Abundant Life by Hugh B. Brown Contents The True Gospel in the Modern World Are Mormons Christians? Let Down Your Bucket Be Aware-Beware Purity Is Power Distinguishing Characteristics of the Church Be Prepared The Gospel Restored Learn Continually Do Your Duty-And Be Blessed Self-Control On Temple Building Love One Another In Spite of Everything The Gold of the Spirit Be Doers of the Word You Are an Original Talking to the Oldsters On Church Service PRO version
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Prepare the Youth The Righteous Use of Power The Influence of the Primary Association Dedication to Freedom God Bless His Memory Goals and the Goal A Civil Rights Statement An Army of Good Samaritans Be Prepared for the Countdown Well Done, Carry On Man's Potential God-Like Status Almost a Millionaire On Seeking Truth I Know That My Redeemer Lives The Spirit of Christmas Analysis of L.D.S. Teachings Building Mansions Our Pioneer Legacy The Prophet Joseph Smith Christ Will Conquer Loyalty to Our Country
Introduction Each one of us, whether in military or civil service, in college, at home, or on missions abroad, has a duty to PRO version
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himself, his family, his country, his Church, and his Maker. A part of that duty is to live the abundant life of which Jesus spoke, a life which may be enjoyed by anyone regardless of his financial condition, geographical location, or social position. Robert Louis Stevenson has given us a very good definition of rich and radiant living as follows: "He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task, who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauties, nor failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given the best he had; whose life is an inspiration; whose memory a benediction." And now what is the abundant life, and why should we seek it? Is it a state of being which may be achieved at any given time? Can it be bought and paid for at one time and price? Is it reserved for the few, or is it available to all who qualify to enjoy it? The abundant life is a process of eternally becoming. It is not fixed and static, but of necessity is ever changing. What might be abundant life to the child would, if unchanged, become progressively less abundant as he matures. It is a state of being, where constant adjustments are necessary; where one is ever preparing for the changing conditions of tomorrow. The abundant life is the joyous life. One must be healthy to be happy. The Lord's law of health promises physical fitness and radiant living. It is the teachable life, the life of awareness and appreciation; therefore, education helps to determine its quality. One prepares for more abundant living by gaining knowledge, and intelligence will be his glory. A candidate for this life must be spiritually responsive and in tune. It requires diligence, faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity-if his life is to be abundant rather than barren. It is a discerning life where price is not confused with value; where tomorrow's happiness will not be marred by today's folly; where one does not mortgage the future in an attempt to enjoy immediate, unearned pleasures. One PRO version
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may find it necessary to resist some desires today in order that tomorrow's joy might be full. Living the abundant life today involves preparation for its enjoyment tomorrow. The past as well as the future determines the measure and the quality of life today, and each holds something to make it more abundant. No measure of time may be isolated with the view to treating it as independent of what was and is, and is to be, for the abundant life is eternal life, and eternity is now. The life we seek is lived in harmony with law and is in tune with God. It is ever active, but not impatient. Because of its eternal nature, it is lived and measured by eternal standards. Our fighting men in the South Pacific saw what beliefs can do to men. They met an enemy who fought from treetops, crevices, and foxholes with a fury and fanaticism seldom encountered on the field of battle. Many of them preferred suicide to surrender. Others voluntarily manned their strange little planes, which really guided torpedoes, and flew them into our ships, knowing they must die with the explosion. These men were driven to an almost superhuman effort by their belief that their emperor was "the son of Heaven" and that to give their lives for him was to achieve the highest glory. On the opposite side of the globe, others of our veterans met armies of young men who, forsaking the faith of their fathers, had with awful oaths sworn allegiance to their alleged "superior race." Many of them had been transformed into such subhuman beings as could witness and assist in the atrocities of concentration camps, transformed by the evil virus which had been injected into their young minds. Do not forget that many of these young people were college graduates, scientists, technicians. But because of their perverted beliefs, their education tended only to increase the scope of their malignity. If such amazing results as were witnessed in World War II could be obtained by indoctrinating the minds of youth with evil, if such enthusiasm and loyalty could be aroused to support utterly false concepts, if a kingdom of evil almost strong enough to rule the world could be established by systematic indoctrination of the youth, what might be done if, with equal thoroughness and zeal, we teach that God, our Father, is at the center of a moral order in the world; that he is the Father of all men and therefore that all men are brothers? PRO version
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What is the abundant life of which Jesus spoke, and why should we seek it? First let us consider what it is not: It is not a state of being which may be fully achieved at any given time. It is not rigid and static. It cannot be bought and paid for at a given price. It is not reserved for the few alone. The abundant life is eternally becoming and therefore is ever-changing. What might be abundant life to a child would, if unchanged, become progressively less abundant as he matures. Change is the only permanent thing we know, but we must recognize some permanence in the midst of change. The abundant life is a state of being where constant reappraisals are necessary, where one Is ever preparing for and adjusting to tomorrow's unfolding experience. It is the joyous life which requires robust health if one would be completely happy. If one is to enjoy physical fitness and radiant living, he will avoid the use of all harmful and debilitating substances and the downdrag of purely sensual conduct. The abundant life is the teachable life, where one enlarges his awareness, appreciation and skill. One prepares for and enjoys the more abundant life by gaining knowledge, wisdom and the intelligence which is the glory of God and the potential glory of man. "Better be unborn than untaught, for ignorance is the root of misfortune." The lessons of the past and the visions of the future determine the measure and the quality of life today, and both past and future hold something to make today more abundant. Amiel has reminded us that, "If we scratch the green rind of a sapling or wantonly twist it in the soil, a scarred and crooked oak will tell of the act for centuries to come." Hudson confides that: "This day before dawn I ascended a hill and looked at the crowded heavens and I said to my spirit, `When we become the enfolders of those orbs and the pleasure and knowledge of everything in them, shall we be filled and satisfied then?' and my spirit said, `No, we but level that lift to pass and continue beyond.'" May the Lord bless each one of you in your efforts to make of himself the kind of man with whom he wishes to be associated throughout eternity, to write for himself a history of which he will be proud, and to succeed in life in the best sense of that term. New Year, 1964 PRO version
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The Joyous Life! The True Gospel in the Modern World The Savior said: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. — John 17:3 Leaders in both scientific and religious fields are calling for new light. From a sermon which was recently preached in England by an eminent professor of theology and published to the world by Dean Inge, we read: "How great is the need in Britain today for a man to arise among us to lead a mighty crusade for the revival of our religion. For years all Christendom has prayed that that revival might be near, and according as the need is great, so great is the opportunity. From end to end of the land, north and south and west and east, the feeling is arising that something more is required today than the advice, however good, of our statesmen, and the ability, however great, of our businessmen; that there are problems to be solved, more urgent and more fundamental than those of economics and elections." And then he adds: "THE ORGANIZED CHURCHES OFFER NO SOLUTION TO THESE PROBLEMS ... Men and women look for an interpreter of their emotions, for someone who will give expression to their spiritual convictions and beliefs, submerged too long in a materialistic age. The seed has been sown. It has sprung up under showers and sunshine. The grain is swollen inside the husk. Now the field lies golden and ready for the harvest. Where is the man who will go in and reap?" In the midst of national and international unrest, confusion, and stress, the questions of theology have acquired a PRO version
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new importance and urgency. Throughout the Judaeo-Christian world, in fact the entire world, there is a soulstirring search for new meanings in religion upon which men may ground their lives and establish their personal and social values. In recent months an intense theological debate has been waged around a volume entitled Honest to God, in which Dr. Robinson, the Bishop of Woolwich of the Anglican Church, asks the question whether it is possible for modern men to accept traditional Christian faith, to believe in the established conception of God, and to accept Christ as their Savior. He questions whether Christianity carries with it the trappings of an ancient world and culture, and whether it can be made relevant to the thought and character of modern scientific man living in a rapidly shrinking technological world. The bishop says, "Our image of God must go, `and the Church Times comments: "It is not every day that a bishop goes on public record as apparently denying almost every Christian doctrine of the Church in which he holds office." Dr. McIntire, of the University College of Oxford, says, "Dr. Robinson's book needs not only to be understood as a symptom of our condition but to be sympathized with as a desperate attempt that cannot succeed," and he adds, somewhat cynically, "The creed of the English is there is no God and it is wise to pray to him from time to time." This book of which I speak is not just the voice of an individual, but it testifies to the existence of a whole group of theologies which have retained a theistic vocabulary but acquired an atheistic substance and wonders whether they can continue to co-exist. The Archbishop of Canterbury says, ". . . if Dr. Robinson's argument is right, the traditional views of God are not merely outmoded, they are simply false." The argument that has ensued around these and other questions has engaged the leading minds in both Europe and America recently, and they indicate a sense of loss, frustration, and failure that are so much a part of modern life. The hope is expressed that there will be a new birth in our time that will restore something of the meaning and value of human existence. PRO version
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We have all felt the impact of war and economic depression, the dehumanizing influence of industrialization, the overcrowding of our cities, the ever-present and ominous threat of nuclear war with its total destruction, and the myriad social forces that complicate our lives and affect our values. We share the conscience of a world in which mass murder has been real and in which millions go to bed hungry every night in the presence of abundance. While we look forward hopefully to the help we may get from science and technology in our attempts to solve our problems, we rely with absolute confidence upon the theology and religion of the Church of Jesus Christ for the inspiration and faith to sustain us in this endeavor. To this end our spiritual strength is grounded firmly on the foundation of revealed religion and the Biblical conviction of the reality of the living God. Unlike those whose religious faith is uneasy and precarious in the modern world of expanding scientific knowledge, we are at home with the most advanced truths discovered by scientists and with all competent philosophic thought-with truth wherever found-because our religion enjoins in us a love of knowledge and education; encourages us to seek understanding through the broadening of our vision and the deepening of our insight. This is an eternal quest. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accepts newly revealed truth, whether it comes through direct revelation or from study and research. We deny the common conception of reality that distinguishes radically between the natural and the supernatural, between the temporal and the eternal, between the sacred and the secular. For us, there is no order of reality that is utterly different in character from the world of which we are a part, that is separated from us by an impassable gulf. We do not separate our daily mundane tasks and interests from the meaning and substance of religion. We recognize the spiritual in all phases and aspects of living and realize that this life is an important part of eternal life. We aspire to the best of which we are intrinsically capable and will think our thoughts, fashion our ideals, and pursue every task firm in the faith that in a very real sense we are living in the presence of God here and now. We accept the testimony of the sacred scriptures that the purposes of God are enacted in human history, that He is primarily interested in man's condition and welfare though He will never trammel our free agency. His work and his glory is, as the prophets have said, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. PRO version
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Our doctrine of man is positive and life affirming. We declare unequivocally that by his very nature every man has the freedom to do good as well as evil, that God has endowed him with a free moral will and given him the power to discern good from evil, right from wrong, and to choose the good and the right. We refuse to believe, with some churches of Christendom, that the Biblical account of the Fall of man records the corruption of human nature or to accept the doctrine of original sin. We do not believe that man is incapable of doing the will of God, or is unable to merit the rewards of divine approval; that he is therefore totally estranged from God and that whatever salvation comes to him must come as a free and undeserved gift. We never tire of proclaiming the inspiring truth of the Gospel that man is that he might have joy. For us the so-called Fall of man placed the human spirit in a world of experience and adventure where evils are real but can be overcome, where free moral decision is a constant requirement, and where choices, freely made, determine the quality of life and the eventual condition of the soul. This does not mean that we are oblivious to the evils of the world, the sins of men and the immeasurable suffering that is daily endured by millions. Ours is not a superficial faith that sees only the bright side of life and denies the fact of human tragedy. Our conscience is wounded by the massive evils that men have perpetrated in our own time, by sins that are unspeakable in the depth of their horror. But we have the positive faith that places the responsibility of these sins squarely upon the individuals and societies who commit them. In our theology, God did not bring the world into being from nothing. He organized it from existing materials. We accept the scriptural statement that God created man in His own image. In the image of God created He him, male and female created He them. He is engaged in a constant struggle with the evils of the world, to overcome whatever brings pain and suffering, frustration and failure, and He asks that we co-operate with him by keeping His commandments, by obeying the laws upon which all blessings are predicated. This is the meaning of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, that man as a child of God is not alone in the world, for God shares our suffering and delights in our joys. In this community with Him we can overcome the world, achieving the abundant life here and immortality and eternal life hereafter. We shall overcome any seeming contradictions between science and religion if and as we learn to adhere to the teachings of the restored Church, which have always been dedicated to the search for knowledge and intelligence, which is the Glory of God. PRO version
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To the question raised by the Bishop of Woolwich, "Is Christianity relevant to the modern world?" we find positive and affirmative answers in the unequivocal declarations in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel does not belong to an antiquated world that has passed away, but is a real and powerful force in our world here and now. It invests our individual lives with meaning and purpose and will yet transform the course of human history. When we speak of the unity of the Godhead, we refer to the attributes, powers, and purposes of its members. Jesus testified to the unity existing between Himself and His Father on many occasions as is recorded in the Holy Bible and other revealed documents. He referred to this unity in His memorable prayer recorded in the 17th chapter of John, where He prayed that He and His followers might be one even as He and His Father are one. It will become clear to any unbiased reader of the scriptures that the Father is a personal being, possessing a definite form with bodily parts and spiritual passions. The Son, who was in the express image of the Father, is a separate identity by whom the worlds were made and without whom was not anything made that was made. We see everywhere in nature evidence of cause and effect, of means adapted to an end, which indicate a given purpose. This is evidence of intelligence, and intelligence is an attribute of mind. We must therefore conclude that it was an intelligent mind that built the stupendous universe of God. Human reason may not of itself lead its possessor to convincing knowledge of God, yet if properly exercised will confirm his inherited instinct toward such belief. Truly the fool hath said in his heart there is no God. We know Him to be a living being with every essential property and attribute of personality-that He thinks, wills, feels, and has purposes-that He is a moral being who requires righteousness and justice-but that in His love He is compassionate, merciful, and long suffering. For us God is not an abstraction; He is not just an idea, a metaphysical principle, an impersonal force or power. He is not identical with the totality of the world, with the sum of all reality. He is not an "Absolute" that in some way embraces the whole of reality in His being. Like us, He exists in a world of space and time. Like us, He has ends to be achieved and He fashions a cosmic plan for realizing them. He is a concrete, living person, and though in our finite state we cannot fully comprehend Him, we know that we are akin to Him, for He is revealed to us in the PRO version
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divine personality of His Son, Jesus Christ. There has been a marked change in the teachings of many of the churches concerning God, and many thinking men and scholars now believe Him to be a personal being and not an abstract essence. This is shown in the book A Century's Change in Religion, wherein the author, after telling the beliefs of the churches in America at the beginning of the 19th century, says, "It is within the last fifty years that this mighty change or extension of belief has come about. The new thought is the kingdom of God on earth in the Christian society. The church is now dominated by this idea. The gospel of the kingdom on earth is the latest, the newest, the oldest and the truest gospel." He further adds, "There has been a change in our thought of God from the conception of sovereignty to the conception of Fatherhood. The center of doctrine has shifted from sovereignty to Fatherhood. "God is a person; He is intelligence and that is purpose, plan. He is will and that is realizing power. Whatever more than personality as we know it he may be, he is that in perfect degree which our best is in imperfect degree." For ourselves, we reaffirm our conviction that God is real and personal, that Jesus the Christ is His only begotten Son. We rejoice to proclaim to the world that He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Our answer, then, to the Bishop of Woolwich is that God is real and personal and we are not concerned as he seems to be as to whether He is "up there" or "out there" or whether this is a three-storied universe. We know that He lives, that He can and does appear to men. In fact, the whole structure of Mormonism is based on revelation. The Father and the Son were revealed to a young man in the state of New York in 1820, and since that time many glorious revelations have come to reassure us in our faith that He lives. He declared it to be His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. This is our answer, then, to the question whether it is possible for modern men to accept the true Christian faith. It was established by Jesus Christ in the meridian of time and restored by Him in the fulness of time. Hence, we do not share the fear, uncertainty, and confusion mentioned by Dean Inge or the Bishop of Woolwich. We call attention to the Biblical image of God in which He is identified as personal, eternal, unchangeable, and everlasting, to which we humbly bear witness in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. PRO version
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—General Conference, April 5, 1964 Return to top
Are Mormons Christians? I am grateful to the President of the Church for assigning me to come to Britain and to other parts of Europe at this time because it gives me, first an opportunity to meet quite a number of friends whom I have known in former days here and elsewhere, and second, an opportunity to become acquainted with new friends, new members of the Church, and to see the effects of Church organization in this country. I bring to you the love and blessings of President McKay. He asked me to express to all the members of the Church and to all the friends of the Church his greeting and his love. He, more than sixty years ago, was in this country as a missionary, and I, fifty-eight years ago, was here myself. And so we have, he and I and others, a feeling of warmth for the people over here. I am advised that there are some here tonight who are not members of the Church and perhaps not acquainted with its teachings, and I wish, on behalf of the leadership of the Church, to extend a welcome to you. I also wish to express to you who have recently joined the Church the satisfaction that we feel in the fact that tens of thousands are joining the Church in many parts of the world-almost a hundred thousand last year. It is remarkable that in a Church so new, so young, there should be as much interest as there is in its teachings, doctrines, and organization. I find as I travel about that there is a growing interest in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sometimes the interest is unfriendly and critical; sometimes there are those who find it desirable to say unkind things about the Church, but there is a growing feeling everywhere I travel that here is something that should be seriously considered. Illustrative of that, some months ago the President received a letter from the head of the Theological Presbyterian Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the letter he asked President McKay to come or send someone to tell PRO version
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them what we teach. He wished to know what the Mormons have that seems to attract the attention of so many people and to hold the interest of its own people. The President was not able to go and asked if I would take his place, which I tried to do. In the course of the discussions we had with this group, I found an interest which seemed to be rooted in a sincere desire to know how to solve their own problems in their own church-largely a problem of indifference, as they said, a problem of trying to get the people to participate and to come to church and to conform their lives to the teachings of the church. And, as I say, they tried to find out what it was that we have that seems to work, as they thought, somewhat better than what they are trying to do. One of the things that I would like to discuss with you for a few moments grew out of the discussion I had at that time. I was asked, "Are the Mormons Christians?" I asked him to define what it means to be a Christian. He said, "I think it is one who believes in Christ. " To this I agreed, but, I would add, "One who shows by his life that he believes in Christ, one whose life is patterned after the life of Christ." Central to everything we teach is faith that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, the Redeemer, the Son of God. He, under God the Father, was the creator of all that is. Many scriptures substantiate this. As Paul said: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. —Colossians 1:15-17 We believe not only that He was the babe of Bethlehem born of the Virgin Mary, the youth that lived in and around Nazareth of Galilee, but that He was actually the Son of God: He was the Jehovah of the Old Testament. Again I repeat, central to everything we teach is the doctrine that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. PRO version
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I was asked, "If you believe that, why have you a book other than the Bible from which you teach?" That is a question that I think some of our new members, and perhaps some of our older members wish to think through with me for a moment. Why do we have scriptures in addition to the Bible? First may I assert, as positively as I can, that we believe the Bible to be the word of God. The King James version of the Holy Bible is our Bible. I have had occasion many times in many places to defend our position with respect to the Bible and our faith in it, and I think they who have time to interview our young men and older ones, and our young women as well, will find a rather unusual familiarity with the teachings of the Holy Bible. It is this truth that some have not been able to understand or have not known about. God is no respecter of persons. He is the God of all the world; He is the Father of all men in the spirit; He loves all men with the same love. When the events recorded in the Bible were written, nothing was known of America. There was no knowledge that there was beyond the waters such a land. Actually that land was very densely populated, and there is ample and increasing evidence of that truth, namely, that there were millions of people in America prior to the time of Christ and subsequent thereto. Due to internecine wars, a large proportion of them were destroyed. But is it not reasonable to expect that a people living somewhat isolated from the rest of the people of the world should, if they were God's children, and if He loved them as He loves all his children, be given the gospel? Is it not likely that they would have had prophets and apostles among them, teachers led and directed by their Heavenly Father? It seems to me that simple justice would require an affirmative answer to that question. The people in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the people in the Eastern Hemisphere, had visitations from God, instructions from Him through holy prophets raised up by Him, and what He taught them would be scripture the same as his teachings in the Holy Bible-the New Testament and the Old Testament as well. I repeat that Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah of the New Testament, was the Jehovah of the Old Testament, so what he taught in America became scripture to those people just as what He taught the people of the Holy Land became scripture there. Time will not permit tonight, but I wish that I had time to discuss what the Book of Mormon is and what it teaches. I must be content to say that there is no teaching in the Book of Mormon that is in any way contrary to the teachings PRO version
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of the Holy Bible. That would have to be true if God did teach the people in America the same as he taught them in the Eastern hemisphere, because God's word is the same in all places. So the two books, the Book of Mormon and the Bible, became one. One is the story of Judah, the stick of Judah as Ezekiel calls it, the other the stick of Joseph. One tells the story of people among the Jews and their contemporaries and descendants and the other tells of the people of Joseph, who were descendants through Ephraim and Manasseh, and who went to America under divine direction and there lived, built great cities, and had a great civilization. After the visit of Jesus to them they lived for some 200 years in perfect peace, but later through sin and transgression there came upon them, as there have come upon us, perilous times, wars, tribulation, sorrow, and death. During my lifetime there has been a great change in the attitude of people with respect to the Book of Mormon-a change which has come about largely because more people are coming to know what the book is. Scholars are beginning to study it and are considering it on its merits and judging it by what it teaches rather than prejudice. Any thoughtful person who wishes to criticize the belief of another person should be fair enough to get the truth with respect to what that person believes. I am under no obligation to defend what you say I believe if I don't in fact believe it. Let me say what I believe and then you can attack my beliefs but don't set up something that you say I believe and then ask me to defend it. And so it is with the Book of Mormon. I hope that our friends who are here tonight, as you hear more about the Mormons or Latter-day Saints, will take time to obtain accurate information concerning us. I want to emphasize again that as a member of the Church I believe the Bible to be the word of God, but I'm very grateful to find another book which corroborates and confirms the Bible. I am grateful that the dealings of God with the millions of people in America have been abridged into a record just as His dealings with the Israelites have been abridged into the Bible. I find the two books in perfect agreement, one supplementing the other. My study of the Book of Mormon, and it has been a lifetime study, convinces me that no man could have written that book just as no man could have written the Bible. PRO version
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Peter says, "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." I am convinced that any who will read the Bible with an open mind and desire to know, will find that the Bible is the word of God. By the same token they will find that the Book of Mormon is also the word of God. When I was presiding in the Mission here some years ago, I received a letter from a professor at Oxford University. He wrote, "I understand that you are the head of the Mormon Church in Britain. I am writing to ask you who wrote the Book of Mormon. I am a professor of languages, ancient and modern, and I want to know who wrote the Book of Mormon. I have just finished reading it for the second time. I hope you will not write and say that Joseph Smith wrote it, because I have read something of his life and of his story. He was not an educated man and he could not have written that book. Don't tell me that any of his associates wrote it because they could not have written it. That book was not written by any modern man." This was the statement of a very scholarly gentleman from Oxford University. When I wrote and told him that Joseph Smith did not claim to have written the Book of Mormon, that it was a translation from an ancient record, he wrote back immediately and said, "That is most intriguing, because as I read the book I saw evidences that it is a translation from an ancient record-that is my specialty." He said, "I am going to come up and talk to you about it," and he did. When he came to London we talked for quite some time, and he was delighted with what he had found. He said, "Mr. Brown, you haven't yet told me who wrote the Book of Mormon." I said, "Perhaps you could tell me who wrote the Bible?" "Well," he said, "the Bible was written by many men. There are records here (we had the Bible before us) from Genesis to Malachi, and from Matthew to Revelation in the New Testament. Many writers, many authors, had to do with the making of this book." "Well, sir, there were many authors, many writers, of the Book of Mormon. It isn't the work of any one man." "Well," he said, "you say it is a translation from an ancient language. Tell me, who translated it?" I replied that the book was translated by Joseph Smith, the Prophet, by the gift and power of God. PRO version
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He threw up his hands and said, "Now our interview has come to an end. I cannot believe, I cannot accept that declaration. In the first place, God doesn't have anything to do with the writing of books, and, in the second place, in these days the Lord does not give revelations." Of course, I asked him whether or not God had something to do with the writing of the Bible, and he said, "Yes, but that was a long time ago." "Well, isn't it possible that the Lord is the same today as He always was? Has He lost the power to talk to men or to instruct them or to give them His holy Spirit so that they may translate his word correctly? Isn't it possible?" "Yes," he said, "possible, but it isn't done." "Who says it isn't done?" "Well," he said, "I say so." "Well, perhaps in your experience it isn't done, but there were people in the time of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel, and Hosea, Joel, and Peter, James and John and Paul, and others who didn't believe it was possible that there were prophets and apostles among them. So it is today, there are apostles and prophets in the world today." I want to say to you, our friends who are here and to you new members, as you become better acquainted with these books-the Bible and the Book of Mormon-and as you bring your lives into conformity with what they teach, you will find joy, a peace of soul exceeding anything you have known. May I tell you another incident. A man came into my office in London. This man was an ex-army officer from India. He said, "I am the diplomatic correspondent for The People. My employers have asked me to write a series of articles against the Mormons. I thought it only fair to come to you and talk about it before starting those articles." I said, "You say you are going to write against the Church?" PRO version
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He said, "I certainly am. What I am going to write will not be good, will not be favorable." I said, "It is interesting that you know enough about the Mormons to write authoritatively about them. Would you mind telling me just what you know?" He said, "I don't know a `darn' thing." "You mean to say you are going to write a series of articles on a subject you don't know anything about?" "Well," he said, "That's what I said, but I see how silly it is really." "Wouldn't you like to know something about the Mormons?" "Yes, I really would." "Now, my friend, if you will give thirty days of your time before you write those articles and study the subject, as I assume you would do if you were going to write on any other subject, do you not think such information would improve your articles? I happen to have done a little writing myself and I never undertake to write on any subject without trying to get all the information I can get on that subject. I think that is only fair to those who you expect to read what you write. Now would you take thirty days to investigate and study the Mormon doctrine and then write your articles?" He said, "Where can I get authentic information?" I told him that at Ravenslea we had the best library in Europe on the Mormon question. "Everything that has ever been written against us is there-and all the things that have been written in favor of the Church, all the works that have been published by the Church are there. Now if you will go in there and spend thirty days searching out what the Mormons really believe, then I'll be very glad to have you write your articles provided you are an honest man, provided you tell the truth, provided you will have an open mind and rid yourself of prejudice." He said, "I'll do just that. I'll spend thirty days," as he said, "plugging up on Mormonism." PRO version
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I thought it only fair to warn him that if he spent thirty days in that library reading on Mormonism he would ask for baptism. When I told him that he said a lot of things I couldn't repeat here tonight. "Why," he said, "the idea that I would become a Mormon is preposterous!" I said, "I thought it only right to tell you that's what is going to happen to you if you are honest and open-minded. When you come out you will ask for baptism." He went into the library; he read and studied; and, as he afterwards told me, he prayed, because in his reading he had read in the Book of Mormon, that anyone who wants to know can ask of God and he will reveal the truth of it unto him. I went home in the meantime and was teaching at the Brigham Young University when I received a cable-less than thirty days after our interview. The cable was brief but to the point. It said, "I think you will be interested to know that I am being baptized next Friday." I cite that and other things tonight just to indicate that any honest person who is open-minded and who frees himself of prejudice, who will study what the Mormons teach, will find that we are Christians and that, as mentioned in my opening statement tonight, central to everything else we teach is the eternal truth that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. And if you find that to be true, then I am sure you will no longer question our Christian status. Here is a statement made by a professor from Cornell University in America: "I am perfectly willing to say to anyone that I believe the Book of Mormon is one of the most famous and widely discussed books ever published in America." A former Secretary of Agriculture in the United States, wrote, "Of all the American books of the 19th Century, it seems probable that the Book of Mormon is the most powerful. It reached perhaps only one percent of the people of the United States but affected this one percent so powerfully and lastingly that all the people of the United States have been affected by it." PRO version
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"The book itself," says another, and this was published in 1930, "The book itself remains on which was founded the greatest religion of the continent and of the century. It is not only the book itself but the wonderful influence it had on America that counted." I am not here tonight simply to talk of the Book of Mormon. I am here to, in sincerity and humility, bear my witness that Jesus is the Christ and that He has spoken again to the earth, that there has been a new revelation from heaven, that the gospel has been restored, that the Priesthood of God is upon the earth, that there are apostles and prophets living in the world. The Lord has not cut us off, the heavens are not closed, the lines of communication are still open and God is still at the helm. I say to you, my brethren and sisters, that if my last statement is correct, namely that the line of communication is open and God is still at the helm; if the people of the world, the Christians of the world, if our Western allies could believe that statement, that God is in charge and that the heavens are open and that there is revelation; if they could believe that it would be the most inspiring and reassuring message in the world today. Hundreds of millions of people are being systematically indoctrinated with the abominable idea that there is no God, that Jesus is a myth, and that religion is an opiate. I say to you tonight that in anticipation of the very times in which we live, the God of Heaven has spoken again, the heavens have been opened and revelation has come, and we, the members of The Church of Jesus Christ, are trying to carry this message to all parts of the earth, for we were commanded, as were the apostles of old, to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The promise is made that all who believe and are baptized shall be saved, and certain signs shall follow them that believe. I want to say to you, that I know that those signs have followed the believers. I know there is prophecy and the gift of tongues and healing and revelation and other gifts that were enjoyed in the days when the apostles were on the earth. I know this from my personal knowledge-I am not telling only what I have heard others say. If what we say is true, it is the greatest truth that has come to this earth since the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ the Lord-the greatest truth because it announces that he has come again and spoken to men, organized his church, given men the priesthood, and set up his kingdom pursuant to the prophecy of Daniel and of John. PRO version
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God bless you my friends. God bless us all that we may face these troubled times with faith rather than fear, that we, believing in Christ and God the Father, may not feel that the adversary can overcome us. Ominous though the times are, I say to you that truth will triumph. He who leads the great forces in the name of Israel's God will triumph. And I want to say further that he who is leading the forces of Communism and other isms of that kind is none other than Lucifer, the fallen Son of the Morning, Beelzebub, Satan. I say with Joshua of old, ". . . Choose you this day whom ye will serve . . ."; (Joshua 24:15). I leave with you my testimony, my blessing, and my prayer for your welfare. I express my gratitude for your willingness to come and hear us tonight, and I ask these blessings upon you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. — Monks Park, England, October 26, 1962 Return to top
Let Down Your Bucket Some years ago when I was at the BYU, an educator, a doctor of philosophy from another state who had spent a week on the campus as a visitor and part-time instructor, was sitting next to me at a banquet. Just before he was to leave he said, "I have visited many campuses in my lifetime and I have seen some wonderful young people, but I wish you would tell me what it is you have here which seems to instill in your young people a burning desire to get an education. I have discovered here an enthusiasm for education that I have never seen before. In fact, it seems to me very close to religious zeal." He asked me to explain it. I tried to do so by saying, "It is religious zeal because education is part of the gospel of Jesus Christ as we understand and proclaim it. We believe that a man is saved in the kingdom of God no faster than he gets knowledge, that he cannot be saved in ignorance. We believe that the glory of God is intelligence and that every man's glory will be determined by the quality and degree of his intelligence." PRO version
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He said, "That answers my question and I'm glad to know that education is a part of your religion." As the Church grows, develops, increases-and it is increasing very rapidly-we need more teachers, better organization, and more dedication. When I visited the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs some time ago, I stood before a monument where a falcon with spreading wings was apparently protecting its young. At the base of the monument I read these words: "Man's flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge." I was much impressed. This came from the Academy where thousands of young men are preparing for flight through air and possibly through space. But it is a challenging thought to all of us that our flight through life will be sustained by the power of our knowledge. Then if you add to that thought the LDS concept that man's standing before God will depend upon his knowledge, his education, his understanding of the gospel of Christ-in short, his intelligence, you will see the wisdom of tonight's emphasis on education. I am wondering whether any man could possibly be happy in the presence of God unless he himself is intelligent, for, as God's glory is intelligence, only to the degree that we achieve intelligence will we be able to stand His glory. Recently I was in Alaska and visited the base of the interceptor squadron where many of our men are on twentyfour-hour alert, on guard for all of us and ready to defend us. I saw over the door of the alert room these words: "Only the spirit of attack borne in a brave heart will bring success to any fighter aircraft no matter how highly developed the aircraft may be." "Only the spirit of attack borne in a brave heart. . ."-of course, the efficiency of the aircraft is important, but unless the pilot at the controls has the spirit of his mission and the courage to carry out his assignment, it matters not how efficient his craft, he will be vulnerable. So, brethren, it depends upon us individually as leaders-pilots if you will-how successful our stakes, wards, branches, and missions will be in building the Kingdom. The individuals who are charged with the responsibility of leadership must first, themselves, become informed and then see to it that all under their jurisdiction are properly instructed. PRO version
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President John Taylor said on one occasion, speaking to the brethren of the Priesthood: "If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those you might have saved, had you done your duty." This is a challenging statement. If I by reason of sins of commission or omission lose what I might have had in the hereafter, I myself must suffer and, doubtless, my loved ones with me. But if I fail in my assignment as a bishop, a stake president, a mission president, or one of the General Authorities of the Church-if any of us fail to teach, lead, direct, and help to save those under our direction and within our jurisdiction, then the Lord will hold us responsible if they are lost as a result of our failure. I read again the other day from Matthew what Jesus said about the two sons and their father: ". . . what think ye?" said the Master. "A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. "He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. "And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not." The Savior said, "Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."-speaking undoubtedly of those who said they would go and did not do it. (Matthew 21:28-31) This is, I think, one of the greatest challenges to the men holding the Priesthood. The Lord has said to all of us, "Go and serve in my vineyard," and every one who has been ordained to the Priesthood and set apart for his calling has said, "I go," but some go not, and others weary when the day is yet young. Our challenge tonight then, in support of what has already been said, is that in every ward and stake, mission and branch, in every part of the Church, in all the auxiliaries, we join unitedly and enthusiastically to make the labors of these brethren and those associated with them successful in this great continuing movement for instructing and saving the members of the Church. We are doing a lot in the mission fields, but there is a lot to be done here at home. PRO version
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Some may feel that in some far-off part of the Church there is not much hope. Sometimes we say, "Well, if you could send us a General Authority more often we would be more inspired." The Church is getting too big for the General Authorities to attend all of the conferences. I am reminded of what happened to a captain of a ship down in the South Atlantic. He had run out of fresh water. His crew were athirst. Another ship hove in sight and he signalled, "Send us water," and the signal came back, "Let down your buckets, there is fresh water all around you. You are in the Amazon.' They let down their buckets and found it was true. They had not realized that the stream of the mighty Amazon, driven out into the briny deep, had maintained its freshness. They were able to save themselves by that which was all around them yet they did not know It. Brethren, there is available to you wherever you are, the blessings, the opportunities, the privileges of teaching the gospel of Christ, if you fill your buckets with the Holy Spirit which is everywhere. God help us to do our duty, to be equal to our task, and when we say, "I go," let us be true to the promise that is implied and stay until the end of the day, that when the time shall come that we shall be released from this part of our labors and we go on to greater labors, we may be able to say with the Apostle Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith," I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —General Conference, October 6, 1962 Return to top
Be Aware-Beware First I am asked to bring to all the greetings, the love and blessings of President David O. McKay and the general authorities of the Church. We all appreciate the fine record you have made and the way you have upheld the high ideals and traditions of this university-the largest church-sponsored university in the West. PRO version
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When Matthew Arnold said, "I am tormented with a desire to put a whole book into a page, a whole page into a phrase, and a whole phrase into a word," I am sure he expressed your wish for me as you approach the ordeal of listening to a baccalaureate sermon. Knowing something of your penchant for the concise, the compact, the neat in expression, I am tormented with a desire to compress a sermon into a few simple words. In that effort I pray for divine guidance and your patience and sympathy. While it is sometimes misleading for a speaker to give a name or title to his speech, may I suggest two unrelated words as possibly indicative of what I might say. They are BE AWARE and BEWARE. At least that might give some hope for brevity. To make sure of some capsules of truth I shall quote from what other men have said even though that will emphasize the contrast between the mediocrity of the original and the excellence of the quotations. One professor said to a hopeful student: "Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good." We who have almost finished the part assigned to us by the Director on the stage of life find it difficult to resist the impulse to pause at the exit and look back across the stage as you enter, even though looking back causes some nostalgia. We look forward with some apprehension, knowing that science has placed in the hands of irresponsible and sometimes wicked men the power to destroy our civilization. But though the future does look somewhat ominous, we have confidence that you, who must meet that future, will be equal to it. Science and religion have made available to you effective tools-physical, mental, moral and spiritual tools-which your graduation here indicates you are at least partially prepared to use, and therefore the outlook brightens, and what seemed ominous becomes auspicious. Cicero reminds us that "each stage of existence has been allotted its own appropriate quality, so that the weakness of childhood, the impetuosity of youth, the seriousness of middle life, the maturity of old age-each bears some of nature's fruit which must be garnered in its own season. Each has something which ought to be enjoyed in its own time." The exit from this stage is an entrance to another, and for this we are grateful. We are going somewhere, and, as every exit is an entrance and vice versa, your arrival indicates that you came from somewhere, and so we are fellow pilgrims, for a time at least. We, your elders and teachers, are now prepared to relinquish the pilot's seat PRO version
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and let you take over the controls. As the training pilots, your teachers, "bail out" let none of you hope their parachutes will fail to function even though you may think they were responsible for some of the turbulence of the past few years. We almost envy you the next fifty years. While we do not claim to know very much about the detail of the whence and the whither of life, we like to exercise the prerogative of age and give unsolicited counsel, advice, and warning before "that which came from out the boundless deep turns again home." But lest this becomes a funeral, rather than a baccalaureate sermon, let us look forward rather than back. Prophecy, meaning you, is more interesting and exciting than history, meaning us. First then we say BE AWARE, for the degree of your awareness will determine the measure of your aliveness. Some have eyes but see not, ears but hear not, and hearts that do not understand. No day will dawn for him who is asleep, and no dream will come true for him who only dreams. One successful man said the three rules for success are, WORK, WORK, WORK. If you would be consciously and acutely alive you must resolve to keep eternally busy. Our challenge is BE AWARE and our caution is BEWARE. Beware of the deceptive thought that graduation means arrival, that your education is complete, that the need for effort, concentration and constancy was met and satisfied during the four college years. BEWARE of the insidious hardening of the intellectual arteries which results from lack of use. It is important that we seek to learn something of life's source, its purpose and its potential destiny. As one learns to discriminate and to choose-and choosing involves rejecting-from among life's various and varied offerings, he progressively learns to savor life and this keeps his taste buds functioning with a satisfying keenness. You have learned already that learning involves some unlearning. As one wise, untaught man observed, "It ain't my ignorance that done me up, it's what I knowed that wasn't so." He who would leave footprints in the sands of time must not be content to sit especially on stepping stones. All of you know that every landing field is also a runway for a new take off. We must resist the temptation to abide upon arriving at an intermediate goal. There can be no loitering on life's airfield. One must get on the plane or be left behind. PRO version
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As we progressively become aware of ourselves, our universe, and the purpose of our being, we envision certain goals and ideals toward which to work. If you enthrone high ideals in your hearts and minds, they will mirror your destiny and become a part of you. "Know then thyself," said the poet, "presume not God to scan, the proper study of mankind is man." With self awareness we discover the innate music and beauty which the Creator planted in our hearts and minds; the loveliness which enshrouds our purest thoughts, our finest impulses. As we become aware of the latent beauty of the soul we stand in awe, wonder, and reverence. We are made humble and inquisitive before life's unexplained mysteries, but proud and grateful that we are part of it all; thankful that we can wonder and search, comprehend, aspire, unfold, and achieve. The human body has been called God's greatest miracle and the human brain the finest piece of mechanism in the universe. No brain specialist knows how the mind works with the mechanism of the brain. We know that man is a unit of consciousness, self-active and creative. Certainly then he is not less important in the economy of the universe than the infinitesimal electron. I quote from Leon Gutterman, publisher of Wisdom Magazine. "The wise man protects his brain and his mind, which is the manipulator of the brain, from all that would do them harm. Ignorance is a vice-a form of self-inflicted injury that leaves its mark of weakness on the brain. Ignorance means brain decay. Seek wisdom and understanding with a faith-hungry heart." Stupidity is inexcusable. Elbert Hubbard said, "Genius may have limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." And another has added, "Better be unborn than untaught, for ignorance is the roof of misfortune." Wisdom has a stimulating influence on the brain. It helps to lift us above ourselves, our petty, individual aims, our narrow and selfish desires. The pursuit of wisdom is at once a humbling and ennobling work, humbling because we can accomplish so little within the narrow limits of mortal life, but ennobling because the glory of God is intelligence, and seeking and gaining wisdom leads to the glory of intelligence. To lack wisdom is no disgrace, To lack desire for wisdom is a pity, PRO version
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But to desire wisdom and not know how to find it is a tragedy. The human soul, body and spirit united, is transcendent among all of God's creations. Beside it the vaunted works of man are puny and insignificant. BEWARE of the stifling pride which may be engendered by admiration of man's capacity. The so-called self-made men are endurable so long as they do not worship their alleged creators. He who would enrich his personality and live abundantly must glorify his intelligence with the warmth and glow of love for God and fellowmen. In other words, the head and heart must support each other. Someone has said, "The education of the heart is the heart of education." The greatest heart that ever beat in mortality was the educated heart of Jesus. The greatest sermon ever preached appealed to the hearts more than to the heads of his fortunate listeners; and the same appeal has come down through the centuries on the printed pages of all the languages of the world. The Apostle Paul's matchless chapter on love came from an educated heart and a richly furnished mind. He said that the eloquence of men and angels, without knowledge and faith sufficient to move mountains are nothing without love; and further that bestowing, though it be lavish and even sacrificial, if it lack love will profit nothing to the giver. But while we admonish you to love your fellowmen-and at your age nature doesn't need much encouragement-we earnestly warn you to beware of love's counterfeit. Passionate lust is the most poisonous and debasing of all of Satan's false allurements. Young men and women, as you associate together let all your thoughts, words, and actions be so clean and pure that their publication to the world would cause you no embarrassment. Let us become progressively aware of the spiritual equipment which Providence provided for our protection and development. We are endowed with creative intellect, motivating imagination, enduring zest and vitality, adventurous curiosity, aesthetic appreciation, insatiable ambition, and the sensitive balance wheel of conscience. PRO version
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But to fully and wisely realize and employ these endowments you must, as Paul enjoined, ... Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. —Ephesians 6:13-18 Although in this age science has made available to us almost miraculous material equipment in the use of which you will develop some skills, you will find that courage, fortitude, faith, and constancy are basic and indispensable in the continuing and relentless struggle which is life. Even more than in Paul's day you will wrestle against principalities, powers, the rulers of darkness in this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. The enemy is well organized, numerous and militant and has fiendish and cunning leadership; of this you should BE AWARE and of this you must BEWARE. Be constantly aware and increasingly more worthy of your image nature, for of all of God's creations only man was created in His image. He breathed into man the breath of life, planted in him the seed of Godhood, and entrusted him at birth with a precious fragment of the divine mind to develop and mature in the harsh soil of mortal life. Let each one be aware of his ever-emerging best and cultivate a divine discontent and candid selfcriticism. PRO version
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We were sent into this world to learn the meaning and purpose of life by active participation in the exciting drama of human existence. In life, unlike baseball, everyone must participate. There are no benches on which to vegetate and no dugout in which to hibernate. Only the angels can be spectators in the grandstand. Our education is just beginning, and that is true and will always be true of all of us, both here and hereafter. Life will continue to be a commencement, a beginning, and those two words will, carrot-like, be forever dangling and beckoning along the way. Beware of arriving, for that puts an end to the journey, deadens interest in horizons, and kills the stimulating spirit of adventure. We inherited the choicest land of all the earth and with it the freedom vouchsafed by an inspired Constitution. Freedom cannot be static or passive, it must be active, nurtured, and maintained. Always remember that you hold this heritage in trust for those who, in turn, will come into possession and management upon your exit from the stage. Do not betray your trust. Become aware of and partake of the glory which is America. Your Americanism should be a "cry in the heart, a fire in the brain, a prayer in the soul" as it was defined recently by a happy refugee. The following appraisal is from "Sunshine Magazine": "God built a continent with glory and filled it with treasures untold. He bedecked it with soft, rolling prairies, and pillared it with thundering mountains. He studded it with sweetly flowing streams and mighty winding rivers. He graced it with deep shadowed forests, and filled them with song. But these treasures would have meant little if the myriads of people, the bravest of the races, had not come, each bearing a gift and a hope. They had the glow of adventure in their eyes, the glory of hope in their souls, and out of them was fashioned a nation, blessed with a purpose sublime. They called it America. Yes, this is America, yet in these troublesome times it is well to remember what Daniel Webster said: "God grants liberty only to those who live it and are always ready to guard and defend it. Let our object be our country. And, by the blessing of God, may that country become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration forever!" PRO version
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BEWARE of the infiltration of alien ideologies. Americanism and Communism are as incompatible as light and darkness. Appreciate the honesty, loyalty, and patriotism of the vast majority of your fellow-Americans, and never impute to any of them motives meaner than your own. Remember that intelligent and honest men have honest differences. Refuse to join the hysterical pessimists whose colored goggles make blue look red, while white appears as pink or yellow. Be temperate in all things. Stay on the highway which experience has built, and avoid the extreme right and extreme left-there is danger on the soft shoulders which border the paved highways. Detours are sometimes disastrous. Our individual dignity and self-respect are based upon, and our hopes and ambitions are justified by, the fact that we are the offspring of Deity. You cannot afford to forget that fact. It is permanently, unavoidably, and sometimes painfully true. That relationship makes it impossible to do wrong and feel right. Sin and evil are repugnant to our inner, better selves. "Wickedness never was happiness." Our goal is eternities ahead and if we would keep on the beam we must keep contact with the tower. To paraphrase a familiar hymn, do not under any circumstances forget to pray. We need this balm of Gilead at the gates of every day. When sore trials come upon you, or your soul is full of sorrow, when your heart is filled with anger and you need grace to forgive another, in fact, in all of life's vicissitudes, you will need the help and comfort which come from communion with him who is your source and destiny. If we keep this contact with Divinity it will be a constant reminder of our derived and participative role, our divine source and destiny, and will enable us to retain our sense of purpose and direction. In an age which denies and sneers at the lessons of yesterday and mistrusts the future, you must humbly seek divine guidance, else your great expectations will be engulfed in deep disillusionment. A sense of relationship and co-partnership with God involves the concept of universal brotherhood and that will help to develop intelligent tolerance, open-mindedness, and good-natured optimism. Life is really a battle PRO version
