Peace Through Justice and Charity

Christ Himself, that highest authority, said: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." (Matt. 5:9) Nothing does the world need more these days than peacemakers. And if out of the conflicts of battle which are now going forward with unprecedented fury can come those who can and do plan a permanent peace, truly all such will be children of God. ¶

Threatening Forces

These are not ordinary days. We live in momentous times. A survey of conditions in the troubled world of today reveals the fact that we have made little if any progress toward that peace and good will which the Savior of mankind taught nineteen centuries ago. Civilized nations of the earth are marshalling their man-power and their material resources for war and for defense on a scale the world has never known before. Forces are abroad in the earth which threaten the overthrow of liberty, of democracy and of our way of life, if not of our very civilization. War, devastating, destructive and barbarous, is scourging the air, the sea and the land. These are anxious days for all of us. More than 16½ million of our young men between the ages of 21 and 36 have already registered for service in the United States. I repeat that for all of us these are anxious days. ¶

Two important questions present themselves to those who ponder this situation. ¶

1. What can we do about it? ¶

2. What will come after it? ¶

Faith, the Only Remedy

The ingenuity of man seems powerless to stay the dreadful ravages of modern war. The world is in distress, it is struggling in agony because men in their selfishness have forgotten God; they have forsaken the ways of truth, mercy, justice and righteousness. Somehow or other the fate of mankind hangs on faith in the Creator of the world. ¶

The religion of the Latter-day Saints, which is the religion of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, contains and presents the forces that make for righteousness and peace in the earth. Morality centers in religion. Without its saving power democracy cannot survive. Selfishness, greed, ambition and lust for power always, if they go unbridled, manifest themselves in contention and bloodshed. Unless these tendencies are chastened and controlled by the spirit written in the Sermon on the Mount, unless the unselfish spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ finds a place in the hearts of men and manifests itself in their relationship one to another, civilization is sure to decline. Righteousness is fundamental to the peace and progress of the world. How can this spirit be cultivated? What can be done to bring to the world that peace for which we pray? How can we cultivate and make effective the spirit of the Master? These are pertinent questions that should be asked these days. ¶

"seek and ye shall find" ¶

I shall submit to you good folks for your consideration two very simple but fundamental ways which in the end, if faithfully followed, will help to bring peace of mind and ultimate prosperity by establishing a partnership with Him to whom nothing is impossible. Prayer is the first approach to the Almighty. He is, always has been and forever will continue to be our strength and our refuge. We know that He still lives and that He reigns on high. Christ Himself said: ¶

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8.) ¶

The religion of the Latter-day Saints brings to the world the bright assurance that God the Eternal Father is still in His Heaven keeping watch over His children. He holds in His hands the destiny of men and the destiny of nations. In His own time and in His own appointed way, He will see that righteousness is rewarded, that justice is meted out, and finally that truth will triumph. I am of the firm conviction that only through a real return to true religion can a permanent peace come to the world. There is no other way. ¶

Appeal to Attend Sacrament Meetings

One of the two simple ways in which Latter-day Saints may come into communion and partnership with our Heavenly Father is in our weekly Sacrament meetings. We do not attend these meetings primarily to get knowledge or to be taught, but to worship, to partake of the sacrament, to bow our heads, close our eyes, repent of our wrong doings, feel sorry for our sins, ask to be forgiven and appeal to our Heavenly Father for His help and guidance in our efforts to overcome our weaknesses. These meetings have a specific purpose to build up the spirituality, to increase the faith, to strengthen the testimony, to fill the soul with a zeal for the truth, and hearts with a love for the Redeemer of the world. ¶

I appeal to all Latter-day Saints to come to these places of worship and there in deep humility and with contrite hearts make of the Lord a confidential friend, tell Him of our weaknesses, confess our shortcomings and seek devoutly for forgiveness, remembering that one great glorious and comforting principle of the Gospel is repentance and forgiveness. The scripture tells us: ¶

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18.) ¶

When we have truly repented, when we have set our own houses in order, let us remember that if we ask "with faith as a grain of mustard seed" nothing shall be impossible. (Matt. 17:20) ¶

Power in Prayer

The other of the two ways of coming into communion with our Heavenly Father is around the family altar in daily family prayer and ¶

in making our secret prayerful appeals. There is power in prayer. Roger W. Babson says that in these days and times some of our men of wealth, some of our great empire builders, ridicule religion, but he adds further that these very men are indebted for all that they possess to the family prayers which were once held daily in the homes of their fathers. ¶

