can be made than by fasting, praying to God, and sacrificing means
for the poor. This law combines belief and practice, faith and works,
without which neither Armenian nor Latter-day Saint, neither Jew nor
Gentile, can be saved.
When appeals are made to the Latter-day Saints for aid, they are always
willing to comply; but we have also our mission to perform; to preach
the gospel, to establish peace, secure plenty, and promote happiness
in the land; and our people have learned through the commandments of
God how to take care of themselves and are trying to help others to
do likewise. They are ever helping each other and it is seldom that
poor are found among them who are unprovided for. They are practically
independent and may become entirely so by a stricter adherence to the
law of the Lord! We believe that if other communities would adopt
the plans of consecration, fasting, and tithing, which the Lord has
revealed to the Latter-day Saints and carry them out in spirit, with
faith and works, that poverty and pauperism would be greatly reduced
or entirely overcome. Opportunities would be presented so that all
might obtain work and thus provide for themselves; and the other
command of the Lord would be obeyed: "Thou shalt not be idle; for he
that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the
laborer."--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 10, pp. 831-833.
{300}
CHAPTER XIV
TEMPERANCE; THE SABBATH
MAN SHOULD BE MASTER OF HIS APPETITES. How humiliating it must be to
a thoughtful man to feel that he is a slave to his appetites, or to
an over-weening and pernicious habit, desire or passion. We believe
in strict temperance. We believe in abstinence from all injurious
practices, and from the use of all hurtful things. Poison, in the
judgment of the physician, may be beneficial, under some conditions in
life, as a momentary relief; but poison, under any circumstance, should
only be used as a temporary expedient, necessary, perhaps, in our best
judgment, for the time being, for the instant--for sudden and certain
desired relief--but the continued use of that poison will fasten its
fangs upon us, so to speak, in such a way that by and by we will find
that we are overpowered by it, and we become slaves of the pernicious
habit that becomes a tyrannical master over us.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1908, p.
4.
MODERATION. We may make evil of all amusements, but the Saints should
not be unwise, but rather understand what the will of the Lord is,
and practice moderation in all things. They should avoid excesses and
cease from sin, putting far from them "the lusts of men;" and in their
amusements and pastimes adopt a course that looks to the spirit as well
as the letter, the intention and not the act alone, the whole and not
the part, which is the meaning of moderation. In this way their conduct
will be reasonable and becoming, and they shall find no trouble in
understanding the will of the Lord.
Let me exhort the young people particularly, and the Saints generally,
to weigh well the value of moderation in all their actions and
amusements. Remember, too, that excessive {301} feasting is not
good; neither is excessive labor, but idleness and waste of precious
time is infinitely worse. "Let your moderation be known to all
men."--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 6, p. 857, Sept., 1903.
TEMPERANCE. We endorse any movement looking to temperance, looking to
virtue, tending to purity of life and to faith in God and obedience to
his laws; and we are against evil of every description; and we are, in
our faith and prayers, against evil-doers--not that we would pray for
evil to come upon evil-doers, but that evil-doers might see the folly
of their ways and the wickedness of their acts and repent of them and
turn away from them.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1908, p. 8.
HOW TO TEACH TEMPERANCE. The best way to teach temperance is to keep
the Word of Wisdom; and the next best is to assist others to keep it,
by removing artificial temptations from their lives. Such temptation
is the saloon, and it is time that the sentiment in the communities
where the members of the Church reside should be declared against this
soul-destroying evil.--_Juvenile Instructor,_ Vol. 46, p. 333, June,
1911.
USE OF TOBACCO AND STRONG DRINKS. The use of tobacco in its various
forms and of strong drinks to some extent is also to be lamented and
deplored, especially among the youth, and this evil should be stamped
out. The people of God should set their faces like flint against
these practices, and they should see to it that their children are
taught better, and that a better example is set before them by their
parents, in order that the children may grow up without sin in these
things.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1901, p. 2.
DO NOT SMOKE. Teach your children not to smoke; persuade them not to do
it. Watch and look after them, and try to teach them better, and to be
courteous and kind.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1905, p. 86.
THE SALOON. No member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints can afford to do himself the dishonor, {302} or bring upon
himself the disgrace, of crossing the threshold of a liquor saloon or a
gambling hell, or of any house of ill-fame of whatever name or nature
it may be. No Latter-day Saint, no member of the Church, can afford it,
for it is humiliating to him, it is disgraceful in him to do it, and
God will judge him according to his works.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1908, p. 7.
If, I say, the people observe the principles of this revelation
(Doctrine and Covenants 89), there could not exist in their midst that
most obnoxious institution known as a saloon; it can not exist where
only Latter-day Saints dwell.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1908, p. 6.
DEFEAT THE LIQUOR INTERESTS. The liquor interests--the enemies of the
race--are again making keen efforts to restore the former low-down
conditions. In some places, we understand, enough petitioners have
already been obtained and the names filed with the commissioners
requesting an election this June. With all good people we join in
hoping that these efforts may utterly fail to restore the saloon.
This should be the desire of all Latter-day Saints, and their prayers
should be supported by their works and votes. In these elections
the wives, mothers and sisters have their golden opportunity with
fathers and brothers to arise and utterly crush the cursed traffic
in drink for which so many have suffered in sweat, and pain, and
tears.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 16, 1912-13, p. 824.
VITALITY AND PATENT MEDICINES. Instead of flocking out to hear
smooth-tongued impostors people should leave them severely alone.
Instead of dosing themselves with patent medicines, they should
learn to keep their bodies healthy by right living (see Doctrine and
Covenants, Sec 89), by inhaling pure air, taking plenty of exercise,
and bathing not only often in fresh water, but also in the sunshine
with which our merciful Father has so abundantly provided us. If there
are cases of sickness, as there will be {303} notwithstanding any
precaution we may take, which common sense and good nursing, or simple
home remedies do not suffice to cure, let us follow the advice of the
Scriptures (James 5:14-16), but if we do not believe in the elders, or
in the prayer of faith saving the sick, let a reputable and faithful
physician be consulted. By all means, let the quack the traveling
fakir, the cure-all nostrum, and the indiscriminate dosing with patent
medicine, be abolished like so much trash.
The young man who would cope with the world, who would be full of
vigor, and fresh for the battle of life, will find his strength in
living according to the word of the Lord; for the promise is that all
"who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to
the commandments, shall receive health in their navel, and marrow to
their bones, and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge,
even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk
and not faint; and I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the
destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not
slay them."--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 5, June, 1902, p. 624.
STAMP OUT PROFANITY AND VULGARITY. We should stamp out profanity, and
vulgarity, and everything of that character that exists among us; for
all such things are incompatible with the gospel and inconsistent with
the people of God.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1901, p. 2.
SATURDAY'S WORK. A good modern eighth commandment might read something
like this: Do not so overwork and fret on Saturday as to deprive the
Sabbath of the devotions and worship that belong to it as a day of rest.
In the home, Saturday is the day set apart for house cleaning, for
extra cooking, for mending and all sorts of repairs that the Sabbath is
thought to require. In business, Saturday is a day for picking up all
lose ends, for closing up all the unfinished details of a week's work.
{304} The consequences of our modern treatment of the last day of the
week are too often manifested in an indolence and supine indifference
that make our feelings and a total lack of energy almost incompatible
with the spirit of worship. No worn-out man or woman, by the excessive
toil of an early Saturday morning and a late Saturday night, can
properly worship God in spirit and in truth.--_Juvenile Instructor,_
Vol. 44, July, 1909, p. 295.
PURPOSE OF THE SABBATH. The Sabbath is a day of rest and of worship,
designated and set apart by special commandment of the Lord to the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we should honor and
keep it holy. We should also teach our children this principle.--_Oct.
C. R.,_ 1901, pp. 1, 2.
THE MEANING OF SUNDAY. True, Sunday is a day of rest, a change from the
ordinary occupations of the week, but it is more than that. It is a day
of worship, a day in which the spiritual life of man may be enriched.
A day of indolence, a day of physical recuperation is too often a very
different thing from the God-ordained day of rest. Physical exhaustion
and indolence are incompatible with a spirit of worship. A proper
observance of the duties and devotions of the Sabbath day will, by its
change and its spiritual life, give the best rest that men can enjoy on
the Sabbath day.
Saturday evening may be wisely set apart as a time for thoughtful
conversation or helpful reading as an introduction to the Sabbath
day.--_Juvenile Instructor,_ Vol. 44, July, 1909, p. 297.
WHAT SHALL WE DO ON THE SABBATH DAY? My belief is that it is the duty
of Latter-day Saints to honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy, just as
the Lord has commanded us to do. Go to the house of prayer. Listen to
instructions. Bear your testimony to the truth. Drink at the fountain
of knowledge and of instruction, as it may be opened for us from those
who are inspired to give us instruction. When {305} we go home, get the
family together. Let us sing a few songs. Let us read a chapter or two
in the Bible, or in the Book of Mormon, or in the book of Doctrine and
Covenants. Let us discuss the principles of the gospel which pertain
to advancement in the school of divine knowledge, and in this way
occupy one day in seven. I think it would be profitable for us to do
this.--_M.I.A. Conference,_ June 11, 1916, _Young Woman's Journal,_
Vol. 27, pp. 455-460.
NECESSITY OF SUNDAY WORSHIP. It is imperatively necessary, at all
times, and especially so when our associations do not afford us the
moral and spiritual support which we require for our advancement that
we go to the house of the Lord to worship and mingle with the Saints,
that their moral and spiritual influence may help to correct our
false impressions and restore us to that life which the duties and
obligations or our conscience and true religion impose upon us.
"Good times" are often dangerous times, and social fraternity, if not
of the right character, will prove more harmful than helpful. Let us,
therefore, in the midst of our worldly callings and associations,
not forget that paramount duty which we owe to ourselves and to our
God.--_Juvenile Instructor,_ Vol. 47, March, 1912, p. 145.
BE WISE IN ALL YOU DO. Leave these poisonous and injurious things
alone; live within your means; get out of debt; and keep out of debt;
do not run faster than you can go safely; be careful and cautious
in what you do; advise with those who have wisdom and experience,
before you leap, lest you leap into the dark; and so guard yourselves
from possible evil and disadvantage, that the Lord can pour out the
blessings of heaven upon you, yes, "open the windows of heaven" and
pour out upon you blessings that you shall scarcely have room to
contain them.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1910, pp. 6, 7.
THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF FASTING. The law to the {306} Latter-day
Saints, as understood by the authorities of the Church, is that
food and drink are not to be partaken of for twenty-four hours,
"from even to even," and that the Saints are to refrain from all
bodily gratification and indulgences. Fast day being on the Sabbath,
it follows, of course, that all labor is to be abstained from. In
addition, the leading and principal object of the institution of the
fast among the Latter-day Saints was that the poor might be provided
with food and other necessities. It is, therefore, incumbent upon every
Latter-day Saint to give to his bishop, on fast day, the food that he
or his family would consume for the day, that it may be given to the
poor for their benefit and blessing; or, in lieu of the food, that its
equivalent amount, or, if the person is wealthy, a liberal donation, in
money, be so reserved and dedicated to the poor.