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between fear and faith, pessimism and optimism. Fear and pessimism paralyze men with skepticism and futility. One must have a sense of humor to be an optimist in times like these. And you young women will need a sense of humor if you marry these young men and try to live with them. Golden Kimball once said in a conference, "The Lord Himself must like a joke or he wouldn't have made some of you people." But your good humor must be real, not simulated. Let your smiles come from the heart and they will become contagious. You may see men on the street any day whose laugh is only a frozen grin with nothing in it but teeth. Men without humor tend to forget their source, lose sight of their goal, and with no lubrication in their mental crankshafts, they must drop out of the race. Lincoln said, "Good humor is the oxygen of the soul." And someone paraphrased, "The surly bird catches the germ." Among the most imperative needs of every generation are faith, courage, fortitude, and tolerance, all of which must be developed and become adequate. You will need courage, which is more than lack of fear. Courage is meeting fear with firmness and fortitude. All who are faint-hearted should read the words with which Henry IV greeted Crillon after an important victory had been won: "Hang yourself, brave Crillon, we fought at Arques and you were not there." Be dauntless in your pursuit of truth and resist all demands for unthinking conformity. No one would have you become mere tape recorders of other people's thoughts. Be modest and teachable and seek to know the truth by study and also by faith. There have been times when progress was halted by thought control. Tolerance and truth demand that all be heard and that competing ideas be tested against each other so that the best, which might not always be your own, can prevail. Knowledge is most complete and dependable when all points of view are heard. We are introducing you into a world of restlessness and skepticism, where old things are not only challenged but are disappearing; but into a world of miraculous achievement, undreamed of accomplishment and terrifying power, as witness what Astronaut Scott Carpenter did today on his triple orbit of the globe. "A new world was born when Einstein's theory of relativity put us on the track of atomic energy and made atomic annihilation possible," said David Sarnoff. "In our own lifetime we adopted two little children of nature-the atom and the electron-we cannot see, touch, feel, or smell them, but we have seen and heard convincing evidence that they are here. They were not invented by man. They were discovered by or revealed to man." PRO version
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Science offers us wonderful tools for helping to create the brotherhood of man on earth, but the cement of brotherhood does not come from any laboratory. It must come from the heart and mind and spirit of man. Another quote from Sarnoff: "As we wrest more and more secrets from nature and transmute them into service for mankind, the logic and rhythm of life take on more meaning. The myriad suns of which our own is as a single grain of sand in the Sahara, the majestic cycles of the celestial movements, the precise operations of natural law, these could not be regarded as mere accidents. "Their harmonious relationship and their effects upon life on this planet cannot be comprehended by our limited mortal mentality. But an intuition beyond mere reason informs us that they are manifestations of a Divine Intelligence, the Supreme Architect of the universe. Science provides no substitutes for the lessons of universal harmony embodied for mankind in religious teachings and moral precepts. It makes clear that material progress is a delusion unless it is put to the service of eternal spiritual values." Science and religion are partners in man's constant effort to learn the truth about himself, his universe, and God. They are the two most potent forces in civilization. The human being has been created with a mind that can encompass the whole world within a fraction of a second, yet his physical senses lag woefully behind. With his feet he can walk only a limited distance. With his hands he can touch only what is within reach. His eyes can see at a limited range, and his ears are useful at a short distance only, but science and revelation are overcoming these limitations. Scientists tell us that when television has fulfilled its ultimate destiny, man's sense of physical limitations will be swept away and his boundaries of sight and hearing will be the limits of the earth itself. With this may come a new horizon, a new philosophy, a new sense of freedom and, greatest of all, perhaps, a finer and broader understanding between all the peoples of the world. The success of our revitalized missionary work in all lands where we have gone is evidence that a reaction has set in against cynicism, materialism, and false and uninspired theology and philosophy. People have been perishing for lack of vision, hungering, not for food alone, but for salvation, while age-old truths and values, beyond the material and temporal, are gnawing at the heart and spirit of man. PRO version
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Peace and brotherhood can be achieved when these two most potent forces in civilization-religion and sciencejoin to create one world in its truest and greatest sense. Continue to become acquainted with human experience through history and philosophy, science and poetry, art and religion. Every discovery of science reveals clearly the divine plan in nature. The remarkable harmony in the physical laws and processes of the universe, from the infinitesimal to the infinite, that surpasses mortal understanding implies a Supreme Architect, and the beauty and symmetry of his handiwork inspire reverence. BEWARE of man's capacity for monumental mischief and his tendency to lose sight of moral values. In these ominous times moral values are not only desirable but they are imperative. The survival of the race depends upon their conscious cultivation. Education is in the fullest sense the entire process by which individuals and groups modify, redirect, stimulate and control their native tendencies. It seems obvious then that continuing to seek knowledge and education is the high road to salvation. A man is saved only as he gains knowledge. But mere accumulation of facts, though they be encyclopedic, will not save a man if he lacks wisdom. It is not measured by knowledge or intellect alone, but will be reflected in your search for learning, in the scientist's search for facts, the philosopher's search for understanding, and in every man's search for truth and the freedom which comes with it. Learn to stretch your minds by constant preparation, enrich your spirits by constant prayer, increase your stature by companionship with great people and great books. Thus may your potential God-like status become real and actual through ever-increasing intelligence, which is the glory of God. —Baccalaureate Address, Brigham Young University, May 24, 1962 Return to top
Purity is Power PRO version
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At this Stake Fireside chat, presumably we are all sitting around the fire for a frank and easy exchange of ideas. From a rostrum a speaker feels obliged to speak in measured tones and with lofty phrases, assume a dignity he doesn't feel, display wisdom he doesn't have, and if he thinks he's a wit, he's only half right. Tonight we have no president or faculty, officially, no guests-just an aggregation of wonderful students at a fireside. Though we're here to discuss some serious problems, let's be jolly and good-natured. Happiness is conducive to health. Shall we then think together about such subjects as dances, dates, and danger; parties, people, and petting; rules, regulations, and religion; self-denial, self-esteem and sanctity; about honor, home, and heaven; about truth, triumph, and tranquility; about sex, self, and salvation? Shall we, in short, just browse around? You know these subjects and many other "vexations of the soul" have been considered and observed by our species down through the ages. But your parents and mine had some good old-fashioned ideas about life's problems, and they used some good hard sense in solving them. They had some standards and values which were based on discriminating wisdom, deep spiritual insight, and basic religious faith. Your parents and my parents met, coped with, and overcame some of the very things that you and I have to face. They had some good common sense with which to face their problems. The way they met them determined how they came out of the struggle, and in the main they did this with courage, fortitude, and faith. The past can provide clues and guidance for the future. Values do not change with time. Many of you students are here for the first time. You have come from various parts of the country-Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, the Dakotas, Florida, and a little country just to the west of us here, California, I believe they call it. One young girl is reported to have said, "I just come here to be went with, but I ain't yet." Here you will have a chance to prove yourselves. Each of you has an important task in life which is to make this a better world. To quote the poet: PRO version
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Your task, to build a better world, God said; I answered, How? This world is such a large vast place, So complicated now, And I so small and useless am, There's nothing I can do. But God in all his wisdom said, Just build a better you. This challenge he holds out to every one of us. Each one of you, male or female, has a hope, an ambition, an ideal which supersedes and overshadows all other expectations and desires in life. It is the most valuable, the most beautiful, and is designed to be the most enduring possession which man has ever imagined or achieved. I speak of a happy LDS home, where love, pure and undefiled, binds parents and children in a holy, eternal bond. Who has such a home is rich, and who may have one and meanly misses it has played the fool. The home, under the divine plan, is intended to last throughout eternity. To protect its foundation is an obligation devolving upon both man and woman. In the foundation of every enduring Christian home there must be purity, fidelity, and integrity. Purity involves selfdenial and preserves self-respect. One of the most direct, persistent, and effective attacks being made on our civilization today is the one against the home, and the attack is coming from many directions and from many sources. The hope of mankind in the face of its present-day difficulties is to preserve the family unit intact. If a man would have the full beauty of a Christian home, there are some things he must not do. There can be no double standard. Quoting Harry Emerson Fosdick: Self-denial is not the negative, forbidding thing that often we shake our heads about. In one sense there is no such thing as self-denial, for what we call such is the necessary price we pay for things on which our hearts are set. PRO version
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This truth stands clear in all concerns of moral character. Many a young man is warned against the evils of illicit love, as though he were being asked chiefly to give up pleasure. The emphasis is all upon the repression of an appetite. Purity is made to seem merely a negative denial of deep desire. In the young man's thought, dissipation is the positively alluring life, full of charm and music, while purity is life stripped, straitened, and set in the forbidding grasp of prohibitory laws. What wonder that so many turn to the warmth and color of a wayward life! The gripping appeal for self-denying purity is not negative. Young man . . . the girl whom you are going to marry is now alive. You may never have met her, but somewhere she is walking down a path which in the providence of God some day will cross yours. Wherever she may be, she keeps herself for you, and in her imagination you are even now a prince who some day she will gladly marry. Not for wealth of the world would she be grossly untrue to you. How, then, are you living? You have no right to take to such a girl a life smirched with unchastity. If you do, there is a secret shame you never will outgrow, a pang that you will feel whenever your children clamber to your arms. To have a home free from all that, with memories high and beautiful, is worth anything that it may cost. Those who have such homes do not call the price of them self-denial. It is all clear gain. They have surrendered dust for diamonds. For this is the deepest truth about self-denial: that men positively set their hearts upon some high possession which they greatly want, and, paying the price of it in self-restraint, they count themselves the happiest of men to possess their treasure. Self-denial is not negative repression, but the cost of positive achievement. If we will not deny ourselves for a Christian home, we shall deny ourselves a Christian home! What more appalling self-renunciation can there be? If we will not deny ourselves a loose and unchaste life, then we shall deny ourselves self-respect and a conscience fit to live with. If we will not deny ourselves bad temper and a wagging tongue, then we shall deny ourselves those habits of thought and life that keep divine fellowship away from human hearts, then we shall deny ourselves God. In short, if we will not give up evil for good, we shall surely give up good for evil. Where there is a will there is a won't. Self-denial is inescapable. It is not negative, forbidding amputation of self from which men often shrink. It is the price men pay when they have positively set their hearts upon some chosen goal. At its highest, it is the privilege life offers us of buying the best at the sacrifice of something less desired. My young friends, each one of you may be the cornerstone in the God-ordained institution of the home, and for PRO version
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that responsibility you are now preparing. The prerequisite to ideal marriage and a happy home is deep and abiding love. If this holy relationship is to continue, there must be purity of thought, word, and action. The pillars of the home are devotion, loyalty, sacrifice, integrity, fidelity, honesty, and again unsullied virtue. Mutual respect and consideration are next to fidelity and love, the most important stones in the foundation of a happy home, and mutual respect is impossible without self-respect. Each person should revere and honor the sanctity of life and live on the high plateau where self-respect is paramount. This he will do if he remembers that his life proceeds from God. He will then be loyal to the royal in himself. No fleeting gratification can compensate for the loss of self-respect. We, whose duties require us to travel, meet hundreds of thousands of the young people of the Church, and in the main we have every reason to be proud of them. We trust you; we love you; we count on you. But we are anxious for you because we know from experience something of the power and the tactics of an unrelenting enemy-hence this warning note! Young men and women contemplating marriage should keep their lives sweet and pure, wholesome and invincible, not only that they themselves may have the deep satisfaction of maintaining self-esteem, but also that they may transmit to those who follow them the priceless heritage of innate purity. The cement in the foundation of the home is respect, including self-respect. When that cement is gone, both the character of the individuals and the home itself begin to disintegrate. The man whose heart is pure is invincible. His integrity is his shield, and virtue is his armor. He will be impervious to slander, envy, hatred, or malice, and they who seek to injure him will bring ignominy upon themselves. Quoting Emerson: Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of this world. The righteous man is a courageous man because he has nothing to hide. He is not afraid of the sunlight. He does PRO version
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not live in the fear that "truth will out." He has done nothing of which he need be ashamed, and is therefore fearless. Tennyson said: My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure. Purity is the richest diadem in all the world. It is a priceless jewel, a gift from heaven bestowed on all at birth. God grant that you may wear it. Though it is fragile, it should not be kept in a vault like crown jewels. Its value is increased by wearing. No treasure in this world is as rich as the consciousness of purity, and in order to retain it, one must avoid not only impure acts but also impure thoughts. There is a distinction between innocence and purity. One is passive and the other active. Someone has parodied one of Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poems as follows: It's easy enough to be virtuous When nothing tempts you to stray, When without and within no voice of sin Is luring your soul away; But it's only a negative virtue Until it is tried by fire. And the soul that is worth the blessings of earth Is the soul that resists desire. The story is told that some shepherds once saw an eagle soar out from a crag. It flew majestically far up into the sky, but by and by became unsteady and began to waver in its flight. At length one wing dropped and then the other, and the poor bird fell swiftly to the ground. The shepherds sought the fallen bird and upon examination found that a little serpent had fastened itself upon it while it had been on the crag. The eagle did not know that the serpent was there, but it crawled through the feathers while the proud monarch was sweeping through the air and thrust its fangs into the eagle's flesh. The bird came reeling into the dust. PRO version
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This could be the story of many a life if some secret sin has been eating its way into the heart. Eventually a proud life lies soiled and dishonored in the dust. When virile, ambitious young men-and we meet many of them-wear the badge of purity with the grace and comeliness of a virgin, we behold man's innate Godlike status. We can establish a virtuous society only when both men and women keep morally clean. There must not be a double standard. Virtue is protected by modesty and should garnish the thoughts and adorn the lives of our people, young and old, that we may be known for our decency, propriety, culture, and integrity. Let our thoughts, words, dress, and general deportment indicate our belief in the sanctity of the body as the temple of God even as Paul declared it to be: ... for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. —2 Cor. 6:16 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 1 Cor. 3:17 Young ladies, being ladies you must constantly wear the hallmark of modesty. No decent man admires an immodest woman. It is very dangerous to jump to the conclusion that an act which you have committed or are committing is all right simply because you have plenty of company. Quoting from Dr. Pitirim Sorokin: PRO version
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Sexual behavior, like any other kind, must be tested for rightness or wrongness by your own conscience. Will it harm your community? Your family? Yourself? Then it is wrong, and you cannot make it right by proving that fifty percent of the population does likewise! Some biologists spend their lives studying lower forms of life-animals, insects and plants-and they observe that the entire life cycle of a potato bug or a fruit fly is devoted to insuring the survival of the species. But we are not potato bugs and you cannot take theories that look good in a zoology lab and apply them unchanged to human beings. Humans, unlike any other forms of life, are concerned not only with survival of the species but with what kind of lives we are going to lead while we are here and what manner of man is going to survive. We experience love, spirituality, idealism, and creativity. We have intellect, conscience, and hope. These are scientific realities and they enter strongly into our personal reproductive habits. . . Many scientists are already wondering whether or not there is a connection between the shaky status of our sexual morality and the rise in the rate of crime, suicide, juvenile delinquency, and insanity. Personally, I believe there is. Great cities of ancient times were brought to rubble heaps and their civilizations destroyed because of the overemphasis and perversion of the sex instinct. Today, commercialized vice and sexual promiscuity are striking hammer blows at the rock foundation of our homes and our society. Every normal person is equipped with a sex urge. Its misuse or promiscuous expression brings sorrow, heartbreak, disease, even death, and if this urge is not regulated or checked, our civilization must crumble as have others. Some shortsighted persons claim that what they do to themselves or between themselves is no one's business but their own. This is flimsy and absurd rationalization. No one lives in a vacuum, and no man is an island. Whose business does it promptly become if a young person yields to immoral conduct? Is it nobody's business but his own? His family is concerned and all of his relatives, his school, the town or city where he lives, and the PRO version
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ward and stake. The Lord is concerned and disappointed. Yes, it is someone's business how we behave. Young people contemplating marriage, and young married couples, too, must know that improper sex conduct is not a private affair and that many innocent people may be seriously affected. The young married couple should make sure that the children who come into their home have proper emotional patterns, habits, and training to guide them. Unwise and unrestrained sex conduct can destroy love, which, if nurtured, protected, and kept sweet, can and should unfold its highest potentialities of joy, dignity, and moral value in the marriage state. Hill and Duvall in an excellent text When You Marry, say that morality makes sense because: 1. Our society is organized around moral behavior as a norm. 2. Conscience needs to be reckoned with. It's more comfortable to be meal. 3. Insight rests on an understanding of the social order-on a knowledge of the consequences of behavior. 4. Social approval of friends is important to personal security, and the older we get the more conservative our friends become on moral issues. 5. Self-realization, freedom to grow, and freedom to work with others lies in the direction of moral living. 6. The consequences of immorality are harmful to personality and to members of society. Sin is stealthy-it usually sneaks up on its prey. Young people should know that, generally speaking, people do not lose their virtue by one impulsive act. Putting it in my own words, men do not go to hell in one jump. I remember reading of a man in Canada who advertised for someone to drive six horses on a stagecoach over a mountainous road. There were quite a number of applicants, but of three we will speak. One came in and the man said, "How close could you drive to a precipice on a winding road without going over?" `Well," he said, "I think I could drive within six inches of it and be safe." The next man heard the first one and thought he would outdo him. When he was asked the question, he said, "Why, I could just crowd the dirt off the edge of the precipice and be all right." When the third man came up and was asked the same question, he said, "Sir, I don't know how close I could PRO version
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come and be safe, but this I know, I am going to keep just as far away from the edge as I can get." Which one of them do you think he hired? On the very brink of sorrow and disgrace are they who are guilty of immodesty, necking, petting, or other secret and unwholesome practices. Neither person is at his best when he is petting. Each discovers in the other and reveals in himself traits of which he should be ashamed. He is voluntarily permitting himself to be led down the path of misery and shame. Some pride themselves on never going further than petting. They do not realize how disastrously far they have already gone. Petting is prompted by lust, but lust is not abated by petting-it is whetted and is the gateway to disaster. Exploring and fondling the body of the opposite sex is reprehensible and tragically dangerous. If you tempt yourself or others with the false idea that you can play with fire and not get burned, I warn you, as a father, that fire is no respecter of persons. The folly of neither the ignorant nor of the self-styled sophisticate will be excused for broken law. God's laws are immutable and inexorable. If it's a choice between being a poor sport and a simple fool-don't be a fool. If you young men cannot be gentlemen, do not, I pray you, be cads. Decent men looking for wives and choosing mothers for their children do not want girls who make a public display of their bodies, permit undue intimacies, or tell unclean stories. They want wives who will become exemplars to their own daughters. Modesty indicates moral integrity, which is respected by decent people everywhere. All true gentlemen honor and revere modest virgins and saintly mothers. God himself sanctified and glorified both virginity and motherhood when he made them the vehicle through which his Son came to earth. Any immodesty inducing impure thoughts is a desecration of the body-that temple in which the Holy Spirit may dwell. Young people, I plead with you, keep the air pure. Do not make it foul by telling unclean stories. They who listen willingly to them are inhaling germ-laden gas. Personally, I shall rebel if anyone tries to hold my head over a manhole into a sewer, and that is, figuratively, what happens when men or women tell or listen to unclean stories. They who are guilty of this offense are usually seeking to get attention by making people laugh and thus become the `Bile of the party." They seem to forget that nothing foul is funny, and that though they for the moment "have the floor" many of their captive listeners are offended and disgusted and they themselves are listed as socially PRO version
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repugnant. The man or woman who is guilty of profanity, swearing, or crude slang unwittingly reveals a soiled mind and a limited vocabulary, and is pitied and shunned by all cultured people. Profaning the name of God is an affront to him, and he has forbidden it. The sin of unchastity, which in the Ten Commandments is listed among the "thou shalt nots," is often compounded of, or calls in as allies, most of the other misbehaviors known to man. The adversary intends it to be followed by a chain reaction of the sinner. Satan is never satisfied with one conquest but on the false promise of self-protection attempts to cut off all retreat by tempting his victim to follow detours into such downhill paths as lying, cheating, and even destroying the evidence of his guilt by killing the unborn victim of his lust. There are various types and degrees of infidelity, lewdness, and licentiousness, various ways in which men and women tempt themselves or permit themselves to be tempted to commit adultery. Lucifer uses all of them, even the secret thoughts of the mind and unclean conversation, as weapons in his arsenal to destroy mankind. Don't let anyone tempt you to believe that what you do is secret and won't get out. The devil will see that it does. Lucifer and his agents have unfortunately devised means by which men may partially protect themselves against the natural physical results of their indecency and have thereby led many into shameful acts by whispering the twin lies, "It is no longer dangerous," and "No one will ever know." With these false assurances, thousands who might have been deterred by fear of consequences have been lured into transgression. Here is a word from Margaret C. Banning which I wish you girls would stamp on your hearts. Put it on the mirror of your dresser where you will see it every day. Listen to Mrs. Banning: ... Each girl's chastity is the interweaving of her moral code, her nervous system, her physical being, and her mind. Does she realize how profoundly that interwoven fabric may be altered in a few yielding moments? Even without a sense of actual sin against religion, the "guilt sense" persists in a large majority of cases. Much self-respect and happiness are lost forever. Dr. Henry A. Bowman, a renowned U. S. expert on courtship and marriage says: PRO version
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When all is said and done, there is nothing gained from premarital adventure except immediate pleasure and that at tremendous risk and exorbitant cost. No really intelligent person will burn a cathedral to fry an egg, even to satisfy a ravenous appetite. That is, figuratively, what you do when you surrender the most priceless thing which God has entrusted to your care. The remarkable thing is that he has entrusted it to us because he believes in us, and he gave us our free agency. Dr. Bowman adds: During sexual excitement moral and religious considerations may be temporarily suspended, only to reappear and haunt one after his return to the somewhat cooler state of normalcy. Mrs. Banning has written further: ... Without scolding, or without minimizing the rights of individual love, it ought to be shown that through the laws involving marriage may be evaded and broken, they do exist and penalties are still exacted for their infractions. ... Experts, doctors, psychologists, and friends may advise, but they do not decide the end. This is one of the social problems which is broken up into individual cases for decision. Out of this tangle of impulses, some of them inherited and some the product of immediate environment, the burden of the race as well as individual happiness is laid upon each boy and girl. The altitude toward chastity is as important a matter as may come to each one of them in a whole lifetime. That means that the effort of their elders should be to keep plainly before them all these scientific, spiritual, and historical arguments for chastity which will strengthen their own normal resistance and make them equal to any task. Someone, whose name I do not know, wrote the following challenging statement: "If you would be among the noble, you must be noble. If you would be among the wise, you must be wise. If you would be among the pure in heart, you must be pure in heart." The password to these select groups is, "Are you worthy?" You may get by with falsifying, but if you do (and I hope you remember this), you will have to suffer the misery of seeing your own mediocrity unmasked in the presence of greatness. It is our painful duty, all to frequently, to have young people, and older people too, unmasked before us, and there is no heartbreak equal to the heart-break of humiliation. PRO version
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Sometimes you wonder why the Church leaders speak so often and so frankly on the evils of unchastity. May I tell you one reason. We think that sexual immorality is one of the most serious of sins because by it a person is warring against himself. It may be called "individual civil war," because no man can do wrong and feel right about it. There is always something in him that protests, and he is fighting against himself. We don't want our young people, nor the older ones, to be guilty of things of which they themselves cannot approve. If you do a good thing, a gracious act, a noble deed, every fiber of your being approves and rejoices. There are no after effects of remorse, fear of detection, regret, desire to escape, avoidance of erstwhile comrades. But if you do that which is wrong, your better self will resist, caution, and warn, and try to dissuade you. Heaven is not gained at a single bound, But we build the ladders by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, And we mount to its summit round by round. —Josiah Gilbert Holland There is no greater than the perversion and degradation of love. Wickedness never was happiness. Consider the consequences of immorality: a. Secret marriages-which become gossip-ridden. b. Rushed marriages-which give no time for lovely trousseau teas, receptions, etc. c. Broken engagements. d. Temple recommends that can't be issued or must be waited for and repented for. e. Forced marriage to mates you never, never otherwise would have married. (Objective studies have shown divorce rates for these "forced marriages" are disproportionately high.) f. "Broken hearts" for your own parents and the parents of the person you violated. Young people, keep close to your Heavenly Father. Talk to him every day of your life. Talk to him in the morning and tell him where you are going and what you are going to do. Then all through the day remember you are going to talk to him again in the evening and tell him what you did. If you will remind yourself, when you are tempted to do wrong, that you must report to the Lord in your evening prayers, you will be given strength to resist. You were PRO version
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made in his image, you are his beloved child; he wants you to keep on speaking terms with him. Keep active in the Church. Many good studies have shown less crime, delinquency, immorality, venereal infection, etc., in those actively engaged in church work than in the inactive, negatives, and others. Girls, will you please not follow too closely the fashions of the day? Now I know I am on thin ice here, but if young women knew how good men, young and old, react to improper exposure, we doubt if they would be so foolish and naive. The exposing of the body to public view, or permitting intimacies, is like a "for sale" sign indicating cheap, shopworn, or marked-down goods. In a mercantile establishment such merchandise generally invites handling and is cheapened and soiled thereby. Dr. Pitirim A. Sorokin said: Today one of the biggest threats to our continued existence as a healthy, powerful nation is the preoccupation of our population with the worship of sexual prowess. We are in danger, as my college students put it, of going "sex crazy. I do not think it is going too far to say that the kind of sexual freedom which millions of Americans calmly accept as normal today is as menacing to our internal security as anything yet uncovered. A consuming interest in sex has so penetrated our national culture that it has been estimated we encounter some kind of sexual lure every nine minutes of our waking day. We must remember that the family is the first and most effective educator of the nation's youth. The family that is harmonious and solidly integrated delivers sound human material to bulwark society. The family that is disorderly and unstable is likely to contribute defective members to the community. Those families among us which frequently change husbands and wives, which fail in their duties to their children and adopt the moral code of the gutter are pushing all of us along the road to chaos. Many young people come to the marriage altar almost illiterate insofar as the basic and fundamental function is concerned. The sex instinct is not something which we need to fear or be ashamed of. It is God-given and has a high and holy purpose. Through the union of the sexes, God provided for the continuity of the race. Reproduction PRO version
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is a law pervading nature everywhere. Through the operation of this divine law God's creative work continues. The powerful sex drives are instinctive, which is to say, God-given, and therefore are not evil per se. In order that these instincts may be controlled and directed into proper channels, they should be indulged only within the divinely instituted sacrament of marriage. Chastity throughout life requires self-control, reverence for personality, respect for the rights of others, and for the laws of God. God's law of chastity is as binding on men as on women. Each has the same need and responsibility to be pure in heart. One of the most lethal weapons used by Lucifer against the first offender is the disarming implication that, having once sinned, there is no hope and that therefore he might just as well surrender and sample all the other "scented poisons" prepared for his complete destruction. Let all young pilgrims know that God is a Loving Father who stands ready to assist them. He understands the weaknesses of his children, and, if they fall and sincerely wish to rise again, they can rely upon his love and mercy and may obtain the blessings that follow true repentance. But let us all remember that in his economy there is an immutable penalty for every broken law. There is no swift repentance can retrieve a violated principle, No crying, "I believe." No, we must wear them out by patient years. For each descent from fair truth's lofty way, For each gross error which delays the soul, By that soul's gloom and loneliness we pay And by the retarded journey to its goal. If we are to hold high the torch which our fathers tossed to us, there must be personal purity in the home, on the campus, in the Church. PRO version
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Immodesty in thought, word, or deed assails integrity at its foundation, and integrity is the bulwark of life. Refuse to come down from your pedestal, refuse to be cheap, tarnished, or unclean. Refuse to sell out. Hold a high opinion of yourself! Lincoln said, speaking of his home: Here in my heart, my happiness, my house. Here inside the lighted window is my love, my hope, my life. Peace is my companion on the pathway winding to the threshold. Inside this portal dwells new strength in the security, serenity, and radiance of those I love above life itself. Here two will build new dreams-dreams that tomorrow will come true. The world over, these are the thoughts at eventide when footsteps turn ever homeward. In the haven of the hearthside is rest and peace and comfort. Each of us could well offer the prayer which the poet penned: Refining fire, go through my heart, Illuminate my soul; Scatter thy light through every part, And sanctify the whole. This matches the promise of the Lord himself: "... let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly, then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God and the PRO version
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doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth, and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee for ever and ever."—D. & C. 121:45-46 My dear young friends, one of the duties which forms part of the charge that is given to every man who becomes a member of the Council of the Twelve is that he shall bear witness of the divinity of Jesus the Christ. When Peter was asked by Christ, "Whom say ye that I am?" he answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Young people, humbly but with the same authority with which Peter spoke, I say to you tonight and to Him, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God." I know it as Peter knew it, by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Another obligation and privilege given to us is to bless the people. Now at the beginning of a new school year, the first college year for many of you, standing on this great campus which was established by inspiration, I humbly pray God to bless you. Father, bless and protect these young men and women. Protect them against the wiles of the adversary. Give them the good sense, O God, to be clean. Help them to be worthy of the blessings which are here offered to them. I ask this blessing upon you, my young friends, and I say to each and every one present, you will be equal to any temptation that may come to you provided you meet it with firmness when it first appears. I repeat, no man goes to hell in a single jump. Be careful with the first appearance of evil. Sin is a monster of so frightful mien As to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet, seen too oft, familiar with his face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace. —Alexander Pope PRO version
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I leave to you the blessings of peace, of companionship, of joy and happiness, and the special blessing that comes through education-the educating of the mind and the heart. I bless you that you may be worthy of the parents who sent you here, and who are supporting you, praying for you, and counting on you. I bless you that you may be worthy of the name you bear, and that you may have a testimony of the gospel of Christ. I leave this blessing and my testimony with you tonight, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —Fireside, Brigham Young University First Stake, Second Stake, and Third Stake, September 30, 1962 Return to top
Distinguishing Characteristics of the Church My brethren and sisters, although we face this challenging assignment semi-annually, we still anticipate and approach it with trepidation and deep humility. We are fearful that sometime we may depend upon ourselves alone and we know that if we should our words would be as sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. Now I know that I cannot say anything that will be new to members of the Church. I cannot say anything that has not been said many times before, and of course better said, but I am encouraged by the announcement of the President that we are favored this morning with the presence of many of our friends, both in the tabernacle and in the radio and television audience, whom he has welcomed as our invited guests. May I assume that some of you, our brothers and sisters who are not in the Church, might be interested in a very brief review of some of the teachings and practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which distinguish it, for it is somewhat unique. We are not Catholic, Protestant, nor Jewish, and yet this disclaimer should not be taken to mean that we are not Christian. We are grateful for our Judaeo-Christian heritage, for the Holy Bible which we accept without reservation as the word of God, except as to some errors that have crept in through translation. PRO version
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But the difference between us and other churches lies in our faith in and proclamation of what we believe to be the most important message that has come to this earth since Christ lived among men. We make that statement because we believe that the restoration of the Gospel was introduced by Jesus Christ personally and therefore there could be no more important message. Now when we say, as we do say, that there has been a divine restoration of the Apostolic Church, with all of the power and authority thereof, we are aware that it presupposes; and we declare, that there was a need for a restoration; that there has been an apostasy; that during the Middle and the Dark Ages there was spiritual stagnation. If it is not true that there was an apostasy, then our declaration of a restoration is superficial and meaningless. If it is true that there has been a restoration, then all men everywhere should know of it, for the gospel of the Kingdom must be preached to all the world. The apostles and prophets predicted an apostasy, and great historians such as Mosheim and Eusebius and others record it as a fact. We are not alone among the churches in proclaiming a universal apostasy. The Church of England frankly sets it forth in the following words: "So that laity and clergy, learned and unlearned, all ages, sects, and degrees of men, women, and children of whole Christendom * * * * have been at once drowned in abominable idolatry * * * * and that by the space of eight hundred years and more." (Homily Against Peril of Idolatry.) John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, comments as follows on the early decline of spiritual power and the cessation of the divine gifts and graces within the church: "It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were common in the Church for more than two or three centuries. We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian; . . . From this time they almost totally ceased, very few instances of the kind being found. The cause of this was not, as has been supposed, because there was no more occasion for them, because all the world was become Christians. This is a miserable mistake; not a twentieth part of it was then nominally Christian. The real cause of it was that the love of many, almost all Christians, so called, was waxed cold. The Christians had no more of the spirit of Christ than the other heathens. . . . This was the real reason the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church because the Christians were turned heathens again, and only had a dead form left."John Wesley's Works, Vol. VII, 89; 26-27. PRO version
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Paul said that the time would come when men would not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they should heap unto themselves teachers having itching ears. He warned against the intrusion of falsehoods and said, "That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2 Thessalonians 2:2-4.) John, on the Isle of Patmos, beheld the great dragon that should overcome the Church and have power in all nations, kindreds and tongues. All of these things being predicted, and now recorded by the historians, justifies at least in a measure our statement that following that apostasy there has been a restoration. Perhaps you, our friends, ask what was restored that we did not have before? We humbly, but without equivocation, reply that the Kingdom of God has been set up upon the earth, organized under His divine guidance-the very Kingdom for which you and Christians in all nations have been praying since Jesus first taught the Lord's Prayer to His apostles, the central thought of which is, "Thy kingdom come. We announce the organization of the Kingdom which Jesus commanded all men to make the first object of their search, when he said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." We believe this is the dispensation of the fulness of times of which the Apostle Paul spoke, "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:" (Ephesians 1:10.) Now you, my friends, may think it presumptuous for us to claim that this is the Church and Kingdom of God-and it would be presumptuous if we said men had organized it, or that men were responsible for its restoration. That certain men were chosen and had part in it is true. But it is not presumptuous to announce that the God of Heaven has set up His Kingdom, for He did it pursuant to divine decree, and in harmony with what the apostles and prophets of old saw in holy vision. It has been said that history repeats itself, and someone observed: "We learn from history that we do not learn from history." Christians have often wondered how the Jews could have rejected Christ when they had been hoping and praying through the centuries for the coming of the promised Messiah. Let us add to our prayer "Thy PRO version
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kingdom come"-also centuries old-a petition that we may not reject it when it comes. We believe that this Kingdom is now set up in order that the will of God might be done in the earth as it is in heaven and that it is preparatory to the second coming of the Son of God. We believe it is the Kingdom which Daniel saw. All of you will remember reading the story of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who had a dream in which he saw a great image with a head of gold, shoulders and arms of silver, body of brass, legs of iron, and feet and toes of iron and clay. You will remember that the king called in his wise men but could not get the interpretation of his dream, and that he sent for Daniel who, when asked if he could interpret the dream, said, ". . . There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known . . . what shall be in the latter days. . . ." (Daniel 2:28.) Then he said, "Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory." (Daniel 2:37.) He went on to say that the king had vast power and then he said, "Thou art this head of gold." Then Daniel with prophetic insight, and in amazing detail, foresaw the rise and fall of the nations of the earth-the great Babylonian empire, represented by the head of gold, the Medo-Persian empire, by the shoulders and arms of silver, the Greek, by the brass, the divided kingdom of Rome, by the legs of iron and the feet and toes which represented the many kingdoms of Europe and the world, which would not cleave together. "And," said Daniel, "in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall . . . break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." (Daniel 2:44.) Is it presumptuous for us to say that that prophecy has been literally fulfilled? Do you not think it likely inasmuch as Daniel predicted so accurately the rise and fall of these kingdoms, each in turn, that the latter part of his great prophetic declaration must be also fulfilled? If the Kingdom of God is not on the earth then we must believe firmly that that part of Daniel's vision will yet be fulfilled. That it has been and is being fulfilled in these latter days we humbly declare. We should like to say to you, our friends, that there is a way that you may know whether what we say is true or false. Paraphrasing an ancient prophet, we exhort you who hear these things that you ask God the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, if what we say is true, and if you will ask in faith, He will reveal the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. That is a promise made under the inspiration of the Spirit of God to all who will hear it and put it to the test. PRO version
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Hundreds of thousands of people from almost every country have put it to the test, and over a million and a quarter of them will testify, each in his own tongue, that they did ask God the Eternal Father whether these things are true, and that He did reveal the truth of it unto them. I humbly and sincerely declare to you that God has revealed to me the truth of the prophet's declaration of the restoration of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, pursuant to John's revelation where he said: And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: . . Revelation 14:6-7 Humbly I bear witness to the truth of the declaration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that that angel has flown; that Christ has appeared; that other heavenly beings have visited the earth and restored the priesthood; that the Kingdom of God is set up; and that the Savior will come to this earth and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords pursuant to promise, to which I testify humbly in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. General Conference, October 7, 1956 Return to top
Be Prepared I come to you tonight, brothers and sisters, with a message from the President of the Church, a message which consists of two parts. First, he asked that I bring to you his love and blessing and gratitude-gratitude for the work you have done and in anticipation of the work you are going to do. The second part of his message was given to me when I asked him what I should say. He gave me two words only, and I am sure you would be glad if I would say those two words and sit down. The words were: "Be prepared." I hope that does not sound too ominous, but PRO version
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you would know it was serious if you had heard him say it. Now I do not want that to indicate that my talk is going to be one of warning, or prediction of dire calamity, but everyone, I am sure, is aware of conditions we face and I think more than anyone else the President of the Church is greatly concerned. Now unless you should think that I am going to be really serious, I would like to have you smile because after all we must keep a sense of humor whatever comes. I think of all the people in the world we should be the happiest. We have the greatest and most joyous message in the world. I think when we get on the other side, someone will meet us with a smile (unless we go to the wrong place and then someone will grin), so let us be happy. But let our happiness be genuine-let it come from within. We need to keep happy, especially those of us who are growing older. President McKay told me to stop talking about age because, he said, "by reference it includes me, and I refuse to admit that I am old." But I personally am approaching middle life and some of the rest of you will approach it soon if you live. Just yesterday I picked up a little prayer, I do not know who wrote it, but I said "Amen" to it when I read it. I do not know that you will enjoy it until you are my age, but try and remember-it may be helpful when you are old. Lord, Thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing older, and will some day be old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject on every occasion. Release me from trying to straighten out everybody's affairs. Make me thoughtful, but not moody; helpful, but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it, but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends left at the end. Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details, and give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips on my aches and pains-they are increasing and love of hearing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. I do not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others of their pains, but help me to endure them with patience. I do not ask for improved memory, but for growing humility and a lessening cocksuredness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. And teach me, O Lord, the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken. Keep me reasonably sweet. I do not want to be a saint, some of them are too hard to live with, but a sour old person is the crowning work of the devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people, and give me the grace to tell them so. I repeat that you will appreciate that more when you need all those things he asked for, as I do. And in addition to what he said there, and leaving the jocular for a moment, I say, "O Lord, teach me what to say and how to say it." PRO version
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President McKay did not give me any other message for you tonight, but I should like to enlarge upon his statement, so pregnant with thought. I read another line: Faith must venture beyond knowledge, but must always meet the test of practical life and religious experience. In addition to the intellectual imperative, there must always be a moral imperative. Religion is not only good faith, but good works. Religion requires righteousness. I am taking that line of thought for a few moments because I believe that the faculty of the Brigham Young University is the most influential group in the Church. You exert an influence on the lives of the future leaders of the Church. Your position is unique and challenging and, I fear, sometimes frightening when we think of what that future holds. Going on, he says: The spirit of truth is the spirit of religion, whether occupied with sticks and stones or revelations and morals. There is a religiousness in all pure search for truth about anything as well as about everything. The failure of religion to foster knowledge in its own house has an indirect but a far reaching effect on the whole educational system. It was that last sentence which caught my eye. This is a Church institution, founded and supported by the Church. They who teach in this institution are converted, dedicated people. One of the reasons for calling this assembly, as I understood from President Wilkinson, was that the suggestion had come from the First Presidency that something of the Mission President's Seminar be carried over to this campus. I shall not go into any detail as to what was done in that Seminar-we were together eight days. But the thought that caused the First Presidency to indicate that something of the spirit of that occasion should be transfused into this group is a sobering thought, for you too are missionaries. The difference is that your investigators are members of the Church. Many of them, however, are not converted. Challenge that if you wish. PRO version
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When I say not converted, I mean there is much for them to learn. I think most of them will say, "I know the gospel is true," but I ask "Do they know the gospel?" Of course if it is the gospel it is true. It is that thought that I would like to bring from the seminar to you missionaries, faculty members, members of the staff. You are to teach the gospel to the finest group in all the world, the most challenging, the most promising. And if your teaching is not effective and does not carry over into the lives of those you teach, you will be held accountable. I am not saying that this campus should be turned into a Sunday School class; I am saying that truth is fundamental to all learning and that to discover and properly teach truth there must be the spirit of religion. According to our philosophy in the Church, every person in the Church is or should be a missionary. No matter what his profession or vocation, he should be attempting to spread the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ wherever he goes and to touch every life with that message. Your job and mine is to assist the Lord. He needs your help in His avowed purpose to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Ours is the job of discovering and disseminating truth in all fields, never forgetting the source of all truth and always attempting to keep contact with that source. The greatest of all teachers, when He was preparing to leave His disciples, made this stirring comment: And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. —John 17:19 Can you do less as you start this year's work than to sanctify yourselves? We of the Board of Education of the Church challenge you, members of the faculty, staff, academic and nonacademic, to bring to us your problems, to express your opinions, to be unafraid to think, and we want you to be sure that you need not fear the consequences of expressing what you think. Of course, it is assumed that you have progressively something more incisive to think with; that you have some knowledge of the subject you propose to teach and that its truth is a part of you. There has grown up in some places a feeling that there is not complete academic freedom here and that there might be dire consequences for freely expressing thought. We challenge you to bring your best thinking to us. We do not expect to always follow all that you suggest, but we certainly need your help, and for that we plead tonight. We are anxious to do everything we can as a Board of Education to assist you in your continued intellectual and moral growth as teachers and as students, so the minds PRO version
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and spirits of the men and women whose lives you touch may continue to be fresh, exciting, dynamic-and hungry. There must be contagion if your teaching is to be effective. If your students are going to receive inspiration and if the subjects which you teach are to have meaning to them, those subjects must continue to have meaning to you. Only as you keep growing and stretching your own minds will the subjects you teach retain their interest and challenge and not grow old by repetition. Only in that way will you be able to transmit to your students the thing of which I am presently speaking. We would like you to know we are interested in academic research. You must go out on the research front and continue to explore the vast unknown. You should be in the forefront of learning in all fields, for revelation does not come only through the prophet of God nor only directly from heaven in visions or dreams. Revelation may come in the laboratory, out of the test tube, out of the thinking mind and the inquiring soul, out of search and research and prayer and inspiration. You must be unafraid to contend for what you are thinking, unafraid to dissent if you are informed and honest. We must combat error with truth in this divided and imperiled world and do it with the unfaltering faith that God is still in his heaven even though all is not well with the world. I am throwing out this challenge without hesitation because I know and admire the men and women with whom it was my privilege to associate some years ago. You will of course always support the administration and the administrators and the men who have to make decisions and adopt policies and, incidentally, provide the money, and the best support is intelligent, co-operative effort. We have been watching with growing admiration the physical development of this campus, and have been glad to appropriate the necessary funds to enable you to build the most beautiful, utilitarian buildings and campus in the country. We are proud of that, but the Church is growing by tens of thousands every year. Many of our new and old converts will come onto this campus. They will come only half converted, and mere buildings will not convert them. So our second challenge is, let us build a spiritual administration building of which you will be the pillars, to which they may come and from which they may get inspiration and guidance to develop them into faithful and intelligent Latter-day Saints. Sometimes I wonder if we ourselves are fully converted. I know I am not, in the fullest sense. There is no question PRO version
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in my heart or soul with respect to the divinity of this work, but as I grow older I become more and more aware of how little I know about it. If I am to be truly converted, I must continue to grow, to enlarge my knowledge and understanding and thereby my testimony. Do you remember when the Apostle Paul came out of Arabia, he said, "This is my Gospel"? I think he might have held his hands out, thus, "This is my Gospel," his meaning being that "This much of the Gospel has become my Gospel." The gospel is so large that no one of us understands more than a fraction of it. Then when Paul was in Rome at a later date and about to die, he said again, "This is my Gospel," and I think he might have indicated a larger part of the gospel, that more of the gospel had become his gospel. I pray that God will help us in teaching the youth of the Church to understand progressively more of the gospel, to make it our gospel in the same sense that we make food a part of us, by digestion and assimilation. I read in a magazine recently, and most of you professors have run across it, some comments and predictions well worth repeating. David Sarnoff, of the Radio Corporation of America, said to be the best informed man in his field in the world today, made some pertinent remarks. Listen. Speaking to young people, he said: You face the new powers conferred by science to wreck or rebuild the world, and the degree to which you carry faith in God, in your fellow man and in yourselves together with a sense of responsibility and continuing selfdiscipline, by this you will be able to determine whether these tremendous forces, now coming into your hands, will be used to build a better world or be responsible for its destruction. Peace and brotherhood can be achieved. Two of the most potent forces in civilization, religion and science, can be used to create one world in its truest and greatest sense. Through science we can reduce the physical burdens of mankind and make the earth more fruitful, create plenty in place of scarcity, break down the barriers of ignorance and misunderstanding and make life more meaningful for everyone. The world needs the upsurge of spiritual vitality to resist the current cynicism and materialism. The gradual elimination of physical hungers will deepen the more elemental hunger for faith and salvation, for age-old values beyond the material and the temporal, they will gnaw at the spirit and the heart of man. Science begets humility. [He makes a prophecy. To you this is prognostication, I suppose. He makes some statements and he makes them fearlessly. One or two only will I read you, telling what we have done and what we are going to do.] By the year 1978, less than twenty years from now, we will have learned to extract atomic fuel from relatively PRO version
