I Certainly Trust That the Prayer Offered

I certainly trust that the prayer offered shall be answered and fulfilled in my behalf. I feel a very weak instrument at this time in attempting to proclaim the gospel of our Lord and Master to you, but nevertheless with Paul, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God unto salvation" to all those who accept its principles and live them. If considerable time and care were taken in the preparation of a questionnaire, scattered very generally, and collected, and the results tabulated, and if the main question in that document were this, "What is the great aim of life?" I am sure that the answers compiled, and the meanings boiled down to their last stages, it would be something like this, especially to the non-members of the Church, that the great object of life is to have a rich, full, abundant life. The answer of the Latter-day Saints could possibly be something like this, "To be saved and exalted in God's kingdom is the prime aim and object of life." ¶

If we were to outline the plan whereby this aim could be accomplished, I think it would well come under three heads or divisions : first, to develop right attitudes — proper ideals, if you please; second, to develop knowledge, or the intellect; and third, to develop proper habits or to do the will of God. ¶

With our first proposition, then, we must develop right attitudes or the proper ideals in life. We must know and teach our children to know that what we are to be, each day, each moment, each hour, we are becoming. And in the words of Thackeray, we must also know that "we sow an act, we reap a habit ; we sow a habit, we reap a character ; we sow a character, and we reap a destiny" in life. I sometimes wonder if our attitude in life does not depend very much more upon faith than it does upon reason. Please do not misunderstand me ; as important as reason is in this life, and it is the power to reason that chiefly distinguishes man from the lower animals, yet there are too many people in the world today who accept this doctrine alone and quit at the point that it discontinues. That, it seems to me, is one of the tragedies of life, to accept only reason. Accepting only that, I doubt if one can have the proper ideals or proper attitude toward life ; because faith begins largely where reason ends. Reason may be said to be finite, while faith has no limits. Think of a person who tried to live, who does live, only in the realm of reason, who has shut out from his existence the great field outside of the field of reason—faith. No ■ Latter-day Saint could possibly stop with reason alone. I am sure that testimonies generally are not gained by reasoning them out. We go as far as we can by reason, and then we depend upon a higher source, and that higher source takes us into the realm of faith and makes possible the proper ideals and the proper attitudes of life. ¶

Our second proposition : we must develop knowledge, the intellect. Herein comes the great battle against ignorance. Intelligence is the ¶

glory of God. To know what a wonderful thing that is in life, to know, not to be driven by every wind of doctrine but at all times to be able to make decisions, to reach conclusions, through reason and through faith and thereby reach our second great aim to our salvation and exaltation in life. And I sometimes wonder if we take the time that we should, as true Latter-day Saints, to teach our children, in order that they may know. How many evenings, how many Sunday mornings, or Sunday afternoons, when the hours are long, do you call others about you, your children particularly? I am most interested at this moment in the children, in the young people of our Church, for next to creating a human soul, the divinest thing is to educate it aright. How many times do we call them around about us and teach them to pray? How many boys and girls can repeat from memory the Lord's prayer, the Beatitudes, the Articles of Faith, and can give a reason for the hope that is within them regarding each of these? How quickly they grasp them ! You would be surprised how they drink them in. And I sometimes think that as teachers of this Church, and as exponents of the great gospel of Christ, we overlook a valuable opportunity in teaching our boys and girls so that they will know, will have the power to decide in the hour of temptation. ¶

Our third proposition is that of developing right habits. This, the power to do, is the most important, I'm sure, of the three; because it is not a matter of what we say or what we know but what we do in life that is going to determine our happiness, our destiny, our salvation, and our exaltation. Would that somehow we had the power, that we knew the process, the formula, if you please, of transferring or working over that which we know so that it will be a guide to that which we do. I believe the nearest formula that we have, and which will insure the greatest success, is to start in life young, always to do the right and to keep in mind that that which we are to be, every moment, every hour, we are becoming. ¶

.And last, we must, in order to gain our aims and objectives in life, enrich the lives of others. How often others may be about us who would like to know the things that we know, who perhaps do not have the peace of mind that we possess regarding some of these eternal principles. And yet we are fearful that we might offend, or we are fearful that someone else could do it better, and as a result some of our near neighbors, some of our friends in life, go through without the proper perspective of this gospel. ¶

It was a joy in our stake, quite recently, to have a very devout Christian man come back into the Church after an absence of 37 years. Through lack of understanding, largely through the lack of a kind word, a warm handclasp, a sympathetic and confidential chat, as others met him upon the corner, he felt that the Saints, that the Church were against him. Let me implore you, my brothers and sisters, not to let any opportunities pass in life to enrich the lives of others, to make them conscious of the great purposes of life. As to how it may be accomplished : first, by our attitudes, our proper ideals ; second, by the knowledge that we gain ; and last, by our habits or the things in life we do. ¶

In conclusion, let me read the words of one who has said something . that appeals to me very much. ¶

"One ship drives east and another drives west With the self-same winds that blow. 'Tis the set of the sails and not the gales ¶

That tell the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the winds of Fate; ¶

We may joy along through life, But 'tis the set of the sail that decides the gale ; And not the calm or the strife." ¶

It is a pleasure, at this time, to tell you that I feel very deeply the truthfulness of this gospel, and I bear you this testimony, and I do it in humble prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