Truth Is Not a Matter of Convenience

As I face this body of people, I always feel under the necessity, it seems, of calling upon the sustenance and direction of my Father in heaven for what I shall say, and I do so at this time. ¶

I think it would be enjoyable some time when the pressure of life is not so great, to indulge in the luxury of long and leisurely sermonizing. That is a luxury, however, that sometimes is enjoyed by the speaker more than it is by the audience. ¶

First of all this morning I should like to welcome to his new calling, Brother Joseph F. Smith. I have enjoyed the intimacy of his home, and he of mine. I have stood by him in some of the critical days of his life, of which he spoke here this morning. I know him to be a man of faith and courage, and I look forward to the coming years of close association with him in the councils of the Church. ¶

I should like to read a statement which I found the other day, first printed in the second number of the Evening and Morning Star, back in July, 1832, as I recall: The old world was destroyed for rejecting the revelations of God given to them through Noah. The Israelites were destroyed in the wilderness for despising the revelations given to them through Moses; and Christ said that the world, in the days of the apostles, would be condemned for not receiving the word of God through them: Thus we see that the judgments of God in the past ages have come upon the people, not so much for neglecting the revelations given to their forefathers, as for rejecting those given particularly to themselves. (Doc. Hist., vol. 1:277) ¶

Since the restoration there has never been a time in the history of this people when the leadership of this Church has not given direction concerning those things which vitally affect the temporal and spiritual welfare of this Church and this people; and the present and the immediate past are no exceptions to this general statement. Those who have not seen the way in which that direction has pointed have not seen it, either because they have been too indifferent, or because they have chosen not to see it. ¶

I hope that this fact will be burnished upon our hearts and not only upon ours but upon the hearts of all of our young people, as they leave the shelter of our homes, of necessity, as they become uprooted from their native soil in this surge of humanity that floods here and there, these days, that they may be led to know, with us, that truth is not a matter of convenience; that principles and ideals are not a matter of geography or environment; that there is only one set of rules — that a thing that was not right at home is not right away from home — if it was not right where we came from, it isn't right anywhere. ¶

May we go with them — these young people of ours — with our prayers and our letters — with our teachings before they leave, and with the example of our own lives always to fortify them, so that they may look back to us, to their homes, to their Church for strength and comfort in critical times. ¶

Concerning all that has been spoken and shall be spoken during this conference, and at all times, by the leadership of this Church, I close with the words of Joseph Smith, the Prophet: Therefore I declare unto you the warning which the Lord has commanded to declare unto this generation, remembering that the eyes of my Maker are upon me, and that to Him I am accountable for every word I say, wishing nothing worse to my fellow men than their eternal salvation. ¶

May God help all of us to have strength, in the days to come, no matter what may lie before us, to adhere to those principles which were dearer to our fathers than life itself. No matter how we may be called upon to shift the superstructure of our lives, and to change the superficial habits of our living, may we never shift our foundations, I ask, in the name of Him whose work this is, even the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