I am very grateful to be communicating with you, the April 2020 graduates of Brigham Young University-Idaho. The technology that allows us to instantaneously connect across the world is miraculous. Yet, even more miraculous is a university community of students, employees, and graduates who are capable, kind, and inspired. I thank all of you for that.
The past months have been trying, and there may be more to come. Disease has created doubt and temptation to despair. I have thought of a similar time, a century ago, when the world was imperiled.
Following the end of World War I, in which roughly 20 million lives were lost, returning soldiers brought home disease.[1] Some half-billion people—one fourth of the world’s population—contracted what was called the Spanish flu. The influenza deaths were never accurately tolled, though the number was at least in the tens of millions.[2]
It was during this harrowing time that future Nobel Laureate William Butler Yeats wrote a poem titled “The Second Coming.” Its opening lines are these:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.[3]
As a young boy, Yeats had enjoyed a privileged upbringing. But political upheaval replaced that privilege with hard times. Then came global war and disease. It is little wonder that he wrote despairingly in 1919.
Yeats lived until 1939, the eve of World War II. In the eight decades since his passing, earth’s population has grown from two billion people to more than seven billion.[4] Along the way, it has gotten both better and worse, spiritually. Yet we members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with other people of faith, can be optimistic, even in this time of unusual uncertainty.
Not long ago, President Russell M. Nelson declared, “Our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ know us, love us, and are watching over us. Of that, we can be certain. These unique challenges will pass in due time.”[5]
Especially during the past few months, I have been deeply grateful for President Nelson’s optimism. He is both a prophet and a medical doctor. He is also a gifted writer whose talks remind me of poetry.
While pondering pandemic and prophetic assurance, I have found solace in an amateur’s attempt to revise Yeats’ poem about the Second Coming. I hope that he won’t mind, having spent the past 80 years on the other side of the veil, where he may have learned much and grown in faith.
The Second Coming
By William Butler Yeats
Adaptation by Henry J. Eyring and Mark Bennion[6]
Turning and turning in a lessening gyre,
The falcon faintly hears the Falconer;
Things move in line; the centre gently holds;
Mere anarchy is driven from the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is staunched, and everywhere
The miracle of mercy can prevail;
The best are bold as lions, while the rest
Are touched with genuine remorse and hope.
Indeed much revelation is at hand;
E’er long the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Those words are hardly out
When loving image born of cloven fire
Commands my gaze: from high in Heaven beams
The shape of Perfect Man, ‘midst morning stars.
His strength, full-comprehending and assured,
Enfolds the Earth, while angel choirs exult.
All shadows flee, as heralds sound the dawn;
The darkness turns to everlasting light;
Near twenty centuries of stony sleep
Give way to restoration long-foretold.
And that mild King, his work complete at last,
Will reign with Elohim forever more.
I testify that God is in His heaven, and that he holds this earth in His hands. Our Savior has paid the infinite price to save all of our Father’s children who will confess His name and keep His commandments. Thus, we can overcome sin and death, ultimately returning to our heavenly home to enjoy eternal life with our loved ones.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1] “World War I casualties,” Wikipedia; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties.
[2] “Spanish flu,” Wikipedia; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu.
[3] William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming”; poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming.
[4] “World Population,” Worldometer; worldometers.info/world-population.
[5] “President Nelson Shares Message of Hope During COVID-19 Outbreak,” Newsroom; newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-message-covid-19.
[6] I express thanks for the tutelage and recommendations of Mark Bennion, a real poet.