Escape – Sunday, October 20, 1940
There seems to have come to dwell among us the spirit of escape. Perhaps it has always been present, but the tenseness of our times makes it more apparent. We seem to want to escape reality; to postpone the day of settlement; to prefer present pleasure to future happiness- to escape the consequences of our own mistakes; to escape personal obligations; to escape public responsibility. There are some who seek to escape by borrowing rather than face the restrictions of a sound economy.
There are some who would rather mortgage the future than curtail their appetites. There are some who count rather heavily on mercy and the opportunities of the moment, rather than on justice and the certain reckoning of the future. Some have become morally and materially and spiritually insolvent – bankrupt, both in the things of this world and in those things which pertain to that which lies beyond – and rather than face the facts and pay the price and begin again on humble but substantial foundations, they prefer continuing on borrowed time, always with the shadow of inevitable consequences hanging over them, but never looking at things quite squarely. No doubt there would be less of the spirit of escape if we could bring ourselves to the realization that there is no such thing as permanent postponement. Retribution cannot forever be out distanced. The judgments of men may be slow – but they are sure, and even more so are the judgments of God. No one was ever able to cheat at anything permanently.
No one has ever been able to postpone a time of reckoning forever – even though he departs this life before he faced the facts. For it is written: “Verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated. And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed.” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:2 and 3)
And since there is no way of permanent escape, in the lives of men and nations, we say to all who live in a world of unreality: Face the issues of life as they come; pay the price, whatever it is; spurn the postponement of obligations; clean house; make peace with your conscience, and build on sound foundations for that future wherein no mistakes have yet been made.
October 20, 1940
Broadcast Number 0,583