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inexpensive materials, thus making this power both plentiful and economical. The energy of the sun's rays will be effectively harnessed in a worldwide use. Television in full colors will be completely global so that men will be able not only to speak and hear around the globe and around the planets, but to see the entire world in natural colors. Individuals will be able to hold private two-way conversations and see each other as they talk, regardless of the distance separating them. Moreover the beginnings will have been made in the automatic and instantaneous translation of languages, enabling people to understand one another across the barriers of Babel. Remember the message of the Master, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature"? Sarnoff says science will provide the vehicle and make it possible to do just that. We can stand in Salt Lake and talk to all the world and regardless of their languages they will understand what we say, and thus will the world become prepared for the coming of the Son of God. He goes on about transportation and automation and material and electric lights. I have marked a dozen of them. He goes on with the matter of food and agriculture, striking developments, and irrigation and flood control, more efficient use of solar energy, electronic acceleration, germination, growth, as well as new chemical and biological discoveries which will greatly expand man's food resources. As a by-product of economic progress and expanding leisure man will enter upon a period of universal education. Not only will general levels of knowledge rise, but the intellectual climate will be favorable to the development of special talents and individual genius. That might be encouraging to you. He goes into the field of entertainment, and then he says, "As a reaction against current cynicism and materialism, there will be an upsurge of spiritual vitality." He repeated that twice in his article, and again he says, "Science begets humility." My brethren and sisters, be prepared. All of this will happen. But before it does and while it is happening we are going to have some world-shaking events. When you consider that hundreds of millions of young people today are being relentlessly indoctrinated with the damnable doctrine that there is no God and that religion is an opiate; when you consider how well organized the anti-Christ has become and when you consider the challenge that lies ahead; when you see the hordes on the march and in many instances led by well-nigh maniacs-and I am measuring my words, for the Great Battle is to be between Christ and anti-Christ-your job is to prepare the coming generation of men to meet that onslaught. Unless you can impress into their very souls a knowledge of PRO version
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God and of His laws, His purposes, His program, a recognition of the fact that they are related to Him as His children, they will not be equal to the test. Again I say, you will have a greater influence on a greater number of people in the Church than any other group, for you meet ten thousand of them each day. We meet them once a week, perhaps, and then we meet only a few. We meet them under different circumstances and talk down to them and they go away smiling, perhaps. But you are right down there among them, and we want to charge you with the responsibility of filling in where we fail. Give to them your individual testimonies of the divinity of this work. The President said, "Before you leave, tell them what you know about Christ." I cannot do that fully for I would betray a trust. This I may say. He lives. He is real. He is personal. I know it, as Paul knew it, as Job knew it. And by the same authority with which Paul spoke, I say to you, my fellow workers, as though answering his question as did Peter "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." I make that statement humbly, but by the same authority with which Peter spoke. And that statement is inspired from the same source that inspired him, for Christ said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven." He has been good enough to me to reveal that truth to me, and therefore, as I charge you to go out now and carry that message to everyone whose life you touch, as I bear my witness to you, I hope that you will carry with you the spirit that is here tonight, for that spirit only can convert this choice young people. Again I say, your investigators are members of the Church in the main. Convert them, bless them, lead them, inspire them, and to the degree that you do that, God will bless you. That He may, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —Address to B. Y. U. Faculty, September 11, 1961 Return to top
The Gospel Restored My brothers and sisters (and we hope you who are far away and listening in will permit us to address you in these terms, because we believe we are all brothers and sisters), these great semi-annual conferences of The Church PRO version
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of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provide an opportunity for communication and better understanding, also an opportunity to discuss some of the tenets of our faith with our friends who are interested. We appreciate your interest and we invite your consideration with us of some of the principles in which we believe. We believe that as a philosophy, Mormonism is the most profound and the most hopeful in the world today. But it is more than a philosophy. To us it is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, unadulterated by the speculations of men. The basic idea of our religion is the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, with the love of God and the love of fellow men as basic principles. This philosophy was partially envisioned, of course, by Plato, Aristotle, and others, but it was proclaimed with inspiring clarity by Jesus the Christ as a religion. After the crucifixion of Christ and the death of His apostles, it became watered down almost to the point of insipidity during the attempt to Christianize the pagans, which resulted largely in paganizing Christianity. Hence there was a need for a restoration and for continued revelation, and that in essence is our message to you this morning. Millions have believed in this message and have borne witness that it is true, and that witness has come as they believe and as we know from the Holy Spirit. If it is true it is of transcendent importance, as it involves the salvation of the human family. If it is false it will, of course, come to naught. President John Taylor, in his definition of Mormonism, said: "The everlasting Gospel, made known in the last days, is nothing more nor less than the ancient religion restored. It is the commencement of the `restitution of all things' spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world was." Many who hear this message are startled by its seeming audacity. And I suppose it would be audacious, in fact it would be entirely inane, to declare a restoration of the gospel if there had not been an apostasy from and of the Church. Prophecy and history predict and record a great and universal apostasy which was to be followed by a restoration as predicted by John in Revelation. The fact of the great apostasy is attested by both sacred and secular writ, and history bears witness that it became universal. We proclaim this fact of history not as an attack on any church. We do not assume any position of "holier than thou" or "wiser than thou," but we announce this historic fact of the apostasy as a vindication of the claim that there has been in fact a restoration of the gospel. PRO version
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The careful student is inevitably confronted with the question: Has the simple but inspired gospel of Christ been preserved, together with divine authority to administer its ordinances? It is a matter of history that the Church established in the meridian of time was built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. He said, "I came down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me," and He taught the apostles what the Father had taught Him. He sent them forth as His witnesses with a promise that both they and all who accept their message would receive the divine testimony of the Holy Ghost as to the truth of that message. But the Savior was crucified, His apostles were martyred, and confusion reigned in the world. Now, time will not permit more than a brief reference, but we hope some of our listeners will be prompted by this introduction to search the scriptures for prophecies concerning the apostasy and become acquainted with secular and ecclesiastical history. History records the development of the apostasy, which had already begun in the days of the apostles as is noted by Paul in his letter to the Galatians. (Galatians 1:6-8.) Note also Paul's declaration to Timothy: This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away. —2 Timothy 3:1-5 And Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, said: PRO version
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Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. —2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 As Dr. Talmage, Dr. Barker, and others have noted, the historian Eusebius cites the testimony of earlier writers who inform us that when the sacred choir of apostles became extinct and the generation of those that had been privileged to hear their inspired wisdom had passed away, then also the combinations of impious error arose by the fraud and delusions of false teachers. These also, as there were none of the apostles left, henceforth attempted without shame to preach their false doctrine against the gospel of truth. And in Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History we read of the schisms and dissensions by which the Church was rent in the latter part of the first century-the period immediately following that of the apostolic ministry. "It will easily be imagined," Mosheim says, "that unity and peace could not reign long in the Church since it was composed of Jews and Gentiles who regarded each other with the bitterest aversion. . . . Thus, the seeds of discord and controversy were easily sown and could not fail to spring up soon into animosities and dissensions which accordingly broke out and divided the Church." In the second century many unnecessary rites and ceremonies were added to the Christian worship, the introduction of which was, according to Mosheim, ". . . extremely offensive to wise and good men. Both Jews and heathens were accustomed to a vast variety of pompous and magnificent ceremonies in their religious service, and as they considered these rites as an essential part of religion, it was but natural that they should behold with PRO version
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indifference and even with contempt the simplicity . . . which was destitute of those idle ceremonies that rendered their service so spacious and striking." John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, comments as follows on the early decline of spiritual power and the cessation of divine gifts and graces within the Church: "It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were common in the church for more than two or three centuries. We seldom hear of them after that fatal period when the Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian and from a vain imagination of promoting the Christian cause, thereby heaped riches and power and honor upon the Christians in general but in particular upon the Christian clergy. From this time, the gifts of the spirit almost totally ceased, very few instances of the kind being found. The cause of this was not, as has been supposed, because there was no more occasion for them, because all the world was become Christian. This is a miserable mistake. Not a twentieth part of it was then nominally Christian. The real cause of it was that the love of many was waxed cold. The Christians had no more of the spirit of Christ than the other heathens." The Church of England and other Protestant churches frankly admit the fact of the Apostasy. Our question is, if the "Mother Church" was without divine authority or spiritual power, how could her children derive from her the right to officiate in the things of God? Can man originate for himself a priesthood which God will honor and respect? Granted, men may create among themselves societies, associations, sects, etc. They may formulate laws, prescribe rules and construct elaborate plans of organization and government. But, we ask you, from whence can such human creations derive the authority or stamp of the Holy Priesthood without which-and I emphasize this-without which there can be no Church of Christ. It is claimed that a line of succession of the Priesthood has been maintained from the beginning of the apostolic age to the present. We believe this claim to be wholly untenable in a light of a rational interpretation of history. All dissenting churches are by their own admission and by the circumstances of their origin, man-made institutions. The fact of the Great Apostasy is admitted by theologians who profess a belief in Christianity the world over. Thus we read in Smith's Bible Dictionary, "We must not expect to see the Church of Christ existing in its perfection on the earth. It is not to be found thus perfect, either in the collected fragments of Christendom or still PRO version
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less in any one of those fragments." Martin Luther's notable revolt against the Papal Church spread throughout Europe and assumed such proportions as to be designed as the great Reformation. Such men as Melanchthon, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox, Wycliffe, and others, although they disagreed among themselves, all became reformers and were collectively known as Protestants. On every side the cry was heard, "Lo, here is Christ," and "Lo, there." Now, the sequel to the Great Apostasy is the restoration of the gospel, which we proclaim. It marks the inauguration of the dispensation of the fulness of times. This glorious event occurred in the early part of the nineteenth century, when the Father and the Son manifested themselves unto man, when the Holy Priesthood with all its powers and authority was again brought to earth. The restoration of the gospel is at once the consummation of the work of God throughout the ages and the final preparation for the second advent of Jesus the Christ. The Church affirms that after a long night of spiritual darkness, the dawning of a brighter day was heralded by divine messengers and the Church of Jesus Christ was authoritatively established. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, stands on the declaration that the Holy Priesthood is operative upon the earth, not as an inheritance through earthly continuation from the apostolic age, but as the endowment of a new dispensation, brought to earth by heavenly ministration. This restoration, divinely predicted and divinely achieved, has been witnessed as a realization of the revelation given to John on the Isle of Patmos when he said: And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. —Revelation 14:6, 7 In the light of these historical facts, which were in fulfillment of the prophetic utterances of the prophets and apostles of old, we declare that the God of heaven has, pursuant to promise, restored the everlasting gospel, and PRO version
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all people who will may hear its message and partake of its blessings. The revealed gospel answers certain basic questions vital to the happiness of man. No man can escape the questions as to his origin, the purpose of his existence, and his future. The correct answer to these questions gives a feeling of security and a sense of values that lead to joyous living. They are questions which our ordinary experience cannot answer. Science makes no attempt to answer them. Philosophers have speculated but have arrived at various conclusions, none of which satisfies the longings of the soul. They query: Who am I? Why am I here? What comes after this life? Is there a God and is He personally interested in me? Will the family relationships which give us joy in this life be continued or will they cease with death? To these questions and many others we have answers revealed from heaven. If the gospel is the "good news," if it is the gospel of joy, then certainly the answers to these and other vital questions will be given, and we declare that they have been given. Man is a spirit child of God. Man is here to gain strength in choosing between right and wrong, to obey the command. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48.) After this life comes further growth and joy. There is a God and he is personally interested in man. The Church reconciles the principles of authority and individual liberty and has all the advantages both of an authoritative government and of a democratic government, and none of their weaknesses. It is the divine solution of a vital problem. The corroborative evidences in favor of the restored gospel and the re-established Church are so striking that it is difficult to escape the absolute intellectual conviction of their divinity. But a testimony of its truth can be had only by the witness of the Holy Ghost. The apostles said: And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. —Acts 5:32 PRO version
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And the Savior himself added: If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. —John 7:17 This the Lord has authorized his servants to promise to all those who obey. This is the mark of the divine Church, that all who do His will shall know of the doctrine. When truth meets error, error must finally give way. Even though the churches were to modify their creeds so as to approximate the revealed truths, there would still be the question of accepting the source of the truth and the question of authority. Man can organize a church and choose an earthly head, but he cannot secure recognition of his work-he cannot place the Savior at the head of his human church. The administration of the ordinances in such a church has no validity. Some have questioned whether the Mormons are Christians. We answer emphatically, Yes. We repeat what we have reverently declared since the organization of the Church, that Jesus the Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world and that his is the only "name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12.) This has been the solemn testimony of millions who have died and other millions now living. We proclaim His divinity. He is the Son of the living God, the Redeemer and Savior of the human race, in short, the Christ. How do we know this? Our knowledge comes from the same source as did the Apostle Peter's. Jesus said to him: . . . flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. —Matthew 16:17 Humbly and reverently, but without equivocation, we solemnly bear this testimony to the divinity of the Christ and the restoration of the gospel, and promise that the Holy Ghost will also bear witness of its truth to anyone who prayerfully seeks divine guidance. We make this declaration, bear this testimony, and leave with you our love, our blessings, and our invitation to PRO version
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become better acquainted with this remarkable message that the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored again to the earth, for we announce it humbly in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —General Conference, October 4, 1964 Return to top
Learn Continually In my opinion, there are no people in the world to whom the challenge of this generation's vast outpouring of knowledge is more direct and more imperative than it is to the Latter-day Saints. In fact, one of the great and eternal truths enunciated by the Prophet is that a man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge. Again he said: "It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance." "The glory of God is intelligence." Among the things, then, which we have to incorporate in our education is a hunger and thirst for knowledge, a continuing quest. If the question were asked of any group what they would change if they could live their lives over again, I think the answer would be, "My education." Education has been said to be a continuous life-long process. From the revelations of the Lord we find that it is an eternal process. What one knew at twenty-one, at thirty-five, or at sixty is never enough to last a lifetime. The degree of our intelligence in business, profession, home life, family life, social affairs, civic life-in fact, our religious and personal philosophy-is largely determined by our education. The wise are too aware of their weaknesses to assume infallibility. The man who knows the most knows how little he knows. I am thinking now in terms of the people who are listening there in your audience-many of them college graduates who have gone out into life. Teachers tell us that the aim of a liberal education is the improvement of the mind that the mind grows with the acquisition of knowledge and skill. As our understanding deepens and as we gain new insights, our capacity to do and to be and to become increases. There are limitless areas all about us which are as yet unexplored, and PRO version
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they become increasingly evident as we push back the horizons of our knowledge. It seems to me that all adult people should be deeply impressed by ideas. There is a set of books recently published known as The Great Books of the Western World. It is a complete set given to the explanation of ideas. In it we find a discussion of the ideas of the great men of the past two or three thousand years. All self-educated men and women continue to plunge, as it were, into the sea of books and try to think their way out of an apparent wilderness of ideas. They fight and struggle for knowledge and undertake to coordinate and systematize it. This quest for knowledge becomes, then, an important and necessary part of life. It does not end-in fact, sometimes it does not even begin-in college. In the first place, it is of utmost importance that we feel and appreciate the need for keeping abreast of what is going on in the world. I am concerned with the Latter-day Saints as a group, concerned that they shall never feel that because we say we have the truth our search for truth has therefore ended. What we have is truth, but there is much truth that has not yet been revealed. We must keep open minds and be inquiring constantly into the latest ideas, inventions and propositions that are available to us in current literature. Our acceptance of the gospel is just the beginning of our education. This must be added upon. We should therefore be students of current events, read assiduously a few of the best magazines and current books in order to meet informed and intelligent people and be able to discuss the gospel with them in the light of the latest discoveries of students and scholars in the physical and social sciences, in the humanities and the arts. Let us measure all so-called "new truths" by the standard of basic truth, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These truths do not become obsolete, nor do they change; but our interpretation may be faulty incomplete. In fact, we know it is. No one of us can, even in a lifetime, know more than a small part of what there is to be known. Therefore, we must select from what is current and up to date the course of study in which we find the greatest interest and become proficient in it by reading and discovering everything that appears or is available in that field. Then, in addition to our special interest, we should learn something about other fields of knowledge and thus gain and increase our general understanding and knowledge of as many subjects as possible. But we should know some one subject well enough to teach it to others. PRO version
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When the gospel was restored, the Lord advised us, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, that a great and marvelous work was to come forth. Since that time there has been a revolution in knowledge in all fields of human endeavor. It is therefore incumbent upon us to be well informed and proficient through study, reading and prayer, The Lord never puts a premium on sluggish thinking. Sluggishness of spirit is most deplorable. We must be prepared to meet men of science and knowledge and present to them the gospel in the light of what they already have. I have been asked for suggestions on how we may acquire a working knowledge of the classics in literature and in current thought. Of course I immediately refer to the Standard Works of the Church. In man's quest for God and the good life, there is one book which continues to be indispensable. Let me quote a word from Leon Gutterman, editor of the Wisdom magazine. He says: The Bible has been more widely, more carefully, and more critically read than any other book. In this book are infinite wisdom and infinite love. It is a book of faith, a book of morals, a book of religion. It teaches man his own individual responsibility, his dignity, and his equality with his fellow men. If we would find joy in sorrow, strength in weakness, light in darkness; if we would learn how to bear adversity and scorn and how to fight life's battle courageously; if we would find the best way of living, the noblest way of thinking, the most comfortable way of growing, it would be well for us to consult God's chart and steer our lives by it. It will show us where the harbor is and how to reach it without running on the rocks, and will keep us from the bottom of the sea. Men cannot be well educated without the Bible, for it is, in itself, a liberal education. No person who wishes to come in contact with the world of great thought can afford to be ignorant of the Bible. I sometimes fear that our own members are not as well acquainted with the Bible as they ought to be. I quote again: Reading the Bible will not, of itself, satisfy the needs of faith. There must go with it a proper interpretation and a necessary understanding. PRO version
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We as a people have not only the Bible but other books from which we can quote and which we often read. They help us with our understanding of the meaning of the words contained in the Bible or in this set of books which is known as holy scripture. Reading the Bible helps us to release our minds and enables us to lay hold on the vaster meanings of life. It gives us faith that dispels darkness, conquers fear and inspires courage. We need to refresh and deepen our lives and keep them from becoming hard and dry, short-sighted and spiritless. May I quote from the late John F. Kennedy, who wrote shortly before his death: The moral precepts and phrases of the Bible are woven into the fabric of our national life. Its wisdom has traveled with our people because it helped them to live creatively, helpfully, victoriously. It will travel with mankind in all his adventures. Today the Bible has been published in 1,165 different languages or dialects, which are spoken by 95 per cent of the world's population. These translations are of inestimable value. It is not enough for the Bible to be translated, published, and distributed. The Bible must be read. While making a lifetime study of the Standard Works of the Church, one should also become familiar with the classics, with Shakespeare, Milton, Tennyson, and Wordsworth. He should read something of the philosophers and scientists, should find out how boundaries of knowledge have been altered and extended in religion and in literature. One should know something of the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and the later philosophers, who, while they err in many respects, will start a man thinking independently and courageously on the meaning of life and its purpose. A man should study also the lives of great men. But before pursuing that thought may I, in addition to what I said about the Bible, draw attention to the value of the Book of Mormon in our reading. The Book of Mormon has many forms of literary technique. It employs figures of speech, such as similes, metaphors, hyperboles, and others; narration, exposition and description, oratory, epic as in the travels of Alma and the dealings of Nephi and his brothers. You will find lyric and logic in Moroni's argument to unbelievers; and parables as in the parable of the tame and wild olive tree. These interesting types of Hebrew literary forms are to be found in the Book of Mormon. PRO version
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None of us can afford to overlook the value of the Doctrine and Covenants as we undertake to read what the Lord has said to us in this age. There is nothing finer that can be written or read anywhere than some words written in Section 121 of the Doctrine and Covenants, where we read: How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints. —Doctrine and Covenants 121:33 If we are to have the benefit of that kind of revelation from the Lord, we must keep open and inquiring minds and never allow ourselves to be in the position of what might be termed the "hardening of intellectual arteries." I mentioned studying the lives of great men. I suggest that everyone should become familiar with the lives of great men by reading biographical histories. There is no more profitable reading than biography. If one will become familiar, for instance, with the history of Abraham Lincoln as written by Carl Sandburg, he will there learn how to live, what to do and what to refrain from doing. He will be given courage to meet life's problems. It would be well for us to read the writings of men like Winston Churchill and Woodrow Wilson, to know something of Thomas Edison and other inventors, to become familiar with philosophy. Here you will do well to read Will Durant's Introduction to Philosophy. Become acquainted with James, Overstreet, and St. Augustine. In short, view the gospel through the eyes and lives of great men. In this way one's appreciation of the gospel will be enlarged, and his ability to present it effectively to educated people will be increased. In that connection we should not overlook the poets, for the poets have been and are, in a real sense, prophets. We should become familiar with the great poems, the epic poems, and the more recent writings of the best poets we have today. All of this together, and much more of course, will help to make an educated man. Another question I am asked is what I do to keep up, to practise this continuous learning I am advocating. Really, I would not wish to hold myself up as an example to anyone. I have had to pretty well educate myself. I think I can say, without boasting, that I seldom go anywhere without a book. I might add, again without boasting, that I very PRO version
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frequently start my reading at three o'clock in the morning. I find the best time to read is when I am fresh. If I can read from three to six o'clock in the morning, I am then ready to come back to the office and take up the regular duties of life. But for those who do not wish to keep this kind of schedule I might suggest that thirty minutes of reading every day will, in a very short time, take one through a lot of good reading-philosophy, religion, science, the arts, and so on. As I indicated earlier, it is impossible for any one of us in this life to learn more than a small part of the world's sum of knowledge. When my opinion is sought about priorities I am glad to suggest some things, although I would not presume to have this known as an outline for students or scholars, because I lay claim to neither of those categories. I think, however, that if I were to try out of my own experience to list the kinds of knowledge I would be searching for, I would of course in the first instance seek a knowledge of anatomy and chemistry, physiology and psychology, pedagogy, history, sociology, and political economy. All of these and other subjects come to my mind when I am thinking of what I would read first. These help me to understand myself and my relationship to God. Man is more than the mere chemical substances which constitute the tissues and humors of his body. Man may be a poet, a hero, or a saint. He is prodigiously complex, but our knowledge of him is founded on imprecise data. The materialists and the spiritualists accept the same definition of crystal of sodium chloride, but they do not agree with one another on the subject of man and what he is, what he may become. In fact, our ignorance on the subject of man is profound. Many of the questions on this subject remain unanswered. But to Latter-day Saints, man is a child of God with the seed of godhood in him. Aside from the prophets, the ancients had not even the most elementary notion of the structure and function of the brain, the liver, or the thyroid glands. Life and existence, moral suffering, craving for the unknown, are all phenomena to the student unless he relates them to the gospel and sees in man a child of God destined to become like that from which he came. A study of the spiritual life and philosophy attracted greater men than the study of medicine. Our minds delight in contemplating simple facts. We have a certain repugnance to attacking complex problems. We love to discover the meaning of life, but we do not possess the technique capable of penetrating the mystery of the brain and the harmonious association of its cells. PRO version
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I think, in other words, that our first study should be the study of man, not only as such, but in his relationship to Deity. In the study of man we come to make a study of God, of His word, and of His wishes with respect to man. Someone has said, "God speaks to us when we read the Bible; we speak to Him when we pray." All men should be praying men, should devote themselves not alone to kneeling in prayer, but in engaging in prayer wherever they are and whatever they are doing, that they may keep contact with the spirit of the Divine. That will lead them into an investigation of the meaning of life. That will lead them into inquiring into what the great men of the past have thought, have said, and have written. That will help them to understand why they are here and where they are going, as well as where they came from. The first and most important study for all of us, then, is the study of man. You cannot understand man without knowing something about anatomy, chemistry, and all the other things which men are interested in today. I will suggest then, to this fine group that is assembled and I wish I could see them; I think I might get a little more inspiration from the audience if I could see them; but simply talking to you on the telephone I would say seek out of the vast volume of material that has been published the best that can be had. There are too many of the books that sell readily and appeal to the lowest level of intelligence and mediocre taste of the day. In our searching for books to be read, we should not be moved by the desire for amusement, excitement, or diversion. This country is flooded with worthless books, magazines, and newspapers which excite for the day and are forgotten, while thousands of good books remain unsold and unread. In an intellectual sense we live in the back alleys and sometimes eat almost out of garbage cans. This worthless literature is an unmitigated curse to humanity. As Fielding said: We are as liable to be corrupted by the books we read as by the companions we have. Great and worthwhile books are prime necessities for complete happiness. They are the daily bread of the soul, the best friends a man can have, and the best consumers of our literature. In great books we find the company of the noble and the great. In their company we can find the answer to our questions, which answers will enrich us with their wisdom. They teach us the best way of living and the noblest way of thinking. I would like to leave you a blessing. I pray that God will bless these adult students that they may give themselves PRO version
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to a study of the meaning of life, a study of the meaning of man and his relationship to God. I pray that God will bless this group of fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, and their children and children's children, that they may live up to the great challenge of the Lord. "Seek ye wisdom out of the best books" and remember always that a man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge. "The glory of God is intelligence." Man's glory, whatever it may be, will be determined by the intelligence which he acquires, thereby becoming more like God. May He help and guide us in our search for truth. —Telecast Devotional, Brigham Young University, June 9, 1964 Return to top
The Spiritually Responsive Life! Do Your Duty-And Be Blessed I stood not long ago in the nation's Capitol, and was present at the funeral of President Kennedy. There were present, of course, the heads of government from many parts of the world-kings, rulers, presidents, ambassadors, premiers. I felt rather subdued and humbled, as would anyone in the presence of such an aggregation of leadership. But this morning I find myself in the House of God, where I feel He is present. By comparison all of the rest of these put together do not amount to anything but glitter and show. Authority, yes; responsibility, yes; but when I come into this presence, His presence, I do not address Him as "Your Majesty," I do not address Him as "Mr. President," I do not bow before a crowned head-I come into His presence and say, "Father-my Father." What does that mean? It means there is something of Him in me. It means that my presence there results from that PRO version
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relationship, and that I don't need to feel subservient in the sense that vassals do. I am reminded again and again that He, the God of Heaven, the Creator of all that is, is my Father; and that the Savior of all the world, the Redeemer, is my Brother. Oh, that I could be worthy of these relationships! At Christmas time, it was my privilege to be in the New England States Mission-in Boston and Cambridge, and in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During my visit there, I was invited to participate in a radio program. At first I was frightened. I was asked if I would submit to a series of questions without any preparation, without any warning as to what the questions might be; if I would permit the questioner to roam all over the field of inquiry regarding the Mormon Church; and if I would submit to such an interrogation for one hour, to be followed by thirty minutes of questions from the listening audience. The interviewer asked me one thing that I had never been asked before, and I didn't know how I was going to answer it. He said, "Do you think in the final winding-up scene everyone will be a Mormon?" What do you think? Well, the Bible says the time will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. When the time comes that everyone confesses that Jesus is the Christ, if their confession is sincere, they will wish to do and to learn those things which will bring them closer to Him. According to Him, the first thing they need to do is repent, and if they repent and change their ways of life, they will have to be baptized. If they are baptized it must be by proper authority, and if authoritatively baptized, they will become members of the Kingdom of God, which is the Church of Jesus Christ give it whatever name you may. Christ came to save all men, and by His divine atonement He made the resurrection possible to everyone, sinner as well as saint. Yes, the time will come when all men will know something of the glory of God. But the time will not come when I or any other man will arrive at a point in knowledge, experience or understanding beyond which we cannot go. In other words, we believe in eternal progression, and this law of the gospel which requires that all men shall be brought into the Kingdom of God through the door of baptism applies to the dead as well as to the living. The radio interviewer referred to temples, temple work and genealogical work. Brethren and sisters, I feel-and I am sure you do-that it is incumbent upon us as members of the Church to become better informed day by day, to study, to meditate, to pray, to commune with God, to take advantage of PRO version
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the priceless opportunity to come into His presence. If I should wish to see President Johnson of the United States next week or next month, it would be necessary for me to make an appointment through proper channels and wait my turn, and the waiting may be a long time. If I should want to see the Queen of England, or come into her presence, I would have to go through a long preparation and be introduced properly, and dress properly, and undertake to behave myself properly in her presence. If I wish to come into the presence of God, simply walk up (figuratively) and open the door and say, "Good morning, as Thy son I would talk with Thee." His door is always open, always available. I don't have to have somebody prepare the way for me. I can talk to Him at any time. I like a little couplet that a soldier boy is responsible for: "I thank Thee, God, that come what may, I may stop along the way at any time of night or day, and talk with Thee." Isn't it marvelous that He is available to us, that He is `not way off somewhere, that we can contact Him, that we can talk with Him! A man said to me in South America just a year ago now, as I was on a similar program that was broadcast to a very large listening audience, "I would like you to know before we start, Mr. Brown, that I do not believe in God. I am going to interview you on religious questions, and the subject of God will come up, but I think we ought to understand each other at the beginning. I don't believe there is a God-I don't believe in God." I knew that he had been a practicing attorney, and he knew that I had been, and I said, "Would it be well for us to define our terms before we start discussing any subject, as we do in Court?" "Certainly." "Would you mind defining for me what you mean by the word `God'?" I hadn't thought of that. I don't know what I mean by the word `God'." "Well, then, doesn't it necessarily follow that you don't know what it is you don't believe in?" Then he said, "I hadn't thought of that." So I asked, "Well, what is your concept when the word `God' is mentioned?" PRO version
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He said, "I've always been taught that it is something or somebody that has no body, that's incomprehensible, and if incomprehensible, then probably doesn't exist." He added, "I've always been taught that He is not only incomprehensible, but that he is without any feeling or any parts or any body. He is beyond the comprehension of any person." I said, "Sir, what you are trying to do is to define nothing." The best definition of nothing that has ever been published is the Apostles' Creed, the Nicean Creed. What they define, or try to define, is something that doesn't exist. And then I said, "I agree with you. I do not believe in God if that's what is meant by the word. But to me, when I speak of God, I speak of my Father, my Creator, my Savior, my ideal, one toward whom I am moving in life, and one whose glory I may share in eternity." Then he said, "I wish I could believe that." After an hour and a half, he admitted to me that he had come closer to believing in God than he ever had in his life. I do not say these things to boast, but to express gratitude, and to remind you, my brothers and sisters and all of us, of what we have come to take for granted, as we do the air that we breathe-we are unaware of it, we don't think about it. This comprehension, this understanding, this concept of God that is ours is the greatest thought that can come into the heart or mind of a man anywhere in the world. I am a child of God. There is something of Him in me, and therefore there is no limit to what I may aspire to, no status that I may not work for, no glory that may not be mine if I will keep the laws that apply to the kind of growth that I wish to make. I was reading this morning some words with respect to what one of the ancients discovered, namely that things do not amount to much in this world. I am reading from Ecclesiastes: I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: PRO version
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I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then-and I think at that time he, too, perhaps was approaching middle age, as I amThen I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." —Ecclesiastes 2:4-11 Rather a sad commentary, isn't it, on a man who had gathered together so much? Perhaps there is no group in the world who is farther removed from that sort of thing than the workers in the various temples of the Church. You are not here because you are wealthy. I don't suppose there are very many millionaires working here in the Temple. There may be some, and the fact that they have millions won't hurt them unless it gives them a wrong sense of values. Sometimes it does. May I read just a line: Wealth is not the things we own, the stately house upon the hill, Paintings, rugs, and tapestries, or servants taught to do PRO version
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one's will. In luxury a man may dwell as lonely as in a prison cell. Wealth is not a plenteous purse, the bonds that one has stored away, Boastful balance in a bank, nor jewelled baubles that fools display. Things that really gratify are the things that money cannot buy. Wealth is health, a cheerful heart, an ear that hears the robin's song, A mind content, some treasured friends, and fragrant memories lingering long; Living is an inward art, All lasting wealth is in the heart. You who are thus engaged are laying up treasures, you are laying up wealth, you are preparing for that which lies ahead. All of us are hoping that we may qualify when the time we sang of this morning shall come: Come, let us anew, our journey pursue, Roll round with the year and never stand still Till the Master appear. His adorable will Let us gladly fulfill; and our talents improve By the patience of hope and the labor of love. Oh, that each in the day of His coming may say I have fought my way through, I have finished the work Thou didst give me to do. Oh, that each from his Lord May receive the glad word, "Well and faithfully done, Enter into my joy and sit down on my throne." I am thinking in terms of eternity, in terms of life. Often I think in terms of the impending end of my life so far as mortality is concerned. I don't mean that I expect to die tomorrow or next year, but I will die. And I am thinking of PRO version
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what will happen after I die. There is another hymn we sang when I was a boy: If you could hie to Kolob in the twinkling of an eye And then continue onward with that same speed to fly, Do you think that you could ever, through all eternity, Find out the generations where God began to be? Or see the grand beginning where space did not extend? ... I have been following the progress of the astronauts in the newspapers, and by radio and television. In fact, I met John Glenn in Washington recently. They have been out there way beyond what any of us can imagine. "Can you see the grand beginning where space did not extend?" Glenn says there is so much more, far beyond anything we have ever gone into yet, that it is beyond the comprehension of the mind of man. The works of God continue, and world and lives abound; Improvement and progression have one eternal round. There is no end to matter; there is no end to space; There is no end to spirit; there is no end to race. There is no end to glory; there is no end to love; There is no end to being; there is no death above. . . I thank God for the privilege of worshipping with you this morning. I have been communing with Him since 3:30 this morning, reading His holy word, talking with Him in prayer, glorying in life and its opportunities, and finding satisfaction in anticipation of the future. I have been thinking seriously-I presume more than usual because in the last two weeks I have been called upon to speak at the funeral services of six different friends who have passed on, and always on those occasions we think not alone of this life but of that life. So this morning in thinking of the work you are doing, I almost envy you. And now I must end where I began: Being a son of God, conditioned upon my obedience to the laws upon which blessings are predicated, there is no height to which I may not aspire, there is no glory that may not come to any one of us, man or woman. Again I emphasize that your glory and your reward and your status in the world to come will not be less than President McKay's if you do your duty where you are asked to labor. You don't have to hold PRO version
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any particular office. Priesthood is necessary, of course, and that will be the saving power for men and women. I was reading this morning from the 65th section of the Doctrine and Covenants: Hearken, and lo, a voice as of one sent down from on high, who is mighty and powerful, whose going forth is unto the ends of the earth, yea, whose voice is unto men-Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth. Yea, a voice crying-Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, make ready for the Bridegroom. Pray unto the Lord, call upon his holy name, make known his wonderful works among the people. Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth. Wherefore, may the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may come, that thou, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on earth, that thine enemies may be subdued; for thine is the honor, power and glory, forever and ever. Amen. —Doctrine and Covenants, Section 65 God bless you, my brothers and sisters; by virtue of my office and the Priesthood I bear, I bless you collectively and individually. There are those who have come here this morning with some burdens on their hearts. There are those who are carrying some heavy crosses. There are those who are sorrowful and bereaved. There are those who are somewhat lacking in understanding of the reason for things. I had a call yesterday from Chicago, where a mother's little newborn babe, not properly formed, is doomed to die, and the mother said, "Why, why, should this happen?" There are those here this morning who have been asking, "Why, why is my lot what it is?" The only PRO version
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answer I can give is this: God, your Father, is all-wise and has a love for you beyond anything that any man can comprehend. In wisdom and all-pervading love, He is guiding us, and whatever happens to us we may eventually understand to be a blessing. In my own life, I find myself expressing gratitude to God for some of the things which, if I could, I would have avoided, but through those experiences I learned some lessons I could not have learned in any other way. And now, looking back, I thank God that He gave me strength enough to carry my cross. The greatest lesson He taught us while He was on the earth was how to carry a cross, and do it uncomplainingly. God bless you, and all of us, that in these perilous times we may keep our eyes on the light that shines ahead, and never be discouraged whatever our lot may be, wherever it may be cast, whatever our duty or responsibility or calling may be-let us do our job to the best of our ability. I promise you in His name that if you do that, you will be entitled to all the glory anyone can get, and it will be a progressive glory, being added upon hour by hour throughout eternity until we shall achieve the kind of glory that will entitle us to the designation of Godhood. That is your goal. That is your possibility. If you will keep your eyes upon that goal, you will not see the troubles that are down in front of you-you will walk right over them. God bless you that you may go home this morning with renewed courage, faith, assurance, hope, and a new power to continue to the end. I leave this blessing with you that there may be love and harmony, understanding, and the peace which He said He would give, the peace that comes to the heart of every person who obtains the glorious concept that God is his Father. Then you may come to Him and be taken into His arms and say, "Come what may, I have nothing to fear." I leave that spirit of peace with you this morning, and my testimony of the divinity of this work, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —Address to Temple Workers, Salt Lake Temple Annex, January 12, 1964 Return to top PRO version
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Self-Control Have you ever wondered what men think when they think of you? Of what do you think, brethren, when I say the words, "George Washington"? You think of leadership and honesty and honor. Of what do you think when I say, "Abraham Lincoln"? You think of courage, of modesty, of humility, of leadership. Of what do you think when I say, "Winston Churchill"? You think of one gifted with oratory which enables him to weld a nation into a fighting machine. You think of one with an underslung jaw and a big cigar. You get an idea and you think of something when these men's names are mentioned. I ask you tonight, "What do your friends think when they think of you?" If they do not think accurately, if they know something that would cause them to be ashamed of your acquaintanceship, you can change it. Whatever a man is at any time in his life is a result of all the past thoughts and words and deeds that have come into his life. I am thinking tonight in terms of one of the problems which confronts all of us, deacon, teacher, priest, elder, seventy, high priest. I am thinking of one of the problems that confronts the world and is being introduced among us at an alarming rate. I am thinking of a certain course of conduct which is malignant, dangerous, death-dealing, and contrary to the law of God. I am thinking of chastity, or its opposite. Let us get a vision of consecrated manliness and then conform our lives to that manliness in such a way that we will never yield to the temptations that would lead us away from virtue and honor and honesty and manliness. "He who profanes the source of life," someone has said, "sins against that which is indispensable to the very existence of life." Let us then never forget the sanctity of life. With every gift of power that comes to us, there comes a temptation to dishonor it, abuse it. When Christ was on the earth the adversary tempted him, tried to get him to yield to the temptation to use his power to get bread when he had been fasting for such a long time, and the Savior reminded him that man does not live by bread alone. Satan took Christ then to a height on the pinnacle of the temple and tempted Him to show His power and His authority by casting Himself down and said the angels would hold him up-Jesus resisted that temptation to abuse His power. Then Satan took Him onto a high mountain and showed Him all the wealth of the world and said, "All this I will give to thee if you will fall down and worship me," and Christ said, "Get thee behind me, PRO version
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Satan." I repeat, with every gift of power comes the temptation to abuse it. Each man has within himself the power that can destroy him, and that is a fact that each man under the sound of my voice tonight should keep in mind. Each man or boy, whatever his age or his station in life, is subject to the temptation to destroy himself by reason of a God-given power which all of us have. All of us who know good sometimes feel within ourselves the possibility of evil, and while we may condemn sincerely and without any hypocrisy the evil in us, we are conscious that at times we ourselves are tempted to do the very thing we hate, and in doing it we hate ourselves as well as the thing we do. I think this caused Paul to admit, ". . . the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." (Romans 7:19.) Real character is formed in the midst of the battles of the soul. Christ offered peace, not in the sense of freedom from disturbance, but in the midst of disturbance. When He said, "Peace, be still," it was in the midst of a storm. We need to develop within ourselves the kind of self-control that will enable us in the midst of disturbance to find the peace that comes into the soul of a man who is living as he knows he should live. Someone said, "Why shrink from responsibility. You cannot buy honor, it is too big a price." Another author said, "Do you know what degradation means to a soldier? It is to see his rank, his decorations, his epaulets torn from him, to see these signs of his former valor thrown at his feet. What is death in comparison with this dishonor? It is true that in the future this unfortunate soldier may be able to sleep, but he will never again mount guard or hear the cry to arms, `here is the enemy.' He will never again make an assault near where bullets are whistling around him. Very well, we declare that man to be irresistible who will keep his conduct on such a level course that he can never be dishonored. Vigilance is the watchword." And so I repeat my plea to the men of the priesthood of the Church-keep yourselves clean. Older men are yielding to temptation to sin. Younger men are struggling with themselves. It is difficult sometimes for them to understand themselves, because this God-given power of procreation carries with it a power of destruction. But it has, because of its life-giving nature, the possibilities of the greatest glory and joy that can come to a living soul. I believe that every man who is tempted to sin, to commit adultery, to become unclean in his habits, should examine himself and see whether he is harboring thoughts that will destroy him. I would like to leave with you PRO version
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tonight an appeal, especially to you stake presidents, high councilmen, bishops and counselors, heads of quorums, all in presiding positions, that you get closer to your young people-and older people-under your jurisdiction and teach them the beauty of purity. Let them know that purity is power. Sometimes some of us get the idea that certain people are not worth our attention, that they have gone beneath what we have thought to be worth saving. I would like to give you one little story to illustrate how sometimes we misjudge one another and sometimes we are guilty of assuming that someone is not as good as we. It was during the first world war. We had a man in our regiment who was as tough as any man in the regiment; he was known as the unsentimental cuss; he was the kind of man that nobody liked. We thought he had no sense of emotion or of sympathy or of understanding, that he could see his comrades shot down by his side and never bat an eye, and we didn't think he had in him any sentiment at all. I was guilty of saying in my heart, though I didn't speak it out loud, "I thank thee, God, that I am not like that man." There was another Pharisee once who said that, and this time I was the Pharisee. We were in France. The unsentimental cuss was called on duty to examine the mail, incoming and out-going mail, and he read a certain letter, a letter from a Mrs. Jock Anderson out in London, Ontario, Canada. She was writing to her beloved Jock, and she said to him, "We are getting on all right, my dear. The ten little bairns are coming along. I have had to wean the baby because I have to work to support the others, but we are mighty proud of you and proud of where you are. But Jock, dear, our neighbor three months ago received word that her husband was missing. She said she had rather heard he was dead-she said she could hardly stand the uncertainty of it." And then she added, `Jock, my dear, join with me and pray God that I may never get word that you are missing." The unsentimental officer read that letter but said nothing about it. That night there were paraded before him a sergeant and six men who were going out into no-man's land. They called the roll; the officer heard the name of Jock Anderson among those who were going out. The men went out, and in the morning the sergeant and three men came back. Again they called the roll, and Jock Anderson did not answer the roll call. The officer said to the sergeant, "Do you know where Jock Anderson fell?" The sergeant replied, "Yes, sir, he fell on an elevation on which is trained the enemy's machine guns." PRO version
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The officer asked, "Do you think a man could go out to that body and get the identification disc off his neck?" To which the sergeant answered, "Sir, it would be absolute suicide, but if you say so I will try." Then the officer said, "I didn't mean that. I just wanted to know." In the first world war you could not declare a man dead unless you could produce his body or his identification disc. That night that unsentimental officer was missing, and the next morning there came up to the front lines a large regimental envelope. When it was opened there fell out an identification disc with the name of Jock Anderson on it and a short note said, "Dear Major: I am enclosing the identification disc of Jock Anderson. Please write to Mrs. Anderson in London, Ontario, Canada, and tell her God heard her prayer-her husband is not missing." That was the man of whom I had said, "I thank thee, God, that I am not like him." He had the courage which I never had to crawl out on his stomach in the face of almost certain death in order to bring to a woman he had never seen, three thousand miles away, the poor comfort that her husband was not missing. And on the bottom of his letter he wrote, as though it didn't amount to much, "As for me, I am off for blighty in the morning. The doctor says it is an amputation case and may prove fatal. Cheerio." Since that experience I have tried to believe that every man has something in him worth saving. Let us go out and help the boys and the men who are not active. Let us find the good in them and bring them into activity, and in the course of all that we do, let us keep ourselves pure and unspotted from the sins of the world. I leave you my testimony and my blessing and ask God to be with all who are in this building and you other thousands out there tonight. Make a resolution as these young men have pleaded for us to do, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." God bless you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —General Priesthood Meeting, April 4, 1964 Return to top PRO version
