in the law, Jesus answered unhesitatingly, "Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is
like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Divinely inspired,
Jesus returned a very wise answer. The tempter was unable to catch Him.
And now we all understand that answer is in very truth the sum of the
law and the prophets. For if a man truly loves God, and also loves his
neighbor as himself, there is no offense he will--or can--commit. All
sin consists of evil done to oneself, or to one's neighbor, or to one's
God. True love such as Jesus defined makes sin impossible.
[Sidenote: The beatitudes.]
At another time, when a great multitude followed Him from almost every
part of the Holy Land, Jesus went up into a mountain and preached to
the disciples that assembled near Him. It was at this time that He
uttered the wonderful sayings commonly known as the Beatitudes. In
these rich and beautiful sayings, Jesus describes the moral character
that He requires in those who are to constitute His kingdom. In other
words, everyone who would belong in full faith and fellowship to the
kingdom of God must possess the qualities here named.
{192} "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for
they shall be filled.
"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of
God.
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice
and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so
persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
[Sidenote: A high ideal of life.]
Here, indeed, is an ideal toward which to train one's life. To be
poor in spirit, to mourn over imperfection, to be meek, to hunger and
thirst after righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to
make peace amongst the quarrelsome, to be strong in persecution for
righteousness' sake, to rejoice when men do us evil wrongfully, for
Jesus's sake--these are goals worth while. Every man should keep the
beatitudes in mind, and should try so to order his life that he may not
fail to obtain {193} any one of the promises associated with a good,
moral life.
[Sidenote: The great beatitude.]
Yet, as one reads the beatitudes, one wonders what the great Master
would answer if someone should ask Him--as did the lawyer about the
commandments--which is the great beatitude. As you read them over,
do you feel that any one is greater than the rest? Do you feel that
the attaining of a certain one of them would comprehend the rest? Of
course, we may not assume to say what Jesus would answer. But let
us think the beatitudes over ourselves and try to pick out one very
important one; one that expresses a moral quality the attainment of
which will at least help in the attainment of all the rest; one that
expresses a moral quality more often trampled under foot than any
other; one that expresses a moral quality the neglect of which leads
always to iniquity.
[Sidenote: The pure in heart.]
Have you found it? The sixth saying reads thus: "Blessed are the pure
in heart: for they shall see God." Here is a condition with a promise
indeed! To see God! To associate with Him! And what must one be to see
God? One must be pure in heart. When we remember that in the Jewish
belief the heart was the seat of thought and intelligence, then we
understand this saying better. To be pure in heart is to be pure in
thought, to be pure in mind. To be pure in heart is to entertain no
evil thought, to hold no impure desire. To be pure in heart is to weed
out of the mind every evil or sinful suggestion, and to plant instead
thoughts of righteousness. The wise man of old appreciated the full
value {194} of purity of heart. Said he, As a man "thinketh in his
heart so is he." And to the Prophet Joseph Smith Jesus said, "Let
virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly, then shall thy confidence wax
strong in the presence of God, and the doctrine of the Priesthood shall
distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven." May we not hope, then,
since God is a God of purity, that we have found here the great, the
comprehensive beatitude? If one is truly pure in heart, one can not but
possess the other moral virtues also.
[Sidenote: Things that defile.]
Jesus was very forceful in His teaching of the necessity of purity of
heart. At one time, He called the people to Him and taught them thus:
"Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand. There is nothing
from without a man, that entering into him, can defile him: But the
things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If
any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
"And when He was entered into the house from the people. His disciples
asked Him concerning the parable. And He saith unto them. Are ye so
without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing
from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it
entereth not into his heart, . . . . And He said, That which cometh out
of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of
men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye (greed),
blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all {195} these evil things come from
within, and defile the man."
[Sidenote: Vulgarity in thought, word and deed.]
It is very apparent, then, that vulgar stories of the kind that
boys often tell each other on street corners, are begotten of an
impure mind. The telling of vulgar, or "smutty" jokes, the reading
of lascivious literature, the taking delight in obscene pictures and
suggestive plays, the practising of secret abuses--all these are born
of an evil mind. Surely, it must be plain to every boy and girl that
those who indulge such thoughts and practices of evil are not pure in
heart. They shall not see God.
[Sidenote: The good tree and the corrupt.]
Teaching again on the same subject, Jesus said at another time, "A good
tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit: for
of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they
grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth
forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of
his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of
the heart his mouth speaketh."
[Sidenote: Plain teaching.]
