On Moving and Changing – Sunday, July 07, 1946
We see before us these days a generation on the move. There is much of going back and forth, much of running to and fro—much of seeking new sights, new scenes, new situations; and there are many who always seem to be possessed by the urge to be going somewhere, but who never quite seem to be arriving where they want to go. It would be interesting to know how many of us who are on the move actually have business of consequence or purpose of importance, and how many of us are deluded into thinking that merely because we are moving we are getting somewhere.
With those who move with constructive purpose there can be no quarrel. With those who are spurred by the wholesome discontent of progress there can be no quarrel; nor can there be with those who move with the earnest intent of. seeing worthwhile things. But those who move aimlessly, those who drift without purpose, are to be pitied in their waste of life and in their want of objective. Aimless motion has little in common with directed purpose. But even more to be pitied are those who keep moving in an effort to elude themselves—those who try to outrun the pursuit of their own thoughts, those who try to solve their difficulties and their troubles by running away from them.
This idea that all we need to do to solve a personal problem is to move to another place is an idea in which we should not place too much confidence. It is true that many of our troubles grow out of our environment, but it is also true that more of our troubles than we care to admit are chargeable to us, ourselves. And for such troubles, moving offers no certainty of cure. We may move, and move again; we may alter our apparel, our appearance, and our appellations—but unless with all this there is some genuinely new attitude, some new and real determination, we are running to no purpose, for without some change within, the old self is always there, and the old habits, the old excuses, the old fears, and the old thoughts and temptation is everywhere.
To be sure there is nothing wrong with moving. All of us got where we are because we or someone else moved us there. But let us not expect more of moving than it offers. It sometimes offers an opportunity, but it gives no assurance—and though we were to run restlessly up and down the world forever, we should never merely by moving shake off the shadows that pursue us. Moving is one thing, and changing may be quite another—and the way to change is to change.
“The Spoken Word,” heard over Radio Station K S L and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System, from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, July 7, 1946, 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, EDST. Copyright 1946.
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July 07, 1946
Broadcast Number 0,881