I Am Sure That We All Rejoice

I am sure that we all rejoice in the encouragement and satisfaction which we have just received. We could well say to the eminent gentleman who has just addressed us that nothing could be said to give us greater and more lasting satisfaction than that our youth are learning principles of righteous conduct and are being trained in the Gospel of Christ, preparatory for duties as citizens of the country, and for their service to fellowmen, and God. ¶

A Message of Joy

I do not know that I can adequately convey to you a message that is in my heart today. I have felt that we have a duty, a paramount duty to all the world and to the Church to interpret the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a manner which shall appeal ; to reveal the joy of it. ¶

Today is Good Friday, a day which is set apart in Christendom in memory of the crucifixion of the Savior of the world. I have seen several representations of the personality of Christ portrayed on the stage, and more recently portrayed on - the moving picture screen. I cannot remember that in all these representations I have ever seen the Christ made to appear happy. I have seldom if ever seen him appear to smile. All of the representations have brought a message of gloom, sadness and final death. It may be that certain good is accomplished by such representations. I take it that it is desirable that we should remember the sufferings of our Lord and Savior. We are called upon by the Lord himself to commemorate his broken flesh and his spilled blood. His remarkable, incomparable sacrifice should never leave our minds, for it is by and through that sacrifice that he did become our Savior and our Redeemer. Yet at the same time I do not look upon the Savior of the world as a man of gloom, nor do I regard the Gospel he gave to the world as one of despair, or one which is intended to kill the joy in humanity. ¶

All the natural world bids us have joy. The flowers that bloom, the sweet perfumes that greet our senses, the colors that enliven our environment, are all calculated to bring to us joy, to enliven us with a sense of beauty, richness and fulness of life. ¶

Christ did not come to take the color out of life, and I attribute the large measure of indifference to his word, indeed the resistance which is set up against it, in no small part to the erroneous interpretation of his cause, of his life and his service under which the world has suffered for centuries of time. ¶

"Men are that they may have joy." It is as natural to long for joy as it is to live, and it would be a perversion of the fundamental philosophy of things if religion were to be interpreted as an imposition upon life, to take out its joy and its gladness. ¶

Principles of Gospel a Stabilizing Force

I am thinking of the host of young, of these armies of Boy Scouts of whom we' have just learned. I am thinking of their attitude and I am delighted that the Doctor reminded us that the program which the Boy Scouts' organization provides for these young men is of temporary and partial character only. These young men, a million strong, need something to stabilize their lives. They need a force to guide and direct them. They need to realize the richness and the beauty of life, not only during their youth but all through their maturity, and we hold out to the world blessed, beautiful, cheerful life-giving principles of the Gospel of Christ to supply that vital need. It is incumbent upon those who teach the youth to interpret the Gospel for them in such terms that they may see its joys, its encouragements. ¶

Provision for Improvement and Progression

Every man loves to improve. Progression is the very law of life itself. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, as interpreted by the Prophet Joseph Smith, is the embodiment of eternal progression. Improvement is constantly advocated and provision for it is made. Men seek today to improve their temporal condition. It is a day when men have been able to harness the forces of nature, and by the inventions which have been devised more liberally enjoy the resources of nature than ever before. ¶

The gospel of Jesus Christ is in no sense incompatible with such important improvements. It recognizes the intelligence in man. It seeks through education to develop that intelligence, to expound the principles of life, to investigate and understand the secrets which nature and the universe hold. ¶

Material Prosperity Not Condemned

Material prosperity is not repugnant to the spirit of the Gospel. Indeed it is regarded as being an accomplishment worth while to be able to so accumulate or organize an industry or enterprise as to improve the conditions under which people live. It is selfishness and personal aggrandizement at which the Gospel directs its injunctions. But when one who has the true spirit of the gospel at heart, one who has consecrated himself to the service of God and his fellowmen, has been able to acquire property or to organize materials or forces for the improvement of conditions, he in no sense comes under condemnation. The spirit of consecration, devotion to the cause, to altruistic interests, is of the very genius of the Gospel. ¶

Joy Through Sacrifice and Service

When Christ said to his disciples that they should take up the cross and follow him, I have never interpreted that to mean that they were to load upon themselves gloom and despair. He said, "I am come that ye may have life, and have it more abundantly." He engaged his disciples to disseminate the glad tidings of great joy which he taught. It is true that he made sacrifice, it is true that his life was filled with many wrongs to him, and that he suffered inexplicably, and yet I cannot but think that in all his sufferings, indeed even in the giving of his life he experienced a joy that transcends the comprehension of the finite mind. He knew of the vitality of the work which he did. He knew he was the Savior of mankind. He knew of the beneficent results that would follow his supreme sacrifice, and that knowledge could not have failed to transport him with a joy that no one can fully appreciate and realize. The joy of service, the joy of spreading his great work, is the only comparable joy that we may have. ¶

I want the youth of Zion, as well as the youth of all people, to ¶

know that to believe in Christ and to live his gospel is to bring the supreme joy and happiness into their lives. There is no other royal road to the happiness of mankind excepting the path which Jesus set. ¶

Our Obligation

And so, my brethren and sisters of the Church, having these wonderful interpretations of the life of Christ and of the purpose of his ministry given to us by the Prophet of the latter days, it becomes incumbent upon us to so live and so teach that the world will long for the gospel of Christ as it longs today for pleasure and the gratification of appetite. ¶

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of great joy!" These glad tidings are entrusted to us to give to the world, and to give to our youth. I pray God that we may have the vision, the strength, and the love to give them faithfully, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