Has ever any man taught more plainly? The kingdom of God is to be made
up of men and women rich in moral virtues. And the chief of those
virtues is purity of heart. The vulgar, the profane, the lascivious,
and all those who foster evil thoughts will find no place near God.
Only the pure in heart shall see Him. Remember, then, the great
commandment. Remember the great {196} beatitude. Remember that as a man
thinketh in heart so is he. Therefore, think right.
THE REFERENCES
Matt. 22:34-40. Doc. and Cov. 121:45.
Matt. 5:1-13. Mark 7:14-24.
Prov. 23:7. Luke 6:43-45.
THE QUESTIONS
1. What is the great commandment in the law?
2. Show that the answer of Jesus does really cover the law and the
prophets.
3. What are the beatitudes?
4. What kind of people do they describe?
5. Which is the great beatitude?
6. Show how this beatitude may possibly cover all the rest.
7. What did Jesus teach of things that defile?
8. How may a tree be known?
9. Apply these teachings to your own lives.
10. Explain the saying, As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.
{197}
XXVI
THE UGLINESS OF ANGER
[Sidenote: The story of Cain.]
There is no more pitifully tragic story in all the world than that
of Cain, the fratricide. Cain was the first son of Adam and Eve of
whom the Scriptures make specific mention. Cain was a tiller of the
soil. The riches of the earth were his, and the fulness thereof. With
joyful heart, he might have plowed and tilled and garnered, and, at
the last, ended a well-spent life in ease and comfort; with praise and
thanksgiving, he might have worshipped God, acknowledging gifts already
bestowed, and receiving daily more as he pursued his honest toil; with
contented mind, he might have mingled with his brothers and sisters,
and given unstintingly of his prosperous help in the establishing
of man's dominion on earth. But Cain was of a jealous and envious
disposition. His mind was darkened with thoughts of avarice and greed
and hatred of others who prospered in the new world.
[Sidenote: The occupation of Abel.]
Cain had a brother named Abel. He was the second son of Adam and Eve
mentioned by name in the Scriptures. Abel was a shepherd, a tender of
flocks. Abel prospered, too, in his occupation. True, Abel was not
so independent of his fellows as was his brother Cain, the tiller of
the soil. Abel's calling produced him only meat to eat and wool to
wear. He grew no fruits, nor grains, nor vegetables, nor other foods
in variety produced by the soil. But Abel was happy and contented. He
was unselfish. He loved his brothers and sisters, {198} and rejoiced
in their successes. He loved God. And as he tended his flocks, Abel
worshipped God who had placed his father and mother, and their
children, upon the earth to subdue it.
[Sidenote: The brothers' sacrifices.]
One day Cain and Abel carried sacrifices to offer to the Lord. Cain
brought grudgingly of the fruits of the field. Abel brought of the
firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof without thought of
withholding anything from the Lord. When the sacrifices were presented,
"the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain
and to his offering He had not respect." Now, this difference was not
because Abel's offering was better or more desirable than Cain's.
The Lord pays not respect to worldly things. The widow's mite is as
acceptable to Him as the rich man's millions, if offered in the spirit
of truth. For it is the spirit in which a sacrifice is made that
counts with the Lord. And Cain did not come in the spirit of love, and
thanksgiving, and worship. He gave grudgingly. Perhaps, even, he did
not give of the best of his crops. Therefore the Lord did not accept
his offering.
[Sidenote: The anger of Cain.]
Then, when he saw that his own offering was rejected, while Abel's
was accepted, Cain became filled with anger, and his countenance
fell. The Lord in His mercy spoke to Cain, and declared to him one
of the great fundamental truths of life. "Why art thou wroth?" asked
the Lord, "and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well thou
shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door,
and Satan desireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my
{199} commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee
according to his desire." But the anger and the envy of Cain were not
appeased.
[Sidenote: The murder of Abel.]
Not long thereafter, Cain and Abel were together in the field. Cain
had brooded over the incident of the offerings. His anger had waxed
hot, till it was ready to burst into furious flame. Satan had gained
possession of his mind, had filled him with envy, and had inspired him
to hate his brother. So, as he talked with his brother in the field,
Cain suddenly arose in ungovernable rage and struck his brother down
and killed him. It was a day of horror in man's history. It was a day
of blackness and blood. Cain was a brother-murderer--a fratricide. And
it had come about because he had yielded to anger and envy and hate.
Satan had gained possession utterly of his soul. Therefore, Cain was
cursed by the Lord and cast out from His presence. In the story of Cain
is illustrated wonderfully the truth of the saying of the Wise Man of
Israel: "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to
stand before envy?"
[Sidenote: The lesson at home.]