Now, while the law requires the Saints in all the world to fast from
"even to even" and to abstain both from food and drink, it can easily
be seen from the Scriptures, and especially from the words of Jesus,
that it is more important to obtain the true spirit of love for God
and man, "purity of heart and simplicity of intention," than it is to
carry out the cold letter of the law. The Lord has instituted the fast
on a reasonable and intelligent basis, and none of his works are vain
or unwise. His law is perfect in this as in other things. Hence, those
who can are required to comply thereto; it is a duty from which they
cannot escape; but let it be remembered that the observance of the
fast day by abstaining twenty-four hours from food and drink is not an
absolute rule, it is no iron-clad law to us, but it is left with the
people as a matter of conscience, to exercise wisdom and discretion.
Many are subject to weakness, others are delicate in health, and others
have nursing babies; of such it should not be required to fast. Neither
should parents compel their little children to fast. I have known
children to cry for something to eat on fast day. In such cases, going
without {307} food will do them no good. Instead, they dread the day
to come, and in place of hailing it, dislike it; while the compulsion
engenders a spirit of rebellion in them, rather than a love for the
Lord and their fellows. Better teach them the principle, and let them
observe it when they are old enough to choose intelligently, than to so
compel them.
But those should fast who can, and all classes among us should be
taught to save the meals which they would eat, or their equivalent, for
the poor. None are exempt from this; it is required of the Saints, old
and young, in every part of the Church. It is no excuse that in some
places there are no poor. In such cases the fast donation should be
forwarded to the proper authorities for transmission to such stakes of
Zion as may stand in need.
So shall we gain favor in the sight of God, and learn the acceptable
fast before him.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 6, December, 1903, p. 146.
KEEPING THE SABBATH HOLY. To observe the Sabbath day properly is the
plain duty of every Latter-day Saint--and that includes the young
men and young women and the boys and girls. It may seem strange that
it should be necessary to repeat this often-asserted fact. But there
appear to be some people, and sometimes whole communities, who neglect
this duty, and therefore stand in need of this admonition.
What are we required to do on the Sabbath day? The revelations of the
Lord to the Prophet Joseph are very plain on this subject, and these
should govern us, for they are in strict harmony with the teachings of
the Savior. Here are some of the simple requirements:
The Sabbath is appointed unto you to rest from your labors.
The Sabbath is a special day for you to worship, to pray, and to show
zeal and ardor in your religious faith and duty--to pay devotions to
the Most High.
{308} The Sabbath is a day when you are required to offer your time and
attention in worship of the Lord, whether in meeting, in the home, or
wherever you may be--that is the thought that should occupy your mind.
The Sabbath day is a day when, with your brethren and sisters, you
should attend the meetings of the Saints, prepared to partake of the
sacrament of the Lord's supper; having first confessed your sins before
the Lord and your brethren and sisters, and forgiven your fellows as
you expect the Lord to forgive you.
On the Sabbath day you are to do no other thing than to prepare your
food with singleness of heart, that your fasting may be perfect, and
your joy may be full. This is what the Lord calls fasting and prayer.
The reason for this required course upon the Sabbath day is also
plainly stated in the revelations. It is that one may more fully keep
himself unspotted from the world; and to this end, also, the Saints are
required to go to the house of prayer and offer up their sacraments on
the Sabbath day.
Now, what is the promise to the Saints who observe the Sabbath? The
Lord declares that inasmuch as they do this with cheerful hearts and
countenances, the fulness of the earth is theirs: "the beasts of the
field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the
trees and walketh upon the earth. Yea, and the herb, and the good
things which cometh of the earth, whether for food or for raiment,
or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for
vineyards." (Doc. and Cov. 59.)
These are all made for the benefit and use of man to please the eye and
to gladden the heart, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.
All are promised to those who keep the commandments, and among the
commandments is this important one, to observe properly the Sabbath day.
{309} The Lord is not pleased with people who know these things and do
them not.
Men are not resting from their labors when they plow, and plant and
haul and dig. They are not resting when they linger around the home all
day on Sunday, doing odd jobs that they have been too busy to do on
other days.
Men are not showing zeal and ardor in their religious faith and duty
when they hustle off early Sunday morning on the cars, in teams, in
automobiles, to the canyons, the resorts, and to visit friends or
places of amusement with their wives and children. They are not paying
their devotions in this way to the Most High.
Not in seeking pleasure and recreation do they offer their time and
attention in the worship of the Lord; nor can they thus rejoice in the
spirit of forgiveness and worship that comes with partaking of the holy
sacrament.
Boys and young men are not fasting with singleness of heart that their
joy may be full when they spend the Sabbath day loafing around the
village ice-cream stand or restaurant, playing games, or in buggy
riding, fishing, shooting, or engaged in physical sports, excursions
and outings. Such is not the course that will keep them unspotted from
the world, but rather one that will deprive them of the rich promises
of the Lord, giving them sorrow instead of joy, and unrest and anxiety
instead of the peace that comes with works of righteousness.
Let us play and take recreation to our hearts' content during other
days, but on the Sabbath let us rest, worship, go to the house of
prayer, partake of the sacrament, cat our food with singleness of
heart, and pay our devotions to God, that the fulness of the earth may
be ours, and that we may have peace in this world and eternal life in
the world to come.
"But," says one, "in our settlement we have no other {310} day for
amusement and sports, excursions and outings, ball games and races."
Then demand one.
Is it possible that parents, in the face of the promises of the Lord,
will deny a day in the week when their children may have recreation;
and so force them to spend the Sabbath in sports!
One prominent man, in one of the northern stakes, where ball games and
other sports are said to be the rule on Sunday, asked what could be
done to remedy the evil. He was told to try a half holiday on one of
the week days.
"Then," he replied, "we can have no change nor remedy. Here are
hundreds of acres of hay and ripening fields crying for workmen, and we
cannot spare our boys for play."
The best reply to such an argument is the question: "Which is best--to
let the hay go to ruin, or the boy?" Let the hay go; save the boy.
He is worth more than all your material possessions. Save him in the
spirit of the gospel--protect him from Sabbath breaking--by offering
a little temporal sacrifice, and the Lord will keep his promise to
you. Get together in your ward, unitedly select a day for play and
recreation; and like faithful Saints demand that the Sabbath day, as
far as you and yours are concerned, shall be devoted to the Lord our
God.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 13, 1909-10, pp. 842-844.
DO NOT ROB THE SABBATH DAY. It is incumbent on members of the Church
to so plan their work that there shall be no excuse for robbing the
Lord's day of its sanctity. To this end let the boys and girls have
a half holiday during the week, which may be profitably used for
recreations, leaving the Sabbath for spiritual culture and worship. It
is equally obligatory that we so plan our amusements that these shall
not interfere with our worship. Let therefore some other night than
Saturday be provided for the purpose. The Lord has commanded his people
to observe {311} the Sabbath day to keep it holy, and on that day to go
to the house of prayer and offer up their sacraments in righteousness
with willing hearts and penitent spirits.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 12,
1909, p. 315.
MAN MUST BE MASTER OF HIMSELF. No man is safe unless he is master of
himself; and there is no tyrant more merciless or more to be dreaded
than an uncontrollable appetite or passion. We will find that if we
give way to the groveling appetites of the flesh and follow them up,
that the end will be invariably bitter, injurious and sorrowful,
both to the individual and society. It is hurtful in example as well
as in its individual effects; dangerous and hurtful to the unwary;
while the denial of these appetites--the crucifixion of the flesh, so
to speak--and an aspiration for something noble; whenever possible,
doing good to our fellow creatures, hoping for the future, laying up
treasures in heaven, where moth and rust cannot corrupt, and where
thieves cannot break through and steal--all these things will bring
everlasting happiness; happiness for this world and the world to come.
If there is no pleasure in the world except that which we experience
in the gratification of our physical desires--eating, drinking, gay
associations, and the pleasures of the world--then the enjoyments of
the world are bubbles, there is nothing in them, there is no lasting
benefit or happiness to be derived from them.--_Deseret Weekly News,_
Vol. 33, 1884, p. 130.
{312}
CHAPTER XV
MANY DUTIES OF MAN
THE OBJECT OF MAN'S EXISTENCE. The object of our being here is
to do the will of the Father as it is done in heaven, to work
righteousness in the earth, to subdue wickedness and put it under our
feet, to conquer sin and the adversary of our souls, to rise above
the imperfections and weaknesses of poor, fallen humanity, by the
inspiration of Almighty God and his power made manifest, and thus
become indeed the saints and servants of the Lord in the earth.--_Apr.
C. R.,_ 1902, p. 85.
WE DEAL WITH THE LORD. We are dealing with our faith and consciences,
you are dealing not with me, not with the Presidency of the Church,
but with the Lord. I am not dealing with men respecting my tithing, my
dealings are with the Lord; that is, with reference to my own conduct
in the Church as a tithe-payer, and with reference to my observance
of the other laws and rules of the Church; if I fail to observe the
laws of the Church, I am responsible to my God, and will have to
answer to him, by and by, for my neglect of duty, and I may have to
answer to the Church for my fellowship. If I do my duty, according to
my understanding of the requirements that the Lord has made of me,
then I ought to have a conscience void of offense; I ought to have
satisfaction in my soul, in the consciousness that I have simply done
my duty as I understand it, and I will risk the consequences. With me
it is a matter between me and the Lord; so it is with every one of
us.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1911, p. 6.
NECESSITY FOR ALL TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR MISSIONS. He that sent his Only
Begotten Son into the world to accomplish the mission which he did,
also sent every soul within the sound of my voice, and indeed every
man and woman in the world, to accomplish a mission, and that mission
cannot {313} be accomplished by neglect; nor by indifference; nor
can it be accomplished in ignorance. We must learn our duty; learn
the requirements that the Lord has made at our hands, and understand
the responsibilities that he has placed upon us. We should learn the
obligation that we are under to God and to each other, and that we are
under also to the cause of Zion, that has been restored to the earth
in the latter days. These things are essential, and we cannot prosper
in spiritual things, we cannot grow in knowledge and understanding,
our minds cannot expand in the knowledge of God, or in wisdom, nor
in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, without we devote our thoughts and
our efforts toward our own betterment, toward the increase of our own
wisdom, and knowledge in the things of God.
We labor day by day for the bread that perishes, and we devote but
a few hours, comparatively, in seeking to obtain the bread of life.
Our thoughts, in great measure, are placed upon worldly things, the
things that perish, and therefore we are prone to neglect the higher
duties that devolve upon us as the children of our Father, and to
forget, in some measure, the greater obligations that rest upon us. It
is therefore proper, and indeed it becomes the duty of those who are
placed upon the towers as watchmen in Zion, to exhort the people to
diligence, to prayerfulness, to humility, to a love of the truth that
has been revealed to them, and to earnest devotion to the work of the
Lord, which is intended for their individual salvation, and so far as
they have influence upon others, the salvation of those whom they may
have power to influence to move in the right direction; not that I can
save any man, nor that any one man can save any other man or fit him
for exaltation in the kingdom of God. This is not given to me to do
for others, nor is it given to any man to be a Savior in this sense,
or in this way, to his fellowman; but men can set an example; men can
urge the precepts of the gospel. Men can proclaim the {314} truth to
others, and can point out the way to them in which to walk, and if they
will harken to their counsel, listen to their admonitions and be led
by them, they themselves will seek the path of life and they will walk
in it, and obtain their exaltation for themselves. And thus the work
required of us by the Lord is an individual work, it devolves upon each
individual alike. No man can be saved in the kingdom of God in sin.
