Proclaiming the Gospel by Example and Control of the Tongue

"If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. ¶

"Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. ¶

"Behold also the ships, which, though they be so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. ¶

"Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! ¶

"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. ¶

"For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: ¶

"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. ¶

"Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. ¶

"Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. ¶

"Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? ¶

"Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. ¶

"But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. ¶

"This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. ¶

"For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. ¶

"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. ¶

"And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." ¶

So wrote the Apostle James, many hundred years ago. but I feel that, like all truth, that which he expresses in these lines is applicable today. The tongue is a little member, and yet it is the means by which our thoughts are given wings, it is one means of influencing one another. ¶

I thought, this morning, while listening to the presidents of missions, as I have thought throughout this conference, of the great message that the Latter-day Saints have to proclaim to the world, not a message of strife but a message of peace, a message of good will. "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated. * * " I would like to read another passage that will give to us what I believe should be the keynote of all expressions of the Latter-day Saints : ¶

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ¶

"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. ¶

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not : for, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¶

"For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." ¶

"Good tidings of great joy" — The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that good tidings. The term "Gospel" means, literally, "good news," and such is the news that emanates from above. There have been but few men in the world's history who have been so in tune with the heavens that they could receive directly from God the Father that good news ; but there has always been a time in the history of this world when that news came from above. There have always been, in every dispensation, opportunities for men to receive that good news, and these prophets who were in tune with the Infinite and who heard first and directly that good news, have had imposed upon them the responsibility to convey that good news to others of their fellow-men, that they who are concerned with the things of the world might receive the glad message and be brought back into the environment of peace, harmony, and good will. In this dispensation, that same responsibility has been given to man. We have heard throughout this conference, repeatedly, that the Latter-day Saints, are those upon whom rests the responsibility of carrying the good news to the children of the world. I sometimes think that we put off, in our minds, the responsibility of giving that message, to some special calling in life. That is, if we are called as missionaries abroad, we feel it our duty to proclaim the glad message to the world. If we are called to preside in an organization, or in a branch, or in a quorum, then we feel it our duty to give the good news to those over whom we preside. We wait until some special opportunity is given to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and yet the duty devolves upon us to proclaim that good news every day of our lives. We proclaim it in our acts— in the home, in business, in social circles, in politics — everywhere that we mingle with men we have the responsibility resting upon us to give the good news to the people of the world. I do not mean that we must, necessarily, formally preach the doctrine under all these circumstances, but I do mean that in our lives, in our conversation, we can bear the good message to the children of the world. ¶

We have heard much, throughout this conference, about building up our state, remaining at home wherever the stakes are organized, and not to scatter abroad in new places. One of the best ways of building up our home, be it a domicile, a city, a state, or a nation, is to speak well of that home, city, state, or nation. Let the tongue be under control, and speak well of the home. I have rejoiced time and again, when visiting the different stakes surrounding Utah, to hear our brethren tell about the advantages of some particular town. "Why," they would say, for example, "we are blest with the purest air, we have the best water that can be found in the world ;" and they will enumerate, one after another, the benefits and blessings of that particular locality. I recall now how the brethren in Canada were eager to impress those who were with them with the resources of that country. Why, the advantages were innumerable. For example, when one visitor said, "But you haven't the scenery we have in Utah." "Yes, we have," persisted President Wood; we have even better scenery than you have in Utah." "Where?" "I will show you;" and then a ride forty miles from Cardston took us to one of the most beautiful mountain scenes in the world — the Switzerland of America. He felt that there was nothing that could make him feel dissatisfied with his home there. "Even the winds in Canada," he said, "are blessing us, because they blow the snow off, so the cattle can eat the grass." (Laughter.) This is the point, — he could see good in everything. There was contentment — not a spirit of tearing down, finding fault, complaining. I believe it is a good lesson ; let us speak well of our home city; let us see the advantages of it. ¶

On that hot July morning in 1847, when the Prophet Brigham Young stood out here a few miles, and looked over this vast country, what did he see? Away down yonder in the distance, probably the smoke from an Indian's wigwam ; away out in the west, the lake sparkling in the sunshine; and between him and that body of water, an alkali waste. All around him he saw sage brush; and from the distance came the howl of the coyote or the wolf. These are the things he saw in reality, but in his prophetic mind he beheld all the prosperity, the wealth, the prosperous towns, and the crowds of people that we now see here. All these things that we now behold with our natural eyes, and have experienced, he saw with his prophetic eye and pronounced it all good. "Here," he said, "we will build the temple of Almighty God." Surely with the reality of that prophetic vision before us, we can see that which is good, to speak about, to praise, and honor. The Latter-day Saints do this; and we want all to do it, because they can do it truthfully. We have all that the heart desires ; we have a great empire here in the West — every advantage, every surrounding, every environment that the heart could desire. Let us speak well of our home state. But we cannot speak well of the state unless we speak well of the men who have founded the state. There is no other state in the union that can boast of stronger, truer, more virtuous, upright, God-fearing citizens, and men of God than can the state of Utah. Let the young men throughout Zion realize this fact, and let their tongues proclaim it, and let them not encourage the company of those who would use this unruly member to vilify the men who founded this empire. I overheard a conversation the other day, in this city, which in effect was as follows : A prominent man and his wife, evidently, entertaining an eastern visitor who had been interested in the history and in different places of Salt Lake City. I judged that he was profoundly impressed, as every honest thinking man is when he sees the results of the labor and industry of the pioneers of our state. Among other things, he mentioned his going to church : "I was at church last Sunday," I heard him say. "Oh, were you?" answered his host, followed by some remark that I did not catch ; "well, where did you go to church ?" At the Tabernacle." And the sneer on that woman's face made my blood boil. With the sneer came some remark about not dignifying the Tabernacle as a church. I saw the shadow of disappointment creep over that eastern visitor's face. He had dignified it, and he had been profoundly impressed, but when our own people, citizens of this state, though not members of the Church, spoke evil of something in our midst, the shadow of disappointment darkened his countenance. It will always be so. O ! let us speak well, when we can do it truthfully — and we can in this case. Let us speak well of our city and state, to all who come within our borders; let us speak of the advantages and growth of our state. Let us speak well of those within our Church. Brethren and sisters, Christians have the responsibility of giving good news to the world — not bad news. Latter-day Saints have the responsibility of carrying glad tidings to the world. Let us not wait until we go abroad to carry it ; let us give the good news today — good news of our neighbor, good news of our Bishops, good news of our stake workers, good news of all whom we meet and whose company we may chance to be thrown into. If we cannot speak well of them, truthfully, let us refrain from speaking at all: ¶