The story of Cain is a story of long ago. But we all know many
instances of the ugliness of anger in our own day. In every prison
house in the world are confined men who have committed crime in fits of
anger. "An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in
transgression," said the Man of Wisdom. When a man is angry, he loses
control of the good that is in him. He returns to the state of the
beast. He speaks words of which afterward he is ashamed. He does things
for which afterward he sorrows. Anger is an {200} infernal poison,
administered by the father of lies himself, which courses through the
blood, makes the heart pound, and creates delirium in the mind. There
are many ugly sights in the world; but there is perhaps none uglier,
more repulsive, than a man furiously angry. Therefore is it said, "Make
no friendship with an angry man and with a furious man thou shalt not
go: lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul."
[Sidenote: The power of the mind.]
Everyone knows how unpleasant is the company of a quarrelsome boy, or
of a quarrelsome girl. The best of sport and the choicest of company
can be spoiled by one angry countenance. The truth taught in the
preceding lesson may here be emphasized. "As a man thinketh in his
heart so is he." According to your habits of thought, you are agreeable
or disagreeable. According to your habits of thought, you find quarrel
in a straw, or peace and serenity in turmoil. According to your habits
of thought you may become a strife-breeder or a peacemaker. "A wrathful
man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth anger."
And since it rests with yourself, is it not deplorable that you should
follow in the footsteps of Cain?
"The human will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless Soul,
Can hew a way to any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene."
As a boy wills to be pleasant and cheerful, or to be disagreeable and
quarrelsome, so then will he be. We know now that we may all be masters
of ourselves, and hewers of our own fates.
{201} All these things Jesus taught plainly. Said He, "Ye have heard
it said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That
whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of
the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in
danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in
danger of hell fire.
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and then rememberest
that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave then thy gift before
the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then
come and offer thy gift.
"Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with
him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the
judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily
I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast
paid the uttermost farthing."
[Sidenote: Jesus an example.]
There is in history no finer example of serene calm and self-control
than that manifested in the earth life of the Savior of the world.
When James and John, "the Sons of Thunder," asked permission to call
down fire from heaven upon the Samaritan village that had refused to
entertain Jesus, the Lord rebuked them, saying, "Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy
men's lives, but to save them." And when during the days of trial and
suffering, men insulted Him and did Him physical injury, Jesus went
like a lamb to the slaughter.
{202} [Sidenote: The strength of self-control.]
All examples and precepts, then, admonish us to acquire self-control,
to be slow to anger, to banish hatred, and to eschew envy. "For the
wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God;" and "he that is
slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit
than he that taketh a city."
THE REFERENCES
Moses 5:16-41. Matt. 5:21-26.
Prov. 27:4. Luke 9:51-56.
Prov. 29:22. James 1:20.
Prov. 22:24. Prov. 16:32.
Prov. 15:18.
"Angry Words, Oh Let Them Never," S. S. Song Book.
THE QUESTIONS
1. What caused the downfall of Cain?
2. What effect does anger have upon the mind?
3. Why does not anger work for righteousness?
4. What do you think of a quarrelsome boy with a grouch?
5. What did Jesus teach about anger?
6. How does self-control make for strength?
{203}
{204} PICTURE: JESUS BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN, Plockhorst
{205}
XXVII
WITH WHAT MEASURE YE METE
[Sidenote: The two school girls.]
Two little girls came home from school one day carrying on a very
lively discussion. Their animation, and their complete absorption in
the subject were very inspiring to see. One could not help but thrill
at the manifestation of buoyant, interested, and healthful youth. But
when they came into the house, and their mother overheard the nature
of their conversation, she was woefully disappointed. These girls were
not discussing the problems raised by their lessons; neither were they
rejoicing at the prospect of the coming girls' hike to the canyon. In
fact, the subject of their animated discussion was neither uplifting
nor invigorating. On the contrary, it was disgusting--so thought
their mother; and she was sorry to hear her girls indulge in such
conversation. For the girls were gossiping; nay--they were slandering.
[Sidenote: The theft.]
It appears that someone had lost some money that day at school. The
loser declared, however, that she had not merely lost the money. It
had been stolen! The principal had called the pupils together, and
had stated the case plainly to them. He had said that if anyone had
actually stolen the money, it would be much better for the thief to
confess than to be discovered, or even successfully to conceal the
dishonest act. Such a thing would leave a scar upon one's character for
life. But no one confessed. The lost coin was not found.
{206} [Sidenote: The suspicion.]