No man will ever be forgiven of his sins by the just judge, except be
repent of his sins. No man will ever be freed from the power of death
unless he is born again as the Lord Almighty has decreed, and declared
to the world by the mouth of his Son in the meridian of time, and as he
has declared it again in this dispensation through the Prophet Joseph
Smith. Men can only be saved and exalted in the kingdom of God in
righteousness, therefore we must repent of our sins, and walk in the
light as Christ is in the light, that his blood may cleanse us from all
sins, and that we may have fellowship with God and receive of his glory
and exaltation.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1907, p. 4.
GOD HONORS THOSE WHO HONOR HIM. Though the Lord should try me by
withholding his blessings from me, and making me to drink to the very
dregs the bitter cup of poverty, that should make no difference to me.
The point is, what is the law of God? And if I know that law, it is my
duty to obey it, though I suffer death in consequence. Many a man has
gone to the stake in obedience, as he believed, to the commandments of
God. Not one of the ancient disciples who were chosen of Jesus Christ,
escaped martyrdom, except Judas and John. Judas betrayed the Lord, and
then sacrificed his own life; and John received the promise of the Lord
that he should live until He came again to the earth. All the others
were put to death, some crucified, some dragged in the streets of Rome,
some thrown from pinnacles, and some stoned to death. What for? For
obeying the law of God and bearing testimony to that which they knew to
be {315} true. So may it be today. But let the spirit of this gospel
be so imbedded in my soul that though I go through poverty, through
tribulation, through persecution, or to death, let me and my house
serve God and keep his laws. However, the promise is that you shall be
blessed through obedience. God will honor those who honor him, and will
remember those who remember him. He will uphold and sustain all those
who sustain truth and are faithful to it. God help us, therefore, to be
faithful to the truth, now and forever.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1900, pp. 49, 50.
QUALIFICATIONS OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS. Now we all need patience,
forbearance, forgiveness, humility, charity, love unfeigned,
devotion to the truth, abhorrence of sin and wickedness, rebellion
and disobedience to the requirements of the gospel. These are the
qualifications requisite to Latter-day Saints and to becoming
Latter-day Saints and members in good standing in the Church of Jesus
Christ and heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. No member
in good standing in the Church will be drunken or riotous or profane
or will take advantage of his brother or his neighbor, or will violate
the principles of virtue and honor and righteousness. No member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing will
ever be chargeable with such offenses as these, because members will
avoid these evils, and they will live above them. Then we have a
mission in the world: each man, each woman, each child who has grown to
understanding or to the years of accountability, ought to be an example
to the world. They ought not only to be qualified to preach the truth,
to bear testimony of the truth, but ought to live so that the very life
they live, the very words they speak, their every action in life will
be a sermon to the unwary and to the ignorant, teaching them goodness,
purity, uprightness, faith in God and love for the human family.--_Apr.
C. R.,_ 1916, pp. 6, 7.
PERFECTION IN OUR SPHERE. I sincerely hope that the {316} spirit of
the conference will abide with us, will go with us to our homes, and
that we will be able to continue to build on the foundations of the
gospel of the Son of God until we become perfect, even as our Father
in heaven is perfect, according to the sphere and intelligence that we
act in and possess. I do not expect that any of us will ever become in
mortality quite so perfect as God is perfect; but in the spheres in
which we are called to act, and according to the capacity and breadth
of intelligence that we possess, in our sphere, and in the existence of
the talent, the ability, and intelligence that God has given to us, we
may become as perfect in our sphere as God is perfect in his higher and
more exalted sphere. I believe that.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1915, p. 140.
LET EVERY MAN LIVE TO BEAR CLOSEST INSPECTION. Let every man's life be
so that his character will bear the closest inspection, and that it may
be seen as an open book, so that he will have nothing to shrink from
or be ashamed of. Let all men who are elevated to positions of trust
in the Church live so that no man can point to their faults, because
they will have no faults; so that no man can justly accuse them of
wrongdoing, because they do no wrong; that no man can point out their
defects as "human" and as "weak mortals," because they are living
up to the principles of the gospel, and are not merely "weak human
creatures," devoid of the Spirit of God and the power to live above
sin. That is the way for all men to live in the kingdom of God.--_Oct.
C. R.,_ 1906, pp. 9, 10.
NEED OF INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY. It is not safe for men or women
to conclude that because they have fulfilled carefully their public
responsibilities they have done all that is required of them. Public
requirements are changeable. Public demands vary with the times.
Sometimes they are strict and sometimes they are very lax. Public
sentiment becomes fickle and it is often indifferent to the conduct of
individuals who take license from a public indifference to wrongdoing.
{317} Individual responsibility is more concerned with the duties which
men owe to their God whose requirements are positive and constant. When
men feel that they are ever under an All-seeing Eye, their conduct is
measured in the strictest terms. They are not subject to lapses of
public sentiment.
The first and highest standard of correct living is to be found in
that individual responsibility which keeps men good for the truth's
sake. It is not difficult for men who are true to themselves to be
true to others. Men who honor God in their private lives do not need
the restraint of public opinion which may not only be indifferent but
positively wrong. It is by the individual responsibilities which men
feel that they are able to place themselves on the right side of all
public questions. Those who neglect the inner life are dependent upon
public guidance which leads them into all sorts of inconsistencies.
To walk safely and steadfastly without leaning upon the arm of flesh
is the individual duty of every Latter-day Saint. Such a duty becomes
a responsibility which men owe to themselves and to their God. The
Saints should study their responsibilities, both public and individual,
and find out, if they can, just what they are.--_Juvenile Instructor,_
December, 1909, Vol. 44, p. 519.
CONQUER OURSELVES FIRST. I feel very grateful for the excellent peace
and spirit which has pervaded all our meetings. It is true we are all
engaged in a warfare, and all of us should be valiant warriors in the
cause in which we are engaged. Our first enemy we will find within
ourselves. It is a good thing to overcome that enemy first and bring
ourselves into subjection to the will of the Father, and into strict
obedience to the principles of life and salvation which he has given
to the world for the salvation of men. When we shall have conquered
ourselves, it will be well for us to wage our war without, against
false teachings, {318} false doctrines, false customs, habits and
ways, against error, unbelief, the follies of the world that are so
prevalent, and against infidelity, and false science, under the name of
science, and every other thing that strikes at the foundations of the
principles set forth in the doctrine of Christ for the redemption of
men and the salvation of their souls.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1914, p. 128.
LET US CONQUER OURSELVES. Let us conquer ourselves, and then go to
and conquer all the evil that we see around us, as far as we possibly
can. And we will do it without using violence; we will do it without
interfering with the agency of men or of women. We will do it by
persuasion, by long-suffering, by patience, and by forgiveness and love
unfeigned, by which we will win the hearts, the affections and the
souls of the children of men to the truth as God has revealed it to us.
We will never have peace, nor justice, nor truth, until we look to the
only true fountain for it, and receive from the fountainhead.--_Oct. C.
R.,_ 1906, p. 129.
CHARITY THE GREATEST PRINCIPLE. Charity, or love, is the greatest
principle in existence. If we can lend a helping hand to the oppressed,
if we can aid those who are despondent and in sorrow, if we can uplift
and ameliorate the condition of mankind, it is our mission to do it, it
is an essential part of our religion to do it._--Apr. C. R.,_ 1918, p.
4.
LOOK FOR GOOD; NOT FOR EVIL. Change the focus of your view, and of
your eye, from watching for evil to watching for that which is good,
that which is pure, and leading and prompting those who err into that
path which has no error in it, and that will not admit of mistakes.
Look for good in men, and where they fail to possess it, try to build
it up in them; try to increase the good in them; look for the good;
build up the good; sustain the good; and speak as little about the
evil as you possibly can. It does not do any good to magnify evil, to
publish evil, or to promulgate {319} it by tongue or pen. There is no
good to be obtained by it. It is better to bury the evil and magnify
the good, and prompt all men to forsake evil and learn to do good;
and let our mission be to save mankind and to teach and guide in the
path of righteousness, and not to sit as judges and pass judgment upon
evil-doers, but rather to be saviors of men.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1913, p. 8.
ESTIMATE MEN BY THEIR NOBLE DEEDS. One fruitful source of apostasy
from the Church comes from an inclination on the part of those who
apostatize to consider the small, mostly unintentionally committed
errors of its officers, rather than the broader and more important
labors which enter into their experience. Young men so inclined
turn from the infinite truth of the gospel, and the mighty plan of
salvation, the eternal purposes of God, to carp and cavil upon the
insignificant actions and the imperfect achievements of men, judging
the inspiring magnitude of the former by the disagreeable and tiresome
detail of the latter. Many of the serious annoyances of communal life
among the Saints would be obliterated entirely, if men would search for
the great and noble aspirations actuating their neighbors, rather than
for the imperfect sidelights that lay bare their puny shortcomings.
Those who wish to advance in the world will avoid soul-destroying,
mind-narrowing thoughts, and devote the days allotted to them, which it
will be found are none too numerous, in studying the greater, nobler,
and grander subjects that tend to build character, provide happiness,
and create harmony with the mighty purposes of the Church and its
founder, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us estimate our brethren by their best desires and noblest
aspirations, not by their trifling shortcomings and failures.
We estimate the majesty of the Wasatch by Monte Christo, Baldy,
Observatory, the mighty Cottonwoods, Clayton, Timpanogos, and Nebo--its
loftiest peaks--not by its rolling elevations or hillocky spurs, rocky
ravines or trifling {320} canyons. So also let us judge our fellows,
and so the Church. It is the better way.--_Improvement Era,_ March,
1902, Vol. 5, p. 388.
LET US SUSTAIN ONE ANOTHER. Let us sustain Christ, his people, and his
cause of righteousness and redemption; let us sustain one another in
the right, and kindly admonish one another in regard to wrongdoing,
that we may be friends and saviors on Mount Zion, one for another, and
that we may help the weak and strengthen them, encourage the doubtful
and bring light to their right understanding as far as it is possible,
that we may be instrumental in the hands of God of being saviors among
men. Not that we have power to save men. We have not; but we have power
to show them how they can obtain salvation through obedience to the
laws of God. We can show them how to walk in order to be saved, for we
have the right to do that, we have knowledge and understanding as to
how to do it, and it is our privilege to teach it and to enforce it by
example as well as by precept among our associates wherever we are in
the world.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1907, pp. 9, 10.
DO NOT BEAR MALICE AGAINST ONE ANOTHER. Brethren and sisters, we
want you to be united. We hope and pray that you will go from this
conference to your homes feeling in your hearts and from the depths
of your souls to forgive one another, and never from this time forth
to bear malice toward another fellow creature. I do not care whether
he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or
not, whether he is a friend or a foe, whether he is good or bad. It
is extremely hurtful for any man holding the priesthood, and enjoying
the gift of the Holy Ghost, to harbor a spirit of envy, or malice, or
retaliation, or intolerance toward or against his fellowmen. We ought
to say in our hearts, let God judge between me and thee, but as for
me, I will forgive. I want to say to you that Latter-day Saints who
harbor a feeling of unforgiveness {321} in their souls are more guilty
and more censurable than the one who has sinned against them. Go home
and dismiss envy and hatred from your hearts; dismiss the feeling of
unforgiveness; and cultivate in your souls that spirit of Christ which
cried out upon the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they do." This is the spirit that Latter-day Saints ought to possess
all the day long. The man who has that spirit in his heart and keeps it
there will never have any trouble with his neighbor; he will never have
any difficulties to bring before the bishop, nor high council; but he
will always be at peace with himself, at peace with his neighbors, and
at peace with God. It is a good thing to be at peace with God.--_Oct.
