Short Cuts to Far Horizons – Sunday, December 1, 1940
Within our generation we have learned to do many things better and more quickly than have ever been done before within recorded time. This efficiency has given us many blessings and material advantages. We have seen the assembly line and the factory belt pour forth material goods at a speed that is almost beyond our belief, even though we know it to be so. We have seen the words of men travel with the speed of light, and man himself move more than half the speed of sound.
But the by-product of all this is the idea that we can make short cuts to any destination we may have in mind. Those who suppose this, fail to differentiate between material and intangible things. We may turn our automobile and airplane motors with ever increasing speed, but we can’t build character faster than a man lives, faster than he gains experience, faster than he learns to cherish principles. We can increase the production of household conveniences, but we can’t find intelligence where it doesn’t exist, or integrity where it hasn’t been planted and nurtured. We can pour concrete across the course of a racing river, but we can’t pour honesty, courage, fidelity, devotion and self-reliance into our children in any way except the old fashioned way — the hard way, as some would now describe it. We may revolutionize an industry in six easy steps, but beware of people who want to make a man in six easy lessons – who offer to give us poise and culture and talent and a commanding personality in a short time, for a stipulated price, with a minimum of effort. These and all the other elements of human character, don’t come by the speed-up system.
Looking at the thing squarely, we must face the fact that there is no short cut to any worthwhile horizon, where man himself is concerned. And those who think they are on a shortcut are in reality on a detour. Those who ignore the rules and disregard the commandments, are fooling themselves, and only themselves. Those who gamble for high stakes with the issues of life, aren’t gambling at all– they are playing a sure game — a game they are sure to lose. “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way” said the Savior of mankind, and those who travel the by-paths will find that they are chasing after mirages. No matter how difficult it seems at times to live life in all of its fundamental soundness, both of preparation and of practice, it is, in reality, the easy way, because no other way leads anywhere that anyone wants to go. And this all men would do well to remember when they begin to cast about for short cuts to glory and for easy access to the ultimate and intrinsic values of life.
December 1, 1940
Broadcast Number 0,589