Would We Call Back the Departed – Sunday, March 24, 1940
In the grief that comes with a time of bereavement, it is often our first impulse to call back those who have departed this life. Perhaps we may sincerely think that we are acting in their interest in wishing them back. But in reality it is not so much their separation from us that we are thinking of as it is our separation from them. It is natural that we would wish to call then back, but It is also quite probable that they would not wish to come back, even if it were given unto them to choose, because what they may realize there so far transcends what we have to offer them here, that, were we fully aware of it, it is probable that even in all our grief and loneliness, we would not raise our voices to recall the righteous departed. Better had we live so that where they are, there we may be also, and until such time as we may be called to our eternal home, let hope, grow into assurance, and faith acquire the certainty of knowledge.
On this day millions of men and women throughout the world remember with gratitude the resurrection and triumph of Him whose influence has been more persistently felt than any one who ever crossed the pages of history. From Him we reckon time. His words we search for wisdom and understanding when the journey we are travelling together becomes difficult. And to Him we look for eternal life and the promise that “whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, -he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.”’ (Doctrine and Covenants 130:18,19.)
And so we leave you for another week of life in a world of stern reality. During the days that lie before us the business of earning the needful things of life will dim the memory, of this Sabbath Hour – but that which was accomplished on the morning of the resurrection shall continue unto men forever, even as our Lord and Master said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
March 24, 1940
Broadcast Number 0,553