C. R.,_ 1902, pp. 86, 87.
HONOR YOURSELVES AND YOUR NEIGHBORS. We admonish, we beseech our
brothers and sisters, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, not only to honor
themselves by a proper course of living, but also to honor and love and
be charitable to their neighbors, every one of them. We admonish you
not only to keep the greatest of all the commandments that has ever
been given of God to man, to love the Lord your God, with all your
heart, and mind, and strength, but we exhort you also to observe that
second law, next unto it, to love your neighbors as yourselves; return
good for evil, do not revile others because you are or may be reviled.
We have no need to tear down the houses of other people (using this
expression as a symbol). We are perfectly willing that they should live
in the homes they have erected for themselves, and we will try to show
them a better way. While we will not condemn that which they love and
cherish above all other things in the world, we will endeavor to show
them a better way and build them a better house, and then invite them
kindly, in the spirit of Christ, of true Christianity, to enter the
better dwelling. This is the principle, and I wish to impress it upon
you this morning. I desire to impress, if I can, upon the minds of the
parents the necessity of properly {322} instructing and teaching their
children with reference to this glorious principle, charity and love,
that love for our neighbor that will enable us to cherish his rights as
sacredly as we cherish our own, to defend his rights and liberties, put
up the fallen bars in the fences of our neighbors that are carelessly
left down, just as we would put our own bars up surrounding our own
fields, in order to protect our crops from the ravages of stray
animals.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1917, p. 4.
AVOID COURTS. Be reconciled to each other. Do not go to the courts of
the Church nor to the courts of the land for litigation. Settle your
own troubles and difficulties; and, as Bishop Hunter used to say, which
is an axiom that cannot be disputed, there is only one way in which a
difficulty existing between man and man can be truly settled, and that
is when they get together and settle it between them. The courts cannot
settle troubles between me and my brother._--Oct. C. R.,_ 1916, pp. 6,
7.
LET US LIVE OUR RELIGION. I will say now to all of the Latter-day
Saints: Let us live our religion; let us pay our tithing and be
blessed; let us remember the poor and the needy, and sustain and help
them; let us visit the sick and afflicted, and administer consolation
unto them; let us help the weak; let us do all in our power to build
up Zion, to establish righteousness in the earth, and to plant in the
hearts of the people the glorious truth that Jesus is the Christ,
the Redeemer of the world, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the
living God, whom the Lord raised up in these last days to restore
the everlasting gospel and the power of the holy priesthood to the
world.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1902, p. 88.
LET US BE TRUE TO THE FAITH. We should set an example; we should be
true to the faith, as Brother Stephens sings to us; true to the faith!
We should be true to our covenants, true to our God, and true to one
another, and to the interests of Zion, no matter what the consequences
may be, no matter what may result. I can tell you that the man {323}
who is not true to Zion and to the interests of the people will be the
man who will be found, by and by, left out and in a pitiable spiritual
condition. The man who stays with the kingdom of God, the man who is
true to this people, the man who keeps himself pure and unspotted from
the world, is the man that God will accept, that God will uphold, that
he will sustain, and that will prosper in the land, whether he be in
the enjoyment of his liberty or be confined in prison cells, it makes
no difference where he is, he will come out all right.--_Oct. C. R.,_
1906, p. 9.
CHURCH DUTIES ARE PARAMOUNT. Our duties in the Church should be, I
think, paramount to every other interest in the world. It is true that
we are under the necessity of looking after our worldly interests. It
is, of course, necessary for us to labor with our hands and our minds,
in our various occupations for obtaining the necessaries of life. It
is essential that the Latter-day Saints should be industrious and
persevering in all the labors that devolve upon them, for it is written
that "the inhabitants of Zion shall remember their labors, inasmuch as
they are appointed to labor, in all faithfulness; for the idler shall
be had in remembrance before the Lord." Again it is written: "Let every
man be diligent in all things. And the idler shall not have place in
the Church, except he repent and mend his ways." Again: "Thou shalt
not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear
the garments of the laborer." But in all our labors in life, in all
the cares that beset us, and the temporal responsibilities that rest
upon us, we should put uppermost in our thoughts, and highest in our
appreciation and love, the cause of Zion, which is indeed the cause of
truth and righteousness.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1907, p. 2. See Doc. and Cov.
42:42; 68:30; 75:29.
WE SHOULD STUDY THE GOSPEL. I believe it is good to seek knowledge out
of the best books, to learn the histories of nations, to be able to
comprehend the purposes of {324} God with reference to the nations of
the earth; and I believe that one of the most important things, and
perhaps more important to us than studying the history of the world, is
that we study and become thoroughly acquainted with the principles of
the gospel, that they may be established in our hearts and souls, above
all other things, to qualify us to go out into the world to preach
and teach them. We may know all about the philosophy of the ages and
the history of the nations of the earth; we may study the wisdom and
knowledge of man and get all the information that we can acquire in a
lifetime of research and study, but all of it put together will never
qualify any one to become a minister of the gospel unless he has the
knowledge and spirit of the first principles of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1915, p. 138.
ENCOURAGE SINGING. It delights my heart to see our little children
learning to sing, and to see the people, our people everywhere,
improving their talents as good singers. Everywhere we go among our
people, we find sweet voices and talent for music. I believe that this
is a manifestation to us of the purpose of the Lord in this direction
toward our people, that they will excel in these things, as they should
excel in every other good thing.--_Apr. C. R.,_ Sunday School, 1904, p.
81.
CULTIVATE SINGING. I can remember when I was a little boy, hearing my
father sing. I do not know how much of a singer he was, for at that
time I was not capable of judging as to the quality of his singing,
but the hymns he sang became familiar to me, even in the days of my
childhood. I believe that I can sing them still, although I am not
much of a singer. When young men go out into the world to preach the
gospel, they will find it very beneficial for them to know how to sing
the songs of Zion. I repeat the admonition and request made by Brother
McMurrin, who {325} has recently returned from a lengthy mission to
Europe, that the young men who are eligible to preach the gospel, and
who are likely to be called into the missionary field, begin at once
to improve their talent to sing, and do not think it is beneath their
dignity to join the choirs of the wards in which they live and learn
how to sing. When we listen to this choir, under the leadership of
Brother Stephens, we listen to music, and music is truth. Good music
is gracious praise of God. It is delightsome to the ear, and it is one
of our most acceptable methods of worshiping God. And those who sing
in the choir and in all the choirs of the Saints, should sing with the
spirit and with the understanding. They should not sing merely because
it is a profession, or because they have a good voice; but they should
sing also because they have the spirit of it, and can enter into the
spirit of prayer and praise to God who gave them their sweet voices. My
soul is always lifted up, and my spirit cheered and comforted, when I
hear good music. I rejoice in it very much indeed.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1899,
pp. 68, 69.
BE FREE FROM DEBT. One of these subjects is, that in the time of
prosperity, which we are now enjoying, it is highly proper for the
Latter-day Saints to get out of debt. I have unceasingly urged this
thought upon the brethren for the past year or more. Wherever I have
had the opportunity of speaking, I have scarcely ever forgotten to
hold out to the people the necessity--that I feel, at least--of our
settling our obligations and freeing ourselves from debt in the day
of prosperity. Our experience in the years that have passed must have
led us to the conclusion that we have periods of prosperity, followed
by periods of depression. We have now had a long period of success
and prosperity, and we may expect, almost at any time, to see these
conditions change and a time of depression spread over the land and
over the people. I would say, in connection with this subject, that
one of the best ways that I know of to pay my {326} obligations to my
brother, my neighbor, or business associate, is for me first to pay my
obligations to the Lord. I can pay more of my debts to my neighbors, if
I have contracted them, after I have met my honest obligations with the
Lord, than I can by neglecting the latter; and you can do the same. If
you desire to prosper, and to be free men and women and a free people,
first meet your just obligations to God, and then meet your obligations
to your fellowman. Bishop Hunter used to put the matter in these words:
"Brethren, pay your tithing and be blessed," and that is just what I
mean.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1903, p. 2.
WHAT THE LORD REQUIRES OF HIS SAINTS. There is a circumstance recorded
in the Scriptures, that has been brought forcibly to my mind while
listening to the remarks of the elders who have spoken to us during
conference. A young man came to Jesus and asked what good things he
should do that he might have eternal life. Jesus said unto him, "Keep
the commandments." The young man asked which of them. Then Jesus
enumerated to him some of the commandments that he was to keep--he
should not murder, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor bear false
witness, but he should honor his father and mother, and love his
neighbor as himself, etc. Said the young man, "All these I have kept
from my youth up: what lack I yet?" Jesus said, "If thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." And we are told
that he turned away sorrowful, because he had great possessions. He
would not hearken to, nor obey the law of God in this matter. Not that
Jesus required of the young man to go and sell all that he possessed
and give it away; that is not the principle involved. The great
principle involved is that which the elders of Israel are endeavoring
to enforce upon the minds of the Latter-day Saints today. When the
young man turned away in sorrow, Jesus said to his disciples, "A rich
man {327} shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." (See Matt.
19:16-23.)
Is this because the rich man is rich? No. May not the rich man, who has
the light of God in his heart, who possesses the principle and spirit
of truth, and who understands the principle of God's government and law
in the world, enter into the kingdom of heaven as easily, and be as
acceptable there as the poor man may? Precisely. God is not a respecter
of persons. The rich man may enter into the kingdom of heaven as freely
as the poor, if he will bring his heart and affections into subjection
to the law of God and to the principle of truth; if he will place his
affections upon God, his heart upon the truth, and his soul upon the
accomplishment of God's purposes, and not fix his affections and his
hopes upon the things of the world. Here is the difficulty, and this
was the difficulty with the young man. He had great possessions, and he
preferred to rely upon his wealth rather than forsake all and follow
Christ. If he had possessed the spirit of truth in his heart to have
known the will of God, and to have loved the Lord with all his heart
and his neighbor as himself, he would have said to the Lord, "Yea,
Lord, I will do as you require, I will go and sell all that I have, and
give it to the poor." If he had had it in his heart to do this, that
alone might have been sufficient, and the demand would probably have
stopped there; for undoubtedly the Lord did not deem it essential for
him to go and give his riches away, or to sell his possessions and give
the proceeds away, in order that he might be perfect, for that, in a
measure, would have been improvident. Yet, if it had required all this
to test him and to prove him, to see whether he loved the Lord with all
his heart, mind, and strength, and his neighbor as himself, then he
ought to have been willing to do it; and if he had been, he would have
lacked nothing and would have received the gift of eternal life, which
is the greatest gift of God, and which can be received on no {328}
other principle than the one mentioned by Jesus to the young man. If
you will read the sixth lecture on faith, in the book of Doctrine and
Covenants, you will learn that no man can obtain the gift of eternal
life unless he is willing to sacrifice all earthly things in order to
obtain it. We cannot do this so long as our affections are fixed upon
the world.
