptly checked. 9:332.
That perfect union, which must ultimately be enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints, can only be brought about by every man and woman living so as to keep their minds pure and unspotted like a piece of clean, white paper, being constantly free from the love of the world, that the spirit of revelation may easily indite upon the heart whatever is the mind and will of the Lord. We cannot be truly the members of Christ's mystical body without living in this way, that the Spirit may indite as easily upon the heart the things of God, as these brethren, our reporters can write with ink on paper. 11:19.
Perfect Oneness Will Save a People -- We must become of one heart and mind, in order to fully enjoy the blessings we anticipate. 6:41.
If we are united, we are independent of the powers of hell and of the world. 5:257.
Unity of purpose and action, in carrying out the will of our Father, has been my theme all the day long. 18:356.
A perfect oneness will save a people, because intelligent beings cannot become perfectly one, only by acting upon principles that pertain to eternal life. Wicked men may be partially united in evil; but, in the very nature of things, such a union is of short duration. The very principle upon which they are partially united will itself breed contention and disunion to destroy the temporary compact. Only the line of truth and righteousness can secure to any kingdom or people, either of earthly or heavenly existence, an eternal continuation of perfect union; for only truth and those who are sanctified by it can dwell in celestial glory. 7:277.
The Savior sought continually to impress upon the minds of His disciples that a perfect oneness reigned among all celestial beings -- that the Father and the Son and their Minister, the Holy Ghost, were one in their administration in heaven and among the people pertaining to this earth. Between them and all the heavenly hosts there can be no disunion, no discord, no wavering on a suggestion, on a thought or reflection, on a feeling or manifestation; for such a principle would differ widely from the character of him who dictates them, who makes his throne the habitation of justice, mercy, equity, and truth. If the heavenly hosts were not one, they would be entirely unfit to dwell in the eternal burnings with the Father and Ruler of the universe. 7:276.
All who keep the faith are of one heart and one mind, and this testimony is so confirmed to all that we cannot be mistaken. 18:231.
How is it that the Latter-day Saints feel and understand alike, are of one heart and one mind, no matter where they may be when they receive the Gospel, whether in the north, or the south, the east or the west, even to the uttermost parts of the earth? They receive that which was promised by the Savior when He was about to leave the earth, namely, the Comforter, that holy function from on high which recognizes one God, one faith, one baptism, whose mind is the will of God the Father, in whom there dwelleth unity of faith and action, and in whom there cannot be division or confusion; when they received this further light, it matters not whether they have seen each other or not, they have at once become brothers and sisters, having been adopted into the family of Christ through the bonds of the everlasting covenant, and all can then exclaim, in the beautiful language of Ruth, "Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God!" And the fact that we receive this Comforter, the Holy Ghost, is proof that the spirit in warring with the flesh has overcome, and by continuing in this state of victory over our sinful bodies we become the sons and daughters of God. Christ having made us free, and whoever the Son makes free is free indeed. Having fought the good fight we then shall be prepared to lay our bodies down to rest to await the morning of the resurrection when they will come forth and be reunited with the spirits, the faithful, as it is said, receiving crowns, glory, immortality and eternal lives, even a fulness with the Father, when Jesus shall present His work to the Father, saying, "Father, here is the work thou gavest me to do." Then will they become Gods, even the sons of God; then will they become eternal fathers, eternal mothers, eternal sons and eternal daughters; being eternal in their organization they go from glory to glory, from power to power; they will never cease to increase and to multiply, worlds without end. den they receive their crowns, their dominions, they then will be prepared to frame earths like unto ours and to people them in the same manner as we have been brought forth by our parents, by our Father and God. 18:259.
To be a Saint is to be as Jesus was; to be assimilated to the spirit and character which He exhibited while here on earth. 12:310.
Unity in God's Work, the Strength of Zion -- Who can resist the power possessed by the Latter-day Saints in their union? And the stronger our union, the more mighty are the bands of our strength. 9:241.
I wish the people to understand that they have no interest apart from the Lord our God. The moment you have a divided interest, that moment you sever yourselves from eternal principles. 4:31.
The faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is calculated to unite the people in one, and to bring them back to the unity and faith of those who obeyed the Gospel anciently, and finally to bring them back to glory. 5:228.
We have not in our society an aristocratic circle. Whether a brother wears a coon skin cap or a fine beaver hat is all the same to us. If a person is a faithful servant of God we do not object to his coming to meeting, though he has only a piece of buffalo skin to wear on his head. We partake of the Sacrament with him, hail him in the street as a brother and a friend, converse with him, meet him in social parties and greet him as an equal. 9:188.
We have been gathered from many nations, and speak many languages; we have been ruled by different nationalities, and educated in different religions, yet we dwell together in Utah under one government, believe in the same God and worship Him in the same way, and we are all one in Christ Jesus. The world wonder at this, and fear the union that prevails among this, as they are called, singular people. Why is this? It is because the Spirit of the Lord Almighty is in the people, and they follow its dictates, and they hearken to the truth, and live by it; this unites them in one, and causeth them to dwell together in peace. 11:124.