Dr. Alexis Carrel, famous scientific investigator, has said recently (Readers Digest, March, 1941) that prayer is the most powerful form of energy that man can generate, that its effect on the human mind and body is as easily and certainly detected as is the effect of the secretion of the glands that exists in the human system. Its results can be measured in increased physical buoyancy, in greater intellectual vigor, in greater moral stamina and in a deeper understanding of the realities underlying human relationships. Prayer is the beginning of the journey of the soul toward the realm of grace. It supplies human beings with a steady flow of sustaining power in their daily lives. Prayer, like radium, is a source of luminous, self-generating energy. "When we pray we link ourselves with the inexhaustible motive power that spins the universe." We may pray anywhere, in the street, the office, the shop, the school, as well as in the solitude of a secret chamber, or in a church. In conclusion he writes: ¶

Today as never before prayer is a vital necessity in the lives of men and of nations. The lack of emphasis of the religious sense has brought the world to the edge of destruction. Our deepest source of power and perfection has been left miserably undeveloped. Prayer, the basic exercise of the spirit, must be actively practiced in our private lives. The neglected soul of man must be made strong enough to assert itself once more, for if the power of prayer is again released and used in the lives of common men and women, if the spirit declares its aims clearly and boldly, there is yet hope that our prayers for a better world will be answered. ¶

The Two Sources of Security

My appeal, therefore, is that we assemble regularly on the Sabbath day in our various Wards and there partake worthily of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and that daily in our homes around our family altars as well as in secret we humbly and sincerely appeal to our Heavenly Father that that peace, for which Christian people everywhere are pleading, that blessing which all men most need today, may by the power of God be brought to all mankind. Then our lives and our motives will be purified and our faith in the Almighty will wax strong. Being thus established in the confidence and fellowship of our Heavenly Father there will come to us a feeling of strength and of silent, satisfying security, of an unselfish determination and desire to serve and to bless those with whom we mingle. As Paul declared: ¶

Let us remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said, It is more blessed to give than it is to receive. (Acts 20:35.) ¶

When the selfishness of mankind vanishes, peace on earth will come. The way to peace and happiness then is to return to the Almighty, to cultivate His Spirit, to supplicate Him, and to plead for a forgiveness of our sins and shortcomings. Through a consistent attendance at Sacrament Meetings, if we partake of the holy Sacrament with clean hands and pure hearts, we renew our covenants with the Almighty with assurance that those who do so acceptably shall have the most precious blessing bestowed upon man, that is "His Spirit to be with them." ¶

war's consequences ¶

Now to the second division of my subject. What will come after? When this great war ends fatigue and famine, bitterness and the memory of wrongs inflicted, and of outrages suffered will make impossible a good and lasting peace unless by divine power those who prepare the terms have in their hearts the spirit of the Prince of Peace and can proceed as did Lincoln, "With malice toward none and with charity for all." As long as a desire for revenge or punishment guides those who prepare the conditions of peace rather than a desire to create conditions of confidence and good will, wars and rumors of wars will scourge the earth. Even in our own beloved land of liberty it seems that in these trying times many prefer the satisfaction of retaliation rather than the spirit of forgiveness and peace with equal consideration for all people. These apparently are unable to understand that great fundamental doctrine that it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. ¶

Far-seeing statesmen and economists are agreed that at the close of this war a depression much greater than those which have followed other wars is sure to come. The world will be compelled to struggle with the financial, economic and social aftermath of the present furious conflicts which are being waged on many battle fronts. ¶

The length and the severity of a war determine the length and the severity of the depression which follows it. The greater the destruction, the greater the depression. Famine, pestilence, plagues, diseases and poverty will no doubt come in a more or less serious degree to the people of all nations when this death struggle comes to its close. And for this reason I repeat the appeal that has been made from the beginning by the leaders of the Church that all the people as far as possible get out of debt and keep out of debt. ¶

Peace Through Justice and Charity

Truly in these days, at this very hour, the world's greatest need is peacemakers. And I repeat, if out of the conflicts, out of the battles which are now raging, those can come who can and will plan a lasting peace, one with malice toward none and with justice and charity for all, these will be, they must be now and forever numbered among the very choicest, the most select and most richly blessed of all the children of God. ¶

In conclusion, I appeal again to you to do these two things: 1. Attend Sacrament meetings faithfully; 2. Participate regularly in daily family and secret prayers. If we all can and will do these two things, if we can live the unselfish Christian life, the testimony that Jesus is the Christ will burn in our souls and we will walk with confidence among our fellowmen, disseminating the spirit of the Redeemer of the world, which is the spirit of peace and the spirit of good will. ¶