A Long Look at Life – Sunday, January 17, 1943
Our generation has come to see the time when most of the population of earth live their lives from day to day with heavy hearts, with threatening danger, with the fear of uncertainty haunting their sleeping and waking hours. The specter of want, the threat of violence, and the fear of oppression are dread shapes everywhere even among those nations and peoples where they have not yet become real. And then add to this general tragedy the personal grief and worries and disappointments of all the men of all the earth, and the burden of sorrow appears to be such as would crush the spirit of mankind. But this it fails to do, because there is yet abroad in the earth sufficient faith in the ultimate triumph of good, sufficient confidence in the eventual accomplishment of justice, sufficient belief in the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and sufficient assurance that these days are only a passing phase in the endless sweep of events.
Thinking of life in terms of any given moment or any given day or any given year might give it a somber and disappointing character. But thinking of it in terms of a journey toward achievement without limit, into worlds without end, in pursuit of knowledge too vast to be exhausted, with hope too real to be daunted, and purposes too profound to be fully understood here and now—in the assurance of such things, the difficulties of the moment become secondary, and the certainties of the future overshadow the uncertainties of the present.
To those who are discouraged with their own lives, or with the outlook in general, there may well come to mind those words spoken to one who was young in years, who loved life, but who thought his lot was hard and complained of it. Unto him the Father of us all gave this word of sustaining comfort: “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well … thou shalt triumph over all. . . . ” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:7, 8) This same thought was expressed by Paul when he wrote: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) Of such is the assurance to all who are weary and sick at heart. Of such is the strength of all those who go forth to meet the battles of the day.
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Jan. 17, 1943, over Radio Station KSL and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright – 1943.
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January 17, 1943
Broadcast Number 0,700