It is true that we are in a measure of the earth, earthy; we belong to
the world. Our affections and our souls are here; our treasures are
here, and where the treasure is there the heart is. But if we will lay
up our treasures in heaven; if we will wean our affections from the
things of this world, and say to the Lord our God, "Father, not my
will, but thine be done," then may the will of God be done on earth as
it is done in heaven, and the kingdom of God in its power and glory
will be established upon the earth. Sin and Satan will be bound and
banished from the earth, and not until we attain to this condition of
mind and faith will this be done.
Then let the Saints unite; let them hearken to the voices of the
servants of God that are sounded in their ears; let them hearken to
their counsels and give heed to the truth; let them seek their own
salvation, for, so far as I am concerned, I am so selfish that I
am seeking after my salvation, and I know that I can find it only
in obedience to the laws of God, in keeping the commandments, in
performing works of righteousness, following in the footsteps of our
file leader, Jesus the Exemplar and the Head of all. He is the Way of
life, he is the Light of the world, he is the Door by which we must
enter, in order that we may have a place with him in the celestial
kingdom of God.--_Journal of Discourses,_ Vol. 18, 1877, pp. 133-135.
CULTIVATE GRATITUDE. We are almost daily put under obligations to one
another, especially to friends and acquaintances, and the sense of
obligation creates within us feelings of thankfulness and appreciation
which we call gratitude. The spirit of gratitude is always pleasant and
satisfying {329} because it carries with it a sense of helpfulness to
others; it begets love and friendship, and engenders divine influence.
Gratitude is said to be the memory of the heart.
And where there is an absence of gratitude, either to God or man, there
is the presence of vanity and the spirit of self-sufficiency. Speaking
of Israel, Paul says: "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified
him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." (Rom. 1:21)
Thomas Gibbons expresses in verse most beautifully the idea of
ingratitude:
"That man may last, but never lives,
Who much receives, but nothing gives;
Whom none can love, whom none can thank,
Creation's blot, creation's blank."
Naturally people feel grateful to those who have done them a kindness,
and the feeling of gratitude is generally a sufficient compensation
for those who have done a kind and unselfish act. But when one does
a favor for another, and behind that favor is the secret and selfish
intent that the gratitude which is awakened by the favor shall become a
debt which the receiver at some time and in some way must repay to the
selfish needs of the one who bestowed the favor, then gratitude becomes
a debt which it is expected will be paid.
An act of apparent kindness can never result in good when it is
intended to put any man under obligations that deprive him of his
freedom to act. That is the characteristic of a politician. It is
buying up one's freedom, and such a bargain is worse upon the man who
seeks to make it than Shylock's contract for a pound of flesh.
When we win the friendship of others, because that friendship is
helpful and encouraging to us, and because we need it for our happiness
in life, gratitude of others toward us has a {330} beautiful and
lasting charm. That is the gratitude which Saints enjoy.
It is always safer and better to enjoy the gratitude which we feel
to others than to set store upon the gratitude which we think others
should have toward us. The grateful man sees so much in the world to be
thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers
jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys
our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier
we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful
we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a
thankful attitude toward God and man!--_Juvenile Instructor,_ Vol. 38,
April, 1903, pp. 242, 243.
BACKBITING. In a letter recently received by me, the following request
and question were submitted for my opinion: "I would like you to define
backbiting. There seems to be a difference of opinion respecting the
meaning of the term. Some claim that so long as you speak the truth
about a person, it is not backbiting, no matter what you say or how you
say it. Would it not be better, if we knew a person had faults, to go
to him privately and labor with him, than to go to others and speak of
his faults?"
Nothing could be farther from the spirit and genius of the gospel than
to suppose that we are always justified in speaking the truth about a
person, however harmful the truth to him may be. The gospel teaches
us the fundamental principles of repentance, and we have no right
to discredit a man in the estimation of his fellowmen when he has
truly repented and God has forgiven him. We are constantly beset by
temptation, and often say and do things of which we immediately repent,
and no doubt, if our repentance is genuine, it is always acceptable to
our Heavenly Father. After he has accepted the contrition of the human
heart and forgiven men their trespasses, it is dangerous for {331} us
to hold up their evil deeds for the contempt of the world.
As a rule, it is not necessary to be constantly offering advice to
those who in our judgment are possessed of some fault. In the first
place, our judgments may be in error, and in the second place, we
may be dealing with a man who is strongly imbued with the spirit
of repentance, and who, conscious of his weakness, is constantly
struggling to overcome it. The utmost care, therefore, should be
observed in all our language that implies a reproach of others. As
a general rule, backbiting is better determined by the spirit and
purpose that actuate us in speaking of things we consider faults in
others than in the words themselves. A man or woman who possesses the
Spirit of God will soon detect in his or her own feelings the spirit
of backbiting, as that spirit is present in the remarks that are made
concerning others. The question of backbiting, therefore, is probably
best determined by the ancient rule that, "the letter killeth but the
spirit giveth life."--_Juvenile Instructor,_ October 15, 1904, Vol. 39,
p. 625.
DO NOT INFLICT WOUNDS, BUT HEAL WOUNDS. Almost anyone can inflict a
wound. It may be made by a word, a slight, or by general conduct. But
the healing of a wound is an art not acquired by practice, alone, but
by the loving tenderness that comes from universal good will and a
sympathetic interest in the welfare and happiness of others. If people
were always as ready to administer kindness as they are indifferent to
the pain of others--if they were as patient to heal as they are quick
to wound--many an unkind word would never be spoken, many a slight
would be avoided. The art of healing is really one of the highest
qualities and attributes of man; it is a characteristic of a great and
noble soul; the sure indication of generous impulse.
In the discipline of the home, of the school, and social life, the
infliction of wounds may be unavoidable, if they be {332} not an actual
necessity; but wounds should never be left open to fester--they should
be bound up and cared for until they are healed. Perhaps the most
perfect ideal in the art of healing is the mother whose tender and
gracious love asserts itself in taking away the sting of a deserved
or undeserved punishment. How her love heals every wound! How quick
her caresses bind up and soothe! The example of her life is the wisdom
which love teaches. In the school, children may suffer humiliation into
which their wayward or careless conduct has brought them, and their
punishment may be just; but their wounds the teacher should never leave
unhealed. Nature wounds us when we violate her laws; but nature has
her antiseptic methods of treating and healing every wound. The wise
teacher has his also.
The cultivation of kindly thoughts and sentiments towards others is
always helpful in the art of healing. It is sometimes helpful to
lift ourselves out of our own shells in which, by our surroundings
and habits of thought, we are incrusted, and place ourselves in the
positions which others occupy in life. Constant consideration for the
welfare and happiness of others, is every day imposed upon us by the
divine injunction, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
The test, then, of our soul's greatness is rather to be sought in our
ability to comfort and console, our ability to help others, rather
than in our ability to help ourselves and crowd others down in the
struggle of life. If the reader will stop a moment to reflect upon the
healing qualities of Christ's life, he will understand that Christ
was a Master in the art of healing, not alone of the wounds he made,
but of self-inflicted wounds, and the wounds that others made. What a
comfort his life is to those in sorrow! How instinctively our thoughts
turn to him! How prone we are to go to him for consolation He is truly
the great Healer of the afflictions of others.--_Juvenile Instructor,_
March, 1903, Vol. 38, pp. 178, 179.
{333} USE GOOD LANGUAGE. Language, like thought, makes its impression
and is recalled by the memory in a way that may be unpleasant if not
harmful to those who have been compelled to listen to unseemly words.
Thoughts that in themselves are not proper may be exalted or debased by
the language used to express them. If inelegant expressions should be
eschewed, what shall be said of profanity?--_Juvenile Instructor,_ May
1, 1906, Vol. 41, p. 272.
DO NOT DESTROY LIFE WANTONLY. I have just a few words to say in
addition to those that have already been said, in relation to shedding
blood and to the destruction of life. I think that every soul should be
impressed by the sentiments that have been expressed here this evening
by all who have spoken, and not less with reference to the killing of
our innocent birds, natives of our country, who live upon the vermin
that are indeed enemies to the farmer and to mankind. It is not only
wicked to destroy them, it is abominable, in my opinion. I think that
this principle should extend, not only to the bird life, but to the
life of all animals. When I visited, a few years ago, the Yellowstone
National Park, and saw in the streams and the beautiful lakes, birds
swimming quite fearless of man, allowing passers-by to approach them
as closely almost as tame birds, and apprehending no fear of them, and
when I saw droves of beautiful deer herding along the side of the road,
as fearless of the presence of men as any domestic animal, it filled
my heart with a degree of peace and joy that seemed to be almost a
foretaste of that period hoped for when there shall be none to hurt and
none to molest in all the land, especially among all the inhabitants of
Zion. These same birds, if they were to visit other regions, inhabited
by man, would, on account of their tameness, doubtless become more
easily a prey to the gunner. The same may be said of those beautiful
creatures--the deer and antelope. If they should wander out of the
park, beyond the protection that is established there for these
animals, {334} they would become, of course, an easy prey to those who
were seeking their lives. I never could see why a man should be imbued
with a blood-thirsty desire to kill and destroy animal life. I have
known men--and they still exist among us--who enjoy what is, to them,
the "sport" of hunting birds and slaying them by the hundreds, and who
will come in after a day's sport, boasting of how many harmless birds
they have had the skill to slaughter, and day after day, during the
season when it is lawful for men to hunt and kill (the birds having had
a season of protection and not apprehending danger) go out by scores or
hundreds, and you may hear their guns early in the morning on the day
of the opening, as if great armies had met in battle; and the terrible
work of slaughtering the innocent birds goes on.
I do not believe any man should kill animals or birds unless he needs
them for food, and then he should not kill innocent little birds that
are not intended for food for man. I think it is wicked for men to
thirst in their souls to kill almost everything which possesses animal
life. It is wrong, and I have been surprised at prominent men whom I
have seen whose very souls seemed to be athirst for the shedding of
animal blood. They go off hunting deer, antelope, elk, anything they
can find, and what for? "Just for the fun of it!" Not that they are
hungry and need the flesh of their prey, but just because they love
to shoot and to destroy life. I am a firm believer, with reference to
these things, in the simple words of one of the poets:
"Take not away the life you cannot give,
For all things have an equal right to live."
--_Juvenile Instructor,_ April, 1913, Vol. 48, pp. 308-309.
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. The point which seems the most perspicuous, and
which will appear with greatest force to your minds, no doubt, on this
occasion, is that it should have a speedy ending. Not so, however,
with the efforts of those students who graduate with honors from this
college, {335} today. Before them lies a strange, meandering, endless
path, by them as yet untrodden, however well beaten by the weary feet
of pilgrims who have passed over to the great beyond. This path is
fraught with all there is in life, of good or ill to them. They are
entering upon the great problem of life, and each will be compelled
to solve that problem for himself. The problem of death--which is
spiritual midnight--the unenlightened soul--will solve itself. As the
stream flows naturally down the slope to the dead waters of our inland
sea, so is the common trend of the natural man down to the dark valley
of the shadows of death. He needs to make no effort to reach this goal;
by lazily floating on the tide of common events, he will reach it all
too soon. But, to the fountain of life, to the summit of existence, to
the fulness of moral, religious and intellectual manhood, the finger
board of truth points eternally up the stream. To reach this glorious
fountain, to scale this magnificent height, one must work; he must stem
the current, must climb the hill--must climb and work and persevere.
