As I have anticipated the discharging of this

As I have anticipated the discharging of this great responsibility my mind has continually dwelt upon the value of true religion and of right thinking as the important factor in a truly religious life. ¶

I was pleased to hear President Grant in his all too brief address at the opening of this conference stress the necessity of religion in life. I am in perfect accord with all he said and with the entire proceedings of this Conference. ¶

True Religion

I believe that the most important need of the world today is true religion. ¶

True religion has three manifestations; first, the thought, the feeling, the mental and spiritual attitude of the individual toward his God; second, worship; and third, service to one's fellows. Evidently a man may conform to the outward forms of worship yet not be religious. But a man must be religious if he direct his thoughts and his words towards God and let his worship and acts among his fellows follow in accordance therewith. ¶

Wrong Thinking

Charles Foster Kent in his Life of Jesus, speaks of "The Fatal Crime of Wrong Thinking;" and approximately two thousand years ago one of the greatest leaders and one of the ablest and wisest of men said: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." No one emphasizes this truth more strongly than did Jesus. "With him," says Kent, "the deadly sins were not neglect of the ritual, nor even crime punishable by the laws of all civilized nations, but wrong ideas, motives and feelings. He decried the fatal effect of hatred and jealousy in the mind of the individual more vehemently than he did the act that hate and jealousy prompt." ¶

Let me cite two instances. On one occasion Jesus said regarding the evil effect of harboring anger: ¶

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; ¶

"But I say unto you, That he who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." ¶

Thus the Savior emphasized the fatal effect of wrong thinking. He knew that if the mind could be directed rightly, if the evil thought and tendency could be resisted, as President Nibley mentioned this morning, the evil act would be minimized. Jesus does not lessen the seriousness of these acts, or say that we should not punish them, but he emphasizes the greater need of keeping the thoughts clean, the mind pure. An evil tree will bring forth evil fruit; a good tree will bring forth good fruit. Keep the tree pure, the thoughts pure, and the fruit will be pure and the life pure. ¶

Again, he decried the evil of cherishing anger. ¶

"If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; ¶

"Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother." ¶

Note how that is worded: ¶

"If thou rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee" — not only if thou hast ought against thy brother. ¶

A double meaning in that. A man at the altar who would truly keep his life in harmony with the fundamental principle of religion should go to his brother who might be harboring ill will against him, and before rendering the act of worship, seek understanding and reconciliation. In similar phrases the Savior emphasizes time and time again the necessity of thinking right and the evil of wrong thinking. This is the case in his admonition not to condemn one another: "Judge not (or condemn not) that ye be not condemned." ¶

Now, brethren and sisters, these illustrations will suffice to emphasize the point I have in mind, that in true religion, the fundamental thing is to keep our thoughts right towards our God and towards our fellow men. ¶

Unstable Opinions

Now what are the sinful influences around us that tend to divert young people's minds, from this right channel? We are living in an age which, measured by the standards of the Gospel, is full of unstable opinions; and into that world of shifting uncertainty our young people are thrown. Think for a moment how their thoughts are diverted from our standards as they read some of the articles in current magazines. ¶

From a leading magazine of the last month, I have culled, just at random, this in relation to religion: ¶

Academic scholars who are shaping the thoughts of youth are declaring that one religious faith is just as good or just as useless, according to the professor's particular viewpoint, as another. "Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, all spring from the same source, and in the ultimate analysis mean the same thing." ¶

That is one of the things which I call unstable, and which threaten young people with an influence that will throw them into the fatal crime of wrong thinking. In customs, and fashions, what was considered bad taste yesterday, has become quite acceptable today. ¶

In regard to the ideals of success and the standards that lead to success, I quote this surprising statement: ¶

"Success is not the result of hard work, clean living and personal integrity. The vulgar, proud and haughty, not the meek, inherit the earth." ¶

Young men and young women read those things, and their minds are diverted from the channel of right thinking and right living. Unstable opinions, shifting uncertainties! ¶

Sinful Influences

Again the wholesomeness of our ancestral home-life is questioned. That thought too is leading our young people to think in a wrong direction. ¶

Modesty, "that diamond setting to female beauty," is in some circles considered prudish, puritanic; and the influence is leading astray some of our girls who are susceptible to the influence of society. ¶

Ride along the highway, see the obnoxious and sometimes obscene advertisements, how they flaunt themselves in the face of every traveler; and even obnoxious advertisements steal into our homes over the radio. ¶

