Cleanse the Inner Vessel
CLEANSE THE INNER VESSEL:
The book of Helaman focuses a lot on the political atmosphere of the Nephites. The next generation of leaders steps in and they fight battles with the Lamanites, but a new evil creeps in. This evil becomes known as the Gadianton Robbers, named for their leader, Gadianton, and identified by their secret designs to overthrow the government.
This group was started by a man named Kishkumen, who successfully murdered the chief judge (son of Pahoran, also named Pahoran) and got away. He returns to kill the next chief judge, Helaman (son of the prophet and military leader, Helaman), but is killed before he could complete the job. The Gadianton Robbers go into hiding among the people and continue to grow in numbers.
But even before Kishkumen, there were King Men who believed that the government should be in the hands of a king, and not the people. They tried to take over the government legally, but the people voted against it. After that, they joined forces with the Lamanites (during the great war) and took the capital city by force.
This song comes from Alma 59-61, the letters between Captain Moroni and Chief Judge Pahoran. Moroni gets angry with Pahoran because he is not sending provisions and support to the armies fighting against the Lamanites and they have lost fortified cities and many men because of this neglect. He chastises him and warns him that he will march on the capital himself if he must. His line, "God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also," to justify his threat.
Pahoran doesn't take offense by Moroni's words. He is actually invigorated by them and explains that he is in hiding after the King Men took over the capital. The chief judge unites with Moroni to rescue the capital and restore order among the Nephites.
This part of the wars and the following chapters involving the Gadianton robbers all reminded me of some of the arguments I hear about our world today. Some people believe that our current president is trying to set himself up as king. And the letter from Moroni to Pahoran exemplifies the anger that our people are turning to as they fight for what they believe is right. More than Moroni's letter, this song is about Pahoran's letter, how he encouraged his friend who struck (by letter) out in anger.
For all of these songs, I modernized them. I wanted every song to feel relevant to our world today. I've used the stories as metaphors and the theme of the promised land carries throughout. To make this song relevant, I took a lot of liberties. The first verse is about the bickering and anger of the American people today. The second verse is about what we have in common. And, just like Pahoran's response to Moroni, we can choose to not take offense by the cry of outrage that is pointed at us across the political chasm. But mostly, this song is about turning from wickedness to righteousness.
Moroni used the phrase, "cleanse the inner vessel," to tell Pahoran that the Nephites can't win their war if the capital is corrupt. Jesus tells the pharisees that they are like crypts, beautiful on the outside, but full of dead men's bones. He teaches them that they must cleanse the inner vessel first and then the outward vessel will be clean. I'm not suggesting, by this song, that our nation's capital needs to be "cleansed" but that our people, our dogmas, our beliefs need to be cleansed.
Since the main theme of this song comes from Moroni's letter, I chose for this song to be in the style of Moroni. Moroni's songs are based on the song, "Born in the USA," by Bruce Springsteen (see Standard of Freedom).
