A Tough Moral Fiber – Sunday, July 27, 1941
During the week that has just now closed, that part of America which lies between the Rockies and the Sierras, has commemorated again the achievements of those Pioneers who, ninety-four years ago, began the task of taking back from the desert part of the vastness which it had claimed as its own.
This is only one part of America, but it is a symbol of the inheritance which all America enjoys, because someone else knew that an ideal was worth more than a full stomach, that a principle was worth more than material comforts, and that the right to think and to worship and to work were worth more than anything you could give a man in exchange for these rights. The cost to them was great, but it wasn’t too big a price to pay for self-respect, for peace of mind, for the making of a new land, for the preserving of an ideal, and the maintenance of a principle. And in all this they kept before them the injunction of Paul, who said: “This we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” (II Thessalonians 3:10) Their own leaders repeated to them the same wisdom, and their own common sense knew that it must be so and they lived their lives accordingly.
They planted, they toiled, they built, and they repeated and they did not wait for someone else to do what should be done, nor expect to be rewarded for things they hadn’t done. It is regrettable that some of us who are descendants of the Pioneers have become so soft—not only the pioneers of the Inland West, but all America—all those who have given us our heritage. We enjoy the rewards of their sacrifices ofttimes without expecting to make any sacrifices of our own. We have reaped the benefits of their convictions, ofttimes throwing our own convictions to the winds, so long as the day gives us its share of food and raiment and the many comforts to which we have become accustomed.
This may be only a cloak we wear. It may be that down under this seemingly soft exterior is the same tough moral fiber that would again come into evidence should we realize that we are fact to face with great physical and moral and spiritual issues. That this realization may come upon us would be the greatest wish of our pioneer forefathers, and a blessing from the Father of all men, whose help we urgently need, but can only enjoy as the manner of our living allows Him to give guidance to our lives.
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July 27, 1941
Broadcast Number 0,623