Darkness at Noon-day – Sunday, August 23, 1942
To certain of His children whose ways were in error there once came from the Lord God a word of sharp reprimand. Of them He said: “They … have sinned a very grievous sin, in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day.” (Doctrine and Covenants 95:6.) It is doubtful if any phrase more trenchantly descriptive of our time has ever been spoken or written in like number of words—”they are walking in darkness at noon-day.”
The light which has been poured forth in all fields of knowledge within the past century has made possible the upbuilding of the greatest material civilization of which the men of this world have any record. But it would seem that some power of evil has for the moment diverted these creative processes to purposes of death and destruction, and so we find ourselves walking in darkness at noon-day.
At what would seem to be the threshold of our world’s highest possibilities, socially, morally, materially, and spiritually, we find before us a chasm of darkness from which rise up the cries of the miseries of men inflicted by other men. At the moment of our greatest intellectual achievements, we find ourselves at the brink of our most unspeakable horrors. At a time when men have done most to conquer their physical environment, we find the wildest uncontroll of passions and evil designs.
Paradoxically, it is almost as though there were a brilliance of darkness—a world walking in darkness at noon-day—with “perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness.” (I Timothy 6:5) Said the Psalmist: “Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, 0 mighty man? . . . Thy tongue deviseth mischief’s; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Thou lovest all devouring words, 0 thou deceitful tongue. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength.” (Psalm 25:1, 2, 3, 4, 7) “From such withdraw thyself.” (I Timothy 6:5) But notwithstanding that for a season we are walking in darkness at noon-day, we have before us the assurance that the darkness will be dispelled, according to promise—but it will not be well with those who use the light of truth for dark purposes.
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Aug. 23, 1942, over Radio Station KSL and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright – 1942.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
August 23, 1942
Broadcast Number 0,679