Thus he will succeed.
It is a very important thing to make a commencement in life. It is
no less important to make that commencement upon a sound and proper
footing. A man going to the summit of Twin Peaks, which tower towards
the heavens on the southeast of us, will have a long, weary journey
before he reaches his destination. Although not far away at first,
if he starts off toward the northwest, the longer he continues in
that direction the further he goes from his objective point. True, he
may circumscribe the earth and, if he keep the proper bearing, will
come back to the point at last. But eternity is a wondrous globe to
circumnavigate, and we will find it to our advantage not to undertake
the feat when we can so easily avoid it by commencing as we should.
Error is a worthless and an injurious thing. To avoid it should always
be our careful study. Mistakes, if they are indeed mistakes, are never
fortunate, and may be extremely painful {336} and hard to rectify. But
the sooner rectified the better. It is braver and more honorable to
promptly disavow and fly from error, no matter what the present seeming
cost, or to frankly acknowledge a mistake, and apologize for it, and
thus get rid of it, than to crouch beneath the burden, which is moral
cowardice.
The students now graduating from this school in the branches of
education which they have taken, are ready to commence the application
of the knowledge they have acquired to the practical duties of life.
You may apply this knowledge to the development of the natural
resources and prosperity of our country, or to the betterment of the
social problems of the times in which you live, or you may apply it to
the further intellectual development of yourselves and others. That
which you have gained by study and the assistance of your teachers
should be wisely used by you as an aid to the attainment of other and
greater knowledge.
Whatever may be your course in the future, or your choice of
occupation, always remember the grand scriptural injunction:
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there
is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave,
whither thou goest." (Ec. 9:10.) This scripture applies directly to the
temporal life and death, and only to them. Whatever is worth doing at
all, should be well and faithfully and thoroughly done. The failures
occurring in the legitimate pursuits of life, resulting solely from the
unprofitableness thereof, are few and far between. The vast majority of
failures are the results of neglect, or of want of careful attention,
or of ignorance, or of dishonesty on the part of the applicants, and
not of the business itself.
Carefully select your occupation with a view to your qualifications or
adaptability therefor; let it be worthy of the noblest ambition and
purest desire, and then engage in it in earnest, put your heart into
it, and your mind upon it, with due consideration to other essential
things, until you {337} succeed. All extremes should be avoided. To
fix the heart and mind upon a single object, however good, and close
the eyes to all else in life, may make an expert, a bigot, or a crank,
but never a wise and broad-minded man. It is foolish to become too
much absorbed in material things. Labor and relaxation should go hand
in hand, and pure and undefiled religion will lighten every burden
you have to bear, and help to sweeten the bitter draught of many a
sorrowing soul. The proper admixture of labor and leisure will not only
promote the highest mental capabilities, but also the most perfect
physical conditions.
Man is a dual being. He is spiritual and he is physical. The latter is
dependent upon the former for intelligence and life. The body without
the spirit is dead, but the spirit is an immortal and an independent
principle and being. It is the more important part, yet man bestows
more thought and labor upon the body, as a rule, than upon the better
part. Neither should be neglected, least of all, the spiritual. This
is truth, and it is the truth that makes man free. By it they stand,
without it they fall.
The Great Teacher of the world has said, "If ye continue in my word,
then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-2.) Again: "And truth is
knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to
come." (Doc. and Cov. 93:24.)
This knowledge of truth, combined with proper regard for it, and its
faithful observance, constitutes true education. The mere stuffing of
the mind with a knowledge of facts is not education. The mind must not
only posses a knowledge of truth, but the soul must revere it, cherish
it, love it as a priceless gem; and this human life must be guided
and shaped by it in order to fulfil its destiny. The mind should not
only be charged with intelligence, but the soul should be filled with
admiration and desire for pure intelligence {338} which comes of a
knowledge of the truth. The truth can only make him free who hath it,
and will continue in it. And the word of God is truth, and it will
endure forever.
Educate yourself not only for time, but also for eternity. The
latter of the two is the more important. Therefore, when we shall
have completed the studies of time, and enter upon the commencement
ceremonies of the great hereafter, we will find our work is not
finished, but just begun, we may then say with the poet:
"Lay this aside--say not your work is done,
No need of love or goodness ever dies,
But in the lives of others--multiplies,
Say it has just begun."
In conclusion permit me to repeat a portion of the first psalm:
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law
doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth
away."--_Contributor,_ Vol. 16, pp. 569-571. Delivered at the
commencement exercises of the Latter-day Saints College, Salt Lake
City, June 5, 1895.
OUR MAIN PURPOSE OF LIFE. The important consideration is not how long
we can live but how well we can learn the lesson of life, and discharge
our duties and obligations to God and to one another. One of the main
purposes of our existence is that we might conform to the image and
likeness of him who sojourned in the flesh without blemish--immaculate,
pure, and spotless! Christ came not only to atone for the sins of
the world, but to set an example before all men and to establish the
standard of God's {339} perfection, of God's law, and of obedience to
the Father.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 21, p. 104 December, 1917.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. Love your neighbor as yourself? How are you
to do it? If your neighbor is in danger, protect him to the utmost of
your power. If you see your neighbor's property in danger of injury,
protect his property as you would your own, as far as it lies in your
power: If your neighbor's boy or girl is going astray, go directly
to your neighbor, in the spirit of love, and help him to reclaim his
child. How are we to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It is
the simplest thing in the world; but too many people are selfish and
narrow and not given to that breadth of feeling which reaches out and
considers the benefit and welfare of their neighbors; and they narrow
themselves down to their own peculiar and particular benefit and
blessing and well being, and feel it to say: "O, let my neighbor take
care of himself." That is not the spirit that should characterize a
Latter-day Saint.--_Improvement Era,_ Vol. 21, pp. 103, 104, December,
1917.
QUESTION OF CHURCH LEADERS. We have come to ask you if you are in
strict accord with the two great commandments: "Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind, * * * and thy neighbor as thyself."--_Improvement Era,_ Vol.
21, p. 98, December, 1917; Matt. 22: 34-40.
THE SIN OF INGRATITUDE. And I believe that one of the greatest sins
of which the inhabitants of the earth are guilty today is the sin of
ingratitude, the want of acknowledgement, on their part, of God and his
right to govern and control. We see a man raised up with extraordinary
gifts, or with great intelligence, and he is instrumental in developing
some great principle. He and the world ascribe his great genius and
wisdom to himself. He attributes his success to his own energies,
labor and mental capacity. He does not acknowledge the hand of God in
anything connected {340} with his success, but ignores him altogether
and takes the honor to himself; this will apply to almost all the
world. In all the great modern discoveries in science, in the arts,
in mechanics, and in all material advancement of the age, the world
says, "We have done it." The individual says, "I have done it," and he
gives no honor or credit to God. Now, I read in the revelations through
Joseph Smith, the prophet, that because of this, God is not pleased
with the inhabitants of the earth but is angry with them because they
will not acknowledge his hand in all things.--_Deseret Weekly News,_
1884, Vol. 33, p. 130; Doc. and Cov. 59:21.
{341}
CHAPTER XVI.
MARRIAGE, THE HOME AND THE FAMILY
NECESSITY OF MARRIAGE. The house of the Lord is a house of order and
not a house of confusion; and that means that the man is not without
the woman in the Lord, neither is the woman without the man in the
Lord; and that no man can be saved and exalted in the kingdom of God
without the woman, and no woman can reach the perfection and exaltation
in the kingdom of God alone. That is what it means. God instituted
marriage in the beginning. He made man in his own image and likeness,
male and female, and in their creation it was designed that they should
be united together in sacred bonds of marriage, and one is not perfect
without the other. Furthermore, it means that there is no union for
time and eternity that can be perfected outside of the law of God, and
the order of his house. Men may desire it, they may go through the form
of it, in this life, but it will be of no effect except it be done and
sanctioned by divine authority, in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1913, pp. 118-119.
MARRIAGE, GOD--ORDAINED AND SANCTIONED. "And again, I say unto you,
that whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is
ordained of God unto men." (Doc. and Cov. 49:15)
I desire to emphasize this. I want the young men of Zion to realize
that this institution of marriage is not a man-made institution. It
is of God. It is honorable, and no man who is of marriageable age
is living his religion who remains single. It is not simply devised
for the convenience alone of man, to suit his own notions, and his
own ideas; to marry and then divorce, to adopt and then to discard,
just as he pleases. There are great consequences connected with it,
consequences which reach beyond this present time, into all {342}
eternity, for thereby souls are begotten into the world, and men and
women obtain their being in the world. Marriage is the preserver of the
human race. Without it, the purposes of God would be frustrated; virtue
would be destroyed to give place to vice and corruption, and the earth
would be void and empty.
Neither are the relationships that exist, or should exist, between
parents and children, and between children and parents, of an ephemeral
nature, nor of a temporal character. They are of eternal consequence,
reaching beyond the veil, in spite of all that we can do. The man,
and the woman who are the agents, in the providence of God, to bring
living souls into the world, are made before God and the heavens, as
responsible for these acts as is God himself responsible for the works
of his own hands, and for the revelation of his own wisdom. The man and
the woman who engage in this ordinance of matrimony are engaging in
something that is of such far-reaching character, and is of such vast
importance, that thereby hangs life and death, and eternal increase.
Thereupon depends eternal happiness, or eternal misery. For this
reason, God has guarded this sacred institution by the most severe
penalties, and has declared that whosoever is untrue to the marriage
relation, whosoever is guilty of adultery, shall be put to death.
This is scriptural law, though it is not practiced today, because
modern civilization does not recognize the laws of God in relation to
the moral status of mankind. The Lord commanded, "Whosoever sheddeth
innocent blood, by man shall his blood be shed." Thereby God has given
the law. Life is an important thing. No man has any right to take life,
unless God commanded it. The law of God as to violation of the marriage
covenant is just as strict, and is on a parallel with law against
murder notwithstanding the former is not carried out. * * *
Now, every young person throughout the Church should {343} understand
this very thoroughly. The Church authorities and the teachers of our
associations should inculcate the sacredness, and teach the duty of
marriage, as it has been revealed in the latter days to us. There
should be a reform in the Church in this regard, and a sentiment
created in favor of honorable marriage, and that would prevent any
young man, or any young woman, who is a member of the Church, from
marrying except by that authority which is sanctioned of God. And no
man holding the priesthood who is worthy and of age should remain
unmarried. They should also teach that the law of chastity is one of
the most vital importance, both to children, and to men and to women.
It is a vitally important principle to the children of God in all their
lives, from the cradle to the grave. God has fixed dreadful penalties
against the transgression of his law of chastity, of virtue, of purity.