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On Temple Building My brethren and sisters, it is always humbling and challenging to stand before a congregation of Latter-day Saints, but, especially on a significant occasion like this, one is overwhelmed with a feeling of inadequacy. As has been indicated we have assembled today under the inspired direction of the President of the Church to break ground for the beginning of a great structure and a great work. One purpose in building temples is that we may be of service to our fellowmen, both the living and the dead. Service was the very center of the life and teaching of the Savior, and love of God and of fellowmen was declared by Him to be the first two commandments. We are told in the Book of Mormon that "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are . . . in the service of your God." Basic to this vicarious work is the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Man is an eternal being-physical, mental, moral, aesthetic, and spiritual. Moreover, man is the son of God and that means that there is something of Him in every man. Our purpose in life is to develop that which is God-like in us, overcome the downdrag of mortality and achieve immortality and eternal life. Perhaps there may be some here who do not understand the theology and philosophy of the Latter-day Saint or the Mormon people. The Church has many distinguishing features but none more unique than the doctrine of the salvation of the dead through vicarious gospel ordinances performed by the living for the dead in the temples dedicated for that purpose. The fact that we perform saving ordinances for our dead indicates that we must have a conviction that life and love continue after death. God is eternal, and God is love, so love is eternal, and death does not divorce us from the objects of our affection. Temple building to us is different from building chapels, or tabernacles, or meeting places. We build temples for the express purpose of having a holy place into which the worthy may go to perform ordinances calculated to bind together the living and the dead. Personally I should not like to contemplate the hereafter without my wife and my children, my parents and their parents, my brothers and sisters. I should not like to contemplate an existence, especially one that is going to continue forever, if I could not enjoy that existence with those whom I love. And so we build temples in the name of the Lord. PRO version
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Only those who are believed to be worthy are permitted to go into the temple because we sincerely believe that it is the house of God, it is sacred, dedicated to His holy name. It is a place to which He Himself may come. Therefore, no unclean thing should enter there. When we build other Church buildings, we invite the public to enjoy them with us, but as in the days of Moses and Solomon and others, when we build and dedicate a temple to the living God, we invite only those who accept the gospel and maintain its standards. Temple building has always been an important part of the gospel. After the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, Moses was inspired to build a sacred tabernacle that could be transported, taken with them in the wilderness. In it was placed the Ark of the Covenant and only those specifically authorized were permitted to officiate in it. Of this Dr. Talmage wrote: No sooner had they escaped from the environment of Egyptian idolatry, than they were required to prepare a sanctuary, wherein Jehovah would manifest His presence and make known His will as their accepted Lord and King. The Tabernacle, which from the time of its construction in the wilderness and thence onward throughout the period of wandering and for centuries thereafter, was sacred to Israel as the sanctuary of Jehovah, had been built according to revealed plan and specifications. It was a compact and portable structure as the exigencies of migration required. —James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord, p. 3 This ark of the Covenant was later placed in a tabernacle by David. David assembled the material for building a temple, but because of transgression, he was not permitted to build it. His son built the magnificent temple of Solomon, one of the greatest buildings of all time. At various times it was destroyed and rebuilt and at the time of Christ, though it was known as the Temple of Herod, the Lord honored the temple and punished those who desecrated it. In this the dispensation of the fulness of times new revelation was given making temple building a distinctive duty of the Church. Sometimes our friends have asked what do we do in the temples. While there is nothing secret about what goes PRO version
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on in the temple, it is sacred and some things are so sacred that we do not discuss them except in holy places. The ceremonial work includes baptism for the dead, ordination and associated endowments in the priesthood, marriage ceremonies and other sealing ordinances. You members of the Church in this area are now given an opportunity to participate in the building of one of the great temples of the latter days. To the degree that you give of yourselves and of your material wealth, you will be blessed through the building of this house in your community. And our friends of the area will appreciate and enjoy the beauty of a sacred temple of God on this choice location. It will be a blessing because of its sacred character. In these ominous and perilous times men are hoping and praying that some divine interposition will enable them to come closer to the Lord and have the security that comes with increased faith in Him. May God bless us and help us that we may appreciate the great heritage that is ours, be worthy of our ancestors who left so much for us to build upon, be worthy of those with whom we now associate and be worthy ancestors to those who may follow us. I leave my testimony with you that this is the work of God, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored, through the prophet Joseph Smith, that Jesus of Nazareth is real and personal. I leave my blessing with you, my brothers and sisters of this temple area, and pray that God will bless you in your baskets, in your storehouses, in your fields, in your businesses, and especially in your homes; that the spirit of virtue, love, and harmony may bind your families together throughout eternity. I bless you that the spirit of temple building may rest upon you and I promise that each and every one who makes any contribution even though it may only be comparable to the widow's mite, will receive a blessing from Him to whose name we shall erect this temple. May the peace of heaven abide with you I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —Groundbreaking Ceremonies, Oakland, California, May 26, 1962 Return to top PRO version
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Love One Another With another Christmas behind us and another new year before us, we combine retrospect with prospect, express appreciation for past blessings and look to the new year with anticipation, even though the international horizon seems dark and foreboding. The secret of the popularity of Christmas is that it brings peace to the minds of millions who, for one day at least, think more of others than of themselves, more of giving than of getting. If this formula for happiness-love one another-is effective for one day, may it not work at other times, at all times? If by giving we receive, and by dividing we increase, why not make happiness permanent by carrying the Christmas spirit throughout the year? Each year closes its volume of history and experience, leaving memories of some joyous days; of some success; of some achievement. Also of some sorrowful, anxious days; days of fear and misgiving and doubt. As we look back we see that much of our worry was needless, caused by fear of what might happen. We crossed bridges which existed only in imagination. We suffered in anticipation of troubles which did not come. Therefore, our unhappiness was of our own making. Fear made us falter and worry made us weak. As we remember our doubts, fears, and weaknesses we hear Him again say, "O ye of little faith." (Matthew 6:30.) In our individual and family lives during the past year we were confronted by problems, some of them grave and serious. We met reverses and some sorrow, but by His grace, our strength was sufficient. May all members of the Church meet the new year with love in their hearts for all men, guided by the Holy Spirit, and accompanied by three companions: faith, hope, and courage. We need stout hearts to meet the future, a future pregnant with unborn events and big with possibilities. Fear and apprehension will but unfit us for the fray. They conjure up unrealities, magnify and distort the possible future fact until it looms so large that we see no escape and cringingly await the crack of doom. PRO version
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The evil of tomorrow loses much of its size as we approach it. Our eyes are not fitted with telescopic lenses so we must await a close-up for a proper focus, and then we shall find ourselves equal to the task. Persistent climbing levels the hills and gives added strength to travel on. Looking back we see that the pattern of our lives, which sometimes seemed so baffling, has taken shape and meaning. We needed only faith to try, hope to inspire, and courage to endure. Listen, then, to the voice of the angel of hope as she whispers, "The night passes; morning breaks, the day is dawning; it can be done; carry on!" We look forward with calm assurance as we remember the Savior's oft-repeated admonitions: "Fear not" (see Luke 5:10, 12:7, 32; John 12:15); "Be not troubled" (see Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7; John 14:1, 27); "Peace be still" (see Mark 4:39). Faith made His calmness majestic, courage made Him Master of all. He never lost hope, for He knew God's love. He now bids us take His yoke upon us with a promise that our burdens will be light. His guidebook for the pilgrim was the simple "Follow me. May faith inspire hope and courage, and may love encompass all. With these companions, and with the help which He has promised, we will be greater than anything that can happen to us. —Message to the Central British Mission, January, 1962 Return to top
In Spite of Everything From Sir Walter Scott: "Teach self denial and make its practice pleasurable, and you can create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brain of the wildest dreamer." PRO version
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And Robert Louis Stevenson wrote: "You cannot run away from a weakness. You must sometime fight it out or perish, and if that be so why not now, and where you stand." And another has said, "Decision determines destiny. There is absolutely no greatness that is not buffeted with goodness. Brace to the splendid day's work. Keep fit. Be a man." Many times I have quoted, and no doubt many of you have memorized, the clarion call for men to match our message and our times: God give us men! A time like this demands Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; Men who possess opinions and a will; Men who have honor-men who will not lie; Men who can stand before a demagogue And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking! Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog In public duty, and in private thinking. —Josiah Gilbert Holland Each one of us must live with himself throughout eternity, and each one is now working on the kind of man he must live with throughout eternity. Let us determine for ourselves the kind of man our eternal companion is to be. I say now is the time to act, it is neither too early nor too late. Some young men say, "When I get older I will do something worth while, but let me enjoy my carefree youth." Let me bring to your attention a few examples of young men who did things while they were young. Jefferson was 33 years old when he drafted the Declaration of independence. Benjamin Franklin was 26 when he wrote Poor Richard's Almanac. PRO version
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Dickens was 24 when he began his Pickwick Papers and 25 when he wrote Oliver Twist. McCormack was only 23 when he invented the reaper, and Newton was 24 when he formulated the law of gravitation. May I add to this quotation, Joseph Smith was less than 15 when he had his first vision, 24 when he translated the Book of Mormon, 25 when the Church was organized, and he died a young man-yet he left an imprint upon this world second only to that of Christ the Lord. Jesus Christ, himself, was only 30 when He began His transcendent mission which lasted only three years but affected the whole world and will yet redeem it. Well, now, you older men, has your chance passed? You high priests, seventies, and elders, is it too late for you to do something worth while? Let me bring you another set of figures: Immanuel Kant was 74 when he wrote his finest philosophical work. Verdi was 80 when he produced "Falstaff' and 84 when he produced "Ave Maria." Goethe was 80 when he completed `Faust." Tennyson was 80 when he wrote "Crossing the Bar." Michelangelo completed his greatest work at 87. Titian at 98, painted the historic picture, "The Battle of Lepantos." Justice Holmes was 90 when he was still writing brilliant opinions. George Bernard Shaw was 88 and was superbly chauvinistic. PRO version
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President David O. McKay, past 90, is recognized world-wide as a dynamic and inspired religious leader. He is carrying a load which would buckle the knees of many younger men. At his advanced age he still leads us, shows us the way, and sets the pace. But perhaps some of you say, "Well, I have some handicaps." Sarah Bernhardt had as her motto, "In spite of everything." Paul Speicher, writing in one of the magazines about what happens to men who refuse to be stopped, reminds us of some statistics, reminds us of what can happen to a man if he has the will to do, and knows what he wants to do. "Cripple a man and you have a Sir Walter Scott; put him in prison and you have a Banyan; bury him in the snow at Valley Forge and you have a George Washington; have him borne in abject poverty and you have an Abraham Lincoln; load him with bitter racial prejudice and you have a Disraeli; afflict him with asthma until as a boy he lies choking in his father's arms and you have a Theodore Roosevelt; stab him with rheumatic pains until for years he cannot sleep without an opiate and you have a Steinmetz; put him in a grease pit in a locomotive round house and you have a Walter P. Chrysler; make him a second fiddle in an obscure orchestra in South America and you have a Toscanini." History rests on the shoulders of those who accepted the challenges of difficulties and drove through to victory in spite of everything. I want to add this thought on self-control, decisions, determination, faith in God and in yourself. You may be what you will to be, Let cowards find their false content In that poor word, environment, But spirit scorns it and is free. It conquers time; it masters space; It cows the boastful trickster, chance, And bids the tyrant circumstance Uncrown and fill a servant's place. The human will, that force unseen, The offspring of a deathless soul, Can hew its way to any goal, PRO version
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Though walls of granite intervene. I wish all the priesthood members of the Church would obtain and read and study the masterful address of President David O. McKay delivered last Friday morning. It will be published in the Church Sections of the News and in other periodicals, the Era later, and in the conference report. Obtain it, study it, read it. Do you know how long it took President McKay to prepare that talk? I haven't asked him, but I think it took him 90 years, because what he said came right out of his heart, and he has been building into that heart for 90 years. Now if it took him 90 years to prepare it, do you think you can get all there is in it in one reading? Get it, study it, apply it in your lives. I suggest you read the talks of other general authorities who have spoken here today. Study them, follow the counsel, and you will be blessed. May I suggest especially that you read the talk of Elder Critchlow on priesthoodone of the best I have heard. And then obtain and read, especially you fathers, what Brother Packer said this afternoon about the responsibility of fatherhood. On that subject may I read what many of you have heard before. It applies to every father and to you young men who will be fathers. Fatherhood is next to Godhood and therefore it takes a lifetime to become a good father. This is a confession of a father at the bedside of his sleeping child. I am saying this to you as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a hot, stifling wave of remorse swept over me. I could not resist it. Guiltily I came to your bedside. "These are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when I found you had thrown some of your things on the floor. "At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a little hand and called, `Good-bye, Daddy!', and I frowned, and said in reply, `Hold your shoulders back.' "Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the hill road I spied you down on your knees PRO version
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playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boy friends by making you march ahead of me back to the house. Stockings were expensive and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that son, from a father! It was such stupid, silly logic. "Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in, softly, timidly, with a sort of hurt, hunted look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door, `What is it you want?' I snapped. "You said nothing, but ran across, in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, again and again, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs. "Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. Suddenly I saw myself as I really was, in all my horrible selfishness, and I felt sick at heart. "What has habit been doing to me? The habit of complaining, of finding fault, of reprimanding-all of these were my rewards to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected so much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years. "And there was so much that was good, and fine, and true in your character. You did not deserve my treatment of you, son. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. All this was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me goodnight. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, choking with emotion, and so ashamed! "It is a feeble atonement, I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours, yet I must say what I am saying. I must burn sacrificial fires, alone, here in your bedroom, and make free confession. And I have prayed God to strengthen me in my resolve. Tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: He is nothing but a boy-a little boy. I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that PRO version
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you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much. "Dear Boy! Dear little son! A penitent kneels at your infant shrine, here in the moonlight. I kiss the little fingers and the damp forehead, and the yellow curl. "Tears came, and heartache and remorse, and also a greater, deeper love, when you ran through the library door and wanted to kiss me! "I do not know of a better shrine before which a father or mother may kneel or stand than that of a sleeping child. I do not know of a holier place, a temple where one is more likely to come into closer touch with all that is infinitely good, where one may come nearer to seeing and feeling God. From that shrine comes matins of love and laughter, of trust and cheer to bless the new day; and before that shrine should fall our soft vespers, our grateful benedictions for the night. At the cot of a sleeping babe all man-made ranks and inequalities are ironed out, and all mankind kneels reverently before the living image of the Creator. To understand a child, to go back and grow up sympathetically with it, to hold its love and confidences, to be accepted by it, without fear or restrain, as a companion and playmate, is just about the greatest good fortune that can come to any man or woman in this world and, perhaps, in any other world, for all we know. "And I am passing this confession along to the fathers who may be privileged to read it, and for the benefit of all the `little fellers'-the growing, earth-blessing little "Jimmies" and "Billys" and "Marys" and "Janes" of this very good world of ours." —Author Unknown God bless you, my brethren of the priesthood. From the very center of my heart I bear witness to the divinity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not claim to have had visions or revelations, but I do claim that He has stamped upon my soul a knowledge of the divinity of this work which did not come through my natural senses but through the Holy Ghost. I bless you fathers that you may be real fathers to your children. I bless you young men that you may be honorable PRO version
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sons of your fathers. I bless all the priesthood here tonight and all those who are listening in far places that all may go home from this meeting resolved that they are going to exercise self-control and fight their way through in spite of everything and be worthy to bear the Holy Priesthood. May it be so I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —General Priesthood Meeting, October 5, 1963 Return to top
The Gold of the Spirit In all teaching-and one of the functions of the priesthood is teaching-what the teacher is counts for more than what he says. What we are as members of the priesthood and as missionaries in the field, at home or abroad, means more to those to whom we go than what we teach. So my first thought is, let us be what we teach. The teacher and the truth taught should be of the same pattern. Let each one of us be an example to all whose lives we touch; let us recognize in all of our fellow workers some value, some worth, and never forget that each one of them has a heart, has feelings, has ambition, has a certain amount of pride; therefore, let us never by virtue of the priesthood or the positions we hold trample on the rights or the feelings of our fellow men; let us never be sharp in what we say to them by way of criticism, but let us be kindly, considerate, and have in our hearts a love for our fellow men, for in each one there is value. I read something this morning I'd like to leave with you. Every human life has in it gold which is usually not readily apparent to the casual observer. Kindness is a part of that gold, the gold of the spirit, that part which is known to others because it has lessened their burdens and made their pathways lovelier. The man who has gold in his life has something that is bigger than anything that can happen to him. He doesn't worry about defeats or obstacles or sorrows, for he knows these are but froth on the river of life to last but a brief time and then be blown away. What matters is not the froth, but the strong, pulsating, on-going current in the river, which is never disturbed by the leaves floating up at the quiet eddies of the surface. One day you may find that your house of life has collapsed, but in the wreckage you may find the gold which cannot be destroyed, not by the worst disaster, for the PRO version
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gold of life is imperishable and immortal. Search for it in the wreckage, for out of it you can mint new coins. Out of defeat arises the gold of life. Priesthood involves presidency, authority, and power; it involves the right and duty under certain circumstances to reprove others. Part of our duty is to see that there is no iniquity in the Church, but remember that the Prophet said, "Reproving betimes with sharpness, . . . and then showing forth . . . increase of love. . . ." (Doctrine and Covenants 121:43.) Let us be very careful about this matter of reproving. Again I say, let us be careful how we trample on the feelings of our brothers and sisters. Let us lift them and bless them and benefit them as we go forward and never be guilty of humiliating them or causing them to think that we do not appreciate their work. The next thought I'd like to leave with you is that we must not be deceived by the boom in numbers and dollars and buildings going on in the Church. We thank the Lord for them but they are not the main part of our work. All we need to say on that is that the body without the spirit is dead. As we go forward in the special work of the priesthood, which is missionary work both for the living and the dead, and as we carry the gospel to our friends who are not members of the Church, let us try to keep things in proper balance. The revealed order is faith and then repentance and then baptism. A Baptist minister was heard to say about some of his own people that they had been starched and ironed before they were washed. I think we might take a lesson from that thought and convert the people before we baptize them. Let us read from the 84th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants with respect to priesthood. This is a section with which you are more or less familiar, but I never hesitate to refer again to that which has been referred to so often any more than I would hesitate to invite a friend to come to my table when I have only the things that we usually serve at the table. We do not complain much because we do not have something different at every meal. We enjoy that which is set before us if we have an appetite for it. The Lord said: . . . whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. —Doctrine and Covenants 84:33 PRO version
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Brethren, I bear testimony to the fact that that promise has been realized in the lives of many of us. I know that it has been realized in the life of President David O. McKay, that he has been sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of his body, and some of the rest of us are better off today than we were many years ago so far as physical health is concerned-we attribute that fact to His blessing. They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God. . . . also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord; For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him. And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood. Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved. —Doctrine and Covenants 84:34-40 It is important that we consider occasionally the oath and the covenant which each of us has taken. All who have been baptized and all who hold the priesthood are under covenant to do certain things and to refrain from doing certain other things. We must remember to keep our covenants, one of which is that we be willing to give of ourselves, our means, and all that we have to the upbuilding of the Church and Kingdom of God. Young fellow workers, deacons and teachers and priests, we who are growing older have great confidence in you. You would not now be holding the priesthood unless God had thought you worthy of it and unless he had PRO version
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something for you to do. Each one of you young men who is listening tonight has a future. What that future is to be will depend upon your attitude toward your calling, your faith in yourselves, your belief that there is some gold in you. It is important that you young men and all of us try to refine that gold by active participation and not wait until the house is burned down and we have passed through the fire. It is very important that every young man make up his mind that he is going to respond to the voice of conscience, that he is going to be true to himself and not yield to the downdrag of any environment in which he may find himself. May I tell a story to illustrate the point that a man must respond to his better self if he is going to be a worthy holder of the priesthood. The Arabians, when they are training their horses, put them to a final test of character and stamina. It is said that the finest of the Arabian horses are kept for breeding stock and are trained from the time they are colts to respond to a bell which rings intermittently at the tent of the master. Wherever they are and whatever they are doing they must run to the tent of the master when the bell rings. Their mothers were taught it before them and they respond, and the colt running beside the mother habitually as time goes on responds to the bell and knows that it is the call of duty. When the colts are three years old they are placed in a corral, a pole corral that they can see through. They are left there three days and nights without food or water. At the end of the third day hay and grain and water are placed just outside the corral. You can imagine the eagerness of the young colts as they look through the bars at the food and water. When the gate is opened the young colts rush out, and just as they are about to reach the food and water the bell rings. Only the colts that have stamina enough to respond to the bell and resist the urge of appetite are kept for the breeding stock of the future. Brethren, as we go forward, we become increasingly aware of the fact that there is a bell which rings very frequently throughout life. Sometimes men become unresponsive or hard of hearing and disregard the bell to their own sorrow. You young men are going to hear it many times between now and the time you are our age. We plead with you to resist the call of appetite and passion and hearken to the bell which is your conscience. If you are tempted to do wrong there will always be something within you saying, "Don't do it." Hearken and respond to that bell and you will be worthy of the confidence that the President of the Church has in you, worthy to take over the responsibilities now held by your fathers, your brothers, your leaders. God bless you and all of us that we may co-operate with the general authorities, with the stake and ward and mission authorities, and be responsive to their admonitions. The Church-your Church and my Church-is growing PRO version
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in numbers and influence with an accelerating speed beyond anything that we who are older could have imagined in our youth. I am grateful for and testify to the truth of the restored gospel in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —General Priesthood Meeting, April &, 1963 Return to top
Be Doers of the Word Let us quote two well-known definitions of religion, one from the Old Testament and one from the New; these might well sound the keynote or prelude to this conference. First from the Prophet Micah: He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? —Micah 6:8 And the Apostle James admonishes: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. PRO version
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—James 1:22, 25-27 We pray that all who speak during this conference may be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Especially we pray that the many thousands, seen and unseen, who may attend the various sessions may enjoy the same inspiration. The effect upon the "hearers of the word" depends upon their being spiritually in tune and open-mindedly responsive. As the relish with which one enjoys a meal depends upon the appetite he brings to the table more than upon the quality and variety of food placed before him, so the degree of enjoyment and assimilation of spiritual refreshment will depend upon whether or not we "hunger and thirst" as enjoined by the Savior, with the promised reward of satisfaction. The Savior said: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. —Revelation 3:20 We are all familiar with the parable of the sower, where . . . some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowl came and devoured them. . . Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: . . . And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, . —Matthew 13:4-8 In explanation of the meaning of the parable, the Savior emphasized the responsibility of all who hear the word PRO version
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and He expressed concern for the quality and depth of the soil in which the seeds are planted. Matthew defines the seed as the word of God: When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. —Matthew 13:19-23 This parable applies to all to whom the seed-the word of God-may come, whether they be life-time members of the Church, new converts, or investigators seeking truth. Let us be united in our prayers that the seeds of truth which may be broadcast during this conference may take root in fertile soil and bear fruit. Paul said of some to whom the gospel was preached in his day that it did not profit them, . . . "not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." (Hebrews 4:2.) That truth is challenging and calls for action is evidenced by another parable of the Savior: Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it PRO version
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was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. —Matthew 7:24-27 It should be noted that the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon the house which was built upon the rock with the same force as that which destroyed the other house. This house did not escape the storm but, having a rock foundation, withstood it. Both the storms of nature and the storms of life are indiscriminate. As the house built upon the rock survived the storm, so the life whose roots are firmly planted in the soil of faith will endure adversity and be made stronger by the struggle. As Douglas Malloch said in verse: Good timber does not grow in ease, The stronger the wind the tougher trees, The further sky, the greater length, The more the storm the more the strength. By sun and cold, by rain and snow, In trees or men, good timbers grow. Let us not bemoan our lot in life or chafe under the trials, losses, or problems which beset us. Let us rather enumerate the express gratitude for our many blessings. Some go through the year or through life unappreciative of life's bounties because they are unaware of them. One's awareness becomes the measure of his aliveness. All about us we see evidences of a benevolent Providence. For example, any one who will reverently look into the starry skies must exclaim with the Psalmist: PRO version
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The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. —Psalms 19:1 As we become more aware and appreciative of His love and of the beauty and wisdom which are everywhere apparent, we thank the Lord for life and for its bracing trials and challenges, its educative disciplines and rewards. Our faith in God is deepened and sustained by life's experiences and by convincing evidence on every hand that our universe is governed by law under a beneficent and omnipotent Father. As this faith and knowledge develops, one becomes conscious of his own weaknesses and shortcomings and undertakes to bring his conduct up to the level of his ideals; this is called repentance. But if his faith is not kept radiant by good works, he will be tempted to lower his ideals to the level of his conduct. This is retrogression. In these ominous and threatening times, we need physical, intellectual, and moral courage and sustaining faith. It may seem trite to say the world is imperilled and divided and that these are times of historic decisions, but on all levels of life, from individual and family to national and international, challenging situations demand attention and difficult problems require solution. We all face a common challenge and share a common cause. The threat of Communism is sinister and its dangers relentlessly imbued with the satanic ideology that the Fatherhood of God, the Saviorhood of Christ, and the brotherhood of man are stupid myths, that religion is nothing but a tranquilizing opiate. They seek to deprive men of physical, mental, and spiritual freedom while endowing the state with monstrous supremacy. This relentless indoctrination is but a continuation of the war that began when Satan's plan of force was rejected by the Father. We live in the most dangerous period of all history. The sixth chapter of Ephesians was never more applicable than today: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. —Ephesians 6:12 PRO version
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The Church is the main bulwark against Communism. The gospel is the most effective rebuttal to their Godless ideologies. It is a spiritual force which can crash and overcome all physical barriers. Surely we must put on the whole armor of God, consisting, as Paul said, of truth, righteousness, peace, faith with the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Because of our faith in a living, personal, and all powerful God, we do not fear the final outcome in our fight against the emissaries of Satan, though we must ever be alert, united, and on guard. We are reassured by John's wonderful vision on the Isle of Patmos: And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. —Revelation 20:1-3 Nothing but the gospel of love, the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, which we gratefully proclaim, can save the world or the individual from the dangers that threaten us. This is a gospel of character-building activity; of invincible faith and the courage that is born of faith; of repentance, the doorway to progress; of sanctification through baptism of water and of the Spirit, the doorway to the Celestial Kingdom. Let us take courage in the knowledge that Christ, the Prince of Peace, is at the helm. He has declared that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; so great that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever would believe on Him should not perish but should have everlasting life. The transcendent love of God the Father has its counterpart in Christ, the Son, whose redeeming sacrifice, which was voluntary and love inspired, loosed the bonds of death and assured to all men the blessings of the resurrection. He declared it to be His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. The Apostle Paul gives us an appraisal of the enduring quality of God's love in his epistle to the Romans: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor PRO version
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things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:38-39 But this divine love elicits response from us, not only by declarations of our love but by our attitude toward our fellowmen. Benjamin Franklin prayed, "Accept my kind offices to thy children as the only return in my power for thy continual favors to me." John, in his first epistle, wrote: If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. —1 John 4:20-21 Jesus, when asked which was the great commandment, replied: . . . Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. —Matthew 22:37-40 When on another occasion the Master was asked, Who is my neighbor? He replied with the parable of the good Samaritan, which teaches the lesson that all who need our help, all whose lives we touch, are our neighbors, PRO version
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whether they live across the street, over the fence, across the continent, or over the ocean. Our neighborhood has become world-wide. Abou-Ben Adhem's name headed the list of those whom love of God had blessed because he, apparently more than others, loved his fellow men. The depth, direction, and quality of our religious life depend upon our understanding of the nature, purpose, and methods of God and our relationship and responsibility to him. The scriptures are replete with reassuring promises that right will prevail over might, good over evil, truth over error, Christ over anti-Christ. John the Beloved was inspired when he wrote the rhapsody in his first epistle: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him as he is. —1 John 3:1-2 In a book titled A Century's Change in Religion, quoted by Dr. James L. Barker, George Harris tells us: "There has been a change in our thought of God, from the conception of sovereignty to the conception of Fatherhood; speaking broadly, it may be said, that the Latin theology made sovereignty the central doctrine. The Roman government was a type of the divine government. This theology stamped the doctrine of decrees, of predestination and reprobation, the mere good pleasures of God as the cause of all events. The belief engendered fear and hate rather than love and trust. . . . The center of doctrine has shifted from sovereignty to fatherhood." The inspired concept of the actual fatherhood of God and the concomitant brotherhood of man is a basic doctrine of Mormonism and is the most profound and hopeful philosophy in the world today. We believe in a living, personal God; that His glory is intelligence, which denotes purpose and plan; that He has the will and the power to realize His purposes. He is our Father and that fact assures love and inspires trust. PRO version
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May the Holy Spirit direct all who participate in the proceedings of this conference, in song, prayer, or discourse, and inspire in all who listen a desire for renewed dedication and activity. May our lives attest our gratitude for the priceless privilege of living in the greatest of all dispensations and participating in the final preparation for the second coming of Christ. No era in history was more momentous than our own, for it heralds His coming. The words of the poet are prophetic: You that have faith to look with fearless eyes upon the tragedy of a world at strife And know that out of death and night shall rise the dawn of ampler life, Rejoice, whatever anguish rend the heart, That God has given you the priceless dower to live in these great times and have your part In freedom's crowning hour, That you may tell your sons who see the light high in the heavens, their heritage to take, I saw the powers of darkness take their flight, I saw the morning break. What then shall we take home from this conference, and in what measure shall we take it? This depends upon patient continuance in well doing, upon the quality and depth of soil into which the seeds of truth may fall, and upon whether we become doers of the word and not hearers only. Shall the seed be received by the wayside, in stony places, in shallow soil, or among the thorns; shall the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word that the seeds become unfruitful; or shall it be received into good ground and bear fruit? Each one must answer for himself. Let us pray for strength to "do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God" in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —General Conference, April 5, 1963 Return to top PRO version
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You are an Original Young men and young women, you who stand on the edge of life, you who are just coming into it, coming into your own; you who are just beginning to feel the thrill and the power of young manhood and young womanhood; you who are just taking over the control of your own lives. I'd like to chat with you a few minutes as one who has been over the road. I'm not going to preach a sermon and say, "don't do this and don't do that." I'm going to, if I may, talk to you as a father, as a lawyer, as an army man, as a business man, as a church man. I'm going to try to bring you some viewpoints with respect to religion which, if you will be open minded and teachable, I think might be useful to you as you go down the road of life. First, I'd like to say to you, young men and women, religion is not just a matter of saying your prayers and paying your tithing and keeping the Word of Wisdom. Religion is not just a matter of going to church. Religion is not just a matter of any outward form or ceremony. Religion is a way of life. Your life. What are you going to do with it, and why? Do you want to succeed? Well, what do you mean, succeed? I'll save that for another discussion, but you answer it. Just what is it you want? What success are you talking about? What kind of a man, what kind of a woman do you want to be? What would you like your friends to think of when they think of you? What kind of imprint and impression do you want to make on the world? Do you realize, young men, young women, that each of you is an original? There never was another like you in this world. God throws the mold away every time he makes a man, never makes an identical twin. I wonder why! I think He made you what you are in order that you might do some particular thing better than anyone else in the world could do it; and if you don't find what that work is and do it, that particular work will not be done. God expects that you will do your work and do your share. Now if you are going to qualify to do any type of work, you need to be prepared to do the thing you're expected to do. You must have the right kind of education. When I speak of education, I'm not speaking only of that which you get in your mind. I'm speaking, and I may say mainly, from the standpoint of that which helps direct the course of your life. The education of the heart is important. I have met some very highly educated men, as the world views education, PRO version
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who have been thought to be successful and have thought themselves successful. I have met them at the peak of their so-called success and have met them after they have gone over the top and were about ready to leave and evaluate their own lives. And I've been amused at the unanimity of these so-called great men on one point. Their success-real, genuine, lasting success-has been dependent upon the education of the heart. Faith in God, faith in themselves, faith in their fellowmen and willingness to serve-these have been fundamental in the lives of many great men whom I have had the pleasure of meeting. Boys and girls, your character, your standards, your ideals-you are important! God expects you to be true. He sent you here at this time because He knew something of your preexistent work, because you are better than we, your elders, for the job that you have to do. You have come upon this planet in an atomic age. There will be more power in your hands than your grandfathers ever dreamed of. You will travel at greater speed, you will be able to contact millions where we contacted ten. Your influence and your life and your prestige are going to affect His work, and it was because He knew you were true in the spirit world that He sent you here now. I pray you, be worthy of that trust. I pray you, do not be cheap, do not be foolish enough to ruin your life for a moment of thrill. Be men, be women, be honorable Latter-day Saints. I bear you the testimony of a man who at least stands somewhere nearer the grave than he was a hundred years ago. I bear you the testimony of one who knows that he is going to meet his Maker soon; and looking back over life's road, which is varied and intensely interesting, I say to you: Jesus of Nazareth appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I pray God we may all be worthy. May we never forget, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —Smithfield Stake Conference, September 26, 1954 Return to top
Talking to the Oldsters PRO version
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This afternoon for just a little while I should like to talk with the older folk about what the Church really means to us. People sometimes think they have made sacrifices for the Church when they have gone on missions or labored at home and perhaps have deprived themselves of some worldly riches in order to serve in the Church. I feel that whatever contributions we have made, whatever we have tried to do for others, we still owe a very great debt of gratitude to the Church and to the Lord and we shall not live long enough to pay it. If a man devotes his whole time to serving his fellowmen and serves devotedly for a long lifetime, he will not be able to repay one millionth part of what God has done for him. And so if we can be helpful to others, and in this "horizontal" religion we can reach out and lift and benefit and bless, I am sure we shall be ourselves rewarded in ways far beyond anything we may presently understand or comprehend. In talking with the young people this morning, we attempted to present to them some ideas with respect to the faith we have that this is God's work that it came as a direct result of a revelation and vision from heaven and that following the visitation of the Master and the Father, angels were sent on different errands. Authority was given and men were commissioned, the Church was organized and the great missionary system instituted. As we grow older and look back over the history of the Church, we see what was done by men who had not the advantages that some of us have today, but who did stupendous things in a remarkable way. When we see the result of their work, the changed attitude of many people, when I remember that when I went to England the first time there were mobbings, drivings and persecution and a number of people gave their lives for the gospel, I am led to wonder if I am worthy of my heritage. When I think of my own grandfather with the Mormon Battalion; when I think of what he gave because he was a Mormon (he spent seventeen years in the mission field, and all but two of them with only one leg, the rest walking on crutches); when I think of what my own parents did, of my angel mother who raised seven boys and seven girls on a ranch, the sacrifices she made and the imprint she left in the hearts of those fourteen boys and girls with respect to God and religion and life and service; when I think of these things and of the pioneers who came west under such trying circumstances, of those of them who went north as we did into Canada and others south into Mexico and into other outlying places-when I think of such people I think of what has been put into this work and what you and I have inherited because of their sacrifices. It makes me desire to do everything I can do to show my gratitude for their faith and devotion. I am sure that I shall be ashamed, when my time comes-if I am permitted to go where my father and mother are-if I cannot conscientiously say to them, "I tried to follow your example." I think we older ones need to be reminded of PRO version
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our duty! I think we need to be reminded that we who are older are in a very large measure responsible for what might happen to those who are younger. "Twas a sheep not a lamb that strayed away In the parable Jesus told, A grown-up sheep that strayed away From the ninety and nine in the fold. "And why for the sheep should we seek And earnestly hope and pray? Because there is danger when sheep go wrong; They lead the lambs astray. "Lambs will follow the sheep, you know, Wherever the sheep may stray. When sheep go wrong, it won't take long Til the lambs are as wrong as they. "And so with the sheep we earnestly plead For the sake of the lambs today, For when sheep are lost, what a terrible cost The lambs will have to pay! "The Echo," C C. Miller I think we older people need to think of that. I think we need to examine ourselves and see whether we measure up. I think we older ones should question ourselves as to whether or not we in our inner selves have arrived. We were baptized; we had some faith; we repented, partly; we were confirmed, and then were ordained to the priesthood. But are we justified from there on in just sitting in a chair with our hands on the shelf that nature provided for older people and walt to go to heaven? Is that our estimate of the meaning of faith and of service and of the Church and God? We released a man three weeks ago from an office in the stake and while what he said was facetious, I have thought about it since. Brother Lee said, "What are you going to do now that you are released?" He said, "Well, I think for the first ten years I'll just sit in a rocking chair on the front porch," and when asked what he was going to PRO version
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do after that the man said, "I'm going to start to rock!" Have you seen people who have arrived, who have done all they are going to do, who are just going to heaven immediately when they die? There are going to be a lot of people surprised. I believe with Dr. James E. Talmage "That any man can go into the highest degree of the celestial kingdom of God when his actions have been such that he can feel at home there." Would you feel at home tomorrow in His presence? I am reminded that the "glory of God is intelligence" and I assume that those around him share that glory in proportion to their intelligence and if that be true then the degree of my intelligence will determine my ability to enjoy my surroundings; and if I do not feel at home in heaven I expect to ask for a transfer, or to get it without asking for it, and I think the transfer will probably be downward. In other words, I'll go where I can feel at home even though I might have to shovel coal. Through the years I have wished I might help to convert Latter-day Saints to the genius of Mormonism, not just to the first principles. I would like to say to the Latter-day Saints what the apostle Paul said to the Saints of his day, "Leaving the first principles, let us go on unto perfection." None of us have achieved that yet, and only to the degree that we are constantly growing, gaining intelligence, knowledge and understanding-only to that degree are we fully living our religion. Of course, I believe in the Word of Wisdom and the law of tithing, in saying prayers, going to church, in all the things the Lord said we should do; but I believe it is possible for a man to do all of those things and leave undone the things which the Savior called the "weightier matters of the law." "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Matthew 23:23.) One man who stood in the synagogue, according to the Master, and in his self-conceit he said, "I thank thee God, that I am not as other men," and then he went on to tell how he had fasted, how much tithing he paid and how he had done this and that and said he was thankful that he was not like the poor publican. The publican also prayed but he did not even raise his eyes toward heaven; he only said, "God be merciful to me a sinner." The Savor said that the second prayer was heard, and "this man went down to his house justified rather than the other." Complacency is a very grave danger in the Church as well as in the world. We need to be aroused to the fact that there is much yet to do in this matter of gaining our salvation. The goal is so high that not only can it be seen from PRO version
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both sides of the valley of life, it is so far distant that we can pursue it throughout the endless ages of eternity, attempting to become like that from which we came-God our Father. We need to study more, to think more, to pray more fervently, to do our full duty. Some have thought that upon joining the Church and being faithful all trials would end, all difficulties disappear, and all temptations cease. We are reminded of the young bride who, on her wedding day, said to her mother, "I am the happiest girl in the world. I have come to the end of all my troubles." And the wise mother replied, "Yes, my dear, but you don't know which end." No, joining the Church doesn't insure us against difficulty. I see faces before me today upon which time has written a history of struggle, hard work and heart-break, disappointment and bereavement. I see men and women here, and I see them all over the Church, who have given everything to the cause, they have struggled with poverty, sickness, bereavement, disappointment and heartbreak, but they've kept on, and day by day they have knelt and thanked God for His many blessings and prayed for strength to endure. I am always inspired when duty calls me to the home of some of our people who have very little of this world's goods, who have, it seems as one looks on from without, very little to be grateful for. As I have visited with them and have been invited to kneel with them in prayer and have heard them, in broken voices, thank God for all their blessings-as I have listened to their humble prayers, I have been ashamed that sometimes I have complained at my lot. Just last Sunday someone handed me this, and I like it: The other day upon the bus, I saw a lovely girl with golden hair. I envied her, she was so gay, and wished I was as fair. When suddenly she arose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisleShe had one leg, and wore a crutch, and as she stood, a PRO version
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smile. Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I have two legs, the world is mine. And then I stopped to buy some sweets-the lad who sold them had such charm. I talked with him-he was so pleased-if I were late twould do no harm. And when I left he said to me, "Thank you, you've been so kind. It's nice to talk with folks like you. You see," he said, "I'm blind." Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I have two eyes, the world is mine. Then later, walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue. He stood and watched the others play-it seemed he knew not what to do. I paused a moment and I said, "Why don't you join the others, dear?" He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew, he could not hear. Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I have two ears, the world is mine. With legs to take me where I'd go, with eyes to see the sunset's glow, With ears to hear what I should know, Oh, God, forgive me when I whine! I'm blessed indeed, the world is mine! Brothers and sisters, the Savior never did promise His followers that they would have lives of ease and comfort. PRO version
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In fact, the very insignia of Christianity is a cross! And the being whom most Christians worshipped in the meridian of time was a Man with a crown of thorns upon his head. Someone has said that if you have not known sorrow, heartbreak, disappointment and bereavement, God has forgotten you. God has been good to us. Sometimes our hearts have been broken. He has let us know we have hearts. So shall we all take courage, take our share of the load, and carry it courageously? One of the greatest lessons the Master taught was how to carry a cross. Let us remember the rest of the song we just sang, How Firm a Foundation"When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow, For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine. May God bless each one of us that we may have the courage and the faith and the fortitude to be better Latterday Saints; to gain knowledge, intelligence and wisdom; may we come closer to him until we feel and know His presence and appreciate the eternal and almost unbelievable fact that He, God, the Creator of all, is our Father. May we know there is something of Him in us, which means we can grow into something like Him; and with that faith we will have the courage to meet what comes. Let us never complain if' in the vicissitudes of life, we do not get all the things we would like to have or if those whom we love the best are taken from us. I stood last week at the bedside of a young mother in the hospital in Salt Lake. The family had sent for me because I had known them in England. I saw a broken-hearted husband. I saw a weeping father and mother. Out of the very depth of his soul I heard that father speak as Abraham of old spoke when asked to sacrifice his son. That father said, "If it be thy will, oh God, so be it." I knelt with them at that bedside and administered to her, and three days later I spoke at her funeral. I saw faith and fortitude and courage such as we do not often encounter. I saw that this fire through which they were passing was a cleansing, purifying thing, consuming the dross and PRO version
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refining the gold. I have enjoyed immensely being with you. Last night in the Priesthood meeting we asked the members of the priesthood to join with us in prayer asking God to accept an invitation to this conference and to be present by His spirit. As one of His servants I testify to you that He has been here today, and though you may forget what has been said you will not forget what you have felt. You have felt His Holy Spirit. May it cleanse and purify all of us. May we go from this meeting resolved to learn more of the gospel; to put more of it into practice and, whatever our age, to keep growing, for only through intelligence and the refining influence that works upon us to make us more God-like may we be welcomed into His kingdom. Peace be with you. The President of the Church has asked us in all of our conferences to carry his love and blessing to the people. Today he is in Canada-in Calgary dedicating a chapel. He is traveling all the time. His vitality is remarkable. God does bless that man, and he is God's prophet. I bring his blessing to you and humbly add my own and thank you for the privilege of having come to you and pray for his blessings ever to attend you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —San Luis Stake Conference, September 16, 1956 Return to top
On Church Service My dear brethren, I think in a long lifetime of Church service, appearing before various sized groups, I have never felt more humble than I do tonight as I stand before this vast group of men and realize even more are listening in. My feeling of inadequacy is emphasized by the fact that you have asked me to assume some duties and responsibilities for which I am not prepared. I therefore lean heavily tonight on your sympathy and God's goodness. PRO version
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I do not like to compare the Church to an army particularly, but in some ways the two are similar. In both organizations we are dealing with human beings, and human beings are pretty much the same wherever you find them. I am thinking at the moment of an incident in 1912 when Lord Roberts, then the highest ranking officer in the British Army, came to Western Canada to promote the organization of what was then known as the Militia. He called all of the young officers who were in training into a secret meeting. Among other things, he said to us, and I can only paraphrase: "Gentlemen, a war is coming. In my opinion it cannot be delayed more than two years. It is going to be the worst war in history thus far, and I have been sent by the King to help prepare the nation for what is ahead." His prediction, of course, as to the time of the out-break of the war was accurate, because the war started for Britain in 1914. Subsequent to that time, it was my duty to talk to officers in the Army, always under instruction from commanding officers. My purpose and objective was, first, to acquaint the officers, so far as I could with the strength and position of the enemy; second, to remind the men of their duty and to encourage undeviating loyalty; and third then to warn them against the methods employed by the enemy-subtle infiltration and attempted alienation. We said to these officers, "Your units will not be stronger than their leaders. You can judge the strength of any military unit by the quality of its leaders." And we called upon those officers to be worthy of the confidence of their men. We reminded them also that the lives of other men depended upon their efficiency and loyalty. Tonight we are speaking to perhaps 50,000 men, and every man is a volunteer and qualified officer. Upon each one of you there is great responsibility regardless of where you are working or the size of the group over which you preside. Here, as in the army, our strength is going to depend in large measure upon the quality of our officers, and our purpose tonight is to warn you Priesthood holders, and through you all the members of the Church, of the existence, strength, location and tactics of the enemy. We remind you that we rely on your absolute loyalty and that preparedness is indispensable. In the army too frequently when we refer to fitness we think only physical fitness. Tonight we are calling upon all of you officers of the Church to be fit and ready, physically, mentally, morally, and spiritually, for the war that lies PRO version
