Enter a search term below. If searching by episode number be sure to include the comma, for example 4,707
As we pause this Thanksgiving Season to reflect on the blessings of life, let us also pause to consider the way in which we show our appreciation. True thankfulness is expressed not only in what we say, but also in what we do. Gratitude is essential but it will have far greater meaning when it is coupled with action.
“One thing is forever good;” said Emmerson, and “That one thing is Success.”1 There is a great exhilaration which comes to one through honest, well-earned achievement. To plan well, work hard and persist to the end brings one of life’s sweetest rewards: the feeling of accomplishment.
There are many rewards I life worth planning and working for – education, careers, marriage, a family, and retirement, to name only a few. Nearly everyone plans for the future and that is a good and necessary part of life. But as in most things, moderation is important – an excess can be dangerous.
Moments of discouragement come to everyone. They are a part of life. And although not always desired, they are certainly to be expected. Emerson Fosdick said, "One who expects completely to escape low moods is asking the impossible."1 And so our challenge is not to live a life free of discouragement, but to know we can overcome it.
There is a quote from Seneca which says, "Most powerful is he who has himself in his power."1 Indeed, self-control is one of our greatest challenges and the gateway to our greatest opportunities. "Man has two creators," said William George Jordan, "his god and himself. His first creator furnishes him the raw material of his life ... [but] it is what man makes of himself that counts."2
A great American pioneer once said, "We shall never see the time when we shall not need to be taught."1 Learning and growing is a basic part of life, and to progress is the very reason for our existence here upon earth. But with our learning we must also obtain understanding. As Solomon was counseled by his father, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom and with all they getting get understanding.”2
We recently spoke of the need to be forgiving. The best place to practice and develop that principle is in our homes as we conduct our daily family affairs.
“To err is human,” wrote Alexender Pope; “to forgive divine.”1
Our character is what distinguishes us from others. It is the way we think and act when no one is looking, when we are sure no one will ever find out what we have done. It is what we really are, not what others think we are.
The balm of Gilead is a substance obtained from the sap of a small evergreen tree, with aromatic branches that supposedly soothed and healed. As song1 says, the healing was not always of the body, but of the "sin-sick soul" as well.
No compassionate, loving person can condone the violence that seems so widespread in the world today. Recent events at the XX Olympiad in Munich have gained world-wide attention and quickly bring to mind the troubled conditions which plague our planet.
"Home, home, sweet, sweet home, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."1 For most of us, no matter who we are or where we go in life, there is always a particular place in some corner of the world we can call our own. And there is no better way to appreciate this spot than to be away from it. Those who spend much of their time travelling are the first to admit that the best part of any trip is the return home.
Every Sunday for more than 43 years, the Salt Lake Mormon Tabernacle Choir has broadcast one of the great joys of life - the sound of music. Today the Choir celebrates its 125th anniversary. The group began singing in 1847, beneath a wooden bowery in Salt Lake City. Over the years thousands have belonged to the Choir and millions of notes have been sung, all in an effort to express the joys of life through song.
Life for all of us has its problems. It has been said that life is a problem-solving existence which will defeat us if we let it. But I has also been said that no man ever sank under the burden of one day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added that the weight becomes unbearable.
When Paul Revere made his famous ride through the streets of Boston, he did so because of love and reverence for this country – a young and threatened land that held promise of hope and glory. And he was willing to do it because he must have realized that freedom is not easily obtained that it does not come without effort and sacrifice.
One of the world's most vibrant and challenged groups is today's youth. According to the 1970 census, in the United States alone, nearly one-half of the population is under twenty-five years of age. And more than ha If of that number - over fifty-six million - are between the ages of ten and twenty-five.
There is in each of us the seed of self-control, the power to be master of our own character, to act according to our own conscience. But there is also a passion which often gets in the way of self-mastery. It is the loss of one's temper, and it has resulted in more tragedy and sorrow than any other human trait. William Jordan said, "The second most deadly instrument of destruction is the gun - the first is the human tongue."1
There is much we do in life that is courageous, even though we may not think so at the time. Courage is a basic human quality. It gives man stability, confidence, a spirit of self-determination.
Every person who has lost someone close to them, and I suppose that includes nearly all of us, knows the heartache that comes from the death of a loved one. Such sorrow apparently was felt by Stephen Foster when he wrote "Gentle Annie." And such feelings seem to have prompted him to ask, "Thou art gone ... Annie ... Shall we nevermore behold thee, never hear thy ... voice again?"1
Disagreement among people is a common, perhaps even necessary part of our daily existence. But too often we feel that because someone's point of view is different from ours, he is our enemy and must be stopped. As such thoughts grow, disagreement soon turns to violence, and that is a sad comment on life.
Recently a friend of mine lost his father, suddenly and without warning. My friend's sorrow was not only at his father's passing, but also because it had been a long time since he had told his father how much he thought of him.
The dreams and hopes we all have in life will never be realized by just waiting and hoping they'll come true. It takes an effort on our part. If we are to accomplish anything we must be willing to accept the challenge of searching, waiting, trying, perhaps failing, and trying again. Success requires a constant effort, a perseverance every day of our lives. Yet too often we are willing to give up too easily - to leave the challenge for someone else.
From the diary of Anne Frank, we read: "The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be amidst the simple beauty of nature."1
Much has been said and written - especially by the young - about peace in the world, but as Max Lerner said, "You may call for peace as loudly as you wish, but where there is no brotherhood there can in the end be no peace."1
"Not all lost then was our hope, Our proud hope so old yet new ... "1
As we ponder life and the problems that face us every day, we are ofttimes stunned at what seems to be a lack of solutions to our problems. As we look to our future - especially the young - we could easily become discouraged and filled with despair at its prospects.
Nearly two thousand years ago Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, stood with others, before a huge, rock cave which was being used as a tomb - and found it empty. Already they had suffered extreme grief and misery, and then an added disappointment. But soon they, and millions of others since, learned that their dis appointment was not another cruel injustice by men, but rather the greatest event in his tory: the resurrection of Jesus Christ.1
Last week we spoke of not wasting the time we have, of not idly dreaming about tomorrow at the expense of today.
"To everything there is a season, … A time to be born, ... a time to die ..."1 And, may we add, a time to live, and that time is NOW! "Look to this day," is written in Sanskrit, "for it is life, the very life of life." Too often we are not content with the moment and wish it to rush on. Too often we wish the present hour would pass so we could hurry to the next, and hope that it, too, will quickly pass.
The words of Emerson' suggest there is something stronger than material force - something more than just what we can see and feel and smell and touch. Thoughts rule the world, indeed, mankind. "We are what we think," is a common saying. Thoughts, it seems, are the starting place for all that ever has been.