I will give you a text: Except I am one with my good brethren, do not say that I am a Latter-day Saint. We must be one. Our faith must be concentrated in one great work -- the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth, and our works must aim at the accomplishment of that great purpose. 7:280.
We have come here to build up Zion. How shall we do it? I have told you a great many times. There is one thing I will say in regard to it. We have got to be united in our efforts. We should go to work with a united faith like the heart of one man; and whatever we do should be performed in the name of the Lord, and we will then be blessed and prospered in all we do. We have a work on hand whose magnitude can hardly be told. 13:155.
Now, besides being our duty to pray, it is our duty to live in peace with one another. It is also our duty to love the Gospel and the spirit of the Gospel, so that we can become one in the Lord, not out of Him, that our faith, our affections for truth, the kingdom of heaven, our acts, all our labor will be concentrated in the salvation of the children of men, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth. This is co-operation on a very large scale. This is the work of redemption that is entered into by the Latter-day Saints. Unitedly we perform these duties, we stand, we endure, we increase and multiply, we strengthen and spread abroad, and shall continue so to do until the kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of our God and His Christ. 15:63.
To Saint and sinner, believer and unbeliever, I wish here to offer one word of advice and counsel, by revealing the mystery that abides with this people called Latter-day Saints: it is the Spirit of the living God that leads them; it is the Spirit of the Almighty that binds them together, it is the influence of the Holy Ghost that makes them love each other like little children; it is the Spirit of Jesus Christ that makes them willing to lay down their lives for the cause of Truth; and it was that same Spirit that caused Joseph, our martyred Prophet, to lay down his life for the testimony of what the Lord revealed to him. This mystery, the great mystery of "Mormonism," is, that the Spirit of the Lord binds the hearts of the people together. Let the world look at it. 1:145.
If we will live so that Christ can make us one through our obedience, where are wars and contentions? All will cease. Where is the spirit of bickering? There will be no more of it. 14:209.
The religion of heaven unites the hearts of the people and makes them one. You may gather a people together, and no matter how widely they differ in politics, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will make them one, even if among them were found members of all the political parties in the country. If members of all these various organizations were to obey the Gospel and gather together, the religion of heaven would clear their hearts of all political rubbish and make them one in voting for principles and measures, instead of men, and I think that any religion that will not do this is very feeble in its effects. 14:159.
Advantage of Temporal Unity -- Would you like to live at ease and get rich? Would you like to keep your homes in this city? I know you would. You can do so by being one in all things. 11:278.
I want you to be united. If we should build up and organize a community, we would have to do it on the principle of oneness, it is one of the simplest things I know of. A city of one hundred thousand or a million of people could be united into a perfect family, and they would work together as beautifully as the different parts of the carding machine work together. Why, we could organize millions into a family under the Order of Enoch. 16:170.
I can see no good accruing to this community in maintaining a divided interest; our interest must be one throughout, in order to produce the good we desire.
If we will work unitedly, we can work ourselves into wealth, health, prosperity and power, and this is required of us. It is the duty of a Saint of God to gain all the influence he can on this earth, and to use every particle of that influence to do good. If this is not his duty, I do not understand what the duty of man is. 12:376.
If we would work together in our farming, in our mechanism, be obedient and work as a family for the good of all, it would be almost impossible for anybody to guess the success we would have. But we have got to do it in the Lord. We must not do it with a covetous heart. Always be ready and willing that the Lord should have it all, and do what he pleases with it. I have asked a favor of the Lord in this thing, and that is not to place me in such circumstances that what He has given me shall go into the hands of our enemies. God forbid that! But let it go for the preaching of the Gospel, to sustain and to gather the poor, to build factories, make farms, and set the poor to work, as I have hundreds and thousands that had not anything to do. I have fed and clothed them and taken care of them until they have become comparatively independent. I have made no man poor, but thousands and thousands rich, that is, the Lord has, through your humble servant. 15:166.
Suppose there was a union of effort in every political and financial matter undertaken for the benefit of the whole people, who cannot see the good that would result? We have tried this to some extent in relation to our markets here; but suppose we were fully agreed on the point, we could demand a fair price for our products, and we need not be imposed upon by traders and traffickers. If we were agreed we could supply ourselves from distant markets, say with our clothing, at a far less cost than now. 12:35.
Now the object is to improve the minds of the inhabitants of the earth, until we learn what we are
here for, and become one before the Lord, that we may rejoice together and be equal. Not to make
all poor, no. The whole world is before us. The earth is here, and the fulness thereof is here. It was
made for man; and one man was not made to trample his fellow man under his feet, and enjoy all his
heart desires, while the thousands suffer. We will take a moral view, a political view, and we see the
inequality that exists in the human family. We take the inhabitants of the civilized world, and how
many laboring men are there in proportion to the inhabitants? About one to every five that are
producers, and the supposition is that ten hours' work by the one to three persons in the twenty-four
hours will support the five. It is an unequal condition to mankind. We see servants that labor early
and late, and that have not the opportunity of measuring their hours ten in twenty-four. They cannot
go to school, nor hardly get clothing to go to meeting in on the Sabbath. I have seen many cases of
this kind in Europe, when the young lady would have to take her clothing on a Saturday night and
wash it, in order that she might go to meeting on the Sunday with a clean dress on. Who is she
laboring for? For those who, many of them, are living in luxury. And, to serve the classes that are
living on them, the poor, laboring men and women are toiling, working their lives out to earn that
which will keep a little life within them. Is this equality? No. What is going to be done? The
Latter-day Saints will never accomplish their mission until this inequality shall cease on the earth.
