A Venture in Understanding

My beloved brethren and sisters: I should like to echo from the depths of my heart this morning, that gratitude of which President McKay has so beautifully and eloquently spoken; gratitude to my Father in heaven for so much beyond my ability to mention, for the onward march of his Church and kingdom, for his goodness in the lives of all of us. At this time I should like to express gratitude for Sister Evans and me for the privilege we have had of being witnesses of some of those glorious and significant events of which President McKay has spoken; and gratitude for the leadership of President McKay and his Counselors, and for the association of these, my brethren, and you, my brethren and sisters. ¶

We watched the President under a wide variety of conditions in a number of countries of Europe, in several of the great cities of the continent and of Great Britain, exchanging greetings with public officials, meeting in press conferences, attending the concerts, and participating in public receptions. He was seemingly indefatigable, always gracious, always an effective and wonderful representative of this Church and people; not sparing himself, traveling many hours and many miles sometimes to attend one of the choir concerts under stormy and difficult conditions, getting back to his hotel in the very early hours of the morning. ¶

I should like to echo his gratitude for the success of this tour. I think a public confession here would not be inappropriate: Some of us, many of us, maybe most of us, had great apprehension and some reservations concerning the choir's tour. I must confess humbly, that some of us might have postponed it, and perhaps would have looked again at the commitment to do it. I must confess that as the two trains pulled us out of Salt Lake City on the evening of August 10, I felt, if not like a lamb going to the slaughter, at least like one that was going to be shorn. But the President of the Church had committed us to it, and so we went. (I should hesitate to say this publicly, but when he sets a deadline, the seemingly impossible happens, as witness the dedication of the Swiss Temple. When you get a mixture of the quiet, purposeful stubbornness of the Scots and the Welsh, along with the courage and conviction of a prophetic calling, you have a combination which, once having been committed to a course or a great cause, is something to be reckoned with!) ¶

Blessedly and providentially, by the combined services of a great number of able and devoted people, many of whom the President has mentioned, and by the hand of Providence, we had a great venture in understanding, as we so characterized it before our European audiences. ¶

I am glad that the President paid tribute to all of those to whom he paid tribute and appreciation this morning. There are many others, who could and should be mentioned, and perhaps that can be done at another time and place. Now, to some of the highlights, briefly: The President has mentioned the reception at Greenock, Scotland, by the Provost of the city and the Bagpipe Corps, and the reception of the entire choir by the Lord Provost of Glasgow and the great audience at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall the following evening. Then we went to Manchester and to Cardiff, where the Stars and Stripes were raised over Cardiff Castle by the gracious Lord Mayor of that great city in honor of the Tabernacle Choir and its sponsoring institution, and of the country from which it came—not beneath the British flag, or any other flag, but waving there alone as we came into the city, the Stars and Stripes over Cardiff Castle, with the Lord Mayor addressing us as brothers and sisters, and giving every evidence of his feelings of sincerity in the terms in which he addressed us. ¶

There are many other unforgettable experiences. Berlin is one of them. We presented an extra concert in the afternoon for those who came, principally from the Eastern Zone, who would neither be able to afford, nor, for the most part would be able to be present in the evening hours because of distances traveled and restrictions encountered. To see that audience of those from the areas which have not known some of the great privileges and blessings that we have known, to feel their spirit, to feel them wanting to be demonstrative, wanting to overflow in appreciation, and seemingly not knowing quite how to, and then melting and overflowing—it was an unforgettable experience. The audience of the evening was one quite in contrast with the refugee audience and those from eastern areas who had come in the afternoon. ¶

The President has mentioned the temple dedication and the concerts in Switzerland, where we sang in Bern and Zurich; those in Copenhagen (an extra one being presented there by our male chorus in Tivoli Gardens, in response to public demand); the great audience in the Royal Albert Hall in London, a place of great tradition, of great prestige, sometimes of great reserve—an overflow audience there in that great hall of some seven to eight thousand people, melting, taking us into their hearts and we taking them into ours. It was a wonderful and satisfying and unforgettable experience. Then in Paris, the final concert (not forgetting those in Amsterdam and Scheveningen in the Netherlands and in Wiesbaden, Germany, which were equally significant) where the city council and the ranking officers of the city of Paris presented medals to the principals of the choir and scrolls of commendation, not only to individuals, but also to some of us as representatives of the Church, they having also passed a special appropriation for refreshments for the entire group of six hundred in the magnificent city palace where royalty has been entertained for generations. There was no honor that we knew of that the city of Paris could do for the Tabernacle Choir and the Church and the country from which they came that they did not do and extend to us. ¶

