One who goes before to prepare or open up the way for others to follow.[1]
Amongst those whom he listed as pioneers were not only the many Latter-day Saint families and individuals who blazed a trail to the Salt Lake Valley after the death of Joseph Smith Jr., but also Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Ruth, Mary Magdalene, Mary (the Mother of Jesus), Esther, Elisabeth, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, John the Baptist, the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, certain trail-blazers of the Reformation – John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Jan Hus, Ulrich Zwingli, John Knox, John Calvin and William Tyndale – and, of course, Joseph Smith Jr. and, particularly, Jesus Christ.
Now, there are two things we can do with this list. One is that we can look at what is similar about them, and the other is to look at what is different.
What is similar about each of these people tells us something about what makes them all pioneers. In particular, it seems to be their willingness to endure disappointment, frustration, threats, violence, uncertainty, sorrow and even death, in order to break new and higher ground in the history of humanity. Each one of them sought in some way to increase humanity’s vision of what we can do and be, to raise us to some new height of experience and attainment.
Such pioneers may lead us physically –to change the circumstances of our lives – or spiritually –to change the nature of our beliefs and attitudes – but in either case the objective is to advance human progress, both for individuals and for humanity as a whole.
What differs about these people is of equal significance, but their differences do not tell us what makes them pioneers; they tell us what things are not barriers to being a pioneer.
Amongst them were both men and women, young and old; some were poor, and others wealthy; some were scholars, and others lacked more than rudimentary instruction; some lived in obscurity, others with renown; some were born of noble blood, while others were of the lower and labouring classes of their societies; some had the blessing of friends and families about them, others suffered loneliness more than one hopes anyone here might bear.
In short, it appears that none of the outward characteristics of their lives had any impact on whether they became pioneers.
Pioneering, it seems, is more a matter of the mind and spirit, than of material circumstances.
I believe that God has called each and every one of us to be pioneers – that every one of us is expected to go before to prepare or open up the way for others to follow. If so, then how are we to do that?
I don’t know if there is a definitive process or course of action that makes someone become a pioneer, but I think that there are principles to consider that can make each of us more conscious of the pioneering possibilities in our lives.
First: Anyone can do it.
As noted above, President Monson’s list of pioneers suggests that personal circumstances – age, occupation, wealth, status, and so forth – have no bearing on whether you can be a pioneer
This uniqueness seems to gives each of us the edge on having pioneering-potential. That is, that something different distinguishes each of us from the other, so that each of us is capable of providing some unique perspective and input to life.
But, of course, simply having something unique to offer is not all that makes you a pioneer.
Therefore, the second principle is: Doing it.
The lives of those President Monson listed show that that quality by which any kind of person in any kind of circumstance can become a pioneer is his or her commitment to certain values and willingness to sacrifice for them, no matter what challenges present themselves .
The willingness to face challenges head-on is a key characteristic of the pioneer.
In his later years, Joe Strummer wrote a song dedicated to Johnny Cash which he called “Long Shadow”.[2] In it he wrote,
Well I’ll tell you one thing that I know |
Heavenly Father said, “men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will.”[3] He said we should not have to be “commanded” or “compelled in all things.”[4] Yet at the same time, we know we do not know everything. Unlike God’s will, our own free will is not always right. This is what the Apostle Paul means when he says in his famous chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13:
For now we see through a glass, darkly…now I know in part.
Thus, while we are to engage our free will in works that are good, we do not always know what is good. But we have convictions; we have beliefs; and we have experiences and insights that inform our ideas about what seems best in the circumstances we are in; and we must act upon them. In fact, it appears that God expects us to act in faith based on the best that we think we know right now. A true pioneer is one who is unafraid to live by the best light that he or she has.
When I first considered that idea, I thought it was my own. I was pleased to find it echoed by the prophet, Brigham Young, who said,
So far as mortality is concerned, millions of the inhabitants of the earth live according to the best light they have—according to the best knowledge they possess. |
I believe this is true of all of us. Although we may we possess the Gift of the Holy Ghost, this simply increases the light on which we can rely - that light is not yet perfect. As the scripture says, it will grow "brighter and brighter until the perfect day."[7] Until then, the reality of living by the best light we have requires that we might sometimes be wrong, and we might sometimes fail; every pioneer might sometimes fail. However, since this is really all that we can do in any case, anyone who is unwilling to take this risk will also be rendered unable to do any real good in the world.