Our two little friends, however, had observed that Mary Jones, who sat
not far away, acted very suspiciously when the principal came into the
room. She turned quite pale, and looked afraid. When the principal
appealed to the offender to make a clean breast of his guilt, Mary
had hung her head. Was it not proof positive that Mary had stolen the
money; or that, at least, she knew where it was? At recess, and after
school was out, the girls had talked it over. They had confided their
suspicions to a few intimate friends; these in turn had confided in
other intimate friends; soon the whole school was in possession of what
was assumed to be a fact, that Mary Jones had stolen the money, but
that she would not confess. The two little girls who first suspected
Mary had grown firmly to believe their suspicions, and assured their
mother that they knew that Mary was the thief.
[Sidenote: The discovery.]
The developments of the next few days, however, proved to these little
girls how much truth there really is in the little bit of doggerel
verse their mother had taught them.
"There is so much that is bad in the best of us,
And so much that is good in the worst of us,
That it doesn't behoove any of us
To talk about the rest of us."
Poor Mary Jones suffered keenly for three days. Both the boys and the
girls shunned her as if she were a leper. The girls huddled together
and whispered when she passed. Once a rude, unfeeling boy called after
her, "Why don't you 'fess up, Mary?" But Mary had really nothing to
"'fess up," and on the third day {207} the truth came to light. Out in
the hallway, the janitor noticed something shining in a little crack
between the boards of the floor. It was in the afternoon, and the
light coming through the transom of the west door fell just then upon
the spot. The janitor stooped to see what the shining object was. It
was money! He pried it out with his pocket knife. It was of the same
denomination as that which had been reported stolen. Immediately, the
janitor returned it to the teacher with a full explanation.
[Sidenote: The tables turned.]
It is strange how things turn and turn about. When the money was
returned to the girl who had lost it, with the janitor's story, she
remembered that she had been skipping there in the hallway, and that
she had thought she had heard something strike the floor; but since
she had seen nothing she had forgotten it. The girls who had suspected
Mary and had shunned her, now flocked about her and assured her that
they had never believed her guilty. The two who had started the slander
stood shame-facedly apart. The school turned on them, and for many days
they were avoided, and were shut out of the school games, as Mary had
been. They were mischief-makers, said the pupils. It was only after
Mary herself had pleaded for them, that a complete reconciliation was
effected, and the school society moved harmoniously forward as before.
[Sidenote: An everyday occurrence.]
You think that this is a story? Yes, it is a story; but it is a true
story. And the sorrowful thing about it is that just such unkind and
unfounded judgments as that formed by the little school girls are
passed every day upon {208} innocent men and women. You yourselves pass
judgment, without any evidence on which to base that judgment. You
condemn your playmates for this or for that. You find fault with what
your parents do, not knowing the many problems they have to solve. You
criticize the bishop of your ward, or the president of your stake, or
even the president of the Church, without knowledge of a single item
of the vast amount of information which he has and which compelled him
to do as he did. It may be that some of your associates have faults.
Those faults stand out glaringly enlarged to you. You are offended by
them. You are prompted to criticize, or to try to correct the defects.
But you forget that you may have faults as glaringly apparent to your
associates as theirs are to you. You do not stop to think that the
little girls who suspected Mary Jones were also guilty of a grievous
offense in judging and condemning without cause. You forget what
the Lord Jesus taught, "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy
brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother. Let me pluck out the mote out of
thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye. Thou hypocrite,
first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see
clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
[Sidenote: The mote and the beam.]
Is it not simple and common sense? How can a man see clearly to
correct the faults of others, when his vision is distorted by his own
faults? Have you ever set a stick into a pool of clear water? Have
you noticed how the stick has been distorted in size and shape? The
light {209} waves passing from water to air, or from air to water, are
refracted, bent, so that you do not get a correct image of the object
immersed. Just so is it when we, who are immersed in our own faults
and weaknesses, attempt to pluck the mote from a brother's eye. Our
vision is defective; the image is distorted; we are ourselves in worse
condition than our brother.
[Sidenote: What Jesus said.]
Jesus set Himself strongly against such unkind judgment as that passed
by the two little school girls, and as that we are tempted every day to
Jesus pass upon our neighbors. "Judge not," He taught, "that ye be not
judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with
what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
Here is sound philosophy, of which few men stop to think. It is easy
to pass judgment on others. It is easy to think that one is the center
of the universe and that all things else revolve about that center. It
is easy to think that one's own opinion is always right, and that the
opinions of others are wrong. But one should not forget that others
also hold opinions. It is almost certain that one will be judged as
one judges; and that one will have measured to one as one measures to
others.