Spoken Word Messages - Page 90

There is a very old theme that comes again to mind—so old, indeed, that anyone who presumes to comment upon it, must risk the accusation of being old-fashioned—which, after all, is just a modern way of saying that you are reminding someone of something which makes them uncomfortable—especially if they need to be reminded of it.

There has come within the observation of all of us the type of person who loudly proclaims his right to live his life as he chooses, regardless of what anyone else thinks about it. His contention is that his life is his own, and what he does with it is none of anyone else's business.

It is probable that every thinking man, and it is certain that every generation, has asked the question:  “What is Truth?”  By some truth has been defined as a variable—a relative term.  Those who take this position contend that what is commonly thought to be true by the constituted authorities of any particular generation is true for that time.  That is to say that what is generally believed to be true today, is true for this day. But to say this is also to say that what was believed to be true yesterday was true yesterday. In other words, if a man stands in the pulpit or in the marketplace or in the classroom and proclaims what he and his generation believe to be the truth, it is. said by some that he is speaking the truth.

So sure and unfailing is the certainty with which remorse follows our misdoing, it is greatly to be wondered that men persist in disregarding the rules of life. Perhaps there may be some who would ask what there is to restrain us or to induce us to do otherwise. Certainly not threat of physical punishment. Fear of physical punishment never made a good man in any land in any age.

There comes forward in the train of our thoughts a much-discussed question— the question of. moral force. Moral force is a thing to be reckoned with, is it always has been in the affairs of men. It 'is one of the few weapons in the world that does not become obsolete. It has led many peoples to victory after they have suffered physical defeat. And yet, without it fortresses crumble, guns become useless, and men lose heart and give up. It is one of the few things that a dictator cannot ignore and ride over.

We live in a day when every standard of value is being challenged, and religion has not escaped the challenge. Perhaps this is because men have asked too much of religion and too little of themselves.

One of the widely accepted methods by which we determine the truth or falsity of any theory is that which we call "trial and error"—which is to say in common language, if you have doubts concerning a thing, try it, put it to the test. If it works it is true; if it doesn't it is false. In the physical world, in the world of things and materials, such experimentation has proved its worth many times over, and has led to many great factual discoveries. But every man cannot prove all things by trial and error—nor is it necessary.

One of the scholarly scientists of our day not long ago wrote these words: "We are learning more and more the high cost of discovering the truth about anything. Our subject matter is so complex that we never reach more than half-truths and first approximations." This wholesome admission offers a viewpoint which scholar- ship in all its fields would do well to keep in mind. It is very comforting and significant to the layman, also.

It was said of Ishmael, before he was born: "his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him." (Genesis 16:12.) There are some people who remind us of this—people who are against the world and who think that the world is against them.  But there are some things that all honest men are against—-our thoughts, our voices and our feelings are set against the evil that is abroad. We resent the brutality that has been unloosed.

The clamor of voices to which our cars are daily subjected brings strikingly to mind a phrase from the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, in which he said: "There are … so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification." (I Corinthians 14:10)

As we send our children off to school, there to spend many of the hours of their lives, many parents are suspected of unburdening a sigh of relief. We are busy people, we parents, especially these days, and with the great pressure of life upon us, too many of us fondly suppose that when we turn our children over to the school or some other public agency, our responsibility ceases.

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." 

In times of stress and disturbance, there are always those who rightly know that the ills of the world are the direct result of man's having broken the laws of God—having broken the rules of life. But there are also those who, in such times, cry out that God doesn't exist, because if He did, He would not have permitted men to bring about such unthinkable conditions—those who, in their resentment against the evils of the day, would eliminate God from the universe.

It would seem that we have gone far beyond that point where any mere rationalization of the issues of life would give any of us much satisfaction. We have come to a time when nothing but the bedrock facts will suffice—not only the immediate facts, but the greater facts that underlie all things, and reach beyond the present.

One of the things most evident in our shifting way of life is the severing of old ties, the abandonment of old associations, the uprooting from things to which we have been long attached.

Perhaps the time has come again to remind ourselves that things are not important as our attitude toward them. It is time to remind ourselves of this because material comforts promise to be less of a factor in our lives in the immediate future than they have been in the past.

"Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom." Perhaps we have never before been so much aware of the encircling gloom as we are at this time—a  gloom of hate, of oppression; a gloom of ignorance, and of cynicism; the gloom of lost honor, broken promises, and abandoned morals—a gloom that has cast its pall over the face of earth.

