At This Point Of The Conference Many...

At this point of the conference many will understand why I remember a sentence recently read — a sentence which said that you can always use more words to say what has already been said. ¶

I shall try not to make the words too many, but should like to tie back to two or three points of the conference, first, to President McKay's opening address, of the love of God and the love of man, and of the peace that can come only through righteousness and the keeping of the commandments. ¶

Secondly, from the reports given from this pulpit and others that have come in connection with the conference it is very evident that the Church in the stakes and in the missions is on the move, worldwide. Now it takes service, and it takes means to keep things on the move. ¶

I have read somewhere that service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on earth. Not only the service, but the means are necessary. Nothing does itself. Someone has to do everything that is done. ¶

As to tithing, it requires that, too, not only as a material matter, but as a spiritual matter also. All we have the Lord God has given us, and I consider tithing to be an opportunity to express appreciation for what the Lord God has given. ¶

Neither the giving of service nor of substance is ever — or seldom — completely convenient for any of us. There was a kind of tongue-in-cheek British economist lecturing here some months ago — and may be still in the United States — who propounded what he called "Parkinson's Second Law," as I recall, which said that "expenditures always rise to meet income." We have discovered this to be true. ¶

The Lord God has said to us ". . . all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; . . ." (D&C 29:34.) I would plead with all of us, as the work moves forward gloriously, that we should not hinder it by withholding our service or our substance. ¶

Now, third, I should like to tie back to what I consider a most remarkable meeting last evening, which I wish everyone had heard, as President McKay and Brother Moyle and Brother Romney and Brother Petersen spoke. I should like to make a plea in keeping with some of what was there said to the youth, and to all of us, that we do not succumb to uncertainty. There are problems; there are uncertainties; but always we need to pursue solid purposes. ¶

The Church is going forward, worldwide— in the building of buildings, in missionary endeavor, and in all else — and in our private and personal lives, young and old, we must also individually have the faith to go forward. It takes courage; it takes prayer and planning and work and faith; but there are glorious eternal opportunities; and we must not wait in uncertainty or succumb to it. The theories and the facts will all ultimately be reconciled; the questions will all ultimately be answered; the problems will all ultimately be resolved; and the promises will all be fulfilled, and we must plan and prayerfully pursue our plans and go ahead with our lives on solid and firm foundations, with faith, with cleanliness of conduct, with balanced living, with devotion, with the keeping of the commandments. ¶

I think it was Ruskin who said, "There is no wealth but life." I pray God that we may use that wealth which is life, and not waste it away, and pursue earnestly the opportunities of time, into the limitless promises and possibilities of eternity, and I do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