Conference Address

My beloved bretheren and sisters, I crave an interest in your faith and prayers for the short time that I shall stand before you. I feel that without it and without the Spirit of God, it would be useless for me to attempt to say a word of comfort to any of us. ¶

Thus far in this conference I have enjoyed very greatly what has been done and said. I likewise enjoy very much the privilege I have had of shaking hands with so many of the men and women whom I esteem to be my friends, and I wish it were possible to shake hands with all of you and know you well. We get a great deal of comfort in moving among you as we visit the stakes and attempt to deliver a message that will be helpful. ¶

The Two Great Commandments ¶

These are very trying times, trying to all of us, I presume, and it has already been said in this conference that no man seems to be smart enough to tell us just what to do to correct our troubles. I wish I knew the answer. I believe, however, the Savior told us about what we should do if we would live in peace and happiness and live successful lives. Last night we listened to a statement of the work that is being done by our welfare organization in the Church, an expression of unselfish devotion to an ideal. Christ said the great commandment is to love God, and the second is to love our fellows as we love ourselves. I see in that the simple statement that we should drive out of our hearts all selfishness, for until we get rid of selfishness we cannot well love our neighbors as we love ourselves. ¶

Spirit of God Needed in Affairs of Men ¶

As I study history, I believe I see that every great war of aggression the world has suffered has been prompted by avarice and greed and selfish desire, sometimes not on the part of all the people but at least on the part of the people who have the power to bring the others into aggressive action against their neighbors; and I believe the war that we have just had and the war that preceded it were precipitated on the world by nothing but greed and avarice and selfishness. I do not expect to live to see the time when people will not do those things, but some day may come when an arrangement can be reached such as will prevent the aggression of one nation upon another, of a strong nation upon a helpless one. If that time ever comes, it will come because the Spirit of God shall inspire men to draft policies to prevent it. ¶

We not only have international troubles of that kind, but we also have interstate troubles that grow out of the same motives, and they trouble us sometimes very definitely and personally. I believe that they also would vanish if people could gain the Spirit of God and act under its inspiration. If our legislators could give themselves to the duties of their office, if they would never have a selfish motive in what they do, perhaps better laws could be drafted. If the men who control the big business of the nation should realize that their own welfare rests upon the welfare of the people that they employ, perhaps they could in that way be helpful. And then if the employee likewise could realize that his welfare depends upon that of his employer, perhaps they could get together in a more helpful spirit, and some of these evils could be eradicated. ¶

Unselfishness Vital in Church Service ¶

Then if we in the stakes and wards could drive out of our hearts and our souls the spirit of selfishness, we could do our duty only with the thought of helping the great organization of which we are a part. We likewise could help to bring about that day; but we are human; we are intensely human; and self-preservation, we are told, is the first law of nature. There is selfishness in it, and it is because of the tremendous struggle that it will take to drive it out of our souls that the love of neighbor gained such prominence in the teachings of Christ. It is likely the greatest struggle we would have to make with ourselves to become absolutely unselfish. But the things we do, we expect to redound to our own honor and our own glory, and frequently we measure our willingness to perform them on that standard. It is not right. ¶

I once heard a young man as he addressed a seventies' convention in Barratt Hall say, "There is no measure to the good that a man may do if he does not worry as to who gets the credit for it." That is a great and glorious principle of action. I think if nations would work for the welfare of the group, and if the governing elements within nations could work for the welfare of the group; if those who work could work for the welfare of the whole, the Spirit of God would have an opportunity to work upon their souls and make better men and better women of them, bringing peace and prosperity and the alleviation of all suffering. It is a wonderful task; it is perhaps the gretest task of all, and it will never be realized without the Spirit of God to prompt it. We will never get that Spirit until we weed out of our habits those vices of which Brother Merrill has spoken this afternoon. Perhaps if we could come to live chaste and upright lives, we would then have a right to claim from God his Spirit; and getting his Spirit would help us to become unselfish; and becoming unselfish we could love our neighbors as we love ourselves. I have a picture of this body of men and women going away from this building with a definite resolution to drive out from their hearts every vestige of selfishness and to devote themselves with greater sacrifice to the well-being of their brothers and sisters, their fathers and mothers, their neighbors, and the nation at large. I wish that God would give us this Spirit. If all of us who are here and if all who are listening to the sound of the radio waves that go forth would devote themselves to that one purpose, then this conference would fill the measure for which it was called together. The world would be better, and God would reign in the hearts of men. That he may help us to do this, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