The Critical Years – Sunday, February 11, 1945
We hear many appraisals and opinions as to what constitutes the most critical period of a man’s life. What are the critical years? Of course any answer to this question would depend upon what particular kind of crises we have in mind. For some things, especially as to physical well-being, the years of early infancy are critical; in many ways, the years of childhood are critical; in some vital respects adolescence is a critical period; for some things and for some people, adulthood, middle age, and old age are critical. But if by the question we mean to ask when is a man safe, mentally and morally, physically and spiritually—at what point can he let down his guard and relax his vigilance and cease constructive activity—if this is what we mean, then the answer is that all the years are critical years.
Children often get into trouble; so do those who are old enough to know better—and so do some who are admittedly too old. But isn’t there some time in life when a man, having continued long in good works, can safely relax? Here again the answer depends upon what we mean by “relax.” If we mean moderate and well-earned physical and mental relaxation, yes. If we mean the natural retarding that comes with advancing years, again the answer is yes. But there is no point in a man’s life when he can safely say, “That’s that!” and thereafter cease from constructive good works.
In idleness and indifference, men are never safe at any age; they are always in a critical period of life—and the least that would likely happen is quick deterioration, rapid aging—and probable loss of touch with the world; the worst that might be expected the intrusion of moral and spiritual difficulties—at no matter what age. There is an old proverb, “Count no man happy until he is dead,” which is another way of saving “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13.) Good works are not so much a stockpile of something we once did, but are rather a continuous flow of such things. The length of life rests with God our Father, but there is no point at which we are Justified in relaxing our standards, or in forgetting our ideals, or in dropping our safeguards.
Half a life well lived is better than none at all—but the rules of this life apply to this life as a whole, from the earliest years of discretion until the final benediction. And anything less than continuance in good works as long as life lasts could not, with certainty, be called wholly successful living, and could not with confidence look to the unqualified pronouncement “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21.) What is the critical time of life? For some it is one time and for some another—but for all of us it could be any year, or all the years, or any day, or any hour—and useful activity, with everlasting vigilance, is the way of safety, from the childhood to the grave.
“The Spoken Word,” heard over Radio Station KSL and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System, from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Feb. 11, 1945. Copyright 1945.
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February 11, 1945
Broadcast Number 0,808