D&C 61: Cursed Waters, the Destroyer, and the Slow Path
The first time I tried to build a rocking chair, I ruined the runners. I cut them too fast, pushed the piece through the bandsaw without stopping to check the curve, and ended up with a pair of bookends instead of rockers. The wood was good pine, clear and straight. The mistake was in the hurry. I had a deadline in my head that didn't exist anywhere else.
I thought about that chair reading D&C 61 this week. The elders were gathered on the banks of the Missouri River in 1831, getting ready to head out on their missions. Some of them had been traveling by boat, and the river was moving fast. The Lord told them to slow down and change the route entirely.
Meaning of the Cursed Waters in D&C 61
The section opens with a forgiveness. The Lord tells the elders their sins are forgiven, provided they confess with humble hearts. That's the pattern that runs through the early revelations. Before you go anywhere, get clean.
Then comes the part about the water.
And after that you have been baptized with water, behold, I say unto you, that you shall not be baptized with water, for you shall receive the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost. — D&C 61:2
The warning about water travel follows. The Lord says he allowed the elders to travel by water so they could bear record of his power, but there are many dangers upon the waters, especially in the last days. He tells them the destroyer rides upon the face of the waters.
The language is unusual for a revelation about travel logistics. It doesn't sound like a weather report or a river condition update. It sounds closer to a spiritual hazard. The waters are more than physically dangerous in this section. They represent a kind of instability, a surface that looks fast and efficient but hides deeper currents.
The Lord explains that in the beginning he blessed the waters, but in the last days, through the prophet John, the waters were cursed. That's a shift that takes the whole concept out of geography and into something like a spiritual condition of the world itself. The waters stand for the things that move fast and carry you somewhere you didn't intend to go.
Why Did Joseph Smith Receive a Warning About Travel by Water
The historical context matters here. Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Oliver Cowdery had been traveling with other elders down the Missouri River. Some of them had close calls on the water. The revelation came right after they landed, and it redirected the rest of the journey.
What I have said unto you must needs be that it might be fulfilled; that you may bear record, but there are many dangers upon the waters, and more especially hereafter. — D&C 61:4
The Lord draws a distinction. Some of the elders could finish their journey by water. Joseph, Sidney and Oliver could not. The guidance was specific to the individual, not a blanket rule for everybody. That kind of detail makes D&C 61 feel like a real conversation between a prophet and the Lord instead of a general sermon.
The Lord tells them to use the canal instead of the river, and then to travel by land. He references the pattern of the children of Israel, pitching their tents along the way. That's the part that connects back to my ruined rocker. The canal is slower than the river. The land journey is slower than the canal. But the Lord is preserving their safety and their focus. Speed was never the priority.
There's a parallel in Exodus 9: Livestock, Boils, Hail and Pharaoh's Hard Heart, where Pharaoh kept choosing the fast path by refusing to yield, and it kept costing him. The elders in D&C 61 are being offered the opposite: the slow path that protects them.
D&C 61:36 Be of Good Cheer Little Children
The tone of this section shifts sharply toward the end. After the warnings about the destroyer on the waters and the structure of the journey, the Lord addresses the elders in a way that stops me every time I read it.
Be of good cheer, little children; for I am in your midst, and I have not forsaken you. — D&C 61:36
That verse sits on the other side of some pretty stern instruction. The Lord just spent several verses talking about the destroyer, the curse on the waters, and the need for the elders to be chastened for their sins. Then he turns around and calls them little children.
That duality is the core of the restored gospel, as far as I can tell. The same God who warns you about the destroyer is the same God who calls you little children and tells you he hasn't left. Both of those things are true at the same time. The warning and the comfort aren't contradictory. They're the same message from two different angles.
I wrote about a similar moment of reassurance in D&C 60: The Hidden Talent and the Fear of Man, where the Lord gives a commandment and then softens it with patience. The pattern repeats here. The Lord tells the elders to be careful, to be sober, to watch for his coming. Then he calls them little children and says he's still with them.
Doctrine and Covenants 61 Summary and Meaning
The section covers a lot of ground for a short revelation. A few things that stand out after reading it through.
The elders needed to be one before they could go. The Lord wouldn't let them part until they had been chastened and unified. That's verse 8, and it's easy to miss because the water language is more dramatic. But the condition for departure was unity, not speed.
The destroyer rides upon the face of the waters, and I don't think the Lord is talking about pirates or sea monsters. He's describing a spiritual principle regarding speed and shortcuts. The things that carry you along without effort are the places where the adversary has the most hold. The slow path by land, the pitching of tents, the deliberate pace of Israel, those are the patterns that protect.
The faithful won't perish even when the waters are dangerous. The upright in heart will be preserved anyway.
How to Find Divine Guidance for Travel and Safety
The section offers a framework for decision-making that goes beyond river crossings. Every time you face a choice between speed and safety, between the fast route and the deliberate one, D&C 61 pushes toward the deliberate.
The Lord didn't tell the elders not to travel. He told them how to travel. By land, in stages, with unity, confession and a clean heart before departure. The journey itself was part of the mission, not just a means to the destination.
I apply this the same way I apply the lessons from my woodworking mistakes. When I'm tempted to rush a cut or skip a measuring step, I stop and think about whether the hurry is real or imagined. Most of the time it's imagined. The deadline is in my head, not on the calendar. The safe path takes longer, but it gets the piece finished without ruining the wood.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that the waters were cursed in D&C 61?
In the beginning the Lord blessed the waters, but in the last days they were cursed through the prophet John. The curse represents a spiritual shift in which the waters became a place of danger. The destroyer rides upon the waters, and the Lord warns his servants to avoid them.
Why did the Lord tell Joseph Smith not to travel by water?
The Lord had specific guidance for Joseph, Sidney and Oliver that differed from what other elders were told. Instead of traveling by river, they were to use the canal and then go by land, following the pattern of the children of Israel pitching their tents along the way. The guidance was tailored to their specific mission and circumstances.
What does D&C 61 teach about unity and preparation for service?
Verse 8 says the Lord wouldn't let the elders part until they were chastened and made one. Unity was a precondition for their departure. Spiritual preparation and harmony among the group matter more than the logistics of the journey itself.
What is the significance of verse 36, "be of good cheer, little children"?
After delivering stern warnings about the dangers of the waters and the destroyer, the Lord closes with a tender address. He reassures the elders that he is in their midst and hasn't abandoned them. The same voice that warns also comforts.
I look at that pair of ruined rockers sometimes when I'm in the shop. They're too thin to salvage. I keep them on a shelf as a reminder. Rushing the cut never made the project go faster, and D&C 61 makes the same point on a bigger scale. The Lord isn't in a hurry. The elders needed the slow path to stay safe and stay unified, and the canal was slower than the river, but that was where the protection was. I think about that every time I feel the pressure to push ahead without checking where I'm really headed.
-- D.