A Testimony of Faith

I wish that I might bring to your minds on this day the divine truth that Christ our Lord is the most pure source of strength and comfort and peace that you can have. Many of you, my brethren and sisters, are passing through very sore trials. These days are humbling some of us to the very dust, for disappointments have come, and the daily lives of many of us are filled with bitterness and sorrow. These are days of depression and ofttimes tragedy. It seems that the world has gone far afield from its true end. We are conscious of a discord, not in the Creator's plan: a discord brought about by the faltering, weak, blundering of all men. Living in the world of material things, and able by the gift of free-will to work out our destiny, we have by that free-will gone far astray. We were made in the image of God; we were made a little less than the angels. Yet strange is it not that the great gift which the Creator has bestowed upon his children should be the means whereby we should miss our destiny. ¶

We have become children of fear. We are afraid to live, for we have grown sick of our failures and frailties. This America of ours has gone mad with luxury, with indulgences, and bodily comfort, with an overwhelming external hurry and a tumult of distraction. We have become an unchecked, self-exultant people. The children of God have forgotten God. This is our trouble. The passion for rebellion, for destruction is mixed up with the eager longing to make the world over. True, our churches are filled, but it is rather for social than religious purposes. I wonder how many of us feel that the priest or minister of God is given the keys of heaven with the power to bind and to loose. I sometimes even wonder how many of us — and I am speaking of all mankind — really know the love of a true and living God. ¶

When God placed man in the Garden of Eden, and man was shown his destiny, the Creator planted within his soul the power to look up and to find his Maker through the power of faith. This gave man a splendor of spirit, which is the greatest power of all; because only by the spirit can absolute truth be known. This gift of faith places man in an enviable position for the exercise of his mental powers. Throughout all the ages, man has felt the still small voice of the Almighty in his daily life. Our lives must needs be deeply penetrated with a sense of the infinite God; and this infinite, true, and living God can only be known by our approach to him in the humility of our powers. We must again learn to worship and to glorify. ¶

The truth of all the gifts of God to man can be known only as we have faith in God, the Father. Throughout the history of the race, heaven has been breaking in from time to time upon the affairs of men, and who knows but what we are nearer the center of spiritual reality and life, than we have dreamed of. ¶

Two thousand years ago, the greatest event in the history of mankind happened. I refer to the birth of Christ, our Redeemer. I want to read you the story as it was written by St. Luke, the evangelist. It is truly a piece of literary art. ¶

"And, it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. * * * ¶

"And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. ¶

"And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; because he was of the house and lineage of David: ¶

"To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. ¶

"And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. ¶

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. ¶

"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 Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord. ¶

"And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¶

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¶

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." ¶

I read you these words of the noble prophet of old, because they show how God's love gave to the world Him, who "is the way, the truth, and the life." It is the message that our Father is guiding us, moulding us, helping us, saving us. In these days of sore trial, Christ our Lord is our Guide and our Savior. This is the thing that is giving us a glad confidence that all things are working together for good. So when the darkness comes, let us remember that the might brings out the stars as sorrows show us the truth; and the insight that comes through pain and disappointment may be the insight into the value of what we are. So is not this word of the Lord "Fear not" a beautiful message? ¶

We think God has forgotten us, but he is still watching over us each and every one. We are like little children wandering through a forest. The constant drudgery of enervating work, the pressure of present sorrow and pain, and the weight of responsibility too heavy to bear; all these things distort our vision at times, and behind all these tragedies, we see fear and failure. Fears that harass our courage along the pathway of life, until we become as children, lost in the dark. Who knows but what our trials are the circumstances that may make us find our way home and back to God? I want to tell you a story. I call it "Night and Shadows." ¶

"Once upon a time, a little girl wandered through a dense forest on her way home. It was very dark. She was frightened and began to cry. The tears rolled down her face, as she timidly crept along. Suddenly an elf appeared before her. 'Are you frightened' asked the elf. 'Yes, I'm scared,' answered the little girl, glad to show her fear, 'Ain't you?' ¶

" 'Not a bit,' answered the elf. ¶

" 'Well then you don't see the ghosts and goblins running around the trees, and the funny looking eyes up there in the branches, and the bats and ugly things flying through the air, and the scary noises, can't you hear them?' ¶

"And the elf said: 'I don't blame you for being scared, I'd be scared too if I saw all those ugly things. You see that when little girls have tears in their eyes, they can't see things as they really are.' ¶

" 'Just let the tears dry in your eyes, and then we shall take a good look at these ghosts and goblins, and ugly things. See those terrible eyes in the branches of the trees? Why they are just the stars trying to light up your pathway so that you can find your way home; and the big moon is trying to help them. And those big things aren't ghosts, they are just the shadows of the trees. And what you thought were ugly bats and ugly things are just the leaves falling on your pathway, making the path soft for your tired feet. And the noises. Why, that's the wind blowing through the branches, and the trees are trying to sing a song to make you happy as you go along'." ¶

Our trials will make us reach out into a truer and fuller life. We will think of him who when in the garden of Gethsemane, felt the solitude of human life; and then it was that he calmly said: "And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me." ¶

One time in Israel's history, the prophet Isaiah exclaimed : "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. ¶

"Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. ¶

"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. ¶

"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: ¶

"And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." ¶

It is faith in God that gives us the light, and with faith we may know the truth as we approach our Maker. Faith is the source of knowledge, of truth, and the Gospel of our Lord can only be known through faith. The ancient prophet Moroni wrote in his closing hours these words which should be written on the tablets of our hearts: ¶

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. ¶

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." ¶

So in these days of sorrow, of trial, of discouragement let us have faith; the faith of true sons of God. Then I believe all will be well. "We shall live by faith." One time the noted philosopher Santayana of Harvard University wrote: ¶

O world, thou choosest not the better part. ¶

It is not wisdom to be only wise, And on the inward vision close the eyes; ¶

But it is wisdom to believe the heart. Columbus found a world and had no chart. ¶

Save one that Faith deciphered in the skies ; To trust the soul's invincible surmise ¶

Was all his science and his only art. Our knowledge is a torch of smoky pine ¶

That lights the pathway but one step ahead Across a void of mystery land dread. ¶

Bid then the tender light of faith to shine By which alone the mortal heart is led ¶

Unto the thinking of the thought divine. ¶

It is religion, the love of God and neighbor, which gives life a meaning; knowledge cannot do it. ¶

"Let me, if you please, speak of my own experience," says a great world scholar, "as one who for thirty years has taken an earnest interest in these things. Pure knowledge is a glorious thing, and woe to the man who holds it light or blunts his sense for it! But to the question, Whence, whither, and to what purpose? It gives an answer today as little as it did two or three thousand years ago. It does, indeed, instruct us in facts; it detects inconsistencies; it links phenomena; it corrects the deceptions of sense and idea. But where and how the curve of the world and the curve of our own life begin — that curve of which it shows us only a section — and whither this curve leads, knowledge does not tell us. But if with a steady will we affirm the forces and the standards which on the summits of our inner life shine out as our highest good, nay, as our real self; if we are earnest and courageous enough to accept them as the great reality and direct our lives by them; and if we then look at the course of mankind's history, follow its upward development, and search, in strenuous and patient service, for the communion of minds in it, we shall not faint in weariness and despair, but become certain of God, of the God whom Jesus Christ called his Father, and who is also our Father." ¶

So be ye comforted; God lives, and he is extending this loving hand to us. Will we respond with hearts full of faith? May the Lord our God bless us all. Amen. ¶