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ahead, because our foes are determined to destroy all that we hold dear. The enemy is led by men well trained in their type of warfare, and the Devil is commanding officer. Not only must we meet a head-on assault from the enemy, but the more dangerous and subtle attack will be one of infiltration-human termites will undertake to undermine our forces. I believe, my brethren, the time has come when every men who holds the priesthood should figuratively stand himself against the wall and look himself over, ask himself some questions and be honest with his answers. You may as well be honest when you are talking to yourself because the man you are talking to knows who you are and what you are. There are at least two times when a man will be honest, and that is when he is talking to himself, and when he is in his closet talking with God. Here, at least, the truth will be distilled. Let us then examine ourselves and ask what kind of men we are. We might make a pretty good showing in public, be fairly successful in business or in politics; but let each man ask himself what kind of man he is in the home, in his business, in his private life. If you do not like what you see as you look at yourself, then do something about it. God will not hold any man guiltless who simply confesses his sin and doesn't abandon it, or who admits his weakness and doesn't work for strength. May I pause here to remind all of us that it matters little what position we hold, but it matters much what we do in the position we hold. Brother Lee referred to Paul's reminder that there is need for all the parts of the body. I am thinking of the Church as the body. No one of us should say or think at any time, "If I were in some other place, I could display my superior ability and faith, but in the position I have I do not have a chance to show what I can do. If I were a bishop or stake president or high councilman or one of the general authorities, of course, I could perform a great work, but down here where I am the work I am doing doesn't amount to much." Brethren, when we stand before the judgment bar of God-and I am saying tonight as Lord Roberts said in 1912, a judgment day is ahead-I think we will not be asked what position we held in the Church. I think the only question, if any questions are necessary, will be, "What did you do with the job assigned to you?" And if a counselor in an elders' quorum, or a counselor in the bishopric, or a man in any other position anywhere in the Church can honestly say, "I did the best I could to fill the position assigned to me," if he can say that honestly, and if one of the general authorities cannot say it honestly, I would rather be the counselor in the elders' quorum, etc. because the Lord is not going to pay much attention to any inscription one may have on his chest. The Lord is not interested in PRO version
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labels. He knows as we do that labels do not always tell the truth. Personally, I thank God for the opportunity to work. I am grateful, among other things, that this, the Church of Jesus Christ, gives opportunity to every man and woman, and to children as well, incidentally, to participate in the work of the Lord. There is no position in this Church that is not bigger than the man that holds it, as there is room for growth in every position or calling. Every man should be apprised of that and realize that in each position in the Church there is opportunity for any man to employ all the ability with which the Lord has blessed him. We come to you tonight to challenge you, to warn you that there is a war now being waged, the most dangerous and devastating-an ideological war, a spiritual war, a war in which the enemy is endeavoring to enslave the bodies and minds and souls of men, and to fight this we must be prepared. Let us be loyal to the stakes and wards, missions and branches to which we have the honor to belong. Let us be true to ourselves and true to our leaders. Again a quick analogy. I have seen instances where junior officers criticized senior officers because they stayed far behind the lines and did not know what was going on in the trenches. Very often the junior officers were critical of the senior officers because they did not know there was a rat hole in a dugout, forgetful of the fact that the man back there upon whom rested the total responsibility of the entire operation had something to do other than look at a rat hole. He must leave that to the man who happens to be in that dugout. At the head of our force we have Jesus, the Christ, who joined issue with Beelzebub when the foundation of this world was laid. Beelzebub-the Devil, Lucifer-declared then that he would never rest until he had enslaved the souls of men, and Christ declared that He would never rest until each soul was free to "choose his life and what he'll be." And under the Lord Jesus Christ, we are led by a prophet of God. We, then, are enlisted in an army with Christ at the head, directing His work through a living prophet. Let us be loyal to them, true to ourselves, and let each of us do the job assigned to us in the place where we are asked to work, to the best of our ability. I want to assure you that I know what it means to be asked to do a job a thousand times too big for me, and yet I PRO version
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know too that God can take any one of us and do anything he wants to do through us. Let us not spend time asking the Lord to do something for us when He is waiting and anxious to do something through us. Let us not forget that the priesthood we bear is not in us as individuals, but the power of it comes through us. Let us keep ourselves worthy for the power to be transmitted. Let us go forward unafraid as President McKay admonished us at the beginning of this conference. May we have courage and fortitude and faith and the knowledge that though we will undoubtedly have to meet many difficulties, with God's help we need not fear. I like this verse of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat: Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on. God bless you, my brethren. I thank you for your support. I want to tell you that we have at the head of the Church today one of the greatest leaders of the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. I know this from intimate association with him. God has honored him, and we who sit next to him day by day see the work of the Church being outlined, organized, and going forward under the inspiration of heaven. I testify to you that he is the Prophet of God, and that these men who are associated here with us are true and loyal to him. I leave you my testimony of the restoration of the Gospel, and I want you to know that the President and all of us have confidence in you. You will not let us down nor be untrue to yourselves, nor become traitors to the cause. Furthermore, you may be sure that ultimately righteousness will triumph, truth will prevail. The Church has been organized and set up. It is the Kingdom of God, and it will never be thrown down. God bless us to do our part. To this end I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —General Priesthood Meeting, September 30, 1961 PRO version
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The Discerning Life! Prepare the Youth What are the virtues you attempt to instil in the lives of the young people over whom you preside, the things that you have incorporated into your own lives? I know of no better summary of the elements of the abundant life than the one given by the great German teacher and philosopher, Goethe. He said, "There are nine requisites for contented living; Faith enough to make work a pleasure; wealth enough to support your needs; strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them; grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them; patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished; charity enough to see some good in your neighbor; love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others; faith enough to make real the things of God; and hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future." The Apostle Peter also set forth a catalogue of virtues. I shall not dwell on them at length, but should like to discuss some of them. He, of course, named FAITH as the first great essential, the moving cause of all action, without which the prophets have told us through the ages it is impossible to please God. Faith is, in fact, as Paul said to the Galatians, a gift of the Spirit, and it should not be held in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. We all need faith-faith in ourselves and in our fellowmen, faith in our country and our way of life, faith in the ultimate triumph of righteousness, faith in God and in a glorious future. I am thinking, too, of what faith can do in the lives of the young men and women of the MIA. Your faith in them will inspire them to greater effort. Believe in them, because they are God's children and He needs you to help him in His effort to bring to pass their immortality and eternal life. Unwavering faith engenders indomitable courage, and PRO version
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courage has been called the queen of the virtues because none of them could long endure without it. It is the guarantor of all the other virtues. As we mature in life we see the logic and wisdom of Peter in listing VIRTUE to follow or accompany faith. Wherever there is loss of virtue there is inevitable loss of self-respect, and self-respect is indispensable to selfconfidence, which is an attribute of faith. The righteous and abundant life inspires faith and courage, and the search for knowledge becomes stimulating and fruitful. Someone has said that "Wisdom is the goal of education; knowledge is the beginning of the way to that end." William Cowper said, "Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; wisdom is humble that he knows no more." There is another quality of mind and soul which you exemplify and teach and that is creative imagination. The Lord left this world of ours unfinished in a sense, and calls upon us to use our imagination and our innate creative powers in order that we might discover, improve and enjoy our universe. The following words of Dr. Stockdale are to the point: "When God made the earth, he could have finished it, but he didn't. Instead, he left it as raw material to tease us and tantalize us and set us thinking and experimenting and risking and adventuring, and therein we find the supreme interest in living. Have you ever noticed that a small child in a nursery will ignore clever mechanical toys in order to build with spools and strings and sticks and blocks a world of his own imagination? And so with grownups, too. God gave us a world unfinished so that we might share in the joys and satisfaction of creation. He left the oil in the Trenton rock. He left the electricity in the clouds. He left the rivers unbridged and the mountains untrailed. He left the forests unfelled and the cities unbuilt. He left the laboratories unopened. He left the diamonds uncut. He gave us a challenge of raw materials, not the satisfaction of perfect finished things. He left the music unsung, the dramas unplayed. He left the poetry undreamed in order that men and women might not become bored with life, but engage in stimulating, exciting, creative activities to keep them thinking, working, experimenting, and experiencing all the joys and durable satisfactions of achievement. Work, thought, creation-these give life its stimulus, its real satisfaction, its stimulating value. PRO version
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"Progress comes not by some magic word, not by government edict, but from the thoughts, the toil, the tears, the triumphs of individuals who accept the challenge of raw material, and by the grace of God-given talents produce results which satisfy the needs of men." In the use of knowledge Peter suggests the balance wheel of TEMPERANCE, because knowledge is power and power can be dangerous. Much of the world today is dominated by wilful, godless men who, through technical knowledge, have the power to destroy the world. Knowledge alone will not insure salvation. While it is true that we are saved no faster than we gain knowledge, it must be used with wisdom and develop into intelligence. Beware of the temptation to use your power or authority for personal aggrandizement. Pride is a besetting sin. When you tell Satan to get behind you do not turn around and face him to demonstrate your conquest. Beware when you think you stand, lest you fall! While the progress of mankind is built upon the continued reinterpretation of concepts which fail to meet the tests of new-found facts, so far as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned there are certain eternal verities which change not. We hope you will carry the assurance to the young people of the Church, as they seek for knowledge, as they pursue their studies in science and art and other things, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is eternal and unchangeable, its laws are inexorable and immutable. Help them to get a correct interpretation of the principles of the gospel, and to apply them in their lives. While the past teaches us much, and we must learn and apply the lessons which it has to teach, we should use the lessons of the past as a base from which we may soar out into the uncharted areas of undiscovered truth. As we go forward you and they should cultivate tolerance. Tolerance requires that we respect the opinions of others, that competing ideas be tested, one against the other, so that the best, which might not always be our own, can prevail. Only when all sides of the question are heard are we justified in coming to a conclusion. But never condone evil in the name of tolerance. I have sometimes thought that if the Lord had laid before me a preview of the whole history of the world and had said to me, "You may choose your own time or dispensation for earth life," I think I would have chosen to come in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. PRO version
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Perhaps it would have been interesting to be with Adam in the Garden of Eden, but I am afraid I wouldn't have stayed there any longer than he did. I am afraid the "lone and dreary world" would have been an uninviting place. It would have been interesting to live in the days of Noah, the Noachian Dispensation, but I doubt if I would have been one of the eight who survived. I think the Dispensation of Abraham was a great one; through him and his sons, Isaac and Jacob, Israel became established. Those were great days, and it would have been wonderful to live at that time. The Mosaic Dispensation was a glorious time of deliverance and re-establishment, when Israel's leaders walked and talked with God and the ten commandments were given. I do not know that I would have enjoyed the 40 years in the wilderness, especially if I had known what I now know about the possibility of going the same distance in a few minutes, and yet it was a great dispensation. And the other prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, all of the prophets-I would have liked to have lived and known and been with them. It would have certainly been wonderful to have lived in the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time. I love that song: I think, when I read that sweet story of old, When Jesus was here among men, How He called little children like lambs to His fold; I should like to have been with Him then. But again, I am not sure if I had lived at that time that I would have been with the minority. I am not sure that I would have followed the Christ. I might have cried as did the majority, "Crucify him." Of course, none of us would wish we could have lived in the years immediately following the Christian Era, or through the Dark Ages, but the time that I would have chosen to live if I could have witnessed the events of all the dispensations and known the end from the beginning would have been the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, our own time, and I would have chosen America for my home. Owen Seaman expressed this thought in the following verse: Ye that have faith to look with fearless eyes Beyond the tragedy of a world at strife, And know that out of death and night shall rise PRO version
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The dawn of ampler life: Rejoice, whatever anguish rend the heart, That God has given you the priceless dower, To live in these great times and have your part In freedom's crowning hour. That ye may tell your sons who see the light High in the heavens-their heritage to take"I saw the powers of darkness take their flight; I saw the morning break." But sometimes I almost wish I had been born 50 years later and been a member of your generation because I see for you the greatest opportunities and challenges of all time. We call upon you to go back to your stakes, your missions, your wards, and your branches and instill into the hearts of the young people of the Church, first, faith in God faith in themselves, in their country, and in the ultimate triumph of righteousness. Carry back to them hope and courage and the necessity of being vigilant, alert, and prepared. Teach them that integrity is to the heart what knowledge is to the brain. Teach them to be honest, true, upright and virtuous. For the battles which lie ahead they must be equipped with the whole armor of God and then they will relish the prospect of the future. God help us all that we may do our part to prepare for that future, ominous though it may be. I leave a blessing with you MIA workers. From my heart I pray God to bless and guide you as you undertake to help to guide the youth of the Church, the reserves of the army of the Lord. I pray that God will bless you in your homes, in your work, in your play, and that He will give you faith and courage and fortitude to make you equal to your tasks. I pronounce this blessing upon you and promise that these things will be yours as you continue to inculcate into the lives of those over whom you preside in the great MIA cause the saving principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I again leave my testimony of the divinity of this work. I know better than I know anything else in the world that PRO version
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Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It becomes my duty and my privilege to so testify, and I do it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —MIA Conference, June 17, 1962 Return to top
The Righteous Use of Power You men, most of you here, and many listening in, know that the man who stands at the head of the Melchizedek Priesthood—in fact of all the Priesthood of the Church—is the President of the Church. He presides here tonight and I conduct under his direction. He is an ideal model, an exemplar to all of us. He often quotes, and in his life exemplifies, the admonition of Isaiah: . . . be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord. —Isaiah 52:11 I should like to make a few observations on the responsibility of all whom God has honored by permitting them to act for Him. There is need for courage and constancy in the midst of perilous and ominous world conditions. As I read of the Prophet Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, I am inspired by the courage and faith which enabled him to carry on in spite of persistent and bitter persecution throughout his lifetime. When in Liberty Jail, where he spent many months, in 1839, he felt that he had suffered about all that mortal man could endure. In an inspired appeal he prayed: O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? PRO version
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Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them? —Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-3 And the Lord answered, with the understanding born of experience: My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. —Doctrine and Covenants 121:7, 8 In the 121st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants we have one of the most beautiful of all revelations: Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson— That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. —Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-37 Brethren of the priesthood, let us never exercise unrighteous dominion. Let us honor the priesthood in our own PRO version
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homes, in our attitudes toward our wives and children, for there as elsewhere "when the Spirit is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man." The Spirit will not always strive with man but we should always strive to retain His Spirit in our homes, in our businesses, in all that we undertake to do. We must cleanse and purify our bodies and souls, and try to be worthy to be called the sons of God and to hold the Holy Priesthood. I read on: No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by longsuffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile— Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever. —Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-42, 45-46 I never tire of reading or hearing this scripture because it is the direct word of the Lord to the men who hold the priesthood, telling us how to honor it, how to officiate under it, warning all against unrighteous dominion. I should like to say to you fathers tonight that our conduct in our homes determines in large measure our worthiness to hold and exercise the priesthood, which is the power of God delegated to man. Almost any man can make a good showing when on parade, before the public, but one's integrity is tested when "off duty." The real man is seen and known in the comparative solitude of the home. An office or title will not erase a fault nor guarantee a virtue. True worth is in being, not seeming, In doing each day that goes by, PRO version
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Some little good, not in the dreaming, Of great things to do by and by. Whatever men say in their blindness, And in spite of the fancies of youth, There's nothing so Kingly as kindness, And nothing so Royal as truth. Let us never . . . undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, . . . —Doctrine and Covenants 121:37 The late President Joseph F. Smith wrote, "There is no office growing out of this Priesthood that is or can be greater than the Priesthood itself. It is from the Priesthood that the office derives its authority and power. No office gives authority to the Priesthood. No office adds to the power of the Priesthood, but all offices in the Church derive their power, their virtue, their authority, from the Priesthood. The President of the Church carries on as President by virtue of his Priesthood." And now to you brethren who preside in the Church, I should like to say a word—presidents of stakes, presidents of missions, bishops of wards, all who preside in any capacity—we urge you to recognize and use your counselors. You will notice through all the organization of the Church our Father in Heaven has provided that each presiding officer shall have two counselors. We regret that occasionally we hear of a stake president, a mission president, a bishop or some presiding officer, who arrogates to himself the honors which belong to the office he holds, who presides in a "one man" dictatorial way, forgetting his counselors, neglecting to counsel with them, and thereby assuming all the honors of the presidency or bishopric and taking upon himself all the responsibility for decisions in which his counselors should share. There is wisdom and safety in counsel. Honor those with whom and over whom you preside. That we honor the priesthood and the offices in it applies not only to our attitudes toward those who preside over us but toward those over whom and with whom we preside. Let us PRO version
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preside with kindness, consideration, and love. Now, brethren, we who are assembled here tonight and in 320 other places should form a great bulwark against Communism and its attendant evils. The efficiency of our opposition to them depends upon the way we honor our priesthood and place ourselves in a position to seek and obtain God's help in fighting evil. Communism is of the Devil. Communism started when the Devil was cast out of heaven because of his rebelling against the will of his Father that men should have their free agency. Satan and his emissaries would rob men of their priceless freedom. We do not wish tonight to enter into a long discussion of this evil but it is well that all men know that the Church and the leaders of the Church stand squarely against Communism. To emphasize this I refer to what President Grant, President Clark, and President McKay wrote some time ago: "The Church does not interfere, and has no intention of trying to interfere, with the fullest and freest exercise of the political franchise of its members, under and within our Constitution. . . . "But Communism is not a political party nor a political plan under the Constitution; it is a system of government that is the opposite of our Constitutional government, and it would be necessary to destroy our Government before Communism could be set up in the United States." I wish you would read the rest of it yourselves and see what the stand of the First Presidency was at that time and I think I can authoritatively say to you that the position of the First Presidency has not changed since that time. But brethren, beware that you do not become extremists on either side. The degree of a man's aversion to Communism may not always be measured by the noise he makes in going about and calling everyone a Communist who disagrees with his personal political bias. There is no excuse for members of this Church, especially men who hold the priesthood, to be opposing one another over Communism; we are all unalterably opposed to it but we must be united in our fight against it. Let us not undermine our Government or accuse those who hold office of being soft on Communism. Furthermore, our chapels and meeting houses should not be made available to men who seek financial gain or political advantage by destroying faith in our elected officials under the guise of fighting Communism. We call upon the priesthood of the Church to stand together with a solid front PRO version
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against everything that would rob men of their God-given freedom. I leave again my testimony with you that I know that God lives, and that Jesus is the Christ. From the center of my heart I bear witness to that fact, and that Joseph the Prophet was ordained and set apart and called as the leader of this great dispensation. I bear witness to the fact that our beloved President today holds all the keys and authority given to Joseph Smith, and that he is the mouthpiece of God on earth today. We honor and sustain him. God help you brethren and all of us to remain true to the end, true to Him, true to our country and its institutions, and true to the truth, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —General Priesthood Meeting, April 7, 1962 Return to top
The Influence of the Primary Association My dear co-workers, officers and teachers of the great Primary Association of the Church, President McKay wished me to bring to you his love, confidence and appreciation for the great work you are doing in this, one of the greatest of the organizations of the Church. All of the general authorities join with him in wishing for you and promising to you the rewards which come from serving the Lord through Serving His children. I do not wish to start on a negative note, but it is impossible in these times to speak in public without making reference to the conditions and challenges which confront the leaders and peoples of the world. There is at work in the world today an age-old menacing power which is better organized now than at any time in the history of the world. Hundreds of millions of people are enslaved by that power. In fact, hundreds of millions of children are being systematically indoctrinated in communistic countries with the idea that there is no God, that religion is an opiate, and that Christ is a myth. If I were instructing a group of army officers just prior to a battle, I think I would alert them as to the size and the PRO version
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objectives of the enemy so they might be prepared to meet him. It is in that spirit that I bring to this select group just a word with respect to the kind of enemy we face. That enemy is making a relentless attack on three fronts-the home, the Church, and God. On all three fronts the Primary workers of the Church are enlisted, behind the lines, to equip and prepare our children, the reserves of the Church, to step into the front lines and replace casualties. No group is doing a more effective work than this great organization. As your work is primarily concerned with children, I like to combine the words Home and Primary, and make a hyphenated word. These words, and the institutions which they represent, have the same connotation-Love. I would like to read a line from the Doctrine and Covenants: Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God. But I have commended you to bring up your children in light and truth. —Doctrine and Covenants 93:38, 40 In the Book of Moses, The Pearl of Great Price, we read: Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; . . . Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, . . . —Moses 6:57, 58 Dr. Milton Bennion gave us a definition of teaching which I think will endure. "All teaching is or ought to be a fine art based upon adequate scientific foundations. The teaching of religion is in the broadest meaning of that term PRO version
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the finest of fine arts. Teaching by example, both in conduct and in attitude, is always better than teaching by precept alone." Isaiah in olden times, said, "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." (Isaiah 54:13.) Teaching the children to love the Lord is the prime object, the very purpose of Primary work. But the teacher must be what she teaches. We often hold up before our classes the ideal of the Christ and say to them that He was a perfect man. We repeat His admonition: Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. I would like to remind the Primary teachers, many of whom are mothers, that when you are teaching little children of the perfection of Christ, the degree of their comprehension of what perfection means is measured by what they see before them in you. He who teaches religion or teaches about God must not only possess the idea of God but must be himself possessed by that idea. A great teacher once said: "Both teachers and students must realize the need for goals and ideals to unify their energy, to integrate their personalities, and to draw forth the potentially best in them which otherwise would lie dormant. They must have the love for and the desire to emulate the great ideal which is Jesus. He prefers active emulation over passive adoration." When one glorifies such a vision in his mind, and enthrones such an ideal in his heart, he has a blue-print by which he builds his life. Let us hold up before ourselves and our students the ideals of a perfect person. If we are going to say with Jesus, "Be ye therefore perfect, . . ." then we, their parents, their teachers, must undertake to approach some degree of perfection. It was said in the temple this morning, and it seemed to me appropriate here, that too many of us go through life unaware of our surroundings, of our opportunities, of our privileges, and of our responsibilities. All of us need to stretch our minds, to enrich our spirits by meditation and prayer, and to purify our souls by great companionship. Great companionship makes one feel his own insignificance and yet he is filled with a desire to stretch his mind to reach up, to be and to become more like that which he admires. And so as we teach the children to love and worship God they will seek to become like that which they adore. I think, my dear sisters, the quality of your teaching depends in large measure upon your attitude toward your PRO version
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work. What is it you are doing and for what reason? You have all heard, of course, the old story of three men working cutting stone for a cathedral. When a visitor asked the first man what he was doing, he said, "I'm cutting rock." The second man was asked, "What are you doing?" "Well, I'm working for three dollars a day." The third man replied as he removed his cap and looked up at the unfinished cathedral, "I'm building a cathedral." Are you working for so much a day, are you just fulfilling an assignment, or are you building character? You are working on materials far more valuable and more enduring than the materials in a cathedral. Every imprint you make will be eternal. Parents and teachers will be judged largely by the quality of their work. I wish I could qualify to stand beside the dedicated Primary workers of the Church and be judged with them and somehow borrow a bit from their glory. Jesus said, "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, (John 17:19.) I am very sure that all Primary teachers and officers and most parents desire to sanctify themselves for the work which lies ahead. But that work is not always easy. It is a wonderful privilege, it is a great challenge, to be asked to labor among those of whom the Savior said, ". . . of such is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:14.) Oh, I'm quite aware that in some of your classes you have wondered what heaven must be like. I think I see a little red-headed, freckle-faced bundle of electricity and dust in a class. Yet, that boy may become the President of the Church. We have to look through and see the soul of a child. The Lord will qualify and prepare you to meet your responsibilities. The poet said: "Because the way was steep and long and through a dark and dismal land, God put upon my lips a song and placed a lantern in my hand." Doctor Beck tells us, and I hope we can remember some of this: "Truth never comes to a child disembodied or detached, but always with the slant and quality of the teacher's interpretation of it. It is as if the teacher's mind and spirit were the stained glass through which the sunlight must fall. All that passes through the medium of living personality, takes the tone and quality from that contact." The pupils may not grasp the lesson from their books, but their teachers are living epistles known and read by all of them. What we are too often drowns out what we say. Precepts may fail, but personality never does. You know, sisters, things don't just happen in the spiritual realm any more than they do in the realm with which we PRO version
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are better acquainted. All things are caused. I am thinking of the tremendous responsibility you have. Referring again to military reserves, no army is stronger than its reserves. Unless the reserves are prepared to step into the places of the front line troops and carry on, no army will succeed; neither will any church organization. These whom you are teaching are the future bishops, stake presidents, mission presidents, general authorities, heads of the women's organizations (Relief Society, MIA, Primary Association), and you are preparing them for that which lies ahead. The influence of the Primary in the home is an influence greatly needed in the home. The mother has a lot to do besides teaching Primary lessons and the child needs to get out of the home and make new contacts, push back horizons, and find new worlds. These children are going to come home and say, "Mother, my Primary teacher taught me what you taught me. It must be right." What a wonderful combination-home-Primary. Sometimes it is the privilege of the mother to help her child to transfer his allegiance, measurably at least, from her to God. Mother is really another name for God in the minds of little children, but there will come a time when she will not be with them. They lean on her; they trust her; they receive nourishment from her; but the time will come when they must rely on someone else. The adept mother, aided by the skillful Primary teacher, prepares the child to transfer his affection and his dependence to their Heavenly Father. May I tell a little story? More than half a century ago, I was standing on a little railway station platform in Cardston, Canada. I was leaving for England on a mission. My saintly mother stood there with me and held my hand. This is what she said. "Hugh, my son, do you remember when you were a little boy you often had bad dreams, nightmares, and you called out to me as I was sleeping in the next room: `Mother, Mother, are you there?' Do you remember I always said, `Yes, my son, I'm here. Just turn over and go to sleep. Everything is all right.'" She said, "My boy, five thousand miles must now separate us, across a continent and an ocean. You are not going to have bad dreams only at night, but many times, in the daytime, you are going to want to call for help and comfort. Son, when you are beset with difficulties, when you meet temptation, when you are confused and don't know where to go, call out and say, `Father, are you there?'" She said, "My boy, I promise you He will always answer and you need not fear." PRO version
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My dear sisters, through the intervening years, countless occasions have arisen where men could not help me much, when I felt alone, where I had a nightmare with my eyes wide open. I have taken the advice of my mother and have said, "Father, are you there?" Now He has not spoken to me audibly; He has not appeared to me personally; but He has always answered me. There has come into my heart a quiet peace which enabled me to know that I could, figuratively, turn over and go to sleep. Sisters, can you imagine how you would feel if suddenly the Lord should say to you, "Here are twenty angels I have just sent down from heaven. I want you to prepare them for a future mortality." Can you imagine how you would shrink from teaching angels? Yet, that is exactly what He has done for you. These little ones left His presence just a few days ago. You are teaching them to form correct habits; you are teaching them to believe in the gospel of Christ; you are teaching them that the doctrine of communism is the doctrine of Satan. You are teaching them there is a God, that the Church is divine, and that Christ is their Redeemer. God bless you in that teaching. Changing times have made it somewhat more difficult than it used to be perhaps, and yet the Lord has promised to make all of us equal to our tasks if we will put our trust in Him. It is wonderful to know that at the close of a day we have done some little good, have sown a seed or plucked a thorn. If I could know when each day dies, I'd brought some joy to tired eyes; If I could know when falls the night, I'd helped to make some child's life bright; If I could know at set of sun, The fruit of some good deed I'd done I'd count my life of grander mold Than if I'd simply garnered gold. I must not detain you, but I cannot leave you without referring to what I think is one of the most sublime incidents in all history, recorded in 3 Nephi. You are familiar with it, but let us hear it again together. And having heard it, let us rededicate our lives as parents and Primary officers and teachers to the great task of preparing the reserves of the Church for the battles that lie ahead. PRO version
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Jesus was often moved to tears when He was in the presence of children. Let us read then: And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought. So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him. And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon the ground. And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel. And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him. And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father; And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father. And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome. And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise. And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full. And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, PRO version
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one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. And when he had done this he wept again; And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones. And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them. —3 Nephi 17:11-24 My dear co-workers, I speak for the President when I say to you, ". . . Behold your little ones." Angels in heaven are your associates in teaching them the gospel. You parents, remember that home is the nearest thing to heaven, or should be, and that parenthood is next to Godhood. When any person, Primary teacher, officer, or anyone else helps the parents to improve the home they are helping to accomplish His avowed purpose ". . . to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." One of the responsibilities that rests upon every man who is called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ is to bear witness of Him. I bear my witness to you today, my fellow workers, that Christ is real and I know it. God is personal and I know that. Christ is the Redeemer and the Savior of the world. When you are in the service of the Primary and the home, you are in the service of the Christ, the Son of God. I know better than I know anything else in this world that this is the Church and Kingdom of God and every person permitted to participate in any capacity in it is privileged and favored of our Heavenly Father. Another duty and privilege of the general authorities is to bless the people. By the authority that I have to bless, I leave a blessing with you dear sisters. God bless and reward you for your devotion. God bless the general board, the general presidency, the stake presidencies, and the ward workers. God bless the mothers of Israel. God bless the homes of these people. God bless us all that we may rededicate ourselves to Him and to His work. I leave this testimony and this blessing and say to you: though you may not remember much that has been said you will never forget what you feel at this moment-for the Spirit of the Lord is hovering over this great PRO version
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congregation of devoted women. If your eyes were opened, you would be able to see there are angels even as they were seen on this continent when Christ visited the Nephites. May the influence and power that is here go with you to your homes, to your wards, stakes, and missions. I leave you that blessing, that promise, that testimony, humbly, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —Annual Primary Association Conference, April 5, 1962 Return to top
Dedication to Freedom President Chase, members of the faculty, distinguished guests, and fellow students: Because it was my privilege to attend the funeral service of President John F. Kennedy, you have honored me by asking that I participate in this memorial service. With thousands of others, I was deeply moved by the dignity and solemnity of the funeral and memorial services, where kings, presidents, prime ministers, and heads of states from most of the nations of the world had assembled to mourn with the American people and to pay honor to a truly great world leader. First may I pause to pay tribute to one who is living. I have never seen a finer demonstration of courage, fortitude, and faith than I saw in the rotunda of the Capitol Building in Washington, D. C., when a tragic heroine, clasping the hand of her little daughter, walked calmly into the enclosure, knelt for a moment by her husband's casket, kissed the flag, and with admirable poise and head erect left the building. From the moment following that awful rifle shot when she cradled his head in her blood-stained lap, through the vigil at the hospital where he died, sitting by his body during the plane flight to Washington, supervising the preparations for the funeral, the march to St. Matthew's Cathedral and then to the rites in Arlington National Cemetery-through it all she displayed courage, dignity, and self-discipline, which had been so characteristic of her husband and which are now revealed as innate and mature virtues of that valiant first lady, Jacqueline PRO version
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Kennedy. While the last year has in many respects been a happy and prosperous one, we were stunned and grieved by the shocking tragedy which occurred in Dallas on November 22, when the most promising young man of this generation was cruelly shot down by an assassin. Our whole nation was engulfed by a wave of horror, grief, and shame, but as President Eisenhower said: "Our country quickly absorbed the shock and closed ranks behind the new president. Thanks to the foresight of the founding fathers who provided in our Constitution for an orderly succession to the office of president, there was no faltering of our government or hiatus in our executive leadership. Once again our democratic system demonstrated to the world that although any political leader may pass suddenly from the scene, the institution of the presidency itself continues firm and secure." This fact proves that the American political system is tough and resilient. It is well that we remember when we speak of the government that it is, after all, what Theodore Roosevelt declared it to be: "The government is us. We are the government, you and I." Let us think for a moment of the real meaning of our Constitution, of our Declaration of Independence and the things for which they stand, and of our glorious flag which is an emblem. Just what these things stand for is well stated by a modern author as follows: The flag for which the heroes fought, for which they died, is the symbol of all we are, of all we hope to be. It is the emblem of equal rights. It means that this continent has been dedicated to freedom. It means universal education; light for every mind, knowledge for every child. It means that the schoolhouse is the fortress of liberty. It means that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed; that each man is accountable to and for the government. This responsibility goes hand in hand with liberty. PRO version
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It means that it is the duty of every citizen to bear his part of the public burden, to take part in the affairs of his town, his county, his state. It means that the ballot box is the ark of the covenant; that the source of authority must not be poisoned. It means that every citizen of the Republic, native or naturalized, must be protected; at home, in every state; abroad, in every land, on every sea. It means that all distinctions, based on birth or blood, have perished from our laws; that our government shall stand between labor and capital, between the weak and the strong, between the individual and the corporation, between want and wealth, and give and guarantee simple justice to each and all. It means that there shall be a legal remedy for every wrong. It means national hospitality; that we must welcome to our shores the exiles of the world, and that we may not drive them back. Some of them may be deformed by labor, dwarfed by hunger, broken in spirit, victims of tyranny and caste-in whose sad faces may be read the touching record of a weary life-and yet their children, born of liberty and love, will be symmetrical and fair, intelligent and free. —From "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus How often we have read on the Statue of Liberty these poignant words: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! PRO version
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Herbert Hoover gave us this summation: America means far more than a continent bounded by two oceans. It is more than pride of military power, glory in war, or in victory. It means more than vast expanse of farms, of great factories or mines, magnificent cities, or millions of automobiles and radios. It is more even than the traditions of the great tide westward from Europe, which pioneered the conquest of a continent. It is more than our literature, our music, our poetry. Other nations have these things also. Perhaps the intangible we cannot describe is the personal experience the living of each of us, rather than in phrase, however inspiring. The meaning of our America flows from one pure spring. The soul of our America is its freedom of mind and spirit in man. Here alone are the windows through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit. Here alone is human dignity not a dream, but an accomplishment. To this continent for nearly three centuries and a half, men of all races have migrated and no one has been forced to come. Curiously most who did come escaped from some dissatisfaction, disappointment, or disillusionment, from poverty, hunger, fear, inequality, oppression, bigotry. These came to America in their millions, from every land and here they found what they sought most; freedom to live their own lives as they chose. There are other governments in the world, totalitarian in their nature, which have sworn to bury us, who feel they can overtake us, outdo us, supersede and subjugate us. It is of the utmost importance that the youth of our land become aware of the dangers that threaten us, aware also of the strength of our position and the source of that strength, be alerted to the responsibilities that rest upon them to preserve our land and our form of government for future generations. PRO version
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Herbert Hoover emphasized the need for us to instruct our youth in the faith of our fathers when he said. "A nation is strong or weak. It thrives or perishes upon what it believes to be true. If our youth is rightly instructed in the faith of our fathers, in the traditions of our country, in the dignity of each individual man, then our power will be stronger than any weapon of destruction that man can devise." Freedom is a live and growing plant which must be nurtured, cultivated, pruned and kept fruitful. Freedom, like life, is a process, a growth where the new is perpetually crowding out the old. There is a constant wearing away and renewing. The beautiful blossom of today is by tomorrow wilted and dry and must fall by the next tomorrow and be forgotten, while the new bud comes and is heralded for its brief day. So the freedom of today, if not kept up to date by adjustments to suit new seasons and new occasions, may dry and become musty, and actually become serfdom. Freedom without discipline is a delusion and spills over into license, where law is not respected and where decorum is not known. When, however, in the name of discipline, men are robbed of their right to think or speak or act; when the will of the few is imposed on the many; when the dignity of the individual is denied and responsibility to God rejected; then Communism will flourish and the people become slaves. If you are to enjoy those inalienable rights with which you are endowed by the Creator, you will not fawn before flattery, cringe before denunciation; nor will you yield to your own lawless impulses. Sometimes the emigrants or refugees from other lands see this America of ours against a background which is alien to us and some of their definitions of our country and our liberties cause us to realize that we may be too close to the forest to see the trees. Hear this from a German refugee: "Americanism is not a birthplace nor a birthright; it is a vision in the brain, a cry in the heart, a flame in the soul. He who lives it may have it, and he who lives it not may never have it, though he may have the names of all the patriots on his family tree." And then listen to a Frenchman, still loyal to his beloved France: "With no disloyalty to my beloved France, I embrace America. I salute its courage and audacity, its kindness and good will, its turbulent energy and unquenchable zest. I love America because I find here both the freedom that ennobles life and the discipline without which freedom becomes anarchy." PRO version
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You are all familiar with the words of Walt Whitman, with his characteristically rugged prose-poetry. He said: Sail, sail thy best, oh ship of Democracy Of Value is thy freight`Tis not the present only, the past is also stored in thee: Thou holdest not the venture of thyself aloneNot of the Western continent alone: Earth's resume entire floats on thy keel, O ship Is steadied by thy spars; With thee, time voyages in trust. The antecedent nations sink or swim with thee, With all their struggles, martyrs, heroes, epics, wars. Thou bearest the other continents; theirs, Their's as much as thine is the destination port triumphant, Steer then with good strong hand and wary eye, O helmsman-thou carriest great companions. Venerable, priestly Asia sails this day with thee, America, And Royal feudal Europe sails with theeHow can I pierce the impenetrable blank of the future; I feel thy ominous greatness, evil as well as good. I watch thee advancing, absorbing the present, transcending the past. I see thy light lighting and thy shadow shadowing as if the entire globe But I do not undertake to define theehardly to comprehend thee. Those of us who went through two world wars and thought we had fought a war to end wars and to make the world safe for democracy, those of us who saw the subjugation of nations and the pitiless occupation of free PRO version
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lands by tyrants-we realize that we must never seek peace by submitting to slavery. After two world wars and our experience in Korea, and now in the midst of a continuing cold war, we are coming to realize that our best defense lies in the moral strength of our people. In a recent issue of Sunshine Magazine appeared the following: Despite the most costly rearmament program in the history of the world, the rising tide of crisis and confusion continues to threaten to engulf America and the cause of freedom. Yet, from their discouragement and disillusionment, the American people are beginning to remember something they have too long forgotten-that only from their moral strength can they generate the power to preserve their precious way of life, and to keep alive the flames of freedom which, in the chaos of the world around us, symbolized the one hope for liberty-loving peoples everywhere. In recent years, we have heard more of our leaders-military, political, and religious-call for the reawakening of the true American spirit in our people. America is great in proportion that she makes sure that she will have great men in the next generation. Let us beware of extremists in this land of ours, groups who attack the integrity and impugn the motives of some of our greatest patriots. Let us not be deceived into accepting their un-American and un-democratic philosophies even though they carry some anti-Communist banners. President Eisenhower wrote: Democracy is nothing but the opportunity for self-discipline. We owe it to ourselves to be deeply interested in political issues, to be thoughtful about the policies of our country-but we are simply endangering our democratic system when we go to extremes, deal in vilification, make threats against our own officials, and incite violence and lawlessness. The individual who unthinkingly goes to such extremes is weakening the whole structure of selfgovernment. We hope the young people of this institution, this state, and of our country will be loyal to our institutions, loyal to our leaders, and dedicated to the principles set forth in our Constitution. All of us are opposed to Communism, but we do not fight Communism best by weakening and dividing our own forces or destroying the faith of others PRO version
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in the integrity of our leaders. Let us seek rather the historian's perspective and see this conflict with Communism, not as a holy war, but as a difficult and perilous struggle with an implacable foe. We live in a world in which there is a diversity of economic systems, political creeds and philosophic faiths. We know, in part at least, what a nuclear war would mean. To avoid it is the common interest of all mankind and this interest must transcend all conflicts of ideology and national ambition. We need cool heads, strong hearts, dauntless courage, and mutual confidence if we are to bridge the dark abyss. Let us conclude with a paragraph from a speech which President Kennedy prepared for delivery on that fatal day in November-a speech he was not permitted to deliver, but he left us this sublime paragraph: We in this country, in this generation, are-by destiny rather than choice-the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask therefore that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility-that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint-and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of "peace on earth, good will toward men." That must always be our goal-and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. Or, as was written long ago: "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Thus President John F. Kennedy speaks to us from among the thousands of others living whom we call dead. They gave their lives for freedom. They now pass to us the torch as he did. We must hold it high and not break faith with him or them. Their task-our task-will not be finished until universal and permanent peace is established in the earth. —Memorial Service for President John F. Kennedy, Utah State University, January 7, 1964 Return to top
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God Bless His Memory My brothers and sisters, fellow Americans-and all Americans should be brothers and sisters-I greet you today in the name of President David O. McKay who sends a greeting and blessings to you. He would have been here personally if it had been possible. He would have come in response to an invitation from President Kennedy's family to attend the funeral service in the Cathedral. Because he was unable to come, he was requested to send someone in his place. So it was my privilege to attend that service. It was my pleasure to sit with President McKay and President Kennedy in the suite of the Hotel Utah at the breakfast table recently. Our conversation was free and easy and unrestrained. He paid high tribute to the Mormon people and to the Mormon leader his friend, David O. McKay. Little did we think at that time that we would not meet again. There may be some who would wonder as we approach the end of a day of mourning why we should figuratively add a footnote to a volume, why we should meet and express our feelings and extend our prayers and wishes to the bereaved after a full day of memorial services. But it seems fitting, inasmuch as all could not attend the funeral service which was held in St. Matthew's Cathedral, that we meet in our own chapel in prayer and meditation. As has been stated, a similar meeting was held today in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. The President of the Church felt as we all feel that such meetings are appropriate in order that we might express the sorrow of our hearts on this, one of the saddest days in United States history. It seems to me second only to Lincoln's martyrdom. In both cases our country is deprived of a great leader. It was impressive to sit in the Cathedral, witness the Mass, listen to the eulogy and be a part of an international gathering to mourn an international loss. There were in attendance the heads of state from many parts of the world, kings, presidents, premiers, ambassadors, leaders of religious organizations, to do honor to a young man who in the prime of his manhood was struck down. We meet often in our wards to pay our respects to departed loved ones and friends. Especially when the head of a family is taken we come together to try to bring solace, comfort and faith to the widow and children of the deceased. Today the head of a national family which is known as the United States of America has left us PRO version
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suddenly and we meet to mourn his passing. Our international neighbors have come because they wish to share our sorrow. While Latter-day Saints everywhere are shocked and saddened by this awful tragedy, we express gratitude for our form of government and thank God that He has through the history of the nation raised up great leaders in time of crisis. I think I could not do better this afternoon than to refer briefly to some things that have already been said. I have no doubt that all of you have read and heard what the press, radio and television have carried but a few things have impressed me deeply and by way of emphasis I should like to refer to them. First may I call attention to Senator Mansfield's touching and eloquent tribute in the rotunda of the Capitol beside the casket. "There was a sound of laughter. In a moment it was no more. And so she took a ring from her finger and placed it in his hands. . . . There was a father with a little boy, a little girl and the joy of each in the other. In a moment when it was no more, she took a ring from her finger and placed it in his hands. There was a husband who asked much and gave much and of the giving and of the asking wove with the woman what could not be broken in life. And in a moment it was no more and she took a ring from her finger and placed it in his hands and kissed him and closed the lid of the coffin." And another beautiful tribute paid to this brave, wonderful woman. "Only one person has managed to pierce the black pall of horror and unreality that has gripped the whole nation since last Friday. It is Jacqueline Kennedy, the President's widow. Mrs. Kennedy has borne herself with the valor of a queen in a Greek tragedy. Shock alone may have explained her dry-eyed composure, but Mrs. Kennedy has moved with more than the mechanical compliance that sometimes overtakes people in appalling circumstances. Everything she has done seems to be a conscious effort to give to his death the grandeur that the savagery in Dallas was calculated to rob it of. It has been as though she had been trying to show the world that courtesy and courage did not die in Dallas last Friday. Nor the tradition that was personified by her husband struck down in brutal irrelevance. She agreed to his burial in Arlington National Cemetery rather than in Boston so that he would belong to the Nation and would not in the end have the stamp of local tragedy. She has overwhelmed White House aides with her meticulous attention to the melancholy arrangements that had to be made. She designed herself the memorial cards for his requiem Mass. She suggested that she should receive the foreign dignitaries PRO version
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who had come from so far away to pay him last honor." This morning I read the following from Justice Holmes: "Man is born to act; to act is to affirm the worth of an end; and to affirm the worth of an end is to create an ideal." John F. Kennedy had an ideal which he held constantly before him, became part of his character, was burned into his soul. He loved not only the America which we inherited but the America which he envisioned: The America which was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. He dedicated his whole life-not only gave it at the moment of the fatal shot but dedicated the whole of his life to make real the ideal which Lincoln made immortal by the phrase so well known to all Americans but still not fully realized: A government of the people, for the people, by the people which should not perish from the earth. I was impressed, too, by these words from the Chief Justice of the United States and this I think is by way of warning. "If we really love this country, if we truly love justice or mercy; if we fervently want to make this Nation better for those who are to follow us, we can at least abjure the hatred that consumes people, the false accusations that divide us, and the bitterness that begets violence. Is it too much to hope that the martyrdom of our beloved President might even soften the hearts of those who would themselves recoil from assassination but who do not shrink from spreading the venom which kindles thoughts of it in others. Our nation is bereaved, the whole world is poorer because of his loss but we can all be better Americans because John Fitzgerald Kennedy has passed our way, because he has been our chosen leader at a time in history when his character, his vision and his quiet courage have enabled him to chart for us a safe course through the shoals of treacherous seas that encompass the world." In the inaugural address of President Kennedy he affirmed his conviction that the rights of men came not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. Again a quote from his inaugural which I think will go down in history as one of the greatest: "let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty." Again he said: "Civility is not a sign of weakness and sincerity is always subject to proof." I want to underline that last statement especially to the members of my own Church. "Sincerity is always subject to proof." Let us not think because we feel and know we have the truth that we have all the truth for there is truth yet to be revealed. Let not our knowledge that we have the truth stifle our search for more truth. Let us build into our PRO version