Everywhere public officials of the countries in which we found ourselves, as well as our own diplomatic officers, and the press, and the public, were as gracious and warm and wonderful as one could ask from his own kin and countrymen. Scores—hundreds—of pictures and fair and favorable stories appeared throughout Europe in the public press; and we were on the air in many places. It seemed that virtually no doors that we had time to open were closed to us—and no hearts either, or so it seemed. Thank God for all his blessings and mercies and for far-reaching consequences beyond our ability to estimate or to foresee. ¶

I think the Berlin Telegraf summed it up in a sentence when it said in its edition immediately after the Berlin concert, "This was not only music, but the building of a human bridge." This we also felt is what it was. ¶

Now as to two or three of the sidelights: One was the language barrier. What happened at the Tower of Babel never should have happened, but by the perverseness of men it did, and by the dispersion of men it has continued. We wrestled with it all the way, but not with so much difficulty as we might have supposed. In all places to which we went a large percentage of our audiences were bilingual and understood us without translators. We used interpreters, but in many places the reaction of the audience to the English was more immediate than the reaction to the translations which followed. We found no insurmountable barrier of language or of geography to understanding among men. We found nothing that could prevent sincere and honest people from taking one another to the hearts of each other, in peace, in honor, and in understanding. We found nothing to cause us to come to any conclusion except that all men are children of the Lord God, and that all are precious in his sight. We found no people that we could not love. We found no people for whom we did not come away with affection in our souls and in our hearts. We found no people for whom we did not feel a genuine, deep, and grateful friendship. Thank God for this, also—for not letting the barriers of language or of boundaries or of geography keep us from a satisfying and glorious understanding. ¶

There were some other sidelights. We had about two-thirds of the passenger list on the SS Saxonia, on which we sailed from Montreal to Europe—some six hundred out of a passenger list of some nine hundred. I think perhaps the most frustrated man on the SS Saxonia on this trip was the bartender! (I think perhaps the next most frustrated man aboard was the steward who operated the bingo game!) There were many incidents of humor, some of illness and difficulty, but despite fatigue, despite difficult and sometimes discouraging conditions and a close, demanding schedule, the choir rose magnificently on every occasion and did a marvelous and wonderful service. ¶

I am grateful this morning in following the theme of gratitude, for the courage and conviction of President McKay in committing us to the tour, despite our fears and apprehensions. I am grateful for the favorable outcome, which is beyond our ability to estimate. If I may be pardoned another thought or two of personal gratitude: I am grateful that my gracious wife was with us. I was proud of her performance at press conferences and public receptions and on all other occasions (as I was of Sister McKay also, and those who were with her and the President). I am grateful to have our eldest son serving among the missionaries of Europe (hundreds of whom we have met), serving in my own field of labor at precisely the age, even to the month, at which I entered the same field, some twenty-nine years ago. I am grateful for the work of all the missionaries, and the mission presidents, and all the devoted people, and for the onward move and the great and glorious achievements and progress and opportunities that are ours. ¶

We come back not much given to boasting. We are aware of the art and culture of Europe, of its great cathedrals, of its great contributions, its great peoples, its great history, its great accomplishments, and are not so much disposed to boast of ourselves or of any physical attainments. I am not sure that we have the greatest of many things here. But of this I am sure, and of this I bear you witness this day: that we have the greatest message for mankind, the gospel of Jesus Christ restored in its fulness, and the greatest opportunity to convey it to others that any people ever had, and the greatest responsibility upon us to do it. God help us to do it and to meet the greatness of this responsibility. ¶

I should like to close with a few words from the closing sentences of King Benjamin's great sermon to his people, from the Book of Mormon: "My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, . . . if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, . . . this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you. Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them. . . . And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true." (Mos. 4:4, 6, 8-10, 12.) ¶

God help us to have the courage and the wisdom to be what we should be, to live as we should live, to do what we should do, and to arise to the greatest message to mankind and to the greatest opportunity and responsibility that is ours, to deliver it, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. ¶