"School thy feelings, O my brother;
Train thy warm impulsive soul.
Do not its emotions smother,
But let wisdom's voice control.
School thy feelings; there is power
In the cool collected mind.
Passion shatters reason's tower,
Makes the clearest vision blind.
(chorus)
"School thy feelings, O my brother;
Train thy warm impulsive soul.
Do not its emotions smother,
But let wisdom's voice control."
"School thy feelings, condemnation
Never pass on friend or foe,
Though the tide of accusation
Like a flood of truth may flow.
Hear defense before deciding,
And a ray of light may gleam,
Showing thee what filth is hiding
Underneath the shallow stream.
"Should affliction's acrid vial
Burst o'er thy unsheltered head,
School thy feelings to the trial;
Half its bitterness hath fled.
Art thou falsely, basely, slandered?
Does the world begin to frown?
Gauge thy wrath by wisdom's standard;
Keep thy rising anger down.
"Rest thyself on this assurance:
Time's a friend to innocence,
And the patient, calm endurance
Wins respect and aids defense.
Noblest minds have finest feelings;
Quiv'ring strings a breath can move;
And the gospel's sweet revealings
Tune them with the key of love.
"Hearts so sensitively molded
Strongly fortified should be,
Trained to firmness and enfolded
In a calm tranquility.
Wound not willfully another;
Conquer haste with reason's might;
School thy feelings, sister, brother;
Train them in the path of right."
-"School Thy Feelings" (Men's Choir) Hymn #336
I would ask the reader to keep in mind that I do not exclude myself from anything that I mention. Any faults that I mention, are not yours that I find them in, they are from myself alone. My purpose in sharing this hymn (my favorite one of all times) is not to correct others, or even to criticize them. It is merely to mention things that we all (myself included) can improve on. If I couldn't improve on what I mention, I have no reason for even mentioning it. I am not perfect, therefore, I have no right to correct others when I, myself, am imperfect in that same thing. I hope that this is something we can all take to heart and improve on. Once again, I do not exclude myself from anything that I mention. Many things I mention will be my own personal story.
This Hymn is very dear to me. One reason for this is that it has taught me so much, more so in these past few months that I have been serving as a missionary for my Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ.
I really truly love how this hymn teaches us a lesson. I have learned from this hymn that if someone were purposely trying to make me angry, rather than let my emotion take over and get angry, I should think before I say and show that person that they can't make me angry. This is one of the hardest things to do because we are all human beings. Heavenly Father knows that it is hard for us. He's been there before. But that is the reason why He asks us to follow His commandments. When He gives these commandments, He doesn't give them to us. He gives them to us because He knows they will help us, if we choose to follow them. He also knows that they will be hard for some of us to follow all of them. Because of that, He says that He wants to help us. He is there for us! Always! He also promises blessings when He gives us commandments. He does this so that we can know that all of all efforts are not for nothing.
In the second verse of the hymn, we see the phrase:
"School thy feelings, condemnation
Never pass on friend or foe,
Though the tide of accusation
Like a flood of truth may flow.
Hear defense before deciding,
And a ray of light may gleam,
Showing thee what filth is hiding
Underneath the shallow stream."
To me, this says that we shouldn't condemn a friend or foe, even if the accusation against that person seems to be the truth, because we can never know whether if what we see on the top of the water is what it looks like at the bottom of the stream. If we take the time to listen to both sides of the story, we may discover something at the bottom of the stream that we couldn't see at the top.
I would like to share an example of a group of people who did just that. They looked into the water before passing a judgment on me. A while back, I was falsely accused of something. I do not wish to fully explain it, although, I am sure that those who knew me then, know exactly what I am talking about. Because of this accusation made against me, a load of filthy mud was placed on top of the stream. This group of people, members of the ward that I had just moved into, heard some of the rumors that were being spread about me. Before they believed any of it and made a judgement against me, they decided they would get to know me and asked me directly about the things that were being said about me. Soon, they found that underneath that clump of mud, there was clear water. Once they saw this, I had their support. I want them to know that if none of them had taken the time to get to know me, I wouldn't be where I am now.
I was being "falsely, basely, slandered" and a lot of people were "frowning upon [me]" because of the accusations, but because of my new friends, in my new ward, I had the support that I needed to have. I know that Heavenly Father knew this. I know that this is why He inspired my Aunt to call my mom and stay there was a basement for rent in her ward. This is why I am who I am today, where I am. The Lord put me through a refiner's fire, so that He could teach me and mold me into the person that He needs me to be.
I am so grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves each of us that He is willing to help us and to teach us through simple Hymns of praise. I am so grateful for my family who have supported me through my trials. And I am so grateful for a ward family that took the Lord's counsel to heart and followed it to help a "rebellious soul, such as mine" (I Stand All Amazed, Hymn no. 193).
My dear brothers and sisters, keep your faith in Jesus Christ strong and keep increasing it. Don't ever ignore the promptings of the Holy Ghost, especially when He tells you that someone needs your help today, now.