"Nay, speak no ill, a kindly word Can never leave a sting behind; And, oh, to breathe each tale we've heard Is far below a noble mind. ¶

"Full oft' a better seed is sown By choosing thus the kinder plan, For if but little good is known, Still let us speak the best we can." ¶

"Give me the heart that fain would hide, Would fain another's faults efface; How can it please the human pride To prove humanity but base. ¶

"No, let us reach a higher mood, A nobler estimate of man; Be earnest in the search for good And speak of all the best we can. "Then speak no ill, but lenient be To others' failings as your own; If you're the first a fault to see, Be not the first to make it known. ¶

"For life is but a passing day; No lip can tell how brief its span; Then, oh, the little time we stay, Let's speak of all the best we can." ¶

Then say you, would you not speak of evil conditions? Must we not raise our voice in denouncing conditions and men who are bringing evil upon us? Yes, speak of conditions ; but it is unnecessary to revile the character of men. We cannot do it as true Latter-day Saints ; we must rise above it. Though we are in the world, we must not be of the world. There is a trait in the heart of the world to pick at their fellow-men. Emerson says that so pronounced is this tendency that an accident cannot happen in the street without the bystanders become animated with a faint hope that the victim will die. We cannot encourage that tendency. As James says, it is from the earth — sensual, devilish. We must not pick out that which will tear down a brother's character, nor the character of the city, the state or nation. O, let us be true to our nation ; there is reason to be true to it. That is the point. If we see a condition in a town that endangers the life of our fellow citizens, we meet that condition. If it is a washout, a cave, a hole in the roadway, there is a red lamp placed there at night to keep the travelers from falling into it, and the next day or as soon as possible the evil condition is removed. That is proper. ¶

Now, there are evil conditions in society ; there are sunken roads that need to be filled. We shall see these in our towns, and as home-cleaners, if you please, as home-builders and home-improvers, we can remove those sunken places. One, for example, is the saloon. The people when advertising their city, do not speak of their saloons ; they tell about their churches, about their schools, about their side-walks, about their libraries, about their sewers, but they never tell you how many saloons they have. They are ashamed of them ; and when we have conditions of this kind, let us remove them without vilifying the men, without tearing down men's character; it isn't necessary. A saloon is an evil; it is a sunken road into which fall thousands annually. You will remember when Napoleon's cuirassiers made the fatal charge against Wellington, that there lay between them and the English soldiers a sunken road. Napoleon stood away off and could not see it. He had asked a man if there were any obstacles, and had received no as the answer; and trusting to that, he gave the command for the brigade to charge. The Invincible Column rushed on, until they came, it is said, to a sunken road, and then horse and rider piled one upon another till the whole abyss was filled with a living debris that made a bridge of mingled flesh of horse and man. The others then rode over. There are, perhaps, sunken roads in our communities. Let us at home see them, and not stand off and say that they are all right when our young people by the score are rushing headlong down the road of intemperance to the sunken chasms of drunkenness. It is our duty to meet that condition, but let us do it calmly; let us do it determinedly, without vilifying those concerned, without tearing down character. Take the high stand of right; remember the Gospel of Jesus Christ is one of good tidings. Preach it, live it in your acts. Avoid the danger of the saloon, tell your sons to avoid it. Let the men whom you appoint to represent you in your towns know that you desire the saloons closed before more human beings are piled in that interminable mass that whiskey and the saloon drag down to destruction. But, I repeat again, in meeting this condition, we can take the higher stand of truth, the stand of the Gospel. ¶

The Gospel is our anchor. We know what it stands for. If we live it, feel it, and speak well of the Gospel, of the Priesthood, of the authorities in it, speak well even of our enemies, we shall feel happier ourselves, and we shall be preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Everybody can do this. It is possible. God has not asked us to do it and then deprived us of the power of performing it. My brethren and sisters, let us go from this conference determined to control our tongues. That isn't much, is it? And yet James says that he who can control that little member has control over his whole body. God has given us the good tidings to proclaim to the world. Our whole stakes, from Canada in the north to Mexico in the south, form the bulwark in which are enclosed people upon whom rests the responsibility to give to the world, by their acts, by their words, the testimony that God has spoken again from the heavens, that His Son, the Savior of the world, appeared with the Father in person and gave the good news to Joseph Smith, the boy prophet, that the Gospel has been restored to the earth with all the blessings and powers that mankind need to give them peace, happiness and eternal life. We accomplish these things by our daily acts. God grant that we may show by these that our wisdom does come from above, that it is a Church of peace, a Church of salvation, and that there are men and women who show by their fruits that God is with them — I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