Last Chance – Sunday, March 01, 1942
As we face the reality of a restricted economy, we see before us many grasping for things they fear will never come again—or at least not soon. We have witnessed within recent times, the picture of grim buyers emptying the shelves of merchants against a future which they are fearful will deny them things to which they have become accustomed.
It is the psychology of the “last chance”—something which may be had today, which may not be had tomorrow, and in which we take little pleasure even though we have it today, because we are fearful lest tomorrow it will be taken from us.
Those who live in fear of the future find no pleasure that there is still so much to be had—the joy of present possessions departs as tomorrow’s fear moves in upon us. This grim reaching for things that are slipping would seem to have its counterpart in the futility that crowds those whose lives have not justified faith in the future—in those who seize upon fading pleasures—who feverishly pursue the ways of passing indulgence from which for a time they seem to derive a bitter and costly satisfaction but which they and all others know cannot last. The things we grasp for hastily and too late, don’t give us much satisfaction. And as it is with our material acquisitions, so it is also with intangible and eternal values—for it is written: “Behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; year, behold, the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. * * * Therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for * * * behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness.” (Book of Mormon, Alma 34:32-33)
There is no joy and no security in grasping too late for things that cannot be ours tomorrow and tomorrow. Only those whose lives and whose faith are such as to bring full confidence in the future, are able to find an abiding happiness in the present.
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, March 1, 1942, over Radio Station KSL and the Nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright – 1942.
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March 01, 1942
Broadcast Number 0,654