It has been many centuries since David of Old propounded the question, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4) Both before and since that time most thoughtful men have asked themselves the same question, and no doubt it is time to ask it again, because if we know what man is, then we can know how we may expect him to conduct himself, and what kind of world he has a right to live in—and these questions have bearing upon the troubles that rage about us. "What is man that thou art mindful of him?" We have often appraised man according to his affluence, according to his environment, according to his rating in somebody or other's "Who's Who?" And sometimes we have appraised men according to their inherited good fortune. But if you strip a man of all these, what is he? Men from every avenue of life are filling the same ranks, wearing the same clothes, marching in the same cause.

It was inevitable that we should have been aware of a difference in this year's observance of July Fourth. There would seem to have been less of noise and more of sober thought, less of unconcern and more of awareness of the facts we face. Somehow or other, the old prescription of fine phrases and fireworks wouldn't have satisfied.

In protest of something of which we disapprove, we often hear the offhand comment: "There ought to be a law against that!" As a matter of fact, somewhere or other in the world, there is a law against almost everything. But multiplicity of laws does not make men good or society safe.

Whenever we want to say something that is very old and very true, to reach and impress the minds of some we have to think of new ways of saying it.

We have come again to another patriotic occasion. Deep-rooted patriotism, of course, does not depend upon the observance of special days for its sustenance, but it is good to pause, to think, and to remember at times set apart for remembrance—and so today we remember America—and remembering our own land we remember also other lands, with their strength and their weakness—and what has made them so. It is a well known fact—so well known that the re-utterance of it would seem to be trite—that the strength or the weakness of a nation runs right through the very fiber of its people, down to the last town and village and countryside.

"And Jesus made as though he would have gone... But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." (Luke 24:28-29) There comes a time in the life of every man when he arrives at the realization that the day is far spent. And as the gathering storm and the growing darkness of our day bring with them those events that move us on toward the eventide of which the prophets of all generations have spoken, we are brought almost to fear the passing of time, and yet again, to be inpatient that it may pass quickly and bring us to a better day. We fear change, we fear the unknown, we fear uncertainty, and the future.

"Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad … Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison." (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22) "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." (Malachi 4:6)  "For neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died." (Doctrine and Covenants 128:18) 

In these days when many are looking fearfully toward the future, and when all of us are looking toward it with a good deal of uncertainty, there is a tendency on the part of altogether too many, especially those who are young in years, and immature in their thinking, to assume a fatalistic attitude—a tendency to shrug the shoulders and indulge, as they are wont to call it, in one “last fling”.  Realizing the uncertainty of life, and, in their confusion, mistrusting tomorrow, they set about to crowd years into moments, to gratify appetites, to cut loose, so to speak. 

It is interesting to observe what a man will try to save when his house is on fire.  When he hasn’t much time to think, and must act more or less on impulse, what is it that he will snatch from the flames?  Strange tales have been told about the choices of men under such conditions, and many have been known to save absurd and inconsequential things, leaving priceless possessions to destruction.  Certainly it is no longer anybody’s secret that we are living in a world that is on fire, and some of the greatest possessions that men have—possessions they have cherished through the ages, and purchased at great cost—are going up in the flames. 

“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother.”  (John 19:25)  This poignant fact, recorded by John the Beloved, brings with it its reminder of the countless number of times the mothers of men have stood by while their sons have gone forth to do that which they had to do—those mothers who have watched over us from the first breath of life—and before that—who have given us their love, their understanding, their sweet influence and their hallowed blessing. 

One of the most satisfying concepts of our day and of all time is this:  “The glory of God is intelligence.”  This refers of course not merely to intelligence as knowledge, but to intelligence as the wise and judicious use of knowledge. 

There is one of the current phrases of our day that carries with it a refrain of unforgettable implication—just these six words—“It is later than you think.”  It is later than most of us think.  Perhaps it is later than nay of us think.  The unpredictable suddenness with which world-shaking events happen these days, makes us shockingly aware that it is later than is comfortable as pertaining to anything that should now be done or that should have been done before now.  But beyond all this, and quite aside from the course of world events, it is later than most of us think even in our personal lives. 

The world scene we now behold and those events which have led up to it, have brought about a growing cynicism and unbelief.  Upon the lips of many, in all nations and among all peoples, we find the accusing question:  “Why would an Omnipotent and All-Wise and just and merciful God permit such events to transpire?  Failing to find the answer that brings peace to their troubled hearts, men, in increasing numbers, lose faith and hope and understanding, and cry out in bitterness against a Providence, the power and existence of whom they deny.