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characters the kind of faith that will accept the truth when it comes and by its coming perhaps modify some of our ideas about the truth. If I were asked what to my mind is the outstanding characteristic of this unusual young man I would say it was his courage. The courage that enabled him to take the blame for an unfortunate incident, a series of events for which he was not wholly to blame. I refer to the first Cuban crisis. And then again the courage to stand up to that man who leads the forces of the adversary, who have an ideology diametrically opposed to ours; this young man had the courage to stand up to him and say "Take your missile bases out of Cuba." And he said it before the whole world. I am not here to eulogize that man as a leader of any political party. In fact I'm not here necessarily to eulogize him but to thank God for his life. As time goes on we will come to realize that it was our good fortune to live at a time when a world leader was raised up to chart the way and to inspire and fire the youth of our land and of the world. God bless his memory. And now what shall we take with us as we leave here today, to ponder as the days go by? Earnestly I pray that God will bless the people of our Church and the people of our land that they may find a new birth of freedom, and to that end I bless you my brothers and sisters that in your homes, in your neighborhoods, wards and stakes there may be love, harmony, peace, charity, kindness and consideration. That there may be in the home respect and strengthened discipline. May God bless the people of the world that they may come to realize the peace which Christ promised, He himself came to the world to restore the gospel under the direction of his Father and gave men the right to speak and act in his name. For you, for all of us, I thank God for that restoration and all that it implies and foreshadows. Included in the restoration is priesthood leadership. We shall raise a standard to the nations which they can follow with safety. I think the last verse of one of our national songs will yet become international and be sung and prayed by all people. Our Father's God to Thee, Author of Liberty, To thee we sing. Long may our land be bright PRO version
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With freedom's holy light, Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King. The only king this country knows, the only king under whom we shall serve, is the King of Kings. Again I say, God bless the memory of John F. Kennedy. God bless his widow, his children, other members of his family, that this shocking tragedy may tend only to unite them and make them even more grateful for the great country their son, husband, father, brother was permitted to serve and lead for all too short a term as its Chief Executive. I close with this prayer: "Oh God, bless all of us that we may profit from the experiences of life, be made better by its adversities and equal to its challenges. Let thy Holy Spirit rest upon the people of this nation that we may weed out all hatred and contention, that we may never sow seeds of hatred, suspicion and distrust. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." —Memorial Service for President John F. Kennedy, Chevy Chase Chapel, Washington, D. C., November 25, 1963 Return to top
Goals and the Goal It is a pleasure indeed to meet with a group of young people who are just starting on the journey of life and to discuss together the meaning and purpose of life, the goals we expect to reach along the way, and the final goal, which at an early age we should visualize and keep in mind throughout our lives-that is, immortality, eternal life, and eternal increase, which means eternally becoming, achieving, progressing. PRO version
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We are all constantly pushing back our horizons, making new discoveries, adjusting ourselves to new environments, and seeking to achieve success. From the time the tiny tot is in his crib on through the journey of life until he reaches eighty or ninety years of age, he encounters new experiences, is released from the barriers of ignorance and ineptitude and is or should be constantly preparing for that which lies ahead. The world of the little child is bounded at first by the encircling arms of its mother. Later its world consists of a crib with restraining and protecting barriers lest it fall and suffer pain. Then, as it begins to walk, it finds there is a room outside the crib much larger than the crib but still with barriers to restrain and to protect. Still later he goes to other rooms and finds the house has many rooms, and he explores each one with glee, amusement, and amazement. Having learned to walk and talk, he may venture outside the house, into the lot with its protecting fence or hedge, and is intrigued by his larger world. As he enters even larger areas of activity the restraining and protective arms of parental guidance are progressively withdrawn and he assumes responsibility for his decisions and conduct. He crosses the street, goes to school, rides in the car, mingles with other students, learns to read and write and calculate, to reason and to think. Along the way he will learn to follow instructions, to observe rules and obey orders, and he will learn that disobedience is followed by sorrow or punishment. In other words, he begins to learn that there are rules to every game, including the joyous game of life, and if he breaks the rules he will be sent to the sidelines or out of the game and be listed as a poor sport. It is important while we are still young that we decide what we want to be, where we want to go, and the price we are willing to pay to get there. If you are in Salt Lake City and wish to go to Los Angeles or to New York, you will consult road maps, travel agencies and experienced travelers; you will make sure your car is in good condition, that you have gas in the tank and money in your pocket for expenses. PRO version
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Before you start on the journey, you must learn something about the car in which you are to ride, how to start and stop and guide it and what to do in cases of emergency. Having learned enough about the car to keep it in good order and to make repairs if necessary, having learned how to drive, you set out upon your journey. You go east or west according to the goal you seek. Let us suppose you are going to New York where a fortune awaits you on condition that you arrive there with your car in good condition and you yourself in good health. You will observe and obey the guide posts along the way, some of them flashing or reflecting danger signals which, if you are wise, you will heed, especially the warnings of steep hills or sharp curves or roads under repair. You will heed the speed limit signs and obey the law, else you may be detained or have an accident and made incapable of continuing the trip and thereby lose the reward. You must have patience and endurance and the stamina that will enable you to continue on when the going is hard, to resist the pull of alluring detours or delays. You may have some discouraging experiences, a puncture or a blowout, or be handicapped by reason of some part of the car failing to function properly. How foolish would be the traveler who would become discouraged along the way because of difficulties, give up the trip, and thereby forfeit the reward that was promised! What the wise traveler does is make repairs, purchase extra parts if necessary, and travel on. Our mortal life is but a journey at the end of which we may receive certain rich rewards conditioned upon obedience to specific rules or laws of life. The value of this reward is not measured in material things. Its value exceeds all the worldly wealth imaginable, for it is eternal life. The car in which you are to travel through life is your own body. The light which shines upon the road ahead is knowledge and the Holy Spirit. You are expected to learn how to care for and control this priceless vehicle, to keep it in perfect condition and, by observing the road signs, move onward with confidence toward your goal. PRO version
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Here, too, you will have delays, disappointments, difficulties to overcome, problems to solve. Your success or failure will depend upon your increasing knowledge, your self-discipline, your observance of the rules of life, the ability to read and the wisdom to obey warning signs along the way. As with the road signs on the highway where you notice certain reflector signs which are visible only if the lights of your own car are shining upon them, so on life's highway there are many warning signs and signals, but the light of the Spirit must flash upon them else they may be invisible and therefore disregarded with serious consequences. How tragic it is to see an old man reviewing his past, regretting his conduct, as he sees what he might have been. I am reminded of a story, "The Face of Judas Iscariot," written by Bonnie Chamberlain and reported in the Readers Digest recently. THE FACE OF JUDAS ISCARIOT "An old priest told me this story. "Centuries ago a great artist was engaged to paint a mural for the cathedral in a Sicilian town. The subject was the life of Christ. For many years the artist labored diligently, and finally the painting was finished except for the two most important figures: the Christ Child and Judas Iscariot. He searched far and wide for suitable models. "One day while walking in the city he came upon some children playing in the street. Among them was a 12-yearold boy whose face stirred the painter's heart. "The artist took the child home with him, and day after day the boy sat patiently until the face of the Christ Child was finished. But the painter still had found no model for the portrait of Judas. "The story of the unfinished masterpiece spread afar, and many men, fancying themselves of wicked countenance, offered to pose for Judas. But in vain the old painter looked for Judas, as he envisioned him-a man warped by life, enfeebled by surrender to greed and lust. PRO version
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"Then one afternoon as he sat in a tavern, a gaunt and tattered figure staggered across the threshold. `Wine, wine,' he begged. The startled painter looked into a face that seemed to bear the marks of every sin of mankind. "Greatly excited, the old painter said, `Come with me, and I will give you wine.' "For many days the painter worked feverishly to complete his masterpiece. As the work went on, a change came over the model. A strange tension replaced the stuporous languor, and his bloodshot eyes were fixed with horror on the painted likeness of himself. One day, perceiving his subject's agitation, the painter paused in his work. `My son,' he said, `what troubles you so?' "The man buried his face in his hands, sobbing. After a long moment he lifted pleading eyes to the old painter's face. "`Do you not then remember me? Years ago I was your model for the Christ Child.'" —Bonnie Chamberlin Reader's Digest-condensed from "Saturday Review" Changing the figure of speech for a moment, let us say that each of us is equipped with an easel and brushes and we stand before the white canvas of time. The paints we must use are our own thoughts, our emotions, and our conduct. We have a wide variety of colors to choose from, and the picture we paint will depend upon our own discrimination in the selection of the colors which again we refer to as our thoughts and emotions. We will achieve either harmony or discord, and as we work on the canvas, we have a vision in our minds and our creative imagination impels us to higher achievement. We see ourselves as the men and women we want to be, as the artist working with considerable freedom knowing that each stroke of the brush leaves a lasting mark upon the canvas of time which may mar the painting or add to its beauty. All should seek to select positive colors of heart and mind and spirit and mix them so as to produce the desired results. Some of the colors are patience, determination, endurance, self-discipline, hard work, love, and faith. PRO version
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Of the many essentials to eternal progress, there are six that are indispensable. We list them as: Faith Knowledge Wisdom Intelligence Integrity Endurance It is obvious that faith comes first, because it inspires action, and without it we are told we cannot please God. It is faith that keeps a person going when the weak-hearted fall out of the race. It is faith that enables a man to fight on when the odds are against him. We are told that a man cannot be saved in ignorance. Therefore we list knowledge as the second essential ingredient of a successful life. We underline and emphasize the importance of continuing education, gaining knowledge, and the power that comes with knowledge. But knowledge alone, without wisdom to use it properly, may be dangerous. We therefore list wisdom as the third essential. A well-educated man may be a very dangerous man if he lacks wisdom and character. We are told that intelligence is the glory of God. It is obvious that it will determine man's glory as well. In fact the measure of man's salvation depends upon the degree of his intelligence, which simply means that by gaining intelligence we achieve a more God-like status. Integrity is essential as it holds one to his course. It is, in fact, the core of character; its component parts are honor, honesty, industry, vision and valor. But all of these put together will not suffice as we approach the end of the road unless we have endurance. The lord has said that only they who continue to the end shall be saved. A man may be physically fit, mentally alert, intellectually brilliant, but unless his character is underslung and overgirded by integrity and stamina, he will fail. A man may run a good race for the first part of the course, but unless he has the stamina to make the final sprint, PRO version
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others will cross the finishing line ahead of him. All through life, from the time we are born until we pass into the great beyond, we are discovering truth, gaining experience, becoming aware of an ever-enlarging world and universe, and thus preparing for the greatest experience of them all which we refer to as death. As our knowledge of the world and of the universe increases, we are led with awe and wonder at the glory of it all and are amazed to find that undeviating law is at the very heart of the universe. Whether it be in the infinitesimal atom or electron, or among the planets, or into outer space there is evidence of thought and purpose and design, and we see that all things in nature are controlled and regulated by eternal laws. With this thought comes the question to the inquiring mind: "Who was at the controls when all this was set in motion?" We have spoken of the little child whose exploring mind took him from the crib to the limits of his bedroom, later into other rooms of the house, out into the yard, and still later to the school or church and other parts of the town in which he lives, still later to other large cities and other states, and perhaps to foreign nations. All along the way he finds it necessary to adjust himself to changing conditions, to keep his life in harmony with the laws that obtain; and he will be impelled by his own curiosity and questing spirit to learn all he can as he goes from one environment to another. So it is with the human soul. We shall not at this time discuss its pre-existent state, but from the time of its birth into this life until death the human soul instinctively pushes back its horizons, ventures into new fields, explores new areas and eventually new continents, tries to learn something of the stars and planets and suns, of which we are becoming increasingly aware. The whole process of living is a process of education to the alert and inquiring mind. It is important, then, that we get some understanding of the purpose of life, of its origin and destiny. This understanding is more important than the study of Greek or Hebrew or the sciences. They, of course, may be taken in our stride, but it is important that we learn early in life some of the fundamental laws that have to do with man's eternal soul. Woodrow Wilson once said, "Education has always yielded its best fruits when associated with religion." Our scientific progress is not an unmixed blessing. We have so much freedom and so great abundance that we are confronted with more decisions than were our forebears. There is, therefore, greater risk of making wrong decisions. We must choose the kind of thoughts we indulge, the books we read, the companions with whom we PRO version
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associate, the shows we attend-and, most importantly choose our mates for life-with eternity in mind. Let us keep in mind that our mortal life is just a very small part of eternal life, but it helps to condition our souls for that which lies ahead, either for good or ill. In an article entitled "The Footpath to Peace," Henry Van Dyke wrote the following: To be glad of life because it gives you a chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars, To be satisfied with your possessions but not contented with yourself until you have made the best of them, To despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice, To be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts, To covet nothing that is your neighbor's except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners, To think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends, and every day of Christ, And to spend as much time as you can with body and with spirit in God's out of doorsThese are the little guide-posts on the footpath to peace. —Henry van Dyke —Conferences of Salt Lake City Seminaries, PRO version
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Salt Lake Tabernacle, November 9, 1963 Return to top
A Civil Rights Statement During recent months, both in Salt Lake City and across the nation, considerable interest has been expressed in the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the matter of civil rights. We would like it to be known that there is in this Church no doctrine, belief, or practice that is intended to deny the enjoyment of full civil rights by any person regardless of race, color, or creed. We say again, as we have said many times before, that we believe that all men are the children of the same God and that it is a moral evil for any person or group of persons to deny any human being the rights to gainful employment, to full educational opportunity, and to every privilege of citizenship, just as it is a moral evil to deny him the right to worship according to the dictates of his own conscience. We have consistently and persistently upheld the Constitution of the United States, and as far as we are concerned this means upholding the constitutional rights of every citizen of the United States. We call upon all men everywhere, both within and outside the Church, to commit themselves to the establishment of full civil equality for all of God's children. Anything less than this defeats our high ideal of the brotherhood of man. —General Conference, October 6, 1963 Return to top
An Army of Good Samaritans PRO version
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Whenever we think of or meet with the Relief Society of the Church, we think of love and loyalty, of mercy and service, of faith and charity. All these and many other virtues associated with Relief Society are exemplified by its members, and for this we are deeply grateful. And we think, too, of the parable of the Good Samaritan in which Jesus taught a lesson on religion in action. The Samaritan, according to the record, held no high office, wrote no book, was not widely known, but has been remembered through the centuries because he extended to a stranger a hand of love and appreciation. He did not seek commendation for what he did; he did not publicize his action. The quiet, unpublicized work of the Relief Society reminds us of the Good Samaritan. In fact, this organization is an organized army of good Samaritans, one quarter of a million strong. They work mainly in "no-man's land." That phrase may have a double meaning here today. In the army, no-man's land is that area between two opposing armies which neither side claims as its own. We think of you in no-man's land because no man could or would do the work that the Relief Societies do any more than they could do the work required of a mother. Relief Society sisters wear no uniform, they have no insignia, but they are recognized because their lives conform to the truths they teach. Now that is not only a statement of fact, it is a challenge for the future. My mother was a Relief Society stake president in Western Canada. She traveled with horse and buggy in some very inclement weather. Thinking of her, I would like to read to you what it seems to me typifies the life of the average Relief Society officer; a life crammed with action, with responsibility and work. The following Grandmother, on a winter's day, milked the cows, slopped the hogs, saddled the mule, and got the children off to school; did a washing, mopped the floors, washed the windows, and did some chores; cooked a dish of homedried fruit, pressed her husband's Sunday suit, swept the parlor, made the bed, baked a dozen loaves of bread, split some firewood and lugged it in, enough to fill the kitchen bin; cleaned the lamps and put in oil, stewed some apples she thought would spoil, churned the butter, baked a cake, then exclaimed, "For goodness sake, the PRO version
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calves have got out of the pen," and went out and chased them in again; gathered the eggs and locked the stable, back to the house and set the table, cooked a supper that was delicious, and afterward washed up all the dishes; fed the cat and sprinkled the clothes, mended a basketful of hose; then opened the organ and began to play, "When you come to the end of a perfect day." —Bennett Cerf, The Laugh's On Me, pp. 176, 177 That reminds me so much of the life of the average Relief Society officer, teacher, worker. Your labors of love remind us of the sacred shrine of motherhood; in fact you are to the Church what the mother is to the home. You go to the bereaved, the unfortunate, the sick, the wounded; you go into the hospitals or wherever there is a call for help. Where there is frustration, disillusionment, sorrow, or bereavement-and these come to all of us at one time or another. The people always turn to you for comfort and relief, and you never fail them. Even they who must pay the price for folly or sin find refuge here in the Relief Society and are encouraged to try again and to rely upon the divine law of repentance and the love and mercy of the Lord. The true mother ministers to the needs of human beings from their prenatal to their immortal state. Neither birth nor death can break the cord of love which binds our lives to theirs. Without their tender care the home would lose its honored and hallowed place in the hearts and lives of men. The mother is the spirit of the home; she gives it fragrance, atmosphere, love, and life. And that's what the Relief Society gives to the Church. Wherever human beings live, whether in a palace or in a cottage, there is universal homage paid to mothers; and wherever the Relief Society is organized, in hamlets, towns, or cities, they are engaged in a work comparable to that in which mothers are constantly engaged. You render service to all ages, in all seasons, and in most of the countries of the world today. Your services are always available whether the call comes for layettes, for the unborn, for burial clothes for the deceased, or for flowers and food for the bereaved. You are always there. Men may become rulers of nations, of empires, lead armies into battle, make laws, administer justice, write books, discover the secrets of the universe, release the power of the atom and partially control it; but the mothers of the world, God's agents of mercy wherever human life exists, are exerting an influence greater than all these can do. PRO version
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Mothers inspired the great men to whose memory we build monuments, and they put into their work the kind of spirit which gives them a saintliness which is distinctively their own. Among your many other duties you Relief Society workers are training the young mothers of the future and that is a more important work than training the scholars, the statesmen, the military men of the future. We thank the Lord for the equal partnership that exists between the mothers and the fathers in the Church. I must not, however, much as we love you, spend more time on eulogy alone. We bring to you also a challenge and a charge, for there is great work to be done, great tasks lie ahead. Your job and ours is to teach our people to respect authority both in church and state, to obey the law, and be made amenable to discipline. We must imbue them with a sense of loyalty and patriotism. Our people should not join in the demonstrations and marches in defiance of law and order nor should they join organizations whose purpose is to undermine and put in question the integrity of our leaders, whether in Church or State. With a loss of respect for the laws of the land there comes a corresponding loss of respect for the laws of God. Your job and ours is to educate the hearts of people. Teach them to have a discriminating sense of values, to enrich their personalities, live abundantly, and glorify their intelligence with the warmth and glow of love of God and fellowmen. In other words, the head and the heart must work together and support each other. Someone has said, "The education of the heart is the heart of education." The greatest heart that ever beat was the educated heart of Jesus. The greatest sermon ever preached appealed to the hearts more than the minds of His fortunate listeners. Because of that education of the heart and that appeal to the hearts of people, His divine message has endured down through the centuries. The Apostle Paul's matchless chapter on charity and love came from an educated heart and a richly furnished mind. He said the eloquence of men and of angels without love is ". . . as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal," that knowledge and faith sufficient to move mountains are nothing without love, and, furthermore, that giving and bestowing, though it be lavish and even sacrificial, if it lacks love, will profit nothing to the giver. Love is the most ennobling, the most beautiful, the most sacred of men's emotions, but (and this I would like to PRO version
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underline because of conditions as we find them in the world) it is necessary that we warn our people against the awful influence of love's counterfeit-lust and licentiousness, the most poisoning and debasing of all of Satan's allurements. These are unfortunately made to appear acceptable in some of the publications of the day which are found in the bookstores and on the book racks available to our youth. Let us teach them to keep clean, to be pure, to be honorable and upright if for no other reason than that they are going to have to live with history and with memory. Let us become progressively aware of and bring to fruition the spiritual equipment, the creative intellect, the motivating imagination, the enduring zest and vitality, the adventurous curiosity and the aesthetic appreciation of our people. In all these areas we find the Relief Society women working, not alone in relieving the suffering of the world, but inspiring and lifting up and glorifying the beautiful in daily life as well as in literature and art. The choir sang "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor"-and may I pause here to compliment the singing mothers and their talented director. Sister Madsen and I were in school together some time ago. She was, of course, much younger than I, but I discovered then that she is a genius. She goes to Idaho, California or Arizona, even here in Salt Lake City, and is able to find women who respond to her magic and bring beauty, harmony and inspiration to our conferences. Thank you, Sister Madsen, and thank you sisters from Arizona. When the choir sang "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor," I turned to a little piece that Sister Brown handed me sometime ago from Sunshine Magazine. I turn to it now because at this time there is a concerted effort being made to undermine the very foundations of our country and our form of government, and we must be on guard. Let us prize this America of ours and try to be worthy of our heritage. This is what one person wrote about America: God built a continent with glory and filled it with treasures untold. He bedecked it with soft rolling prairies, and pillared it with thundering mountains. He studded it with sweetly flowing streams and mighty winding rivers. He graced it with deep shadowed forests, and filled it with song. But these treasures would have meant little if the myriads of people, the bravest of the races, had not come, each bearing a gift and a hope. They had the glow of adventure in their eyes, the glory of hope in their souls, and out of them was fashioned a nation, blessed with a PRO version
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purpose sublime. They called it America. Yes, they did bring to us their tired and their poor and our ancestors were among them. Thank God for America. Now with respect to this atomic age, the dangers which we face and the problems that lie ahead, may I bring to you a warning from a general in the army who saw clearly; and spoke forcefully. He made the following statement. With the monstrous weapons man already has, humanity is in danger of being trapped in this world by its moral adolescence. Our knowledge of science has clearly outstripped our capacity to control it. (We have to many men of science; too few men of God.) We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Man is stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness while toying with the precarious secrets of life and death. The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace; more about killing than we know about living. This is our 20th Century's claim to distinction and progress. That's a serious indictment of the vaunted efforts of our great scientists. God help us to retain the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount while our scientists explore outer space. Dr. William Temple, formerly Archbishop of Canterbury, said: Purely scientific education must produce a generation adept at dealing with things, indifferently qualified to deal with people, and incapable of dealing with ideas. We hope your knowledge-which is of the head-will be motivated by wisdom-which is of the heart. One is determined by what you know, the other by what you do with what you know. Surely out of the heart cometh the issues of life. While we enjoy and are inspired by our "singing mothers," many of our young people are saved by our "praying mothers." We should teach the youth of the Church how to pray. When the disciples heard Jesus pray, they said pleadingly, "Lord, teach us to pray." When we teach our people to pray, "Our Father who art in heaven," we should impress upon them the responsibility which that salutation imposes, namely, that He is our Father and that we are His children and, therefore, there is something of Him in us. Let us seek to be worthy of that relationship. PRO version
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We're confronted today with a multitude of problems, many of them soul-searching and tragic. The wreckage of divorce and broken homes is spreading into all the communities of our country, including our own. We may do our best to repair the damage, to reconstruct, to encourage, and try to get the unfortunate to begin again, but our greatest challenge is through education to prepare people to avoid these tragedies. The problem of birth control and voluntary barrenness is poisoning the very fountains of life and defying God's injunction to multiply and replenish the earth. Juvenile delinquency is rampant in the world. This is aided and abetted by men and women who fail to live up to their responsibilities of parenthood. We must teach them that liberty and license are not synonymous and that obedience to law is liberty. Some have thought that Relief Societies labor only in the background. I'd like to tell the world as I observe the actions and activities of the Relief Societies all over the Church that the Relief Society sisters are in the vanguard of human progress. I'd like to tell the brethren of the Church that the Relief Society sisters are blazing the trail, pointing the way and setting the pace. That is a real challenge. I should like to call your attention to a statement made by the Apostle Paul. It is applicable although you are women and women do not ordinarily go to war. He refers to the kind of armor which will fit women as well as men and without which neither women nor men can subdue the enemy we must meet. In Ephesians we read: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; PRO version
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Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. —Ephesians 6:12-18 And now, what are some of the rewards that are to come to you and to us if we can, like Paul, fight a good fight, finish the course, and endure to the end? Here is what the Lord has promised to the faithful, sisters as well as holders of the Priesthood: Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's, and Christ is God's. And they shall overcome all things. These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever. These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people. These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection. These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just. These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all. These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of PRO version
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Enoch, and of the First born. These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all. —Doctrine and Covenants 76:59-68 One of the duties that rests upon the brethren in the Council of Twelve and associated councils is to bear witness of Christ. Humbly, but fearlessly, I bear witness of him. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Redeemer of the world. I know that better than I know anything else, and from the very center of my heart I say to you that Christ still lives. And though you may have difficulties and problems to meet, though you may have sorrow, disappointment, and bereavement, remember that His help is available-His ways are always right, though sometimes we may not understand them. I like this closing verse: Sometime, when all life's lessons have been learned, And sun and stars forevermore have set, And things which our weak judgments here have spurned, The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet Will flash before us out of life's dark night, As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue; And we shall see how all God's plans are right, And how what seemed reproof was love most true. *** And you shall shortly know that lengthened breath Is not the sweetest gift God sends His friend, And that sometimes, the sable pall of death Conceals the fairest bloom His love can send. If we could push ajar the gates of life, And stand within and all God's workings see, We could interpret all this doubt and strife, And for each mystery could find a key. PRO version
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But not today. Then be content, poor heart; God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold. We must not tear the close-shut leaves apartTime will reveal the calyxes of gold. And if, through patient toil, we reach the land Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest, When we shall clearly see and understand, I think that we will say, "God knew the best." —May Riley Smith By the power and authority that is mine to bless, I bless you, my dear sisters, and all those to whom you may return when this conference is over. God bless our mothers and their associates in the Relief Society. I bless you that there may be peace and love and harmony in your homes. I bless you that you may influence your husbands, some of whom are inactive, and provoke them to good works. I bless you that you may have the courage and the fortitude and faith to continue to the end. I bless you that as you leave this building today you may carry with you the influence of the Holy Spirit that is here yearningly pleading with all of us to "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I leave this testimony and this blessing with you humbly, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. —Relief Society Conference, October 2, 1963 Return to top
Be Prepared for the Countdown Today the astronauts are the heroes. We are hearing much about them, and they are doing much for science. I should like to consider each of you as an astronaut, one who was launched from another sphere and is temporarily on this little space island preparing to continue an endless flight. You are here to continue your PRO version
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education, your search for truth, to improve and qualify yourselves for what lies ahead. Each of you is, potentially at least, an architect, a sculptor, a scientist. But for the moment just let us think of you as an astronaut, an astronaut who has been carried to this phase of your endless journey, to this momentary stopping-place. You have been provided with a miraculous space suit or capsule, the mortal body. Each of you has been given a divine spark, which will continue to ignite that super-fuel which we call truth and knowledge-and of this there is an inexhaustible supply. A constant refueling, by preparation during your stay on this island of space, will enable you successfully to continue the next stage of your journey. Before this venture-and I warn you that it is crammed with risk and temptation-you will be provided with plans and specifications, rules and regulations, maps and compasses, a complete instrument panel. Best of all, there is available to you a Master Pilot, a perfect teacher. You should be reminded that time is limited, and that it is of supreme importance. In fact, the countdown on your next flight started when you landed here, and it will continue without interruption. Only the Counter knows which number will signal the take-off, the launching for the next stop. It may come at any time. Your curriculum will be exacting and detailed. Your training will be rigorous but rewarding. You will be trusted with free agency, the right to choose your own course and your conduct. But you should know that, like all other astronauts, strict obedience to undeviating law is absolutely prerequisite to successful flight. The condition of your physical, mental, moral and spiritual health will be checked and noted on your boarding pass, and constant selfdiscipline and self-mastery will keep you on your course. On succeeding stages of your journey you will become acquainted with and utilize various units of time and space. For a moment I shall paraphrase Dr. Henry Eyring, a renowned scientist. As of now you are content with such units as seconds and seasons, meters and miles. But later you will become concerned with the chemical world of molecules and atoms, where electrons complete their revolutions in one one hundred million millionths of a second (grasp that if you can-I can't), and where one inch measures one hundred million atoms. Then in outer space you will find the revolutions of planets measured in years rather than in fractions of a second. The unit of distance is the light year, which, as you know is a one-year journey at the speed of light, 186,000 miles a secondperhaps about 10,000 million miles. Later you will penetrate the spiritual realm where time and space shall be no PRO version
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more, referred to only as eternities and limitless. Thus in thought, and later in reality, you will be able to see and comprehend the infinitesimally small and the infinitely large. At the end of your stopover on this island you will jettison part of your equipment, the mortal shell. How foolish and unrealistic it is to speak of this necessary metamorphosis as death or think of it as the end of the flight. On this subject I bring you word from the noted Dr. Wernher Von Braun, the space and missile scientist. Dr. Von Braun stated: Many people seem to feel that science has somehow made religious ideas untimely or old fashioned, but I think science has a real surprise for the skeptics. Science, for instance, tells us that nothing in nature, not even the tiniest particle, can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation. Now if God applies this fundamental principle to the most minute and insignificant parts of his universe, doesn't it make sense to assume that he applies it also to the human soul? I think it does. And everything science has taught me-and continues to teach me-strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. Nothing disappears without a trace. Now I ask you, do you think it is possible that in this universe, created and governed according to eternal law, the most intelligent creatures in it are here by chance? Is it possible that there was no plan or purpose or design? Did the Creator make a stairway leading to nowhere? Or did he plan a flight leading to a certain fatal crash? Your flight is to be eternal, and you are to be at the controls, with full responsibility and freedom to choose your course and your conduct-and to take the consequences. How tragically and unforgivably foolish it would be for a pilot to discard his oxygen mask, to leave the controls, and to take a whiff of some exhilarating gas for a momentary thrill, or in some other way deliberately incapacitate himself, endanger his whole flight and condemn himself to be eternally grounded! Young people, prepare yourselves during your brief stop on this island in space. Cultivate the attributes which will make you ready for any eventuality of service in the Kingdom of God. Be obedient to the laws and commandments which have been given by the Master Teacher. Catch the Torch and hold it high, I pray. In the PRO version
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name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —Youth Conference, Washington, D. C., July 14, 1963 Return to top
Well Done, Carry On Jesus said, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." (John 17:4.) We hear from Paul: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4: 7.) And in Ecclesiastes we read: ". . . the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. . ." (Ecclesiastes 9:11.) In this age of speed there is danger of losing sight of the importance of being able to finish the journey. A good start is a promise; a good ending, its fulfillment. The student whose brilliance enables him to recite his daily lessons with very little preparation but who cannot pass the final test may in looking back realizes that his brilliance was a handicap, as all easy victories are if the result is lessened effort. Many a fight has been lost by the over-confidence which sometimes comes from winning the first few rounds. To lower one's guard in the final round may mean defeat, and then all the fine fighting throughout the match will have gone for nothing. There is some talk today of "lightning warfare," but we are of the opinion that the nation which can win the last battle will dictate the terms of peace. It is important that we make sure that the goal toward which we labor is a worthy one. The speed with which we travel toward it is less important than the fixed purpose, the sustained effort which will enable us to achieve it. Making sure one is right in his undertakings and then massing all his energy to carry through to the end-these are the important considerations. PRO version
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The man who so wisely said, "Be sure you're right, then go ahead," Might have added this, to wit, "Be sure you're wrong before you quit." While life lasts, one must look upon each new achievement as a challenge and a beginning. Mile posts marking the way were not intended for camping grounds. The gospel is a challenge to finish the course, not simply to begin it. All the fine accomplishments of a worthwhile life may be defeated by a poor ending. He was able to pass through Gethsemane and with full knowledge of the road ahead go on to Calvary, and not until then did He say, "It is finished." To have stopped at any point of great achievement along the way, in the temple, his victory when he said to Satan "get thee behind me," the matchless sermon on the mount, on the mount of transfiguration, or even in the valley of Gethsemane, would have been to fall. Always when missionaries are released they are admonished to carry on, for completing a mission is not by any means a final goal. There still remain many battles to be won. There is no final goal. That which appears so may be attained only by undiscouragable effort. It in turn will prove to be another guidepost to the future. —Millennial Star, October 19, 1939 Return to top
Man's Potential God-Like Status Some years ago when I was on the campus here, I happened to sit next to one of the professors from an eastern university at a banquet given by the faculty. This man had been on the campus for two or three days, and turning to me he said, "Why is it that your people have such a zest for education? There seems to be some spirit on this PRO version
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campus other than just seeking for intellectual or physical development. What is it?" I informed him that we believe that a man cannot be saved in ignorance, and that, therefore, education becomes a part of our religion. We believe that "the glory of God is intelligence." He thought for a few moments and said: "This is the first time I have seen education pursued with the zeal usually found only in religion. I have never before known such devotion, such worshipful devotion, to education." Now, our early pioneers, when they first landed, began building schoolhouses and churches. They had a belief that there is an instinct in the human soul causing it to reach out, look up, push back horizons, seek for answers, and search for God. Your presence here this morning indicates that you have the same attitude, the same instinct and hunger for truth. I thought it most impressive when these older ones stood and gave their ages: eighty, eighty-five and ninety. They evidenced by their presence here that they do not feel they have yet "arrived." I think we need to keep alive that spirit which is so obvious during these Leadership Weeks, viz., the spirit of inquiry, of seeking more knowledge, more understanding, greater wisdom. Christ said, "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10.) Someone has said that the purpose of life is more life. One's awareness is, I think, the measure of one's "aliveness"; and as we become more aware of our surroundings, more aware of the things we see about us, our worship of God is more meaningful and devout. And really what we see as we go about depends, in large measure, upon our attitude toward religion and education. What we see depends on what we are and what we are looking for. It depends upon where our interests lie. For instance, some time ago a couple of artists were on the brink of Bryce Canyon. They were in ecstasy over the beauty and the majesty of what lay before them. Just then a cowboy rode up and one of them turned to him and said, "Isn't this marvelous? Isn't it grand?" The cowboy said, "Yes, but it would be an awful place to lose a cow." Yes, what we see depends upon our interests, depends upon ourselves and what we think is most worthwhile. Another brief illustration: Two men were going through the Sequoias. One was a great lumber baron, the other was a journalist and a poet. They stopped amidst the giant trees in the forest and got out of the car. The driver of the car followed them later and found the lumber baron, with notebook and pencil in hand, standing before one of these giant trees. The lumber man said, "You know, I'm just figuring out how many board feet there would be in PRO version
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this tree, and what it would be worth as lumber." The driver moved on to where the poet stood, and found him also looking at a tree; but he held his cap in his hand and with bowed head repeated Kilmer's lines: I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree, A tree which looks at God all day And lifts its leafy arms to pray. Which of them, think you, got most out of the majestic Sequoias? And why did each see what he saw? Was it not because of what he was? So, my brethren and sisters, I bring to you this morning the thought that we in the Church, and of course, many others, are becoming increasingly aware of our universe and the goodness of the God whom we worship as its Creator. As we stand in the presence of all that is, whether we are gazing into the starry heavens, or looking at the trees and the mountains and the rivers, or learning of the minute solar system with its revolution round the nucleus of the atom, everywhere there is order, law, plan and purpose. And as we stand in awe and reverence, we wonder, "Who was at the controls when all this came into being?" Then, perchance, we shall ask ourselves, "What is man?" I think a recent writer put it very well, when he said, "God is known best not by separation from common things, but by such identification with them that we find the divine meaning latent in them." He went on to call attention to the fact that the deepest spiritual truths were expressed by Jesus the Christ through common things, through seeds and soil, through birds and stones and lambs. When we look about us, we discover that this world of ours, looked at philosophically, is really a series of levels or stratifications of reality. The lowest level is matter with its mechanical basis. Above that is life, which, in its characteristic form, grows and reproduces itself in one way or another. The third level is animal mind, striving constantly to satisfy nature's demand in appetite. Above that is the spirit. And man is a combination of all: He is matter, he is life, he is mind, and he is spirit. And his spirit gives meaning to all the rest. Each of the higher three of these four stratifications gives meaning to the one below it, and is dependent, in a measure, upon that which is below. As I read these thoughts recently, I was reminded of what the Lord said in Section 93 of the Doctrine and PRO version
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Covenants: Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation. For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy. The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple. —Doctrine and Covenants 93:29, 32-35 You have come here from many parts of the Church and are taking courses in various subjects according to your special interests. You are trying to push back your horizons and increase your knowledge. DeNouy said: The goal of man should be the attainment of human dignity, with all its implications. In other words, all of his intellectual acquisitions, all of the facilities which society puts at his disposal, schools, universities, libraries, laboratories, all those offered by religion, all the occasions given him to develop his own aptitudes, his work his leisure, must be considered by him as tools, to improve his personality, his moral self, and to make progress. The restored gospel challenges us with the declaration that man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge, and that "the glory of God is intelligence." What then shall be our glory? I think the obvious answer is that the degree of our intelligence will be the measure of our glory. If we are to get into the highest degree of the celestial kingdom, it will be because our actions have been such that we can feel at home there. And if we do not feel at home, I am of the opinion that we shall probably ask for a PRO version
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transfer, or we may get it without asking. DeNouy continues: "No matter how considerable it is, the accumulation of knowledge does not confer any superiority on man, if he utilizes it only outwardly, and if he reaches the end of his life without having deeply evolved as a responsible element of humanity." Sometimes it seems to me that some men, by their attitudes and lethargy, imply that they have arrived. They are not like these older folks who have responded to the roll call according to ages-some still gaining knowledge at ninety, while some who are much younger and not so wise say, "We have arrived." Since I was a boy, the prayer of my heart has been: "Help me, Oh God, that I may never arrive, that I may have hope, and expectation, and desire, and may realize that there is something ever more about to be." And so I congratulate you on the thought that you are here seeking knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence. God has commanded us that we should seek knowledge in various fields. Let me read another passage from the Doctrine and Covenants. Speaking of teaching, and promising that His grace shall attend us, He said: . . . (It is) expedient for you to understand; Of things both in heaven (astronomy) and in the earth (agriculture) and under the earth (geology); things which have been (history), things which are current events), things which must shortly come to pass (prophecy); things which are at home, things which are abroad (international affairs); the wars and perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms (or of geography and of history). —Doctrine and Covenants 88:78, 79 (The words in parentheses are my own.) Here we have an outline, from God himself, of what is expected of Latter-day Saints in their search for knowledge. May I refer again to an author: PRO version
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He commits an error, who sees in education and instruction a means of increasing the field of his intellectual activity, his power or his prestige or a means to enrich himself materially. He must use his science and his culture to better himself morally, and to make others progress. Instruction is sterile if it is considered as a goal in itself; dangerous if it is subordinated to selfish sentiments or to the interests of one group alone. So I say, sometimes it seems that some of us, having been baptized and having received the Holy Ghost and having complied with prerequisites thereto-such as faith and repentance-and having gone to Church and said our prayers, and the men having received the priesthood, mistakenly believe that we have done all we ever need to do, that we have arrived. The Apostle Paul advised the Saints of his day to "go on unto perfection." Jesus admonished, "Be ye perfect." The attitude of having arrived is something like a man who learned there was such a thing as electricity. He paid the necessary price and made the preparations and had a conduit wire connected to his house. He bought himself a little 10-watt bulb and installed it in the back room of his house; and then he sat down and put on his slippers, took his pipe, reclined in the rocking chair and said, "I have electricity. I am the happiest man in the world. Nobody else can boast of more than I, because I have electricity;" not realizing that what he had was only a little 10-watt bulb, and that he was still in semi-darkness, not realizing that if he would he could have had a thousand times that illumination. He could have had many bulbs in every room and could have been utilizing the power of electricity by installing modern equipment and machinery, making available to himself the equivalent of 10,000 servants. But there he sits placidly rocking and dreaming of the electricity which he thinks he has when, in reality, he does not even have enough to shock him into wakefulness. Sometimes Latter-day Saints say, "Thank God I have the gospel. I have joined the Church. I am going to heaven as soon as I die." There is an awful shock coming to some when they realize that the glory of God is intelligence. There are some Latter-day Saints who have only a 10-watt bulb of spiritual insight and knowledge. They would be unable to enjoy the glory of anything brighter because their souls are inured to semi-darkness; and unless they repent, wake up and live, they can never know the glory of the celestial kingdom. I pray that we might prepare ourselves, as you here are attempting to do, to become more like that from which we came, being ever conscious of our divine heritage, being ever aware of our royal birth. Let us be loyal to the PRO version
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Royal that is in us. Life is a beautiful symphony. It offers such marvelous opportunities. Life is calling to all of us, "Be more alive, be more aware." This Leadership Week is an opportunity for awareness. Some of us walk through the woods and see nothing. And others behold the beauty of nature. Some men are like a cow on the hillside who chews her cud, blissfully unaware of the beautiful sunset in the west. I think the object behind this great movement of Leadership Week when it was originated was to make available to those farther removed from headquarters, and those getting a little older, opportunities to come in contact with men and women whose lives are given to education, and who have so much to offer us. The poet has written: In a world, wistful with past revelations, we keep vigil in our hearts. Often disappointed, but never losing hope, we are sure of one thing, That the curtain has not yet run up on the last of this world drama. There is more; and more may come at any moment and it will come with surprising suddenness. Yes, human life is a symphony, but it is an unfinished symphony, We are waiting for the last movement. The last or undiscovered chord, which will give Meaning to the discord at the very moment when it is resolved. I like that thought, "Give meaning to the discord." I see before me older men and women who have gained strength through struggle. I see on their faces, as on a parchment, many lines written by the pen of experience; and between those lines I read a story of heroic struggle, of ambitions never quite satisfied, but of determination never dampened. These people will tell you that some of the things which have taught them the most valuable PRO version
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lessons have been the things they would have avoided if they could. Sometimes we have to learn that way. Sometimes we come to realize that "defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out." It is the beauty that we frame from within us that is going to qualify us for the glories that are ahead. No, Latter-day Saints, there is no one thing, no dozen things, nor group of things which will put us in a position where we no longer need to struggle, to look up, to aspire, to push back horizons, to seek for answers, and to search for God. Then, when the change called death shall come, we shall find that we must take up the quest where we left it off. Awareness, like creation and salvation, is an on-going process and the quest for truth is eternal. I cannot be convinced that a man having lived a worthless life is going suddenly into the presence of God because of some parroted mental concept, because of some confession at the last minute. That is contrary to everything we know of growth and of education. I am persuaded that I shall gradually enjoy the presence and glory of the great world beyond as I am inspired by God to push back the horizons and to behold the glory of God in that which is around us. God bless us that as individual members of the Church, we may catch the vision of the restored gospel and realize that education is part of religion and that, therefore, a man cannot be saved in ignorance any more than he can be saved in sin. He must be saved from them, not in them. There is only one way that I can think of whereby a man can be saved from ignorance, and that is by gaining knowledge; whereby he can be saved from sin, and that is by overcoming sin. Ignorance and sin are in many ways synonymous. God help us to catch that vision, and to go from this meeting and from this Leadership Week with new hope, new aspiration, new determination. May he help us to realize, each and every one of us, that we are children of God, that he is our Father, that Christ, our older brother, is the Son of God. No matter that the distance between us and Him is indescribably great, he is still our brother, and we are sons of the same Father. God help us that we may never be satisfied, may never "arrive." Let us show the extent of our aliveness by an ever-widening circle of awareness. That is no doubt what the Master meant when he gave us the Beatitudes, when he marked as blessed the poor in spirit and the meek, because they were teachable. He showed that they mourned because they became aware of their weaknesses and ignorance, and then they began to hunger and thirst after righteousness. PRO version
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May he bless us that we may achieve our potential godlike status, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —Address at BYU Leadership Week, June 20, 1956 Return to top
Almost a Millionaire From the bottom of my heart, I thank God for the experiences that have come into my life in which I have been brought closer to Him, for the opportunities I have had to walk where Jesus walked, and for the conviction that has come into my soul that my Redeemer lives and because He lives, I too shall live. I am more grateful for that than anything else in the world. When President McKay threw his lasso from Salt Lake up to Edmonton, Canada, and put it around my neck and led me in, I was engaged in a great enterprise. I had my heart set on big things and I had my fingers almost on big things. Some of those who were associated with me are now multi-millionaires. At that time I thought I was going to be one. By all the rules of the game I would have been, and should have been, and might have been. I want to say this to the young people. Shortly before the call came, I was way up in the Canadian Rockies, west of Edmonton, drilling an oil well, sleeping in a bunk cabin. I went way back in the hills early in the morning, found a place where I was entirely alone, and looked at those glorious Canadian Rockies. I was looking at the mountain sides and the grandeur. I went there in the hope that I might get close to Him. I remember that the outstanding things in the life of the Master were His speech on the mountain peak, the peak of His baptism, the peak of His temptation, the peak of His transfiguration. He loved the mountains. While I was up there that morning I was thinking of how I would spend that million dollars I was about to make. With my face turned toward heaven, I said-and I meant it-"Heavenly Father, if this isn't the thing for me, don't let me have it." Before I offered that prayer I thought I had arranged my affairs so that my Heavenly Father couldn't do otherwise than let me have the money. I thought I already did have it, but I said, "If it isn't right that I should have it, PRO version
