Facts about the Sacred Grove:
By the time 11-year-old Joseph Smith arrived in New York, he had experienced both the cruelty and compassion those desperate times drew out of people.
Over the next few years, as he worked with his parents and older siblings to carve out a living for their family of 10, he often reflected on “the situation of the world of mankind.”
As a young person with deeply felt spiritual questions, Joseph felt drawn to the lively religious landscape of upstate New York. Unfortunately, the debate was not always civil. Records from the era contain not only sharp rebukes of ideas but also snide attacks on those who held them. Joseph often felt caught in the cross fire of this “war of words.”
As he searched for truth, Joseph felt God’s presence in the world around him—in the light of the sun and the beauty of the moon, in the richness of the earth and the wealth of life flourishing on it. In addition to attendance at different churches and personal meditation, Joseph searched for God by studying the Bible. And one day, while reading James 1:5, he felt that God was speaking directly to him through that ancient text.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
We do not and cannot know all that was in Joseph’s heart that morning. We know he felt the weight of a broken world and of his own shortcomings. We know he longed for a faith and community led by Jesus Christ. And we know that God knew his heart and saw that it was open.
“At length,” he later wrote, “I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God.”
But as magnificent as the vision was, even more important was its message. Jesus told Joseph that people had turned away from Him; though they still spoke of Christ, they had lost the full power of His truth.
The church Joseph was looking for no longer existed on the earth—but the time would soon come when it would be restored, when old prophecies and covenants would begin to be fulfilled.
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