Philosopher and father of modern psychology, William James, suggests, “It is only by [taking risks] from one hour to the other that we live at all.”[8] Taking this a step further, the poet, T.S. Eliot once said, “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” [9]
Pioneers risk going too far in a cause that they believe to be good.
Which leads us, finally, to the third principle that seems to define pioneer status: It is the one that comes to mind when you ask yourself, “why would they do that?” Why would someone risk going too far for a cause he or she believes to be good?
The answer is included in President Monson’s definition of a pioneer: One who goes before to prepare or open up the way for others to follow. Pioneering is not just having the opportunity to do something new and acting upon it, but it involves acting upon it for others’ sake. Pioneering is, at heart, an expression of real faith, genuine hope and, especially, true charity.
When the Mormon pioneers set out for the Great Salt Lake, was it because they perceived in it riches and rewards for themselves? They were not without hope of reward, but, as suggested in the song, “Come, Come, Ye Saints,” the only real freedom they imagined to obtain from their toil and their sorrow was that which would come in death; but in life they were to fear “no toil nor labour” nor “shun the fight”, and for what purpose? “[T]o see the Saints their rest obtain.”
They knew their goal was to work toward a Zion they might never personally experience. They had faith in God, a hope in His promises, and love for Him and His people sufficient to motivate them to work to bring such promises about even if they themselves would never enjoy them.
Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke of this kind of sacrifice for the greater good in a speech given in 1996 to employees in the LDS Church Educational System. He referenced the Church’s sesquicentennial celebration that would occur the following year and stated, “The faith of those early pioneers and the sacrifices they were willing to make for their faith left an enduring legacy that still blesses the Church today.”10] [ He then quoted a poem by Vilate Raile, which said,
They cut desire into short lengths
And fed it to the hungry fires of courage.
Long after, when the flames had died
Molten gold gleamed in the ashes.
They gathered it into bruised palms
And handed it to their children
And their children’s children forever. [11]
Likewise, in Hebrews, Paul writes of Abraham that “when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, [he] obeyed;…he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country…he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker was God…[and he] died in the faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.” [12]
But whenever we speak of seemingly grand pioneering experiences, like those of the ancient patriarchs or the Mormon pioneers, we can lose sight again of how entirely available it is to each of us to be pioneers in our own lives. The reality is much simpler than those stories suggest.
Any time you set an example for others of seeking to make right decisions in difficult circumstances, you are being a pioneer.
The impact of the true pioneer need not be as monumental as trekking a path across foreign lands or settling the City of God. The quality of a true pioneer is to find within yourself the gifts and promises which God has given you the opportunity and ability to bring into the world. No one has precisely the gifts and promises you have. And as you live according to the best light that is in you, you blaze a trail by that light which others can follow.
May each of us seek the inspiration to know what examples and achievements they are that we can contribute to improve the lives of those around us.
[1] President Thomas S. Monson, “Led by Spiritual Pioneers,” Liahona, August 2006.
[2] On the Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros' album, Streetcore. "Long Shadow" can be heard here.
[3] Doctrine & Covenants 58:27.
[4] Doctrine & Covenants 58:26 & 29.
[5] Discourses of Brigham Young, 384-385, Found in Chapter 39: Eternal Judgment, Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, (1997).
[6] Bruce R. McConkie, "The Morning Breaks, the Shadows Flee," Ensign, April 1978.
[7] Doctrine & Covenants 50:24.
[8] From the essay, “Is Life Worth Living?” in the 1897 edition of The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy.
[9] Quoted by Harry Crosby in Preface to Transit of Venus (1931). Also noted on-line here.
[10] Elder M. Russell Ballard, “The Law of Sacrifice,” reprinted as part of the Classic Talk Series by Deseret Book Company (1998) at p. 35. Also found here.
[11] Also quoted by Lawrence Flake in the BYU Devotional Address, "Of Prophets and Pioneers," delivered July 18, 1995.
[12] Hebrews 11:8-13.
Adapted from a talk delivered July 19, 2009, in the Walkerton Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.