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if it would rob me of the spirit of the Gospel or of my family, don't let it happen." I want to say to you young folks, don't ever talk to the Lord that way unless you really mean it, because He is likely to take you up on it. That was just a day before President McKay called me. That is a little personal sidelight, but I want to tell you that Sister Brown and I have never been so happy in all our lives as we have been in the year and month that has followed President McKay's call. When we hear from our friends in Canada and here in the United States who are multi-millionaires, we are just simple enough to not be a bit envious. If we had millions, we would try to spend the money in finding happiness for ourselves and for those we love. But now we have a happiness that millions could not buy. Money would never be effective to secure the happiness that we have. And so, aren't we really richer than if we had the money, especially when we take into consideration what some people will do with money and what money will do to some people. Now I'm not one who would say that we shouldn't strive to succeed financially. I'm not one to depreciate the value of material possessions, but we should not set our hearts on them. Christ said that gaining material wealth is not the purpose of life. We need faith. I am reminded of a poem that was read in a hospital room where a man over eighty was about to die. He was a multi-millionaire. His parents were Mormon people. One of his brothers was a member of the Mormon Battalion. This man had made millions out of horse racing, gambling and bootlegging. He had real estate in southern California, some in Cuba; horse stables around San Francisco; property in New York, probably millions. He had lost his wife, not in death, but in divorce, and he was on his death bed. A young man who visited him said, "Tell me, you're an old man about to die and I'm a young man about to live; what would you do, if you had it to do over again? What would I do in the light of your experience?" The old man said, "If you will open the dresser drawer and take out a book and turn to a certain page and read what the poet said, you will have my answer in better words than I can say. While you are reading, imagine I am speaking, because the poem says exactly what is in my heart in answer to your question." The young man read these words: PRO version
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I AM AN ALIEN I am an alien to the faith my mother taught me, I'm a stranger to the God who heard my mother when she cried. I'm an alien to the comfort that "Now I lay me," brought me, To the everlasting arms that held my father as he died. I spent a life time seeking things that I spurned when I found them, But I'd give them all, fame and fortune, and the pleasures that surround them, If I only had the faith that made my mother what she was. I was bred where God was closer to His people, And addressed them in the tenderest messages, of bird, tree, and bloom; I was bred where people stretch upon the velvet sod to rest them, Where the twilight's benediction robs the coming night of gloom. When this big world came and called me I deserted all to follow, Never noting, in my blindness, that I'd slipped my hand from His, Never dreaming in my dazedness, that the bubble fame was hollow, That the wealth of gold is tinsel as I since have learned it is. No, I spent a life-time seeking things I spurned when I had found them, PRO version
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I had found them, I have fought and been rewarded in many a winning cause. But I'd give them all, fame and fortune, and the pleasures that surround them, For a little of the faith that made my mother what she was. That was the old man's answer. Christ said, "Man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." (Luke 12:15.) Now, young men and women, brothers and sisters, you are here to preach the gospel and you are here to learn the gospel for yourselves. You are here to get the correct understanding of values and I know of no better place in the world than the mission field for people to get an understanding of true values. Remain humble. I pray that God will help every man and woman here and in all the missions of the Church to understand the real meaning of missionary service and couple it with understanding of the meaning of life. I hope that every man and woman, especially you younger men and women, will remember that your lives are in your own hands and that we are all in a large measure the architects of your own fate. What happens to you here in this mission field will be the deciding factor in determining where you will be throughout all eternity. What you make of your lives will be determined by your faith. Seek for real values rather than material wealth. I would like to say to you brethren and sisters, keep close to God. The poet said, "Never noting in my blindness that I had slipped my hand from His." Keep close to Him. Come to know Him. I have said to my missionaries when I was presiding over the British Mission, "The greatest opportunity that is now before you and the one that can bring the greatest blessing to you throughout time and all eternity is the opportunity to know God." When you come to know God, you learn to worship Him, and if you worship Him and adore Him, you tend to become more like Him. Knowing God will save men. It is the adulation coupled with emulation, worshiping Him and then trying to be like Him. I think it is good for each of us once in a while to stand ourselves up against a wall and then look ourselves over. When you do that, you can look right inside yourself. It is a mighty good thing to look and then think about what PRO version
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you see and do something about it. If there is something there that you don't like, change it. I think it is good to occasionally stand yourself against the wall and imagine that Christ is standing there beside you. I have tried to do that in my life many times. I have tried to imagine myself standing up side by side with Him. I want to tell you very humbly that I don't even come up to His ankles. Missionaries, He is your Brother, His Father is your Father. There is in you something that is in Him and with His help you will become like Him. Now if in looking at yourself you find characteristics that you don't like, do something about it. There is not a man or woman here tonight who has not been marked by the finger of God. Everyone of you has been assigned a job to do and if you don't do that job, it won't be done. You alone can do that particular work. God has placed within you the power to do it. He expects you to make a report. I should be telling you missionaries how to teach the Gospel. I would rather tell you how to live it and the teachings will take care of themselves. It is good to be cheerful, happy and gay. My heart sings with joy as I think of the gospel and what it has done for me and mine, for my friends and for you. Why shouldn't we be happy? But brethren and sisters, leave the final decision with God. Do everything you can to get what you want to have and be what you want to be, but always keep in mind, "Thy will, not mine, be done." If you can do that and try to walk by His will, you will find joy in this life and eternal increase in the world to come. Young men and women, this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Prophet Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw. He heard what he said he heard. I know this and I bear witness of it to you tonight. I pray that God will help everyone here to remember as long as he lives, what we feel here tonight, not what I have said, not what anyone else has said, but what we have heard from our innerselves. It is the voice of God calling to us, pleading with us, asking us to be our best, to live as we know we should live and weed out our failings that could hold us back and pull us down. Keep your eye on the Savior of the world. Make him your example. Remember that He is your brother and make him your ideal and you will know He is reaching down to help you. He is with you and if you have made mistakes PRO version
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and have truly repented, He will forgive you. Don't be deceived by the wiles of the adversary and think because you may have made mistakes that you have committed the unpardonable sin. This gospel is primarily the gospel of second chance, the gospel of repentance. Don't forget that young folks. Do not insist upon remembering what God is willing to forget. Everyone of us have made mistakes, but though we must pay the full price, our mistakes should be remembered only as guides to better lives in the future. —Dedicatory Service, California Mission, January 2, 1955 Return to top
The Eternal Life! On Seeking Truth It is a very great honor but a sobering responsibility to undertake to address this vast audience, seen and unseen, the kind of responsibility that causes a man humbly to seek divine guidance and assistance, especially if he would talk of God and of truth. Let us read the words of the Savior as recorded in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of St. John: . . . If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And again in the 17th chapter of John, He said: PRO version
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And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. The first scripture quoted is a promise that if we continue in his word we shall know the truth and gain freedom; and the second that it is life eternal to know God. Each of these scriptures envisions and requires an eternal quest; because gaining a complete knowledge of truth or of God is an infinite undertaking. It has been repeatedly stated in the conference thus far by the speakers that we live in tremendous times-we live in the most significant period in the records of the human race. This is confirmed by our best scholars throughout the world, as they review for us the historic evolutions, revolutions, and reformations of the past. Civilized people everywhere are becoming aware of the ever-expanding complexity of our civilization and of the almost miraculous advancement and improvement in the fields of travel and communication, not only on an international but an interplanetary basis. This knowledge causes us to refer to our time and our accomplishments as, in modern vernacular, "out of this world." That phrase becomes almost literal. In the midst of the rapid and unprecedented advance and discovery in many branches of science, we ask you, is it not reasonable to expect some new activity, some new thought, some new revelation in the most important dimension of human life, the spiritual dimension? A. Paul Davis tells us, "The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but brotherhood." There must be social, moral, and spiritual solidarity in a world which is in hourly danger of extinction by bombs, missiles, and atomic fallout. Many people, including some students and scholars, are unaware of the fact that in the fields of theology and religion also there have been revolutionary changes of thought, and they are even of greater consequencegreater because this area embraces all other fields of interest and activity. The most intriguing and significant aspect of a man's search for truth is his continuing and compelling attempt to explain himself and his relation to the universe which envelopes him, to find the cause behind the phenomena of life. The questions of whence and why and whither have persisted through the ages. PRO version
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Any open-minded search for truth requires courage, constancy, and humility. To quote an ancient prayer: From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth, From the laziness that is content with half truth, From the arrogance that thinks it knows all the truth, O God of truth, deliver us. Any thoughtful, prayerful search for truth reveals that God is our Father, and that He is a person, that His glory is intelligence, and that He had a will, a purpose, and a plan in creating the universe and providing for man's earth life. God is more than personality as we know it; He is that in perfect degree which our best is in imperfect degree. To have faith in a personal God, who can be referred to as "Father," gives man a sense of dignity and holds before him an ideal toward which to strive. Continuing in that faith one gets progressive answers to the disturbing questions of source, purpose, and destiny. In Bible times, the prophets were the leaders of thought; in a sense they were the spiritual scientists who tapped the inexhaustible reservoirs of truth through the simple media of direct revelation from God. True religion is a vital function in human living, and its teachers and disciples should seek, understand, and advocate revealed truth. This truth demands our allegiance and will lead men to the promised freedom. If religion is to keep pace with other human interests and refute the false charges of Communism that there is no God, that Christ is a myth, that religion is an opiate, we must re-examine our prescribed beliefs as set forth in formulated creeds; we must compare our organizations and procedures and our theology with the teachings of the Holy Bible. Let us seek to find a church with an organization that is identical with that set up in the New Testament. And in our search for truth we must purge ourselves of prejudice, for that closes the mind. Prejudice has been defined as "a vagrant opinion without visible means of support." Let us return then to a prayerful study of the Old and the New Testaments and have faith in the God of the Holy Bible who was known to Abraham, Isaac, and PRO version
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Jacob as Jehovah, and to Peter, John, and Paul as the Messiah. Such a study will reveal that God is not a sovereign autocrat, but a loving, personal Father. This belief in the universal fatherhood of God forms the basis for our faith in the universal brotherhood of man. You, our friends who are listening or attending the proceedings of this conference, no doubt ask what is the Mormon creed. Although we announce no formal creed, the founder and first President of the Church did set forth, as an epitome of the tenets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, thirteen concise statements known as the Articles of Faith. These include fundamental and characteristic gospel doctrine as taught by the Church of Jesus Christ in former days. The first of these Articles declares: We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. That statement should reassure some of our friends who have wondered whether or not the Mormons are Christians. That these articles are not and were not intended to be a complete and final exposition of beliefs is evidenced by the fact that we receive and expect continued revelation. In fact, we say in another Article of Faith: We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. —Ninth Article of Faith These Articles are authoritative; however, they form but an outline for the study of the theology of the Church. Theology as a science has been defined as that branch of classified knowledge which deals with God and man, their relationship and their cooperative purpose. While theology may appeal primarily to the intellect, religion touches the heart and it inspires men to live in accordance with the knowledge gained. Theology may be only diction, but religion requires action. Religion is man's endeavor to adapt himself to the facts of existence as revealed by the Author and Creator of all that is. It differs from other such endeavors in that it seeks the adaptation of the whole of life to ultimate facts. PRO version
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Now as God is the fountain of truth and knowledge, the source of wisdom, and as theology and religion are primarily concerned with the existence of and our relationship to Deity, does it not seem obvious that this combined subject, theology and religion, when accurately defined and understood, is the queen of all the sciences? It embraces all truth and therefore includes all other sciences. It deals with man's origin, purpose and destiny, with the principles governing the creation of worlds, with God's eternal laws which are often called the laws of nature. God himself has from the beginning been the Great Scientist and He has taught men by personal manifestations as well as by ministrations of His appointed servants. But here as elsewhere, when the student comes to the edge of knowledge, he must lean on faith and continue his quest. He must "trust the soul's invincible surmise," as did Columbus. If science is built upon facts, its architect is faith. As Dr. Talmage has eloquently said, "Though the veil of mortality with all its obscurity may shut the light of the divine presence from the sinful heart, that separating curtain may be drawn aside and a heavenly light may shine into the righteous soul. By the listening ear attuned to the celestial music, the voice of God has been heard declaring his personality and will; to the eye that is freed from the motes and beams of sin, single in its search after truth, the hand of God has been made visible; within the soul properly purified by devotion and humility, the mind of God has been revealed." The honest investigator must be prepared to follow wherever the search of truth may lead. Truth is often found in the most unexpected places. He must, with fearless and open mind "insist that facts are far more important than any cherished, mistaken beliefs, no matter how unpleasant the facts or how delightful the beliefs." Quoting Lowell: New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth; They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth. PRO version
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As God is our Father and the source of all truth, as we are Ball primarily interested in attaining eternal life and as it is eternal life to know Him, surely an open-minded and courageous study of Him and His divine plan with respect to our salvation will be the most interesting and permanently rewarding of all ventures into the vast realms which invite man's questing spirit. It was doubtless a contemplation of this majestic theme that gave us the rhapsody recorded in John. He said: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. —1 John 3:2 The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ which we proclaim, when understood and accepted, will unite all men in a common cause, and then only will all new scientific discoveries be utilized for the benefit of mankind. And then we shall have peace. A knowledge of truth will help men to be free, whether it come by direct revelation as in the case of the prophets, from the written word of God as recorded in the scriptures, revealed as a result of research in the laboratory, in the flight of the astronaut as he circles the globe, or as revealed to a prayerful youth upon his knees in the sanctuary of a grove. Religion has to do not only with the internal life of man, but with his eternal life, which will be a continuation of identity and personality into the spiritual realm of immortality. Religion gives meaning, purpose, and direction to man's insatiable quest, his instinctive curiosity, and inspires in him a desire for greater awareness of himself, of his universe, and of God. The prayerful searcher after truth will, as Shakespeare said, "Find tongue in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." Man is ever wrestling with the problems of how to organize his reactions and find peace amidst the diverse and confusing experiences which crowd in upon the daily activities of his body, mind, and spirit. Religion is the means by which a man may achieve tranquility of spirit without internal anguish or external disaster. The basic and fundamental doctrine of the Primitive Church came through revelation from God the Father through Jesus Christ His Son. His life among men on earth, His crucifixion, His resurrection and His ascension into PRO version
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heaven, all proclaim the eternal fact that He was and is personal and material, and to that we humbly bear witness. He was a babe born of woman, He matured through childhood and youth, and, as the Apostle Paul said: . . . being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him: —Hebrews 5:9 He was and is Jehovah, God the Son, a separate identity working in complete oneness with Elohim God the Father, in whose likeness man was created. The announcement of new and continued revelation from God is more momentous, more reassuring and challenging in national and international affairs today than any of the discoveries of atomic energy or the amazing achievements of scientists. We must seek to know God's word and will concerning us individually and collectively, and to this end we need not rely wholly on the written word given to people of another age. Each succeeding prophet added something to the revelations of the past. While much of that word is applicable to our time and condition, we announce to you, our friends, humbly but with a sincerity born of the witness of the Spirit, that God's word is revealed to men today, as anciently, through his own appointed servants. We proclaim a new revelation from the heavens, a new vision and understanding of God and of Jesus Christ, His Son, a new interpretation of truth and also a new delegation of authority from God to man. Continued revelation places religion in the vanguard of human progress. We proclaim the opening, under divine guidance, of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, that which was mentioned by the Apostle Paul: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: —Ephesians 1:10 A poet of this dispensation said, hopefully: PRO version
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The morning breaks, the shadows flee; Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled! The dawning of a brighter day Majestic rises on the world. The vital and dynamic message of Mormonism is that there is a personal God in the heavens. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He has not abated His power, He has not surrendered His sovereignty, He has not diluted His love, He changes not and His plans never fail. We bear witness that His chief executive officer in the creation and direction of the affairs of this and other worlds, is Jesus Christ the Lord, the Redeemer of the World, the Son of the Father. The foundation of this Church rests upon the bedrock of revelation. The character, personality, and purposes of God have been again revealed to the world. The Kingdom of God has been set up as predicted by Daniel and other prophets. An angel has flown in the midst of heaven in the latter days in confirmation of John's vision recorded in the 14th chapter of Revelation, where he said: And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. —Revelation 14:6-7 Our friends, either this solemn statement is true or it is false. If it is true, it is the most important announcement since the resurrection and ascension of Jesus the Christ. If it is false it will, of course, with all other falsehood, come to naught. That it is true we humbly testify, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. —General Conference, October 6, 1962 Return to top PRO version
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I Know That My Redeemer Lives Since very early this morning I have been reading the four Gospels and communing with God, and from the depth of my heart I have been saying what the hymn we have just sung leads us to say, "I know that my Redeemer lives." I like the last verse particularly: He lives, all glory to His name! He lives, my Jesus, still the same; Oh sweet the joy this sentence gives, "I know that my Redeemer lives." It is our duty to bear that witness. It is our privilege to have that knowledge. So this morning I come to you without a written speech, preferring to, through the help of the Lord, take my sermon from my heart rather than from my pocket. As I have thought of saying something here that would be in harmony with the occasion, I have been subdued and humbled because of the solemnity of the occasion we celebrate, and because of the glory and majesty of the One who occupies the center of the stage for the drama which was enacted nearly 2,000 years ago. To speak of Him, and reverently for Him, is not only a privilege but a tremendous responsibility. Christmas we celebrate as a promise of what was to be. Easter is a fulfilment, a message of victory, a message of hope and of peace. We do not celebrate Easter only as an accomplished fact. We celebrate it because of what it promises, what it portends, and we celebrate it at a time when hundreds of millions of people of the world are being systematically indoctrinated with the abominable idea that Christ is a myth and that faith in Him is an opiate, and that men need not search for or worship God. That may sound like a negative approach to a glorious subject, but it is negative only in the sense that it would be negative to stand before an army who were facing a great battle and tell him something of the strength and PRO version
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disposition of the enemy by way of warning and preparation. And so, I pray for your assistance and that the Holy Spirit may make our hearts attuned that what is said and what is heard may bring satisfaction. Who was this man, Jesus? Why His crucifixion and alleged resurrection? Whence came He, and for what purpose? I think perhaps the first reference to Jesus as the Son of God is found in the Book of Moses: "But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning" (Moses 4:2)-this is following a statement of the fall of Lucifer and the rejection of his plan. Jesus is referred to also in the Book of John. Some people have not yet been willing to admit that this refers to the Christ; but Bible students everywhere are coming to recognize the fact that what is here recorded is a valid and well attested statement of fact. In the beginning . . . and that beginning that antedates the beginning of which we read in the book of Genesis. In Genesis we read of the beginning of the organization of the world, but this beginning was before that. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. —John 1:1-4 And Paul emphasizes what John said in his letter to the Colossians: [He] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (This is the One of whom we speak when we commemorate Easter-the firstborn of every creature:) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him: PRO version
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And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: (Col. 1:15-18.) Again, in the book of Moses we are told that God created many worlds: . . . worlds without number (He said) have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. —Moses 1:33 So when we speak of Him we are thinking not only of this world, but of the innumerable worlds which were created by God the Father through Jesus the Christ. We are thinking then of more than a Nazarene, a carpenter, a man among men who died on the cross. When I say we are thinking of more than that, we are thinking of Him and the background that goes to make up the glorious story of Christ. The written story of Christ began in that primeval council in the heavens, His part in the great work of creation is beautifully referred to in Jesus the Christ, by Dr. Talmage. I should like to read you a paragraph: We claim scriptural authority for the assertion that Jesus Christ was and is God the Creator, the God who revealed Himself to Adam, Enoch, and all the antedeluvial patriarchs and prophets down to Noah; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Israel as a united people, and the God of Ephraim and Judah after the disruption of the Hebrew nation; the God who made Himself known to the prophets from Moses to Malachi; the God of the Old Testament record; and the God of the Nephites. We affirm that Jesus Christ was and is Jehovah, the Eternal One. And now referring again for just a moment to that council in heaven, that we may get perspective and find why the council was held, let us turn to Isaiah. Isaiah had through vision and revelation been instructed as to what took PRO version
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place at that eventful time when you and I were there, and, according to the book of Job, shouted for joy at the prospect of earth life. There was one there who was in opposition, and later there followed him a third of the hosts of heaven. And Isaiah laments in these words: How art thou fallen from heaven, oh Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." —Isaiah 14:12-14 And Isaiah adds: . . . thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. —Isaiah 14:15 In Moses' record it says: And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying-Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. —Moses 4:1 And then that verse that I read before: PRO version
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But, behold, my Beloved Son, who was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me-Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever. —Moses 4:2 And it goes on: Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of my Only Begotten I caused that he should be cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men and to lead them captive at his will. . —Moses 4:3-4 There was a great council, and that is understandable, is it not? When we undertake any project, we sit down and work out the details, anticipate the future, provide the means in a business sense. Some may say: Well, God did not need to make any plans. He could run things as He would and as He chose. That would be true if He chose to do as Satan wanted Him to do, give the power to him so that he could dominate and rob men of their freedom. May I pause just long enough to remind you again that never since that time, so far as we know, have the emissaries of Satan been so thoroughly organized or so numerous or so active as they are now. There are hundreds of millions of them, and they are being arrayed for battle by the very one who wanted to be in charge of all things and still intends to do it if he can. I want to pause here to predict their downfall. He whose resurrection we celebrate therefore this morning was the Jehovah of the Old Testament. He it was who appeared to Adam; He appeared to Abraham and told him to go into a strange country; He appeared to Jacob who became the father of twelve sons, the tribes of Israel; He accompanied Joseph who was sold by his brethren into Egypt, and protected him against the wiles of Satan; He it was who called Moses. (This was Jesus, who afterwards was known as Jesus of Nazareth.) And he accompanied Moses into Egypt and enabled him to PRO version
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perform those miracles. He it was who divided the Red Sea and let the Israelites through, this same Jesus, Jehovah. All through time from the beginning down to Malachi, according to the record of the Old Testament, Jesus, Jehovah, operated under the direction of God the Father, and was known as His Only Begotten Son, the first begotten in the spirit, the Only Begotten in the flesh. This same Jesus created all that is and had the power, of earth and heaven. As we start the record of the New Testament, we find Him in a manger, a little child, as helpless as any other little child at that age, for He had chosen to come that way. His coming was not only heralded by the angels, but there is a beautiful story in the New Testament about the annunciation, when Gabriel came to Mary and told her that she was favored of the Lord. She conceived of the Holy Ghost, and hastened to her cousin to tell her what had happened; and her cousin because of a miraculous event in which the father of John the Baptist had been told that he would have a son, even though his wife was an old lady. Elizabeth understood Mary, and Mary began to understand that the holy babe which was to be born of her was, in fact, the Son of God. And then the angels announced it, and wise men of the world came and paid Him homage, and the leaders of the world were afraid of His power and began relentless persecution. Thousands of young infants were slaughtered because that awful tyrant Herod feared that Jesus would be what His followers claimed He was to be-the King of Israel. We do not hear much of Him from the time of His birth until the occasion when in the temple He astonished the wise men. He lived as a boy, He worked with His hands, He played and He ran; but He had in Him that which no man before or since has had-the power of God and the power of manhood, combined in one individual, and because of that power and the instruction of the Father, He was able to talk to those wise men and to astonish them. We do not hear much again from Him until we find him on the banks of the Jordan, and His cousin, John, having been instructed, was there to baptize Him. Here this personage, the Jehovah of the Old Testament and the Messiah of the New, the Creator of all that is, came humbly and submitted Himself to the hands of John, and John said, PRO version
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. . . I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. . . —Matthew 3:14-15 Then John baptized Him; and not only the event, but also the portent was made visible to John, for the Holy Ghost descended like a dove, and the voice of the Father said, . . . This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. —Matthew 3:17 From there he went into the wilderness, where for forty days He fasted, and during much of that time this same individual who in the council of heaven had challenged Him, and had been cast out because of his rebellion, found Jesus in the wilderness and undertook to destroy Him before His mission was started in His mortal life. Jesus said: ". . . Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. . . . Get thee hence Satan." (Matthew 4:7, 10; Luke 4:8.) I wish all of us could do what Jesus did. Some of us say, "Get thee behind me, Satan," but when we are struggling with some weakness, we turn right around and face him and expect him to stay behind us. By that I mean that we tempt ourselves by overestimating our strength. Jesus, all the way through His life, said such things as "I do what my Father tells me to do." "Thy will be done." "I came down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of Him that sent me." And so He went through that crisis-for it was a crisis-and came out victorious; and then He went about Judea, into Galilee, in and about Jerusalem, the greatest teacher the world has ever known. Unfortunately some people stop there, and say Jesus of Nazareth was the greatest teacher the world has ever known. If that is all He was, then there could be no Easter. It was the something else that enabled Him to come out of the tomb. He was more than a great teacher, a great exemplar; He was the Son of God, come to live among men in order to teach them of God and teach them how to live. We follow Him up onto another mountain, and we hear the greatest sermon that was ever preached, known as PRO version
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the Sermon on the Mount. Here He gave to us the Beatitudes; revolutionary were His words on that occasion. He did not say what men had been wont to say through the years and through time-blessed are the rich and the powerful and the mighty. He started with the bottom and said: Blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn; blessed are the pure in heart. And so He taught among His followers. Unfortunately His followers, even the apostles, did not understand fully what He taught them by both precept and example. It always seems strange to me how those apostles who had been with Him for nearly three years, close to Him, seen His miracles, felt of His spirit, declared their faith in Him, could have doubted, but they did. He took three of them to another mountain top-and (you will notice that His life is punctuated by mountain peaks: the mount of the temptation, the mount of the beatitudes, the mount of the transfiguration, the mount of Golgotha. Moses too knew something about mountain peaks, for it was there that he talked with Jesus who was the God of Israel) to the mount of transfiguration, and there three personages appeared. Peter, James and John were not able to endure the glory of the occasion, and they fell to the earth, apparently paralyzed with fear. Moses and Elias appeared with Jesus, and they conversed and communed. Peter wanted to build some tabernacles or some memorable buildings there. He said, ". . . It is good for us to be here. . ." (Matthew 17:4.) From the mount of transfiguration He went onto proclaim the gospel, heal the sick, bless those who mourned, heal those who could not see or hear or walk. His was a mission of mercy and love. Then the time drew near which He had known must come and which He had predicted repeatedly to His disciples would come. They had not believed it or understood it. On that first Palm Sunday, He came up from Jericho. He came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, accompanied by a large crowd. There were palms, flowers, branches and the cloaks of people laid on the road in front of him as He rode into Jerusalem. And they were shouting, "Hosannah!" It was a triumphal entry, they thought, but He was not shouting "Hosannah!" for He knew what the end of the week would bring. Shortly after He entered the city He went to the temple, and there He found that men were making of the House of God a den of thieves, and He drove them out of the temple, infuriating the self-styled priests. PRO version
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He healed one who had been crippled from infancy, and knew that this very act would be heralded among His enemies and they would thirst for His blood. But He did not hesitate. It was customary in those times for people who had been on a long journey to have their feet washed by servants, and on the occasion of the last supper He and they who had come with Him were weary, but there was no servant there to wash their feet. This Man, Jehovah, the Creator of the world, the God of the world, Jesus the Christ, threw off His outer garment, and girded His loins with a towel, and filled a basin with water, and went among His disciples and washed their feet. And then they sat around the table at that last supper. I think one of the greatest pictures ever painted is by Da Vinci, "The Last Supper." I was studying, this morning, the expressions on the faces of those twelve men. Sometimes that occasion is called, "the picture of the hands," for as Christ announced, ". . . One of you shall betray me," every man moved forward, and each man gestured "Is it I?" "Who is it?" And if you look at the picture carefully you see the hands in the forefront all the way. Then Jesus said, ". . . He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. . ." (John 13:26.) And Judas was there. Can you imagine the pathos, the heartache, the heartbreak, to know that Judas had been with Him, had partaken of His spirit to a degree, had seen His miracles, had testified of Him, and then was about to betray Him? There is little more poignant in the suffering of life than that which comes from betrayal, when our friends turn against us. We can fight our enemies on the outside, but there is nothing we look upon with such distaste as a traitor, a traitor to our country, a traitor to the truth, a traitor to the Church. So Christ at this crucial hour said, "One of you will betray me." And He knew that during that very night He would be betrayed into the hands of His enemies, go through a mock trial, be condemned without any evidence against Him, and crucified. He knew all that. The apostles did not understand. His heart was heavy, and He said, "Will you come with me?" and walked away. They walked to a garden called Gethsemane. Some of them He asked to wait by the wayside, but three He took close to the garden and said to them, "Wait here while I pray. He went on into the garden and had the courage and the fortitude and the faith; though His heart was breaking and though He was sweating blood, to say, "Not my will, but thine." PRO version
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When He came out of the garden and He found that the three apostles whom He trusted and on whom He wanted to lean, were sleeping, He said, "Can't you walt with me for an hour?" Then He went back and prayed again, and again they slept. I cite that, not in condemnation of them, but in explanation that they did not get the full purport of His mission. They must have believed right up to the last that He would confound His enemies, and that it would be impossible for them to put Him to death. I say that in mitigation, as I think of those men who went to sleep. Then Judas came, followed by those from whom He had received his pay. He betrayed the Christ with a kiss. The only rebuke Jesus gave was: "Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" And then they took Him. Peter, that stalwart, that impetuous man, had said that he would never forsake Jesus, and Christ had said, . . . before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. —Mark 14:30 And when they had Him within the walls and in the judgment chamber and were seeking for His followers who had disappeared, they came to this man, and a woman said, . . . And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. —Mark 14:67, 68. Shortly after Peter said that, Christ came out of that chamber. Peter, crouching in a corner, saw Christ go by, and Christ looked at Peter. I hope none of us will ever have to endure that look because of faithlessness. But Christ loved Peter, and He knew his weakness, and the beauty of it is, my brethren and sisters, He forgave him. He did not condemn him. What a great character Peter became afterwards. PRO version
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They took Him first to one and then to another. I do not have time to go into detail and need not because you are familiar with it. They condemned him to die. Pilate offered to release either Jesus or Barabbas, a murderer, and the crowd yelled for Barabbas. "What shall I do then with Jesus?" said Pilate, and the cry came back, Crucify Him!" The weak monarch washed his hands, but not his soul. Christ was led to Golgotha. As I stood there a few years ago, upon that hill called the Hill of Skull, and as I looked from there down the hill to the tomb which the best authorities believe to be the tomb in which Christ's body was placed, I thought: What a tragedy occurred here, and yet, what a blessing. If Christ had yielded in Gethsemane, there would have been no Easter, and if there had been no Easter morn, there would have been no hope; but He had the courage and the fortitude to say, "Thy will, not mine." He went to the cross, and there, suspended between heaven and earth and looking down on His persecutors, His murderers, He looked again up to His Father: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. . . —Luke 23:34 One of the thieves nailed there beside him said, . . . If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. —Luke 23:39 But the other thief, being of a different character, no doubt, rebuked his fellow thief, and then he turned to Christ and said, . . . Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. PRO version
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—Luke 23:42, 43 We will all go to paradise, but the kind of place it is will depend on the kind of people we are. To some it will be awful, to others it will be glorious. So He said, . . . (This day) shalt thou be with me in paradise. — Luke 23:43 And He said, "I thirst." I am told there is no agony comparable to the agony of crucifixion. In many cases the executioners tied the criminals by the hands and by the wrists. But in His case they nailed Him to the cross, driving the nails through His hands and through His feet. And He said, "I thirst," and one of the soldiers handed up on a spear a sponge saturated with vinegar. That was usual, because in the vinegar or whatever else was in the sponge there sometimes was an opiate to lessen the pain. Whether that was true or not He did not take it. Finally, out of the agony He suffered, He said, "My God, why has thou forsaken me?" He looked again, and His mother was standing there, with John at her side. One of the last thoughts of Jesus the Christ, as He suffered that agony, was for others. He said: . . . Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. —John 19:26, 27 Then an agonized cry escaped Him and He said, "It is finished." And His limp body was taken from the cross. There was no place for it to be laid, for in death as in life He had no place to lay His head. A friend loaned Him a tomb and they took Him there, and part of the preparatory services were given, and His body was laid in that tomb; and His disciples and those who knew Him best at that time thought it was finished, that Christ had been defeated. They thought that He whom they had believed to be the Messiah and the King of the Jews and the Israelites had been defeated and killed and crucified and they were about to go back, each to his own work. They PRO version
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were doubting. The Romans, hearing that there was likelihood that the disciples would try to steal away His body, put a big stone in front of the tomb, and sealed it with their own seal, and put a guard on it. But on that first Easter morning the whole earth trembled, and an angel appeared and rolled away that stone, and Jesus the Christ, the Crucified One, walked forth triumphant. It is remarkable that the last ones at the cross and the first ones at the tomb were women. Someone has said, "God couldn't be everywhere, so He gave us our mothers." Early in the morning, some of the women were at the tomb. They looked in and discovered that the body was missing, and some of them ran to the apostles. But one of them waited, and as she peered in, she saw two men, one at the head and one at the foot of where He had lain, and they said, . . . why weepest thou? . . . —John 20:13 And it is recorded that they said to her, . . . Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: . . . —Luke 24:5-6 These three words, "He . . . is risen," will be repeated today in millions of congregations all over the world. And then that soul-searching salutation, as she looked up at Him, the first time looking into the face of the resurrected Lord: "Mary." Think of what happened, as He called her by name, and adoringly she approached Him and said, "Rabboni." Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto PRO version
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them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. —John 20:17 Jesus appeared on eleven different occasions that are recorded in the Testament, and doubtless on others. He appeared to Mary at the sepulchre, to other women between the sepulchre and Jerusalem, to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, to Peter near Jerusalem, and Peter does not make any mention of that but the other apostles do; to the ten apostles in Jerusalem and later the eleven in Jerusalem; again to the eleven at the Sea of Tiberius in Galilee; and again on the mount in Galilee to the eleven; and perhaps in the same location to 500 of the brethren referred to by the apostle Paul; and later to James, and then to the eleven at the time of the ascension; and of course after that, to Paul. I shall take but a minute to refer to that last journey of the apostles with the Savior. He walked out with them near Bethany and from the hill where we stood a year ago, in their presence He was caught up in a cloud and taken into heaven. Two men in white stood by who were described as angels. Seeing the consternation on the faces of the apostles who even yet seemingly were not fully informed and converted, the angels said, . . . Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. —Acts 1:11 That was the testimony of the angels, and, mind you, angels announced His birth, angels were present at His temptation, angels were there when He was baptized, and angels were there at the crucifixion. Christ associated with heavenly beings from the time of the primeval council in heaven until the time of the ascension; and, brethren and sisters, He still lives. There are those who say it was but a spirit who came out of that tomb. I refute that with His own words. When He came among the apostles and they were affrighted and thought they had seen a spirit, He said, . . . Peace be unto you. PRO version
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Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. —Luke 24:36, 39 Let that be the answer to all the world who say that God has no body. For Christ is God, and His resurrected body came out of the tomb, and that same body went into heaven, and He will appear again on that same Mount of Olives. The Doctrine and Covenants (Section 45) tells us that there He will stand and extend His wounded hands. They will not be the hands of a mere spirit. And they who see Him will believe, and they will ask where He received those wounds, and He will tell them-in the house of My friends. That is what Easter means-not only that Christ lives, but that we shall live, that life is immortal, and because He broke the bands of death, resurrection is guaranteed to all men everywhere. This is the most hopeful message in all the world, for every man shrinks at the thought of extinction. We all hope for immortality, and Christ has guaranteed it to us. The degree, the status, the position will depend in large measure upon ourselves, but the resurrection is an accomplished fact. Let those of you who mourn your lost ones, or who may mourn them before another Easter-time, reflect, as we have been reflecting this morning, on that first Easter morn. Let us follow Him out to the mountain in Galilee and see Him turn to His little band of followers, and for the first time in recorded history hear Him say, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." (Matthew 28:18.) Christ had earned His place, and He sat down on the right hand of the Father. May I read you just a word here: And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and received of his fulness; . . . And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! PRO version
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For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. —Doctrine and Covenants 76:20, 22-24 He not only appeared on those eleven occasions to which we have referred and on the twelfth to Paul on his way to Damascus; He came to America and appeared to a multitude of people who were bemoaning the awful things that had happened here in America when Christ was crucified. A voice called to them three times. They did not understand it the first two times. The third time they heard the voice, which came from heaven, saying, Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name-hear ye him. —3 Nephi 11:7 And looking up, they beheld a man coming out of heaven clothed in a white robe, and He said, Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; —3 Nephi 11:10, 11 I ask you to go home and read the eleventh chapter of Third Nephi again. The people fell to the earth; and He said, Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that we may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, . . . PRO version
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—3 Nephi 11:14 Brethren and sisters, the best attested fact in all history is the fact of the resurrection of Christ. Humbly, but pursuant to my duty, and by the same authority which Peter held when he replied to Christ's question, "Whom say ye that I am?" I want to say to you, my brothers and sisters, I know that He is the Christ, the Son of God, and that He was resurrected from the dead, and that He lives, and that all the powers of Satan, of men and hell combined, cannot conquer. I hesitate to hold you longer, but I should like to read you this, by way of encouragement. John told of his vision: And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, . . —Revelation 20:1-3 That is a promise, given by the same person of whom we have been speaking this morning, even Jesus the Christ, for it was He who gave John his revelation. And in the next chapter John says: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. PRO version
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—Revelation 21:1-3 This is a glorious subject for contemplation, and I leave with you a blessing in His name. Those of you who mourn, shall be comforted; those of you who are poor in spirit and meek shall inherit the earth and the heaven. I bless you as parents that you may rear your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. I bless you young people that you may come to know Jesus the Christ and be worthy of Him. Let there be a response in your heart as you worship Christ the Lord. I leave this testimony and this blessing, and I ask His Spirit to be with you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —Bonneville Stake Conference, April 22, 1962 Return to top
The Spirit of Christmas Christmas time with its cargo of love is the greatest of all anniversaries for those who worship the God of love. It brings peace of mind to millions who, for one day at least, think more of others than of selves; more of giving than of getting. This is the secret of the popularity of Christmas. It is the best day of the year, the most joyous because we seek the happiness of others rather than of ourselves. It is the day when love takes command, and men, women, and children, by losing themselves, find joy and peace. For one day, at least, Christendom practices Christianity. For fifty-one weeks most men desire to wring personal profit, economic, social or political, out of every situation, often without regard to the effect on the lives and happiness of others. The Yuletide is to many people an annual seven-day Sabbath. It is a holy season when men rest from the agitating business of getting and relax into the serene joy of giving. PRO version
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The spirit of Christmas creates interest in others, minimizes self-serving interests and activities, and searches for opportunities to make others happy. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than in things. We see people struggling and competing with each other and wish we could somehow touch their lives with the joy and gladness of Christmas. The Spirit whispers, "They are your kinfolk, and their happiness is your concern." During this joyous week we apply the brakes to the driving power of self-interest and, like the propeller on an airplane when its blades are reversed, the pull is in the opposite direction. When speed and altitude are reduced, the details and beauty of life refresh the soul and inspire gratitude and a desire to serve and partially repay our debt to the Giver of life. And after the Christmas season has passed, we discover an amazing paradox. We ourselves have experienced more joy while seeking to bring happiness to others than we have known during all the other weeks of the year when we were so selfishly seeking it. How strange it is that, despite this annual lesson, men continue to try to find joy where it has never yet been found-in self-aggrandizement, the gratification of appetites, following after pride and vain ambition, or attempting to snatch some advantage from others. During this one week when we lose ourselves we really find ourselves as the Savior promised, and in this discovery we find enduring satisfaction. We become servants, voluntary servants, and thereby find a joy we have not known through the balance of the year. The compass of the spirit of Christmas points constantly toward others, never toward ourselves, except to beckon us into the realm of service and comradeship. The spirit of Christmas is ever buoyant, never earthbound or grounded by accumulated mundane things. It soars by the lifting wings of love and distils its blessings, even as the dews from heaven. This richest of all seasons extends its joy into the New Year but is sobering and humbling; it causes introspection and self-analysis which result in resolutions for future conduct, especially toward other people. To catch the real meaning of the "Spirit of Christmas" we need only to drop the last syllable of the word, and it becomes the "Spirit of Christ." It beckons us to follow Him and become worthy of the blessedness which He promised to the most unlikely people-the poor in spirit, the sorrowful, the meek, the seekers after righteousness, PRO version
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the merciful, the pure in heart, the peace makers, and even the persecuted and the oppressed. It is a blessed spirit and is available to all, not alone to the rich, the influential, the heralded or popular. It may pervade the humblest cottage or the palace of the king, but only when it is in the hearts of men. Let each man examine his own heart as he gives thanks for the peace of this Christmas and try to discover his true feelings toward his fellow men, toward those who are his neighbors, his brothers in the Church, his new friends of an allied country. Let him vigorously weed out all envy, jealousy, greed, and hatred and undertake to radiate the spirit of goodwill, of love of fellow men, not for the season only but throughout the year. If this formula for happiness-love one another-is effective for one day, may it not work at other times, at all times? If by giving we receive, and by dividing we increase, why not make happiness permanent by carrying the Christmas spirit throughout the year? May we all enjoy the spirit of Christmas for the next 365 days. —NBC Series, "Faith in Action," December 22, 1963 Return to top
Analysis of L.D.S. Teachings The Church which I represent today on "Covenant" is The Church of Jesus Christ. It was organized in the state of New York in 1830 and is distinguished from its prototype of former days by the qualifying words "of Latter-day Saints." Any exposition or analysis of the teachings of the Mormon Church must necessarily begin with some reference to its founder and early history. We respond to the nickname "Mormon," because it identifies the Church more quickly in the minds of many listeners. The word "Mormon," like the word "Christian" in former times, was first applied as an epithet of derision. It was first used after the announcement of the intended publication of the Book of Mormon, which is a sacred record of some of the ancient inhabitants of America, some of whose descendants PRO version
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greeted Columbus when he arrived. This book was not written by Joseph Smith or by any of his contemporaries but was written by various authors who lived at the time when the recorded events transpired. To us it is a sacred record because its authors were prophets of God who were instructed by Him to preserve the records for future use. The location of the plates was revealed by the one who, under divine mandate, deposited them in a hillside about 400 A.D., and the record was later delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith and by him translated by the gift and power of God. This record covers a period of history from approximately 600 years B.C. to 400 A.D., although there is reference to other migrations and peoples preceding that time. The record states that the people who became the early Americans were led to this country under divine behest and guidance and that they brought with them certain records from Jerusalem, including parts of the Old Testament from which the authors frequently quote. The Church had its inception in a revelation from God to the modern prophet, Joseph Smith. He, responsive to the promise and admonition of the Apostle James, prayed for wisdom and guidance. The promise of James was that any man lacking wisdom would receive it if he would ask God. The admonition was that his prayer should be one of unwavering faith. Joseph Smith, in his fifteenth year, put that promise to the test and it was fulfilled in a glorious vision and revelation. Although some of his relatives and friends believed him, his announcement was generally met with ridicule and scoffing. He, insisting that he had actually been visited by heavenly beings, became the object of the bitterest and most relentless persecution of modern times. This continued during the remaining twenty-four years of his turbulent life, which ended in martyrdom in Carthage, Illinois, in 1844. Of the man, Joseph Smith, one non-Mormon historian wrote, ". . . The man who established a religion in this age of free debate, who was and is today accepted by hundreds of thousands as a direct emissary from the Most High-such a rare human being is not to be disposed of by pelting his memory with unsavory epithets. . . . Joseph Smith, claiming to be an inspired teacher, faced adversity such as few men have been called to meet, enjoyed a brief season of prosperity such as few men have ever attained, and finally, forty-three days after I saw him, went cheerfully to a martyr's death. . ." PRO version
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The first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith constitutes the groundwork of the Church which was later organized. If this first vision was but a figment of Joseph Smith's imagination, then the Mormon Church is what its detractors declare it to be-a wicked and deliberate imposture. If this vision was a reality, then this Church is exclusively The Church of Jesus Christ for the simple reason that He, the Savior, personally restored what in the meridian of time He had personally established. This, then, was the beginning of a powerful, vital, and progressive religion, one which is distinctly American and definitely Christian. Emerson said, "Mormonism is the only religion of power and vitality that has made its appearance for the past twelve hundred years." We shall not take time to discuss the early history of the Church, but it includes some very dramatic and heartwarming episodes. Many of you have read of the expulsion in mid-winter of twenty thousand American citizens from their newly built city of Nauvoo, of a modern Moses leading a covered-wagon trek across the American plains, where these exiles courageously sang "Come, Come Ye Saints" with the poignant refrain, "All is well." These outcasts entered a sagebrush wilderness where, despite the lure of gold in California, they stayed on and transformed the rugged valleys of the Rocky Mountains into a promised land, of which Salt Lake City became the capital. We accept the King James version of the Holy Bible and believe it to be the word of God. We affirm the existence of the true and living God. He is the Supreme Being in whose image and likeness man was created. We accept the scriptural account of the Creation and the Fall of man. Through the fall physical degeneration and death entered into the world. Our earth life is but one stage of a continuing and eternal journey. The birth of the mortal body does not mark man's beginning nor will physical death mark the end of his conscious existence. All things, including man, were created spiritually before they were created temporally. We lived in the spirit world as intelligent beings and as the spirit children of God had free agency, were endowed with the capacity to choose, but we were and are now warned, as was Adam, that we must take the consequences of our choice. Our coming into mortality was part of a divine plan for man's continuous development throughout eternity. While PRO version
