Wake-up calls may have nothing to do with getting up in the morning, but rather they can come to us at any time of the day and even at anytime of our lives. They may even come at times when we need to be reminded to change course before we get ourselves in trouble or too far down the wrong road. I read a story about a woman whose husband unexpectedly passed away. It was a tragic event for her and a wake-up call for others. The family was ill prepared for such a tragedy. For others, it was a wake-up call to know that something like that could happen to them and that they needed to be prepared, at least in the ways that they could and in ways that were possible. One woman was complaining about her job and all the many demands being made on her. A friend reminded her that she “had that day,” that she was alive and well. When we are reminded to put everything in perspective, it is definitely a wake-up call. We all need wake-up calls from time-to-time, as they tend to put us back on track.
Even though it has been 62 years since I was an army M.P. (Military Policeman), I still remember many things about our training, as if it were yesterday. A new recruit endures eight weeks of basic training,and in my case another 8 weeks of M.P. training. During that time, Reveille (actually the French word for “wake up”) was not a favorite sound. Especially not the sound we wanted to hear if we had had a very hard day of training the day before, such as a forced march with full combat gear (about 50 pounds, as I remember). By the time we got back to the barracks (our housing), we were dead tired. We would be given a few minutes to wash up and then have to stand in-line for chow. Before we could go to bed, we had to clean our gear and polish our boots, etc. When it was Army time for bed, a bugle would be heard across the Fort playing Taps. To us, that meant “lights out” or bedtime, the end of the day. Taps is a rather solemn sound; it is also played by a bugle and can always be heard playing at military funerals. It seemed like I would barely get into bed and close my eyes when I would hear reveille. Reveille was a fast paced sound, and it, too, was heard all across the post about sunrise, usually around 5:00 A.M. At the sound of Reveille, we were given only a few minutes to get up, wash, dress, make our beds and be out in front of the barracks standing at attention for roll call . Even though I never hear an actual reveille played anymore, the sound can still be heard in my head when I have a thought about my time in the Army.
I was reading an article not long ago that was describing various occupations that are now obsolete, one of which was the occupation of waking people up. A person so employed was called a “knocker-up.” The job required that he/she walk around the village in the early morning and tap on the residents windows with a wooden pole. The “knocker-up” (usually an elderly person) performed their duties as a human alarm clock until the 1920s. They used a truncheon or a stick to knock on doors or windows, to wake people up in the morning so that they would get up in time to make it to work. That title of “knocker-up” would be misunderstood in today’s society, but that is actually what they were called. I can just see people late for work and blaming the “knocker-up.” The knocker-up was reveille without a bugle.
On the top of most of our temples stands a statue of the Angel Moroni. He has a horn in his hand that is interpreted as an ancient trumpet. After the first vision, where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, Moroni, an ancient prophet, was the very next heavenly messenger to appear to him. He spoke to Joseph saying: “Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.” (D&C 2:1–3) A short time later, the prophet Elijah appeared to Joseph, giving him the keys of the priesthood and the authority to redeem our dead, meaning those who had passed on without having had an opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ during their time on earth. It is as if Reveille (Wake-up) was being played by Moroni at the dawn of this dispensation. The wake-up call has now been heard by millions and is continually being played for those who will listen through the church’s army of missionaries, primarily, young men and women serve throughout the whole world, in every village, town and great city, every nation, tongue and people of this beautiful planet. We were awakened by Moroni, but the instructions for the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was actually given by Elijah, and his message was loud and clear. The Savior’s redeeming work is for all mankind and all are alive unto Him, even those who have passed on without ever knowing or having had the blessings of a relationship with Him while alive. The Reveille call today, however, is for you and me because we can’t be saved without them, for they are ours, our family (our ancestors). May God bless us as we hear Reveille.