When the law of God shall be in force among men, they will be cut off
who are not absolutely pure and unsoiled and spotless--both men and
women. We expect the women to be pure, we expect them to be spotless
and without blemish, and it is as necessary and important for man to be
pure and virtuous as for woman; indeed, no woman would ever be other
than pure if men were so. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the law of
love, and love of God with the whole heart and mind is the greatest
commandment, and the next is like unto it: love thy neighbor as
thyself. This also should be remembered in the marriage relation, for,
while it is said that the desires of the woman shall be to her husband,
and he shall rule over her, it is intended that that rule shall be in
love and not in tyranny. God never rules tyrannically, except when men
so corrupt themselves that they are unfit to live. Then, and under
such conditions, it is the story of all his dealings with mankind,
that he sends judgment upon them and wipes them out and destroys
them.--_Improvement Era,_ July, 1902, pp. 713-717.
RIGHTEOUSNESS AND NECESSITY OF MARRIAGE. Many {344} people imagine that
there is something sinful in marriage; there is an apostate tradition
to that effect. This is a false and very harmful idea. On the contrary,
God not only commends but he commands marriage. While man was yet
immortal, before sin had entered the world, our heavenly Father himself
performed the first marriage. He united our first parents in the bonds
of holy matrimony, and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and
replenish the earth. This command he has never changed, abrogated or
annulled; but it has continued in force throughout all the generations
of mankind.
Without marriage the purposes of God would be frustrated, so far as
this world is concerned, for there would be none, to obey his other
commands.
There appears to be a something beyond and above the reasons apparent
to the human mind why chastity brings strength and power to the peoples
of the earth, but it is so.
Today a flood of iniquity is overwhelming the civilized world. One
great reason therefor is the neglect of marriage; it has lost its
sanctity in the eyes of the great majority. It is at best a civil
contract, but more often an accident or a whim, or a means of
gratifying the passions. And when the sacredness of the covenant is
ignored or lost sight of, then a disregard of the marriage vows, under
the present moral training of the masses, is a mere triviality, a
trifling indiscretion.
The neglect of marriage, this tendency to postpone its responsibilities
until middle life, that so perniciously affects Christendom, is being
felt in the midst of the Saints.
Certainly we are not in favor of the very early marriages that
prevailed a few centuries ago.
But what we wish to impress upon the Saints is that the legitimate
union of the sexes is a law of God, that to be blessed of him, we must
honor that law; that if we do not do so the mere fact that we are
called by his name will not {345} save us from the evils that neglect
of this law entails, that indeed we are only his people when we observe
his law; that when we do not do so we may expect the same unfortunate
results to come upon us as flow to the rest of humanity from the same
causes.
We believe that every man holding the holy priesthood should be
married, with the very few exceptions of those who through infirmities
of mind or body are not fit for marriage. Every man is a worse man in
proportion as he is unfit for the married state. We hold that no man
who is marriageable is fully living his religion who remains unmarried.
He is doing a wrong to himself by retarding his progress, by narrowing
his experiences, and to society by the undesirable example that he sets
to others, as well as he, himself, being a dangerous factor in the
community.
We say to our young people, get married, and marry aright. Marry
in the faith, and let the ceremony be performed in the place God
has appointed. Live so that you may be worthy of this blessing. If,
however, obstacles, not at present removable, prevent this most perfect
form of marriage, have your bishop perform the ceremony, and then, at
the earliest possible moment, go to the temple. But do not marry those
out of the Church, as such unions almost invariably lead to unhappiness
and quarrels and often finally to separation. Besides, they are not
pleasing in the sight of heaven. The believer and unbeliever should not
be yoked together, for sooner or later, in time or in eternity, they
must be divided again.
And now we desire with holy zeal to emphasize the enormity of sexual
sins. Though often regarded as insignificant by those not knowing the
will of God, they are, in his eyes an abomination, and if we are to
remain his favored people they must be shunned as the gates of hell.
The evil results of these sins are so patent in vice, crime, misery
and disease that it would appear that all, young and old, must {346}
perceive and sense them. They are destroying the world. If we are to
be preserved we must abhor them, shun them, not practice the least of
them, for they weaken and enervate, they kill man spiritually, they
make him unfit for the company of the righteous and the presence of
God.--_Juvenile Instructor,_ Vol. 37, p. 400, July 1, 1902.
MALE AND FEMALE ENTER HEAVEN. No man will ever enter there until he
has consummated his mission; for we have come here to be conformed to
the likeness of God. He made us in the beginning in his own image and
in his own likeness, and he made us male and female. We never could
be in the image of God if we were not both male and female. Read the
Scriptures, and you will see it for yourselves as God has made it. He
has made us in his own form and likeness, and here we are male and
female, parents and children. And we must become more and more like
him--more like him in love, in charity, in forgiveness, in patience,
long-suffering and forbearance, in purity of thought and action,
intelligence, and in all respects, that we may be worthy of exaltation
in his presence. It is for this that we have come to the earth. This is
the work that we have to perform. God has shown us the way and given
us the means by which we may consummate and fill our mission upon this
earth and perfect our destiny; for we are destined and foreordained
to become like God, and unless we do become like him we will never be
permitted to dwell with him. When we become like him you will find
that we will be presented before him in the form in which we were
created, male and female. The woman will not go there alone, and the
man will not go there alone, and claim exaltation. They may attain
a degree of salvation alone, but when they are exalted they will be
exalted according to the law of the celestial kingdom. They cannot be
exalted in any other way, neither the living nor the dead. It is well
for us to learn something about why we build temples, {347} and why we
administer in them for the dead as well as for the living. We do this
that we may become like unto him, and dwell with him eternally; that
we may become sons of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ.--_Tabernacle Sermon,_ June 12, 1898.
MARRIAGE TO REPLENISH THE EARTH. Those who have taken upon themselves
the responsibility of wedded life should see to it that they do not
abuse the course of nature; that they do not destroy the principle
of life within them, nor violate any of the commandments of God. The
command which he gave in the beginning to multiply and replenish the
earth is still in force upon the children of men. Possibly no greater
sin could be committed by the people who have embraced this gospel than
to prevent or to destroy life in the manner indicated. We are born into
the world that we may have life, and we live that we may have a fulness
of joy, and if we will obtain a fulness of joy, we must obey the law of
our creation and the law by which we may obtain the consummation of our
righteous hopes and desires--life eternal.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1900, p. 40.
ETERNAL MARRIAGE. Why did he teach us the principle of eternal union
of man and wife? Because God knew that we were his children here, to
remain his children forever and ever, and that we were just as truly
individuals, and that our individuality was as identical as that of
the Son of God, and would therefore continue, worlds without end, so
that the man receiving his wife by the power of God, for time and
for all eternity, would have the right to claim her and she to claim
her husband, in the world to come. Neither would be changed, except
from mortality to immortality; neither would be other than himself
or herself, but they will have their identity in the world to come
precisely as they exercise their individuality and enjoy their identity
here. God has revealed this principle, and it has its bearings upon
the evidence that we possess of the actual, {348} literal resurrection
of the body, just as it is and as the prophets have declared it in the
Book of Mormon.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1912, pp. 136-137; Mosiah 15:20-23;
16:7-11; Alma 40.
ETERNITY OF THE FAMILY ORGANIZATIONS. Our associations (family) are not
exclusively intended for this life, for time, as we distinguish it from
eternity. We live for time and for eternity. We form associations and
relations for time and all eternity. Our affections and our desires are
found fitted and prepared to endure not only throughout the temporal
or mortal life, but through all eternity. Who are there besides the
Latter-day Saints who contemplate the thought that beyond the grave we
will continue in the family organization? the father, the mother, the
children recognizing each other in the relations which they owe to each
other and in which they stand to each other? this family organization
being a unit in the great and perfect organization of God's work, and
all destined to continue throughout time and eternity?
We are living for eternity and not merely for the moment. Death
does not part us from one another, if we have entered into sacred
relationships with each other by virtue of the authority that God has
revealed to the children of men. Our relationships are formed for
eternity. We are immortal beings, and we are looking forward to the
growth that is to be attained in an exalted life after we have proved
ourselves faithful and true to the covenants that we have entered
into here, and then we will receive a fulness of joy. A man and woman
who have embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ and who have begun life
together, should be able by their power, example and influence to
cause their children to emulate them in lives of virtue, honor, and
in integrity to the kingdom of God which will redound to their own
interest and salvation. No one can advise my children with greater
earnestness and solicitude for their happiness and salvation than I
can myself. Nobody has more {349} interest in the welfare of my own
children than I have. I cannot be satisfied without them. They are
part of me. They are mine; God has given them to me, and I want them
to be humble and submissive to the requirements of the gospel. I
want them to do right, and to be right in every particular, so that
they will be worthy of the distinction that the Lord has given them
in being numbered among his covenant people who are choice above all
other people, because they have made sacrifice for their own salvation
in the truth. Speaking of the fashions of the world, I do not care
to say very much on the subject, but I do think that we live in an
age the very trend of which is to vice and wickedness. I believe
that to a very large extent the fashions of the day, and especially
the fashions of women, have a tendency to evil and not to virtue or
modesty, and I deplore that evident fact for you see it on every hand.
Young men want to get homes that are palatial, that are fine in all
their appointments, and as modern as anybody else's before they will
get married. I think it is a mistake. I think that young men and young
women, too, should be willing, even at this day, and in the present
condition of things, to enter the sacred bonds of marriage together and
fight their way together to success, meet their obstacles and their
difficulties, and cleave together to success, and cooperate in their
temporal affairs, so that they shall succeed. Then they will learn
to love one another better, and will be more united throughout their
lives, and the Lord will bless them more abundantly. I regret, I think
it is a crying evil, that there should exist a sentiment or a feeling
among any members of the Church to curtail the birth of their children.
I think that is a crime wherever it occurs, where husband and wife are
in possession of health and vigor and are free from impurities that
would be entailed upon their posterity. I believe that where people
undertake to curtail or prevent the birth of their children that they
are going to reap {350} disappointment by and by. I have no hesitancy
in saying that I believe this is one of the greatest crimes of the
world today, this evil practice.--_Relief Society Magazine,_ Vol. 4,
June, 1917, p. 314 _et. seq._
IMPORTANCE OF MARRIAGE WITHIN THE CHURCH. I would rather go myself to
the grave than to be associated with a wife outside of the bonds of the
new and everlasting covenant. Now, I hold it just so sacred; but some
members of the Church do not so regard the matter. Some people feel
that it does not make very much difference whether a girl marries a man
in the Church, full of the faith of the Gospel, or an unbeliever. Some
of our young people have married outside of the Church; but very few of
those who have done it have failed to come to grief. I would like to
see Latter-day Saint men marry Latter-day Saint women; and Methodists
marry Methodists, Catholics marry Catholics, and Presbyterians marry
Presbyterians, and so on to the limit. Let them keep within the pale of
their own faith and church, and marry and inter-marry there, and let
the Latter-day Saints do the same thing in their Church; then we will
see who comes out best in the end.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1909, pp. 5, 6.