19:46.
Unity Does Not Mean Individual Uniformity -- How could you ever get a people equal with regard to their possessions? They never can be, no more than they can be in the appearance of their faces. 4:29.
We never shall become one to that extent that we shall look alike or possess precisely the same mental power and ability; this is not the design of heaven. But we expect to become one in all our operations to bring for the fulness of the Kingdom of God on the earth, that Jesus may come and reign King of nations as He does King of Saints. Shall we call this a union for political purposes? I say it is good policy for people to be of one heart and mind in all their operations. 12:35.
The Cooperative Movement -- This co-operative movement is only a stepping stone to what is called the Order of Enoch, but which is in reality the Order of Heaven. It was revealed to Enoch when he built up his city and gathered the people together and sanctified them, so that they became so holy and pure that they could not live among the rest of the people and the Lord took them away. 13:2.
Now, I will tell you the facts about this movement. We started the cooperative system here when we thought we would wait no longer; we opened the Wholesale Co-operative Store, and since that, retail stores have been established, although some of the latter were opened before the wholesale store was opened. I know this, that as soon as this movement was commenced the price of goods came down from twenty to thirty percent. I recollect very well, after our vote last October Conference, that it was soon buzzed around, "Why, you can get a calico down street at eighteen and seventeen cents a yard"; and it came down to sixteen. But when it came down to sixteen cents, who had a chance to buy any? Why, nobody unless it was just a few yards that were sold to them as a favor. But when it came to the Wholesale Co-operative Store the price was put at sixteen cents, and retail stores are selling it today at seventeen and a half or eighteen cents a yard. 12:373.
What I have in my mind with regard to this co-operative business is this: There are very few people who cannot get twenty-five dollars to put into one of these co-operative stores. There are hundreds and thousands of women who, by prudence and industry, can obtain this sum. And we say to you, put your capital into one of these stores. What for? To bring you interest for your money. Put your time and talents to usury. We have the parable before us. If we have one, two, three or five talents, of what advantage will they be if we wrap them in a napkin and lay them away? None at all. Put them out to usury. These cooperative stores are instituted to give the poor a little advantage as well as the rich. 12:375.
Brethren, if you will start here and operate together in farming, in making cheese, in herding sheep and cattle and every other kind of work, and get a factory here and co-operative store -- I have been told there is no co-operative store here -- get a good co-operative store, and operate together in sheep-raising, store-keeping, manufacturing and everything else, no matter what it is, by-and-by, when we can plant ourselves upon a foundation that we cannot be broken up, we shall then proceed to arrange a family organization for which we are not yet quite prepared. You now, right here in this place, commence to carry on your business in a co-operative capacity. In every instance I could show every one of you what a great advantage would be gained in working together; I could reason it out here just how much advantage there is in cooperation in your lumbering and in your herding. You have men here, I suppose, who have had an arm shot off; they cannot go into the canyons and get out wood. Another, perhaps, has had a leg cut off; he cannot run here and there like some of you; but he can do something; he will make a first-rate shopman, and at keeping books, perhaps, he will be one of the best. He cannot take the scythe and mow; he cannot attend to a threshing machine; he cannot go into the woods lumbering; he could not herd well, -- but he could go into the factory, and he can do many things. Well, we can do this and keep up co-operation. I can take fifty men who have not a cent, and if they would do as I would wish them to do, they would soon be worth their thousands, every one of them. 16:169.
I am prepared to prove to any sensible congregation, any good philosopher or thinking person or people, who have steady brain and nerve to look at things as they are, that can tell white from black and daylight from midnight darkness, that the closer the connection in a business point of view that a community hold themselves together, the greater will be their joy and wealth. I am prepared to prove, from all the facts that have existed or that now exist in all branches of human affairs, that union is strength, and that division is weakness and confusion. 13:267.
If the people called Latter-day Saints do not become one in temporal things, as they are in spiritual things, they will not redeem and build up the Zion of God upon the earth. This co-operative movement is a stepping stone. We say to the people, take advantage of it, it is your privilege. Instead of giving it into the hands of a few individuals to make their hundreds and thousands, let the people generally, enjoy the benefit arising from the sale of merchandise. I have already told you that this will stop the operations of many little traders, but it will make them producers as well as consumers. You will find that if the people unitedly hearken to the counsel that is given them, it will not be long before the hats, caps, bonnets, boots and shoes, pants, coats, vests and underclothing of this entire community will all be made in our midst. 13:3.