To Those Who Think They Were Born Too Late or Too Soon – Sunday, March 07, 1943
Under the tension of these days there are those who wonder why it fell to their lot to live in this particular troubled time and generation—those who feel perhaps that if they had chosen their time of life they could have chosen better—back in some golden age, whenever that might have been, or in some golden age of the future, whenever that might be. Well, to begin with, it is possible that men did have some choice as to the time of their birth—or at least a voice in the making of that decision—but regardless of that, there are good reasons for saying that perhaps it doesn’t matter so much when people are born, so far as genuine happiness and usefulness are concerned.
There are both happy and unhappy people in every generation; in every generation there are both misfits and those who adapt themselves to the circumstances of the day in which they find themselves. And this has nothing to do with time or the material conveniences of life. Cellophane and neon lights haven’t made our generation happy—and they haven’t made it unhappy. The foundations of happiness are quite apart from such things, and we couldn’t eliminate the causes of unhappiness simply by changing the time of our life. And so, if you want to know why you were born now, you had best forget it, because the chances are if you really want to know why you were born now you would have wanted to know why you were born at any time in which you might have been born. Way back before we knew anything about “movies” and chewing gum, there were still people who wanted to know why they were born then, and no doubt there always will be.
But as far back as the record goes there is no generation that has not had to face evil; there is no generation that has not had to face change and uncertainty. As far back as you care to go, you will find a record of warfare, captivity, slavery; you will find those who have stoned the prophets and ridiculed the righteous. There is no generation in which you might have lived in which you would not have found someone who would have been ready to take away human liberties if the vigilance of the people were relaxed, or if their own inward defenses bad become weakened. There have been great men and little men in all ages; tyrants and patriots in all ages; oppressors and oppressed. The important thing about life is that a man live according to the best knowledge of the generation in which be finds himself and render the greatest service according to the needs and circumstances of his time. If he does this, he will be genuinely happy and inherently successful. No, it doesn’t matter so much in what generation a man lives, because the fundamental rules remain constant, and so do the ultimate purposes of life—in every generation. And so, accept the time in which the Lord God has made it possible for you to live, and get in and do the job that needs to be done.
True, there are things about our time we don’t like. It’s up to us, collectively and individually, to see that they are eliminated. Righteousness will never cover the earth until men live righteously. Peace will never be assured until our lives conform to the pattern of peace. The incident of time or place is not the vital issue. Such is our answer to those who think they were born too soon or too late.
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, March 7, 1943, over Radio Station KSL and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright-1943.
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March 07, 1943
Broadcast Number 0,707