NO MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN. Why did Jesus teach the doctrine that there was
no marrying nor giving in marriage in the other world? Why did he teach
the doctrine that marriage was instituted by the Father and designed
to be accomplished in this life? Why did he rebuke those who sought
to entrap him when they brought to him the example of the fulfilment
of the law of Moses, for Moses wrote the law that God gave him, that
if a man married in Israel and died without issue, it was the duty
of his brother to take his widow and raise up seed unto his brother;
and when seven of these brothers--(which is doubtless a problem that
these men put to the Savior in order to entrap him {351} if they
could)--had taken her, to whom should she belong in the resurrection,
since they all had her? Jesus declared to them, "Ye do err, not knowing
the Scriptures, nor the power of God." They did not understand the
principle of sealing for time and for all eternity; that what God hath
joined together neither man nor death can put asunder. (Matt. 19: 6.)
They had wandered from that principle. It had fallen into disuse among
them; they had ceased to understand it; and consequently they did not
comprehend the truth; but Christ did. She could only be the wife in
eternity of the man to whom she was united by the power of God for
eternity, as well as for time; and Christ understood the principle, but
he did not cast his pearls before the swine that tempted him.--_Apr. C.
R._ 1912, p. 136.
PLURAL MARRIAGE FORBIDDEN. Official Statement--"Inasmuch as there are
numerous reports in circulation that plural marriages have been entered
into contrary to the official declaration of President Woodruff, of
September 26, 1890, commonly called the Manifesto, which was issued by
President Woodruff and adopted by the Church at its general conference,
October 6, 1890, which forbade any marriages violative of the law of
the land; I Joseph F. Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, hereby affirm and declare that no such marriages
have been solemnized with the sanction, consent or knowledge of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I hereby announce that
all such marriages are prohibited, and if any officer or member of the
Church shall assume to solemnize or enter into any such marriage he
will be deemed in transgression against the Church and will be liable
to be dealt with according to the rules and regulations thereof, and
excommunicated therefrom.
"Joseph F. Smith,
"President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1904, p. 75.
{352} FURTHER STATEMENT. We have announced in previous conferences,
as it was announced by President Woodruff, as it was announced by
President Snow, and as it was reannounced by me and my brethren and
confirmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, plural
marriages have ceased in the Church. There isn't a man today in this
Church or anywhere else, outside of it, who has authority to solemnize
a plural marriage--not one! There is no man or woman in the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who is authorized to contract a
plural marriage. It is not permitted, and we have been endeavoring
to the utmost of our ability to prevent men from being led by some
designing person into an unfortunate condition that is forbidden by
the conferences, and by the voice of the Church, a condition that has
to some extent, at least, brought reproach upon the people. I want
to say that we have been doing all in our power to prevent it or to
stop it; and in order that we might do this, we have been seeking, to
our utmost, to find the men who have been the agents and the cause
of leading people into it. We find it very difficult to trace them
but when we do find them, and can prove it upon them, we will deal
with them as we have dealt with others that we have been able to
find.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1911, p. 8.
MARRIAGE AND LARGE FAMILIES DESIRABLE. Bachelorhood and small families
carry to the superficial mind the idea that they are desirable because
they bring with them the minimum of responsibility. The spirit that
shirks responsibility shirks labor. Idleness and pleasure take the
place of industry and strenuous effort. The love of pleasure and
of an easy life in turn make demands upon young men who refuse to
look upon marriage and its consequent family enlargement as a sacred
duty. The real fault lies with the young men. The license of the age
leads them from paths of duty and responsibility to the pitfalls of a
pleasure-loving {353} world. Their sisters are the victims of neglect
and of a great social and family wrong.
Women would marry if they could, and would accept cheerfully the
responsibilities of family life. This loss to the home is a loss the
nation must feel, as years go on. Time will vindicate the laws of God
and the truth that individual human happiness is found in duty and not
in pleasure and freedom from care.
The spirit of the world is contagious. We cannot live in the midst of
such social conditions without suffering from the effects of their
allurements. Our young people will be tempted to follow the example
of the world about them. There is already a strong tendency to make
sport of the obligations to marry. Pretexts of ambition are set up as
an excuse to postpone marriage till some special object is attained.
Some of our leading young men desire to complete first a course of
study at home or abroad. Being natural leaders in society their example
is dangerous and the excuse is one of questionable propriety. It were
better far that many such young men never went to college than that
the excuse of college life be made the reason for postponing marriage
beyond the proper age.--_Juvenile Instructor,_ Vol. 40, pp. 240, 241,
April 15, 1905.
BE TRUE TO YOUR WIVES AND CHILDREN. And oh! my brethren, be true to
your families, be true to your wives and children. Teach them the way
of life. Do not allow them to get so far from you that they will become
oblivious to you or to any principle of honor, purity or truth. Teach
your children so that they cannot commit sin without violating their
conscience, teach them the truth, that they may not depart from it.
Bring them up in the way they should go, and when they get old they
will not depart from it. If you will keep your boys close to your
heart, within the clasp of your arms; if you will make them to feel
that you love them, that you are their parents, that they are your
{354} children, and keep them near to you, they will not go very far
from you, and they will not commit any very great sin. But it is when
you turn them out of the home, turn them out of your affection--out
into the darkness of the night into the society of the depraved or
degraded; it is when they become tiresome to you, or you are tired
of their innocent noise and prattle at home, and you say, "Go off
somewhere else,"--it is this sort of treatment of your children that
drives them from you, and helps to make criminals and infidels of
them. You cannot afford to do this. How would I feel to enter into
the kingdom of God--(if such a thing were possible) and see one of
my children outside among the sorcerers, the whoremongers, and those
who love and make a lie, and that because I have neglected my duty
toward him or have not kept a proper restraint upon him? Do you think
I shall be exalted in the kingdom of my God with this stain and blot
upon my soul? I tell you, No! No man can get there until he atones for
such crime as this--for it is a crime in the sight of God and man for
a father to carelessly or wilfully neglect his children. This is my
sentiment. Take care of your children. They are the hope of Israel,
and upon them will rest by and by, responsibility of the bearing of
the kingdom of God in the earth. The Lord bless them and keep them
in the path of righteousness. I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus.
Amen.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1902, p. 87.
RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS. I sincerely hope that we shall succeed in
impressing upon the minds of the rising generation a sincere regard,
not only for themselves, to keep themselves pure and unspotted from the
world, but a sincere regard for the rights and privileges of others.
Our children should be taught to respect not only their fathers and
their mothers, and their brothers and sisters, but they should be
taught to respect all mankind, and especially should they be instructed
and taught and brought up to {355} honor the aged and the infirm, the
unfortunate and the poor, the needy, and those who lack the sympathies
of mankind.
We too frequently see a disposition on the part of our children to make
fun of the unfortunate. A poor cripple, or a poor weak-minded person
comes along, and the boys will poke fun at him, and make unbecoming
remarks about him. This is entirely wrong, and such a spirit as this
should never be witnessed among the children of the Latter-day Saints.
They ought to be taught better at home. They should be thoroughly
taught better than this in our Sunday schools, and in all the schools,
so far as that is concerned, that our children attend. Our children
should be taught to venerate that which is holy, that which is sacred.
They should venerate the name of God. They should hold in sacred
veneration the name of the Son of God. They should not take Their holy
names in vain; and they should also be taught to respect and venerate
the temples of God, the places of worship of their fathers and mothers.
Our children should be taught also that they have rights in the house
of the Lord equal to their parents and equal to their neighbors or
anybody else. It always pains me to see our little ones disturbed in
this right. I witnessed a little circumstance in our meeting this
afternoon in the aisle; a little child was sitting by its mother on a
seat. Somebody came along and took the little child off its seat, and
occupied the seat himself, leaving the child to stand. I want to say to
you, my brethren and sisters, that that act sent a pang to my heart.
I would not, for anything in the shape of remuneration of a worldly
character, grieve the heart of a little child in the house of God, lest
an impression should be left upon its mind that would make the house of
worship a distasteful place, and it would prefer not to come within its
walls, than to come and be offended.--_Juvenile Instructor,_ Vol. 39,
p. 657, Semi-Annual S. S. Conference, October 9, 1904.
MUTUAL TREATMENT OF HUSBAND, WIFE AND CHILDREN. {356} Parents, in
the first place, whether they do it or not, should love and respect
each other, and treat each other with respectful decorum and kindly
regard, all the time. The husband should treat his wife with the utmost
courtesy and respect. The husband should never insult her; he should
never speak slightly of her, but should always hold her in the highest
esteem in the home, in the presence of their children. We do not
always do it, perhaps; some of us, perhaps, do not do it at all. But
nevertheless it is true that we ought to do it. The wife, also should
treat the husband with the greatest respect and courtesy. Her words to
him should not be keen and cutting and sarcastic. She should not pass
slurs or insinuations at him. She should not nag him. She should not
try to arouse his anger or make things unpleasant about the home. The
wife should be a joy to her husband, and she should live and conduct
herself at home so the home will be the most joyous, the most blessed
place on earth to her husband. This should be the condition of the
husband, wife, the father and the mother, within the sacred precinct
of that holy place, the home. Then it will be easy for the parents
to instill into the hearts of their children not only love for their
fathers and their mothers, not only respect and courtesy towards their
parents, but love and courtesy and deference between the children
at home. The little brothers will respect their little sisters. The
little boys will respect one another. The little girls will respect
one another and the girls and boys will respect one another, and treat
one another with that love, that deference and respect that should be
observed in the home on the part of the little children. Then it will
be easy for the Sunday school teacher to continue the training of the
child under the hallowed influence of the Sabbath school; and the child
will be tractable and easily led, because the foundation of a correct
education has been laid in the heart and mind of the child at home.
The teacher can then help the {357} little children, brought up under
these proper influences, to render respect and courtesy to all men and
especially to the unfortunate, the aged and the infirm.--_Apr. C. R.,_
1905, pp. 84-85.
WE SHOULD BE EXAMPLES TO OUR FAMILIES. When I think of our mothers,
the mothers of our children, and realize that under the inspiration
of the gospel they live virtuous, pure honorable lives, true to their
husbands, true to their children, true to their convictions of the
gospel, oh, how my soul goes out in pure love for them how noble and
how God-given, how choice, how desirable and how indispensable they
are to the accomplishment of God's purposes and the fulfilment of his
decrees! My brethren, can you mistreat your wives, the mothers of your
children? Can you help treating them with love and kindness? Can you
help trying to make their lives as comfortable and happy as possible,
lightening their burdens to the utmost of your ability, making life
pleasant for them and for their children in their homes? How can you
help it? How can any one help feeling an intense interest in the mother
of his children, and also in his children? If we possess the Spirit of
God, we can not do otherwise. It is only when men depart from the right
spirit, when they digress from their duty, that they will neglect or
dishonor any soul that is committed to their care. They are bound to
honor their wives and children. Intelligent men, men of business, men
of affairs, men who are involved constantly in the labors of life, and
have to devote their energies and thought to their labors and duties,
may not enjoy as many comforts with their families as they would like,
but if they have the Spirit of the Lord with them in the performance
of their temporal duties, they will never neglect the mothers of
their children, nor their children. They will not fail to teach them
the principles of life and set before them a proper example. Don't
do anything yourselves that you would have {358} to say to your boy,
"Don't do it." Live so that you can say, "My son, do as I do, follow
me, emulate my example." That is the way fathers should live, every one
of us; and it is a shame, a weakening, shameful thing for any member of
the Church to pursue a course that he knows is not right, and that he
would rather his children should not follow.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1915, pp.
6-7.