Inspiring Stories
Daniel D. McArthur
“This . . . winter, 1836, he [Joseph Smith] stated that he was out of firewood and that he had no time to get up any, for the officers of the law were continually on his track. So some of the brethren thought they would turn out and get him some wood.
When noon came, we were all called to dinner at Joseph’s house. The table was loaded down with corn-meal mush and milk, and at the bidding of Joseph we all stepped forward to our places around the table, standing on our feet. Joseph asked Joshua Holman, who was one of the wood haulers, to ask a blessing upon the food. He went at his duty with all his soul. As he had been a Methodist exhorter before joining the Church, he commenced to call upon the great and mighty God who sat upon the top of a topless throne to look down and bless the food, and asked many other blessings to rest upon the Prophet, etc.
As soon as he closed, Joseph said, “Brother Joshua, don’t let me ever hear you ask another such blessing.”
Before we took our seats, he stated his reasons for making this remark and showed us how inconsistent such ideas were. He told us many things about God and who He was.” 1
