God's Commands an Expression of a Father's Love; Loyalty to Law and Country

I have listened with very great interest, and I am sure with much profit to me, to the kind words of counsel and admonition that have been delivered to us by our brethren. I have thought what a beautiful organization we are identified with, and how merciful the Lord has been to us His Children in this day and age of the world. It is not hard for me to comply with the requirements that are made of me by my heavenly Father, and I realize that His teachings to me come through those whom He has chosen. When I was a child I recognized, or thought I did, that the commandments of the Lord were His laws and regulations for my guidance. I thought I recognized in the disobedience to those laws that punishment would follow, and as a child I presume I may have felt that the Lord had so arranged affairs and so ordained matters in this life that I must obey certain laws or swift retribution would follow. But as I grew older I have learned the lesson from another viewpoint, and now to me the laws of the Lord, so-called, the counsels contained in the Holy Scriptures, the revelations of the Lord to us in this day and age of the world, are but the sweet music of the voice of our Father in heaven in His mercy to us. They are but the advice and counsel of a loving parent, who is more concerned in our welfare than earthly parents can be, and consequently that which at one time seemed to bear the harsh name of law to me is now the loving and tender advice of an allwise heavenly Father. And so I say it is not hard for me to believe that it is best for me to keep the commandments of God. ¶

I rejoice with you, my brethren in the privileges that we enjoy. I am grateful for my standing in the Church. I am thankful for all that has been given to me, and I am particularly pleased today to be considered worthy to enjoy the companionship of such men as those who are called to preside in Israel, and of such men and women as are in this congregation, and are scattered throughout the length and breadth of these great valleys of the mountains. I believe in you, my brethren and sisters. I have confidence in your faith and in your integrity, as I have confidence in those who preside over us. I realize that you are entitled to the same knowledge that he is who presides over the Church. You are entitled to the same inspiration that flows to those whom God has caused to be ordained as His leaders. You are entitled to the inspiration of the Spirit, and the knowledge that He is your Father, and when I say you I speak of all those who have obeyed the commandments of our Father, and have partaken of the sweet influence of the Spirit of the Lord in the Church of Christ. But, I realize that as each of us is entitled to the inspiration of the Lord in proportion to the manner in which we live a godly life, there comes to each of us a responsibility to do for others what has been done for us. ¶

I realize, my brethren and my sisters, that I am responsible to the Lord for the furtherance of this work as the President of the Church is. I realize that each of you also are responsible to Him for the promotion of this work, as are those who preside over you. I cannot say, "Am I my brother's keeper?" I cannot shift the responsibility to those who preside over me, but standing in the ranks of the children of our Father I must bear my portion, I must carry that part of the load that the Lord places upon me, and if I shirk, then I realize that I forfeit the blessing that would come to me by obedience to the commandments of our Father. There is just one point that I desire to touch, that was upon my mind before I came to the stand, and that is the condition that confronts us in this great nation. The Lord has given us a free country in which to live. It is only free to us so long as the laws that govern it are obeyed by the people who live here. The spirit of unrest that pervades the world is in fulfillment of the prophecies that the Lord made, that in these latter days there should be wars and rumors of wars ; that there should be earthquakes, and the sea should heave itself beyond its bounds. I see in the daily bulletins as we read them in the press, the fulfillment of prophecy. I see the hand dealings of God with the children of men. Oh, how my heart is filled with gratitude that my lot has been cast in the land where the people of God dwell, the land of Zion, the land that is choice above all other lands, and that we enjoy the liberty of the government in which we live. I feel that, as long as the people of this land obey, or strive to keep the commandments of God, this liberty will continue to flow unto us, and that when selfishness, vice and crime arise, whether it be at the head or at the foot, there is a sapping of the vital life of the institutions of this land that bodes nothing but evil for us. I do hope and pray that the sons and daughters of God, born and reared under the folds of Old Glory, or who have made this their home, may stand true and faithful to the institutions of our country, and may ever raise their voices in defense of the law of the land, for it is the law of God to us in so much as it is for the uplifting of the children of men. Let us not associate ourselves with bands of men, or associations of individuals, who may be finding fault and criticising, striving to tear down, vilifying men who are called to preside over us, destroying, as far as their influence may be, the free institutions that our Father has blessed us with. Oh, my brethren and sisters, let me plead with you that each of us, wherever we may be, may raise our voices in the interest of law as it has been established, and will continue to be administered in the land in which we live. Let us not be among those who breathe the spirit of treason. Let us not be among those who encourage the spirit of anarchy, for I say to you that our only hope, and the hope of the sons and daughters ¶

that God may bless us with, to enjoy peace and liberty in this land, is in standing by the Constitution that God has inspired to direct this government. Let us stand by the law-makers, and encourage them in the making of just laws, and stand by the executive departments, and the judiciary in the administration of those laws. God's house is a house of order, and we may only hope to enjoy His blessings by being orderly in our lives, and by sustaining those institutions that He has given to us, not to curtail our joy, not to prevent our happiness, but that our happiness may be complete, and that our joy may be full. ¶

May the Lord of Israel bless us, and may our brethren and sisters of other faiths, seeing us with a determination to be true children of the Lord, seeing in us a desire to be loyal to the institutions of our country, recognizing that beneath the folds of the flag that gives unto us the evidence of our liberty, we are marching onward steadily, with our faces to the responsibilities that confront us, not selfishly but with a desire to associate with all good men and women, and a desire to bless every child of our Father, wherever he may be. Let it be known throughout the land in which we live that in the valleys of these mountains there stands a body of men and women true to the institutions of our country, true to the privileges that God has blessed us with. If we will do this He will be pleased with us, and those who misunderstand us will realize some day that we are indeed their friends, their brethren and their sisters. ¶

May the Lord continue to bless those who preside over us in the nation, and those who have been called in the midst of this people to preside, that we may not forfeit in any way the blessings of our Father by our lack of obedience, or our lack of faith; and by and by, when each of us shall be summoned home, as President Lyman has said, we will be ready, whether it be one by one or in groups. When we get to the other side we may be able to strike hands or look in each other's faces. We may feel that we have fought the good fight, and that we have kept the faith, and that we may receive at the hands of our Father that welcome plaudit, "Well done, good and faithful servant." ¶

May the Lord be with you all, and His blessings abound in your homes, and among all the people who are striving to do right in the world, and may peace abound in the land in which we live, and harmony and union abide in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