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the earth phase of man's education toward immortality and eternal life was foreordained, it was not predestined; it was voluntary. God will never trammel or hamper man's free agency. Mortal life affords an opportunity for embodied spirits to prove themselves by solving problems, overcoming difficulties, resisting temptations, and striving to achieve that perfection which Christ enjoined in his Sermon on the Mount. In our Articles of Faith we declare our belief in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost-in other words, the Trinity. We accept the scriptural doctrine that they are separate and distinct personages. This is one distinguishing and, to some, disturbing doctrine of the Church. We do not believe that He is incomprehensible, immaterial, and without body or parts. While we agree that finite man cannot fully comprehend God, there is ample support in the Bible for our faith that we may progressively increase our knowledge and understanding of Him. In fact, our eternal life is dependent upon our knowing Him. Note the words of Jesus: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. —John 17:3 If it is life eternal to know Him and if He is incomprehensible and cannot be known, what hope is there for eternal life? Certainly our faith in Him, our reverence and worship, will be more meaningful as we gain more knowledge of the object of our worship. Comprehension and understanding are essential to intelligent worship. The light of revealed truth dispels the darkness of ignorance and superstition. That the three members of the Godhead are separate individuals, physically distinct from one another, is proven by the sacred records of God's dealings with man. One example was when the Savior was baptized. John recognized the Holy Ghost in the sign of a dove while Christ stood before him in the tabernacle of flesh, and they heard the voice of the Father acknowledging the son: . . . This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. —Matthew 3:17 PRO version
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Surely this was not ventriloquism where Christ was speaking to and of himself. It was the Father introducing His Son. In this case, the members of the Holy Trinity manifested themselves, each in a different way, and each was distinct from the others. A similar event occurred on the Mount of Transfiguration when members of the Godhead were distinguished in the presence of Moses and Elias, and Peter, James, and John. To the question, "Did Christ have a body?" most men will agree that the answer must be, "Yes, while he lived on the earth." While many deny the actuality of His bodily resurrection, we call attention to His appearance before the apostles in an upper room: And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. —Luke 24:36-39 Combining this unequivocal statement of the resurrected Lord with Paul's testimony that Christ was in the express image of the Father, we must conclude that both the Father and the Son are personal as we are personal. Each of them possesses a tangible body, infinitely pure and perfect and attended by transcendent glory, nevertheless a body of flesh and bones. They are in perfection what we are in embryo. As God is our Father, there is a spark of divinity, something of Himself, in us. We accept the New Testament story that Jesus of Nazareth was born into mortality of the virgin Mary, that He lived approximately thirty-three years in and around Judea. After three years of transcendent ministry He was crucified and His body was placed in a borrowed tomb. The miraculous resurrection of His glorified body broke the bonds of death and made resurrection possible for all men. As Paul said: PRO version
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For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. —1 Corinthians 15:22 We believe in the literal resurrection of the bodies of all men. After His resurrection from the dead, He appeared to many before ascending into heaven: And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. —1 Corinthians 15:4-8 We agree with the Apostle Peter, who, speaking of Christ, said: Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. —Acts 4:12 He was and is both Jehovah and Messiah, God the Son, the Creator and Savior of the world, working at all times in complete harmony and oneness with Elohim, God the Father, in whose likeness man was created. On the subject of the atonement, the late Dr. Talmage wrote: PRO version
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The atonement accomplished by the Savior was a vicarious service for mankind, all of whom had become estranged from God through sin; and through that sacrifice of propitiation, a way has been opened for reconciliation whereby man may be brought again into communion with God, and be made able to live and advance as a resurrected being in the eternal worlds. ... The assured resurrection of all who have lived and died on earth is a foundation stone in the structure of (Mormon) philosophy. The indispensable conditions of individual salvation are: 1. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, acceptance of His Gospel and allegiance to His commandments, and to Him as the one and only Savior of men. 2. Repentance, embracing genuine contrition for the sins of the past and a resolute turning away therefrom with a determination to avoid, by all possible effort, future sin. 3. Baptism by immersion in water, for the remission of sins; the ordinance to be administered by one having the authority of the Priesthood, that is to say, the right and commission to thus officiate in the name of Deity. 4. The higher baptism of the Spirit or bestowal of the Holy Ghost by the authorized imposition of hands by one holding the requisite authority-that of the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood. We believe that the doctrine of death-bed repentance or instantaneous salvation is unscriptural, unreasonable, and unjust. Salvation, like education, is an ongoing process, a lifetime endeavor, an eternal quest. We believe in the efficacy of the atonement of Christ, that He did for us what we could not do for ourselves; that through His atoning blood all men will be raised from the dead, but our individual exaltation will, through the atonement of Christ, be achieved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. A man cannot be saved in his sins. He may be saved from them. PRO version
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Christ was the only sinless man who ever walked the earth; He was the first begotten in the spirit world and the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh and therefore the only one who possessed the full powers of Godhood and manhood. He was chosen and foreordained in the primeval council before the earth was formed. To this He testified in His prayer: And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. —John 17:5 We testify that He was and is the second member of the Godhead, the Son of God, that He became the Savior and Redeemer of the world, that He is the one to whom Isaiah prophetically referred: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. —Isaiah 9:6 Christ was the only one wholly free from the dominion of Satan, the only one who possessed the power to hold death in abeyance and to die only as He willed to do so. He said: For as the Father hath life in himself: so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself: —John 5:26 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. —John 10:17, 18 PRO version
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We believe that salvation cannot be achieved by mere intellectual assent or acquiescence, nor by professing some creed, nor yet by the administration of sacraments alone. The atoning blood of Jesus Christ becomes effective for the individual if and when he puts himself in a position to receive the benefits of His atonement. Redemption from sin is obtainable only through the atonement of Jesus Christ and by obedience to His commandments. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. —Matthew 7:21 While the door to the kingdom of God was opened by the sacrificial death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, no man may enter that kingdom unless and until he obeys the prescribed laws and ordinances of the gospel. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. —John 3:5 To Latter-day Saints the marriage covenant is sacred and when solemnized by proper authority is known as celestial or eternal marriage. As God is love and as God is eternal, so love must be eternal. Parenthood is next to Godhood, and the family relationship is intended to be a continuing association throughout eternity. We insist upon a single standard of morality. Both men and women are required to observe strictly the law of chastity. The commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," applies to all. Promiscuity and all extra-marital relationships are grievous sins in the sight of God and are punishable by excommunication from the Church. Believing as we do that the Church is built upon the same foundation as existed in the primitive Church, viz. apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone, it inevitably follows-and this constitutes another basic difference between us and other churches-that we believe in continued revelation from God PRO version
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through living prophets. It seems somewhat paradoxical that this fundamental doctrine of the Church should seem to be unique or should distinguish it from others, especially in the Judeo-Christian world. In all dispensations of the gospel, current revelation has been standard procedure, it was and is the sustaining power, the vivifying spirit of the divine Church. All who are familiar with the scriptures know that through all the dispensations of the gospel referred to in the Old and New Testaments, the leaders of the Church, being prophets of God, were in contact with and were led by Him, either by dreams, visions, revelations, or face-to-face communication as with Moses. Is it possible that religion is the one department of human inquiry, investigation, and research where progress is impossible? Would any professor say to his class in chemistry, astronomy, physics, or geology, that no further discovery or revelation of scientific truth is possible? Is religion the only human interest which is static or quiescent? Is it the only dead-end street to be encountered on the many branches of life's highway? Or is it rather an open thoroughfare made safe by the divine light of revelation? For ourselves because of our faith in the universal and unchangeable love and justice of God, we cannot believe that in some dispensations His Church was blessed and led by what in television parlance might be termed `live' revelation and that in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times, our distraught and imperiled world is left with only the recorded messages of ancient prophets, some of which were given for specific purposes or to meet special conditions. We believe that revelation, both live and recorded, is now and will continue to be available to men. When we say that we believe all that God has revealed, we declare our faith in the scriptures. We believe the Bible to be a repository of divine truth and that it is authoritative. When we declare that we believe that God does now reveal, that He still speaks through His prophets, and that His word is scripture whenever and wherever given, we are simply affirming our faith in the religion of the Holy Bible. The Church of Jesus Christ was established and is now directed by revelation, and that fact is largely responsible PRO version
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for its appeal to nonmembers. There were approximately 100,000 new converts in 1962. The Church is not committed to any formal, inflexible creed, but its members are taught to believe in and live by the revelations of the past as recorded in holy scripture, in the revelations of the present as given through living prophets, and thus prepare themselves for revelations yet to come. Our concepts and even our faith must be held subject to new light and knowledge. The present and urgent need for continued revelation in this age of Communism, atheism, godlessness, and the spirit of the anti-Christ becomes more apparent when we realize that through revelation only do we get conclusive proof that there is a divine Being, which fact is being savagely denied and challenged by the Communistic world. We accept the New Testament doctrine concerning the second coming of Christ, that He will reign personally upon the earth during a thousand years of peace known as the millennium. His second coming was predicted by the apostles and prophets of old, and He himself promised to return. John the beloved declared: Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. —Revelation 20:6 Peter also predicted His second coming: And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. —Acts 3:20, 21 In carrying out the work committed to it, the Church is tolerant of other sects and churches. It claims for itself no right or privilege which it would deny to individuals or other organizations. It affirms itself to be the Church of old established anew. Its message to the world is that of peace and good will-an invitation to come and partake of PRO version
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the blessings incident to the new and everlasting covenant between God and His children. Its warning voice is heard in all lands and climes: Repent ye! for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Humbly, and from the very center of my heart, I say to you, our friends, and to you members of the Church, God has restored the gospel of Jesus Christ through some of the greatest revelations of all time; the Father and the Son, anticipating our very day and the events of these times, revealed themselves to a man. They were personal Beings; they were separate and distinct; they were in form like man, thus proving the declaration in Genesis, So God created man in his own image,. —Genesis 1:27 The whole message of Mormonism centers around the life and mission of Jesus the Christ. We fearlessly proclaim to the world that God does live, and this is a direct contradiction of the atheistic doctrines of Communism. He still speaks to His prophets on the earth. Religion is not an opiate as the godless have declared, but is a vital, inspiring, and indestructible force which will save the world. If this statement of the restoration is true, it is the greatest message that has come to this earth since the angels announced the birth of Christ and it is therefore a message which all men should hear and heed. In my heart I have a conviction that this is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that it has been restored in our day. I know that God is a reality and that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Knowing that I shall soon have to give an account for what I say, I repeat reverently in His holy name, that I know that the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and I humbly thank Him for that knowledge. —NBC "Covenant" Program, March 10, 1963 Return to top
Building Mansions PRO version
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Building Mansions The gospel is a constant reminder that we are building for eternity, that the eternal things with which we build will stand some day to judge us if we ourselves are to endure. Someone has said, "All that we think, say and do will go on forever." If this is true, then we should strive to indulge only thoughts, use only words and do only deeds which we are content to have go on forever. With these eternal materials and in this realm of eternal things we are building mansions for ourselves. Whether we are to enjoy them or be made miserable by their reminders of what might have been, depends upon eternal vigilance and divine guidance. The story is told of a rich man who, before leaving on a long journey, instructed a contractor to build a house for him. He left with him a large sum of money and said, "Because I trust you, I shall give you full charge of the selection of the building materials and the construction of the house. I want it built of the best materials, deep and broad foundations, heavy joists, strong beams, hardwood floors, substantial walls, enduring roof-build it only of the best, and have it ready for me upon my return." As the rich man went away the builder, being tempted by the money entrusted to him, began to think of ways by which he could cheat his employer and thereby have for himself part of the building fund. He thereupon purchased poorer materials for those parts of the house which would not be seen. The foundation was narrow and shallow, the joists and beams inferior, the inner walls of poor materials, the supports for the roof inadequate in size and quality. He employed second and third class laborers, and thus he saved a large percentage of the money and boasted of his "business ability." The builder was careful to see that there was proper veneer wherever the eye of the owner might appraise the worth of the building from outer appearance. While the building was according to plan it would not have stood a careful inspection, but the painting and the camouflage were so expertly done that upon his return the owner expressed great delight at the excellence of the work of his trusted friend. The owner, during his absence, had decided to take up his residence in a foreign land. Therefore, after commending the builder for his honesty and the quality of his work, he said to him, "As a reward for your faithful PRO version
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service, I give this house to you, on condition that you live in it. It shall be a faithful reminder that honesty pays, that integrity is a real asset, that a trust faithfully discharged brings satisfaction and peace of mind." When the rich man had gone away, the builder said to himself, "Oh, fool that I am! If I had only known that I was building for myself, that I must inhabit this house, how different it would have been! The foundation, joists, and beams must soon give way; the walls will crumble and the roof cave in; the gift is a liability rather than an asset-I have cheated myself. My house built upon the sand must fall." Our Heavenly Father has entrusted to each of us the building of a house and has advised-not by "commandment or constraint but by revelation and the word of wisdom,"-that it should be built of the best materials and by honest and efficient craftsmen. He furthermore requires that the unseen parts shall be even better than the seen, for upon them the superstructure must rest. The outward appearance is of minor importance. He leaves the job to us, but someday we must report to Him upon our stewardship. In this case, however, we cannot deceive, for He, to whom we must report, has a power by which He will inspect our house from center to circumference; the hidden secrets shall be made known. But, in this case, we know beforehand that we are building for ourselves and not another. Regardless of the excellence or the inferiority of our work He will say to us, "This is your house; you built it and now throughout the ages you shall inhabit it." "He who sins against men may fear discovery; but he who sins against God is sure of it." Let us build, then, as though we expect to be the tenants and the owners. Let us keep in mind the fact that we are building for eternity. The gospel of Jesus Christ as restored in our time gives all the plans and specifications for the building. It tells how the timbers may be properly seasoned; warns against corroding agencies, termites of sin; stresses quality rather than appearance; urges broad and deep foundations; and reminds us that time will remove veneer, expose all make believe, and that real work alone will stand. Let us do our work so well, "both the unseen and the seen," that the house where Gods may dwell shall be "beautiful, entire, and clean." —Millennial Star, October 5, 1939 PRO version
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Our Pioneer Legacy During the past one hundred years, the people in these valleys have assembled annually in their towns and villages to celebrate the 24th of July. We have parades and fireworks, music and drama, and inevitably someone has been selected to discourse on the achievements of the pioneers. They used to call it an oration, but having lost that art we must be content with a reiterated narration. It is obvious, therefore, that it would be impossible to say anything this morning that has not been said before, and yet it seems appropriate that we should again consider the achievements of our ancestors, thank God for what they did, and again resolve to build on the foundations they laid so firmly. Scholars and historians refer to the invasion and conquest of this arid section of the United States as the American classic. Tourists who come among us are inclined to ask, "Who were these people, these intrepid Mormon pioneers, who dared to turn their backs on all they loved and enter this unsettled wilderness to make their homes?" The answer is, they were mostly Americans, many of them of New England stock, but added to them were many from other states of the Union, and later members came from European countries. They came to join the main body of the Church. These pioneers, then, were a mixture of many nationalities. These people were of the stout middle class in the 19th century society. They were farmers, tradesmen, small merchants, with a few school teachers and professional people thrown in. The ne'er-do-wells were weeded out by the sheer ruggedness of the life which pioneering entailed. The pioneers were people with a common purpose, with a deep conviction and unfaltering trust in God. They had the vision and the valor to project a great city in the Salt Lake Valley, to lay the foundations of a three-million-dollar temple before the sagebrush was cleared from the streets. They were the kind of people who could move a whole city and encourage innumerable other people to brave the desert and the mountains under heartbreaking conditions because they believed they had been PRO version
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commissioned to build the Kingdom of God on earth. Their land was not flowing with milk and honey as was the promised land of Israel. They saw only the parched earth with the salt sea in the background, but with determination they dug their plows into the baked soil, planted wheat and potatoes to insure food for the coming winter, and introduced irrigation to supplement the sparse rainfall and make survival possible. They not only fought wind and weather, battled diseases and the insects and braved the terrors of the savage Indians, but later on they faced again their enemies from the East who pursued them even beyond the then confines of the United States. But rather than recount again the familiar story as it has been related so frequently each year on the 24th of July, I would like for a moment to call your attention to what students say who see this epic objectively, some of whom came to criticize and remained to praise. From the American Journal of Sociology, I take some excerpts from a study made by Dr. Thomas F. O'Dea, from Harvard, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He wrote, "Of the many churches founded in the region south of the Great Lakes in the first half of the 19th century, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon Church, alone avoided the stagnant backwaters of sectarianism." He tells of the persecution and migrations, of their expulsion from the cities which they built and then says, "Finally, in 1847, the Mormons, harrassed and persecuted, dispossessed of all but faith, leadership and superb organization, crossed the plains and settled in the Utah desert. There, relying on their spiritual and sociological assets, they established a regional culture area bearing the pronounced imprint of their peculiar values and outlook." Dr. O'Dea points out that these people preferred isolation to compromise. They had the courage of their convictions and, while they relied on divine guidance, they knew they had to rely on themselves as well and therefore work and recreation were accepted and sanctified. He draws attention to their claim of contemporary converse with God, to their frugality and industry and consequent prosperity, to their in-group cohesion and to the fact that they were required to start over again four times in sixteen years. Their leadership deliberately chose an unattractive region to gain the necessary respite that isolation would give, PRO version
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and they with resolution resisted the seductions of more pleasant prospects. This arid region seemed to be prerequisite for the future form of this community. Again quoting Dr. O'Dea, "Their size, the extent and duration of their suffering and the way in which defeat several times crowned the most palpable successes, combined to transform the bread and water of sectarian affliction into the real presence of national potentiality. Common effort in success and in failure, common suffering from elemental and human adversaries, common struggle with arms against common enemies, all these lent to the symbolic emulation of ancient Israel. Mormonism lived its Exodus and Chronicles not once but many times. It had its Moses and its Joshua. Circumstances had given it a stage upon which its reenactment of the Biblical history was neither farce nor symbolic pageant. "With these early pioneers, American patriotism was an Article of Faith and they therefore made no move toward national independence. They desired to become an American state rather than an independent nation. They emerged as a distinct people, but any effort toward independent nationhood was inhibited by their patriotic conviction and their belief that the Constitution of the United States was inspired of God. "With their deep religious convictions and their unwavering faith in God, they resisted the lure of gold fields and rich agricultural areas to the west and northwest, where rainfall was abundant and where prosperity seemed assured, and in these dry, forbidden valleys they achieved territorial solidarity, established schools and the press, and put the impress of a new culture on the civil and political institutions of the area." One hundred and forty-eight men, women and children arrived with the first party on July 24, 1847, but approximately 86,000 followed them before 1869, when the transcontinental railway became an accomplished fact. Of this great, unparalleled migration, men, women and children, with handcarts and ox carts, trudged their way and pressed on, though 6,000 of their number died en route and were buried either in the ocean or in lonely graves by the side of the pioneer trail. After settling here they immediately began to spread into other areas and establish settlements, villages, towns, PRO version
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and cities, and finally many states were established along the pioneer trail and admitted to the Union. But within their own area they moved north and south and east and west. They established Ogden and Logan on the north and moved on into Idaho and later into Canada. Towns, villages and later cities grew up to the south and southwest. Provo, Nephi, Manti, St. George, and on into Arizona and Mexico. They went west into Tooele and Garfield and on into California, east into Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico and now their descendants are found in all states of the Union and these descendants are establishing stakes of Zion, building temples and tabernacles, not only here but in foreign lands and in the islands of the sea. And so we hold our big celebrations, our parades, display our floats and wave our flags in memory of these pioneers. We have built monuments of masonry, stone and bronze to their memory-The Mormon Battalion Monument on Capitol Hill, the monument at the mouth of Emigration Canyon, known as "This Is The Place," and recently the Ft. Moore Memorial in Los Angeles, with its pylon and flagpole. In these and other ways we seek to commemorate the great work performed by these intrepid pioneers. We pay tribute today to the sons and daughters of the Utah pioneers who have done so much to preserve their memory and keep alive their spirit. These loyal descendants have organized into groups and displayed from time to time the same characteristics which made their fathers great. But we must not honor the pioneers alone in parades and celebrations, in monuments and books, we must join with these sons and daughters of the pioneers and, realizing that we are the trustees to whom their heritage shall pass, we must undertake to maintain their ideals, to continue their loyalty and frugality, and to preserve that which they pass to us or those who are to follow us. We must pass it on, not only unimpaired but improved upon. We should strive to establish in the minds and the hearts of their descendants who are following us the rugged virtues which were so characteristic of these outcast but outstanding Americans, who maintained the love of their country even when that country, because of misunderstanding and misrepresentation, no longer welcomed them. We must keep alive such virtues as courage, honesty, integrity, frugality, stamina, initiative and self-confidence. We must teach them to have consideration for the rights of others and to recognize the universal brotherhood of man and the omnipotence and omniscience of God. PRO version
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In this atomic age, when international affairs are in a state of chaos, we must preserve and conserve the priceless heritage which is ours. We must keep alive the things of the spirit which made the pioneers willing to risk their lives and happiness in this great venture. The lessons taught by the pioneers were not for their day alone, nor for ours. These lessons are for the tomorrows that lie ahead. Kipling describes a man, and these people had the qualities of which he speaks. To adapt the poet's words slightly: They heard the truth they'd spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools. They saw the things they gave their lives to broken And stooped and built `em up with worn out tools. They forced their hearts and nerves and sinews To serve their turn long after they were gone, And they held on when there was nothing in them Except the will which said to them, "Hold on." This is their legacy-our inheritance. —Address to Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, July 24, 1958 Return to top
The Prophet Joseph Smith My dear fellow workers and brothers and sisters. I feel very humble as I stand before you this morning. I have been asked to speak on a subject that is very near to my heart, and I know that no man could do justice to that PRO version
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subject, and yet I am glad to respond to the invitation. It is not my intention to preach a sermon on the Prophet Joseph Smith. I should like for just a few moments to have a sort of fireside chat with you. All of you know of him, believe in him, are grateful for his work, and the most that I could hope to do would be to direct our thinking for a little while to his accomplishments, the purpose of his life, the great mission he performed, the certainty of his present status. Somehow, I am persuaded that we knew him before we came here. He died, of course, before any of us were born, but I have felt a nearness to him which I have been unable to explain in any other way than that it must have been my privilege to meet him before I came. There has never been the slightest shadow of doubt in my mind as to the divine calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith. There has never been a doubt in my mind that he saw what he claims to have seen, that he heard the voice of God the Father and Jesus the Son, that he had the other manifestations and visions and revelations with which you are all familiar. I was in Vermont not long ago. It was my privilege to dedicate the new buildings there, where we have a wonderful monument in his memory. And while there I took occasion to go off alone and thank God for Joseph Smith, and for what his life has meant to my life. None of us would be here today had it not been for him. Many of us might have been in foreign lands-lands from which our ancestors came. But as I think of him and of his work, as I think of the challenge represented by the knowledge that the Lord has given us as to his divine calling, I am impressed to urge every one of us to indicate by the way we live that we mean what we say when we bear witness of him and of Jesus the Christ. Someone asked some time ago, "What is prophecy?" Of course we have the scriptural definitions and explanations, but someone (not a member of the Church) recently wrote-not with reference to any particular prophet, but attempting to define prophecy, "Prophecy is a miracle of knowledge, a declaration or representation of something in the future beyond the power of human sagacity to discern or to calculate, and it is the highest evidence that can be given of supernatural communion with Deity, and the truth of Revelation from God. The man who reads prophecy and perceives the corresponding events is witness to a miracle." We have all read the prophecies of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and we have witnessed the events concerning PRO version
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which he spoke, and, therefore, we have witnessed a miracle. That the Prophet Joseph Smith was inspired of God is evidenced by everything he did and said. When one asks what is a prophet, we, I think, would immediately revert in our minds at least back to some of the men who lived in ancient times, who were generally accepted, especially since their time, as prophets. According to the Jewish reckoning, there were forty-eight prophets between Adam and Malachi. There are some distinguishing features which set them apart as prophets, and one of the things that has impressed me as I studied their lives is the fact that each one of them said without any hesitation or equivocation. "God has spoken to me!" None of them said it with arrogance or pride, all of them with humility, but with conviction, and all through their ministry they said again and again, "Thus saith the Lord." And each of them had a specific message, a message which none of them ever watered down, or concerning which they had any doubt. Always their message ran contrary to the thinking of the day in many respects. Furthermore, the prophets were always despised by their contemporaries, and in many instances, murdered by them. When the prophets have said, "Thus saith the Lord," their words became scripture. If contemporaries would not receive them, the prophets were received by those who lived afterwards, who honored them, and built monuments to them. It has been said, "How is it that you build monuments to the dead prophets and crucify the living?" I could go on and name the characteristics of a prophet and refer to the lives of the great prophets of oldAbraham, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the various prophets. I could refer to Peter, James, and John and Paul the apostle and the marvelous experiences they had. I have done this and I have been gratified, though not surprised, to find that the prophet Joseph Smith measures up to every requirement of a prophet. There is nothing that Moses had, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, Peter, James, and John-there is nothing that any of them had in the way of qualification for being a prophet, that the Prophet Joseph Smith did not have. As a matter of fact I think we are justified in saying that no greater prophet has arisen in any dispensation than this young man who was born in Sharon, Vermont, 156 years ago tomorrow. Some day the people will recognize that generally. They are coming to recognize it now, in a very remarkable way. Our missionary work is almost startling in its progress. Yes, the Prophet measures up in every respect, even to giving his life and sealing his testimony with his blood as most of the ancient prophets did. John the apostle said, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." If any man in all history had a testimony of Jesus, it was Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet. He saw Him, talked with Him, was led and guided by Him, and the testimony that he had of Him was burned into his soul. He said on many PRO version
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occasions, "If I wanted to, I would not dare to deny it." Think of his testimony of Jesus. Where is there a greater collection of evidences and testimonies concerning Jesus the Christ than we have in Mormon literature in the works of the Prophet Joseph-in the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price? So he had the testimony of Jesus and, therefore, he had the spirit of prophecy, and was therefore a prophet. As I have studied the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith-and I have been studying it for more than fifty years, for the sheer joy of knowing him better-as I have thought about it and prayed about it, and as I have testified on street corners when mobs were threatening us, no more joy has come into my soul than when I have linked with my testimony of Jesus the Christ, the testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Whatever the vicissitudes of life, whatever the trials, temptations or problems you may have to face, I hope you younger folk will remember that Joseph Smith was sent to God, was commissioned by Jesus the Christ, was ordained to the apostleship and the Melchizedek Priesthood by Peter, James, and John, and was the favored of God our Father; that his work in the earth was of such a character and such magnitude that the whole earth is going to be affected by it; and that your job and mine is to help to prepare this world for the second coming of Christ. In my opinion, when the Christ comes the prophets will be with him, and the man who was chosen to be the head of the greatest of all dispensations will be at his side. What a glorious privilege it will be if we can meet him, be with him, come to know him! I am greatly impressed by the courage of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Dr. Heidenreich, a former minister from New York who joined the Church came to see me yesterday for a few moments. He said, "The thing that I am grateful for is that the Prophet Joseph Smith had the courage to finish his job in the face of the most difficult situations and circumstances." I have thought of this often and have tried to put myself in his place. He was a young man full of life and hope and expectations, hounded and persecuted and driven, beaten, mobbed, imprisoned, murdered, when at any time he could have said, "It is a hoax, it is not true, I am sorry I said it, I withdraw what I said." If he had said those things, the persecution would have stopped, he would have been turned loose to do as he pleased and would have had no more notice from the public, and he would have not died as he did. One of the incidents by which I have always been stirred, and which I would like to bring to you this morning is PRO version
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when the Prophet was in Richmond Jail. General Clark was in charge, and the record says he was determined that his prisoner should die. He made preparations for the commission of that murder before he had even decided the charge that he was to bring against his prisoners. And while the matter was pending Brother Jedediah M. Grant-the father of Heber J. Grant, our president-who was then a young man, put up at the same tavern with the general in Richmond. He saw Clark select the men to shoot Joseph Smith and his fellow prisoners, and he heard that the day of the execution was fixed-Monday, November 12, 1838. He saw the men who were selected. He saw them load their rifles with two bullets each, and after this was done he heard Clark say to them, "Gentlemen, you shall have the honor of shooting the Mormon leaders on Monday morning at eight o'clock." Others were in the jail with the Prophet, and among them was Parley P. Pratt. Here briefly is his account of that memorable night: In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if asleep until the hour of midnight had passed, and our ears and our hearts had been pained while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language of our guards, Colonel Price at their head, as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the "Mormons" while at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force wives daughters and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women, and children. I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice, that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards; but had said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering as near as I can recollect the following words: "Silence ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die this instant." He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained and without a weapon; calm, unruffled, and dignified as an angel, he looked upon the quailing guards, weapons were lowered or dropped to the ground; whose knees smote together and who, shrinking into a corner or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of guards. PRO version
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I have seen ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended on a breath, in the Courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms; but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri. Thank God for the spirit of his chosen servant. Thank God for sustaining him by His Holy Spirit. I would not dwell too much upon the unhappy events, except to bring to us the realization of our responsibility. He paid so much to establish the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that anything you and I, or any of us, can do will be a pittance by comparison. Personally, I would like to be able to so live as to be partially worthy to shake his hand when he comes again. Humbly I bear you my testimony, not only that Jesus is the Christ but that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of the living God, one of the most highly favored of all men of all times, and one of the most successful. What he said and wrote has become scripture to millions. I leave this testimony with you and my blessings that this may be a joyous Christmas season and a prosperous New Year for you all, and that every one of us as we leave today, after hearing from our beloved President, will thank God for the privilege of being associated with this group. I leave this blessing and this testimony with you humbly, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. —Address at the Church Employees Christmas Program, December 22, 1961 Return to top
Christ will Conquer PRO version
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Christ will Conquer The Young Marrieds, the M Men and Gleaners, Explorers and Scouts, MIA Maids, Laurels and Beehive girls, together with all of their leaders, are entering the greatest competition of all, the serious pursuit of life itself, the abundant life, eternal life. In this competition you must cultivate a sensitivity to the things of mind and spirit, for our minds, unlike our bodies, may continue to grow while life lasts, but minds, like bodies, must have sustenance and exercise. The food of yesterday or last year will not suffice the body nor can the mind continue strong and active unless it is constantly fed. Without exercise and sustenance it will atrophy, even as the muscles of the body. In the struggle which lies ahead of you, you will need the kind of faith and courage which inspired Columbus as he sailed into unknown and uncharted seas-faith which Santayana called "The Invincible Surmise," when he said: 341O world, thou choosest not the better part! It is not wisdom to be only wise, And on the inward vision close the eyes, But it is wisdom to believe the heart. Columbus found a world, and had no chart Save that which faith deciphered in the skies. To trust the soul's invincible surmise Was all his science and his only art. Our knowledge is but a torch of smoky pine Which lights our pathway but one step ahead Across a void of mystery and dread. Bid then the eternal light of faith to shine By which alone a human heart is led Unto the thinking of a thought divine. You will need the kind of faith that sustained the Pilgrims when they came to our eastern shore, the faith that sustained our Founding Fathers as they prepared the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. You will need the kind of faith which David had when he went out to meet Goliath. He had faith in God and in himself because he had prepared himself. He met Goliath with a sling and stone, and giant though PRO version
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Goliath was, David said, "I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts." When he threw the stone it sunk into the giant's head and he fell on his face. I suspect he was the most surprised man in all the world because nothing like that had ever entered his head before. You will need the faith which preserved Daniel in the lions' den, the kind of faith that preserved the Hebrews in the fiery furnace. You will need the faith that sustained the Prophet Joseph and his successors. You will need to understand that prophecy and prophetic admonition are contemporaneous, for in our day as in the days of Paul and the Apostles, we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against rulers of darkness in this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. You will need to take upon you the whole armour of God and exercise the faith which was planted in your hearts by your pioneer ancestors who crossed the plains against overwhelming odds. The influence of the home and the faith that comes from the home was well illustrated in a letter written by an army nurse in the last World War from Africa to her parents. She said: "It is Sunday morning, and I know you are in church. That fact, almost as sure as sunrise and springtime, is one of the chief sources of whatever courage I may have. It is not just that I know you are sitting in a certain building at a certain hour of the week, but that from my earliest childhood everything you did and encouraged me to do harmonized with, and somehow stood behind, your going to church. "Your church attendance was not just a gesture lightly made, nor duty grimly performed. It was vital and real, the open avowal of your most cherished convictions, backed up by your daily conduct-family worship, grace at meals, individual prayers which you taught us children to say, the unfailing sympathy and courtesy which you showed to us and to each other all summed up when we sat together there as a unit in church on Sunday morning. "I can see the picture now-you two and us children, the light coming in through the windows, the music, the quiet peace, that is what I mean when I say it is the source of whatever courage I find at my command now under these conditions. That courage you built up within me because I learned from you and your daily experience that God is good; that right prevails even in present circumstances, even though present circumstances indicate the opposite. And oh, how I need that courage." PRO version
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I shall not read the rest of her letter, but in closing she said: "I have found that thousands of the men with whom I have come in contact are sustained and helped and fortified by the faith they were taught in their homes." Such faith will enable you to maintain your virtue as did Joseph in Egypt. He endured calumny and imprisonment, but because of his faith and virtue he became the virtual ruler of Egypt and the savior of his father's household. That is the kind of faith you will need. To your faith you will need to have added virtue. Remember that faith without works is dead, and therefore buttressing it with virtue you must require knowledge-knowledge of yourselves, of your world, of God and your relationship to him; knowledge of things in the earth, above the earth and beneath the earth. You will add to your knowledge temperance. It must accompany knowledge because all excesses are corroding, debasing, debilitating. For this reason the Lord God gave us the Word of Wisdom. Be temperate. The next essential part of the armour with which you are to be girded is patience. As impetuous Peter learned, one must have patience to keep on keeping on and endure to the end. With your faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, you may achieve godliness, for you are His children, and are therefore heirs to all that He is and has. With godliness you will receive a better understanding of your relationship to your fellowmen. You will see in them your brothers and you will be imbued with brotherly kindness. All this will lead you to charity, or love, without which, even "though you speak with the tongues of men and of angels," all else will become as sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not easily provoked. Thinketh no evil, charity will enable you to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things. (1 Corinthians 13.) Now we, your elders, offer you the encouragement of our own testimony, a testimony gained and strengthened in the front lines of life's battle. We, who have been called as witnesses of Christ, come to you now humbly, but with the same authority with which Peter spoke, and we say to you from the very center of our hearts, He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We know it as Peter knew it. It was revealed to him. The Savior said, not by flesh and blood "but my Father, which is in heaven." (Matthew 16:17.) PRO version
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We speak of Him as a personal God, and declare that Jesus the Christ is His only begotten Son, our Redeemer, the Savior of the world. There is being amassed the greatest army in all history, and it is under the leadership of the anti-Christ. We humble servants of Christ boldly announce to you young people whom God is preparing to meet the future that the machinations of that Adversary, though his followers are numbered in hundreds of millions, will be thwarted and defeated for the simple reason that God still rules in the affairs of men. Christ will conquer the anti-Christ. Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit. This I testify humbly in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. —MIA Conference, June 11, 1961 Return to top
Loyalty To Our Country During the sessions of this conference, we have heard from many speakers who have discussed various inspiring subjects. We, who speak in later sessions, find that what we had intended to say has already been discussed, but there is one subject I should like to mention. We believe in peace, patriotism, and loyalty, and the fact that America is a chosen land, preserved and discovered under divine inspiration, with a Constitution which we believe was inspired and which we must, under all circumstances, maintain. As this is a world-wide Church, we counsel our members wherever they may live in other Christian countries to be patriotic and loyal to their homeland. Whatever may be said here about America, therefore, should be understood by members of the Church living in other countries as an appeal to all for loyalty and good citizenship. Occasionally we hear derogatory statements about our government and ominous forebodings about the future of America. We are concerned when we see evidence of doubt, misgiving and lack of confidence in the future of America as she faces current problems. We believe, however, that all good citizens of this country have a deep, heart-felt gratitude for the abundant blessings showered upon us by a benevolent Father. I should not like to be one of those who refuses to recognize the challenge of the problems of our times. On the other hand, I refuse to PRO version
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be numbered amongst those who are losing faith in America. Let us remind you that the people of every country of every age and time throughout history have had to face up to problems and find their solutions. We believe that in the exercise of the freedom her people enjoy and with divine guidance she will have full capability to solve any problems she encounters. This conclusion is not just our own. Our Heavenly Father has given us encouraging promises concerning this land. Six hundred years before the birth of Christ, He called this a land of promise to the people of our generation. However, he made an important condition: " . . . if they will but serve the God of the land,-who is Jesus Christ. . . " (Ether 2: 12) This injunction cannot be over-emphasized. To the ancient inhabitants of this continent He said: Wherefore, I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and them who shall be numbered among thy seed, forever, for the land of their inheritance; for it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all other lands, wherefore I will have all men that dwell thereon that they shall worship me, saith God. —2 Nephi 10:19 We believe and have confidence in these words of the Lord. They bring us a message of confidence and hope. Each of us has the right to rely fully upon them, for He has said: "I will fulfill my promises which I have made unto the children of men.' (2 Nephi 10:17) Further reason for confidence is found in modern revelation wherein the Lord said that He had established the Constitution of the United States by the hands of wise men whom He raised up unto this very purpose. The Constitutional framework of the law of this land has been the study of legal scholars and statesmen the world over. In no other document is the right and dignity of man lifted to so high a plane. Principles of freedom are inherent and fundamental to every concept. This did not just happen. To us the Constitution of the United States is God-given to the people of a promised land. In the October issue of National Geographic Magazine, Professor Freidel, of Harvard University, calls attention to two of our great presidents. I quote: PRO version
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"In the first two decades of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson endowed the American Presidency with a powerful leadership the Nation had not known since Lincoln. Several of their successors gave nostalgic tugs backward, but these two-one a Republican, the other a Democrat-established a pattern for succeeding strong Presidents. "At home both sought a larger measure of political democracy and economic justice, and abroad a share in responsibility for world order. They moved to assume the sober duties of the United States in its new status as an industrial giant and major world power. "Both these Presidents and their supporters, the progressive generation, believed that, without abandoning the free-enterprise system, they could perfect the dream of the Founding Fathers by combining a scientific approach to the problems of the age with positive Government" We should understand that each of us has a duty to honor, support, and sustain our civil leaders and the law. The fact that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion insofar as various matters of law and government are concerned does not relieve any of us of the personal responsibility to obey, honor and sustain the elected governmental officers and the law which it is their duty to administer. Unfortunately there are those among us today who advocate breaking the law as one means of calling to the attention of the nation that some have not been given the full benefit of the law. They argue that the laws they break are minor and that the breach is useful and justified because it assists in the enforcement of a greater law. This reasoning is fallacious and inconsistent with Christian principles. To follow such thinking is to decide that every man is entitled to choose which law he will abide and which he will violate. No orderly society can be established on such theory. There are lawful ways and means of securing all human rights, and one does not foster Christian virtue through irresponsible breaking of the law. Seeds of anarchy are sowed in the minds of those who follow a lawless course. Anarchy was never the way of God but rather the way of Satan. Recent riots in various parts of our country emphasize this alarming trend. These lawless demonstrations are often instigated and led by misguided youth against authority, against discipline, against the orderly government of society and every symbol of authority. Let us heed the words of that vigorous patriot, Theodore Roosevelt, who said, "We are the government, you and I." PRO version
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I quote a paragraph from Destiny Magazine: Let us always remember that the planting of America in the strain that determined our country's character was a spiritual planting. The fathers who planted this nation were Christians. They came here as Christians. They came because they were Christians. They came on a specifically Christian venture. Get it fixed in your mind that the planting that determined the genius of America was a Church-not a town, not a colony, not a trading or exploring venture, not a gold rush, but a church, a little Pilgrim church crossed the sea for the sake of its church life. That is the origin of the United States. To those who are losing faith in America, to those who criticize her, we issue this challenge: Cast your eyes to the four corners of the earth. Can you see anything to compare with her? Where do you find greater evidence of freedom? In what land do the inhabitants have greater voice in governing themselves? Where do you see a way of life which has produced a greater abundance for its people? In which country do you find greater numbers of children receiving an excellence of education to surpass that which is to be found here? Where is there less want, less misery? Where in all the world do you find men who are given comparable rights to enjoy their freedom to worship as that freedom finds expression in the land of America? Can you really doubt that this land is in very deed a land of promise? Let all men of good will offer constructive criticism to assist this great land of freedom in the solving of her problems. There will be problems, to be sure, but let these problems be solved with mature deliberation. Let those who speak out, speak in fairness. Let these problems and their proposed solutions be discussed in honest debate. All too often those who debate her issues distort and magnify all out of proportion the subject of their concern. More than any other people, members of this Church, having the prophecies of God before them, ought to know that America is not going to fail, that the God of Heaven will not permit it, if her people will but serve the God of this laid. She has a great destiny yet to fulfill. Imperfect though she may be, she is, nevertheless, the hope of the world. Men of faint heart and blurred vision may from time to time lose sight of this fact. The fact itself however, is immutable. America has thus far been preserved because she is build upon a sound foundation, which was ordained of God Himself. She is the cradle of freedom prepared by Him for the restoration of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. PRO version
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Let all who have permitted discouragement or despair to enter into their hearts take renewed hope and courage. Let all honest men everywhere rally and support the cause of freedom and justice under the law. Surely, as we face the future, there is reason for concern, but there is no reason for despair. Let us find reason to lift, to build and to uphold. Let us shrink from those whose only contribution is to complain, to condemn and to destroy. To win the future will require men of faith, of courage and of purpose. The Lord God of Heaven will prosper and gloriously support such men. He will, however, find little reason to consider the activities of those who are barren and unproductive, who simply criticize, complain and deplore. America needs leaders who have eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to understand. In their hands she will be preserved. I would hope that they will recognize in her not only a great but a divinely inspired form of government. They will understand that she is adaptable to changing times. They will know that she has the capacity to maintain fundamental integrity while meeting the needs of a world in motion. They must be wise enough to know that she will not always be infallible, but they will have faith that once the error of her ways is made known she will return again to a wiser course of action. She will not stray far, for though the vision of her leaders may become obscure at times, the steadying hand of God will tide this nation through the troubled waters that may lie ahead. The late Dr. Adam S. Bennion left us the following thoughtful statement: "America has become a great nation because the men who builded her believed in her-loved her-sacrificed for her. That same patriotism and pride, if kept vigorously alive, can carry us through our present crisis to even greater heights. "The heart of America is sound. There are ills, of course. There are base men and mean. There always have been. But the land is full of honest, toiling men, and worthy, devoted women. Let's herald their integrity as well as proclaim the evils of our social structure." Then let us prepare for the future unafraid. Let faith replace fears. Let courage dispel gloom. Let hope triumph over despair, and let faith in God, the Eternal Father, reign supreme above all our works. It is to Him above all others that we owe final allegiance. The plain duty of our lives is to so conduct ourselves that more and more of His children will desire Him and His ways. One day the world will come to recognize that the jewel in the crown of PRO version
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America which surpasses all others is the jewel of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, because through it men can come to know that their Father in Heaven is real, that He loves them, and that He has prepared a place for them. If they but follow the path that leads to the straight gate, the joy that transcends all other joy awaits them. Concerning this jewel, I would like to make this further statement to our friends who have joined us today. To a modern prophet, the Lord revealed to the world that a great and marvelous work was about to come forth among the children of men. He said that the field was white already to harvest in the re-establishment of His Church upon the earth. He exhorted all His children everywhere to ask Him and promised that they should receive. He said, "If ye will knock, it shall be opened unto you." He further counseled those to whom the message came to keep His commandments and to seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion. He counseled us to seek, not for riches, but for wisdom, and in so doing the mysteries of God would be unfolded unto us. We humbly advise you that this great and marvelous work is going forth in many parts of the earth today. In excess of twelve thousand young missionaries are laboring in your communities throughout the world. In their hearts burns a desire to speak with you, and they are anxious to tell you the full story of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are anxious to bring you evidence that our Father in Heaven, the Father of all the inhabitants of the earth, is very real and that man was literally created in His image. These missionaries wish to share their knowledge of the risen Christ with you. They would like you to know that He is a being separate and distinct from His Father and that He actually lives today. He has restored to the earth the fulness of His gospel, including the full organizational structure of His kingdom. These missionaries of the Church are likewise anxious to share their knowledge of the destiny of mankind, of the glorious things he has prepared for all His children who will give heed to His voice, who will follow Him in the plain path which He has made known. May I invite you to inquire of these missionaries of the Church concerning this marvelous work that they might make full explanation to you of the great message which has been revealed to the earth. I cannot leave this subject without a sincere and heartfelt prayer that the spirit of Almighty God shall be upon all men everywhere. May our lofty institutions, our matchless Constitution, our love of freedom and liberty be noted PRO version
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by other nations and, insofar as they can be made applicable, be adopted by them that all men everywhere may join us in singing what might well become an international anthem, "Our father's God to thee, Author of liberty, To thee we sing. Long may our land be bright with Freedom's holy light. Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King!" That all may become the special concern of providential care, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Return to top
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