Now, the important question with us today is, what are we doing to counteract this tendency towards fatal wrong thinking? I am going to name only three common phases of our Church which I think are fundamental toward right thinking and right living. ¶

A Sense of Responsibility Toward Others

I should like to name first the duty that rests upon every parent and upon every teacher within this Church to arouse within the mind of the child a sense of responsibility toward other individuals and towards society. The sacredness of personality is a fundamental teaching of Jesus Christ. One great writer in this age, Harry Emerson Fosdick, is right when he says, "Christ thought of personality as the central fact in the universe and used it as a medium of interpretation of all other parts." In the thought he approaches the more sublime teaching of the Lord given through the Prophet Joseph: "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." ¶

In this truth is found a fundamental principle of true religion, and it touches the very heart of the government of society and the peace of the home. Let the child in the home realize that there are certain things which he cannot do to gratify his own appetite, if in doing so he brings sorrow or inconvenience to other members of the household. A sense of duty to others should be a governing factor in his actions. ¶

Let me illustrate: In the paper the other morning was an account of a tragedy of a sixty-five year old mother who ended her life after a struggle of years to keep her boy from the clutches of the law. She did save him until just the other day. The law could not touch him, and she spent her fortune and her life and even scrubbed floors of offices to gratify that boy's selfishness and indulgence. Well, he passed many years without coming in contact with the law, but the crime of wrong thinking was his years ago when he thought that that mother should sacrifice herself to gratify his own indulgence. ¶

O, youth of the land, think of the responsibility of keeping your name unsullied! Think of bringing comfort and happiness to the mother who bore you! There is the fundamental thought that will lead you towards God and worship in true religion. He is a recreant indeed who, to gratify his appetite or his passions, will bring a stain upon the honored name he bears or sorrow to the heart of his mother. If a man come from such a home, with such right thoughts as respecting the rights of other persons and of society, he will not go far wrong in his acts toward his fellowmen. ¶

Prayer

I wish to name as the second principle a little simple thing which even in the naming this morning will indicate to you perhaps how many have wandered from it, the simple principles of prayer. There are men in our midst who say that prayer is not efficacious. Unfortunately some of our young people believe such fallacious remarks. Prayer is a fundamental principle of religion, the Christian religion particularly, and prayer is a force for good. A praying man is a growing man. He is a powerful man, as we have heard throughout this conference already. Christ said: ¶

"When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." ¶

It is said of a superior officer in the great war, that when he was a youth his mind had been so diverted from the truth that he thought prayer was a presumption. One day he found himself engaged in a conflict in which earth and heaven seemed to mix. He felt his senses reel, and in the midst of the conflict he found himself crying from his heart: "O God, let me not lose my head, for my men's sake!" He wrote afterwards: "That prayer was answered, and the D. S. O. which I now wear is the result of God's answering that prayer. I sometimes think I should deposit it in some church, but when I look at that bit of ribbon it reminds me of my prayer." ¶

We are not in a great conflict of nations as were that soldier and his comrades; we are not seeking the life-blood of each other, but I tell you every day that we start out on our daily work and mingle with our fellows we enter into conflict, and it is the appropriate thing for every young man in the world to say in secret, to think and feel in his heart, "O, let me not lose my head this day as I meet temptation, as I am tempted to misjudge my fellows. Keep me from trespassing upon the rights of others." ¶

Reverence

A third principle that contributes to right religious attitude is reverence — reverence for the Sabbath day and all things sacred. Reverence directs thought toward God. Without it there is no religion. Let us not make Sunday a holiday. It is a holy day, and on that day we should go to the house of worship and seek our God. If we seek him on the Sabbath day, get into his presence on that day, we shall find it less difficult to be in his presence the following days of the week. There should be more reverence for the house of worship. I am offended when I see in Sunday School, or perhaps in Mutual, members leave the service after having rendered a musical number. Undoubtedly, they go to some other place to render the same service. Even that is not sufficient justification for the mark of seeming irreverence in leaving a worshiping assembly. Better secure somebody who can stay throughout the service, for the assembly in a dedicated chapel is in the presence of God. All are supposed to have come to meet him and worship him, and there should be present that spirit of order and reverence which will direct the worshipers' thoughts in the right channel. ¶

God help us to serve him with our minds, might and strength. With kind consideration for all mankind and particularly for those who have given us honored names and pure lives; with prayer and reverence in our hearts, may we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, that all other things may be given to us, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